I find handmade things beautiful and full of love and I always think it's lovely when I receive a gift that's thought through and made just for me. I try where I can to make gifts when I have the time for friends and family and I'm always trying to challenge myself with new creative skills and projects.
When it comes to sewing I've been doing it for years but I've only ever been comfortable hand sewing and up until a couple of months ago I had never attempted to use a sewing machine.
Let me try to explain...
Previous to 2 months ago I would think about using a sewing machine and it would scare me, it sounds silly and it is ...but when it comes to creativity I like to have control, the control of holding the needle in my hand gliding it through the material stitch by stitch, making unique stitches, each one different to the next.
I like the character of a hand stitched item and thinking about a using sewing machine made me think.....the control would be somewhat gone- I would be somewhat board- I would break it!- cause myself some odd type of injury. All of the bad and none of the good thoughts.
It was almost as if the simple object of a sewing machine was some evil form of robot, not that different to a deceptacon from the world of transformers. It was sure to transform into my worst enemy and be the object between my creations and me.
I know it's sounds so spastic beyond belief but I am happy to say that I am cured of this horrible sewing monster robot fear and my creative juices are still flowing.
I have had my Mothers Old perfectly good sewing machine sitting gathering dust for years now and it was time to give it some life again.
My Mother made all her clothes when she was younger and enjoyed it immensely but she hasn't used it since her late teens when she became a quadriplegic due to a motorcycle accident.
Now that I am a Mother of a little girl I really wanted to learn how to sew her some clothes so the day came when I asked my Father if he could give me a sewing machine lesson...Yep you read it right. My Father is rather domesticated and can use the sewing machine!!!
So with Mother talking Dad and I through the ropes of the sewing machine, me cursing and dad trying to remember how to thread the cotton to prepare the machine, my journey of machine sewing began.
I have to confess I am now hooked and believe that the sewing bug has hit me bad.
I'll let the following pictures tell the tale of my sewing journey so far....
I started practice with cushions
a up cycled men's transformers shirt
and one of Miss Thalia's
owl shirts that no longer fit
(couldn't resist hand stitching around the owl for further detail :P)
next a cushion for each munchkin
material of their choice
Thomas for Declan and Thalia's "Peter Rabbit'
Then Hubby insisted that he needed a cushion for his car too,
he often has a snooze in the car before work if he gets there early enough :P
next came a birthday present
for a gorgeous little 1yr old
nick named "the strawberry princess" since before birth
a dolly for miss Thalia
named "Maisie"
a dolly babushka for a newborn
baby girl
a birthday pressie
for a Big 4 r old boy
who loves trains and plays soccer
(the small soccor ball and train fit in the babushka's pockets)
He has been named "Bob Bushka"
by his happy owner
another pic of the large fabric soccer ball
in comparison to the real deal
small babushka taggie
for yet another newborn girl
*I then made another large Babushka with babushka baby to fit in her belly pocket but didn't get a picture before giving to a little girl for her 2nd birthday*
next was a Dr Seuss cushion for our lounge room :)
a personalised name pillow and tooth fairy pillow
for a Big 4yr olds Birthday
(Cat in the Hat being one of his faves)
a personalised bunting for Declan's
racing car party
and the last creation was
a babushka girl along with a pillow/babushka bed
for a 3yr old girls Birthday.
now that our busy birthday months have passed I can attempt to tackle some dresses for my little princess....wish me luck cause I'm going to need it! LOL
I sure am glad that I started on the sewing machine and I can't see that I will be stopping anytime soon.