Proof!

They came! This morning I came downstairs to find that my little pair of elves had paid me a visit during the night. They had taken my 1.5m of fabric, and machine quilted it. The fabric is Makower and is part of their new hearts and stars range.

The machine stitching is with a 6mm stitch length, and it follows the paths between the individual garlands, so that none of the hearts or stars got distorted. The lines are about an inch apart, so the combined fabric should act as one piece.

This is all that remains of the muffin. There isn't even a single chocolate chip left. There are quite a lot of crumbs though. I guess if you are a little elf it must be difficult to ate a muffin bigger than your head without dropping at a least few crumbs.  Perhaps I should invest in a couple of elf sized plates?

Now there might be some of you disbelievers out there who can't figure out how a small elf could use a sewing machine. Obviously I do have to put it out on the table, as anyone whose lifted a sewing machine knows just how heavy they can be. The elves solution to using a sewing machine is simple; one uses the foot pedal, the other directs the material and calls out instructions. That's why they tend to come in pairs. It takes dedicated team work, and usually when elves pair up and start sewing, they stay with the same partners for life.

Never having seen the elves in action, I'd like to think that they take turns on who operates the foot pedal. After all, it must be dull work, sat in the dark working a pedal, with only the gentle glow from the machine light above them.

When their work is over, and daylight starts to creep around the edge of the curtains, they put down their little scissors, and folding the material neatly, they silently leave the house. During the winter months, I tend to leave my material cupboard slightly ajar, and they have a little nest amongst my wool stash. As summer approaches, they like to sleep in the garden, curled up in a shady spot.

Now I've just got to cut my pieces out for the main part of the coat. You can leave this to elves, but they have no sense of fabric conservation, and often cut the first piece out right in the middle of the fabric. This is okay if you have a lot of fabric, but otherwise you can end up not having enough to finish the job.

Besides, it will give me a chance to do a bit more baking...