Something went wrong with blog post!

I don’t know quite what happened but something went wrong with some of the images in my previous post and in trying to fix the problem I inadvertently deleted the post!!

So here is a recap of my projects over the past few months; I attended a silk paper making workshop with the local embroiderer’s Guild where we made sheets of paper and molded vessels – I made my sheets up into little concertina books and attached leaf motifs also made with the silk fibres, these are so detailed.

I dried my vessel upside down with all the excess bunched up into little folds to achieve this frilled edge.

I used dried daisy heads in the undyed sheet and covered a little box with some of it.

 

I was delighted this summer to be invited to join a group of ladies from Edinburgh Embroiderer’s Guild for a weekly stitching group, I thought this would be a valuable opportunity to plan and work on specific projects but have to say that so far I haven’t been very organised just working mostly on random items including this piece using procion dyed silk viscose velvet that has been gathered and stitched to a ground of calico fabric, I added borders of seed and bugle beads.

I plan to be a lot more organised this year and will try to have some structure to what I am working on, we’ll see how that goes!

Eventually I got around to making Christmas gifts and surprised myself with how much a achieved. Some months ago I purchased a couple of ‘Mr. Chillingsworth’ panels one of which I made into a quilt for my daughter. I ran into some problems despite having spent several hours working out the maths to give me the number of blocks needed so I ended up having to insert the pieces on the sides, not ideal but for my first attempt at such a large quilt I’m quite pleased with the result and will certainly learn from my mistakes!

I really enjoyed making this quilt and will definitely plan another soon.

 

 

 

This is the quilt hanging on the line before being layered and stitched. Below is the finished quilt  – my daughter was delighted with it so it was well worth the effort.

 

I also made patchwork cushions for my sister in law using coordinating fabrics in 4 different designs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My final Christmas project was a foundation pieced stocking for my daughter’s friend, I altered the foot slightly to give a quirky elf like pointed toe rather than the usual rounded toe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I will have to plan early for next Christmas as I thoroughly enjoyed making these gifts. What projects did you work on for this holiday period? Do you have any major projects planned for the New Year?

Just opened a shop on Etsy!

Firstly I must apologise for the long gap!

The reason for my absence is that I have been working hard to finish stock for my Etsy shop!

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StitchedNotions?ref=hdr_shop_menu

This has been a huge step. I’ve been working on designs that might be suitable for some time, refining the embroidery motifs and the production to make them the best products I can but it’s quite nerve wracking to see how they will be received.

 

Having built up a stash of dyed fabrics from my low water immersion experiments, https://stitchednotions.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/dyeing-for-some-colour-2/ I was keen to find a way to use them in a practical way.

You may have noticed that I love making bags! Zipped pouches are a logical extension of this passion and they are SO useful, I always have 3 or 4 on the go for my camera, Kindle, sewing projects and stationery as well as for toiletries and cosmetics.

These are just some of my designs –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please take a look and feel free to let me know what you think I would really welcome your feedback.

Summer Holidays

La Corbiere Lighthouse, Jersey, Channel Islands

Sorry for my absence over the past few weeks; holidays, exam results/back to school & life in general have kept me away from the blog, but I have been busy!

We were home in Jersey for a week visiting relatives and friends; the weather was glorious and, as always, I got to visit my favourite lighthouse – I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for lighthouses!

 

Back in Edinburgh and the Festival is in full swing. The ‘StitchEdinburgh at 60‘ exhibition by the Edinburgh Branch of the Embroiderer’s Guild is going very well; members are taking turns to steward the exhibition where lots of beautiful work is on display. Images from the exhibition will be available on the branch website soon – http://www.edinburghtextileart.co.uk

My first task on return from holiday was to make a costume for a friend going to Comic Con in Glasgow in September – he is going as Spock from a very specific episode of Star Trek. I will post photographs when I have them of the person in full costume and make up!

Messenger Bag – Pattern from The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam  https://www.u-handbag.com/

My teenage daughter is just about to start college so I have made this messenger bag from the Michael Miller ‘Nevermore’ fabric that I won back in February – https://stitchednotions.wordpress.com/2014/02/

To make this quilting cotton stand up to the rigours of student use I backed it with an upholstery weight cotton secured by stitching around the various shapes in the design. Woven interfacing was applied to the back of this double layer fabric and fusible wadding was applied to the lining fabric, this gives the bag body and strength.

I inserted a fairly large zipped pocket on the back of the bag.

 

 

 

The lining is 100% cotton dyed using procion dyes – https://stitchednotions.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/dyeing-for-some-colour-2/

I have inserted another zipped pocket into the lining and added a pen holder with space for 6 pens/pencils and an elasticated pocket. I have also attached a lobster swivel clasp on a fabric strap to the side gusset for hanging keys on.

I used all the same hardware that I used on my ‘Hope’ Messenger – https://stitchednotions.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/hope-messenger/                            This was all purchased from https://www.u-handbag.com/

A word of warning, if backing a finer fabric with upholstery weight fabric use a larger machine needle – I used a 16/100. The seams do get quite bulky so where they join the needle has to penetrate several layers. I also remade the adjustable strap using only the quilting cotton with a strip of fusible woven interfacing down the centre as it was just too bulky with the upholstery fabric included.

A tip for sewing across bulky seams

Among the accessories included with my machine are 3 strips of plastic of varying thicknesses; when sewing across bulky seams – when using denim for instance – the machine foot has to travel at a sharp incline over the seam and sometimes stalls. This is where these strips come in.

 

 

As the foot starts to rise at the front stop stitching with the needle down, raise the presser foot and place the strip/s behind the needle. 

When you lower the presser foot it is level which makes it much easier to stitch across the seam.           You don’t need to have these plastic strips as you could easily use folded paper/card to level out the presser foot.

 

I hope you find this tip useful, if you have a favourite sewing tip to share I would love to hear it.

New Tutorial For Twisty Bin

Back in January I showed you the Twisty Thread Bin https://stitchednotions.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/twisty-thread-bin/, finally I have completed the tutorial which you can find on the tutorials page.

I always have my bin next to me when I’m either machine or hand stitching so that I don’t leave little piles of threads and fabric snippets laying around. They’re great for workshops or when stitching on the go too as they simply twist closed containing all the bits until you get home or can dispose of them.

You don’t have to use them exclusively for stitching, they’re great for kids to keep by them when crafting or for pencil sharpening when drawing; perfect in the car to prevent rubbish piling up in the cup holders; on the dressing table in fact anywhere you just need a small bin!

I hope you like the tutorial and find it straightforward. Where will you put yours?

A busy and productive May

This beautiful fabric is by Bright Spirit from Lady  Sew and Sew (F906-12), http://www.ladysewandsew.co.uk.

My daughter chose this for me to make a dress for her friend’s birthday.

Isn’t it joyous?

 

 

We chose Simplicity 1873 view B at a length midway between the long and short version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cotton summer dress

The 100% cotton fabric is lovely to work with and the butterfly design makes for a lovely fresh, young summer dress. There is a lot of fabric in the skirt which is very heavily pleated so I decided only to line the bodice. I used a lovely bright fuschia muslin for the lining in order to keep the dress light to wear, I also pre shrunk both fabrics before using.

Unfortunately I couldn’t photograph this on my dress form as it is too small!

 

 

 

 

 

In complete contrast

This black ‘Day of the Dead’ fabric is from the Ditto fabrics website.

http://dittofabrics.co.uk.

My daughter has a very quirky, individual style that means we can indulge in unusual fabrics like these!

 

 

This is a beautiful, fine cotton with a silky feel that I used to make this shirt from Simplicity 2189.

Day of the dead shirt – front

Day of the dead shirt – back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More embroidered pouches

In between these dressmaking projects I’ve been trying out some more embroidered pouches. I like the way that the shape can be varied simply by squaring off the bottom.

Embroidered Butterfly

Embroidered Flower

Embroidered Dragonfly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although the nice weather didn’t last long here in Edinburgh it certainly gave my sewing a boost this month. What projects are you working on this season?

 

 

 

 

‘More matter for a May morning’

(From Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare)

An appropriate title as I have been totally immersed in Shakespeare for these past 10 weeks studying ‘Shakespeare and his world’ with Future Learn. https://www.futurelearn.com/ This was a thoroughly enjoyable course topped off by a visit to the cinema to watch the live streaming of King Lear from the Olivier Theatre – my favourite play having studied it for A Level many moons ago!

The beginning of May is a busy time in our house as we have 4 family birthdays in the space of 1 week, so not a great deal of stitching done. Mostly I’ve been playing around with scraps of procion dyed fabrics and machine embroidered motifs such as this dragonfly:

Machine embroidered dragonfly over strips of procion dyed fabrics on calico backing

The background fabric is calico, one of my favourite fabrics to work with, small scraps of dyed fabrics, mainly silks, have been stitched down then the machine embroidery done over the top. I may have gone a bit mad with the scrolled lines and maybe need to keep the antenna straight, otherwise I quite like the contrast of the black stitching.

I decided these would be nice made up as zipped pouches, I do like my sewing to be useful! These are the couple I made up:

Zipped calico pouch with machine embroidered flower over strips of procion dyed fabrics

Zipped calico pouch – dragonfly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a few other drawings to try out as I think this style has potential, what do you think? I would value your feedback.

 

 

Fabric Purse Success

Back in March I posted about trying out some purse designs – exercising the little grey cells, March 13th – I’ve continued to work out paper samples so decided to try another using some of the ‘hope’ collection fabric left over from my messenger bag.

Handmade fabric purse/wallet with expanding sides

This was much more successful. This purse has card slots, a zipped coin section, slots for bank notes and 3 spaces for receipts/notes etc. There are a couple of modifications I would make – the overall dimensions could be reduced slightly and the expanding side panels made a little smaller, I would also attach the bias tape by opening it up, machining one side then folding over and finishing the other side by hand – just to make it look a bit neater.

The zipped section has a contrasting lining and on the right you can see how the sides allow plenty of room for expansion.

This is a nice easy project that can be made up quite quickly, a great way to use up small amounts of left over fabric.

Crazy Patchwork Square 2

Embroidered crazy patchwork square 2

This is the 2nd of my embroidered crazy patchwork squares.

When I go on holiday I like to take small pieces of prepared backgrounds that I can pick up in spare moments to stitch on, these patchwork squares are ideal for this.

What are your favourite holiday projects?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Hope’ Messenger

I’m sure many of us have fabrics in our stash that we are saving for just the right project! I have finally used some of mine……

A few years ago I bought a couple of fabrics from Moda fabrics designed by Howard Marcus Dunn as part of the ‘Collection for a cause’ series. Proceeds from these collections are given to support various charities and causes.

These fabrics are from the ‘Hope’ collection supporting research into Motor Neurone Disease.

The fabrics are reproduced from antique quilts that are part of the Howard Marcus Dunn Collection. The ‘Hope’ fabrics are from a quilt circa 1830-1840 from New York that included fabric from the dress worn by the maker the day she met her future husband. I love this story and the beautiful colours in the main fabric.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve taken these fabrics out to use them for a project then decided to save them for something more special but that day never comes does it? So it was time to take the fabric out and make a decision!

The result

Messenger bag made using Moda fabrics designed by Howard Marcus Dunn as part of the ‘Collection for a cause’ series. This fabric is from the ‘Hope’ range

I decided to make an across the body messenger bag using a pattern from ‘The Bag Making Bible’ by Lisa Lam. The pattern is designed to carry a laptop so I made some slight adjustments; I left out the laptop harness, added extra zipped pockets and reduced the over all size a little. I have inserted zipped pockets into the front and rear panels of the lining and some pen holders.

 

I have inserted a further zipped pocket into the back of the bag – I chose a red zip to pick out the colour of the flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

I chose antique brass metal work to compliment the vintage style of the fabrics; it is the first time that I have used the twist turn clasps, they are a bit fiddly but the finish they give to the bag is well worth the effort.

Inspired to quilt

I wanted to show you the other fabrics from the ‘Hope’ collection and searched for some images without success, however I did discover a fellow fan of the ‘collections for a cause’ fabrics – Jennifer of ‘Seams Crazy’ blog – http://seamscrazyquilts.com/

There are many wonderful quilters websites out there and I have been left in awe of their skilful piecing. I’m not a quilter, I’m more of a fabric junkie, so I think it was the beautiful fabrics chosen for her ‘reach for the stars’ blocks that inspired me (see it here)  http://seamscrazyquilts.com/2014/04/08/sherris-progress-and-my-block-9/block-5/#main I look forward to watching how Jennifer’s quilt progresses and, who knows, I may even try a quilt myself some day!

Do you have treasured fabrics in your stash waiting for the perfect project? I would love to hear about them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exercising the little grey cells!

My attention has been diverted from sewing a little these past two weeks as I signed up for a couple of courses with https://www.futurelearn.com/ I’m currently taking ‘Shakespeare and his world’ with Professor Jonathan Bate of the University of Warwickshire. This is a fascinating course that combines looking at items in the collection of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust with studying some of the plays in order to have a better understanding of the cultural background and influences on his work.

I’ve also signed up for a course with Professor Peter Stockwell of the University of Nottingham called ‘How to read….a mind’, this introduces cognitive poetics, the application of cognitive science to literary reading. Something different to stretch the mind!

I’ve been getting a bit bogged down with trying to come up with new designs and trying to decide on a piece for the Embroiderer’s Guild exhibition in the summer so I needed to take a break. I haven’t abandoned sewing completely, I’ve been working on some purse ideas and making up some samples. Planning the dimensions and working out pattern pieces is a time consuming process! I know that there are plenty of tutorials and patterns online but I really want to create something that is all my own work.

This is my latest sample, made with some lovely fat quarters purchased in New York a few years ago. I made the bias binding from a fabric covered in yellow taxis that I think coordinates well with the underground map fabric.

The purse has a zipped coin section, a notes section, two card slots and space for receipts etc.

 

I need to make some adjustments such as adding a gusset into the sides as it is a little tight.

 

 

 

Edinburgh Branch Embroiderer’s Guild 60th Anniversary Celebrations

The exhibition in the summer will be a great opportunity for fund raising so members are making stitched cards that will be for sale; I thought it would be nice to stitch some ‘sampler’ cards.

The cards are A6 size so the hand stitched panels are easily manageable over a couple of evenings.

 

Hope to have done a bit more stitching for next time!

 

Feeling very fortunate this winter

It is impossible to put into words how sad it is to see the devastation experienced by all those caught in the floods in Britain. Let the rest of us remember that their plight goes on long after the weather improves.                                                                                 In Edinburgh we have been fortunate enough to escape the extremes of weather seen elsewhere and I can’t begin to imagine what so many people are going through.

Guitar Pedal Board Bags Completed!

Custom handmade bag for guitar pedal board

The completed bags are approximately 65cmx49cmx20cm with a zip around 3 sides so they open right up. The flap comes from the back so that the zip is covered and the waterproofing improved. Since this picture I have added long straps that are stitched to the base and back of the bag, this allows the weight of the boards to be supported better and puts less strain on the handle attached to the top of the flap.

I have to say that these bags became very cumbersome to stitch as they progressed due to the size and the fabric! PVC is very difficult to stitch!

I found this very useful tip all over the internet:                                                          Instead of spending money on silicone feet for your sewing machine apply Scotch Magic tape to the bottom of machine feet as well as strips either side of the base plate, close to, but not over, the feed dogs. NB it has to be the semi opaque ‘magic’ tape as this is the only one that the pvc will glide over.                                                                                                This tip works like a dream and saved my sanity!

Close Fitting Tea Cosy

My daughter & I are in the habit of having a cup of tea and a chat when she comes in from school so I recently bought a teapot. Of course I would need a cosy, especially as the lid becomes very hot in use.

All the knitted/crocheted cosies seem to fit tightly to the teapot without having to be removed to pour the tea but all the fabric ones I could find need to be removed for pouring. As a dressmaker I wondered if darts could be used to contour fabric to the shape of the teapot then came across a wonderful tutorial by PlanetJune Craft Blog, just what I needed http://www.planetjune.com/blog/theres-nothing-more-english/                So here is my version:

Russian doll fitted tea cosy

This is so practical as I don’t need to remove the    tea cosy when pouring the tea, it keeps the lid in place and keeps the tea hot!

Take a look at my own tutorial in the tutorials page.

Turtle fabric fitted tea cosy

 

This version was my first attempt, it was a little small and I felt it wouldn’t be very efficient at keeping the teapot warm. The version above covers the teapot more completely. I do love this fabric though it’s called ‘Hip Tortoise’! I didn’t have enough to make another cosy but my daughter did get a nifty bow tie out of the remainder.