Rock 'n' Roll Collar

Its been 2 weeks as I have been away, also fostering a new dog which takes up a bit of time and back at work (booo).

This was another collar that I made, a bit by accident really. On ebay you can get some studs from China and I thought I would get them as they are cheep and try them out. I was impressed, nice colours and cuts through the leather dead easily. My only issue would be that when Beau scratches the paint may come off. 

Beau's Bow Tie

After my last attempt I decided to make another. I really like it but this time used my 201k. Amazing is how I would describe this machine, goes through anything like butter.

My issue with this latest creation is the bow, it is not heigh enough so you cant really see the amazing job i did on the corners of the collar. Again still doesn't fit even though its smaller than the last one. 

306k Dog Collar

One of the main reasons for buying a 306k was to use with leather. I have moaned for years about wanting to sew leather and thought I would need an industrial machine, but after some research I decided that a vintage singer would do the job. I liked the 306k as it has fashion disks to play with.

My first project was this dog collar for Beau, dead easy to make as it was made to measure (but a bit big still) martingale collar. 

I made some mistakes and the machine missed a few stitches, but other that that I am very pleased.

The Dogs Fancy Dress

For the past couple of years me and Beau have taken part in fun dog shows (see my other blog here as to why not proper dog shows), and I always love doing the fancy dress class as it makes so many people smile and laugh.

 In our first year Beau was a fairy and me a Princess, and last year we were both Dinosaurs. 

                       

So this year I wanted to go a little further,  as sooo many people says she looks like a Lion I decided to make her into a Lion from a children’s hat I brought from Ikea.

For her outfit I brought some caramel long fur that matched her ownfur colour, I added 2 panels to the hat, and then using brown paper made a pattern (I didn’t have any pattern paper). I had to hand stich it all as I was afraid it would all get caught up in the machine, I also had to add elastic to around behind her legs. I also made her a tail end, that keeps coming off.

       

For me I wanted to be a Safari man, so brought some beige linen trousers, brand new from a charity shop and decided to take the legs in as they were too wide. It was all going so well until I decided to be brave and take the waist band in. OH no, really shouldn’t have done that. I can just about fit in them and it pulls the zip out, so I made a waist band out of snow leopard cotton print to cover it up. I also had to use the same snow leopard material on my shirt and covered the cuffs and collar. I did a really good job with that.  Extras include, binoculars, safari hat and riffle.

We so far have won one and came third in another, not bad.

The sad thing is that now i look like a copy cat, as the ITV 2 channel has an ident with a chow as a Lion, and you can buy that outfit :\

Showerproof Dog Coat.

I had a lot oil cloth left over, intentional I might add, I know I can be stupid but didn’t think I would make that many mistakes with the sewing mat.

For a year now I wanted to make my dog Beau a dog coat that I could carry around on walks with me just in case of showers.

I used her existing coat as a pattern as it was such a good fit. The one issue was that I thought it would be a bit stuffy for her to wear so I decided to line it with 100% cotton.

Again I used my 306K. More issues with it this time, especially when their was oilcloth top and bottom, it just would not feed at all sometimes and the cotton would bunch up in the bobbin. Not good considering this was oilcloth and it actually pierced a hole. But generally very good when you got used to the feeder teeth pressure and tension, but having to remember all the time was a huge pain.

I did make 2 stupid mistakes.

1 – The strap was a bit too short and so instead of adding 2 equal sections together I added a 6inch bit on the end, that would sew together.

2 – The Velcro on the bag is not in the middle, so just the last inch actually sticks.

   Beaus carry bag

Button detail on the front. Her original

coat had elastic. 

Leg elastic to help it sit better on her  when she walked. 

                                           This was the best I could do with the strap. I know
                                       I could have hidden it in the lining but I know I would
                                                           have struggled with pins. 

The cock up on the bag.

Guthrie and Ghani – Snap Frame Purse Workshop

      During the Great British Sewing Bee, shown on BBC2 in Spring 2013, I heard them say that the final 3 were all from the West Midlands, so I decided to do a bit of digging on them. I came across Lauren Ghani, who was opening a shop in Mosley in Birmingham. I found her website and found out that she was opening a week after the final and was running sewing classes. I asked my sister if she fancied doing one and we both decided to do the ‘Snap Frame Purse’ workshop. Lucky for us, because the week after she hit the local news and all her workshops were booked up to September.

Grand opening

Lauren and her husband Ayaz

Full shop

Workshop

Coffee area

Coffee area

Cutting table

The shop was so nice and airy with a great selection of patterned material and haberdashery. It also has a coffee shop at the back with a great little area outside to chill out. Upstairs is the workshop and it is massive. Click here for a link to her website, and have a quick look at the blog and workshop tabs.

Our workshop was run by Lauren herself, she had only had a few classes before us in the previous weeks, and as a teacher myself she was very attentive to our needs, as we were all at different stages in the production process. Very helpful and also very keen for us to sort out our own problems out. I say this as it is very easy to take something out of your students hands and do it yourself, I myself do this, and I always kick myself later.

It was also a very small class of 6, so plenty of room and no waiting around for equipment. We all had a pattern ready for us and all our own machine, we could also choose our own materials from a box Lauren had prepared. The group didn’t know each other, bar me and my sis  and 2 other ladies, and most of us got on really well and can some great conversations.

I would highly recommend that if your newish or fancy a refresh or even just fun then book yourself onto one of her courses here!