Soft Toys - Luna Lapin x 3

‘Making Luna Lapin’ is a book by Sarah Peel.  She has a company called Coolcrafting and a shop of the same name in Kendal, Cumbria

The book includes the pattern for the rabbit and 20 additional costumes.  Luna is the girl rabbit and Alfie is the boy.

Lapin is the French name for rabbit/hare.

They are made from thick wool felt which is not that easy to get hold of.  I bought my first felt and a fat quarter of liberty print from a Quilt show and then found the actual shop ‘Quilter’s Quarters’ in Longridge, Lancashire.

Luna Lapin was designed to be hand-sewn which made it a perfect project for when we are away.

The trickiest parts of making the rabbit are the ears, attaching the legs and the bottom of the torso and the foot pads.  The legs end up poking out of the centre of the body, until they are inverted.

The ears and foot pads are made from Liberty print.

First Luna is a beige shade of felt.  I decided to make my Luna’s baby friendly.  The original design has button eyes and buttons at the shoulders to help attach the arms.

Close up of the dress.

My Luna has embroidered eyes and nose.  The eyes were very hard, as I was working on a curved surface, trying to sew a perfect circle.

Her knickers are cute and I embroidered a daisy on, to mark the front.  I have been making bears for years but have never made them clothes, so this was a new experience.

The dress above is the T-Shirt Dress from the book.  The collar and the bow are the more difficult parts here.

The hand-sewn dress took a couple of days to complete.  It has many of the qualities of a full sized garment and the ironing is key.

Secondly I made the Polka Dot Dress from the book.  I improvised with contrasting pockets.

Luna has very long legs, so she is poseable.

The little red shoes would not have been complete without the buckle, so while we were in the lakes we paid a visit to the Coolcrafting shop in Kendal, where I bought the next felt for two grey rabbits.

Next came Luna and Alfie in Grey Felt, the same as the ones in the book.

The only difference between Luna and Alfie on my version are her eyelashes.

Her dress is a Liberty fat quarter.  Their ears and foot pads are made from a blue Liberty print.  I had enough left to make his shirt.  The shirt is a perfect replica of a full sized man’s shirt including a yoke on the shoulders.

His waist coat is made from the same material I made Mick’s waistcoat from.  His jeans are fabric from a pair of Mick’s Jeans.  I thought Laura might like that.

The jeans have an elastic waist and turned out to be the worst item of all.  But they stay up, just.

They took about two months to make including all the clothes as everything is hand stitched, except the large seams on the jeans..

Luna and Alfie are now living in Ireland with Mick’s Granddaughter Evie.

Baby Cardigans 1

Both of these cardigans were made from the James C. Brett, Double Knitting Pattern JB443

The cream wool was a generic Baby double knit in cream.

The Grey and White was King Cole, Baby Double Knitting ‘Cherish’, Shade ‘Humbug’ 1893.  Once finished this wool is super snuggly.

Lots of firsts here.  I have not done much pattern knitting and these were my first holes, as in holey pattern.

The sleeves have 2 rows of pattern rather than three.

Also my first collar and front borders with button holes.  I think I have made the button holes wrong, when I asked in the wool shop, but they work.

So you know me, get my money’s worth out of everything.  I tend to make more than one of everything I make.

The grey one is a larger version.

The wool makes up a pattern.  Well, my OCD would not let me just knit and let the pattern run amok.  So I wound the wool on to the same places for one front and one sleeve from one ball, and the same from the second ball.  It kind of worked, the greys are darker on the body than the sleeves.  But both sleeves and both fronts are the same.  With the back being wider the pattern pleased itself, but Evie will be sat on that.

Tried a little hat too.

The crown came out really well with the grey centre.

I don’t think the hat and the cardigan will fit her at the same time, but your never know.

I am enjoying knitting small things.

Soft Fabric Baby Gifts – Book and Advent Calendar

I totally fell for the clever marketing technique in the Quilter’s Quarters shop in Longridge.

The flat fabric pieces do not sell themselves well.  However, they had both of these items made up and as soon as I saw them they were sold.

They are made from pre-printed sheets of fabric, which once cut out, re-assembled and stitched make a soft play book and an advent calendar with little pockets from treats.

The story tells how small animals change to become larger animals.

Fortunately the leaves are numbered, otherwise it would be a brain bender.  The instructions are printed on the bottom of the fabric, stating how to layer the pages.

I used iron-on fusible interfacing to give the book a snuggly feel to the touch.

The advent calendar was a world more difficult, just because of the accuracy required.

I used curtain liner for the backing, which slightly padded the whole piece.  Added a guide channel of material to the back to hold the dowel for hanging.

The numbers are made up in four strips.

They are then sewn on to the main backing very precisely between each number.

The numbers are pleated into a concertina shape so that items can be inserted into the pockets. 

Each run of numbers is then secured in place.

A wooden dowel was added to the top and tasselled cords added to make a hanger.

Bags 12 – Rucksack 2019

I bought this Anchor design fabric in Holland last year with the intention of making my bag for 2019.  It was 10 euro per metre and I bought two metres.  Crikey better do a good job.

I used Simplicity Pattern 1388 Item A to get the basic shape.

I confess now, that I am not very good at following patterns, so this is my version.  Having made a lot of bags over the years I kind of understood what should be done.

I first put the zip into the two front pieces.  Then attached the piping, then added the back pieces and linings.

The back needed the straps making and then adding during piping.

Not a bad pattern match around the zip, difficult as the zip flaps open after sewing.

Pattern matching on the inside of the front pocket.  Nerd alert.

Inside pocket and bottle holder.  The reverse of the fabric was the reverse of the colour scheme.  It would have been nice to create white highlights on the outside, but I am a mucky pup.  Not fit for white.

The final seam inside was the biggest mind bender.  After bagging out I hand sewed the final top edge seam inside.

I also hand finished the side seams under the centre zip.

Straps pattern matched to back of bag.

Finished Item.

I am very pleased with this, it tested me.  Hope it lasts well.

Bags 11 - More Totes

I needed a holiday bag.  The plasticised fabric was tricky to sew and I used masking tape to make sure my machine foot did not stick to it.  Make sure you remove the masking tape quickly and carefully.

 

Curtain lining inside and a pocket.

This Toile de Jouy fabric reminds me of an old friend.

Using up the William Morris Willow Bough.

 

Denim Mat and Bonus Cushion

Our craft n chat group were given a large bag of denim by Annie and we then needed to find something to do with it.  I previously made two denim cushions, which only put a small dint in the haul.  I found a woven denim mat on Pinterest and decided to have a go.

It was to be a bathroom sized mat about 24 by 18 inches.  I used 4 pairs of jeans and cut them into 2 inch strips.  Mick found a 1 inch wide Bias Binding tool to make the strips, on the internet.  We were lucky that when it arrived, with only a little manipulation, we managed to thread the denim through the tool.  Then every strip was ironed to keep its shape.

I pinned 18 dark strips to a foam board.  Then wove the 24 lighter strips across.  As you can imagine, this was not straight forward.  Much pinning and re-pinning needed to be done to keep the whole thing squared off.  I am a fuss pot and a wavy weave would not do.

Many more pins were attached to enable me to lift the piece off the mat.  While it was pinned I also tacked across and down the strips to make sure it did not move once lifted.

Once the mat was lifted, I machine sewed around the edge twice to stabilise it.

I then added a border and finally hand sewed the backing fabric on.

After using it for a few weeks we realised that it needed some padding.  So I unpicked one end of the lining fabric and inserted a 1 cm thick piece of foam.  Then hand sewed the edge again.

 

 

 

It looks very smart in our bathroom.  The pictures do not do it justice.  Will be interesting how long it lasts.

Having cut off the excess strips I could not throw them away as they were a lot of effort to make.  So I decided to make a cushion with the denim weave as a detail in the centre.

Lots of pins

Added the side pieces.

Used three legs pieces to make the back.  Added a zip.

I am so pleased with how this turned out.  Totally re-cycled.

So it is going in the W.I. show this summer in the re-cycled section.

 

Jean Mending

Mick’s favourite Trader Jeans have not been available for many years and we are down to the last pair.

The trendy holes in the knees where getting a little too large to pass off as a fashion statement, so work commenced.

The first try was using the weaving technique.  Applying denim to the back and darn it to the jeans using the sewing machine.  Sewing machines and the legs of jeans are not too compatible and it is an effort to make progress.

One week later the whole was back!!!

Take 2 – A patch, over the whole thing, using zip zag stitch.

Only another few days and this also failed.

At which point I threw in the towel.

Until Ruth came up with the genius idea of unpicking the side seams and applying much larger patches over the whole knee.  This method is also much easier to sew.

They are currently holding fast.…..

 

Kitchen Chair Padded Seat Cushions

I love William Morris fabric.  So when I saw this in Immanuels in Burnley I could not resist.  It is Willow Bough, as seen every Friday night on Gogglebox with Giles and Nattie.

After a good few years of debate the old work top in the kitchen was replaced with a round table and two chairs from the YMCA charity shop in Clitheroe.  The chairs came without cushions and after trying them for a while we realised they were far to hard to sit on.

We found cushion foam seats from Dunhelm Mill at £4 each.  I traced around the base of the chair onto the foam and then cut it into shape with kitchen scissors.

I decided to pipe the top edge only, as I did not want to spend the rest of my life straightening the cushions.

First I made the piping, by sewing polyester rope into bought bias tape, which I ironed flat first.

I made the cotton ties, 4 per cushion.

To get the pattern I traced around the foam and added a seam allowance.

Then added the piping to the top of the cushion.

I added the side strip next, which secured the piping.

The back was made in two pieces, the pattern of which is half of the foam shape, traced around with an extra 2 inches in the middle for overlap and hemming.  I hemmed the centre of the back pieces.

I attached the bottom half first and then the top half.  When adding the top half I also added the cotton ties I had prepared.

The ties were measured carefully to make sure they did not pull when tied.

Single chair

Two chairs.

A nod to William Morris in my kitchen looking very fresh.

 

Hooking Mat 2

Previously I have made a hooked rug, with the word ‘Fleur’ on it.  You may remember that I was frustrated as the wording was only the right way up half of the time.  So I decided to make a neutral pattern, which could be displayed from any angle.

I used two colours of fleece fabric cut into one inch strips.  As the fleece was so thick I made a rod for my own back and the task was much harder and took much longer than anticipated.

Mick made me a heavy duty hook to carry out the job, as my crochet hooks could not cope.  It would have been impossible without it.

The thick fleece was hard to pull through the hessian.  But BFI won through (Brute Force and Ignorance).

I completed the light blue waves first and then filled in with the dark blue.

I am quite pleased with the end result.  The mat is intended for rigourous use so the colours had to be dark.

I may try to be more adventurous with my design next time.

 

Jersey Tops 4

Tilly and the Buttons – Stretch by Tilly Walnes of Great British Sewing Bee fame, is a very popular book on the facebook forum ‘Sewing in the UK’.  My friend Liz had bought a copy and made successful raglan sleeved tops from it last summer.

Here is my first attempt at the ‘Frankie’ top in cotton jersey from Patches and Buttons.

The slightly thicker fabric sewed very well and the raglan sleeve made it a relatively easy sew.

I found the collar depth to be a bit much for me and reduced it by 2 cms.  It is mostly overlocked apart from the twin needle top sewing on the collar, cuffs and bottom hems.

So then I decided to experiment and put the Cowl neck from the ‘Freya’ sweater and dress pattern in the same book onto the ‘Frankie’ top.

It was quite fine jersey, again from Patches and Buttons.  As it was fine I thought it would drape well for the cowl neck.

It worked a treat. 

Above is a picture of the underside of the cowl neck, which was overlocked together.  It had to be done this way out as the cowl neck may show the seam otherwise.

I have worn this to death this winter, making it one of my best makes.

 

Waistcoats 2

I decided to make a sparkly waistcoat for Mick, for his Ukulele gigs.  The grey flannel one I made previously does not really cut it for christmas parties.

I had a piece of neoprene type fabric which I had long intended making an evening bag from.

Again I used the waistcoat pattern from the second Great British Sewing Bee book.

The neoprene is quite hard to turn under and took a great many pins to tame into shape.

Close up pinning.

The top sewing was difficult but very rewarding as it came out well.

The back is a piece of black satin I had and the lining is simple black cotton.

He did not want buttons as it will always be worn open.

It is a lovely midnight blue colour and the sparkles are very subtle.

 

Kusudama Flower Ball

Following on from making Kusudama flowers at the craft dabble last year (see previous post Craft Dabble) I decided to make a flower ball as demonstrated by the tutor.

The ball is simply 12 of the flowers formed into a ball shape.  Each flower uses 5 sheets of paper, so 60 pieces all together.

I decided to make a test version and chose newspaper magazine supplement pages for the paper. 

So I had 60 squares to cut out. 

It turned out quite well and so I decided to make a Christmas version with Origami paper.

The origami paper was sourced by a friend at The Works and was half price.  It comes in thick books of 500 sheets.  It is much easier with origami paper.

As I said previously, there are so many tutorials on Kusudama flowers on You Tube there is no point explaining here.

What is worth explaining is how to get the flowers to fit together.  You have to make two half balls of 6 flowers.  Due to the shape of the flowers they fit together well.  A central flower nestles neatly surrounded by the five other flowers.

Much glue and paper clips and small clips helped to keep them all together.

Let the two halves dry, then apply lots of glue and a hooped ribbon sandwiched between the two halves and assemble the whole ball.

I used craft glue for this, so the ball took a while to dry fully.

I glued a small jewel in the centre of each flower for a bit of Christmas sparkle.