Saturday 27 September 2014

Heart Sewing Case with Chatsworth Canvas Transfer


I've been gradually building up the needlework stamp sets from Paper Artsy for a few years now as vintage sewing is one of my favourite themes, and then I spotted that That's Crafty, one of my favourite retailers had a couple of sets in their Clearance section. In fact, they have a few Hot Picks sets at a bargain price! So I now have all of them. I had been working on a heart shaped needlework case and coincidentally their challenge at the moment is All You Need is Love. I wanted to show lots of different things you could do with my canvas transfer technique which you can see on the Paper Artsy blog here. I used a pack of Papermania Bare Basics Canvas Hearts and transferred a mixture of Chatsworth and Thorndon Hall papers onto one side of them, and on the other side I stamped a selection of the sewing images using archival Potting Soil.


I then painted two pieces of shrink plastic, one with Fresco in Dolly Mix, and one in Guacamole, and stamped the largest button in Potting Soil, cut it out with a circle die, and hole punched the holes. I then stitched them onto the different layers.


Sewing always makes me think of love. When I was a child my Mum used to make my clothes and then matching sets for my dolls. I used to go to sleep to the whir of her sewing machine, which she inherited from my grandmother. Such a gentle sound. She has been doing a lot of hand sewing recently as she has lost several stone in weight and has been altering her clothes. I suggested it might help with her Raynaud's, and amazingly, the pain has nearly gone! I guess it has helped the circulation. Her old sewing machine remains a problem, though. It is a BSM in a silvery blue colour, with a wheel, not a treadle. I am guessing it might be around 1930s. It has a bullet bobbin. She wants to use it again but can no longer remember how to thread it. I have searched the internet and looked on You Tube. Any thoughts would be very gratefully received!
 

9 comments:

  1. These look fab Lucy !! Great work !

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  2. A really lovely project, love those handmade buttons xx

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  3. Oh, I do hope that you can find someone to help with the machine Lucy. It sounds like it is so important a part of your childhood. I loved hearing your story and how you relate sewing to love. Your work is beautiful and you have so much more patience than me. Exquisite work, I also love your buttons. Xx

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  4. This is lovely Lucy - that transfer technique worked brilliantly and a lovely blog post too. I used to love hearing my Gran's old treadle sewing machine, which was a Singer and a bit Steam Punk, if I recall!!! Thank you for the gorgeous card, which I opened this morning - much admired by all the family especially Isaac who loved it too! xxx

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  5. What a lovely post! Those hearts look great, & wonderful memories of your mum. Glad to hear she is still sewing.
    Alison xxx

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  6. FAbulous hearts!! I hope you get the machine sorted, it sounds as if it is good therapy.

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  7. Try contacting Bambers Sewing Machines on 0161 707 7786, speak to Alan or Steve they are very helpful and if they can't help they might know who can.

    Have you looked on You Tube or Googled the particular machine as that's a possibility also.

    Lovely hearts and memories... :-) xxx

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  8. Well done on bagging the bargain stamps and making such great use of them, Lucy. If you win the £20 That's Crafty! voucher you can treat yourself to some more sewing themed goodies. Good luck!

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