Moving house and other musings

Wow! A lot has happened since my last blog post in June. We decided to put our house on the market at the beginning of July and as such we were very busy getting the house to look it's best. All our hard work paid off and we accepted an offer on it and started looking for our new home. Little did we know how stressful this whole adventure would become. After looking for what seems an eternity we finally saw a property that caught our eye at the beginning of August. It was outside the area we were originally looking, but after a lot of consideration we decided to have a look at it anyway as it looked perfect for what we wanted on paper. To cut a long story short after some hiccups we were able to put in an offer, in the form of a blind bid, and had it accepted.

Unfortunately about 5 weeks later our buyers decided to pull out, just as we were about to exchange contracts and we had to put our house back on the market. Luck was with us a second time and we found new buyers within a week. We are due to exchange with them in the next few days, so fingers crossed all goes okay and there aren't anymore hiccups. I must tell you though all this waiting for news is awful.

I haven't been doing much sewing lately, I've completed a few orders for my Lunar Showbands and have also started making dog show leads on request of one of my customers who wanted a few beaded show leads that would match her Lunar Showband. I decided on a slight name change for my range of showing accessories to Lunar Designs, Showing Armbands, Show Leads and Show Sets.

I have done a few more leads and matching showing armbands since. I really must try and find out the best way to market these showing armbands and show leads to the dog showing community. So far I have a facebook page and I have also added them to my Pooches Pawadise website.


Then last week I was asked to write a blog post for nametapes.info about Lunar Designs, this blog post was published today, so hopefully I will get some lovely responses from that. If you would like to see what Lunar Designs is all about please visit the blog by clicking here.

I don't think there is much more to report really, so instead I will leave you with some photos of some recent projects.

1951 Vintage Singer 201K Sewing Machine

I thought it was about time for another blog post. I know I have been slacking lately, I apologise. I didn't realise that my last blog was back in February. Wow time does fly when you are busy.

Before I start telling you about my new Vintage Sewing Machine I better tell you what has been happening. My last blog post was just before Crufts, so lets start there.

Crufts 2012 was an amazing experience for us, not only did we have three of Luna's puppies entered in the Special Puppy Bitch class, Luna was entered in the Open Bitch Class so all in all we had 4 dogs to get ready for action on the day. Lily (Nightsabre Larissa by Lily) handled by her young owner Harriet (see photo) won the puppy bitch class, with her sisters Ebony (Nightsabre Elara in Ebony) and Deva (Nightsabre Venus of Lauraldean) getting a 3rd and 4th respectively. This was certainly a good start to the day. Our own Luna then took 2nd in a very strong Open class. At the end of the competition Lily had to go back in for the Challenge for Best Puppy in Breed and she Won!  It certainly was an amazing feeling to have bred a CRUFTS Best Puppy in Breed in our first litter. Needless to say we were over the moon with the results at CRUFTS this year. Ok, Luna didn't win Best of Breed for a third year, but then I wasn't sure the judge would like her in the first place. So all in all we had a fab day.

The pup we kept, Seina (Nightsabre Io for Seina) sadly didn't qualify for Crufts 2012 so she had to stay at home. Since Crufts we have done 2 shows and Seina has already qualified for Crufts 2013 with a well deserved 2nd place in the Puppy Bitch class at Bath Championship Show.  We also took her to Southern Counties Championship show where she won the Junior Bitch Class.

The next big thing to go on here was the 1st Birthday party for the Moon litter. We held the party a few days early on Saturday the 26th May and I am pleased to say that 6 our of the 7 puppies in the litter were able to attend the party. It was a scorching day, to be honest probably a bit too hot but at the same time everyone enjoyed themselves, including the dogs! So another big success for the Nightsabre Kennel. We are now concidering organising a yearly Nightsabre day.

Onto Sewing...

I have started making showing armbands for the dog showing community and named them Lunar Showbands. I have been busy on my little sewing machine creating several designs and working out the best way to contruct them. I launched the Lunar Showbands on Facebook on the 5th of May and have slowly been promoting them at the shows we have been attending over the last month.

Of course this little venture meant that I assessed my little Toyota sewing machine and realised that she is not really up to the job of making these showing armbands as I have to sew many layers together and I needed a machine that would be better suited to the job. After a lot of research into different sewing machines and their capabilities I came across "The Sewing Forum" were I found a mine of information and knowledge. This started to direct my attention towards Vintage sewing machines.

To cut a long story short (well a little shorter!), I found two Vintage Singer 201K's on Ebay that were within collecting distance, one was a hand crank and my preferred machine, the other an electric version with a knee lever control. The 201K with the hand crank was up first, I decided to be sneaky and try to put in a bid with 10 seconds to go... For a whole 2 seconds I had the highest bid. Unfortunately someone else had the same idea and beat my bid 2 seconds later. I didn't have a chance to put in a higher bid so I lost the auction.

A few days later it was getting close to the end of the auction on the electric 201K with the knee lever control. to be honest by this time I had completely forgotten that I was watching the item on Ebay. Luckily I got an email from Ebay reminding me that I only had a few minutes left to place a bid for the item. I decided to take a chance and see if I could get this machine instead. This time I waited until there was just 7 seconds to go to put in my bid and was lucky enough to win the auction.

So I collected my 1951 Vintage Singer 201K Sewing Machine yesterday morning and I was very surprised at the obvious good condition the machine is in. Okay it needs a bit of TLC and a good clean/ oiling and perhaps a service, as it hasn't had one according to the lady that I got it off. I'm so pleased with  my purchase, she is such a beautiful Lady, I can't wait to restore her back to her former glorious self.

I did actually make a start overhauling her today, give her a little TLC to put it more mildly :o).

There is a lot of grime, dust and gunk but I'm making good progress in refurbishing her. So far I have cleaned and oiled the bobbin case and the head assembly, cleaned face plate and the needle bar assembly and corrected the position of the sewing foot. Next I tackled the upper tension assembly, took it apart, cleaned and reassembled it.  It seems to be moving a lot smoother now and the dial can be turned from "0" through to "9" without too much resistance, before I overhauled this bit I couldn't turn it past "6" and whatever I tried the tension did not appear to change. I'm hoping that this problem has now been resolved.

Tomorrow I need to go get some more sewing machine oil so I can finish what I started. I'll do another blog post dedicated to the actual refurbishment of this lovely machine, with lots of photos showing the before and after, but for now I think this is it for today. My dinner is nearly ready and needs some attention. Roast Pork served with Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli...

A new sewing project.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I show dogs and I made myself an armband exhibitor number clip. Well I have been developing the concept of these armbands as I've had a fair amount of interest in them. So I set about buying some lovely 1" ribbon in a variety of colours, Ivory, Black, Dark Red, Gold and Silver. The ribbon I ordered arrived on Wednesday and I've been busy making ribbon roses to put on the armbands since then. I currently have orders for 4 armbands, so I need to get a move on, finalise the design and get them made.

I've been practising making the roses and experimenting with adding tails for a more refined and finished look. My roses are getting better day by day. The good thing about these ribbon roses is that if it goes wrong you just unravel them and try again. It's not easy making these roses when using two different ribbons to get a nice two-colour effect in the finished article. But the hassle of trying to keep the ribbons aligned as I am wrapping and rolling the rose is certainly worth it when you look at the final result.

I made a second prototype with a gold and black rose with medium trails earlier this week. I was going to wear this version at my next show. However a few days ago I got a cry for help from a dear friend, so I lend her my latest creation and she is trialing it for me at a dog show today.

I'm looking forward to hearing how she got on with her gorgeous Adele and what she thinks of the armband. Especially whether the tails work or not. I hope that they do as I think they give an added "WOW" factor to the whole design. I am intending to sell these in my online shop Pooches Pawadise once I have finalised the design and armband sizes.

It became clear from my conversation with my friend that making these armbands in different sizes is a good idea. She has skinny arms and the size I had chosen for my armband would work when she is wearing a thick jumper or jacket but not in the summer when she might only be wearing a blouse or T-shirt to show in. So I am looking to make 3 different sizes, small, medium and large. As you can see I still have a bit more refining to do.

You probably remember that I made voile curtains for our bed last spring. The final part of that project is to create a canopy to cover the "roof " of the bed. Well I made it to the fabric store the other day and I have now purchased a gorgeous white satin to use for the roof. The voile will be attached to this new fabric so that it will drape over the edge and flow down a couple of feet to create a frame around the top of the bed. Well that is my intention, whether my idea will work as well as I hope remains to be seen.  I will post some photos of the finished project once I have finished it.

Another year has ended and a new one has begun.

I thought it might be time for another blog post. Christmas and the New Year have come and gone. We had a quiet one this year. We stayed at home and were joined by my parents, who came over from Holland to be with us. It always is a different experience celebrating the holidays with my folks, in Holland Christmas isn't celebrated the same way it is over here. It's a much more quiet and sedate kind of affair. No presents are given at Christmas in Holland, that is what they have Sinterklaas (St Nicolas) for, on the 6th of December, although Sinterklaas is all about giving presents to the children in the household.

The best thing about Christmas this year was that I got to spend some more time with my mum in particular. I miss her a lot and it had been over a year since I last saw her. Of course we talk on the phone and email each other a lot but it's not the same as having her stand next to me as I'm trying to make my first batch of Italian gelato :o). Well, the in-laws gave me an Ice Cream Maker for Christmas so it had to be tried out. Okay that first batch didn't quite live up to expectations, the flavour was there but the texture left a lot to be desired. My second batch, chocolate gelato was much better, great chocolate flavour and the right consistency. Heaven in a frozen desert!

Since the New Year I have been busy doing some more sewing. I got commissioned to make a grooming bag for an acquaintance. She wanted a bag that was big enough for all her dog grooming tools and sprays and what I came up with turned out pretty nice. I went for a subtle quilted look, that helped the bag keep it's shape. The end result was bigger than anticipated so I decided to add a detachable shoulder strap to the bag. The lady I made the bag for is over the moon with her new bag.

I've also been thinking about dog showing and in trying to find a solution to my exhibitors number clip problem. Basically when I show my dogs I use a Belgian Shepherd Dog number clip, it's a gold coloured metal clip I pin to the front of my jacket and then clip the exhibitors number card to it to wear in the ring. Unfortunately when I run the card gets turned around or mangled so that I always have to fiddle with it to get it to show the number printed on it. I was thinking that it would be a lot easier I could display the number on my arm. Of course you can get those plastic ID armbands, but lets face they look cheap, nasty and they are really boring. So I came up with this pretty black and white rose design, for my fancy armband clip.

I went to an open dog show this past weekend and tried out my design there. My fear was that the armband wouldn't stay put when running around the ring. My fears proved to be unnecessary I put the armband on and it didn't move until I removed it after I finished showing. I had a lot of interest in my armband exhibitor number clip/ holder and I came away with a request to make another one on commission. 

Better still were the results, our puppy Seina won the puppy class and was Best Puppy in Breed. Not bad for her second show! Seina is seen here on the right, next to her Aunty Savannah. I was very pleased with this result. I feel she thoroughly deserved the win, she behaved beautifully, letting the judge look at her teeth without any fuss. She stood still while he ran his hands over the rest of her body to assess her construction and then looked alert and stood like a little pro when it mattered.  Ebony, Seina's sister came away with a  third place in the puppy class. Which I was very pleased about, considering Ebony hasn't done a lot of show training and her mum is pretty new to the whole showing thing. Luna, Seina's mum came 2nd in the open class. We are now looking forward to the next show in the middle of February, which gives us another chance to practise for Crufts in March.

Making more handbags and grooming/ toiletry bags...

I have been getting some really nice comments on my handmade bags and several people have asked me whether I would be willing to make a bag for them, some people want them for Christmas presents others just to treat themselves to a unique, one of a kind bag. I have now done several bags, and I'm pretty pleased with how they have turned out.

My latest creation is a smaller handbag with plenty of pockets, it's versatile and I just love the fabric and colour combination.

I'm in the middle of finishing off a toiletry type bag for a friend of mine. She wanted a small bag to keep all her dog grooming brushes, combs, nail clippers etc in. So I designed a bag with that specific use in mind and I'm pretty pleased to say that this little sewing project is turning out the way I envisaged it.  I hope my friend will like the dog grooming bag I've come up with.

I've now been asked by several people whether I would be willing to make bags on commission. Well I suppose I can, I'm still learning about bag making but I'm actually really enjoying being creative. I guess if I do start doing this more regularly then I might need to get some labels made, something that says "Hand made by ..." or "Hand made designs by..." and add them to my creations.

I really enjoy making these bags, so if there are people our there who want me to make them a bag I will be very happy to put one together for them. They will have to be patient though as I am not the quickest when it comes to making these bags. I want to make sure that they are right and well made.


This is the grooming bag I made for my friend, I made it up as I went along and the design worked much better  than I thought it would. My friend is over the moon with her new bag, and to me that is what it is all about! I suppose the next thing I should do is draw out the design so that I can recreate it if needed.

on sewing stuff

I have recently starting sewing and to my surprise I am actually quite enjoying creating things from fabric. I'm starting to feel quite confident using the sewing machine. I've had it for years, just never really did much with it.

What started me off sewing was the fact that we bought a lovely new 4 poster bed last year and we decided that we needed some voile curtains to go around the bed. Let's face it a 4 poster bed needs curtains of some description or another otherwise it just doesn't look right. So I went looking for and found some lovely voile fabric with a spiral pattern. It certainly was very frustrating using the voile as it was so darned slippy but the end result is beautiful. I haven't quite finished this project yet as I still need to do a cover for the top of the bed, but I've taken a little break from working with the voile, while I figure out how best to create this top drape for the bed. I've only got 6 meters of fabric left and I am not sure whether this is enough to do what I would like to do.

In the mean time I have started making bags, all sorts of bags. I've made a lined tote style bag which can be used as a handbag or book bag or even a beach bag for when on holiday. It's lightweight and versatile, and I love it.

A friend then asked if I would make her a handbag using the same pattern but to add lots of pockets. So I had her pick out some fabrics that she absolutely loved and made it for her. I added 3 extra pockets of which one is a zipper pocket, and a key fob holder, just so the bag is as practical as I could make it for her. She loved it. Here is a photo of the bag now that it is finished. She hasn't seen it in real life yet, but she loves it from the photos I have sent her.


I have some fabric left over from making this handbag so for my next project I will make a matching "Dog Grooming bag" so she can keep all her grooming brushes and combs etc together when she goes to dog shows. I'll probably do a little wallet for her to use up the last of the fabric.

After I have done these last few things it will probably be time to go back to the voile fabric and figure out a way to make the curtain to go over the top of our bed. I guess the best thing to do there is to add a rectangle of white satin for strength and then use the remaining voile fabric to create a "valance" to drape down the sides of the canape of the bed. If anyone has a better idea please feel free to drop me a line.

On blogging

Well I have never blogged before. To some this may seem a little strange but I've never thought about blogging. I decided to give it a go though.

You will probably be wondering what kind of things I will be blogging about. I'm a dog person, and seeing that I am owned by three beautiful Groenendaels, I gather my blogs will for a great part be dog related. You are likely to see blogs on dog training, dog nutrition, agility, dog showing and any other subjects that are dog related.
I'm sure I will also blog about my work, I run a dog related business called "Pooches Pawadise", we do home boarding for dogs and also sell dog accessories on line, I've had some funny, weird and wonderful things happen running my business so I will probably blog about some of that too. In addition I am a fully qualified dog training instructor and companion animal behaviourist, so you are likely to see some training tips on here too.

I have also recently started sewing, so I will blog about that too. I've so far done a couple of handbags, a grooming bag and I am currently working on a design for a purse for a dear friend of mine. I've already made her a handbag and she mentioned she would like a purse to match, so seeing as I can't find a pattern that I like I will design one from scratch. I'll do a blog about that with some photos to show you the finished article.

I thought I would finish by posting a photo of my three girls, together they are the foundation of the Nightsabre Groenendaels kennels. We are a small kennel that do a little showing, a little agility and we occasionally breed a litter of wonderful puppies. This photo was taken on a recent trip to the beach.

Luna, Shadow and Seina enjoying their walk on Studland beach. 

I think that is all I'm going to blog about for now. My next blog will be about some of my sewing projects. I hope I will get some hits and maybe some of you will find my blogs interesting enough to stick around and check in every now and then. 

Tasjii