Sew, here I am starting another new journey – I have a lot of those in my life. This blog will highlight and capture the things I learn about sewing, my thoughts and reviews of patterns and anything else I come up with about being a crafty girl. I have started many other blogs in the past, always with the lofty goal of keeping them up. There just are never enough hours in the day! Hopefully I’ll at least visit periodically to share my thoughts about a pattern or tutorial or process or technique as I learn it, try it and perfect it. Who knows, this may be the blog that continues to grow.
I actually started this blog page because I started sewing recently. I come from a long line of happy sewists (new word for “sewers” I am told) and have prided myself on my ingenuity with a glue gun to this point in my life. I have, however, occasionally pulled out the old Singer Style-Mate 347 to make a quick Halloween costume or a set of corn-hole bags (more on that later) .
Yep – it’s old. It is not my first sewing machine. My first machine was a pink (I think) Singer machine a lot like this one that my parents gave me. My mom REALLY wanted me to sew. It seamed 🙂 natural. It wasn’t. I had no patience for it until now. I guess you have to be a point in life where you WANT to sit quietly before sitting quietly works for you. Up till now, my handy dandy glue gun fit my lifestyle perfectly and it didn’t bother me that the machine tension was wonky and all it did was birds-nest the thread on the back of whatever I tried to sew.
Fast forward to July 2013. I am a grown up now. I have great new hobbies like snow skiing, salsa dancing and kayaking. I have 2 grown boys who can drive themselves places and don’t “need” me every minute of the day. They also don’t need pants hemmed or costumes, unless my mom is having a party (again, more on that later), or anything else even remotely crafty in their lives.
It seems perfectly logical that I now NEED a replacement machine. And, apparently, a new hobby. Welcome to my new little Brother… Brother CS6000i…
I weighs about 2 pounds, has 60 programmed stitches and 6 presser feet. I might be exaggerating on the weight, but coming from the 10 ton cast iron Singer and seeing as I can pick it up with one hand, it is pretty light. It is also a dream to sew with. REMEMBER, I am NEW at this. When I say it is a dream, it’s because I can understand the machine and I can control it.
Since I got my new machine I have finished:
- 3 corn hole bags (a set I started years ago and gave up on)
- a fold up organizer with vinyl pockets
- a cute little zipper pouch
I plan to post pictures and the gory details as I go. Mostly to spare the friends I have on Facebook from the constant “look what I made” posts. I also want to post reviews of patterns I have made. I cannot find a free site anywhere that does this. It makes me crazy. Really, in the age of the internet, why can I not google “Butterick B4476” and find out that 50 other people have tried the pattern and posted their tips, warnings and gotchas? That’s what I need. That, and a place to keep all the tutorials I find so that others may benefit from my scavenging the web.
So, welcome to my sewing and crafting blog. Hopefully I can keep my thoughts going here for all to share.
Mandy
PS – my favorite blog right now is “Tilly and the Buttons” because it has got everything a new person needs to know in handy tutorials. Also, follow me on Pintrest if you can. I have a board for projects I find and want to take on.
Mandy, PatternReview.com is a free site that does specifically review patterns, machines, books, and more, just as you are searching for. They also have a subscription service, but you don't need to buy that in order to search for a pattern or post your own experiences on it. I use it quite a bit.
PS – nice blog! Welcome to a new addiction! Love, Mom