Hello!

I've been posting on Facebook and Instagram for a wee while now but thought I would have a go at a blog where I can share more information about my adventures with bits of fabric and the 'Mechanical Beastie with the Jaggy Needles'.

Where to start then?

.....a bit about me ......... I've been sewing, as a hobby, for most of my life. I was introduced to sewing whilst still at primary school, by my Aunt Sarah who is a trained tailoress. She taught my sister and me about the different types of fabric and how important it is to be accurate when cutting cloth. The first sewing machine I ever used was an old Singer treadle machine that our Aunt Sheena passed on to us and, more importantly, showed us the dark art of threading it all up.

I love the whole process of starting with what is essentially a flat, two dimensional substance and turning it in to items that can be admired, used for adornment or just be plain and simply useful.

I think the words by the Victorian designer, William Morris, sum it up:

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

Over the years, I mostly made garments - the teenage me sometimes finishing off the last stitches on something thirty minutes before I headed out wearing it!!

Fast forward a few years and I was working in the training department of a high street bank. However, despite the fibs I told on my CV about being a team player, enjoying team sports blah, blah, blah - I really preferred sitting on my bahookie playing with fabric and my sewing machine.

One day I was with a friend who was looking for a wedding dress and we were doing the rounds of the bridal shops. Somehow we went from browsing through racks of 'meringues' to her being brave and trusting enough for me to make her wedding dress. I was so chuffed to see her walk down the aisle in a dress that was as gorgeous and unique as she is. A few more wedding dresses followed - including my own.

I'm now retired and my sewing has taken a different direction to include bags and accessories. I make bags from remnants of fabric or deadstock that would otherwise end up being thrown away. This means that, more often than not, a tartan lobster bag will be completely unique. I love to use plain, neutral colours for the exteriors and and bright, shouty, funky colours and patterns for the linings. I'm a bit of a fabric magpie and 'Him Indoors' reckons that I'm really just curating a fabric museum in the spare room!

Of course I couldn't achieve all of this without the 'Mechanical Beastie with the Jaggy Needles'.

I've had a few sewing machines since the old treadle Singer and my trusty sidekick came in to my life after a rugby match at Murrayfield. We were walking back into town and I took the chance to pop in to David Drummond's shop in Shandwick Place, Edinburgh. My current machine was really getting past its best and I was just going to have a look - mainly to cheer myself up as Scotland had just been gubbed by New Zealand.......

'The Mechanical Beastie with the Jaggy Needles' arrived a few days later!!

It's a Janome MC6600p and literally is a beast of a machine. It copes with anything you throw at it - from fine silks to heavyweight fabrics.

Thank you for taking time to read this post - please follow my blog and share the adventures with fabric.

Fran