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.

 

Bears 17 – The Class of 2018

Each summer for the last few years I have made small bears on the boat.  A good small craft to keep me occupied.  I enjoy hand sewing.

The antique gold Schulte mohair was chosen for this year as the couple I made last year went down so well. 

I really love the tradition look of this gang. 

No walking the plank for them.

Piped Cushions–William Morris Design

I was lucky to find this William Morris fabric at a pop up shop on Darwen market.  Herbert Parkinson is a local company and they were selling rolls off for charity.  £5 for 2 metres.

After much deliberation about the pattern and how best to make 4 cushions, 8 sides with the same design I chose to have the two birds and the strawberries in the centre.  The ‘Strawberry Thief’ is a famous design.  I have seen other people use the other birds in the design as the centre but with the piece I had choice was limited.

Adding to previous posts about piped cushions I learned from experience.  The dark bias binding I bought for the edges has previously shown through the white cord used in the piped edge.  This time I bought black polyester cord.  It is cheaper and it does not show through, but it is slippery to work with.  Putting a pin through the whole piece of piping while sewing helped a lot.

Cushion one.

And repeat, repeat, repeat.

The bias binding 2m per cushion, cord 2m per cushion cost £15 and the padded inners were £16 for four.  Total cost £36.

Seems expensive, but in the shops WM cushions would be very pricey.

These are for us in our own home.  Love ‘em. 

Bags 10 – Dog Bone Design

More Tote bags, I am addicted.

Very interesting fabric, which feels a bit waterproof.  I thought it would be hard to sew but it wasn’t at all.

This one is lined with black polyester and has a dog bone fabric pocket.

This one is padded with curtain liner.  I was not sure the white would work with the black outer, but I really like it and as usual the liner gives the bag substance.

Inside with doggy pocket.  For my dog mad relly.

Small Zip Bags

I really like small zipped bags and they are so useful.  I have made a number for my stall at a local charity craft fair.

There are dozens of YouTube videos showing how to make these.  The trick is to line everything up well and cut the fabric accurately.

Front

Back

Padded inner, lined with curtain liner.

Butterflies

Spots, I know I am a nerd, it took me ages to line up the spots.

Sweetie Jars, yum.