ties
Showing posts with label ties. Show all posts
denim + Pam Kitty apron 🌹
Today I finished this cute apron, a commission for a lady that loves gardening. I was given a couple of pairs of jeans to use and I decided to combine it with some gorgeous Pam Kitty Garden fabric.
I appliquéd her name to the front of the pocket using a simple zig zag stitch. Since the apron is going to be used in the garden it seemed a good idea to line the pocket with the same waterproof canvas I used for my Geeky Flying Geese Bag. To line both sides, I constructed the main panel of the apron like patchwork, I put the canvas in the centre and surrounded it with denim.
The apron is backed in the same fabric as the appliqué letters. I sewed the right sides together leaving a gap, turned it through and stitched around the outside, as well as stitching around the pocket so the lining wouldn't be baggy!
Originally I was going to use denim for the straps but it would have been a little too 'utility' and decided instead to use the same as the binding fabric.
It's nice to have that seam showing from the original jeans and I stitched vertical lines on the pocket to create three separate sections in the pocket (before sewing the lining on!).
I hope the recipient likes it! I certainly enjoyed making it.
This is a check off my FAL list ✔
Now I've got a zillion things to sew before Christmas and very little time to do it so I better get back to sewing!
I hope everyone's week is off to a good start. Anyone else panic sewing?!
wood ~ le challenge ~ drawstring tote bag
This one was cutting it fine, but I made it... here's my finish for the le challenge theme 'wood':
Since I don't have loads of time to sew I like to try and check a couple of things of my 'to do' list when I can. My eldest daughter has an upcoming birthday party to go to so I thought I would make a bag for the birthday girl.
I used Svetlana's Drawstring Tote Bag pattern and some bird/tree fabric I have had in my stash for a while - the recipient's name begins with a 'S' so I thought it would be perfect - and the trees are my link to the theme 'wood'.
I picked out the lime and pink from the feature fabric and it works well, the pink is a cotton canvas that was given to me and it adds a nice weight to the bottom and I used it for the handles and lining too. I only quilted it every 2 inches but the canvas gives it added strength and I was pushed for time!
The pattern is fantastic, so quick to make and nice details like the casing for the ties and the outer corners sewn in to the seam:
I used ribbon rather than making fabric ties and happened to have two colours of ribbon that matched nicely. I would love to buy something I could use for ties like this, something studier than ribbon that would work for a drawstring - does anyone in the UK have any recommendations? I would happily stock up on neutral ties because I am definitely making more of these bags and I don't really like making my own ties from fabric. I have ordered some twill ribbon from The Village Haberdashery because I think that will work nicely but please leave a comment if you have any suggestions or let me know what you use!
This bag is easy to make but looks fancy and I will be making one for Fred and one for myself! I might make some for teachers gifts too.
See how other crafters interpreted the theme 'wood' and if you have a finish that fits the theme come and link up, one random winner will get a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop!
backing a crochet blanket
My wonderful Nan made a crochet granny blanket for my baby girl and it needed backing with fabric (to strengthen it and to stop little fingers getting caught). Thanks to everyone for the advice on how to do it (I did love Laura's suggestion of a crochet border) - I thought about it a lot and tried a couple of different things but here's what I ended up doing...
I cut backing fabric just bigger than the blanket (I didn't measure because I was trying to be quick but you want it 1/2" inch bigger on all sides so you can hem the fabric).
Then I folded the edges of the fabric over twice (about 1/4" each time), pressed them and stitched the fold down on each side. I kind of just mitred the corners as I went and tucked them in a bit to make them neat.
I used basting pins around all the edges to attach the fabric to the back of the blanket and then hand sewed a blanket stitch using perle thread to sew them together.
At this point I thought I would try quilting it on the sewing machine - it wasn't so successful. Maybe if the backing fabric wasn't so thin, or I had basted it better but it just looked messy. So a bit of unpicking and some thinking later I decided to look up tying a quilt. I found this great tutorial by Jera, which I would highly recommend. Basically you stitch through the layers at regular intervals, without cutting, until you've finished your length of yarn/thread. I used perle cotton thread and it was so very simple and amazingly fast to do.
You then cut between the threads and tie them together. After a bit of research I used a surgeon's knot when tying. There's a very simple youtube video tutorial but it's basically just making another twist over the thread before you pull the knot tight.
Then there you have it, a backed granny crochet blanket!
You hardly notice the bits of perle thread unless you're really looking closely and I'm going for a 'rustic' look with this one (thanks for that phrase Susan!). I also thinks it looks nice on the back, sort of tufty.
It's a really quick and simple way to back a crochet blanket and it's been getting lots of use!
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