Crossstitchforum - A FREE forum for Cross Stitchers

Well done. (I'd probably need a gin.)

That is some accidental purchase !

Mabel Figworthy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:47 am That is some accidental purchase !

I only bid £75 on it with the expectation that I did not have a chance and I got it for £64 The two different oils required have increased the cost by 20%

Needless to say I did not get as much progress on my cross stitch Fairy as I hoped.

Jo

It's so neat to see all the fun things everyone gets here.
I had to get a couple of new things to make my stitching easier:
I needed a bigger magnetic board for bigger charts.

I love that it's my favorite color blue, and it came with 3 magnets & you can prop it up as well.

I also needed better floss holders since the cardboard one that came with my cat and dog ornaments was falling apart.

These also helped me organize the tangled mess of wool that came with my new start Thai Cat.

I'm a great believer in magnetic boards. I usually prop mine up on an inexpensive metal book stand (the sort we used for holding paper when typing back in ye olde dayes). Works a treat.

I got several samples of faux leather at a good price, and of course Lexi had to inspect them. The last pic shows most of my collection of leathers and faux leathers.

Oooo! Shiny!

Well, yeah!

I mentioned my new Bernina at the sewing group and they said why not join the quilting group Then there was a discussion about you can't lug a Bernina to a quilting group what you need is a Lightweight machine, ideally a Featherweight. So Bernina now has a little sister:



It was claimed to be serviced but the non insulated pins on the cracked mains plug tells me that no one has touched it since before 1984, other than someone squirting some oil on her. I also found a suspect bit of tape in the foot controller which has been corrected Whilst she was originally photographed in a dark corner so I was not sure of her condition, there was only a couple of paint chips:



The good news is that tomorrow the clocks go back so I will gain an extra hour in each day to do all the things I plan to do in my retirement (How does anyone get time for work )

Jo

A Singer Sewing Machine that is white? Whatever is the world coming to? Going to the dogs, I tell you. Going to the dogs.

Looks like a nice little machine. Does it have a decent carry case? My mum's singer from the 50's had a pretty heavy plywood hood that went over the top. Was sturdy, but it made it 'portable' only by stretching the definition beyond breaking point. But.. you didn't need a forklift, at least. Hope it's not too heavy.

I have an admission. I use sewing machines, but I find the rotary shuttle utterly incomprehensible. The really old Singers with horizontally oscillating shuttles, I do understand, but the rotary ones baffle me. Must be a mental block.

Good choice.

Regards,

Richard.

Thank you Richard,

richardandtracy wrote: ↑Sun Mar 31, 2024 7:51 am A Singer Sewing Machine that is white? Whatever is the world coming to?

Its actually off white heading towards DMC 504 shade, but not as definite an aquamarine as 504.

It weighs in at 5Kg, where as the bare 730 Bernina is 10.5Kg.

It has a plywood case it sits in but I plan to fit it into a flight bag for transporting around to avoid the original case getting damaged. At 285mm long, 185mm wide and 230mm high ((11 1/4" by 7 1/4" by 9") it will fit in one with about 100mm to spare and space for boards with padding space either side . The extra 4" at either end in the flight bag will give me space for a pocket for the foot control and a box of accessories. I've ordered a flight bag and kitting it out that will give me something to make on the two of them while I learn stuff.

I learnt a lot about rotary shuttles yesterday: DO NOT OPERATE THE SEWING MACHINE WITHOUT A BOBBIN IN PLACE. I also learnt how to remove a rat's nest of threads under the shuttle mechanism if you do.


I may also have found a use for that Dragon Needle case front I made last year. I can make it up as a needle/scissor case for the Featherweight

I must do some work on my Fairy

Jo

What a perfectly wonderful dinky Singer!

I've done a quick modification to my Singer: The Featherweight shop sells "Thread Posts" which are designed to enable you to hold a cotton reel horizontally so you can take the thread from the end of the reel as intended rather than the side which twists the thread. These are made in plastic and each part is available as a spare... this tells me the plastic ones they sell break .

So I made my own in aluminium:



I am still learning how to use her

Jo

Interesting!

Clever!

Brilliant idea.

Regards,

Richard

What a lovely little singer Jo - I have a blue one built into a table that I am too afraid to use despite getting it services recently

Soooooo I did a thing.........



Please excuse the mess in the background! but this is my latest acquistion - not stitchy relatedd but definitely crafty.

I had been starting to look for a spinning wheel and came across a Haldane (produced in Scotland in the 70's and 80's) but it got sold. I then got a message from a lovely gentleman clearing out his fathers house with a whole load of crafting gear including this beauty.

I don't believe that it is a branded wheel - after discussion we believe it was made by his father, based on (I hope) ashford wheels. There were 3 but this one called to me. It seems to be in more or less working order. It needs a good dust/polish and probably some oil on the moving parts, and the brake band (I think) is broken and needs replacing but other than that its a lovely smooth motion. I also got a large lazy kate and several bobbins, a pair of hand carders, a handful of spinning based books and a drum carder - for £155!!!!! even second hand, branded wheels in this style go for at least 250 (to put that into perspective) hand carders are 75 a pair and drum carder (VERY expensive kit)

As soon as my car has passed its MOT next week, I will look at ordering a new brake band - and hope that ones for either ashfords or krmskis (the two main big brands) fit

Ive sent a message to my colleague who spins asking for a bit of advice too.

I think I am going to name her Arrietty. She feels like an Arrietty!

Off to admire her a bit more!

Arrietty is gorgeous!! Before you do anything further (like buy stuff) find your local Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers (wsd.org.uk) and join it. There you are likely to be able to initially borrow kit as well as pick the brains of like-minded folk. I’ve just started spindle spinning… another rabbit hole!!

Ha welcome to the world of spindle spinning Serinde - its quite addictive! My favourite supplier for roving and tops etc is Hilltop cloud, though I've recently bought from world of wool - but I've not used that yet.

I did go along to a guild meeting last week and I just didnt feel enthralled. Everyone was lovely and I enjoyed myself but I left feeling a bit deflated. Not sure if this guild will be for me. I may explore guilds in the neighbouring counties at some point though because they can be a very useful resource

Re: kit, my colleague has a wheel I can borrow if needs be and brake bands are around £5 a piece so I'll probably get an ashford and a Kromski and hope. It looks like he made his drive and brake bands anyway and the thread has just perished over the years so I *could* just attach new thread and be sorted. I need to figure out what wax/oil/polish to use as well because some of the bobbins are splitting and i reckon its cause theyre a bit on the dry side

I spent some time fiddling with her this morning and getting used to the treadling motion etc and I *could* spin without the brake band I think, but it would be VERY fast