Hello blogging friends!
I’ve been away for a while and haven’t done a great deal of machine sewing recently. Life just gets in the way sometimes. The cross stitch and knitting are progressing on my other blog but the sewing machine has been gathering dust waiting for me to get time to do a repair. Actually, I did give it a good old service last week and I managed to get a new belt from The Man Who Can.
The rubber belt at the right hand side was the original from the 1950’s and it was shedding rubber dust and kept jumping off, especially when I was refilling the bobbin. So I went to see if my trusted sewing machine fixer man had a replacement that would fit. Well, it was a very tight fit and it was hard to believe the original had stretched so much. In fact, it was also a real pain getting the original one off because the screw holding everything together was so tight. I was about to give up when I noticed the housing for the motor was adjustable so it was out with the screwdriver and on with my mechanical head. So now the motor has been repositioned in two directions and everything is working perfectly again. The machine is now humming rather than doing impressions of a tractor and I no longer have unsightly black dust spraying about every time I sew. I was itching to test it on a new project 
.
My daughter has been getting a new mobile phone that has a large screen. She asked me a couple of weeks ago whether I could make her a slip case for when it is in her bag. She chose the fabric from my scraps and it stayed on the cutting table until this morning. It’s taken so long to get time to make it. Anyway, the brief was to make a simple lined case with wadding for protection. She didn’t want any fasteners at all so it had to be a perfect fit otherwise the phone would fall out. I didn’t want any of the seams to show so this is what I came up with. I knew it was going to be fiddly and it certainly tried my patience. Anyway, it fits perfectly and the phone doesn’t drop out on its own.
I like the metallic leaves on the fabric design and the wadding works well.
The case hugs the phone and my daughter is very happy with it. It might be a small finish but it’s still a finish . However, I’m pleased I don’t have to make phone cases for a living as I wouldn’t get many made in a day!
So that’s all I’ve managed to achieve recently in the sewing department. Now for the cute bit!
The weather here has really improved during recent days. I’m already complaining about the temperature at 21 degrees. Two days of sunshine and I’m looking for the shade. I was busy working the other day, with the doors to the garden wide open and who should I spot on the grass? Spring is definitely here. This little chap spent about an hour foraging out in the open before disappearing off under some shrubbery. I got very little done.
How cute is he/she? I love hedgehogs because they let us get up close to take photos. Do you have hedgehogs where you live?
That’s it for now. I’m off to catch up with your blogs .
Avis x
Oh Sew Tempting 
claire93
/ May 18, 2014that’s a gorgeous phone pouch and I’m glad your mean green machine is whirring smoothly again.
As for Herbert/Hilary, the hedgehog – you’ve got to love them! I could do with one in the garden at the moment because the snails & slugs are getting to my strawberry patch first!
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 18, 2014I must admit I was getting a bit hungry by the time I got to the fiddly part but then some chocolate appeared so I was good for the final half hour 😉 Strawberries are worth the effort. They are so delicious but those pesky slugs YUK!
fallfromgrace349
/ May 18, 2014what a lovely phone pouch, I need one! looks like a great machine 🙂
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 18, 2014If I had your phone here I’d make one for you but there are so many different sizes of phones this is a one off 🙂
fallfromgrace349
/ May 19, 2014it should be as well, is lovely 🙂
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 19, 2014🙂
Patch
/ May 18, 2014Never seen a hedgehog here yet. Lots of other wildlife though. Have heard owls and foxes, seen bats, frogs and had a mouse running round the living room the other night (time to get another cat)! We had a hedgehog in the garden in London once.
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 18, 2014We have owls and foxes here too. Only last week we had very thick fog outside and a fox wandered down the front street in the afternoon. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve seen them around here before but never during daylight hours. As for mice, they steal the sunflower seeds that drop out out the bird feeders and then create a neat pile of husks in the garage.
*Wisher*
/ May 19, 2014Loving the hedgehog.. So cute.. Thanks for the pic
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 19, 2014You’re very welcome 🙂
sonyamayhem
/ May 19, 2014I’ll swap your hedgehog for a community of possums that use our roof as the local freeway at night!! They’re rather cute but they make the most awful clomping noises – their mating noise is the stuff nightmares are made of and they love to wee everywhere!!
On a happier note I love your green machine!
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 19, 2014Oh dear, those possums would drive me nuts! I’m pleased you like my machine. It belonged to my late Mother-in-law. It sews really well. I sort of rescued it from her things when she died. It didn’t sew. In fact, it blew all of the electrics in the house. Now it has a new motor and pedal and it should be good for a few more decades 🙂
treadlemusic
/ May 19, 2014Love your “green machine”!!!!! and am so glad the belt is working. The case is genius…..I know that sometimes the simplest of designs can be the peskiest to make!!!!!
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 19, 2014I love my machine too. It’s a real old fashioned workhorse 🙂
treadlemusic
/ May 20, 2014Everyone should have one of those. Actually mine is a 30+ yr old Elna. 😉
Carole
/ May 19, 2014Wow, that is one beautiful sewing machine, and it’s great that you’re keeping it running. My mom used to have an old Singer machine – the one with the huge treadle at the bottom. I really regret letting her get rid of it.
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 19, 2014My machine was my late Mother-in-law’s and I do all of my patchwork piecing on it. I learned how to sew on an old Singer when I was nine years old. My amazing primary school teacher, Miss Fox, allowed me to use her machine which she had brought to school from home. It had a turning handle at the right hand side instead of a treadle. I wish I could thank her today for all the fun Miss Fox has given me over the years but sadly she is long gone.
Isabel's Needleworks
/ May 20, 2014Glad you sewing machine is back to rights :). And I love your phone pocket. Very nice idea. I just throw mine into my purse lol. We don’t have hedgehogs :(. They are adorable. We have gophers which are a nuisance and coyotes , skunks and wolves , bear, deer and moose and lots of mice lol.
…Izz
Oh Sew Tempting
/ May 24, 2014My phone needs a pouch too but life is far too short for me to make one LOL. It must be lovely to live where there is so much wildlife. I suppose we do have lots of wildlife here but most of it is underwater. We’ve seen the hedgehog every day since the photo was taken. It is enjoying a particular patch of the garden where we know there are lots of snails 🙂
frilka
/ May 30, 2014isn’t great that you can still use this machine … phone case – lovely x
Oh Sew Tempting
/ June 4, 2014Yes, it sews perfectly and I couldn’t resist saving it 🙂