How to sew a straight line when you're blind or have low vision, and other adventures. Follow me as I try my hand at sewing after 25 years, beginning with quilting class .
Monday, July 18, 2011
Polly Put The Kettle On
by popular request... the pretty 84-cent Japanese teacup. And I can confirm that a cup of PG tastes very more-ish!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Ps and Qs
So on Saturday evening we went to Boulderfest, a free music festival in the car park of Boulder Coffee, just across the road from where I work. It was lovely and hot, I had a rather tasty bottle of Brooklyn Ale, and we heard the band Nevergreen, who were very good :)
Boulder Coffee is also just down the road from one of the Goodwill stores (also part of the organization for which I work), and I just happened to have my birthday voucher to use up!
So between bands seemed like a great time to pop into the Goodwill store. I got a rather nice pair of Van Heusen blue jeans in my exact size, and they're a really comfortable fit... I don't know how they've done the waist but it seems to hug without being tight, and there's plenty of room for those extra couple of lb that I'm sure I'll put on! :p
And so to the P of this post's title... a picnic basket!
And what do you think is going to go in it? Why, the quilting Qs of course!
Well, it's perfect for all those fat quarters (another Q) which I got the other day!
Oh yes, the jeans were a bargain $6, the picnic basket $5, and I rounded it all off with a pretty Japanese teacup with yellow roses on it, in which I now intend to have a tasty cup of tea. Cheers!
Boulder Coffee is also just down the road from one of the Goodwill stores (also part of the organization for which I work), and I just happened to have my birthday voucher to use up!
So between bands seemed like a great time to pop into the Goodwill store. I got a rather nice pair of Van Heusen blue jeans in my exact size, and they're a really comfortable fit... I don't know how they've done the waist but it seems to hug without being tight, and there's plenty of room for those extra couple of lb that I'm sure I'll put on! :p
And so to the P of this post's title... a picnic basket!
And what do you think is going to go in it? Why, the quilting Qs of course!
Well, it's perfect for all those fat quarters (another Q) which I got the other day!
Oh yes, the jeans were a bargain $6, the picnic basket $5, and I rounded it all off with a pretty Japanese teacup with yellow roses on it, in which I now intend to have a tasty cup of tea. Cheers!
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Putting the Pieces Together
OK, I admit I haven't actually tried the machine yet, but I am pleased to say that the LCD display isn't a barrier for those of us with less sight than most... in the words of a classic song "it goes bip when it moves and bop when it stops and whirrrrrrr when it stands still"... well sort of, it makes whirring sounds each time you press the stitch select buttons as it cycles through the stitch patterns, and the buttons also make a clicking sound, so it should be possible to keep track of which settings I am choosing :)
For the last 3 days I've been working till 10pm... not a whole barrel of laughs that, but it does give me some time to do a bit of quilting when the phones are quiet! I got through a few of my 4-square blocks, so just a couple more to go and then I can pick up sewing the 4s into long strips.
Mum and dad have been visiting from Ye Olde Worlld United Kingdome, and left to return there yesterday. It was great to have them here and go fabric shopping with mum! (and even dad got a piece of fabric, a large panel with the red Canadian maple leaf on it!)...
We called in to the Blue Boutique, the "high end" Goodwill store that has designer and better quality clothing... Dad again was the only one to buy anything! (is he a secret shopaholic??!!)... I saw this quilt-style jacket and I think I might try something like it, longer-term as I get more proficient both at quilting and with the machine... I'll be picking your expert brains when I get to that point I'm sure! Here's a photo of the jacket though, just to whet your appetite (this one is made by Brooks Brothers)
For the last 3 days I've been working till 10pm... not a whole barrel of laughs that, but it does give me some time to do a bit of quilting when the phones are quiet! I got through a few of my 4-square blocks, so just a couple more to go and then I can pick up sewing the 4s into long strips.
Mum and dad have been visiting from Ye Olde Worlld United Kingdome, and left to return there yesterday. It was great to have them here and go fabric shopping with mum! (and even dad got a piece of fabric, a large panel with the red Canadian maple leaf on it!)...
We called in to the Blue Boutique, the "high end" Goodwill store that has designer and better quality clothing... Dad again was the only one to buy anything! (is he a secret shopaholic??!!)... I saw this quilt-style jacket and I think I might try something like it, longer-term as I get more proficient both at quilting and with the machine... I'll be picking your expert brains when I get to that point I'm sure! Here's a photo of the jacket though, just to whet your appetite (this one is made by Brooks Brothers)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Bargains Bargains Bargains!
Lookie at what I got!! I saw a good value Brother sewing machine for $110 online and have been looking to see if I could see one in-store... this got some odd looks as I asked in Home Depot, the D.I.Y. shop, only to find out it's only available online for them.
I was keen to get it before friday when my mum heads back to the UK so I could pick her brains on using it.. and procastinating proved fruitful when Walmart had a $200 Brother machine on clearance for $150!
So here it is, a Brother SQ 9000 (the SQ stands for 'sewing and quilting' so it's perfect for what I want!)
It has a large table, which means it can support larger fabrics like quilts, and has about 80 built-in stitches and half a dozen automatic buttonholes, so should be pretty versatile :)
It also transpired that Walmart had other items on sale, and I picked up a fabric cutter (looks like a pizza cutter, see the photo below) and a plastic mat so I don't chop into the dining table! ... these cutters are a bit deadly so if you see me waving at you without any fingers you'll know what I've done!
And why did I need the fabric cutters? because I got lots and lots of fabric! hehee! there's a store that is unfortunately closing down, so everything was half price or less. their fat quarters were $1 each, so I came home with a dozen fat quarters, and some larger panels and a couple of free quilting magazines! OK, so we spent $25 on fabric, but I think there's almost enough for 2 quilts in there! :)
I'm pretty pragmatic about having not much eyesight, but I do miss being able to browse. I'm grateful for having people who can describe things to me, but I still miss that visual inspiration that comes from the look of a fabric or a book or a record sleeve... maybe manufacturers could employ a person whose sole job is to write poetic descriptions of products and as i-phones and the like can read barcodes and tell you what an item is, it could read the extra info and give you a delicious description of what the item looks like! ... well, it's a nice thought!
I was keen to get it before friday when my mum heads back to the UK so I could pick her brains on using it.. and procastinating proved fruitful when Walmart had a $200 Brother machine on clearance for $150!
So here it is, a Brother SQ 9000 (the SQ stands for 'sewing and quilting' so it's perfect for what I want!)
It has a large table, which means it can support larger fabrics like quilts, and has about 80 built-in stitches and half a dozen automatic buttonholes, so should be pretty versatile :)
It also transpired that Walmart had other items on sale, and I picked up a fabric cutter (looks like a pizza cutter, see the photo below) and a plastic mat so I don't chop into the dining table! ... these cutters are a bit deadly so if you see me waving at you without any fingers you'll know what I've done!
And why did I need the fabric cutters? because I got lots and lots of fabric! hehee! there's a store that is unfortunately closing down, so everything was half price or less. their fat quarters were $1 each, so I came home with a dozen fat quarters, and some larger panels and a couple of free quilting magazines! OK, so we spent $25 on fabric, but I think there's almost enough for 2 quilts in there! :)
I'm pretty pragmatic about having not much eyesight, but I do miss being able to browse. I'm grateful for having people who can describe things to me, but I still miss that visual inspiration that comes from the look of a fabric or a book or a record sleeve... maybe manufacturers could employ a person whose sole job is to write poetic descriptions of products and as i-phones and the like can read barcodes and tell you what an item is, it could read the extra info and give you a delicious description of what the item looks like! ... well, it's a nice thought!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Turn Up For The Books
Here's a quick question for you experts :) ... It's something I've wondered for years, and now it's relevant to something I need to do...
Turn ups on trousers. When you buy trousers with turn ups, the fabric is "right side" facing out. If you just turned up the ends of your own trousers, it'd be the "wrong side" facing out.
How do you get it like a ready made pair, with the turn ups looking like you haven't just rolled the ends of your trousers up?
I want to shorten a pair which I bought, and would like to know how to make proper turn ups on them!
Any suggestions? All help greatly appreciated :)
Turn ups on trousers. When you buy trousers with turn ups, the fabric is "right side" facing out. If you just turned up the ends of your own trousers, it'd be the "wrong side" facing out.
How do you get it like a ready made pair, with the turn ups looking like you haven't just rolled the ends of your trousers up?
I want to shorten a pair which I bought, and would like to know how to make proper turn ups on them!
Any suggestions? All help greatly appreciated :)
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