Sunday 27 April 2014

Birthday Sponge Bags

I made three wash bags as gifts for family members who all had birthdays in April. I used this great tutorial from Life in Grace.

I found ironing on the interfacing to be the hardest part. I am coming to loathe fusible interfacing. I only have a small iron so it takes forever, and I can't get it to work with a press cloth OR on the wool setting...ugh. The vinyl, on the other hand, ironed on like a dream.

I was worried my machine (which is this tiny Hello Kitty one) wouldn't go through the different layers but, as with the very thick oven gloves I made, it was fine. My machine isn't perfect and I will look to upgrade it in the next year, but I wouldn't get rid of it even then as it is such a great little workhorse. Perfect for beginners and those with limited space.

The Liverpool FC patch was an iron-on I bought online, where I also picked up the zips. Everything else was fabric I already had in my stash! A great stash-busting project. I stuffed them with tissue and different samples. I took pictures of the insides too so you can see that I used contrasting lining for each one.

They went down a storm!






Thursday 24 April 2014

Mother's Day Cat Cross-Stitch Cushion

This is a project I finished for a present to give to my mum on Mother's Day this year.

The cross-stitch was a counted kit from the Hertitage Crafts Cats Rule series which I received as a gift. My mum and I both love cats but the style was perhaps more to her taste than mine. I made it into a simple envelope-back cushion using some fat quarters I had, and decided to make a 'frame' using bias tape.

There were surprisingly few tutorials online about attaching finished cross-stitch to a sewn object. I couldn't find one I liked so I made this up as I went along. In this instance I let the fabric show through the aida slightly as I liked how it echoed the wallpaper pattern, but otherwise I would have backed it with some plain white cotton, or interfacing depending on what I was making.

The cushion was very simple to put together but the cross-stitch took ages! The chair had so many different shades of red and pink, and the swirly pattern was a pain in my ass. I am really pleased with the result though. My outlining is wonky, the bias isn't mitred properly but Mum loved it and that's what matters!





Mum is a crafter too. An extremely talented knitter and paper crafter, she made me this fabulous sign for my sewing room for a birthday gift.


Early this year I spent a weekend totally redesigning Mum's crafting room for her. She was thrilled with the result and it has made me want to spruce up my own! I have to share it with a Star Trek collection and the washing, but I want to reorganise it so I'm not traipsing up and down the stairs to find room to measure, cut and press. This will be a Summer project as at the moment I have a lot of other things to do! In the meantime I'm Pinteresting up a storm :)

Saturday 19 April 2014

Cat Card Cover


An Easter present for my cats which I am sure they won't want.

This cover for their vaccination cards was quick and easy to make. I used just over half of a random fat quarter I had lying around. I had been wondering what to do with two little cross stitches I had finished earlier in the year - both from the Tiddlers range - and also wanted to try my hand at reverse appliqué. This seemed like a good opportunity to try the technique.

I ironed interfacing on to the reverse of the cross stitches (using a pressing cloth because everyone says you must, and then NOT using one because I can't get the stupid stuff to stick with one, ever) and then measured and drew a square onto the back of each. I positioned them face down on the wrong side of the front piece, and stitched the squares. I then trimmed the excess interfacing and aida, turned the front piece over, and fiddled gingerly with my seam ripper until I had a little hole in the fabric. That was the scariest part; it was easy to then trim the fabric back to the stitches. I was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was, and it seems a really effective way of framing finished cross stitches into fabric.

When putting the sleeve together, I tried to do everything you're supposed to. I measured, pressed, did the twice-folded hem on the inside pockets, etc. I am pleased with the finish although despite measuring the sleeve still inexplicably came up slightly small for the cards! I think this is because I didn't account for top stitching. No matter - the cards were easy to trim ;)

This took about an hour - not including the cross stitches, which I guess took about 30 mins each. The weight of the cards means I can stand it up to display it, next to a pretty box in which I keep their medication. It is their most hated shelf, I'm sure - but it looks nice!

If I made a similar thing again I would be braver and use a contrasting thread to frame the cross stitches, and maybe the topstitching too. This time I used one which would disappear in case of mistakes, but now I know it works I think a contrasting thread would look nice.




Friday 18 April 2014

Easter Oven Gloves

Hello! I am very new to sewing and not very good at it yet, but I enjoy it and wanted a place to bibble about it. At the moment I prefer to sew homeware rather than clothes, because lol terrifying. I hope to graduate to clothes one day!

Let's start with a project I made today. These oven gloves (double pot holder if you're American) were quick, easy and cheap to make. I finished the project from start to finish in a couple of hours. I used one leg from my husband's old jeans (I am using the other leg and the main part to make other things) and some cute, contrasting fabric I was given as an Easter present. I thought denim would be a really good fabric for oven gloves as it is sturdy, resilient and washes really easily.

I vaguely followed this tutorial which is great, but used my own design and measurements. I say measurements - I am a terrible planner and often eyeball things or, as in this case, cut one piece and sort of measure everything else against it. I don't recommend this method! I'm just lazy and afraid of maths.

Another difference is I didn't make the fold-over mitts from the tutorial. The pieces I cut from the jeans were already hemmed at the top, so I hemmed the contrasting fabric to match, sewing in the insul-bright as I went, then topstitched them all the way around. Then I attached the mitts as instructed in the tutorial.

Pictures! Please excuse the state of the furniture. I have cats. You understand.



I'm really pleased with how these came out. I think they look modern and cool, as much as oven gloves can look cool. I've never sewn curves before, and they are fairly even! I even slip-stitched the turning gap closed which I wouldn't normally do (see above re: lazy) but I really like the smooth, seamless look of these and didn't want to break it up with topstitching.

These are going to be a gift for my brother-in-law and his partner, who are buying a flat together. I hope they like them!