williamsews

 I was born in Melbourne, Australia, and in 1964, I travelled to London; "Swinging London" - Wow - or groovy, as we said way back then. It was a rite of passage for young Australians at this time to travel to the UK, as working holidayers.  It would be easy to leave Melbourne behind, it was an uptight town - the bars and hotels closed at six in the evening, hard to believe, but true. People left work at 5:30 and had half an hour to socialise,  no place for young people who wanted to have fun. Leaving on the RHMS Ellenis.  The trip took six weeks and stopped at exotic and wonderful places on the way, eventually arriving at Portsmouth, surrounded by ghosts - the English were so pale! It was a surprise.  Took a steam train to London - what a place London was, colourful and exciting, Carnaby St, Kings Rd, fabulous clothes, wonderful music, and later, Biba, just people having a fab time. Here I was, in a young person's paradise, I was a hairdresser at the time, but t...

 I have been working on two new blocks. This is 'Weave', simple to sew. This is a traditional block; 'Road to Heaven', I used 'heavenly' fabrics for this. Both are simple blocks to cut and sew; and don't use much fabric (great for scraps). The next video will be Weave. I am considering the purchase of Electric Quilt to design blocks. I shall study a few more vidoes before I decide, the alternative is to work out patterns on graph paper, but I can only buy the paper in metric here. Meanwhile, I have a few ideas that I'll work on. Visited my favourite charity shop today and found a lot of great fabric pieces, large and small. I am a fabric hoarder...nothing new in that. Back to the machine, Regards, Will.

 I've been working on a new block, it's intriguing but I have figured it out. This is not an age-old traditional block, in fact, it was designed in 2012 by Laura Roberts for McCalls (My second favourite shirt pattern maker - Simplicity is first). I don't think there is enough tonal contrast in the fabrics I used for the 'twist' part, but I have put together a better combination for the next one. It looks complicated and it does take a degree of concentration, something I lack sometimes. It has an interesting method of attaching the surrounding strips to the centre square, a method that could be useful for other quilting blocks. There are a few new blocks (new to me) that I am wanting to try, so the half-finished shirt I have been working on gets pushed further back on the to do list. December is the first month of summer here, the weather has been delightful so far - I hope it won't be too hot - love winter. My lot for today, Take care,

Vintage patterns. I have been sorting old patterns, changing them from plastic bags to envelopes, which are acid-free and will preserve them. Fashion and styles evolve, but some men’s fashion is constant, these clothes would certainly be fashionable today. These are from the late 1930s to early 1940s – I’m so glad the date is included on patterns. I won’t make these garments, but I do love old patterns. I have some from the 1960s that I will wear. Charity shops used to be a great source of these patterns, but it not anymore, pity. Back to sorting these treasures. Please visit my YouTube channel:  williamsews - YouTube Take care, Will.  

  These blocks are some I made, but for various reasons, won't be using. They are nice enough, but perhaps not interesting enough to continue. T hat's my lot for today, Take care, Will.

I've found a couple of things to make my sewing life easier. Transparent Kitchen Cutting Mats. I've been using inexpensive cutting mats to move quilt blocks between the cutting board, the iron, and the sewing machine, this has made things simpler. This block is called 'Old Maid's Puzzle', not PC these days. I put one mat underneath the pieces and another on top. These mats hold 8" blocks, if they're bigger, I use another set to hold the outer pieces. The transparent type is best for this. Next helpful hint:  A Silicone Baking Mat. This keeps the foot pedal from moving - and it really works! It is working better than anything else I've tried, not more shuffling around, trying to find that darned pedal. Triple Square Block. This is a block I was going to make, but it's too fiddly, the centre squares are only .5", and that's too small.  This isn't a hint, I thought I'd show a nice block that won't be made again.  It is another trad...

 Getting lighting right for sewing isn't easy, the older I get, the more light I need. The new Singer is a great machine (love the press-button thread cutter), but the light is totally inadequate, the machine is grey, which seems to draw the light, white machines are better because the reflect light. Anyway, I have found a great style of lamp that solves the problem. They are flexible, which means that they can be adjusted to the best position to give the maximum light. There are three brightness settings, but I only use the brightest. They can be precisely positioned for the maximum effect and screw to the desk or table. They are turned on by tapping the end. Love these lights. That's it for today,  Regards,  Will. I can't manage without them now