sewing related goodies

This is the box that Jan needs to carry with her everywhere she goes. Neat, isn't it?

The missing foot is the 1/4 inch foot; Jan is rather attached to it at the moment!

And I guess I should get into the habit of using this! After all, we don't want Jan to get cold or dirty!

When I bought my sewing machine I also bought this:


I don't know how much my new machine weighs but there would be no way I could carry it around without the trolley bag. This one was a particularly good deal - it is a metal-framed bag, which makes it more expensive (and heavier) but there is a small rip in the back of the mat case so I got it at a really good price. That's okay with me - my mat lives on my cutting bench and I never take it class: there are mats in the classroom and there is no space to put another one! Besides, my mat is 35" x 23" and therefore too big for the mat case.

The trolley bag by itself weighs 8.8 kilograms (19.3 pounds); I'll need a hydraulic lift to get it in and out of the car.

I also bought some extra bobbins - look at the bottom right corner, isn't the box cute?

This is special packaging for Janome's 90th birthday. It holds twenty-five bobbins.

Janome's deal on the machine included a pair of dressmaking shears - I have a pair of left-handed shears so these will go to DD.

When WM jokingly said the shears would be good in the garage, the manager of the shop gave him three pairs of scissors as a gift! They've gone to the garage and I can't find them to take a photo!

The dealer from whom I bought the machine threw in a few goodies for me too:

a "purple" sewing box (which I have opened since this photo was taken)

this cute little tin


...containing four spools of Gutermann cotton thread in neutral colours

and 6 fabric sandwiches (half a metre in each sandwich and one of them is purple)!

The print on the three printed fabrics looks like this:

Not something I would choose for myself but, as my mum used to say, "beggars can't be choosers"!

Now to choose a project ...

magnification

Last week, I visited my current favourite fabric and quilting store - HobbySew in Kings Park. I wanted to test drive a sewing machine but they didn't have a demonstration model of the one I wanted. That's okay - there's a craft fair coming up and I'm sure all the major sewing machine manufacturers will be there!

I also thought I wanted a magnifying glass that one wears around one's neck and which rests on one's chest. Something like this:

image copied from angelstitches.com

HobbySew didn't have any of those either.

Okay, I wanted some thread and a marker of some description. The sales assistant was very helpful as far as markers went and left me to my own devices to choose threads in the colours I wanted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw lights and, yes, magnifying glasses. You know, the kind that stand on the floor and the kind that sit on your desk!

That's what I really needed - not one to hang on my neck and stick into my chest! So, I talked to the sales assistant and decided I would buy the one with the best magnification. No light - just great magnification. She told me the price had been reduced because the boxes were damaged. I was fine with the reduced price and we were in business. then the till showed toe real price of the magnifier I had chosen - more than twice the price I paid! I bought an Ott-Lite TrueColor Freestanding Magnifier with up to five times magnification.

picture from http://www.ottlite.co.uk/

It works so well it makes my head spin! I knew there was a reason why I didn't want one hanging around my neck! LOL

Now all I have to do is use my recently revived sewing skills to make a cover to protect it from dust and damage!