A little sewing project ...

 I bought this protea fabric ages ago with the intention of it going with the woollen winter curtains in the dining room because it is the same oatmeal colour that is in the tartan curtains. 

However, it was lost & forgotten about until I changed the airy summer curtains to the heavy winter ones this past week & found the 2 meters of fabric in the curtain container.

It was still the long length that I had bought it in so it was hemmed all around to be used on the dining room table. 

Our Living-room has a vase of beaded proteas I bought in South Africa & another vase of silk ones that I am rather fond of so continuing the protea look across both rooms is good. 

I had bought some panels a while back & two of them had proteas right on the side. I decided it was time to make them in to two useful items for the sideboard & console table in the dining room but they could be used elsewhere in the house too. 

I didn't want the large size of the panels so I cut them down to a size I wanted, cut heavy cream backing fabric too. The two parts were ironed very well,  then I took it to the machine to be hemmed. 

The corners were pinned & I left a gap in the bottom edge for turning through. After stitching all around, I trimmed the corners then turned it through. 

It was again pressed very well & the bottom gap was pinned. I top stitched all around, close to the edge so I caught in the gap, closing it with the top stitching. 

More pressing then they were taken to the dining room where the cream, pink & greens look rather nice. The oatmeal protea table cloth picks up the same colour in the pattern of the heather colour in the tartan curtains. 

I don't know why I have put off hemming them all because they fit in well. 

Who else buys lengths of fabrics as table cloths? Our conservatory table extends & bought cloths are often the wrong size so I hem fabrics I like for there. 

Thank you for stopping by & visiting, it is appreciated. 

Dee 🧵🪡📍

Making some fabric baskets

 I had a lovely sewing day with a friend in South Shropshire last week & we made a sewing basket & some other bits. It is inspirational to bounce ideas off other creative people, especially as she is commercially minded.

 How lovely is my gifted pocket mirror? 

I helped by passing the scissors .. 

I love my fabric basket we made together. It has been some months since I did fabric basket & this refreshed my technique which was helpful. 

I decided that I wanted to make another one while it is fresh in my mind. I looked through my fabric stash & found some pieces of this blue Frieda fabric so I decided to do what I did with the red Frieda fabric previously. I joined the blue fabric in to a strip, adding in some matching plain blue fabric to make up the shape for use. 

I decided to make this one more rectangular with something in mind. It was lined, turned through & pressed. Since this is entirely for my own use, I did a decorative machine stitch around the top where it will be turned over. 

These two fabric bowls are going next to my sewing machines - one for the orts (all the snipped threads from hand & machine sewing) and the larger one for all the snipped fabric bits which will keep the sewing table neater. Orts

A great sewing project using up bits of fabric from my stash for much needed items. 

Is there anything on your sewing table? Tell all & thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated, 

Dee 📍🪡🧵

Starting some Christmas sewing ...

Is it just me or has December come up rather suddenly? It seems like summer was just yesterday ... 

I have been catching up with a week long online sewing retreat with something like 20 workshops so have been completely distracted & the end of November is here. 

Two years ago I made some soft & colourful fabric decorations for the little ones tree - soft with longer hanging loops to make it easier for little hands to handle them. They did not have a many embellishments sewn on which could be put in the mouth so safe for small people. 

I was asked by a friend to gift one to her & so I did another selection of Christmas decorations with interesting beads, little bells & more that I gifted to friends with their Christmas cards.  I handstitched gold or red edges to them all & they were well received. 

I am meeting friends / colleagues soon & wanted to add a handmade decoration to their cards too so having some time, I cut out some trees & a few tiny boots again. I still had some patchwork sections in my Xmas fabric stash (everyone has such a box do they not? ) so I cut an additional 2 trees too. 

All of these are backed by soft red or green felt / flannel.

My process was the same as before - machine stitch around the edge (in red or green thread) then keeping it on the machine, with the needle in the fabric, lift the presser foot & stuff it lightly with soft toy stuffing. I used a wooden quilting creaser & pointer to poke some stuffing in. The rounded edge was useful to ease it in, then the pointed tip could push it to the corners etc. 

Then I simply dropped the presser foot & sewed up the last bit - an easy way to do it as long as you leave enough space to pop the filling in. 

Because these few are for adults, I will add some tiny bells, beads & then blanket stitch the edge in embroidery thread. 

They are well received as gifts & it is a relaxing activity to get one in the spirit of the festive season as it is fast approaching. I know - I should have started sooner, however, they are lovely to make. 

EDITED - some completed ones that are ready to go with cards. 

Please tell me how your preparations are going. Thank you for stopping by, it is much appreciated. 

Dee 🧵🎄🪡📍

A finished scroll of our NC500 trip ...

 I love a summer holiday project or two or three when my students & I have a break from each other & it is a luxury to fill time as I please. This year, due to commitments, we have not taken an overseas holiday but had a wonderful 10 days exploring the North Coast of Scotland on the NC500 route. read all about it on the previous posts with links here 

I shared that I had decided to do a sewing scroll on a long 1.5m linen fabric length, originally just as a small scroll. However, once I got started, I realised how much I was enjoying the randomness of just doing it that soon the whole scroll was covered in stitching doodles. 

We often have the idea that creative work has to be 'perfect' but there is so much more joy (in my opinion) in the imperfect creative act where the process forgets about judgements & fear about 'is it good enough?' and just goes with the pleasure to create something that has no purpose other than to give pleasure to the one making it.  Comparison & perfection is the thief of joy so it is best to just go where the process takes you. Sometimes it is about stepping out of your comfort zone & trusting your intuition. 

I made a conscious decision not to add fabrics to the scroll itself because it is a huge distraction for me to select fabrics from my generous stash & I get too side-tracked or overthink the colours etc which means everything grinds to a halt. 

I decided on thread stitching only but added details with the sheep wool I picked off a fence & the shells I found on the beach along the way because they belonged to the journey.  A large shell & piece of driftwood I picked up on various beaches was set aside for the scroll handle. 

I found a lovely bit of fabric in my stash with the same colours with a scene of trees & sheep & decided to machine embroider some of the place names to attach to the end of the scroll. After an initial mishap when the bobbin thread bunched up & had to be cut loose & unpicked, it went well & I managed to  do many of the place names with just one spelling mistake (you have to select all the characters for each word & save before it stitches so it can be tricky as you don't see the whole word together ...) The green thread was a good, gentle choice & the colour doesn't jar ... 

I bought in a piece of pale lilac linen from a trusty ebay seller I use for my linen bits & decided I wanted to hand stitch it to the scroll front. None of my threads looked just right but on a trip to our county town of Shrewsbury, I saw a variegated thread & knew it was the perfect colours.  Blanket stitch uses so much thread that I bought 3 lots but used up a whole one only. The rest will be used on other things as it is lovely colours. 

The edges were done with 3 strands of this cotton in blanket stitch to hold the various layers together,  then the decision on how to attach it. The end fabric was merely rolled over, the drift wood attached by stitches at the top & bottom then the large shell attached to the driftwood & scroll. Easier than I anticipated. 

The scroll will roll from the one end to the drift wood / shell side & ties with a 'made in Scotland' ribbon I already had. 

I am rather pleased with it, a project purely for my own joy & that is surely the best way to doodle with thread. I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me. Thank you for stopping by, 

Dee 🪡🧵🐚🚙

Planning a new sewing roll ...

Two years ago, I started doing the 100 day stitch book with Ann Wood which involved 20 fabric pages, with hand sewn stitching (collage, slow stitching, traditional or any form of stitching) which was then stitched together in a book after the 100 days. The book construction was interesting with a series of tabs & slots. 

It was all going rather well until commitments put it on the back burner from whence it did not recover. I recently rearranged my sewing things, saw it in the many containers then it disappeared from sight again.  It will appear & I will continue with it at sometime - just not now ... 

With the new 100 day challenge starting from 18th February to 27th April (100 days) , I thought I would follow the concept but do it in a long sewing roll that can be attached to one of my large vintage wooden industrial bobbins which came from the cotton mills of Lancaster. 

I used the same size as the 100 day challenge suggests (without the seam allowance) and marked it out on a long piece of creamy white linen. I got 11 sections which is fine as I can either join another or start another section if I want the 20 pages / sections. The height is right to fit aound the bobbin. 

This is a previous mixed media one 

I prefer hand sewing through two layers for softness so I attached some soft cotton fabric to the back & machined around both layers to keep it together. It also stops the linen from going out of shape. 

Late last year, I saw these 3 books in a local charity shop; they were together in the craft section which suggests they were donated together. I flicked through them & was immediately inspired by the images so I bought all three. They cover folk art across several European / Scandanavian countries. 

The images are lovely but need to be used only as inspiration or to be adapted or incorporated in to a design. 

I started the first of my eleven sections - I partly drew / traced an image from the book that I liked on to very thin tracing paper then using a frixion pen, I dotted the images to transfer them across to my fabric, before drawing in more detail. Frixion pen markings disappear when heat (like an iron)  is applied. 

I then set about adding fabric leaves & embroidery details. It is not my usual style which makes it a good challenge by pushing the boundaries. 

I have flicked through the 3 books & done the same with some other images which I am inspired by. I think this sewing roll might be more botanical in nature as it is not something I have concentrated on. I know it will evolve as I work on it. The images I have tentatively drawn are only a guide; I hope there will be a continuity across the scroll ... 

 Are you inspired to do a longer project like this? Tell all, 

Thank you for stopping by & taking the time to read & comment. Please like & share too 

Dee 🧵🪡📍

Fabric to make coronation bunting ...

 Hi everyone, 

It is about 2 months before the coronation of our King & it will be a joyous time on our Isle because it will be the first time many of us have seen this event. As you know, no one does pomp & ceremony as well as we do ... 

I love such things & have hosted Royal Wedding Watch parties  & Platinum Jubilee celebrations for the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth 11 for friends at my home & it is a fun time, collective enjoyment. 

I saw this lovely fabric in a local fabric shop & just knew it would make the sweetest little bunting for my conservatory sideboard for the Coronation weekend of celebrations. I spied the blue & red fabrics with gold flecks & knew they were a perfect match for the fabric. 

Decisions, decisions, decisions -- what to make that will be small & fun? Traditional flag bunting or little square ones? A mixture of shapes? Single or double sided? I am inclined to single sided as they will hang on the shelves ... 

What do you suggest? Come back again soon to see what I decide ... 

Thanks for stopping by, I always enjoy visits, 

Dee 💕