Tizzy needs a trim

 

I have been putting off trimming Tizzy, my Miniature Schnauzer, for way too long.  She has been looking very shaggy for a while now.

 

First I had to trim my husband Graham’s hair, then I moved on to the more challenging task of Tizzy.  Here she is on the trimming table (actually a camping cupboard but is a great height)

By the look of the fluff on the table, I have done a lot – doesn’t show yet.  I start with the chest up to her face, then the ears.

Because it is winter time, I cut her body hair with a longer blade on the clippers – about 1cm rather than a half.  She gets the shivers  if I cut it too short.  I trim her leg fur shorter in the winter because otherwise she spends too much time in the sink having mud washed off after forest walks.

An hour and a half later, we are nearly there.  Undercarriage trimmed, legs trimmed, tail all neat and tidy.

She didn’t want to stand for a photo, so here she is on the doormat.  I will probably give her a neaten up tomorrow.

Fabric Bowl second instalment

 

Before you start Free Motion Embroidery with your sewing machine, draw your designs with pen or pencil on paper.  This gets you used to the flow of the design – especially the spiral where you have to leave yourself room to go into the middle and back again.

then it is time to start.  Lower or cover your feed dogs.  ( If you are using a slippery sheet, tape your Teflon sheet over the work area to make it nice and slippery)

Drop and raise your needle to pull up the bobbin thread.  Do a few stitches on the spot to secure the ends, spread your hands over the work and move it so that the stitches form your chosen design.  I use the Pfaff Free-Motion guide grip http://www.pfaff.com/AU/3483_14637.html, this makes it easy to move the fabric.

Divide the circle design into six sectors and free motion each in a slightly different design.  Once you have embroidered all the sectors cut the fabric you have produced into a circle.

Satin stitch the edge.  Set your stitch to about 0.4 length, 4.5 width, If your bobbin case has a finger with a hole in it, thread the bobbin thread through the hole to put more tension on the bobbin.

To strengthen the edge, widen the zigzag to 5.5mm the stitch some cord or rattail onto the edge.

Once this is done, decide which way up you want your fabric.  I was originally going to have the blue side inside but changed my mind once I had tried it with pins.

 

 

I forgot to photograph the stitching of the six edges, basically starting about 1cm in from the folded edge, sew towards the centre forming a sort of dart shape.  I took 2 attempts until I liked the shape of the overall bowl.  I used a triple back and forth stitch for strength.

Fabric Bowl - first edition

 

I am meeting up with some sewing friends next week and have decided to create a project that can be used to try FME  Free Motion Embroidery.  I will detail the project below.

 

1) Choose a fabric for the inside of the bowl – you will need about 25cm square

2) Place this face down, place a square of felt on top (pink in the picture, the paper shows the size needed for the finished bowl)

3) I spray this with a thin coating of spray adhesive

4) Place little bits of offcut fabric pieces – any sort including bits of ribbon on top

5) To hold all this in place cover with organza or tulle then pin in place with about 6 pins

Some of you may have heard of a Supreme Slider to allow easy free motion quilting, this is a slippery sheet which has a hole in it for the needle to sew through, it covers the bed of the machine and makes a smooth and slippery bed for the fabric to slide on.

These are expensive, I have another solution.  In my cupboard, I had a Teflon sheet intended to line the base of the oven or grill, this is to catch drips etc.  I cut a hole big enough for zigzag stitching, then taped the sheet over the machine and the sewing table.

More tomorrow…