Marie-Claire Idées

I’ve been saying (or should I say threatening?) that I want to buy a sewing-machine for ages. Since my attempts to learn myself to knit and crochet ended up in two major disillusions, I reckoned that, since I am good with machines (read: computers) I should be able to work with a sewing-machine. And even when it ends up with madly-throwing-crochet-needles-in-a-corner-of-a-room, it’s a good thing to learn something new (and learn that you’re not made for crocheting or knitting). In short, working with a sewing-machine would mean the opening of a world of new and fast creative projects and I liked that idea.

Even the fact that my last encounter with my mother’s sewing-machine wasn’t a very good one couldn’t stop me from obsessing about it.

A couple of months ago the opportunity to get my own machine came up. I was allowed to take-over the one that belonged to my Love’s grandmother, which would be the perfect way to finally practise my sewing skills. And since it belonged to a dear family member, it would be terribly rude not to use it, so..no way back, no procrastinating, one way or another, I had to make it work.

Yesterday, I used it and what can I say? We’re made for each other! Even ’taking the corners’ (pardon me for my bad English sewing slang) went well, so even the ears of the little owl and wolf came out quite well. I used the easy patterns from a fantastic book of Éditons Marie-Claire (the publisher of Marie-Claire Idées) called “Knuffels om te naaien” (in French called “Doudous à coudre”). I can’t find it for sale in Dutch anymore, but searching the internet I did find this fantastic webshop of the lady that designed the patterns and she still sells the book in French.

I’m happy to conclude that there’s finally a technique I can handle, next to sewing little mounted animals. And by the way, all the animals in the book have a name. These two are called Lou the Wolf and Hubert the Owl. I should have known we had to be! ;-)