My sewing machine cover

We have a new challenge,thanks to Kandy and BQL. Each month we will be asked to make something useful, and eventually we will have some presents ready for Christmas. Such a good idea.

For January we were asked to make a sewing machine cover.

Here we go.

 My idea was to make some irregular log cabin blocks, these will become 7" squares. I needed 9 of them.
The problem is that this design kind of disappeared at the end. Maybe it was too small.

 This is the squared up block, on purpose skewed.

 Then I cut it into 4 squares 3 1/2". Mix and match them  to make a panel. Mine was 18" by 18", to fit the blocks and I added 2 bands of fabric to have a finished main part of 18" by 20", to cover the front, top and back of my machine.
To make your own measure your machine and try to find a size of block that will work.

 This is my panel finished and quilted. I still need to cut the wadding on the sides.

 These are my side shapes, again it depends on the machine you have. The pieces of fabric are quilted with simple straight lines.

 Now I cheated a bit. As my side panel seemed to be a bit too long, I matched the centre of the panel with the centre of the side part. The side was longer but it was easy to cut down after sewing. At the same time I caught my inside binding to hide the seams inside. It is all neat after some hand stitching.

 This is the cover before putting the final binding at the bottom.
As you can see this cover is for my machine when it is inserted in the sewing table. I do have a hard cover when carrying it.

 Side view !

View of the top.

It's all finished with binding done. Nice and cosy. It is really cold outside.

Have fun sewing.

Pascale.

Little lavender houses

I found this tutorial to make a house ornament from Retro Mama. Inspired I thought I would try to make some. They seem particularly appropriate as we have just moved house.

 I made 6 of them, and added some lavender to the filling.

They are gorgeous, if I may say so.

Have a great day sewing,

Pascale

I'm back!

Thank you for staying during this brief interruption of the program...
Time has gone quickly and I am ready to take my blog again.
So first I will wish you a Merry Christmas/ Joyeux Noel. Mine was very good with all the family in France. Thank you.
Then I can wish you a Happy New Year/ Bonne Annee 2012. The french know that with the rush to prepare everything for Christmas, they won't have time to write cards. So they allow themselves to send them until the end of January. See I'm not even late.

The big news is that we have moved. Like always, everything goes quickly at the end. We moved on the 2nd of December to a bigger house, 10 minutes from the previous one.
It is strange to pass in front of the old one, and to see the carpets and cupboards go in a skip. I'm better about it, it's not my house any more.
The new one is better but it will take us time to make it feel like our home. It is good with the girls and our furniture.... but it doesn't smell right, yet. And we need time to redecorate a bit, change a few things, and hang pictures and quilts on the walls.
The best that happened is that I have a sewing room! I have some photos to show you later, with some changes done already.

Now for some sewing.
While trying to sort out a lot of fabric (I don't know where it all comes from), I found a piece that I used for a craft project when I was around 12 years old. We made a round bag with a zip in school (I don't know where it is any more), and at home I made a pencil case.

So here is my new pencil case, same fabric but with a different technique.

Have a great time sewing.

Pascale.