It goes without saying that a girl’s got to accessorize her new hobby!

I’ve had my eye on this knit fabric by Aunty Cookie for a while & now that I’m a member of Team Knit (still wearing my L plates mind you)  I figured I needed a project pouch in said fabric.

Yes, I see the handle is upside down & no I don’t mind one little bit ;)

I used this fab tutorial & made up my own size. Mine finished up about 12″ L x 7″  W x 5″ D, sort of shoebox size.

Zip was found at the  opp shop & you can’t really see but the teeth are kind of anodized blue, pretty neat huh.

Zip tabs, lining & handle lining is Essex Linen in Dusty Blue from Robert Kaufman. Love that Essex Linen.

My next knitty project is in there – I’ve made  a slow start to my wrist warmers, – better get  a wriggle on, it’s turning pretty chilly!

& it sure is.

I was so excited to receive  a charm pack of Lotta Jansdotter’s soon to be released fabric line ‘Bella‘ from the lovely folks at Windham

I made a couple of drawstring bags (in custom sizes using my fave drawstring bag pattern) , mixing in some solids, moda crossweave & other scraps from the stash that tied in nicely with Bella including some of Lotta’s first line Echo & even a bit of upcycled shirt. I lined them with grey & white stripey seersucker from the charity shop.

The coral is so pretty with the teal & grey.

& I couldn’t resist adding a little stitching ( I simply traced the design from the fabric, enlarged it, then traced it on to solid fabric to stitch over)

I don’t use a lot of yellow but really like this bold, old gold (with an almost greenish tint) colour,  especially with that scrummy vibrant blue!

& this one got the stitchy treatment too. That bird design is just so cute!

Bella will be on the shelves at a fabric store near you in August….yippee!  In the meantime more sneak peeks of Bella have been popping up here, here, here, here & here  :)

I finished the stacked eyelet cowl a couple of weeks ago.

I knitted this cowl for a friend & think I need one for myself now too! I really enjoyed making it -  nice easy repeats and it was fun to learn some more knitty techniques. Yarn details & projects notes raveled.

Wrist warmers are next on the knitty list. Yay. I’ll be knitting along with my friend & patient knitty mentor Fi. Can’t wait to get started!

x

A big ‘hello’ to our May guest challenger in the Liberty Scrap Challenge- Florence of Flossie Teacakes. Thank you so much for accepting the challenge Florence x

Florence was so excited by her Liberty scrap pack from Jo at The Organic Stitch Co that she has come up with 2 tutorials. Hurrah!

Liberty.Pinwheel.Cake.Toppers. Truly, does it get any sweeter than that?

[Image courtesy of Flossie Teacakes]

Florence came up trumps (and then some) with these adorable Liberty cake toppers. Fill your world with pinwheel adorned cupcakes using her template & tutorial here.

[Image courtesy of Flossie Teacakes]

While eating aforementioned Liberty pinwheel adorned cupcakes, find yourself a cosy nook to read a favourite novel & keep your place with these very niftily designed Liberty bookmarks. SO pretty!

[Images courtesy of Flossie Teacakes]

You’ll find the tutorial & all the templates you need for Florence’s fabric bookmark right here.

We’d all love to see if you make some cake toppers & bookmarks! Please share your pics for us to ooh & ahh over in The Liberty Scrap Challenge Flickr group & in the Flossie Teacakes Flickr group.

Need to top up your Liberty scrap stash? Jo can help you out there :)  find all your Liberty needs from scraps to charms to fat 1/8ths & beyond at the Organic Stitch Co.

More Liberty scrap love later in the month! Meanwhile, you can find links to  previous months tutorials all in one spot right here.

…to back up your files (work, photos, music, patterns, software  & everything else) regularly & often.

I forgot.

my computer crashed.

annoying.

some personalized cuppa coasters (totally inspired by this cute set) delivered to various corners of the globe as little thank you’s xxx

With continued limited computer access  (though I have happy news that I will have my laptop home & all mended soon, hurrah!) I bring you this months Liberty Scrap Challenge. Yay!

When I unwrapped this months scrap package from Jo, along with scrumptious scraps was some double fold bias binding!

excitement!

Like all great pairings … tea & biscuits, gin & tonic, fred & ginger… Liberty & linen (in my mind anyhoo) is  a match made in heaven. Mix in some bias binding, a spot of reverse applique and a few hand stitches & you’ve got yourself some personalised cloth napkins…

They would make lovely personal housewarming, Christmas or wedding gifts I thought. This pair has me and Andy written all over them so they will be staying put though ;).

Make a set for the whole family – it could be a  fun project for everyone to  pick their favourite fabric for their initial.

Due to my limited computer access probs at the mo, I’m afraid I will only have the tutorial on the blog post this month & won’t be able to produce a pdf version, sorry.

Liberty & Linen Napkin with Reverse Applique  & Bias Binding Tutorial

To make a pair of napkins you will need:

4 (2 for the fronts & 2 for the backs) squares of linen cut to required finished size (mine are approx 15″ but you could make any size you fancy).
Liberty scraps
Double fold bias binding (enough to go around both napkins, I used approx 3yds)
Small piece (scrap) of lightweight iron on interfacing
Thread (floss or cotton perle) for hand stitches (optional)
Scrap of paper (to draw your initial on) & marker pen
Water soluble or fading fabric pen (or a regular pencil should do the trick too)
Pointy little scissors (like embroidery scissors)
Small round object like a mug or a side plate
Tailors chalk
Lots of pins!

How to:

Draw your initial on the scrap of paper with the maker pen. Draw it any size you fancy. I drew mine so they would sort of fit into a 4″square. If you don’t feel confident to draw your initial you could pick a font you like in Word and print it out at your preferred size.  Keep in mind you will be sewing around this & cutting it out so you might like to keep to a  simple font rather than one that’s too fancy & fiddly.

Flip your scrap of paper over and draw over the line that should be showing through from the other side. Your initial will now be in reverse. Some letters might not need this, like O, A, I, T etc depending on how you have drawn it or the font used.

Place your scrap of lightweight interfacing with glue side down over your initial & using a water soluble pen or a pencil trace your backward initial onto the interfacing.

Roughly cut around the interfacing letter and place the glue side onto the wrong side of your Liberty scrap.

Following manufacturer’s instructions, iron the interfacing in place & trim to size. It’s a bit light in the image below but the outline of my initial is clear enough to sew around.

Take the  front square of your napkin & on the wrong side place the  Liberty scrap (with your initial ironed on) with the right side of the fabric facing down.

Play around with the position until you are happy and then pin in place.  I positioned mine to the left bottom corner so when it’s all finished & the right way around it will be on the right bottom corner.

Using the applique foot on your machine (or free motion if you prefer), shorten your stitch a bit then slowly & carefully sew around your initial using the line you drew on the interfacing as a guide. Back stitch at start & finish. I sewed just outside the line so my initial didn’t appear too narrow once it was all cut out.

Because I am using  linen & it is very fray-y (which I love but I don’t want these napkins falling apart after a couple of washes) I sewed a second line just outside the first.

Carefully trim around your initial.

Flip your linen square over to the right side & you will see the stitch outline of your initial. Sort of pinch & hold onto the interfacing at the back while sort of pinching & holding onto the linen inside the stitched initial to separate the 2 layers as you very carefully use some  little pointy scissors to make a snip through the linen only. I aim for the middle for the first cut and then you are away – sorry about the super blurry photo – pinching, holding &  carefully snipping is  not conducive to photo taking it appears! lol!

Once You have made the first cut it all becomes easier but you still need to be careful not to cut through the back layer of Liberty. Cut around the inside of your initial leaving approx 1/4″ or thereabouts of linen inside the stitch line.

ta da! one reverse applique initial :)

If you like you can pop a hoop on & add a few hand stitches at this point.

Lay out your back piece of linen right side down,place your front piece of linen (with your reverse applique initial on) directly on top with right side up.

Take a small round object (I used a side plate) to use as a template to mark the rounded corners. Place it on the corners and when  you are happy with the position of the roundness, trace around with your tailors chalk.  (Gee, I’m working overtime on the dodgy blurry pics today! sorry!)

Cut off the corners (both layers)

Now we’re ready to attach the bias binding!  If you’ve never used bias binding before the joy of it is that it happily bends around corners crease free.

Open out your double fold bias and make sure the beginning of your  bias  is cut at a 45 degree angle (mine was, thanks Jo x). Pin it on all the way around through both layers of linen, don’t trim it to size just yet.

When you have pinned all the way around, Lay your tail end over the start and mark a 1/4″overlap following the 45 degree angle at the start of your bias.

Cut along the line you marked and pin together the two ends.

Remove a few pins either side of the join so you can sew it easily and sew together the join with a 1/4″seam.

Press your seam open and pin it back in place.

Sew right around your bias trim following the first crease mark.

Take it slowly around the corners so you don’t get any tucks in the bias. Back stitch at start & finish.

Your napkin should now look a bit like this.

Next we’re going to fold the bias over to the back of the napkin.

Open out the bias (it’s probably tried to fold itself back along it’s nice neat creases). With the edge of the napkin away from you, fold your bias along the crease nearest to you.

Then fold it up along the stitch line (not the next crease).

Flip your napkin over and fold the bias down over the edge of the napkin towards the back and pin in place.

The edge of the folded  bias on the back will cover the stitch line you made sewing the binding on  a moment ago.

Point your pin heads towards the outside so you can easily remove them as you sew the binding in place in the next step.

Flip your napkin back over to the front and sew just inside the bias seam (approx 1/8″), this will catch the bias at the back & sew it in position.

voila, nice & neat bias binding!

Your napkin is complete…

… & needs it’s friend..

As napkin fever hit the sewing room, I couldn’t stop! Inspired by these clever ones that Krista made I used up my remaining scrap pack to make a non matchy, matching  pair to go with our monogrammed ones for guests :)

I love the mismatched matchy ness :)

Fill your world (or your kitchen/dining table at least) with Liberty & linen! Liberty scraps & double fold bias binding are available from The Organic Stitch Co :)

Previous Liberty Scrap Challenge Tutorials can all be found here :)

Share your Liberty Scrappy Projects in our flickr group - we’d love to see!

I’ll be back later this month to share our guest challengers’ tutorial with you too :) eep! can’t wait!

Happy scrapping!

x

* first up – apologies if you have dropped me a line over the past few days & you haven’t heard back. My computer has had a major whoopsi & is off for surgery later today – I have lost all email (and all everything actually, photos, software etc etc…. you get the picture…joy!) Fingers crossed she will be ok and I will be back on track by the end of the week with emails etc , until then if you have sent a note or a question I apologise for my delayed response but I can’t access them at the mo, thanks for your patience x (any notes sent on or before the weekend are lost so you might need to resend, so sorry)

Anyhoo – on to much funner things than misbehaving computers…

When those 2 clever girls from Sew-Ichigo (aka Kerry & Penny) invited me to pattern test one of their very first designs for them I was thrilled. and a little nervous. I am a total newbie to the world of paper piecing, only recently dipping my toes into the water. But I knew I’d be in safe hands.

I love kitchenalia & the first set of patterns from sew-ichigo is all about the vintage kitchen :) there’s a tea kettle, a coffee pot & a kitchenaid mixer plus a fun label. The girls have also given you ideas for putting your completed blocks to use with tutorials for a cute tote & a kitchenaid cover.

I got to play with their coffee pot pattern using the foundation piecing method.

I made my block into a hot pot holder (I’m gradually replacing my old cruddy& holey ones with fun bright ones!) & after the neatness of the foundation piecing  my wonki-wooness slipped back in! lol!

As one who generally  favours improv sewing & randomly cutting and stitching  I can honestly say, yes it was a little daunting to be entering this world of precision sewing.  A tad challenging  to get my  head around this way of sewing  but with these 2 holding my hand all the way with clear directions, lots of tips (listen to them, they know what they are talking about!)  links to tutorials & cheering from the sidelines I did it. First time. No swearing or seam ripping. If I can do it  you can too :) it’s good to push the boundaries and step outside the box once in a while, you never know you might quite like it there :) I did!

Hop over & check out sew-ichigos first pattern set !

Í’m excited to see what these girls come up with next :)

x

after making & loving the Tova, I launched straight in & cut out the Wiksten Tank. I really want to make it in the dress length but fell in love with this fabric at Spotty & thought it perfect for the top length.

It’s a really lovely, simple pattern. The design is great & I love the front hem being shorter than the back hem. I’m not so sure about the length of the top version for me but I enjoyed the make -  the french seams and bias make it feel very special.  I will prefer it in a more structured fabric though.

I made the size medium and the only adjustments I made to the pattern were to  stay stitch around  the neckline and armholes for a bit more stability when adding the bias. To make the hem part go a little easier (trying to iron those curves was proving a tad challenging for me) I stitched  a line all the way around the hem at just under 3/4″ and ironed the hem over this stitch line  -  i lengthened the stitch to make removing it easier after hem was sewn.

Pattern calls for 2 1/2 yds (45″ width) of fabric for the top version ( that’s a lot for a tank top, I guess it’s to accommodate cutting the bias)  but I only had 1 1/2 yards which was ample. Phew!

Pocket matching proved a bit of challenge too! 3 attempts and it kind of matches. if you squint.

I am looking forward to getting some heavier fabric (like a linen or similar ) to try the dress version for layering up. Here’s a couple of completed dresses I pinned earlier that made me fall in love with this design – here & here.

Have a great weekend whatever you’re up to. I’m making  chutney & stitching today & then tomorrow  I’m catching up with some crafty friends for cheese scones and  show & tell. Hurrah!

x

It’s been a few weeks now since mum & dad came to visit – a flying visit but a fab one none the less & we made the most of every moment :)

As if getting to hang out together for a few days wasn’t exciting enough, they had also carried a special little gift all the way (via a trip around the Daintree) from Sussex…

Spotted in a shop window in Whitstable (one of my favourite seaside towns!)  was this sweet little Singer Featherweight 221K  & she is a treasure!  My Janome is feeling quite neglected as almost all the sewing I have done since she arrived has been  on the Singer… (lots to share -  more sewing than time to blog about it at the mo!) a quilt back, the beginnings of a quilt top, Tova, some paper piecing, wiksten tank & more!  She sews like a dream & I am smitten.  If you’ve never sewn on one of these little gems & get the chance to, do try!

She’s tiny , approx 15″ in length, folding up to just 10″! cute!

she rolled off the production line in January 1957 &  is fully electric (though I don’t have her cable plugged in in these pics) with a straight stitch.  She arrived in full working order, in her case, complete with bobbin holder & many feet!

these 3 as yet to be identified, if you know what they are I’d love to hear!

Lots of info on Singer Featherweights all over the web (including a site by another Nova  fwded to me by Krista!) Google ‘Singer Featherweight’ if you’re keen to learn more about these fab little machines & if you spot one in a shop window in Whitstable or elsewhere I’d recommend you snap it up, you won’t be sorry!

While dad & Andy were busy fixing the mower, mum & I had a wonderful day together in the sewing room & we gave the Featherweight a good spin after her long journey! As we both love house blocks we decided to venture into new territory &  try our hand at paper piecing using Kerry’s mini house block tutorial (we used the freezer paper method).  More talking & giggling than sewing occurred,  hence we both ended up with chimneys that could use a structural engineer  &  I built my house back to front but I love them!

I made a bright & cheery potholder with my block & mum made hers into a scrappy flex frame pouch for her camera – she added an extra storey to her house too!

happy days :)

x