I have a Singer 401a. One of the last machines Singer made that was all metal. After owning a few newer (meaning 1990s) machines, I decided plastic wasn't my friend and decided to go back in time a little bit with this machine. It goes through just about anything you put under that needle - including canvas, leather (up to 4 layers!), and heavy linens. Not like I'll be sewing all that stuff, but at least I have the option. I am all about having options.
Here she is! They just don't make them like this anymore! I haven't decided on a name for her but I'm considering Olive for some reason...it just came to me. Now accepting recommendations for sewing machine names (even though I've owned it for 2 years now...better late than never!)
Ok, onto the flowers...
You didn't come here to visit with my sewing machine (but if you'd like a little walkthrough of it, let me know and I'll create one.
I made paper templates that I then traced onto fabric and sewed around the lines.
I am not very good at sewing so I sew around the lines before cutting the flowers out but if you are skilled, you can certainly cut first and sew around the very edge of the flowers.
I used a tight zigag stitch and went around each flower twice...ya know...for safe measure.
I then used contrasting and very random pieces of fabrics for the centers.
This is a good way to help practice control with your stitches...I feel like I've gotten better in the few days I've been making these. I definitely feel like my last few flowers are much nicer than my first few.
My tip would be to stick with shapes that will be easy to start with. The bigger flower was much easier to maneuver than the smaller flower so I didn't make as many small ones in this batch.
And don't be afraid to try new shapes! Mushrooms, trees, birds, different flowers, etc.
And don't shy away if you don't have a sewing machine...hand sewing (slow stitching) also produces beautiful flowers!
Have fun with it! And tag me in your social media posts so I can see your scrappy projects!
~M