Pillowcase Dress

So I decided to make another dress. A very simple one. A pillowcase dress. My other half saw this picture by GraceyLouDesigns that I had pinned and informed me that it was a winner. Her etsy shop doesn't seem to exist anymore, so seeing as I already had the fabric it required, I decided to make it. The fabric was supposed to be used to make him cushion covers for his office chair, but hey, he's already been waiting two years, he can wait a little longer.

I followed Vanessa's tutorial which was really simple and easy to understand with great step by step pictures.

I used Riley Blake medium chevrons and Michael Miller dots for the fabric. The grey stripe is a stash essential I picked up at Chilford so I have no idea what that is.



I'm pleased with my bias binding on the sleeves. I did loads of pinning and a bit of unpicking and it all looks very posh. I could have done better seams. This annoys me. They are just rubbish raw edges. I could have zig zagged or at least used pinking shears. This tutorial has really posh seams.


I sewed my tape really carefully and took time over the ends just so it didn't look shoddy.

I think the bow looks really pretty. I could have used ribbon but I am glad I didn't. This seems more substantial.
But best of all, I used my blind hemming foot. Blind hems, down pat. Worked a treat. I consider that skill learnt. Time to move onto something else. I'm pondering the idea of making an adult garment, gulp!



My only tip is to use spray water or starch when folding and ironing all the seams. I found it allowed me to fold my fabric with my fingers and have it stay there. I didn't prewash my fabric and quilting cotton can be quite thick and springy. This helped loads. I would mark my 1/4" seam with a chalk marker, spray with Best Press, fold the hem with my fingers then iron on top and add a bit of steam at the end. Perfect.
Right! Time to finish my abandoned bag...

iPad mini case

A quick naptime project. There was a meeting, there was no iPad case. It was not ideal. It was mentioned. I had been meaning to make one for a long time, but was warring with myself as all my ideas were pretty girly. So I decided to just get a grip and do something. This coincided nicely with finding a project bag full of the suit remnants I got from the tailors in Berwick street for The Rainbow Hexagon Quilt. I really need to finish that off. So I used some ultra soft herringbone suit fabric, Two layers of wadding, a wool lining (from an old cashmere sweater) and a Liberty Mitsi rouge trim.


The end result is really thick and padded, perfect for being on the move. I used the arm of a lovely soft cashmere jumper for the inside lining which was quite hard to sew as it stretches so much. It created this puckered effect at the top which is quite useful as it makes the opening tighter.


It's a pretty tight fit which is useful as it doesn't want to be sliding out inside the rucksack it will sit inside. I'm pretty amazed it fits. I was a bit worried with all that lining. I know it's a bit girly, but then I am a girl, I did my best to make it manly. I feel that Mitsi looks a bit Japanese and minimal. Only a man confident with his masculinity would carry a dash of Mitsi around with him.


As always, there has to be a tag. This gold little number says 'burger'. What better food stuff is there?


All in all, if I were to do it again I would not sew the outer and inners separate then fold and sew the flower fabric. It's a bit messy. I would sew the two bits together at the top and just leave an opening at the bottom on the inner lining so I could turn it inside out. I was just not on the ball enough to do that today. Boo. I need to think more. A common problem.

Skinny Pincushion

Another project from the project book complete! I saw Noodlehead's skinny pincushion and thought it was a lovely use of Liberty fabric. So I high tailed it over to the Green Bee blog for the pattern.


It was a great pattern because it used so little of my Liberty stash. I get really stressed when I think I am using it all up as the pieces I have are only fat 16ths many of them. I chose some of my favourites. I used different fabrics for each side. The only non Liberty fabric is the green spot.


The main fabric was natural linen which I got for £4.50 a metre from the local craft shop! It's actually not as nice as the more expensive stuff I once bought from Ikea, but going to Ikea is a life decision I find. The last time we went we had to run through the warehouse grabbing things whilst Penelope screamed like she was being murdered. That's a nice memory to file away.

The stuffing is poor. I had used all my stuffing in the floor cushion and was loathe to buy more so soon, but I found an old bag of rejected stuffing. Ace! What a find! I patted myself on the back. Of course as soon as I started stuffing I remembered that it was terrible, lumpy stuffing. Why did I keep it? Bah! My inability to throw stuff away strikes again. But you know, waste not want not, beggers can't be choosers. I did go to the local pet shop to try and get silver sand instead, but luck was not on my side and I just didn't want to spend any more money. So lumpy skinny cushions it is! I am throwing away the remaining stuffing. Here we are, me and Ray, when we were 19 and I thought a stripy skate hat was a cool accessory. Oh those days. When Kaffe Fasset was the only fabric designer in the world and mumple was amassing her wardrobe of homemade Liberty shirts. We were already tie-dying and making MC hammer trousers by this point. Crafting was go!

Zipper #2

I made a bag! I wanted to try making zip ends again and do it right this time. I sewed the zipper ends into the side seam first time round which made them lumpy. This time I did it right. I ballsed up other things instead! Oh well, it's a learning curve and I learnt a lot.


I slightly changed the fabrics on each side just to add a bit of interest. I love how the accounts text worked out. The bag started with the scraps of Catnap I had left from Penelope's dress. I knew I wanted to make some kind of bag with it but I wasn't sure. I saw this bag that R0ssie made and thought 'Yes!' But the pattern never appeared... gutted! So I had to make up my own. A bad idea when I am so new at this. I kind of made it up as I went along.


I think the fabrics really go well together. They are:
Text by Alison Glass
Architextures by Carolyn Friedlander
Accounts by Michael Miller
Botanics by Carolyn Friedlander
Catnap by Lizzy House



I made the ends of the zip longer this time as I like them generous.



So this is a biggish bag. Almost iPad size but not. Only because my zip wasn't long enough. I based everything around the zip. I decided to try making an inner pocket for my phone. I had no idea how you make such a thing. I had to look up videos on uTube. I followed this tutorial. My lining is wrinkly as a result though. I probably did it wrong. I am very hamfisted. I might try this technique next time.

I also based my pocket on my zip collection. I thought a bright pink inner zip required a bright pink lining so I cracked out some of my precious £2.99 a metre neon fabric. It's worked out brilliantly.



I added a little tag like you do, but I also added a bigger pink tag so I can add a hoop through it to make it easier to carry. It slipped though as I pinned it badly and it's wonky. How annoying!



I love these chunky zips. I love the lining too. I love everything about it. The mistakes are a bit irksome, but I'm getting better. I'm not that impressed with my inner lining seams. I need to look up a new technique so that the lining is better. In the meantime I need to work out what to put in my bag. I might put my new hexagon project in it. More on that soon.

A Wedding Quilt

When Rachel told me she was getting married I panicked. She had knitted me a beautiful double bed spread for my wedding and now I needed to make her something at a time when I couldn't even tidy up after myself. I instantly set about making a vintage quilt for a vintage wedding. The kind of quilt you would take on a picnic and take a faded polaroid of. It's based on one I saw by Penelope Waits


I say based on because I am an idiot. I just didn't have the patience to follow her great instructions. I just started sewing a plain and pattern together from a jelly roll. It was super easy which is why I decided to do it. No real cutting, no real thinking. I wasn't big on thinking at that point. Getting three hour chunks of sleep was making me into all kinds of stupid.

Of course after I had sewn all the fabric together I realised it required a bit more thought than that. Always the way. But I felt like I was racing against a clock. I just needed to get it done! So everytime the baby slept I cracked on with it. It actually came together really quickly.




I had to stick stickers on all the blocks so I didn't have to work anything out later on. I was having problems matching left and right shoe let alone work out a pattern. Once they were all marked I just gradually sewed them together over many many naps. I wasn't very organised.




But it all came good in the end. I wish I had taken the time to had quilt it, but I just thought I would never get there if I did. I must have started this the week after Rachel told me about the wedding. You think a year would be enough time, but I panicked. I think my cream fabric is a little less creamy and I think I should have washed mine so it went nice and scrunchy. I also wish I had a few of Penelope's fabrics in there. I used Storybook by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics with a couple of extra fat quarter in that I bought specially. I bought mine from The Cottonpatch. They have this Nostalgia Trip in stock currently.

Square Toddler Floor Cushion

Hark at me! I am smokin'. Rachel decided to make a project notebook full of all the things she wanted to make so she could write down shopping lists and notes for each one in it. I thought that was such a good idea, I have done the same thing. I will show it to you sometime. It's nothing fancy, I am no scrapbooker. I just printed out my Projects to Make Pinterest board and stuck a picture on every page of my notebook. Suddenly it all felt like it is coming together and I am filled with purpose. This IS the year of the small project. I SHALL succeed in doing something other than baby singing and washing muslins.



So here we are, project number two complete! For a grand total of £10 I have created a floor cushion! Ta da! For some time now, Penelope has been trying to sit on her toy bag or on various cardboard boxes so that she can watch TV an inch away from the screen like all well-adjusted toddlers do. So now I have enabled this grand scheme with a cushion. It really should have been a bean bag but the poly beads were £9 in our local craft shop and I am not even sure she will sit on it. So this is my test cushion.


It's a bit flimsy. I probably should have used deco weight fabric, but I don't have any, I've never really even looked at the stuff and suspect it's more expensive. So I got a metre of Lizzy House's Pearl Bracelets in Grape Jelly as I love it so much. I really wanted contrasting piping so I bought some pre made yellow stuff as it is 46p a metre which I figure is cheaper than me buying the fabric and cutting it on the bias. I didn't understand the cord thickness measurement so I just bought 5mm. It seems pretty fine to me.

I have finally used up all my monkey stuffing which I bought in a giant bag off Ebay years a go. I never thought I would be rid of my giant stuffing bag, but it's amazing how much you need. The cushion is probably too baggy but I ran out and I am loathe to buy more only for it to be shunned by that little monkey. So she'll probably plonk herself in it and sink to the floor. I have my unpicker poised if this should happen.

I am not buying another super bag of stuffing though. I might stuff it with cut up baby clothes. You know, those white vests that seem to have developed mysterious brown marks on them. Them. We'll see. If it gets used then I will make her a proper one. I'd like to say it will match the colour scheme in her soon to be revamped bedroom. Soon? well August at this rate. But I think I have realised that I am not organised enough to have a colour scheme. It will be a rainbow free for all!

As for the pattern...



It's Made by Rae's, How To: Square Floor Cushion. The pattern was great. Really easy to follow with good pictures which talk you through everything. I just did exactly what she said. I still ballsed things up though. My piping got better towards the end of the 4th metre, but a lot of it was pretty baggy even with the piping foot. My measurements were also off. My side strip was too long by 4 1/2". I could well have measured it wrong though. It was easy to correct so no biggy.





I added some tags because that just the kind of crazy kid I am. I think Penelope will like them. I also put a bigger yellow one in as I suspect this is the kind of thing that will get dragged around a bit.



I also sewed my gap with a quilt binding method where you sew a right angle at the gap edge. I then ironed the seam both sides which means the edges don't pull away when you stuff them and when you go to sew the gap shut you can follow your ironing mark. It's a very neat way of doing it. I'm pretty impressed I remembered to do it.



I also learnt how to sew piping at the ends so they meet nicely. I struggled with this the first time I tried piping and I made a real hash of it. This method makes it easy. You just start sewing a little bit along from the start point of your first piping so that when you come round to meet it again, you stop 2 inches before the end, unpick an inch of your second end, trim the cord of the second end so it meets the first end, fold over the unpicked fabric and sew. It's great.

I think if I were to make this again which I probably will then I would consider a more durable approach. I will keep my eye out for deco weight fabric. I will consider making deco weight binding. I would put a big zip in the side or some velcro so that I could wash the cover. This would mean making an inner bag to hold the stuffing so I would make this too. I'd quite like to make the original round version made by Living with Punks next time if this is a success. It looked a bit harder going in a circle so I thought I'd get square under my belt first.

I need to look through all of Rae's patterns as I think there are some great ones in here. I might have to add some to the prject book!



Update! The cushion was an instant success!

A bit of Knitting

So I have been knitting squares for Rachel's wedding beach blankets. Here are the ones I have made since the hen do.

Knit stitch (stockinette)

Moss stitch

Some weird stitch

A bit of a dodgy cable

Linen stitch

Rick Rack rib stitch

Bobble crochet

Zipper #1

 

So for my first dabble into zipper land, I tried this tutorial. I made a few mistakes when I altered the measurements, but I learnt a great deal.

This is my current wallet. It was a freebie when I bought a baby wetsuit. It's not an item of desire, but it is extremely useful as I seem to have to carry more stuff these days. Everyday I have to look at it though. I think i'd like something nicer to look at. I've never really used my sewing skills to make any nice accessories for myself but now is the time.

 

I cracked open my first zip! I love the chunky teeth, they're so meaty. It's a 14cm YKK Yellow 506 zip; the smallest one I bought. I really wanted to try doing these end bits. I think they really work nicely. I stupidly got some of mine in the seam though which is not ideal. It makes it lumpy.

I used some Marguerite Stripe Yellow by Riley Blake and some Heather Ross Itsy Bitsy spider fabric. I couldn't quite fit this into a quilt but I love it. Now I will get to look at it every day.

I didn't really understand the sewing instructions when it came to sewing the second part of the zip so I sewed it wrong the first time.

I thought you pulled the whole thing through the zip opener when actually you just had to pull it through the side. It feels a lot clearer now.

If I had wanted both sides to be the right side up then I should have cut it into front and back pieces. I quite like it upside down though with the cropped text.

I am so happy with it though. I am going to use it everyday! I don't really know why I didn't make one sooner. I would use thicker interfacing next time though so make it a bit stiffer. I am already planning a second... with credit card pockets.