I’ve been doing a little sewing here at Happy Acres the past couple of weeks. I recycled some of my old material from my quilting days for these projects.
We’ve been in dire need of some new potholders since the ones we bought on our Honeymoon in Hawaii are pretty sad looking. I had this cute cat material that I used for something way back when. I thought it would make cute bright potholders. For the inside I cut up an old towel and the backing were some of Dave’s jeans. Yes, he gave me permission!!
Don’t look too close at the workmanship! It’s been a long time. I also want to make some placemats but they will have to wait.
Lynn at Wood Ridge posted about fabric bags a while back and I kept thinking that I needed to make some of those drawstring bags for our veggies and bread. If you need a video on how to make an easy drawstring bag, check out this video.
Lastly, I made a pillowcase in a class at Joann’s last month. The class was a reintroduction to sewing which I felt I really needed. I was the only one in the class who had an old machine. I bought mine used over 25 years ago. While in class, one of the woman asked everyone to quit sewing so they could hear my old Elna purr!
Well, gotta get back to Elna. Hope you are creating during these cold days.
OMG, I have an Elna machine too. Mine is over 20 y old. Watch it here
http://mamimadeit.blogspot.com/2009/11/my-temporary-working-place.html
Btw your potholders are lovely!
Those are the cutest potholders!! I don’t think that 25 years is old!! I wouldn’t trade my older machine for anything!
Robin, Thanks! I wouldn’t trade it either. They are selling like hotcakes on Ebay now.
Oh, your Elna is so pretty! I always like the old machines best. Love your drawstring bags and the fabric you chose for them, I think I need to make some of those myself 🙂
Kristina, Thanks. It’s funny that in my stash I have that rose fabric in several different colors. I used some bias tape I had around for the pull strings. Feels so good to use up some of this stuff!
My mom had an Elna like that…I recently found 6 cams for her old machine in the bottom of her sewing box. I remember as I kid having to sit by the outlet when mom sewed because the machine would go crazy and start sewing at full speed and you couldn’t stop it. My job was to unplug it when it got nuts! Funny memory…thanks for the laugh!
Halle, What a great memory! It does get going pretty fast! I have several cams that came with my machine. I’ve not used them much but they are nice to have.
Your potholders look great! You even quilted around the little kitties. Nice. And good thinking using the denim on the back. Whenever I’ve made pot holders they end up too thin and so not very useful.
I have that exact machine!! I love it so much. It was my Grandma’s before me (clearly she bought it brand new, a big deal at the time). I have a bunch of the cams for it, but haven’t every figured out how to use them. 🙂
Vanessa, When I bought my second hand it was a big deal – top of the line and I paid a lot for it even back 25 or so years ago. But it’s a great machine. That is so neat that you got your grandma’s!
Ruth, Thanks. I’m really trying to practice free motion so I thought I’d just stitch around the kitties. Makes the potholder sturdier. We really are hard on potholders so I wanted something real sturdy on the back. Hubby loves them and he’s the head cook!