My first sewing machine

Since I'm pretty much snowed under with work, I thought I'd share some other sewing related things instead of what I've been making recently. I was lucky enough to find my first sewing machine at a car boot sale in Cornwall 2 summers ago, it was £8 and obviously I couldn't leave it! I was on holiday there with my parents, my sister, her friend Kim, and our dog. So the car was pretty full. My parents almost flipped their lids when they saw me struggling over to the car with it.

The above is the only picture I have of it, as I have since given it to one of my friends who used to hand stitch all of her garments! Below is a picture from the internet so you can see it better.

It was heavy, I mean really heavy, as if it was made entirely of cast iron. It only did a straight stitch, and the tension was NEVER right. There was no light, and mine had a cotton bud wedged into the top to hold the reel of cotton in place, but I thought it was the best! I made presents, costumes and even some simple clothing using it. I think it was a combination of getting the machine for £8, and realising that fabric was so cheap that gave me the sewing bug, I felt as if I could create anything I wanted!

My dissertation is taking over my life at the moment, and probably will continue to until May when I graduate, so please excuse my absence! I do have a few things to share, firstly I won a giveaway at 'So, Zo...What do you know?' It was the first ever one I entered, and I was chuffed that I won!! The prize was some beautiful vintage buttons (shown below) from The Polished Button, which by the way, has a fantastic button selection, and I'll definitely be popping over when I'm in need of buttons!

And in other news, Kramer the cat is no longer a ghost cat who hides all day! He is very quickly becoming the king of the castle, chasing anything and everything, and settling on anything warm (usually my lap). I've never met such a friendly cat, we have been really lucky!

Sewing is still slow lately, I planned on making my outfit for Christmas this year, but just haven't got the time! I managed to squeeze in making Christmas stockings, one of which you will find on my Etsy shop in the next few days, but big projects are just going to have to wait until the summer now!