The box is open

So I finally opened the box... and it contains a new sewing machine. Yes, it has been sitting under the stairs for many many weeks unopened. I think the problem is I don't want to stop using my old work horse, but the time has come.

I have ended up with a Brother 350SE.

This was the machine I have wanted for a while, but when I went to go and buy it, I was told that they didn't have it. When my husband went to pick up the machine I ordered, they give him the one I wanted from the start. It is a domestic sewing machine, but is definelty more up to the work load than the current one. It has lots of fun features, but the biggest thing is that it is quiet, very very quiet.

It has lots of fancy stitches, most of which I will use only occasionally but I am very excited by the lettering function.

I'm not really sure why this is so exciting, but it really does appeal to me. The possiblilities are endless.

So my first project is was a roller bag. I could just have used the old machine but I clearly needed the word "Rollers" on the front of it.

I really love this owl fabric by Michael Millar, but the owls were just a little big for most clutches.

Still lots of experimenting to do, just need some projects to do....

Don't worry about my old machine. I am going to get it serviced and use it for sewing the bottom seams and as a general back up.

Sewers Block

I have the bad case of sewers block. I want to sew but just can't bring myself to do it.

This has been going on for a while and is somewhat of a problem for someone who makes sewn items. I have been keeping up with my orders and custom work, but nothing "new" has appeared just for the sake of it.

I have tried just taking a break from making and that didn't work, so now I am trying to work on some new skills and doing some nice stuff (one of which I will post about tomorrow). I have also been spending some time just pondering and looking at my lovely fabric collection lately. I do feel the sparks of inspiration starting, but I also feel really frustrated. God bless writers, how do they cope. I am frustrated because I love sewing and making bags. I think I may have just suffered major burn out at Christmas, which is worrying as it is a busy time, which isn't going away. I'm off next week on holiday and I really hope that will give me some time to get going because my poor sewing machine feels very unloved at the moment.

Lazy Summer Days

I heard on the radio today that the summer has passed us by in Northern Ireland. I was a little surprised by this comment as I thought we still had a full month of summer left but then again the radio was also complaining a few weeks ago about the heat wave we had in June :0)

Anyone who is familiar with Northern Ireland knows it rains often and a lot and it's been doing that to monsoon standards of late.I have to admit the rain is something I love about living here, weird I know - It gives us a rich green landscape, hence the term the Emerald Isle.

You may well ponder the path my thoughts are leading.

I often just let the days float past in the summer.

I know I should be sewing as much as I can, preparing for Christmas, but I like to chill out. Sometimes this is drinking coffee with friends (decaff of course), meeting my mum for lunch and a spot of shopping or just watching some of my favorite TV. Lately I have been doing rather a lot of all of the above. It's great but I do hear the sewing machine calling. More later, but for now back to a box set of "Sex and The City".

Craft Fair

On Friday morning I attended the annual Stitch and Creative Craft Show, it's a great opportunity to get some new supplies and look at new ideas. It is always a dangerous place for me because there is so much fabric for sale.

I was able to purchase some fantastic new fabrics and a couple of sewing books. I did get a chance to look at some new sewing machines, I have been toying with the idea of buying a new machine. My current machine is a basic sewing machine from Brother, which was very cheap and was never bought with the purpose of doing anything other than doodling around on.

It does button holes, straight and zigzag stitches. The machine I was looking at was did embroidery stitches and letters. It was electronic; with buttons to speed up the stitches and lift the sewing foot. It was very impressive but my big concern was about it breaking. When my current machine coughs and stops working, I get out my screwdriver and take it apart, clean out all the bits, put it back together again and usually it works, if not I do it all again. If it is electronic then firstly that means more things can go wrong and secondly it is unlikely I would be able to fix it with just a screw driver. This machine just purred when it sewed. So I'm on the fence about the whole thing. I don't really need a machine that is all singing and dancing, I really only need straight stitches, but I would really love one that sings and dances.