At last I have had the time to do some sewing. Since being back at work I've only had chance to do knitting (which is coming on slow and steady, but nowhere near finished).
I have several projects floating through my mind but i initially wanted to have a go at shirring, and make a shirred top. I have some lovely floral cotton fabric which i thought i could use but after reading up on how to do it I have discovered that you need double the width of fabric so i didn't have enough fabric.
I decided to put together my Cath Kidston bag kit that I got with the Cath Kidston Book 'Sew' and it turned out to be really good to do. The fabric was pre-cut so that was the only bit i didn't have to do myself.
I don't know what it is I find it hard to just read instruction and do it i have to go through it in my head and work out how it would work, nevertheless i managed to get the hang of it and was amazed at how easy it was. I learned how to do the T-junction seams and did my buttonholes using the sewing machine.

Good eh? I was very impressed, I bought the book from amazon, for less than half the price, well worth it.

A closer look

My T-junction seams

My buttonholes

All in all I'm very pleased with it and there are lots more projects in the book which I'd like to try.

I found it much easier to do straight lines and keep a good margin from the edge. But my Mum was telling me about when she worked as a seamstress in a factory she went to work there when she left school.  She said that when they started they were taken to a room to practice their sewing skills and one of the things they had to do was to get a square of material and sew around the outside then into the middle keeping a good margin from the sides and when you had done it and it was neat you could progress on to the next thing.
So i decided to have a go on a scrap of material.

Not bad for my first go, It's quite a nifty thing to do to get to grips with your sewing machine!