Bags 9 - William Morris–Strawberry Thief Bag

I have loved this fabric for years and was lucky enough to come by a fent piece.  It is called the ‘Strawberry Thief’ by William Morris and is now sold in many sizes of pattern and a variety of colours.

Liz and I were going to the Chelsea Flower Show on a big treat to ourselves and I needed a bag for my water bottle and stuff of life that we cart around, just in case.

The basic shape was from the bucket bag in Lisa Lam’s ‘The Bag Making Bible’.  The rest is pure nerdi-ness.  I only had 3 repeats of the pattern to play with so accurate cutting was essential and pattern matching had to be as near to perfect as I could manage.

I sewed the bucket shape first and pinned it 3 times before I got the pattern to match down the sides and on the bottom.  The corners of the bag were then shaped by sewing across the pointed, squashed/opened corners.

Bottom.

I made a liner from curtain liner, for stiffness and inserted it into the bag.

At the same time I added a bottle holder and a pocket.

I then constructed the zip section.  This keeps the zip from the top of the bag for extra security and makes in neater.

First attach the zip to the flaps and then add both to the bag sides.  Then add the whole thing to the top of the bag, whilst inserting the ends of the handles.  This involved MANY pins.

NOTICE THE PATTERN MATCHING AROUND THE ZIP, YEAH!!

The handles are normal bag handles, 10cm wide fabric strip, folded and sewn.  These are sewn three times across to secure them into the body of the bag.

Then I tried twice to insert hemp rope into the handle to make it strong.  I had to resort to nylon rope as it was thinner and easier to sew.  Even with a zipper foot I could not get the needle near enough to the edge with the thicker hemp rope.  But it is simply the normal handle folded in half, rope applied down the length and then the halves seamed together.

I was previously going to apply the handles to the outside.  But the pattern had two flowers in the same place and I preferred the flowers.

Another picture of the bag as I am so darned chuffed with it.

The rope came out of the handles during our trip and had to be pushed back in.  They have now been stitched into place.  It performed well and is now my Summer 2018 bag.

Rag Rugging 1

My Craft n Chat friend Grace is much more experienced at rag-rugging than me, but we still fancied doing a course.  Our friend Fiona had recently made a magnificent, memory rug, inspired by Monet, which made me realise rugs can be art.   Grace found out about a lady called Lorraine Cooper who runs ‘Rag Rug Workshops’, see facebook.

Grace sorted out the course and we drafted in some of our W.I. and craft friends to attend.  Cakes were made and tea consumed.  11 ladies learning and chatting, lovely.

Lorraine provided the hooks, she had hemmed a bath mat sized piece of Hessian for each of us.  We were told to bring fabric scraps, t-shirt material and fleece work really well as they do not fray.  She also brought a large pile of fabric for us to use.

Lorraine brought the hooker on the left.  You simply cut a piece of fabric 1 inch by 4 inch. Prod the device through the fabric from the front and back 1 cm away.  Take the fabric, hook it at about 1 third of its length and pull it through.   Then because you are a beginner, straighten it up.  Lorraine can do this at lightning speed.

I bought the device on the right which enables you to prod through the fabric, pinch it and pull it through, both are good.

I was using T-Shirt fabric and Fleece as I wanted to make a bath mat.  It is easier when you begin to work in stripes as it is hard to judge how much fabric you need.  So if you run out it looks like its designed!!

The back looks pretty neat too.

I had to fill in a bit on the edges.

The hemmed edge makes it very neat.

Ta dah!

Nice blue rug for my blue bathroom.

Think the boat might need some rugs!

Simple Shorts

Simplicity Pattern 3696

I had this fabric left over from a dressing gown.  I just wanted some light shorts.  I tried to copy a pair last year but it didn’t work.

This is really a PJ pattern shortened.

Overlocked inside.

Wide elastic through the top.

Think they will be useful.

Knitted Gloves

After knitting socks the next step had to be gloves.

The pattern is from the same people my original socks pattern was from.  Can’t tell you now as my knitting bag is elsewhere.

The wool is from Pendle Stitches in Clitheroe.  WYS (West Yorkshire Spinners) Signature 4 ply.

The palms look ridiculously long, but look fine on.

I made them on small 2.5 circular needles.

Very interesting process, a bit mind bending in parts, but it all works out.  You knit the palm, make the thumb hole and put that on a separate needle.  Then start each finger from the little finger and finally knit the thumb.  Who knew.  I do now!!

Embroidery and Special Gift

I saw a post on Facebook advertising an Embroidery course by Lisa Nathan-Goucher of Wildman’s Vintage Linens.

It was being held locally and seemed like a no brainer.  It turned out to be in a delightful location, with beautiful china and food, with a group of highly educated like minded ladies.  Proving professional women value the relaxation provided by crafts.  Lisa gave excellent instruction and was totally prepared for her guests.

She provided the hoops, fabric and embroidery threads and gave us lots of food for thought for future projects.

Our first item on the right and my next attempt on the left.  The hoops are flexible and have wood effect surround so can be given as gifts.

We started a second item, which I finished at home.

I was inspired to make a Wedding Embroidery for my Step-Daughter and Fiance.

I found a design online and copied it by hand in pencil.

I then drew in the names, copying the font from the Wedding Invitation.

Then highlighted the design, so that it would show through the Calico.  Then traced the design through the calico.

After embroidering the design, using wedding colours, I secured the back using a running stitch.

I then inserted wadding to made the item softer.

Then finally fitted green felt on the back to cover the workings.

It was well received and I wish them the best life together in the future.

Round Necked Jersey Tops 3

More jersey tops.  No excuses, they are really useful and I wear them all the time.

I am please with this blue and white design, the fabric from Abakham is Modal, feels luxurious and hangs beautifully.

Lighter weight fabric, very practical, but not that pretty.

Twin needle stitching around the cuffs and bottom hem.

Nifty collar.

Nifty-ish Collar

Back

Pattern matching was tricky again.

They are functional and wearable.

I spilt oil on the best one but thankfully it came out, phew.

Bags 8 - Camper Bags

Tote bags made as previously described.  Mostly overlocked and handles added.

These are one layer and deliberately fine to fold up into a handbag.

The lovely camper fabric was provided by Bunty.  It’s fab, just like her.

They are really useful.

Cards Early 2018

IF I HAVE GIVEN YOU A CARD TO BE OPENED LATER, PLEASE DO NOT LOOK HERE.

This one has already been opened.

These are drawn using the ‘Zentangle’ technique.  See previous post.

I added some embroidery to this one.

These are both just embroidery.

See more about embroidery later.

Craft Dabble

Grace and I went to the Craft Dabble at Lancashire W.I. HQ in Leyland.  To be honest we had kind of forgotten what we signed up for, so it was a day of surprises.  16 ladies in 4 groups of 4 rotated around 4 tutor led tables.

Dorset Buttons

Were made in the Victorian era and earlier.  Buttons were an expensive commodity and these could be made with animal bones and twine.  The bone would be dried and then cut to make rings.

We were given curtain hoops which do the same job and wool to replace the twine.

You start by threading a needle and blanket stitching around the edge of the hoop to cover it.

Then you wrap a piece of wool across the hoop 4 times, which makes spokes in the middle of the circle.

Then you thread a needle and weave the needle between the spokes starting in the middle and working outwards.

Once the hoop is fully filled in, the wool is secured.

They are used now for decorations.  Metalic threads make excellent Christmas decorations.  People also used them as a decoration on a bag or as a false button.

Kusudama Paper Flowers

I have never been a big fan of paper flowers but I have to say these have changed my mind.

There are oodles of examples of how to make these on You Tube, which will explain better than I can.

The key to it, is the fact that you make 5 cone shapes and stick them together to make the flower head.

The folding makes the stamen-like centres and we used light card.  An A4 sheet will make 2 cones, cutting the largest squares you can.

These are the two I made in the class.

When I got home I fished out all the old craft magazines I had which had pretty paper in them.  This was perfect for the job.  The centre decorations are cut out pieces of paper and any button or trinket you may have.

The stems are made from bamboo BBQ sticks and we coloured them with felt pens to take away the stark colour contrast of the bamboo.

They are certainly better viewed from above and I keep them on the hearth by the fire. 

A few weeks later, we taught our Craft N Chat group how to make them, so the bunch is ‘growing’.

Fondant Animals

We did not get a choice of animals, but Monkeys, Tigers, Lions and Bears were made by other groups.

They look complicated but when broken down are balls, cones and sausages of fondant.

The lady recommended ALDI fondant, which is also used by professionals apparently.

Zebra Front

Zebra Back.  The thin strips were very tricky.

Elephant Front

Elephant Back

We took our items to Craft n Chat the week after for a show and tell and they were snapped up for a child’s birthday cake, so not wasted.

Sashiko Japanese Embroidery Coaster

Sashiko is a type of Japanese folk embroidery.

We started with a square of fabric which had a disappearing (with heat) design on it.

We started in the middle and simply made a running stitch along the design.  We used 3 strands of the embroidery thread.  

Real Sashiko uses a white cotton thread and is normally stitched onto blue fabric.

We then placed two pieces of fabric and a layer of light wadding together and sewed around the edge.  Once inverted the wadding is in the middle of the fabric layers. 

We made a small tassel, by wrapping thread around 3 fingers and securing at the top, then snipping the bottom edge.

The coasters were edged on the sewing machine and the tassel secured.

Mick claimed mine for his beer glass and it is working well.

We had a thoroughly enjoyable day and met some lovely ladies from around Lancashire.