Showing posts with label needle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label needle. Show all posts

Monday, 9 January 2012

New Toys... / Des nouveaux jouets...

 The holidays have brought some new toys to my humble studio.  Wanna see what Santa gave me?


Le congé des fêtes a apporté des nouveaux jouets dans mon petit studio.  Vous voulez voir ce que le Père Noël m'a offert?





I received a cute Clover mini iron (thanks to Thalie!).  I had been wanting one for a long time.  I ususally work on very small pieces of fabric in my projects, and I am convinced that this size of iron will be a lot easier to handle when pressing seams, and I can hear the sigh of relief from my fingers, which have suffered their share of burns in the past.

J'ai reçu ce mignon fer à repasser miniature Clover (merci à Thalie!).  Depuis longtemps je rêvais d'en avoir un.  La plupart des projets de couture que je réalise comportent de très petits morceaux de tissu, et je suis convaincue que la taille de ce petit fer va me faciliter la vie quand je presse les coutures de mes ouvrages, sans compter que j'entends un grand soupir de soulagement de mes doigts, qui n'ont pas manqué de souffrir de brûlures dans le passé.




I also got myself a cute little accessory that I simply love.  It is an automatic threader that I found on Lee Valley.  I do a lot of hand  sewing, which means frequent re-threading of the needle, and with the chronic bad lighting of our living room, I found that threading was becoming a problem for me and discouraged me from sewing in the evening.

Je me suis aussi procuré un petit accessoires que j'adore.  C'est un enfileur d'aiguille automatique que j'ai trouvé chez Lee Valley.  Je fais beaucoup de couture à la main, alors je dois souvent enfiler mon aiguille, et avec l'éclairage médiocre de notre salon, j'avais de plus en plus de mal à enfiler mon aiguille, et ça me décourageait de coudre en soirée.

So I am very happy to have found this little device because it works like a charm and makes my life a lot easier.

Alors, je suis très heureuse d'avoir trouvé ce petit appareil parce qu'il fonctionne comme un charme et me facilite beaucoup la vie.



All you have to do is insert your needle head down in one of the three slots, depending on the needle size.  Then you wrap your thread around the neck of the threader and you push the pedal down.  A small loop of thread will come out of the neck, and all you have to do is pull one end through, then take your needle out of the slot and you are good to go.

Il suffit d'insérer l'aiguille, chas vers le bas, dans l'une des trois ouvertures, en fonction de la grosseur de l'aiguille.  Ensuite, on passe le fil autour du cou de l'enfileur et on appuie sur la petite pédale.  Une petite boucle de fil apparaît alors par un trou sur le côté du cou, et il ne reste qu'à tirer sur le fil pour en passer un bout au-travers du trou, et à retirer l'aiguille de son support.


What I need now is another device to knot my thread, because I am really bad at it.

Ce qu'il me faut maintenant, c'est un autre appareil qui ferait un nœud à ma place, parce que je n'ai vraiment aucun talent.

What have you got new in your studio?

Alors, quoi de neuf dans votre studio?

Friday, 27 November 2009

What the hoot's got into me?

It looks like I have lost interest in my blog lately, and truly I've had other concerns on my mind. My boyfriend lost his job a couple of months ago, which has brought a few dark hours at home. Now that he has decided to go back to school after the holidays, we have decided to redo our basement, which we had left intact since we bought the house last year. The colours were horrid, so a few coats of paint will be more than welcome. My craft room is almost finished, but all my stuff is still packed up in a corner.

So, I haven't done that much crafting lately, if you count out painting walls. I did start to work on Christmas gifts, but somehow I got diverted by a few swaps I had signed up for. I sat with craft felt, embroidery floss, buttons and sequins, and got completely lost in making tree ornaments. One of the swaps called for owls, so I used the Holiday Hoot Pattern from Anna Maria Horner and changed it slightly to make it smaller and with less details.

I also worked on my own designs, but since those swaps have not been received yet, I would not want to spoil the surprise by showing them already.

I will soon be resuming my work on Christmas gifts, but here is a peek at what I made for my boyfriend's mother, who is an avid knitter.


It is a needle case, as instructed by Alexandra in her tutorial. I found it was very quick and easy to make, and working with such bright colours was a nice change from my usual darker palette.

I should be coming back soon, watch out for Giveaway Day!

Sylvie