We have just hit 'Lockdown 2' as I write, so I thought I would share with you a glimpse of a couple of tools of my trade...as I hunker down once more.
I'm sure that thanks to 'The Great British Sewing Bee' many of you will have become well-acquainted with your sewing machines and I'm no different! For more than 25 years, my trusty old friend Frister + Rossmann has served me proud.
An insightful gift from my lovely Mom - the wonderful woman who taught me to use her Bernina sewing machine before I started primary school (the health & safety bods would have a field day - but that was then!)
I've lost count of the curtains, pelmets & cushions I've made on this old faithful (especially during 15 years in interior design), not to mention enough fancy dress costumes to fill a wardrobe to overflowing.
This is a typical, if not old-fashioned, mechanical based sewing machine. Any fancy stitches are achieved by slot-in discs - unlike the fully electronic systems of the newer snazzy 'young pretenders'; 99% of the time, straight stitch and zig-zag are all that are needed. It's a bit like the top end microwave oven that has hundreds of functions, but how many of us just actually set the timer and ping ping, ding ding, sorted? I do have a stretch stitch function, but when working with mainly stretch fabrics such as viscose jersey, an overlocker is a game changer!
So sitting alongside the F+R is my newer friend Janome. (They are both set up and ready to go!)
Overlockers can be a bit scary if you have never used one before, feeling super-complicated to thread by comparison, but like everything - practice makes perfect.
Beautifully finished seams, edges and rolled hems every time!
Note the home-made foam pad underneath to help prevent the machine 'jumping' on my table as I whizz along at max speed most of the time.
I would guess I use the the overlocker 80% of the time and my sewing machine 20% (a bit of Pareto there).
The Janome is the workhorse of Ranfire Design and allows me to convert my creativity into real-life projects.
Like a proud parent - I love them both, but for different reasons!
Wishing you happy hours of lockdown creativity. xxx
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