Creative articles about sewing

My B 780 the working horse

I’ve often heard the BERNINA 830 called a DIVA. Well, that may be true – after all, it is something very special.
My BERNINA 780 is one, too, but it’s also a real workhorse. That’s why the term “Diva” doesn’t really fit it. It’s more of a “busy bee”. I have never seen such a robust machine as this one. But I don’t hold back when it comes to experimenting either, so at the weekend I used it to sew together as many as three (!) layers of 2 mm thick woollen felt, and it was effortless.
The result is my new handbag.

The appliquéd flowers are also made from the same 2 mm thick woollen felt. I’ll show you how I secured them to the bag using the example of my new Smartphone pouch, which I made right after making my handbag.
Perhaps you would like to sew a cosy new jacket for your phone too.
First, I cut a section of felt. This is easiest with a rotary cutter and ruler. Base the measurements on the size of your phone. The felt strip should be twice as long and at least 3 cm wider than the phone.
You will also need to cut flowers, circles and leaves from different colours of felt.

I threaded my B 780 with a No. 12 woollen thread – it is important to use a Lana needle or a top stitch needle for this! Any other needle will make life difficult for you when using woollen thread.
Next I place the leaves on the felt and attach them securely using a 4 mm-long triple stitch.

Using the clear sole foot #34D, I can see everything and the felt is transported perfectly.
This #34D foot is also ideal for my embroidered tendrils. I sew very slowly, stitch by stitch, turning the piece of felt a little after completing each triple stitch. This creates the curve in the material. The hover lever is my best friend for this, allowing me to quickly lift the presser foot a little.

I sew the lower disc of the flower in the same way. Here, the stitch goes slightly beyond the edge of the flower. This pushes the thick felt down a little and makes the flower appear more three-dimensional.

Of course, I change the thread depending on the colour of the flower.

Now I want to appliqué the inner circle of the flower with a quilt stitch. I’ve opted for stitch no. 1356. The needle sews 5x back and forth.

If I sew very precisely along the edge of the circle using this stitch, it becomes almost invisible and only the thick transverse stitches remain visible.
To make sure I really do stay exactly on the edge, I use the edgestitch foot 10D.

Can you see it? It really does look hand-stitched! I love this stitch! Only the B 780 and B 880 has it!


Once my flower appliqué is finished, I fold the two short ends of the felt strip together and sew a triple stitch seam down the left and right sides. Again, I use the Edge stitch foot 10D.

Using the wave rotary cutter, I quickly give the upper edge a bit of a flourish and now my phone is warm and cosy!

Please don’t forget to clean the needle plate after sewing with felt.

Have fun making your own and all the best,
Tatjana

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