sewing pictures again

As some have you who have popped into this blog may have seen that I have had a go at sewing pictures.

Thanks to Poppy Cottage or should I say Puppy Cottage who passed on a suggestion ( marmalade rose), hours of trawling blog land and clip art,  I have come up with a few of my own. 

I have a few more VW ones to make for a little craft fayre at my friends house this weekend, and then I shall have run out of frames. 

Have a look at three red apples for some amazing machine art.  I am so envious of her talent and imagination. 

It is sew nice to be sewing and  constantly learning more about my machine and what it can do.  The one thing that irritates me though is having to change feet.  I sew with a normal foot or walking foot, then keep switching to a darning foot which is better for the pictures. 

My screwdriver is always at the ready.

Oh what a pain life can be . . .

Thanks for looking

Cheers

Sara

tea towels - a source of inspiration

So, this is what happened.  We went shopping (the family including husband) and saw these 5 lovely tea towels. 

Thick cotton, pastel colours and thought they would look lovely in our newish kitchen. 

But then I realized that I hadn't much fabric for baby bunting so I used it.

Cut out the triangles,

Sewed them together

Clipped the point

Turned inside out

and ironed flat.

Managed to cut and make a total of 30 double sided triangles.

This equates to 2 lots of 3.5m bunting.

The fabric weight is fantastic.

The fabric is very washable.

The colours are just perfect for a baby's room.

So my hint today is next time you go shopping, take a look at tea towels, they are often textured, the colours can be great and they are often really really really inexpensive. 

If you have used tea towels in another way ( other than for drying dishes etc ) then please share with me.  Ideas are always welcomed.

Thanks for looking

Sara

Should I sell or should I keep ?

 Should I sell or should I keep ?

Mum found this amazing material for me, just £1.00 for approx 2 metres.  Its a heavy fabric with red/maroon  furry bits, the beige is grainy in texture.  You can see I like material by texture and look, couldn't give you the name of it.   Couldn't believe my luck, so I made a bag, just a simple one with a liner ( that's so the seems are not visable). 

Its not quite finished as it needs a button and a button hole, then a quick whizz around the top edge to finish it off.  But I am soo excited by it . . . .  ( gosh I am also sad to be sooo sooo happy - get a life Sara !!)

I love it, the only problem now is that I want it. 

It fits across the body so comfortably. . .  I think I really made it for me . . . and although I have lots of material left ( this was going to be for cushion) I could make another bag . . . but that too I should really keep for the stall.

Am I mumbling on  . . . . 

So should I put it in the cupboard and use it for my stall on the green in the summer, or should I keep it ?

All thoughts welcomed.

Cheers

Sara

Halloween and my sewing machine . . .

So I've continued with the sewing and come up with this, first time for machine writing and have discovered that I need to practice my joined up writing on paper before I have another go on the machine. 

However, I am trying, and as my husband would say I am very trying. 

Anyway went into my local art gallery in Teignmouth and came upon this Poppy Treffrey, I just love her work.  Hope you do to.

Mega thanks to handmade by annabelle who kindly linked up.  A great poncho which I know my daugthers would love.  However I still cannot crochet.  Am trying to learn but struggling with my granny squares.  I will get there.

Link Party

So this hopefully will be a Monday thing.  Please feel free to link up your makes. I don't have a working button yet, and it may take me some time to work out what to do.  But if you made it yourself please link up every monday.

cheers

Sara

2nd attempt - the cottage



the right side





 



Well if you read my last blog you will know I am drifting into machine applique / embroidery.  So after a kind prompt from Poppy Cottage who directed me to a lovely tutorial from MarmaladeRose, I had a quick, yet undisturbed 15 minutes of trawling the internet for ideas and inspiration and decided to have a go at the popular 'cottage'. 









I even like the wrong side.

the wrong side







flowers by the door



Then I snuck off to the back bedroom, cut, ironed ( my scraps are really scrappy), then sewed my  version.  Only thing I changed was instead of using an unpicker for holding down the fabric, I used my extra long, super-duper pins ( I won them from The Ribbon Girl). 





 



Any more useful links you can share or ideas please let me know.  I am ready to learn.

I will keep snatching moments and hopefully remember to blog some of the fantastic sewing creations out there.

Cheers



Sara







1st attempt - Flowers and coffee

So, girls out of the house, little one at school for the whole day and after ironing, tidying, cooking and putting feet up for lunch I had a quick go with my new foot.  Its a darning foot and once in place with tension adjusted it was all go.

Here's what I whipped up.  Coffee needs a bit of work, as does using different stitches for the embroidery.  Am looking forward to trying some ideas out.

I shall explore some more but any hints and suggestions or comments would be welcomed ( even the bad ones)

drawing with your machine

This is where I want to be.  Drawing with my machine.  Now the little one is at school ( first day at school picture - almost forgot so quick photo in the door way - can you see the skip in the background ? )  and time should hopefully be flooding back to me, I shall have a go. 

Have found some great pictures on Feeling Stitchy  that are so simple yet so clever, here is where I discovered  Sarah Walton - unbelieveable pictures.  Colour Girl is just one of her amazing pictures.

Of course Three Red Apples is also quite unique - I just love the 2CV - so french - just wonderful.

I am soooo sooo much looking forward to playing with my new foot and trying to 'draw' but I do miss my little one now she is at 'big 'school.

Must bury myself in craft and sewing then I won't feel lonely :)

Ribbon Girl

I'm a bit slow as the School hols have taken their toll and I have become a lazy blogger. Sorry.  However I did have time to enter a competition with The Ribbon Girl and yes I won a prize.  Loads of beautiful ribbon and some nifty buttons. 

Then luckily I bought my 7 year old some baggy short legged jeans which she doesn't like as they 'look like boys trousers'.  So I know what I am going to do with the lovely ribbon.  I shall use it to embellish and girlify ( is that a word?) the trousers and make them completely wearable for her.

Major big thank you to The Ribbon Girl, please check out their website and blog, great ideas for making something that little bit special.

Pillow Case Bag . . . dead easy !!!!!!

 

So here is where you can find some more directions BAG 2 - this is the one I made.

but here is where you can find the directions BAG 1  which is similar but less detailed and lined.

I topped mine off with a flower on the top of the handle.

Great idea for an easy bag.

Love it, hope you do too.

plastic tablecloths make great bags for gifts & even better as scooter bags :)

Two purposes :

 "great for a little girls present" comments the mums

"oh super, a peg bag," states the more mature grannys

I love the plastic tablecloth fabric about at the moment.  And so I make bags for the weekly village craft fayre. They are so simple to make.  ( sew the handles on first and the sides next)

I made a mistake with one ( must have been sewing late at night) and it turned into a scooter bag.  Popular with little girls especially my daughters. 

Great fun, easy to make and perfect for presents.  

Just one thing to note. . . . .   Not all plastics are easy to sew, had to buy a walking foot to solve the fabric sticking, heard that a teflon foot is also a good to overcome this problem. 

crochet & APPLIQUE

I won a give a-way.  APPLIQUE was giving away this fabulous book and beautiful hand made brooch with some wool and a hook.  And I won.  Won't show you how my crocheting is going but maybe some day when I have made a whole blanket I will share with you all. 

Please take a look at this lovely website with simply beautiful pictures and hand sewn brooches. 

isn't she lovely?

teeshirts

Having seen yo-yo after yo-yo on the net I finally decided to make some.  Very quick and easy I must add and can be used for so many crafty things.

I put my first three onto a teeshirt with some ric rac to make them look like flowers.  I made two such teeshirts and sold both very early in the day at our little village craft fayre.  Success I thought until the boats flew out the gazebo and I now have only a couple left. 

So this week I am making yo-yos by the 3s and sewing boats on teeshirts with enthusiasm and speed.  I do enjoy this time of year and love it when people like my work. 

I am going to try stitching yo-yos onto card to look like flowers.  Hopefully this will work.  Will keep you posted.

Have still to try a triple decker ice cream applique.  Yum yum.

pirates & patterns

So with one day left to go before our weekly Village Summer Craft Fair begins, ( that was a mouthful)  I have finally come up with an idea for the boys.  I have made some pirate bunting. 

 My daughter desperately wants this and she may . . . if I still have some at the end of September.

I also came up with a sort of error in my cutting out.  Novice sewers beware.  Don't forget about the pattern when cutting out even the simplest of designs.

When cutting out my triangles I realised that the pattern would be upside down for half of the flags.  I didn't buy much of my skull & crossbones fabric so I needed to use all the triangles.  Instead I have backed in a black cotton so that I could use as much fabric as possible.  Though some of my flags are upside down.

And so all novice sewers out there.  Don't forget about the pattern. 

Any hints you wish to leave me would be gratefully received.

Frogs and Hearts

Have been working a little this week, doing my usual book keeping and setting a school quiz for our parents association.  Hope the questions are not too hard and fish and chips up to their usual standard.

Anyway, sneakily popped into the backroom yesterday, put the ironing in the corner and made my first yo-yo.  Used a pretty, stripey, velvety cord which I think is too thick.  However finished it off with a button and attached the whole thing to a stuffed heart.  Quite cute I think, so then I made a few others to go on my summer craft stall.  Also quick whipped up a frog, I am short of frogs for my stall this year and could do with a few more.  Must try to make the effort to make some boyish ones though.  I stuffed this one with wheat and lavender.  It smells lovely and I am considering the eyes now.  Each frog has its own personality and people seem to like them.  Comments range from OOOOO to I had one just like that when I was little. 

I had one when I was little !

Also bought some great fabrics yesterday for some pirate bunting.  A few mums have mentioned this idea and must get going making some for the stall.  Oooooooo I am so looking forward to dressing up in a silly costume for our Wednesday 1785 day, Craft Fairs.  I look an idiot, but then so does everyone else on the village green I guess. 

If anyone is interested in the frog pattern I shall try and scan and publish.

All comments welcomed . . .

The Foot of all feet. . . . The Walking Foot

OK, so you may already know this, but as I said I am learning and experimenting.  I use plastic fabrics to make bags but sometimes have a terrible problem sewing them and the tension etc makes the whole experience a disaster.  Then I heard about a 'walking foot'.  Went to my local sewing shop in Newton Abbot,  (name escapes me but I will blog about it soon) and was introduced to this amazing foot.  Many machines have them as standard now but mine sadly did not.  It helps to pull the material through from the top as well as the underneath plate walking  the material from underneath.  The result is that thicker fabrics and very thin delicate fabrics can be sewn with out the need for paper and they do not effect tension.  In all, a perfect stitch on my bags. 

 Result.

No. 1. How to make a bottle apron

This may seem simple, but as I said I am returning to sewing and starting at basics.  This means the patterns may be simple but you may like my ideas and want to adapt for your own.

The Bottle Apron.

First

Cut out the shape you want your apron, (long, short, curved top, heart shaped top, etc)

*

Put front side together, sew from bottom right around to bottom left, this leaves the bottom open.

*

Turn the outside in and iron.

*

Fold in the bottom edges and iron flat.

*

Use a pretty stitch to sew along the bottom edge

*

Then measure and cut your tie.

*

Pin into position and sew carefully along the edge.

*

Trim all the cottons to neaten up

*

Iron flat

*

Tie onto a wine bottle, washing up bottle, toilet duck/bleach bottle, soap dispenser.

The best part is not only does this look quirky but it is washable and can be made to fit anything you want to hide.

Any comments are welcomed