Top Tips For Cutting Out

Cutting out before starting sewing is one thing that has people divided. Some love it some hate it. I'm not sure which category I end up in. Sometimes I love the process of playing pattern tetris and sometimes when the fabrics off grain for its been cut wonky I just want to scream.

But I've put together a few top tips for when It comes to cutting out your patterns to hopefully make it less painful! And then you can get onto the really important business of sewing. 

1. Use a flat surface. For woven fabrics you can hang your fabric over the end of the table but for stretch fabrics are fine slippery fabrics your best cutting it out with no fabric hanging down so it doesn't distort. I personally use the living room floor. [In fact one of the things I checked when we got our new sofa was that I would still have enough room to cut out patterns on the floor!!!]

2. Use sharp scissors. As someone who's pretty thrifty with money I actually kind of hate this one. But its true a good pair of scissors will make your cutting out experience 100% more enjoyable. Now this doesn't mean you have to spend upwards of £50 both of my favourite pairs of scissors were under £25. One pair were under a tenner and the others were £25 but also came with a small pair of scissors and a thimble. I personally would buy the best you can afford and make sure you keep them in good nick by only using them for sewing and not for cutting paper or god forbid sellotape.......

3. Use sharp pins! I know I know it seems like I'm just trying to convince you to buy stuff but sharp pins are your best friends. Bin any that get blunt or bent and replace them when needed. 

4. Use pattern weights for fabrics that move or knits. Some fabrics just don't like having a patterned pinned too them. So I use pattern weight, I personally have these donut ones but I believe the lady is no longer making them. You can also use metal washers from your local DIY shop or big stones from the beech or even tins of beans etc. Basically anything heavy and flat with do. [we used to have some great coasters that I used that had felt on the bottom which stopped them shifting around. 

5. Iron your pattern pieces. This was actually suggested to me by a lady I know and I haven't looked back since. Its especially useful for accuracy especially if you stuff your patterns back into the envelopes like I do!!! 

6. Keep a fabric marker/chalk handy for marking dots, darts and cut lines. BUT make sure you can remove it from your fabric afterwards!!!

7. Clip notches [little triangles] as soon as you've cut out the pieces so you don't forget. I am so guilty of forgetting to clip my notches and then sitting and trying to work out how things go together! Clip them straight away and then everything should go together smoothly.

8. Be mindful of pattern placement. I'm not talking perfect pattern matching here because half the time I'm winging that I'm talking about making sure that you don't end up with embarrassing placement on your boobs or foof areas. For example you wouldn't want to make a polka dot dress and have a large circle over each nipple would you???? Just something to bear in mind!!! 

And that's all of my suggestions. How do you make pattern cutting more fun!!! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Scissor review - Prima tailoring sheers , £5.50

Dressmaking scissors can run from the cheap and cheerful to the frankly extortionate and its Sally hard to now whether you should splash out or if there's cheaper options out there that are just as good.

So I thought I'd try and test as any different price ranges and brands of scissors as I can so you can hopefully find the right pair for you! 

So let's begin with these prima sheers that I found on amazon for £5.50 

For starters at under a tenner they don't exactly break the bank do they? Which as for someone as stingy as me s always a bonus! Particularly seen as I know that at some point either Rikki will use them to cut paper/sellotape or I'll loose them. (I loose scissors all the dammed time, I'm currently missing 4 pairs of scissors in the house!)

I ordered them from amazon and they came with free delivery. 

They are 9.5inches long and its got a zinc alloy handle for comfort. They are also a rather fetching rose gold which makes the millennial in me swoon. And they've got pretty banging reviews which is why I thought id give them a whirl.

So what did I think of them? Well lets put it this way, they are currently my main scissor. Now as ridiculous as that sounds, i have a LOT of scissors and the fact that I always reach for these ones mean they are pretty banging. They are sharp the entire length including the tip and have been cutting through cottons, silks and wools like they are butter. 

I honestly didn't expect such a good pair of scissors for just over 5 quid. The handle is comfortable and even after a solid 2 hour cutting out session [I'm making another quilt an its a lot of squares] I didn't have any blisters and my hand didn't feel uncomfortable or sore. 

The only down side I can see so far is that sometimes they don't meet if you've got them on a funny angle. I can't really explain it better than that sorry but its something to do with the two nubby bits on the handle hitting each other instead of sliding past? 

But other than that I would say they are a brillant budget scissor! 

In other news:

- we had a great time camping, complete with a 5 mile walk and a trip to a castle.

- Rikki has helped another friend of ours move into his first house! 

- I've still not taken any blog pictures but they most recent makes are already on wardrobe rotation. 

- I've got my vintage machine running and SEWING!!!! so I'll pop on a blog post about giving vintage machines a new lease of life at some point. 

But right now I have a BANGING headache so I'm going to cook tea and then get myself off to bed! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx 

p.s I brought these scissors with my own money , but I will also be reviewing scissors that I've gifted or won. 

5 Sewing Products I Couldn't Live Without!

Extra Long Pins

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I;m not sure why I love long pins so much but they just seem to make everything so much easier. Especially when pinning pattern so quilting they just really help to stop things from shifting around!

Magnetic Pin cushion

-

Nothing makes me feel more like a Jedi knight than throwing some pins at this bad boy and them magically finding their way to the dish. It has changed my life! And its definitely changed the speed of my sewing, although word of warning don't accidentally decide to use another pin cushion after you've had one for a while because you will just throw pins across your table and you will have to pick them up......

Wrist Pin cushion

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Yes I know, I've just said I love one pincushion and now I'm saying I love another! But its true, you see this one comes with me. This one comes with me to my sewing machine in the dining room, or to my ironing board in the kitchen, or to the sofa where I do all of my hand sewing. Yet another word of warning though don't forget to take it off and wear it to Tesco you just end up looking a bit weird. 

Small Embroidery Scissors

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I keep mine of a piece of ribbon around my neck so they are always handy. They are very useful for snipping into seam allowances and getting rid of threads.

Tailors chalk

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Up until recently I thought tailors chalk was the work of the devil BUT as it turns out its actually pretty awesome not only does it draw on pretty much everything but it also comes off and its lasts ages. I've had mine for about a year and it honestly hasn't worn down much at all.

And that's it!

Those are my favourite products at the moment.

What sewing products are you loving

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

600th Blog post and a Top Tip

This is my 600th blog post... I have written 600 posts. To be perfectly honest if you'd have told me at 13 that I'd spend a good portion of my time writing about sewing I;d have said you were crackers! Oddly enough though my year 7 English teacher told me I was going to be a writer, apparently I had a certain "tone". Which is weird because I wouldn't call myself a writer although 600 blog post might say otherwise! So good call Miss Misra! good call! [she also said I was hilarious, which I knew was true at the time] 

  So yeah 600 posts, I don;t which surprises me more the fact that I;m at that number or the fact that you guys actually read them! YOU GUYS DA BEST! I hope your enjoying my ramblings about sewing and knitting and life, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

So anyway here's a top sewing organisation tip!

People who don't sew see scissors and think " well these are scissors, they are for cutting" and no matter how many times you explain to them that actually, NO these are just for fabric they don;t seem to get it. 

I've tried everything to get my husband to understand, 

I tired telling him to use the kitchen scissors.... But he doesn't know what the kitchen scissors look like.

I tried telling him to only use the scissors with ribbon on the handle..... But he pointed out that my embroidery scissors are on a piece of ribbon so I can wear them around my neck.

I tried allocating him a pair of scissors...... But he misplaced them.

I tried waving them in his face and saying these are the ones you can use, If you use my fabric scissors I'll cut you...... But apparently that was a touch aggressive!

This way is foolproof. I got a CD marker [although a sharpie would do] and wrote on every pair of scissors in the house what they are for. I kept it simple, fabric or paper. He can use the paper scissors for whatever his little heart desires, wires, card, wrapping paper, gaffer tape, murder..... But if I ever catch him with a pair of scissors with fabric written on the blade I will bury him under the patio. 

In fact its extra foolproof because I wrote on each leg? [are they legs? are they blades?] of the scissors so no matter which side he looks at its there staring at him!

All in all it took me about ten minutes to write on every pair of scissors in the house. Probably because they were all in one place. [one of the perks of having a small child is you know exactly where all of your sharp objects are at any given time!] 

foolproof [insert smug face]

Now shall we take bets on how long till he forgets to *read* the scissors?

Much Love 

and Thank You so much to all of you for reading my blog. It means a lot guys!

Hugs

Frankie 

xxx

Hobbycraft Haul!

Yet again I was very lucky to receive Hobbycraft gift card for Christmas, and naturally I spent a good couple of hours trying to navigate their website [is it just me that finds it really annoying that you can't just view the whole of sewing?] and sorted myself a little delivery! So without further ado here is a £30 delivery from hobbycraft!

Cross stitch kit!  Recently my fingures have been itching to cross stitch! I'm blaming the fact that Rikkis Nan has so many beautiful framed cross stitches around her house!

Unpickers, I'm not sure how I ended up with two I think I must have accidentally double clicked! Luckily I can never have enough seam rippers!!!

Bias binding - not a clue which one I chose! This was added as an attempt to get free p&p!

Felt tip Pens -  Yet another attempt to get free p&p, I think these cost 50p! 

Safety pins, I always put off buying these but I really did need some for quilting, currently I've been using regular pins and those tricky little devils just love to fall out! 

Ball point needles, I's really enjoying sewing knits at the moment so I thought it was best to stock up!

8mm knitting needles! These have been brought for my next big knitting project, I had asked Rikkis nan if she had some and she didn't so I brought some and then lo and behold she managed to track a pair down through her sister in law! Sods law eh? 

Little scissors, I have an obsession with scissors seriously the amount of pairs I have is just embarrassing! But in my defence I only buy cheap ones so It doesn't matter if they get trashed. These are actually pretty sharp scissors and I have taken to wearing them on some ribbon around my neck!

5 balls of hayfield chunky wool, I had a bit of an issue with this actually , on the website the wool looks red but when it turned up its more of a burnt orange! Which I probably should of realised by the name paprika. Anyway I would send it back but I'm far to lazy so I'm just going to roll with it and hope it suits me! 

And that's it! 

In other news, I just had a pretty luxurious middle of the day bath and I'm feeling really zen! A feeling which I'm sure is going to go as soon as I start cleaning up!

And we have little mans birthday yesterday. I managed to hold it together this year and although he had to spend the day at school we did have a lovely meal at pizza hut after! 

Much Love Frankie

xx

Whats In my Sewing Box!

So I actually made this video on the 14th September but haven't gotten around to uploading it until yesterday!!!

So yeah it features the ENTIRE contents of my sewing box!! 

Grab and cup of tea [and a cheeky biscuit, in fact just grab the packet!] 

and enjoy!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

What's In My Sewing Box?

I'm nosy by nature, last year I saw two lads stealing bits of the fridge my neighbours had dumped outside and I managed to give them an accurate description, time frame and the make of the vehicle as well as the number plate. I am what is referred to in my family as a net curtain twitcher. I love to be nosy which I think is why I loved housed hunting so much and why I'm always intrigued when people post pictures of their sewing stashes and sewing boxes.

So here's mine:~

So here's what I keep my basic sewing supplies in, these are the things I used every day. The box was my mums I think she had it when she was younger and she mentioned using it to take things to peoples house's for sleepovers, then I think she stored baby clothes in it. 

No idea where the key is, I just push down the lock to open it.

I decorated the lid with some of my favourite postcards.

And here it is all full up!

These are my scissors [yeah I know it seems like over kill]

i have [ from the top]

paper scissors

rotary cutter

pinking shears

large paper scissors

Old metal fabric scissors [sentimental]

Old pinking shears [also sentimental]

flowered fabric scissors

black fabric scissors

small card crimping scissors for doing tags.

Three pin cushions!

My old sylko one [previously my grandmas]

My purple pin cushion bag [made at school]

My tie on wrist one

Voodoo doll [because I'm evil and stuff]

Glue [not sure why I have this? it just appeared]

Craft knife, best way of removing buttons from old shirts!

Clear Tape

Masking Tape [best way of fixing paper patterns because you can draw on it and you can iron it]

Carbon paper, This was recently given to me and I've not had chance to use it yet!

My handmade tailors ham and my flexy curve thingy - this was originally my grandmas.

Machine oil, I've recently been trying to take better care of my machines by oiling them more often. I keep this in a zip lock bag so it doesn't spill everywhere. 

Pens and pencils of various natures.

This is my little bag where I keep all of my smaller sewing bits that might get lost in the chaos of scissors!

In my little bag:

pot of chalk

unpicker

6 screwdrivers

tweezers

black pen

snips

needle book

zubes tin of pins

giant paper clip

four flexible tape measures

small blue paper clip

machine needle book

golf ball shaped metal tape measure

tine of machine needles

seam allowance tool

butterfly pencil and rubber

walking foot

And that's it! all my other supplies are stashed in various other places, so I hope you enjoyed having a nosy around my sewing box! What's in yours?

Much Love 

Frankie

xxx

Bargain pinking shears

I've been looking for a new pair of pinking shears for a while now. I do already own a pair but they were my grandmas and over time they've gotten pretty blunt (it may or may not be the fault of a very young Frankie who might have used them on paper once, or twice )

Also they were weighty and I mean it hurt to use them! So I decided to put my birthday money to good use and buy myself a pair. 

I'm not gonna lie they were cheap , I mean £3.17 is pretty darn good. I ordered from Amazon and I was worried they were going to be awful but I was so surprised when they turned out to be brilliant! I mean seriously it's like cutting butter! Not that I would ever put my precious fabric scissors near butter. 

I could link to the item on my phone so I've done a screen grab. 

Here they are next to my old hefty ones, which I'm still going to keep because I'm a sentimental fool. 

In other news little knitwit has developed yet another cough. I'm not quite sure how he does it ? He's been wearing a vest since the end of September and I always make him eat his vegetables. I think the next step is a trip to the doctors to see if it's asthma related. Although the idea of having to try and book an appointment brings me out in hives! Is anyone else's doctor harder to cath than smoke? Mines always bloody busy "Would you like an appointment in two weeks?" - "no id like one now whilst I am actually ill " 

But I think that's enough grumbling for one day.... 

Much love 

Frankie

Xx

Fabric scissor rules!

I've always know that fabric scissors were special, my mother threatened me if I used hers so surprisingly I avoided them at all costs! Until I got old enough to cut my own fabric that is! 

It never dawned on me that their were people out there that thought you could use fabric scissors for other things ? Including GASP paper! 

How did they not know? And it became apparent whilst studying textiles that explaining the difference wasn't quite enough! Nor was buying paper scissors in one colour and fabric in another! Apparently the only way to stop young girls attacking paper with fabric scissors was to label them! (Yes with an actual label! Time well spent as far as my teachers were concerned!) 

Now I have very strict rules regarding scissors! Even mr Knitwit now realised that it's just easier to request a pair of scissors rather than find some himself and risk a telling off! 

Anyway I saw this on "craftsellers" Facebook page and I think it sums me up pretty well! 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Snip snip!

A wise man once told me that a workman is only as good as his tools...

Another wise man also told me that a good workman never blames his tools...

I'm not really sure what to take away from this apart from that workmen (and women) should have tools! 

So I treated myself to a new pair of snips! 

I had a wonderful pair of embroidery scissors but appear to have ahem misplaced them! I know that my mother has an identical pair but she's already hidden them from my light fingers! There's just no trust anymore! 

I picked these up off amazon for under £2.00 and they had free postage! To be honest my expectations weren't high! But they are small and surprisingly sharp! 

Colour me impressed! 

Perfect for snipping threads and stray wool bits! Providing I don't loose them of course! 

What tools can't you live without? 

Much love

Frankie

Xxx

Tools of the trade

A wise man once told me that a workman is only as good as his tools , so I thought I'd let you have a little look at the items which "live" on my sewing table! 

Starting from the top we have:

My tape measure - my grandmothers, one side has inches and cms the other has the calorie content of most foods, I'm assuming that she liked to sew and diet at the same time. I on the other hand like to have a plate of biscuits close by! 

A bobbin and spool of white thread - thread wise I'm fairly boring to be honest I usually use white or black so have two separate bobbins, I only used matching thread if the project really calls for it! 

Metal rular - mr Knitwit picked this little beauty up for me , it's lovely and heavy so it doesn't shift about! 

Rotary cutter - genuinely don't how how I've survived for this long without one! It makes cutting so much quicker! 

Automatic button hole foot - when it not on my sewing table it lives with my buttons! Another item I'm not sure I could live without! 

My whiskey bin! - what can I say I'm a classy bird! Most of my stray thread end up in here , the others transport their way round the house via people's socks. 

My needle tin - also my grandmothers, all my needles live in here machine, darning and handwork varieties as well as a half penny to stop me hurting my fingers! 

Hand seeing thread - I stupidly brought some very cheap thread, it doesn't go through my machine but it works very nicely for handwork! 

My little tub of tailors chalk - I hate the stuff, generally I don't use chalk but every now and again I find that I have to. 

Floral scissors - brought for me by an old friend, scissors are a sewers best friend and I love these bad boys! 

Plastic ruler - for quick bits and pieces

Voodoo pin cushion - for the days when it's either torture an inanimate object or throw my machine out of the window.

Mini sketch book - for those beautiful moments when inspiration strikes, I also keep all my measurements in here! 

And underneath everything is my lovely cutting matt! I love how tidy everything looks on this! 

In other news my kimono got to have an outing with my best friend! 

I had a great night of letting my hair down and putting the world to rights! And I felt surprisingly dressy to say I was wearing an old sarong! 

Much love

Frankie 

Xxx

Want not waste not

I don't like throwing things away, in fact if I didn't live with mr Knitwit I'm fairly sure I'd be one of those people who see on obsessive compulsive cleaners (not the one with the Hoover, the one with 7 cats and a million books and a broken teapot) 

Mr Knitwit is forever telling me to throw things away, however when he gave me this empty whiskey tin I couldn't throw it away! Not when it's perfect sewing bin size! 

I've been needing a little bin for ages so I'm dead chuffed that I can repurpose this! 

Also pictured are my sylko pin cushion , I think these must have been part of a giveaway at some point , my mum, nan, grandma and neighbour all had one ! Does anyone know where they came from? Either way it's a cracking pin cushion! 

And then there's my foral scissors , an old friend brought these for me when I was making costumes for a school production. I was forever loosing scissors and she thought having a brightly coloured pair might help! Sadly we've lost touch but I've still got my scissors so her theory must have been right! 

Other than this repurposing triumph the rest if the day hasn't been successful sewing wise, I'm having some trouble with my margot pj bottoms , specifically the channel thingy! I'm not sure if I've screwed the pattern of if the patterns screwed me but either way something's gone bum up! (Probably me )

I'm going to try and tackle it tommorrow and them SUPER careful with my next pair!

Much love 

Frankie

Xxx