Bionic Bag

I have been looking at these bags on various internet pages for quite a while, working up the courage to actually start it.  They are really useful as they have 4 zipped pockets and open sections in between to put things in.

Mine would obviously be used to transport sewing things around, but they really can be used for anything.

The main one on the internet had a huge zip, which went right along the top of the bag and attached at the bottom on the side, the intention being to make a shelf/tray for items when the bag is open.  But i think it looks really awkward.

I had been given a set of fat quarters by Susan in Wales and wanted to do something nice with them. 

I also bought 4 zips for the internal sections.  I had a piece of wadded fabric which I tended to use for the outer cover, but as often happens the piece was too small and I ended up using a piece of my ‘I love this too much to use it’ fabric from my stash.

The fat quarters made a perfect pocket size when cut into 4 landscape wise.

I had 9 pieces in all, 2 at the ends to make the inside of the cover and 7 drops to make the 4 pockets and 3 separating sections.

Showing the pocket drop.  3 different fabrics.  Separator, Pocket (spotty), Separator.

First I sorted all the pieces and put them in order.  I had to draw it on my board to get in straight in my head.

I made all the pockets out of spotty fabric so that I knew which piece went where.

The zips were attached first to a separator and a pocket piece on one side and then the other side of the pocket piece and the next separator on the other side.

I ironed the edges over 1cm then attached the 3 pieces with a lot of pins, then one line of stitching to hold it together and repeat.  This probably would have been easier with open ended zips as the end where the zip closes was tricky at the end.

Showing the 10 pieces sewn together.

Showing, Oops the inserts I had to put into the bottoms of the separator pieces to given the separators some space. 

I had to cut the bottoms of the separator pieces and add a 4cm piece, which made a 2cm bottom to each separator, once 1cm seam allowances were taken.  I will make the separator pieces longer next time.

At this point I ironed on some fine iron-on wadding to the side of the pockets to enable it to stand up.  All the pieces of wadding being slightly smaller than the pocket side to make it easier.

Showing bag inner with zips and separators.

The side pieces were the hardest part.  I cut strip twice as high as the pockets plus 4cm and longer than the bag would be, just in case.  I ironed it so that the top of the side would be the folded edge.

Using the centre point of the pocket section as guidance I pinned the ends of the zip pockets down the sides to complete the zip sections and make sealed ends.  Then sewed down each of the 4 pocket ends on each side.

I shaped the side pieces at each end by turning them in on themselves and top sewing the pieces together down the edge, at an angle so that it touched the outer cover and let the bag lie flat.

I cheated a bit on the next section.

I added the outer cover to the pocket section and pinned then sewed all the pieces together down the long sides.

Again ironing on some wadding to the cover piece for strength.  I think I also trimmed a bit off the 2 outer pocket pieces to make it all fit. The cheating came as I hand sewed the whole thing together by turning the outer cover in approx 2cm and making a 1cm binding by folding it in again, as seen above at the bottom.  I turned the ends in last to make the cover stronger.

Finally after much deliberation I added a 3cm x 10cm flap and used velcro pieces inside, so that the bag can be closed no matter how full it is, by using a long piece of velcro on the bag and a smaller piece on the flap.

I have used this constantly since I made it and it comes to craft and chat and every course I attend.

It is complicated and the video on you tube is 28 minutes long and misses out the hard part.  There is a pattern you can buy, but mines unique.

Light Weight Dressing Gown

I was going to Denman college with the WI in March and needed a new light weight dressing gown as three of us had been gently persuaded to share a room.  We normally have a lovely single room each, but due to complications with numbers we agreed to help out.  It turned out to be very pleasant indeed and really enhanced our stays, as we chatted and interneted and shared our days.

I digress.  It is made from light weight seersucker cotton, in a lovely sky blue check.  I think it was a NewLook pattern with a raglan sleeve.

I had not added a raglan sleeve before so that was new.

See how it goes into the shoulder.

I put most of it together using my overlocker.  I only did the top stitching around the neck, cuffs and hem on the straight machine.

Hanging and looking slim.

Tied and looking chic.

On my dress makers dummy, looking a bit podgy.  Must be the light!

It was super for the trip and in daily use at home.

3 metres of material at £2 per metre is £6 plus the half price pattern £4.99.

Total cost £10.99 plus thread.

Knitting 3 - Mick’s Aran Jumper and Bonus Hat

When I made my jumper last year, Mick said he wanted one.

I found a King Cole pattern, Number 4144 to be made in Arran.

I used an acrylic Aran and Alpaca mix wool for £2.99 or £3.99 per ball, can’t remember. 

I bought 9 and managed to knit a hat for me too.

Annette gave me a kitchen table Aran knitting lesson, once I got to the fancy parts.  I pulled the front piece back twice under her instruction, which took ages.  I couldn’t quite get all the pattern in my head and had to have a pen resting on the pattern all the time to keep my place and write down every line.  She modified the pattern considerably and I could not have done it without her.  No wonder people give up.

An Aran pattern of 4 stitches wide is simply slipping 2 stitches onto a small needle knit-wise (which has a kink in the middle to hold them in place) and putting it to the front of the work, knitting the next 2 stitches from the needle and then knitting the 2 stitches from the small needle itself, this twists the pattern and is only done every 4 rows.

It is a lovely cuddly jumper, and is coming sailing with us.

The bonus hat was made from a pattern called ‘Daisy’ I got with Liz in Leyburn from the Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop.

The only tricky bit was that the cables are 10 stitches wide so you have to put 5 stitches onto the small needle which is a bit of a squeeze.

I made the hat with a rim version.

I only had 2 feet of wool left at the end, mild sweating but OK.

WI Denman Trip 2017

The Lancashire federation WI trip to Denman took place in March this year.

I got Scandinavian crafts as my course from the shortlist I had chosen.  It sounded fun, lots of new things I had not tried before.

Our tutor was Natalie Green – a lovely, lively, engaging lady.

Lino cutting, which most people do at school, but not my school.  First attempt to print on the left.  Best one on the right.  Very messy ink, not really my forte.

Needle felting, I like doing this and her method was slightly different.

Embroidery.  Covered notebook with felt and embroidery.

Embroidery.  Needle-case with Scandi type design.

Fimo Craft.  Fimo is modelling clay with once shaped is set by putting it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Heart wall hanging.

Tiny buttons.

Heart buttons.

Fish Magnet.  The colours were added with sharpie pens, very carefully.

Boats, what else.

All these items were made with one packet of white Fimo.  It comes in many colours and releases your inner child.

Card making, using Washi Tape.  Coloured and patterned tape used to create shapes and pictures.  Also button cards, so easy, great ideas.

And paper cutting, see other blog entry.

Motely crew of happy crafters.

Paper Cutting 1

At the WI Denman college trip this year I did a course on Scandinavian crafts, more of which in another post.

Paper cutting was one of the things we could try.

You draw the picture onto paper.  Then, this is the clever bit, you stick the picture with masking tape to a piece of card.  Then using a sharp knife, small stanley, craft knife etc. you cut out the design, depending on whether you want the item to be the positive or the negative image.

First attempt.  You have to remember to leave a bit attached to the sides of the main outline.

Annette’s birthday card, her being a Ninja Knitter and mindful type.

First two cut on the negative which falls away, then I put coloured card behind.

Wesley and Louise’s wedding card.  On gold card, so shiny I could not take a picture without me on the background.

Laura’s Birthday card.  Her being a cat lover.

The last two were cut on the positive so that they had to be stuck to another piece.

Very relaxing to do, and there are so many examples on the internet you don’t have to be that creative.

Beth’s Cushion

Karen, a work friend asked me to make a cushion from her father’s shirt as a gift for her daughter at Christmas.  I was honoured to be asked if a little shaky, as I had to get it right first time.  The example she gave me from the internet had an embroidered patch with lovely words on it which she wanted.  I do not have an embroidery machine so I had to look for an alternative.

She chose a lovely cuddly shirt. 

I used a 20 inch cushion inner to make a big comfy cushion.

With seam allowances I managed to cut a 22 x 22 inch square, whilst including the pocket top right.

No zip or fastener was needed as Annette told me to use the buttons as the opening for the cushion.  Drrr she’s the brains.

The words were a whole other issue.

I typed the words into Word and printed them out in different fonts and sent a photo to Karen for approval.

I had been looking at printing on fabric using an inkjet printer.

The Graphics Fairy online demonstrates this beautifully.

Cut out a piece of Freezer Paper (available in craft shops) slightly larger than A4.

Cut out a piece of fabric A4.

Iron the paper to the fabric, waxy side to back of fabric.  So fabric, good side down, paper waxy side down on top.

It only takes a few seconds, just keep ironing until they are stuck together.  If it bubbles you have them in the wrong order.

Cut both pieces to exactly A4.

Put into printer so that the good side of the fabric will be printed on.  Use a blank test page with a cross on it if you are not sure. 

** When printed leave the ink to dry for a short while, especially if the colours are dense.

Peel the freezer paper away from the fabric.

Set the ink by bathing the fabric in a shallow tray of white vinegar.  Then rinse with water to take away any odour.  Fabreze may help it the odours persists.

I then sewed the printed fabric onto the cushion front piece.  Then made up the cushion by sewing around the edges.  Turned it right side out and added the cushion inner.

Denim Boat Cushions

Mick has gone through several pairs of jeans in the past 3 years and the ones that have split, through stretching to get onto the boat have all been saved for my fabric stash.  He forgets to hutch up his pants before stretching his leg up to get on-board and then the wind blows through the holes.

I like colour schemes that blend from light to dark and that was the effect I was going for.  It wasn’t totally successful and I will ask someone else’s opinion on the shading next time.

From sewing the boat upholstery I found out that sewing the pieces together is the first step, then to keep it all flat you top sew on each side of the seams.  This worked well and the cushions are bump free.

I used white piping string inside the piped edges and dark blue bias binding.  Unfortunately the white shows through a bit, no one else will notice, but I do.  Will use black next time.

I used curtain lining for the back and inserted the zip by simply cutting a slit into the fabric with small triangles at the end so that I could iron it back and simply lay the zip beneath and sew around the hole.  As it is very rare that you use these zips they don’t have to be that robust.

They are lovely and comfy and should be hard wearing.

Boat Cushions

We spent most of January 2017 making new cushion covers for the seats in our boat.  Last year we had made the 4 base seat covers and this year we made the other 7 seat back covers.

The house looked like a furniture factory.  Each cushion had 2 curved foam cushion inners.

The issue which makes this a hard task is the irregular shapes of the cushions with no two the same.  They also have an internal piece attached to the middle of the front panel and zipped to the back panel which pulls in the shape of the cushion.  We bought 20 metres of zips which are cut to length and fasteners added as required.

Therefore the side pieces are curved to fit and enhance the pulled in shape.

There is also a zip around two sides of each cushion to give access to the internal zip.

All the external curved seams were sewn 3 times, once to hold them together, and two rows of top sewing for design and durability.  Hence we used a lot of thread.

This one won the prize for the most corners.  The velcro keeps it in place against the boat sides.

The corner cushions won the hardest items prize. 

Mick was chief pattern maker and material cutter.

The reverse side corner piece above also shows the black centre piece.

Corner cushion with foam inside, before back attached.

One side of corner cushions assembled together.

All the new cushions complete.

The cost of new covers from the boat manufacturer is approximately £2,500, we did this for £50 material, £10 zips, £20 Thread (the grade stronger than normal), £20 for the breathable backing material (black), £200 for new foam for the base seats (J and A Foam, Blackburn).  The material was bought from Immanuel Fabrics, Bright Street, Burnley at £1 per metre.  It is proper furnishing fabric with a fire retardant backing.  Total £300.

We worked from 10am til 4 or 5pm, most weekdays until they were complete.  Approximately 2 days per cushion.

My respect for upholsterers has increased greatly!

We hope now that they wear out individually and we don’t have to do a full set again.