News From The Sewing Room

For the last couple of months, I have been really busy in my sewing room, replacing sold items and running up custom orders, as well as finally finding time to stitch some of the ideas in my head. Having got lots of ideas out of my head though, lots more have flooded in to take their place and my "to sew" list is now even longer!

I have been on a couple of fabric buying sprees too. Going to fabric shops is always a risky business with me. I go in with my shopping list of sewing machine needles, different colour threads and interfacing and can't help browsing the rolls of fabric. I end up muttering aloud over the rolls, checking the fabric for weight and feel, assessing the pattern and thinking what I can make from it. I really don't stand a chance, I can't help but buy a new fabric or five.

Six new handbags have been added to my online stores. I like them all (I only make stuff I like!) but a few I really, really like. I am keeping them out of my sight to save the temptation of keeping them.

















As well as the new handbags, there are some new home ware items too, including a new peg bag fabric and five new door stop fabrics. Door stops are also now available in the pyramid style or a more upright style with a top handle. Hopefully the new style will prove to be just as popular as the pyramid ones.

New Lease of Life for Machines

Like a lot of people, I learnt to sew on an old Singer sewing machine.  The first one I used was a treadle machine that my mother was given for her 21st birthday.   It was beautifully decorated with painted flowers across the machine and I used to have a lot of fun seeing how fast I could make the machine go whilst frantically rocking the large foot plate backwards and forwards.

Even at school all of my sewing classes were on old Singer sewing machines.  The majority were electric versions but I think there were still a few that had the handle on the side for manually turning the wheel.  After school I bought a second hand electric Singer which looked almost modern in shape but only sewed in a straight line or zigzag.  It didn't even reverse!  A few years ago I invested in a computerised Brother machine which offers 39 stitches, most of which I never actually use.

The majority of old Singer machines have long since been abandoned and nobody seems to want them or know what to do with them, which is a bit sad really.  I still think they are far more attractive to look at than modern machines but I guess most of us don't even want one for decorative purposes around the house.  You see them for sale quite often for literally only a few pounds.

On a trip to Las Vegas last month, I was quite surprised to find hundreds of old sewing machines being used in the ultra modern Crystals, City Centre.  One of the resident stores is the clothing shop All Saints.  Their plate glass window  was filled with row upon row of old sewing machines.  It was utterly fabulous, very eye-catching.  Lots of people were taking photos, so it obviously struck a chord with them too.  For me, it was a fantastic use of unwanted sewing machines as well as a nod back to the rag trade of the past from a very modern present.

News From The Sale Room

Whether its an auction, a charity shop, a car boot or jumble sale, I can't resist a poke about for anything that takes my interest. Needless to say, I am always hopeful I might find some long lost treasure that no one else has noticed but for me treasure comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. With a few auction houses locally, most weeks I am either viewing, bidding or collecting something or other.

This week I have had mixed fortunes in the sale rooms. I left a number of bids at one general sale, mainly on textiles and managed to have the highest bid on one box of textiles. I was quite pleased as it included an old patchwork quilt which I thought would be good for cutting up and using for some bags. When I went to collect the lot, the auction house were slightly embarrassed to admit that the lot had gone missing. Someone had obviously taken it with lots they had purchased and who knew who that had been. Very annoying to say the least!

Thankfully at a local fine art and antiques auction, I viewed and left 8 bids and managed to win 3 of them. And what an eclectic mix of items I have ended up with! The first lot was an Art Nouveau beaded handbag with a faux tortoiseshell Bakelite frame. The frame is marked made in France and the bag probably dates from around 1900-1910. It is in remarkable good condition for its age with only a small amount of bead loss for the fringe. The other item with it is also beaded and was described as an offertory pouch, presumably from a church.

The next lot I liked because it also included a vintage petit point handbag as well as a small petit point coin purse with an expanding metal top. The lot also included a petit point card case, petit point powder compact, a powder compact in a leather case and about 10 pairs of vintage gloves, mainly leather. Slightly more oddly, the lot also came with various old envelopes containing foreign stamps. Not quite sure how stamps fit in with handbags, gloves and powder compacts but that's auctions for you.

The third lot I was actually after a large box of vintage buttons. I have an absolute weakness for an old button tin. The sound the buttons make as you run your hands through them reminds me of the sea rushing over pebbles on a beach. Fabulous! I can spend hours sorting through a button tin I have just purchased finding all the ones I like and cleaning them up for use on sewing projects such as my peg bags.

As well as the hundreds of buttons in a box, the lot also came with some old jigsaw puzzles, dominoes, chess pieces, a building block set, some of which was in an old chocolate box and the most random item of all. The final item was described in the catalogue as an old electrical item. A bit of googling revealed that it is a Victorian electric shock treatment machine! Just the sort of thing you would expect to find with lots of old toys really. And that is precisely why I love auctions, until you walk through the door of the sale room, you never know what you are going to find. No two auctions are ever the same, something will always catch your eye and surprise you. Who can resist taking a look?

Magazine Bliss

A couple of years ago if you perused the shelves for craft magazines, all you could find were magazines on knitting, crochet, cross stitch, card making or beading. They all seemed to stick rigidly to their particular corner of the craft market and every other area was ignored. It was to be honest quite frustrating.

I was quite surprised recently to find a whole of craft magazines brimming from the shelves in the newsagent. Before you could blink, I have bought three I had never heard of before.

The first, Craftseller was only on issue 7, so is obviously a relative newcomer. The tag line is "Make and sell your handmade crafts". Perfect for the likes of me then. As well as being packet with four pages of readers letters it has sewing, knitting, chocolate making, crochet, cross stitch, beading and much more. There really is just about something for everyone in it for the beginner to the more experienced crafter. It is also a good source of information for suppliers.

Mollie Makes was also only on issue 10, so must be another recent comer to the magazine market. The overall vibe of this one is definitely more vintage, shabby chic. The matt cover rather than glossy and softly coloured photos inside give it a more upmarket feel and vintage feel.

The final choice was Making - beautiful crafts for you home. The cover offered 25 original projects for stylish living and included paper roses, a crochet throw, classic bean bag, pillow mat for sleepovers and doll's house bookcase. What more could you honestly ask for in a magazine? The whole of the content is well laid out and easy to follow with good illustrations.

Needless to say, since buying them all I really haven't had much time to read them but they are magazines you can just dip in and out of. They are all definitely worth keeping for future reference. I will also buy them all again in the future, though probably not at the same time. At about £5 each, to buy all three every month would soon stack up. I guess you have to skim them and make a choice every month. I'm not sure I could choose between them though as they all have so much to offer. Maybe I will have to take out some subscriptions offers instead.

A Gift From A Gift

My 11 year old niece was given a sewing kit for Christmas, consisting of threads, precut fabric squares, buttons, needles and other bits and bobs. Apparently she was absolutely thrilled with it all and quite excited about sewing some bits together.

When I saw her at New Year, she very proudly gave me two squares sewn together with a button in the middle. The items had come from her kit and she told me that it was the first piece of sewing by hand she had ever done. I was quite touched that she wanted to give it to me - well, I hope she meant me to keep it, as I didn't give it back! The sewing now sits in my study on a shelf with photos of her and her siblings.

I was slightly surprised that she had not been taught to sew before. I remember learning decorative stitches at school when I was about six and sewed a cushion, soft toys and a sun dress by hand at school when I was nine and ten. I guess it is a sign of the times, school curriculums have changed and old fashioned home making skills have taken a back seat.

I hope my niece continues to sew, being able to sew to such a useful life skill. I heard at the weekend that she hasn't done any more since but hopefully, with some encouragement she will soon.

"Fifty Bags That Changed the World"

Whilst I was out trawling the shops for Christmas presents a few weeks ago, I stumbled by chance across a book that completely intrigued me. "Fifty Bags That Changed the World" is published by the Design Museum and charts the history of bags from 1860 through to 2010. It catalogues 50 bags which it obviously believes have had the most impact on our lives during that time. Some of their choices I would definitely agree with, others have completely passed me by and I am sure most people who aren't fashionistas.

The book starts with the famous budget box that is used each year by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK when the annual budget is announced. I had no idea this iconic briefcase was first used by the politician William Gladstone around 1860. Apparently the case is in such poor condition that it was withdrawn from service following the budget in 2010.

The book moves on covering iconic bags such as carpet bags, saddlebags, doctor's bags, bicycle panniers and gas mask bags, all of which certainly deserve their places in the book. Also mentioned is the introduction of Louis Vuitton's steamer bags which inspired the whole range still available today and the metal mesh handbags of the 1920's. Other noteworthy bags covered are the TWA airline bag, the Hermes Kelly bag and Birkin, as well as the Fendi baguette.

One bag which really captured my interest was the Ferragamo handbag favoured by UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Who knew that a woman well known for her safe, blue suits carried a designer handbag? I too young at the time to pay any attention to the Iron Lady's fashion choices but looking at the photo of her crocodile skin handbag now, I definitely see her in a whole new light.

Out of the 50 bags mentioned in the book, if I had to choose the one that I feel has had the most impact, positive and negative, on the world it would have to be the plastic shopping bag. The concept was the brainchild of Sten Gustaf Thulin, a Swedish engineer, in the early 1960's. Reigning triumphant in the world of bags for well over 40 years, nobody ever really considered the environmental impact of the countless plastic bags all over the planet. Whilst it is now the villain, there is no getting away from the fact that the humble plastic bag definitely changed the world.

Sunday Serendipity

Don't you love it when you make a mental note to buy something and then prompty stumble across it when you aren't looking? Only one word can sum it up - serendipity.

Having ploughed through a pile of sewing yesterday, I had run out of cream thread and was virtually out of white too, so made a mental note to buy some more in the week. I could have popped out to the supermarket today, which needless to say is open Sundays, but it really wasn't worth it. There were far more pressing things to do, such as take our old mattress to the dump.

My husband and I just about managed to fold our king size mattress in half and shoe horn it into the back of my car and popped down to the dump with it. As I have mentioned before in blog posts, the local dump has a "shop" on site where they sell items on to reduce the waste going to landfill. It is always worth a browse, you just never know what you will find.

Guess what? I found a clear plastic bagged full of cotton thread, a needle threader, safety pins, some elastic and some really strong carpet thread (no idea what that's for though, carpets?). Even better, there was a reel of cream and a reel of white cotton. Not to mention the "silver sand" thread which is always useful! And the cost of my find? A very reasonable 50 pence.

So there we are. Some would call it coincidence. Some would argue I cosmically ordered it. I just call it serendipity.