Being Brave…

About fifteen months ago I needed to replace my Brother Super Ace II,

which Little Sis had generously swapped with me for her beloved foldaway Elna Lotus,that she had given me some years earlier, at the time she bought the Brother.

I really liked the Super Ace II but it had needed a couple of repairs since I’d had it and I had reached the point if having to make that “repair or replace?” decision. “Replace” won and I bought Brother 1250D combined sewing and embroidery machine. I’m not particularly fond of machine embroidery but felt that it would be useful for individualising items that I give to charity. (I am passionately keen on making each item unique in the hope that it helps the recipient to feel special.)

For various reasons, I had seldom used the embroidery side of the machine. Apart from lack of time, one of the other main reasons for my reluctance to use it was fear. I think that fear comes from my habit of having a go at things without reading instructions properly and, consequently, making a mess of what I’m doing! You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now, wouldn’t you? No chance! I have stitched a few small embroideries on the machine, but they have been few and far between. What I had never attempted was an in-the-hoop design. I’d heard of them but couldn’t even imagine how the process might work – and I think my puzzlement was what deterred me from having a go. However, an online friend mentioned a machine embroidery Facebook group to me (in connection with something else), so I thought I would take a peep. Whilst looking, I happened to see snap-on fobs for labelling scissors and I immediately thought what a good idea they were. I bought the pattern straight away as I had decided the fobs would make lovely little gifts for crafting friends.

The design sat in a folder on our laptop, staring accusingly at me whenever I used the Macbook. Life then decided that using my lovely Brother was not a priority, so the design sat a while longer.

As Christmas approached and life became less fraught, I realised that I wasn’t going to be able to make the fobs in time to give at Christmas. Instead, I decided that I would tackle them during the Christmas period – I was particularly aiming to start working on them on Christmas Day itself as I knew we would be having a very quiet day. I have to say that I was very pleased with myself that I did begin making them on 25 December albeit that the one I made didn’t turn out terribly well! I wasn’t downhearted: I simply tried again on Boxing Day morning. Success!

The instructions for the fobs suggest using vinyl to stitch on. As you can see, all of those in the above photo are vinyl: these are the ones I have given as gifts. I have also made two fobs for myself using felt. I prefer those made with felt as they are gentler to touch when using the scissors. The original design also uses different colours for various parts but I didn’t think that was important – you may have a different view.

I am pleased to report that the fobs were well received by the members of the craft group. 🙂