Thursday, December 24, 2009
I'm Back
....with nothing to report, actually not true but as it's christmas and I have things to do (like shop). Anyway see you lot in a few days and merry christmas.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
My Internet is down
MY INTERNET IS DOWN AT THE MOMENT, I THINK THE SNOW HAS DAMAGED THE PHONE LINES. SO I'LL BE OUT OF ACTIONS FOR A FEW DAYS (HOPEFULLY). BTW IF YOUR WONDERING WHY I'M WRITING IN CAPITALS IT'S BECAUSE I'M USING MY IPHONE TO POST THIS MESSAGE & IT WON'T ALLOW ME TO SWITCH OFF THE CAPS LOCK KEY. I REALLY THINK BLOGGER HATES ME.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Handmade Kimono Outfit
Wow two posts in one day, must be on a roll.
In my last post I talked about my new Janome sewing machine (I love you) and the projects that were put on the backburner due to the old machine braking down (I love you too, just not as much as the new one).
One of these projects were to make a kimono and easy obi, I had already cut out the fabric and all the other bits and pieces, they just needed sewing. The first project I tackled was the easy obi, The fabric I used was in my fabric stash. Actually I had bought this fabric last year with the intentions of making the obi but for some reason it never happened till now. Anyway with the new sewing machine it took me about 1 1/2 hours to complete the obi.
The second project was a new ironing board cover, this was completed in less then a hour from start to finish!
In my last post I talked about my new Janome sewing machine (I love you) and the projects that were put on the backburner due to the old machine braking down (I love you too, just not as much as the new one).
One of these projects were to make a kimono and easy obi, I had already cut out the fabric and all the other bits and pieces, they just needed sewing. The first project I tackled was the easy obi, The fabric I used was in my fabric stash. Actually I had bought this fabric last year with the intentions of making the obi but for some reason it never happened till now. Anyway with the new sewing machine it took me about 1 1/2 hours to complete the obi.
The second project was a new ironing board cover, this was completed in less then a hour from start to finish!
The third project was to make a kimono. I had just brought a book which showed how to make kimono out of normal fabric, so I decided as I had the new sewing machine and the book I had no excuse not to make a kimono. The fabric was brought years ago with the intention of making it to a kimono but I never got around to it. I bought this fabric because I saw one on Mamechiyo's blog and I thought it looked quite good to wear.
In all it took me about nine hours to finish the kimono and 4 hours to finish the obi. I'm quite pleased with the result, the obiage is the one in the short post post, the bat obiage. The obi is the reversible easy obi mentioned above.
The book I used is this one
Now I do have to warn you even though this book has a pattern for the kimono, I found this book quite difficult to use, of course it's in japanese and there are some photos of the steps in making the kimono however most of the instructions are written. If you can read japanese that's fine, I don't, so I was relying on the photos. Also it only shows you how to make the kimono and has a small section at the back for making the obi, I brought this book hoping there would be a pattern for making tabi but it does not have one. I paid £17 for this book and I don't think it's worth it.
All Hail, My new Sewing Machine
It's been a while since I last updated my blog, I would use the excuse it's christmas and I've been busy but thats only partially true. The other truth is that I've been lazy.... and I have a new sewing machine.
My old sewing machine was a basic with no frills and it cost me £50. I had this machine for a few years and trust me I've used and abused it during that time (I once spilled some water on it and it leaked inside) but it still carried on like a work horse. That was until a month ago when I started on my easy obi, for some reason the sewing machine would not sew no matter what I did. I was thinking of taking it to be repaired however it would cost about £50, thats how much I paid for the machine!
So I was on the market for a new sewing machine, thankfully Lisa from U-Handbag had just test drived a Janome sewing machine (Janome 8077). This new machine usually costs £330 but Janome was having a promotion so it went down to £250, now my old sewing machine cost me £50 so if I was to buy this sewing machine it would cost 5 times as much as my old one! However after reading the review I decided that because I use the sewing machine so much I really should invest in a decent one. So I brought it.
My old sewing machine was a basic with no frills and it cost me £50. I had this machine for a few years and trust me I've used and abused it during that time (I once spilled some water on it and it leaked inside) but it still carried on like a work horse. That was until a month ago when I started on my easy obi, for some reason the sewing machine would not sew no matter what I did. I was thinking of taking it to be repaired however it would cost about £50, thats how much I paid for the machine!
So I was on the market for a new sewing machine, thankfully Lisa from U-Handbag had just test drived a Janome sewing machine (Janome 8077). This new machine usually costs £330 but Janome was having a promotion so it went down to £250, now my old sewing machine cost me £50 so if I was to buy this sewing machine it would cost 5 times as much as my old one! However after reading the review I decided that because I use the sewing machine so much I really should invest in a decent one. So I brought it.
I'm in LOVE with this sewing machine!!!!
My old machine couldn't really get thought thick layers of fabric even with a denim needle, but this machine goes through the layers like a hot knife through butter and thats with a normal needle! This machine has all the features I used to dream about when I had my old sewing machine, a drop in bobbin and a needle threader!
Man this sewing machine has made me want to finish all the projects I've started but not finished.
Oh, nearly forgot I must mention my BF paid for this machine and gave it to me as a christmas present! All I can say to the BF is THANK YOU! and I love you and the sewing machine.
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