Today I learnt something new!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit to this but I would have learnt this 3 years ago IF I HAD READ THE MANUAL! I know it is a classic - read the sodding manual. A bit of backgorund. Three years ago I bought my Janome QC 4900. As it was very similar to my old QC4800, I thought I knew everything I needed about this machine. Appearently not. Quite regularly when I was threading the top thread, something would go wrong and the thread would get stuck. It was as if the thread was caught in the tension discs somehow. I complained about this to the dealer when I took the machine in to be serviced. Well, I had a big revelation today. I was reading a sewing machine review of the QC4900 and there it was! There is actually a little green light that turns on to let you know that the machine is in "threading mode". Talk about feeling stupid! However, my dealer should have asked me if I was aware of this light when I was complaining about the tension discs. At least, that is my defense......

My new foot

Not a third foot - I guess this must be foot number 25 or so. It's called a border guide foot. I spotted this foot while surfing around on eBay and thought "what a good idea! I need it! (cough cough)." I promtly bought it and waited every day for it to arrive. And when it did, I was not disappointed. I tested the foot out and very pleased with it. This is what Janome says on their site:

"Having problems lining up or evenly spacing your border designs? Now the Border Guide Foot helps you to easily match up your border designs with the red lines of the foot. No need to mark every row beforehand!The secret to the border guide foot lies in the red guide marks. The two sets of vertical red lines are calibrated to allow perfect spacing of rows. The horizontal red line matches the needle drop so you can line up the start of each row. The small red mark denotes the center of the design for lining up with the marking for the first row."

Now all I need to do is use my embroidery functions a bit more...................

I've made my first bag!

As a long suffering City & Guilds Fashion student (I will be finishing in 2010), I have to do an accessory. I have decided to make a bag of some sort and since I've never made a bag before, I spied an excellent learning opportunity. So I took a bag making class with Stonemountain & Daughter. And this is what I made: a lined shoulder bag with a magnetic snap closure in Amy Butler fabric. I really enjoyed making this and it was SO easy. Maybe because there were no fitting issues? I'm now full of ideas for my C&G project. First step is to finalise the design before I make the real thing.

OK, so I didn't keep posting!

I started this year full of ambition about doing this sewing blog. Well, I didn't stick to writing as often as I should, but at least I have been sewing. I have made several of my projects I'm proud to say AND several projects which were not on my list. As soon as the sun is out, I will take some pictures to prove it!