Sewed bag, dyed yarn, knitted hat.
Jan. 25th, 2011 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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After 2 years of having a Brother sewing machine that was erratic to the point of being unusable, I took the time to troubleshoot the problem online, and figured out that I needed to buy actual name-brand Brother bobbins.
Having grown up on recipes that specified "Pillsbury brand all-purpose flour" and the like, I had assumed the manual specifying "Our brand bobbins only" was a marketing gimmick. Let me tell you, it's NOT. I spent $3 on new bobbins and my machine works again.
Here is a tutorial for making a nifty bag out of a piece of handwoven fabric.
I don't weave, but I put together a strip of blue floral and a strip of yellow solid fabric, turned all the edges under, pinned them, and FULLY intended to hand-sew the edges. Three weeks later, I ran it through the sewing machine, so it got done in under an hour.

click for embiggening

click for embiggening
Also, last week I dyed some yarn using Kool-Aid drink mix and some tea (some generic buck-a-box teabags). I did the colors first and then overlaid it with the tea for a muted effect. Here's the first pass with the colors:

click for embiggening
And after that, I overlaid it with tea and got this:

click for embiggening
Also, I found my head! My glass head, I mean, so I could take a picture of the hat I finished last week:

click for embiggening
The thing at the crown is actually a loop for hanging or clipping to something. The colorful yarn is some Jojoland Rhythm superwash. The brown double-knit bottom cuff (brim?) is Berroco Vintage Wool (which is part wool and part acrylic). I didn't knit it from an actual pattern, just winged it, so there are things I'd do differently if I were to knit another (like do a provisional caston and knit the bottom all at once, instead of the inside and then the outside).
I am really, really excited that my sewing machine works again. I have some quilt bits I cut out two years ago that I can now put together!
Having grown up on recipes that specified "Pillsbury brand all-purpose flour" and the like, I had assumed the manual specifying "Our brand bobbins only" was a marketing gimmick. Let me tell you, it's NOT. I spent $3 on new bobbins and my machine works again.
Here is a tutorial for making a nifty bag out of a piece of handwoven fabric.
I don't weave, but I put together a strip of blue floral and a strip of yellow solid fabric, turned all the edges under, pinned them, and FULLY intended to hand-sew the edges. Three weeks later, I ran it through the sewing machine, so it got done in under an hour.
click for embiggening
click for embiggening
Also, last week I dyed some yarn using Kool-Aid drink mix and some tea (some generic buck-a-box teabags). I did the colors first and then overlaid it with the tea for a muted effect. Here's the first pass with the colors:
click for embiggening
And after that, I overlaid it with tea and got this:
click for embiggening
Also, I found my head! My glass head, I mean, so I could take a picture of the hat I finished last week:
click for embiggening
The thing at the crown is actually a loop for hanging or clipping to something. The colorful yarn is some Jojoland Rhythm superwash. The brown double-knit bottom cuff (brim?) is Berroco Vintage Wool (which is part wool and part acrylic). I didn't knit it from an actual pattern, just winged it, so there are things I'd do differently if I were to knit another (like do a provisional caston and knit the bottom all at once, instead of the inside and then the outside).
I am really, really excited that my sewing machine works again. I have some quilt bits I cut out two years ago that I can now put together!