What I want to make in 2016

Last year I put this list together (from what I'd left undone in 2014!!) of things to make during the year.  As you can see from what I've crossed out, it wasn't that productive a year!

• Bedroom curtains - our room
• new cushion for Lloyd Loom chair
• bedroom curtains - sewing room
• finish snowdrop sampler
• something out of box of old cloths
• bedroom curtains - top bedroom?
• finish spring tapestry cushion
• new canvas for garden chairs & coordinating bench cushions
• use DH's old shirts to make tops?
• something out of striped Mulberry fabric
• Something out of Nain's pink/orange fabric (Amy Butler Lotus tunic?)
• Scandinavian garlands from Scandinavian Needlecraft by Clare Youngs as Christmas presents - use stuff stored in boxes/attic?
• key rings/fridge magnets - possibly from Made in France: Sweet Treats in Cross Stitch by Tinou Le Joly Senoville; garden secrets book at home; also see 'key to it all' post
• Presents/cards for birthdays
• Christmas tree skirts - as presents

But, looking on the bright side, I don't need to worry about curtains for the top bedroom as I brought a pair I made about 20 years ago from my flat (I was fed up with my tenants having my lovely curtains and the last one certainly didn't appreciate them). So, I have curtains made by my fair hand in all rooms but one of our house (and the curtains in that room have new linings made by me).

Another small plus is that now that the major projects (you guessed it, curtains) are done, I can hopefully concentrate on some smaller finishing touches, like the chair cushion and some tie-backs for the numerous infamous curtains.

I'm not going to promise to complete this list as a) I don't want to put pressure on myself, b) I know I won't manage it and c) I'll probably do other stuff that I haven't considered putting on this list.  I am hoping to concentrate on a few of them though:

• tie backs for 'final curtains'
• new cushion for Lloyd Loom chair
• finish snowdrop sampler
• finish spring tapestry cushion

and take it from there.  It is four years since I started blogging here and the last 18 months have been pretty poor to say the least, so hopefully this will be my blogging come-back year.

Advice from our grandmothers

Now I know where I've been going wrong all these years!

Merlin has new friends

You've probably noticed over the years, that I quite like making Christmas decorations.  It may also have come to your attention that I buy sewing/embroidery/craft magazines that often have free gifts or kits.

So in true Sew and Siw fashion, I bought a Christmas craft magazine with a free kit a couple of months ago.  And again, in true Sew and Siw fashion, I waited until the Christmas holidays to get the kit out and craft!

I'm probably 'officially' too old for finger puppets, but you're only as old as you feel aren't you?!?  ;-)

PS:  Merlin is our cat in the background - I don't think he's all that impressed with 'his' new friends though!  After all, they take the limelight from him ;-)

The final curtain

I know I probably shouldn't say this, but I really hope that the title of this post is true!

For those of you have been faithful followers of this (rather intermittent) blogger (and thank you if you are!), you will know all about my bumpy road to curtaining our home (is there such a verb as curtaining?!).  It has involved a huge amount of fabric, miles and miles of thread, aching knees and back and (literally) a substantial amount of blood, sweat and tears.  Not to mention an inordinate amount of patience on DH's part!

I hope that you are sitting down as you read this next part, because I have made the final* pair of curtains!!!!

I have been keeping fairly quiet about them I admit.  Partially because I'm so sick of making curtains, but also because we've had quite a big family event behind it all, which I didn't want to say too much about. It still isn't imminent, but at least the curtains are up now.

They should have been a quick and easy pair to make as the window involved is soooo much smaller than the others I've blogged about.  As ever, though, it all took longer than I'd hoped.  I didn't order enough fabric to start with (a bit of a boo-boo to say the least) and then I ran out of thread.  After getting more supplies and starting the next stage, the sewing machine decided to go on the blink!  To be fair to it, though, I've had it (or I think my parents would say, we've had it) for over 20 years and it hasn't been serviced once (shame on us), so it has done brilliantly to last this long.

So, all in all, my final (hopefully) foray into curtain making hasn't been the smoothest.  With all the experience I've had, you'd think I'd have perfected it by now though, wouldn't you!?!  As ever, I've decided to try something new again - blackout lining this time - and it is a bit weird to sew with.  I was a bit concerned that the stiffness of the lining would put me off them now they're hanging as it doesn't hang as nicely as 'normal' lining, but it isn't as bad as I expected.  That is one bonus of worrying yourself silly for months about something - it can NEVER be as bad as you expect! ;-)

Et voilà!

*At least, the final pair for a VERY VERY long time.

Back to basics

I've been having a bit of a rethink about my sewing plans recently, ... mainly in light of the shambles I made of some recent projects.

I admit, I've lost confidence in my ability and have come to the conclusion that the next step is:
a) to give up
b) only make what I know works, or
c) do something about it

It is probably true what DF said when I was getting all of this off my chest - I need to get back into it and practice more.  It has been a looooong time since I did any serious dressmaking and most of my sewing has been restricted to home furnishings for quite some time.  And that hasn't exactly been a regular thing until recently.  And they've been BIG projects that have literally and figuratively swamped me - as well as making me doubt that I really got an A at GSCE maths.

Another thing that has held me back with dressmaking it finding the right pattern.  Now, I may have taken this to a 'how do you find Mr Right' kind of level, but what frustrates me about making your own clothes is this.  You go clothes shopping, you see something you like on the rail and you either know it will suit you, or if you're unsure you can try it on before you buy.  Even then, if you change your mind after taking it home, you can still take it back to the shop and get your money back or exchange it for something else.

But with dressmaking, you choose a pattern, choose your fabric (or you may do it the other way around if the fabric has inspired you), buy your pattern, fabric, and the million-and-one notions necessary.  At home you spend ages pinning, cutting out, pinning again, tacking, sewing .... to get the final garment ... try it on ... and it looks hideous on you.  So what can you do now?  Nothing except chop it up and use it as dusters, put it in the bin or take it to a charity shop.  You've wasted hard-earned money and precious time and gained ..... nothing!

So, having 'regrouped' mentally a little, I'm going to take a step back and not run before I can walk before I can crawl.

I'm beginning to formulate a plan for this, which at the moment looks a bit like this:

1. make more clothes for myself - using commercial patterns
2. where possible, make these clothes using the stash of fabric that has been hiding in various boxes, bags and trunks in my possession over the years
3. if I get stuck or struggle with something (such as the collar band on my half-finished toile/muslin of the Liverpool tunic by Amy Butler, or the fit of a pattern), put it to one side, take a deep breath and wait until I can either work it out myself, or get help at a sewing cafe or similar
4. as I regain my confidence, venture into pattern alteration - either at a cafe mentioned in 3 above or by enrolling on a course/for some lessons (this may happen anyway as a way of regaining my confidence before I get to step 4)

I will have to accept, that in order to get it right at step 1 above, I may need to make toiles first and ask for help if they're not quite right.  If they 'just don't suit', give it up as a bad job.  However, if they work - then I've got a pattern I can use over and over again!  Hooray!  Also, if it is a toile, I won't have wasted any expensive fabric in the process, and if I still feel like following in Scrooge's footsteps, I'm sure that I can find bed sheets at a charity shop to use for making up toiles.

Above all, I mustn't rush any of it and get flummoxed as this will only take me back to where I am now.

Total blackout

It is high time that you all got an update following my last disastrous post.  The title of this post could refer to my lack of contact with my loving public (!), and I apologise profusely for that*.  In fact I'm referring to the fact that DH and I are now sleeping much better (and longer - oops!) because we have a pair - YES, A PAIR - of matching curtains in our bedroom!

It has been a very long road to reach this point, but goodness, it feels good and looks pretty good too.  At least, we both like them.

* The fact is, we've had so much other stuff going on recently, that the curtains have been about the only creative thing I've had in my sights over the last few months.  Hopefully that will change soon and I can get back to something slightly less bulky and time consuming.  So, please don't give up on me and continue to watch this space!?!

A complete disaaaaaster

I'm sure you all realise that not everything works out as planned with sewing projects, as with anything else.  Well, let me tell you that that was definitely the case for me last weekend (not the one just gone - I had to wait a week to blog about it as I was too worked up and upset by it all!).

My curtain-making had been on hold for almost a fortnight thanks to a late delivery of an online order for extra header tape, so I was already frustrated and behind on things.  DH kindly went to John Lewis late night shopping on his way home one evening to get me some more so that I could carry on properly the following day - but they'd run out of stock!  So I went into town myself on Friday morning to track it down elsewhere - and finally got it at the third shop after a 'magical mystery tour' of the West End.  And when I got home, there was the online order waiting patiently on the doormat!

So, Friday afternoon was spent putting all three layers of the HUGE curtain together - pinning, tacking, sewing side seams, hemming ...  Saturday afternoon was more of the same followed by pinning the sections for the pinch pleats (my least favourite part of the process).  I hadn't been happy with how the pleats had turned out in the first curtain (currently hanging at our bedroom window), so I'd decided to try to use the fabric pattern when planning the pleats on the second one.  However, the pattern had other ideas.  So at supper time, I'd had enough and was feeling pretty miserable and frustrated - and gave up.

Sunday afternoon, despite feeling groggy and headachey, I persevered.  If it was the last thing I was going to do, I was going to get BOTH curtains up by the end of the day!  I decided I was asking too much of myself to get the pleats to work with the pattern.  This was only my second attempt at pinch pleats and my first with patterned fabric, after all.  So, how many pleats did I want - 9 on the first curtain weren't enough and it was all a bit baggy.  So I did some maths for 10, 11 or 12 pleats and decided I'd give 12 a go.  All pinned, I marked the sewing line on my machine to help keep things straight and away I went.  Hooray - 12 pleats ready to pinch!

DH was out for the afternoon, so I waited to hang it once he got back.  And all was looking pretty good .... until we drew them closed ... or not as it turned out.  The second curtain wasn't wide enough to cover the whole window!!!!   AAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH!  And it was puckering at the bottom, so there I was tugging gently as the leading edge .....  when I realised that the leading edge WASN'T MEANT TO BE THE LEADING EDGE.  Not only wasn't it wide enough - I'd pleated the bottom (ie it was also upside down!).

After a couple of tears for frustration (understatement), I decided that the sooner I unpicked the whole thing, the quicker I'd get onto resewing it.

Isn't it weird - it had taken me a number of afternoons to get the blasted curtain put together, but it only took me about an hour to unpick it completely.

And then it hit me - the pattern wasn't going to match across the window!  Somehow, the second curtain had been cut out about 3 inches lower down the pattern than the first so the only way that I'll get the pattern to match across the window is to unpick the curtain that is already hanging as well!!!!

Please, will someone pass me the valium?!  NOW!!!

From Bedroom to Zenana*

After we moved into our house, we were ridiculously organised and went fabric hunting for our kitchen, bedroom and living room curtains WAY before there was any hope (or money and time) to make them.  At least we managed to save up and make the kitchen blinds, and after a considerable amount of huffing and puffing the living and dining rooms also have curtains.  So it is finally the turn of our bedroom.

When we were initially having work done on the house, there was so much to think of that I couldn't face deciding on specific colour schemes until we knew what would go where (we didn't move in until the work was done).  As a result the house is mainly painted cream with white woodwork.  Excellent as a base, but not much help when you're trying to decide on a colour scheme!

We were given a deep purple throw and coordinating cushion with allium on it as a wedding present and we used them in our bedroom on and off for a while, but for some reason, DH wasn't all that enthusiastic about having lilac/purple as the colour scheme for our bedroom.

We were wandering rather aimlessly through the fabric department of John Lewis trying to find something we both liked when DH found an Osborne & Little fabric that gave us an idea.  We had two problems with the fabric in question - a) we couldn't afford it and b) even if we could afford it, neither of us can stand George Osborne who is part of the O&L family!  BUT it did inspire us.

We went to India on our honeymoon and loved Jaipur and the Moghul stamp (aka paisley) and I had a kameez made while we were there out of local hand-blocked silk with the paisley pattern on it.  So, clever DH suggested we use India/our honeymoon/paisley as our theme.

As usual (see Curtain up), I was trawling the web for fabrics that fitted the bill and found the Harlequin Lalika collection and fell in love with the Azara fabric in particular.  We ordered samples of all colours and narrowed it down to either red or blue and despite being torn, we've decided to go for the blue.

In 2013 we spent a lovely relaxing week in Turkey and brought some nice souvenirs back with us to adorn our home.  Along with two Kilim rugs for the hallway, we bought two lovely ceramic plaques/plates in the Iznik style and a lovely lamp for our bedroom (that had a bit of an adventure getting to Britain - but that is another story).  So, our bedroom has become more of an Islamic art theme than just Indian now, but so far we're loving the change.

* Not sure DH would be all that pleased, but this is the definition of Zenana, but ironically I'm a baptist too, so it is quite apt.

New year's sewing resolutions

As ever, with the new year, new leaves are turned over, fresh starts are made, blah-di-blah.....

Well, that is all good and well if you've finished everything off before the new year starts! Unfortunately, I didn't.  So my new year is starting by trying to finish off last year's UFOs.  There are two that I'm concentrating on - one for the evenings vegging in front of the TV fire and the other for the weekends so I've more time to give to it.

My 'evening' UFO is my snowdrop sampler (see Commissions - updates) and the end is now in sight.

The 'weekend' UFO is our bedroom curtains.  One is up (goodness knows what people across the road make of our 'odd socks' look at the moment), the other is in three parts awaiting 'construction'.

Maybe after that I can start to look at new new year projects.  Or maybe not - sad face.  I'm loath to list what I'd like to make this year as the list I drafted last January has very little crossed off it now.  Last year was a bit of a toughie though with lots of family stuff going on, and now that we're getting settled into the new situation this year may be more creative/productive.

However, our next project is to clear my sewing room - very sad face.  I'm sad to have to pack it up and move after waiting so long to get it, but there is a good reason (more of which will be revealed eventually).  But I'm going to try and 'decamp' rather than 'pack up' by moving my stuff to the laundry room.  It will be cosy there, so some will probably have to go in the attic, but there is quite a bit of storage there that hasn't been used efficiently and the ironing kit is already there, after all.  Hopefully the non-sewing/craft stuff will find a new home in other parts of the house too (enter DF with his DIY knowledge and toolbag!).

The trouble is, with sorting through the stuff in the sewing room, I'm coming across fabrics and garments that are giving me ideas and I know that I just won't find the time to bring those projects to fruition.  Oh well, at least Great British Sewing Bee has restarted to cheer us all up and get us dreaming ;-D

Sing a song of sixpence ...

A while back I saw a Miss Marple episode called 'Pocket full of rye', which brought the old nursery rhyme back.  I don't really know why, but despite being a Welsh speaking family, I don't really remember many Welsh nursery rhymes from my childhood.  We were living in Chester at the time, so that is, presumably, part of it.

Anyway, if we 'sing' the whole nursery rhyme, we might get to the topic of this post ...

Sing a song of sixpence,

A pocket full of rye.

Four and twenty blackbirds,

Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened,

The birds began to sing;

Wasn't that a dainty dish,

To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house,

Counting out his money;

The queen was in the parlour,

Eating bread and honey.

The maid was in the garden,

Hanging out the clothes,

When down came a blackbird

And pecked off her nose.

And before you ask, no, I'm not going to give you tips on catching blackbirds, or baking pies, but rather show you how I went about making a peg bag for my parents.

Many years ago I made a peg bag for my parents, which is now literally falling apart at the seams.  A little more recently (but not a lot) I made another with some cross-stitch decoration.  Unfortunately, this one is too small to hold all of DP's pegs, so I've combined the size of the old one with the design of the second to make another for DPs.

I wanted a finished bag that was the width of a standard coat hanger (the hanging 'mechanism' for DP's 'dying' peg bag and approximately 35cm) by 45cm long, so I cut a piece of fabric twice this length plus 1.5cm for each seam allowance by 45cm wide plus seam allowance. To add a bit of strength and give a better finish, I also cut another piece the same size in a plain 'lining' fabric.

I had decided to make the opening 15cm down from the hanger, so I measured 15cm plus the seam allowance from one end of the outer fabric and centrally marked a horizontal line the width (also 15cm) I wanted for the opening.

As I wanted to embroider around this opening, I then tacked some scrap embroidery/tapestry canvas onto the right side of the fabric to act as a guide for the cross-stitching.  Unlike the original bag, I decided to pick out two colours from the fabric and embroidered the design beneath the opening in one colour and the text in the other and then alternated the colours for the peg designs either side of the text.

Now that the embroidery is complete, with the right sides of both fabrics together, I sewed a narrow rectangle around this horizontal line.  I then drew lines diagonally from the central line to the corners of the stitching, to mark the cutting lines.  Carefully, I cut through both layers and press the seam allowance towards the lining fabric.  If possible, understitch the seam allowance to the lining as closely as possible to the seam.

Pulling out the softened waste canvas - took FOREVER!

Now turn the fabrics the right sides out.  Fold the lining fabric up in half, pin and tack and stitch up the two sides and trim the seam allowance.  NOTE - don't sew across the top of the lining yet! You could sew a slightly wider seam allowance on the lining so that it is a fraction smaller than the outer bag and thus reduce some of the bulk in the seams.

Next, pin and tack the outer fabric, right sides together, and stitch up the two sides (with a slightly narrower seam allowance than used for the lining, again, trim the seam allowance.  You should end up with two bags attached at the opening, a bit like 'conjoined bags'.

Understitching the opening of the bag

After pressing both sides, turn the outer fabric bag right side out, over the lining bag.

Carefully, fold down the top section of the outer bag to free access to the lining bag.  Insert the hanger just inside the lining and pin/tack the seam allowance along the curve (if it has a curve) of the hanger.  Carefully stitch along this line, taking care not to damage the machine/needle with the hanger!  Trim the hem.

The outer bag can now be unfolded over the rest of the bag.  Turn the seam allowance in along the upper edge of the hanger and hand stitch (slip stitch) closed.

Et voilà!

A 'blinding' cushion!

With all my repairs and mending out of the way now, I have no excuse to avoid getting on with a new blind for the kitchen.  As you know from ..... after replacing the windows I had to alter most of the blinds to fit the new frames.  Unfortunately though, one blind was just too short and too narrow for the new window, so I had no choice but to start from scratch.  Thankfully when we ordered the fabric we didn't realise that we'd be able to get two of the bay window blinds out of one length of fabric - so, we have enough spare for the new blind :-)

Trying to decide how I want the stripes to lie

But I really didn't want to waste the old blind (must be something to do with being brought up with parents who grew up during WW2!).  So I've decided to unpick it and use the fabric to make a cover for a cushion for our 'new' pew in the kitchen.

Following the advice of my friend, Bette Noire, I bought 2" thick 'recon' foam and 1" thick foam for the top layer. It was an added bonus that the supplier (amusingly called Pentonville Rubber!!  I've had such fun posting my visits on Facebook just to see what comments I'd get!! ;-)  ) was able to glue the layers together for me, and save me a job. With an electric carving knife, I cut the two layers to shape along the front edge - fun but bizarrely difficult to keep it vertical, so they're not perfect, but hopefully once covered no-one (unless they read this) will be any the wiser.

I made the top and bottom to match with the stripe going along the width of the bench/cushion and cut the strips for the sides along the stripes too, rather than across them.  It would mean that I'd need to be careful to stitch them carefully so that the stripes don't end up wonky though!

The edge strips were cut to be long enough to go around the front edge, the two short side edges and part-way around to the back edge.  The remaining gap would be made up of two strips, half the width of the whole so that a zip can be incorporated.  Unfortunately, getting a long enough zip in the right weight was a bit more difficult than I expected, so I decided to buy two.  It was a case of a) getting all the materials ready so that when I had the time, I could just get on with the job, and b) thinking (or hoping) that it may actually make life a bit easier to have two zips that meet at the centre.  We shall have to wait and see.

The zip section ready to
be added to the edge piece

I was undecided about what to do about the piping.  I was torn between having a contrasting bias binding (red or green - undecided there too) and making my own out of the same fabric as the rest of the cover.  In the end, I decided to stick with the stripes as a) I didn't think I'd be able to find the right shade of red/green bias binding and b) I had enough fabric left over.

First round of piping complete

Again following Bette Noire's advice, I practiced applying the piping on some scrap fabric as I'd never quite managed to get it right in the past.  It was a fiddle, but following a few attempts I decided to give it a go on the real thing.

It isn't perfect, but I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  And the pew is a lot more comfortable now :-)

Blinds and matching cushion on our chapel pew,
with matching collection box (hanging on the wall on the left!)

Sewing Revolution

Although I've been a bit distant here, I've been trying to do a bit more social media and have started tweeting a little (@SiwanH in case you want to know!) and have one of this year's contestants has been tagging #sewingrevolution.

So last weekend, I took inspiration from the 'revolution' and got on with it. Having finished the kitchen blind to complete the collection (most of the job was DIY as I'd done most of the sewing already).  Once that was up, I braved a new concept for me - upcycling.

I've never been all that confident at altering clothes, so the thought of somehow reusing the fabric from a garment to make something completely new was rather daunting.  But having been brought up by two war-time children, I find it difficult to throw something out that may have a 'second life', and I've been piling up DH's worn out work shirts for a while in the hope I'd be brave enough to make something out of them.

Not wanting to start too big, I opted for Colette's Sorbetto top - a popular pattern from what I've seen online and a favourite of Lauren from last year's Sewing Bee - and also my first foray into online patterns.  Having taken my own measurements, compared them to the chart with the pattern, I traced the correct size onto tissue paper.  Not as difficult as I'd expected :-)  I then made up a toile out of some left over curtain lining fabric (or something) to see how it suited.  And apart from being a bit loose, it was ok.

Ok, I admit, I did have a bit of a melt-down with DH because I couldn't work out how to alter it to stop the armholes gaping.  But a cup of tea and a hug (or two or three, or four!) later, I retraced a smaller size and started again, with a better result.  The fit still isn't perfect, but it is at least passable.

So, on to the Real Thing.  I chose a shirt and tried fitting the pattern onto it.  I knew that the pleat at the front may have to be sacrificed, but in the end I opted to keep the buttons/placket and move them to the back and have a plain front.

trying to decide which binding to use

Almost finished (except for some girly buttons)

So, now it is onwards and upwards.  I'm certainly going to give the pattern another go, although I'm going to try and alter it slightly by moving the darts to a better position for me.  So it is just a question of which shirt I should upcycle next?

House tour - part 2

Following on from an earlier post, here's more on our renovations.

Downstairs, or the reception rooms is where the majority of the heavy work was done.

Originally it was four rooms - living room, dining room (or study, as the vendors had it), breakfast room and kitchen.  The kitchen was pretty small and dark.  I later discovered that the kitchen would originally have been three rooms - a (very) small kitchen, a pantry and an outside toilet - that had been knocked into one.  But for us, it was still too pokey, so we decided to knock the wall between the kitchen and the neighbouring breakfast room down to create one large room.

The original kitchen

The breakfast room

The work in progress!

This was a huge job and took quite a lot of time, but eventually it was ready for the new kitchen units and appliances.

It faces north, so I was concerned about light in the room and opted to go for light units and light wall tiles.  Not a common combination these days, but we'd seen a very similar kitchen in New York and it looked great.  It was MUCH smaller and also had light floors and work surfaces, but we decided to go for a bit of contrast to vary things a little and chose a wooden work surface (which hopefully reflects the floor boards in one half of the room).  We decided that the 'work' end of the new kitchen, which had been the original kitchen, would have a tiled floor and that way we would also 'show' a little of the house's history by delineating the two rooms we'd knocked into one.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you will know that one of the earliest 'house' posts was about the blinds I made for the kitchen, which were recently altered to suit the new windows installed last spring, so it now looks like this.

Great British Sewing Bee - series 2

I am so thrilled that this series has returned.  I'm falling in love with it all over again!

And I'm getting itchy (treadle) feet again and want to get back to making my own clothes.  It has been YEARS since I made any clothes for myself, so this may well be just the ticket to kick-start things again (once I've finished the million and one other tasks and WIPs on my ever increasing list of course).

I don't know if any of you have ever bought Sew! magazine.  It was new to me and I was drawn to it by the free pattern (New Look 6144 in the current issue).  I was even more tempted when I read the item inside about the Liberty print version they made - at about £14 per metre (may sounds a bit dear) - actually means the dress would come in at about £30.  A LIBERTY DRESS FOR £30!!!!  Even DH was convinced when I pointed the figures out to him :-)

Now, being of an insecure disposition, I'm wary.  Do I take the plunge and buy fabric and go for it?  Or do I 'um' and 'ah' about whether I should give it a go. Will it suit me when I've made it?  If it doesn't it will be wasted time and money and I'll feel miserable that I won't have a lovely new dress at the end of it after all, and feel even more insecure to boot.  I suppose I could compromise and make up a toile before taking the plunge properly.  But then, you can't easily adjust the fit on yourself (and there is no hope of getting dear DH to help with something like this!).

That has always bothered me about sewing your own clothes.  You buy patterns, fabric and all the notions.  You spend time and effort cutting out, tacking, pinning and sewing together and then when you're all excited, you try it on and the fit isn't right or the style makes you look like a sack of potatoes.  It would be so much easier if you could try it on before you buy.

If only May and Patrick and all the Sewing Bee gang were on hand to help!

Catching up on life - part 3

It has been a great feeling seeing the backlog of jobs gradually diminish and I really do feel that I'm really getting somewhere with my sewing jobs this year!

But back to the task in hand - my next job was a little more demanding and I did ask our local dry cleaner for her advice.  It is a tunic belonging to DS and the fabric on the sleeves at the sleeve seam had pulled. DH's opinion, when I showed him the damage was 'it's dead'! I hope I'll prove him wrong ;-)

damage from the inside with patch tacked into place

Patch now stitch into place

So, before resorting to removing the sleeves completely, on the dry cleaner's advice, I unpicked the facing on one of the sleeves to use as patches to cover the 'holes'.  But before cutting it up for patches though, I made a pattern out of it so that I'd be able to replace it with some other fabric.  And in the hope that it wouldn't be quite as obviously patched, I unpicked part of the shoulder/sleeve seam so that the patches would become part of the seam (and also hopefully strengthen the area so that the same problem doesn't arise again).  I just hope that DS approves and didn't mind not being able to wear it last summer because I've been so slow.

Hopefully restored to use

Inspired by the success of this task, I'm going to try to repair a couple of table cloths we'd managed to burn holes a couple of Christmases ago and 'canibalise' some matching napkins for the patches.

[photos of repairs]

Now all I need to do is declutter the sewing room (again). I've got some left-over Liberty print fabric that I intend to make into some pretty handkerchieves.

But I'll leave those for another day/post and keep you in suspense!

More mending

I encountered a bit of a problem when I was about to rehem a pair of linen trousers the other day - the fold had worn and there was now a slit along it.  The big question, of course, was whether or not they warranted being repaired now.  Well, as they were in pretty good condition otherwise, I thought I'd give it a go.  However, I wasn't sure how to go about it.

Thanks to Google, I found a solution.  I unpicked the whole hem on both legs and pressed them.  I then cut a piece of coordinating fabric to cover the hole.  I used a scrap of bias binding I had that I ironed flat.  This was then pinned to the wrong side of the trousers and carefully stitched into place, following the edges of the hole closely (but not so closely that I stitched through the loose threads).

This is what it now looks like:


Next was rehemming.  I turned the trousers inside out and turned the hem up so that the patched hole would be just out of sight from the outside.  In effect, I was shortening the trousers, but only by a a few millimetres. Once I was happy that the hem was even, I pressed it and repeated the process on the other leg (using the first leg's hem measurement as a guide).  They were now ready to stitch back into place.

Et voila!  Almost like new again.

Blasts from the past

While having a bit of a tidy up recently, I came across a pile of photographs of stuff I've made over the years.  I've had them in various albums in the past, but not collectively for some reason.  I've shown you some of my past projects here and a conversation with a colleague prompted me to scan the photos to share a few more with you.

So here goes - I'll try to remember why and when they were made, but can't promise I'll manage it with all of them.  And if I find any more, I'll let you know!

Needle book - made at my first primary school

Dress for former primary school teacher's
first daughter - made in early teens

3D crewel embroidery - made in my teens

Kate Greenaway initial - made in my teens

Needlepoint sampler - made in my teens

Crewel work picture - made in my teens

Celtic cross - made in my teens

Needlepoint version of
David painting - late teens

Needlepoint depiction of spring -
stitched during my first year at uni

Catching up on life - part 2

As promised, following my last post, I moved on to my hemming jobs and the remaining summer clothes have now finally been stored away until the better weather arrives.  But before I progress to something more adventurous, I came across some more darning jobs - yuck!

Hemmed trousers, repaired/
altered pj's and peg bag

While I was at it, I decided to repair a pair of pyjama bottoms and alter another that was a bit loose.  And hidden amongst the repair pile was a peg bag that I'd embroidered years ago, but still haven't got around to making up.  So this was the chance.  All I need now is to find a suitable wooden hanger to finish it off.  It is a shame that it is rather small, as my parents need a new one (the one I made for them donkey's years ago is literally coming apart at the seams) but there is no way all their pegs will fit in this one.  Instead I'll use this one and their current one as a pattern - one for size, the other for design and I have plenty of the pink sprig fabric left over too.

Feeling quite pleased with myself for finishing off these long awaited odd jobs, I gave myself a treat and made some Christmas decorations a la Kirsty Alsopp's Crafty Christmas.  I know it is way too early, but I was glad to have a use for the polystyrene balls I'd had hanging around for ages and something slightly different to what I'd used them for in the past.  I'll leave them to dry overnight then spray them with hairspray to fix all the glitter in place before embellishing them with ribbons for hanging.

My glitter balls as they dry

Skirting the issue

With our various home improvement schemes this year, it was inevitable that we'd have to go to Ikea at some point.  As we no longer have a car, I have three options for this.

1. take a long, winding bus journey there and back
2. wait until we need a hire car for other 'jobs' and combine the lot
3. go with my parents when I visit the Land of Song

The cons of the above are:

1. I'll spend more time on the bus than in Ikea and carrying bulky/heavy stuff back isn't ideal on public transport
2. It may be a long wait until we can combine jobs that need transport
3. I have to carry the stuff I buy back from LoS to London on public transport (see 1 above!)

However, needs must, so on a visit earlier this year, along with jars for food storage, hooks for tidying the cellar, etc, I also bought a couple of fleece blankets for crafting purposes.  I know it is easy enough to buy fleece fabric at a haberdashers, but they are so reasonable at Ikea you can't really go wrong.

The intention was to make Christmas tree skirts out of them.  So, I have 3 red ones, 2 white/cream ones, 1 green one and some off-cuts of pale blue and grey fleece.  Obviously, red, white and green are the colours of the LoS and conveniently also traditional Christmas colours, but blue, not so much.  However, the idea I had was to make a snowflake-themed one using the white and blue ones, with a bit of added silver sparkle in the form of silver thread, silver organza and/or some sequins/beads.  At some future date I may make a poinsettia one out of the red and white ones and/or make a Christmas bauble one on a green background using the off-cuts of the others and other vibrant fabrics.

I know, I know - how many tree skirts does a girl need?!?!  Well, I'm not intending to make them ALL for me - just two or three! ;-)  Naturally, I hope some are going to be Christmas presents!   However, plans didn't quite come to fruition for this Christmas.  With poorly parents I've only managed to make one 'prototype' skirt, but I am quite please with how it has turned out.  Here is my method:

Off-cuts ready for stitching/cutting
into snowflakes

Cutting out
Fold both the red and white fleeces in half, then in half again (so into four).  Using a make-shift compass out of some string and a dress-making pencil (or similar), fix one end of the string to the fold corner and the pencil to the other - then draw as big an arc (or quarter of a circle) as possible.  Cut out to create a large circle.  So, out of two fleeces I now have two circles large enough to be tree skirts.  The off-cuts will be used later.

Repeat the above method to draw a much smaller circle to make the hole for the tree trunk (or you could use a jar/mug/bottle as a template).  Cut out this smaller circle from the centre.

Using one of the folds as a guide, cut a straight line from the outer edge to the inner circle (this will be the opening).  If you wish (this may depend on the fabric you use), hem one of the straight edges - this will be the upper closing edge.

Next, the snowflakes:

1. I tried three methods for the snowflakes, with varying success.  The first method was to trace the snowflake template directly onto the fleece and then sew the 'arms' with sparkly silver thread (I used Gutterman Sulky) along those lines by machine (quite easy - straight stitch in straight lines). And then trim around the stitching to get the 'classic' snowflake shape.  This method was fine, although not all the snowflakes were useable as the fleece stretched with sewing.
2. The second method was to trace the templates onto some Wondaweb and iron them onto the off-cuts before stitching on the machine and trimming (as above).  This method was quite good for keeping the shape and for giving a clear shape to follow for cutting out.  But once it comes to removing the backing paper from the Wondaweb it all gets a bit fiddly to remove as the stitching keeps it in place rather well.



Method 2 snowflake before cutting out

3. The final method was to cut the snowflake out before stitching.  This way I was able to follow the traced lines to trim away the waste fabric and then peel away the backing paper with ease before ironing the snowflake into place, ready for the silver stitching.  

To be honest, if I were to make this again, I'd probably use this final method, although the second was fine and makes the snowflakes a little more sparkly as I stitched them twice.

There were two patterns of snowflake and the template offered three sizes.  I only used the two larger sizes for this project.


Lay out:
After making approximately 20-25 snowflakes I started laying them out to get the right 'look'.  Then I removed the backing paper and ironed them into place.  I'd never used Wondaweb before and I underestimated the 'ironing time' at this stage and quite a few snowflakes fell off before I stitched them into place (so the layout probably isn't as even as it could have been).  They were then stitched onto the red skirt.


Finishing:
To finish the tree skirt off and to continue the snow theme, I added some large white pom-pom trim to the outer edge.  I sewed this onto the underside (using red thread so that it didn't show) so that only the pom-poms show.  This was followed by sewing jumbo white ric-rac braid to both the outer edge and the inner.  To close the skirt once it is around the tree, you could sew some velcro along the straight edge, add buttons (self-covered?) and loops or use large press-studs (my option).

What do you think?  Are they worth doing again for this year's Christmas presents?

Catching up on life - part 1

I've been a bit slow getting back into this blogging business since the summer.  Part of that was a lack of motivation to get on with projects and part of it was a serious illness in the family.  But I'm trying to get back into things gradually now and you will have seen that in November last year I made a coordinating shower curtain for our en-suite.

I'm also relieved that I've finally altered my kitchen blinds to fit the new windows.  I still have one to sew from scratch and I hope that the altering will have refreshed my memory of how Roman blinds are constructed.  It was nice to do some tidying up of the kitchen done over the New Year with DH and finally get pictures etc back up after redecorating last summer.

Well, I've moved on to repairing stuff.  Not my favourite aspect of needlework to be honest, but needs must sometimes and the pile was growing and in danger of smothering the sewing machine completely.

First in the pile was a quick darning job for DH - the second time I've had to repair the seam under the armpit on his sweater.  Then another darning job - I'd stupidly clipped my hair clip to my cardigan and left it there while I got on with other stuff without realising that it had made a couple of small holes in it :-(

But now it is time to get back to some sewing - making a new lining for the guest room curtain.  I made a new lining for one of them months and months ago and have been meaning to get around to making the 'pair' for equally long.  Once again, the New Year break came into its own and after altering the kitchen blinds I felt on a roll.

Next?  Well, re-hemming my summer trousers before it is time to wear them again.  What an exciting life I live!