Wonderling

Best Sewing Machine?

I'm in the market for a new sewing machine. The one I have is a very basic one...I think it has 10 stitches and that's it. But at the time that's all I wanted. Now I'm finding that I want more! 

So I'm stuck. There are three machines that all have great reviews, similar functions and are all in the price range that I am looking to spend. 

So if anyone has any experience with these machines and would like to offer some adivice I would greatly appreciate it.

The Singer 7442. There are several Singer machines that I like. This is the one I would most likely buy. It has all the stitches I'm looking for, drop in bobbin, and really good reviews. It runs about 180.00

The Brother CS6000. I'm leaning more toward this one. It has all the stitches, drop in bobbin, comes with lots of extra presser feet and a hard case. This one is also 180.00. 

Lastly, the Brother CE5000. This is a "project runway" machine. It has really good reviews and seems to do most of what the above Brother machine does and also comes with extra presser feet (although I can't seem to find a site/review that says exactly which feet those might be). I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between this one and the CS6000 other than the price. This one is only 100.00.

Knitting for a natural baby

image by Wool Windings

On Saturday I went to the baby shower of a good friend of mine. She's going as natural as possible with the birth and baby accessories, which is wonderful. Knowing that she's going to be using cloth diapers I thought it might be fun to whip up some soakers for her. I haven't really been knitting much lately, but I found that soakers are insanely easy to knit. I actually knit one up the morning of the shower in about an hour and a half. Because I was pushing it with time I didn't stop to take pictures, but I'll share a few tips and patterns. 

There are a few free patterns on the web and I'd reccommend them over buying a pattern. It's not hard to customize or tweak the basics of a soaker patter, so the basic pattern is really all you need. 

I used this Punk Knitters pattern by Ms. Crafty Galore, but here's a site that lists other free soaker patterns.

Some interesting things to note: 

 - soakers should be 100% wool. Some people say at least 75%, but it's much easier to fine 100% wool.

 - soakers may need to be treated with lanolin from time to time to maintain their waterproof quality. They make spray lanolin now, which makes this much easier. Some people recommend treating them right away, other say that's not needed. 

 - the soaker will eventually stretch. I altered the pattern by using much smaller needles on the ribbed waistband and not including a drawstring, but in the end you will probably need to string an icord or shoestring through to hold them on. One way to be sure your soakers keep their shape is to lay them flat to dry. NEVER wring them out.

 

 - you don't have to wash them after every use. I know it sounds gross, but wool has a natural reaction with urine. Once it's dried there will be no smell, so you can reuse them a few times before washing. Just be sure to wash them if they get more than urine on them. Hand washing in cool water with a wool wash is recommended, but you can also toss them in the washer if you use a cold, delicate cycle. Be aware that their color may bleed. 

 - Babies come in all shapes. Not every baby will fit into the same pattern. This is kind of a trial and error thing, but again, altering the pattern is super easy if baby needs some more or less room in some areas. 

For some great diaper patterns (sewing and knitting) visit Cloth Diaper Sewing. I have a slew of fabric at home that I didn't know what to do with....now I think I know!

How to: Backpack Rain Cover from Rain Pants

The other day it was supposed to rain and I was going to ride my bike to work. I have raingear for myself, but until the night before I didn't think about my backpack getting wet (and the clothes/stuff inside getting soaked). So I looked around my house for maybe a large plastic bag to sew into my packpack as a waterproof "lining", but I remembered that I had a pair of army issue rainpants that I would probably never wear again (not comfortable!!). I laid them out and realized that it would be a piece of cake to make a cover for my backpack with them! Here's how I did it:

First I cut the two legs apart in the crotch area (there was a seam there). Kitten help with this step is optional :)

Then I cut the seam along the inside of the leg and, one corner at a time, pinned the elastic waist to the widest part of the pant leg.

Here's one side folded and pinned. To give it a more rounded, backpack shape, sew diagonally. To have square corners sew right along the edge instead.

Once you've sewn both sides and cut off the excess you should have something like this

Here you will want to size the length to your backpack and, keeping in mind that you will need to fold the bottom around the backpack, cut off the excess.

Fold the newly cut edge and pin diagonally as shown. Sew along redlines.

You should end up with this (after cutting off excess)

Depending on the shape of your backpack you can either stop here or sew in some elastic. I choose to sew in elastic. Some other options would be making a pocket for the outside and a strap to go around the backpack for added hold (my pack is oddly shaped, so I also added a strap that snapped)

Now I'm ready for the rain!

My first slipcover

A while ago I purchased an IKEA sofabed and couldn't have been happier. I figured that I would look on the IKEA website for slipcovers later, but when I went to look I found that my sofabed didn't have any readymade slipcovers. argh!

So the other day I was riding the bus home and remembered that I had a shower curtain that would make a great slipcover for my little black sofa. I just wasn't sure if it was big enough or if I could even make a slipcover.

So here's what I started with:

And here's what I ended up with:

I think it turned out really nice. Maybe having the Olympics on in the background was good luck. I can't believe I even got all the stripes lined up. Now I'm going to be on the lookout for more shower curtains to make more slipcovers out of (I like to change things up a lot!)

How Clever

Diane at CraftyPod has a tutorial for a sharpening pin cushion! I would have never even thought that my pins needed sharpening, but now I see a cute cushion in their future..... via Craft

A Hankie for Father's Day

Father's Day is fast approaching and I'm sure there are people out there like me who are always stumped when it comes to a Father's Day gift. My dad has always used hankies, in fact he used the same hankies for so long that they are as thin as tissue paper. He passed his hankie love on to my brother who, I believe, inherited those tissue thin, 24 year old hankies and still uses them today. So, just in time for Father's Day Purl Bee posted a tutorial on making rolled hem handkerchiefs and I'm really excited to  make some and send them off to dad next week.

Pear-fict!

I spotted these adorable sachets on Craft.com. I've made a couple of sachets myself, but I love how these are pear shaped...it's given me a lot of new sachet ideas!

Dressform!

Excuse the blurry photo, it was taken with my phone (my camera is on it's last legs and I can't get any pictures off it and onto my computer). This is the first year that I've actually asked for something for my birthday....I wanted a dress form and it arrived yesterday. Because I knew it was coming I'd been storing up projects, so of course when I got home I started on them right away. I love it! It really makes things much easier, especially if you're like me and you always muck up sleeves.

Unique T-shirt Recon

There are hundreds of t-shirt recons out there. I am fascinated with all of them. This one is especially nice because it's so simple and clever! via CRAFT

one hour bag

I myself have tried many many times to 'whip up' a bag, but it never turns out quite right. This tutorial makes it look easy and the bag is totally cute! If only I could get my sewing machine working....ugh...I should probably invest in a tougher model. That's a whole different story :) via craft.