One year on ...

A year into my 'new' sewing machine and it seems like a good time to review it. I can't believe a whole year has passed since Meg dispatched my old one.

I feel like I have only scratched the surface of the features available, there are still new buttons, menus and feet to explore. But I am picking up new techniques along the way as I need them.

I find myself often referring to the user manual, something I don't normally do with electronics, (it's much more fun to guess and make a mess of things) but this one is easy to use and not only shows me how to use the machine, but sewing techniques too. It's extremely useful.

The joy of electronic rather than manual controls is that when I have messed around with something fundamental like the stitch length or mode, once it has been turned off, it forgets and comes on like new again in standard sewing mode. No unexpected flying off in a zig-zag...

I still love the most basic features; the automatic thread snipper, the see-through bobbin holder (so I can see when I am going to run out), the variable speed control so I can go slow when doing something tricky. And it is so lovely and quiet. I also love the fact it is humming with as yet untapped potential for when I am ready to explore it.

So perhaps not the most illuminating review, but in summary I love this machine. It's seen me through my first year in quilting in style, let's see what the next year holds for us...

2012

January

2012 started with great promise, the year in which I finally quit my day job to commit to M is for make full time. It started with the amazing technicoloured dream quilt, the first I had finished and the one I use the most.

February

In February, I finally finished the gathering flowers quilt for my daughter, almost a year in the making. Not ably assisted by the new addition to our house; Meg. Meg who chewed through the power cable of my sewing machine allowing another new addition to the house. I wuv you new sewing machine.

New addition #2

March

March found me nostalgic for the kind of quilts my mum made when I was a child and I embarked on my first trip into English paper piecing. Enter the Rogue Hexagon Quilt. How I love this quilt, these are my most favourite colours. This one went to my boy and saw him wrapped up in it whatever the weather at night, and me trying to unwrap him so that he isn't slow-baked by the morning. I finally finished the quilt here.

New look M is for make

I spent months working on the new look M is for make behind the scenes, I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Summer

The Summer was spent on my next EPP quilt for better and for worse. I spent quite a lot of the Christmas holidays adding to this quilt and still think it might be my favourite; so many memories. I've decided that whatever project I have on the go, I will always have an EPP quilt as backup to travel with me. I will share the finished quilt (when hopefully I finish it) in 2013.

October

I made my first quilt for a gift in October and thoroughly love this Chickopee quilt as it fueled my obsession with triangles.

Autumn

I am still struggling to make sense of life after Autumn, waking up one morning blissfully unaware of how everything will change that day. Things that have become clear this year are the importance of family, friends, memories, taking photos. In 2012 I have appreciated the extraordinary kindness of friends and been marked by experiences that I will never forget.

The last few months of the year have been spent busy sewing 2 very special quilts for Christmas, I will share them with you in more detail next year, but yes, they involve triangles.

November: for my sister

December: for my mum

And on the last day of 2012 I feel very ready for 2013, how about you? Ready for something new and great, and look; here they are...

Hello Kitty

Wishing you a happy new year, and thank you so much for joining me in 2012,

Kate

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Guest blog and dress pattern review

Thank you to Emily for this wonderful pattern review of the Family Reunion Dress by Oliver & S.

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I'd been wanting to try out an Oliver + S pattern for a while, but for various reasons hadn't got round to it. However, when I saw the 'Family Reunion Dress' pattern on their blog I knew it would be perfect - we were due to go to my aunty and uncle's 25th wedding anniversary party, Munchkin needed a frock, and that it was such an appropriately named pattern was obviously a sign that should buy it :) I liked the look of the pin tucks, the button-up back and the yoke.

But horror of horrors, my favourite stockist of pretty patterns and desirable fabrics (M is for Make, obviously :) did not stock it! With a bit of a persuasive email to Kate I managed to have the pattern land on my doormat a few weeks later. There was about a month before the party, so I had plenty of time. I decided to make up a muslin to make sure everything fitted and to practice the pintucking, and so I traced off the pattern pieces and cut them out of some cheap cotton I had in my stash.

And then I found out I was pregnant. Hurray! And then about a week later the morning sickness kicked in. My sewing mojo went out the window. I was in bed before 9pm most nights. If I wasn't in bed I was busy eating savoury snacks to try and keep the nausea at bay.  I couldn't focus on any particular task for more than 10 minutes without needing a lie down on the sofa. Progress ground to a halt. The forlorn pieces of cheap cotton started to gather dust on the sideboard.

Fast forward to a week before the party, and I knew I had to get my skates on or accept defeat and pop in to M&S to buy a back-up. So I took a deep breath, ate a bag of japanese rice crackers and started to sew.

As I was so short for time I had abandoned my muslin, but I was still worried about sewing the pintucks, as I hadn't done any before. Before I made a start on the 'proper' dress, I took my dusty muslin pieces and transferred the pattern markings on the front and back, and then had a pintuck practice run. This was most helpful, and meant I felt more confident when I sewed them on the final dress. If you're not quite sure about getting them right, I'd recommend it. One of the things I loved about the pattern was the detailed instructions, and the steps on pintucks are no exception. There are a couple of handy hints on getting a neat finish, and there's a glossary as part of the instructions if you don't understand what any of the terms mean.

I plodded along through the rest of the pattern, stopping for savoury snack breaks and naps where appropriate. Everything is explained along the way, and the diagrams that accompany the instructions are very clear. I often struggle with commercial patterns from the big four as there aren't enough pictures for me, but this was perfect. I think the whole thing took me 3 or 4 evenings to complete, although I really wasn't at my best and I think under normal circumstances it would have taken 2. The trickiest thing about the whole process was finding buttons that matched my fabric, and I ended up sewing them on the dress in the car on the way to the party!

The fabric I used was a quilting weight cotton, and I think it was ideal for the style of dress. Anything heavier and you wouldn't get the crispness of the pintucks - although a babycord might work. It would be perfect in chambray as well, and you could use scraps of a contrasting fabric for the neck facing and the button tab, and maybe a bit of applique on the body of the dress. You can sew the pattern in a blouse length as well, which is what I'm planning to do with another pretty print that I've found, once the morning / afternoon / evening sickness abates and I can stay up past 8pm.

In conclusion, it was a lovely pattern to sew. Even down to the paper that the pattern is printed on, it oozes quality. The fit was perfect - my daughter has not long turned three, and her measurements matched the pattern envelope exactly for size 3T. The design and sewing techniques that are used produce a very high quality dress, and one that I am sure I'll be passing down to Munchkin's little cousins (and maybe even a future sister?).

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Thanks Emily and congratulations - I hope the morning sickness has eased by now! Keep your feet up,

Kate
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