Getting reacquainted.

Sounds daft, I know. It is a very long time since I really knew my old machine, it's foibles , weaknesses, strengths. I got the strong feeling this last week that, if I was ever to get any sewing done whilst my younger daughter has my own machine, then I would really have to get to know this machine really well once more. I need to trust it. It needs to trust me............

I may be going too far here, but I do talk to my machines and, in return they purr along to me as they work. If I forget to talk to them, they stop working well.......... It has happened far too often for it to be anything other than the truth................... Or perhaps I am going completely around the bend towards insanity.

No, if it works, don't stop doing it.....................

I started by cleaning my untidy workroom. No views of the "before". Believe me, you would not have been able to see much more than glimpses of the floor, and very little of any of the surfaces. There was also an enormous pile of stuff to the left hand side of the sewing machine. This is now tidily put away in the wardrobe. (Away to the right of this photo.)

My dear husband had mentioned the dreadful phrase "throw out...........".

As a true lover of fabric, fibre, yarn and thread, my various stashes have now been caressed, folded, tidied and put away neatly. Only two lengths of a truly dreadful polyester cotton sheeting that had pilled, and which I could never see myself even using as a "muslin" have been sacrificed.

I should explain that the white desk really should belong in my younger daughter's bedroom. There is no room for it in there, so it does service as the table for my overlocker (serger). The books upon it are hers.

I now feel better, more confident and have started using my old machine once more. It was also cleaned during the general tidy-up and is ready to go...........

The latest edition of "Sew Hip", found on a recent trip into W.H.Smiths was truly well-timed. It has this delightful blouse on the front cover. I shall make this, though I shall probably have to alter it quite a lot to fit my more ample bustline.

Inside was this lovely little hanging.

Fun to make, and so useful, it now hangs on my wall. I used scraps of upholstery fabric left over from making a bag. The lining came from the remnants of a skirt I had made from an overly wide-legged pair of trousers.

The extra pocket on the bottom was made from two extra pocket pieces and their lining.

I also added a small pocket inside to hold my sewing machine screwdrivers - so helpful to have those immediately to hand when needing to retrieve the broken point of a needle.......................... Or does it only happen to me?

I have not done very much knitting lately, but the tunic I have struggled with now looks a little more possible.

The cabled jacket abandoned a little while ago looks as if it may get restarted. Well, three WIPs (Works in Progress) is much better than one WIP and two hibernating projects. Isn't it?

Of course, the socks are still under way, albeit at a rather slow (for me) pace.

Perhaps this is an irrelevant thought, but I can even see the telephone on my window sill. True happiness is made of this.