1900s Sewing Machine

Today I went to visit my Nana, and Dad had mentioned a few days ago that she had an old sewing machine hanging around so I was dying to have a look.

After the usual cup of tea and a Kit-Kat, I asked her about it, then went to get it from the corner of her bedroom cupboard. It was remarkably heavy, and I could barely lift it, but I managed to haul it to the kitchen table. It still has its original wooden case.

She said that it had been her grandmother's, and that she thinks that it is from the 1900s. It hasn't been touched for years, as she certainly hasn't sewn in a while. However, the wheel still turns by using the handle and it has a fairly smooth motion.

It has a very attractive design, and while it is not as efficient as modern machines, it definitely looks nicer. The gold patterns make it look like a decorative item as well as a piece of machinery.

What's In My Sewing Box?

I have two sewing boxes, one that is big (38cm x 28cm) and one that is small (23cm x 16cm). The smaller one has two compartments; the 'belly' of the box and a transparent shelf above.

The Big One

This box has:
- threads (not including a large black because it is in the sewing machine)
- buttons
- beads
- large scissors
- buckles etc
- elastic and other components if I have them

The Small One

The top tray:

The tray has:
- poppers
- hook and eyes
- small scissors
- bows and other decorations
- ring pulls from cans
- safety pins
- threads plait
- seam ripper/quick unpick
- needles
- thimble

The bottom:

This section has:
- zips
- piping cord
- ribbon
- tailor's chalk
- tape measure
- pins (white box)

All of my machine things, like spare bobbins, needles, and machine feet, are kept either inside or next to the sewing machine, rather than in one of the boxes. I have very limited space and so have the bare minimum inside the boxes.

I Made My PROM DRESS!

I decided to alter this dress - my mum originally wore it to my auntie's wedding as her bridesmaid.

To begin with, I changed the sleeves/straps from the large puffed ones to the 3cm straps. I unpicked them from the dress, then used the fabric to make straps and restitched them. 

Then I took it up by about 30cm by hand stitching the outer and machine stitching the lining. (Before hand stitching I zigzag stitched the raw edges).

I then took it in by pinning it when it was on me, and drawing chalk lines either side of the fold. Then I unpinned, took it off and tacked it so that the fold was on the inside. Then I machine stitched it.

All in all it took quite a while because I kept double checking everything because I was really anxious about making a mistake, but I don't regret the decision to make it at all. Prom was so much fun and everyone looked amazing!

I have lots of projects lined up for the summer, so now that this is done I can concentrate on those!

Ten Tips When Upcycling

(1) Even if you are not constantly making things, for every item of clothing/bag/shoes that you have to throw away, make sure that you cut off any zips/buttons/poppers/buckles/anything that would be useful.
(2) Sketch all ideas first. Even if you know exactly what you are doing, just double check that it does what you want it to do.
(3) Experiment with new ideas. After all, the clothes you are using were previously unwanted, so it doesn't matter if you make a mistake, right?
(4) Unpick and sew again until you get it right. Never think 'Oh that will do' when making, because it will only mean that it will be more difficult later.
(5) Always tack (or at least pin) before sewing.
(6) Test the sewing machine on scrap fabric first - simple I know but the amount of times I don't bother and something goes wrong is a lot!
(7) Use the right colour thread, even if it means buying more. There is nothing worse than two pinks clashing.
(8) Use a well lit working area. Invest in a cheap spotlight or two to shine on your work, especially if you do most of it in the evenings.
(9) If you are stuck for inspiration, make a mood board.
(10) Most of all, enjoy it - put some music on. Remember that this is meant to be a hobby, not a stress!

Mini Hobbycraft Haul

Today I went to Hobbycraft and bought a couple of things (not a lot though as I have no money).

- Black and white thread, 1000 metres, and purple and blue thread, 100 metres - I had run out of these colours, so wanted some more - £1.50 each for the black and white and £1.49 each for the purple and blue
- Machine needles size 90/14 - I bought some before that were 80/12s and my sewing machine hated them and they all broke so I'm trying something new - £2.30
- Hand needles (pack of 50) - for some reason, all of my needles have bent or are really blunt, so I needed some more - £1.00
- Scissors - since I used my old ones for my textiles GCSE project, involving a lot of leatherette, they are now really blunt - £1.50
- Tailor's chalk - I'm tired of using old white pencils to draw on fabric - £1.80

So that is it, unfortunately I couldn't buy any more but these were some essentials that I really needed and now hopefully I can do some more projects!

thatupcyclingqueen

Make: Women's Top From Old Men's Shirt

Adapted from Issue 14 of Cloth magazine (out of print)

You will need:
- Large shirt, ideally with double cuff - I used my dad's which is from M&S and size 41cm 16in
- Buttons of various colours that are the same shape as the ones on the shirt
- Elastic
- Unpicker
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Pins
- Hand needle

How to:
(1) Remove the pocket from the shirt if it has one (mine did not) with the unpicker
(2) Place on a tailor's dummy or a helpful friend and button up
(3) Mark the start and end of five to seven pin tucks (depending on the size of shirt) either side of the front using pins. Make them 1cm apart and 25cm long from the shoulder seam.
(4) Press so that the start and end line up and pin in place. Sew 0.5cm from the fold.
(5) Repeat until all tucks are sewn.
(6) Press towards sleeves on both sides.
(7) Top stitch up the centre front of the shirt from the hemline (for about 10cm) to close up the bottom of the shirt.
(8) Lay flat and cut the back level with the front (men's shirts are longer at the back).
(9) Unpick the rest of the hem at the bottom and even out the cutting out. Cut a few small notches along the bottom.
(10) Fold a 2cm double hem and press. Sew closely to the folded over edge.
(11) Measure the hem, divide by four, and cut two pieces of elastic this length.
(12) Pin the centre of one piece of elastic over one side seam (on the inside)
(13) Stretch to middle of the front and zigzag stitch in place. This is quite difficult, so if you find that it helps you can add some tacking to the original pin, then tack the end in place. Then you can half the rest, and tack half way along, and keep halving the sections until most of it is laid out.
(14) Stretch the other side to the middle of the back and repeat the sewing
(15) Repeat these stages with the other piece of elastic on the other side seam.
(16) Unpick every other button. Replace with the buttons that you picked. I personally loved the yellow colour contrasting with the blue of my shirt.
(17) Cut the cuffs off of the sleeves
(18) Sew a narrow double hem at the bottom of the sleeves, so that the sleeves could still be worn down.
(19) Cut one cuff in half lengthways. Turn under the raw edges, press, and top stitch all around. If a single cuff, then allocate one cuff per tab instead of half.
(20) Turn sleeves inside out. Machine one 'tab' to each arm, about halfway down.
(21) Turn right way around. Roll sleeves up to required depth and add a button to the outer sleeve. Repeat for other sleeve. Therefore the button hole from the cuff (now a tab) can be used to roll up the sleeves!

Make: Circle Skirt From Spare Fabric

You will need:
- Linen fabric (I used some old curtains) in a square - about 2m
- Pins
- Zip
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Measuring tape
- Calculator

How to:
(1) Take your fabric. Fold in half, then in half again.
(2) Measure your waist. Divide by 6.28 on your calculator to find the radius. Then, returning to your fabric, measure your radius from the one corner with no raw edges, and pin a rough circle.
(3) Cut out
(4) Measure from that the desired length of your skirt. Pin the rough circle again.
(5) Cut out
(6) Spread out so that it looks like a big doughnut. Cut straight to the centre from the edge (to be where the zip is inserted).
(7) Insert the zip, and sew the rest of the seam.
(8) Hem the top and bottom of the skirt. In order to make it easier, I made a lot of small snips at about 2cm intervals around the circles, so they can fold over easily.

I had to add some emergency darts to mine because it was too big, so if you find that once it is made that it falls off you, sew two in the front and two in the back, ensuring that they are even distance from the zip or centre of the skirt.

Make: a Cushion Out of an Old Jumper

You will need:
- Main body of a cardigan/jumper with buttons up the front (look in charity shops or use one from an old childhood memory like I did)
- Cushion pad (square) that would fit inside the cardigan - make sure you know it's width
- Sewing machine
- Matching thread
- Scissors
- Pins
- Hand needle

Instructions:
(TIP) Beforehand, I sewed some blue trim to the left of my buttons, so do this before the other stages!
(1) Close the buttons on the front of the cardigan
(2) Turn inside out
(3) Measure your cushion pad, then half the width. Measure from the centre of the cushion (the buttons) the halved width either side, and place pins to mark it.
(4) Pin straight lines in line with the pins placed, parallel to the buttons.
(5) Sew straight down and trim off any excess.
(6) Measure from the bottom the width of your cushion. Pin in a horizontal line like before.
(7) Sew a straight line and trim off excess.
(8) Sew the bottom about 0.5cm from the edge. Don't panic - remember that the buttons still undo!
(9) Undo the buttons and turn the right way around.
(10) Place the pad inside and adjust the sewing accordingly.

Hello and Welcome to My Blog!

Hi Everyone!

The focus of this blog is on upcycling (turning old, unwanted things into something new). I will upload pictures of my projects, along with how I did them. I cannot guarantee regular updates, but I will upload some of my older projects to begin with.

thatupcyclingqueen