I got a new sewing machine for my birthday. It is a Heavy Duty Singer that can sew thick and fast. My new Bernina 780 is not up to sewing thick layers of fabric, something I have had to accept after giving away my 40-year-old Bernina 830 Record which could handle everything I gave it. The Bernina […]
Read More...The Sewing Machine Studio Students learn to work with electronic, digitised machines… …and old-school machines for sewing, knitting, embroidery and serging. The Weaving Studio I have very limited knowledge on looms but could see the room was filled with many different types – small and large. The largest one in the back is […]
Read More...Dale MacEwan email – dalemac@telus.net Each year, around June, a group of 5 local artists install an exhibition in the Community Art Council of the Saanich Peninsula (CACSP) gallery in Tulista Park, Sidney. Dale makes pieced and quilted compositions reflecting micro views of the landscape she lives in. She often incorporates her photographs printed on cloth and […]
Read More...While making pillow covers from molas, I also used the Sewing Centre. View from the front door looking at the Project Table and Design Wall. The Sewing Centre is to the right. The Sewing Centre is basically the same setup I had in my old studio. It worked and I couldn’t come up with a […]
Read More...The other day I looked at my tangled collection of zippers. Vintage zippers in old packaging. Zippers reclaimed from garments. Discarded zippers from other’s stashes. I was planning to do some work that involved using a number of zippers but wasn’t looking forward to sorting through the pile each time I needed one. Did I […]
Read More...I collected up the fabric and made a decision on the value range. The layers of fabric were stacked lightest to darkest and the energy lines of this colour sewn on the back of the ground. Then the cutting started. Several hours later. It is coming along quite nicely but there is still a lot […]
Read More...With my new sewing machine in hospital, I hauled out my old one to continue the cord making.No sooner had I started to sew when I smelt a burning electrical smell had heard a crackling sound coming out of the motor.So I packed up the machine and took it off to the hospital too. What to do without […]
Read More...Day 3 of this quick, in-between-projects, project. There was lots of satisfying evidence of progress… …including I don’t know how many metres of continuous basic cord.I can cut out sections to make thicker cords, build up braids and construct ribbons that can be couched, manipulated into 3D embellishments and used in tassels. Then disaster struck. My new Bernina […]
Read More...In between projects I was clearing up the studio when I saw how big my collection of 2nd hand machine thread had grown.I decided to make a few cords with it, before moving on to my next project.I started by sorting the big bag full into 24 hue groups. I collected up the ends of 20 to […]
Read More...For the #23 Orange-yellow square I settled on a ground of layered sheers…. …then decided on the value range and intensity level of the threads. Then wound the thick threads in the bobbin and cabled stitched them on the ground from the back.My new Bernina has a very large bobbin that holds lots of thick […]
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