🪡 matches, she/her
🪡 multi-craft, but mainly cross stitch & kogin
🪡 crafts tag: #くコ:彡
🪡 personal tag #𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
🪡 last craft store visit: 20260310
🪡 last neocities update: 20260609 - please visit!
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
Sweet Seals For You, Always
dirt enthusiast
Stranger Things
Not today Justin

Discoholic 🪩

JVL
almost home
noise dept.
KIROKAZE
we're not kids anymore.

Andulka
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open

Product Placement
Xuebing Du
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her

⁂
Today's Document
Game of Thrones Daily
Peter Solarz
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@likematches
🪡 matches, she/her
🪡 multi-craft, but mainly cross stitch & kogin
🪡 crafts tag: #くコ:彡
🪡 personal tag #𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟
🪡 last craft store visit: 20260310
🪡 last neocities update: 20260609 - please visit!
and so I did!
#i wanna see the collection and how they differ
Say no more, here they all are! (I post about them more on my sewing & art blog @vincentbriggs, though I'm afraid I haven't got proper tags for each individual machine.)
c. 1885 White VS2, made in the U.S. Basic straight stitch treadle in good working order. It came to me very dirty and needed a lot of cleaning and a new drive belt & bobbin winder tire.
Singer 15-91, made in Canada sometime between 1936-48. This was my first one, which I bought refurbished when I moved out of my parents house, since it's pretty similar to the one I grew up using. It came with a knee lever but after a few years the speed control box failed and I replaced it with a foot pedal.
1945 Bernina KL 105, made in Switzerland. This is my most recent acquisition and I haven't started on the cleaning & refurbishing yet, but I'm excited to use it! It's a treadle that has backstitch and drop feed.
Gimbels department store branded Singer 15 clone, made in Japan. No idea what the date is, but the style of the logo makes me think maybe 50's? All cleaned and stitching again, though I still need to put the motor back on. The case was too rotten to save, so I've got to learn how to make a new one. Being a 15 clone, it's extremely similar to my Singer 15, but there are quite a lot of differences in the smaller external parts and it has a much better drop feed system.
1958 Singer 99k, made in Scotland. All cleaned and adjusted, and my father helped rewire it, but I still need to finish fixing up the wooden case. It wasn't so bad as the previous one, but it's in no condition to stain so I'm going to paint it. This one's something of a foster kitten, as I've promised it to a friend.
1964 Singer 185J, made in Canada. I've cleaned it up and replaced the missing bobbin plate, but I need to make a new wooden case for this one too because the plastic case it came in was all cracked and warped. It's the same basic machine as the 99k, just in a more space age style shape. The bobbin winder is more stripped down, but other than that the workings are identical.
1970 Pfaff 360, made in Germany. This was the second machine I got, and it was meant to be a backup because this was when my 15-91 speed control was acting up. The pebbled greige paint job is horrendously fugly, but it's a splendid piece of engineering. I still need to get around to taking apart and unsticking one particular area, but if I'm successful in that it'll be able to do zig zag, plus a variety of other fancy stitches controlled by that nice stack of cams on the left.
The 2 treadles were given to me, the 15-91 was bought refurbished as mentioned, and the other 4 electric machines were thrifted.
As you can see from observing the shape of the newer ones compared to the older ones, sewing machines are born with a large store of baby fat and they become scrawnier as they age.
Hexagon Quilt
This is the second time I've seen a video of this technique and this explanation is so clear! It does use more fabric than English paper piecing (EPP) but you end up with a double sided hexagon so don't have to source fabric for the backing.
I'm doing EPP at the moment but I have a hole punch to make the papers and just use leaflets and junk mail, so it doesn't feel wasteful. I don't think it's difficult either- in the video she mentions it's not for beginners, but I don't have that much experience with hand sewing or EPP and I've been finding it pretty easy so YMMV
I saw this video yesterday and was seized with the need to try it out immediately. Lookit my cute lil' hexagon baby!!
Here is what the backside looks like. OP notes this takes more fabric than paper piecing, but that excess fabric makes it already triple-layered. Besides not needing backing fabric, I don't think you'd need batting for this quilt at all. It's already thick and soft just from folding all that fabric into a hexagon.
Hexagon quilt tutorial video by tiktok user camelscrafts. Method:
Each hexagon begins as a 6" circle. camelscrafts does this by creating a paper template using a compass. According to the video, a 6" circle will create a hexagon that is 2.5 inches tall.
These hexagons are hand-sewn. Thread the needle.
With the fabric right side facing, find the center of the circle by folding it in half right sides together, then folding it in half again (wrong sides are facing). The top of the triangle shape is the center of the fabric circle.
Make a small stitch into the center of the fabric. The wrong side is still facing.
Unfold the circle. There will be a small stitch in the center.
Now the hexagon is created by folding the circle into itself: Take the needle to one of the edges of the fabric (it doesn't matter which one). Pull the needle through and pull the thread tight. This will fold down the fabric and create an edge of the hexagon. Crease the fold with your finger.
This fold has two corners, one at the top and one at the bottom. Put the needle into one of the corners and pull the thread taut. This will create another fold.
Continue this going around the circle until all of it is folded down, creating the hexagon. camelscrafts notes that the last corner pulled in may be a little bit "wonky" (no precise point in the corner) if the corners were not done precisely. However, that corner is pulled into the back, so is not visible from the front.
The hexagon is now formed. Sew around the folds in the middle of the circle to hold the folds in place. Tie off and cut the thread.
Attach hexagons to each other along the sides. With right sides together, whip stitch the sides together.
Last week, I took my main sewing machine in for maintenance and was sure it would have to stay at the shop for more than a day. Before taking it in, I knew I needed to give myself another project to work on in the meantime and finally got around to organizing some of my loose buttons using a set of note cards I’ve had for a while. Hope you can appreciate the rainbow order ✨
Something a little bit fun today... I damp block all the work shown on this blog, which means after I wash the pieces, I stretch and pin them to a cork board while they're still damp. The pieces then dry wrinkle free without me needing to iron or apply heat.
I got the board on the left in early 2020, and the board on the right is the exact same one but newly purchased.
That's not perspective issues with the older board causing it to slant and look odd.
I used it so much and stretched so many things on it that I warped it pretty badly out of place and the frame was basically trying to corkscrew on itself. It was getting pretty hard to photograph my work smoothly on that!
I just updated/redid my neocities page! It's very rudimentary but please stop by: https://likematches.neocities.org/.
I've used tumblr and instagram for forever, but I also want to start sharing my work in a place that is (mostly) my own thing. I was also thinking I might start sharing more in-depth descriptions about the projects I've been working on, their inspirations, etc. on the neocities site exclusively.
When I'm working on a new piece, I often create a small 'side cloth' where I can do a few quick stitches to test an idea, try out a colour, stitch or thread. I find it really helps me make decisions on the fly and not have quite so much ... unstitching.
When I've finished the larger piece, I keep the side cloth as a reference for future work.
Do you sample as you work? How do you manage that process? I'd love to hear your thoughts on sampling!
#395. Empoleon
Since ancient times, it has been revered by the people of Hisui, who call it the Master of the Waves. Its wings are a match for even master-crafted blades.
Colour and symbol charts can be found here.
Also I need to remember to update my theme once I have laptop access again... Not sure what I want to do yet (;´_ゝ`)
I haven't posted them here, but I've been learning and trying to improve my bracelet/cord/macramé skills. These are all from the last month-ish.
Made my bf a tissue holder from an Olympus kogin kit. First time using 18ct, and I think it looks a lot cleaner than my trial runs using 14ct.
Finished this tissue holder today. The 2 modoko are representing cat's eyes and paws (koginbank). Progress pics below!
Pattern
Progress photos under the cut- started 18 June and finished 1 July.
Started 20250810
Finished 20250823
Progress pics below
Added a kogin detail to my planner- I've never done paper embroidery before and 2026 is going to be my first time using the jibun techo. I am very happy with how this turned out!
Started 20251227
Finished 20251228
Progress pics below