Cats

Made these kitties for the special people in my life. I used the kitty pattern from this book, and changed the oval tummy to a heart.

The Pi Project

My number for The Pi Project.

I only heard about it day and  the deadline is this Saturday, hope my panel makes it there on time!

The Blue Dress

Have been working on a new doll this week. The dress pattern I used is the Sundress from this book.

News

Just wanted to let you know that the deadline to submit artwork  for Stuffed magazines August 2015 issue is fast approaching( March 15th).  So go on send that adorable doll you made in. Its awesome to see it in print.

Learning to sew

I am teaching my daughter to sew. We are making a quilt using up my fabric scraps. The goal here is to enjoy the process and learn how to sew. Its a variation of the log cabin design. So far we have made three blocks of the 30 required to complete the quilt and with the  expected snow storm I am sure we will be making many more in the next few days.

Happy New Year

we had snow early this week and freezing temperatures. Its cold and colourless outside. so I have made two cushions that will certainly add colour and a little warmth to my sofa. the fabric is from Joann's by Jules and Coco in speckles orange, zig-zag and pink floral. I used a fun pompom trim for the rectangular accent cushion and piping for the large square cushion

White and Blue Cushion with Embroidery

A couple of weeks ago I signed up for the Penguin and Fish news letter and in return I received a lovely  picnic pals embroidery pattern. I used the pattern on this cushion cover slightly larger than the original. The cushion measures approximately 12 x 16 inches.

it has begun...

 The radio stations are  playing Christmas songs and its cold outside. Its time to start thinking about gifts, will you be making or buying for the peopleyou love?  my shop has handmade dolls for little ones. just something to think about.
Have a good week

Sharing

Just sharing a link this week to a new digital magazine that is calling for submissions -'Seamwork' check it out here .

Corded Fabric

More playing and experimenting this time with a technique known as cording. The type of cording I am referring to here places a cord or yarn inside a stitched channel, this creates a raises fabric surface. Coding can be done by hand or machine. I am not a very patient person so naturally I used my sewing machine. A twin needle is essential to create the stitched channel which holds the cord or yarn.
How its done. place cord under fabric (I used acrylic yarn in my cushion), stitch on the right side of fabric, use fingers to guide cord making sure its centered between the twin needles, and experiment with straight lines, wavy lines, spiral patterns. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
Another way to cord is to sandwich the cord between two pieces of fabric. cording will reduce the size of your fabric so always start with a larger piece.

Inspiration

The idea for this cushion cover popped into my head during my yoga class last week. It a variation on the work I have been doing recently on fabric gathering but simplified. This got me thinking about inspiration and new ideas.
Where does it come from and how can we tap into it everyday. Over the years I have read many books on this subject and the most commonly mentioned point is to just get started with a project and ideas will slowly began to flow for new work. Keeping a sketchbook of ideas is also invaluable.
Personally I have noticed that ideas will come to me when I am not actively thinking about my work like during yoga last week.
Sigmund Freud once said "When inspiration doesn't come, I go halfway to meet it"
Where or how do you find inspiration?

This week

This week I have been working on Christmas themed cushions. If you like what you see visit my shop.

Autumn

Right now I am enjoying the Autumn as the leaves  change colours and gently float to the ground as I take  walks around my neighbourhood.

I remember

It was Grandparents week at my children's school the week which made me reflect on my wonderful grandparents. The bench  in the above picture sits in my mudroom, the cushions on the bench  were made a long time ago by my grandmothers.
My grandmothers were friends who often worked on the same projects. My paternal grandmother was very skilled with a embroidery needle and the work on the front of the cushion was done by her. My maternal grandmother would create pure magic with a crochet needle the trim around each cushion was done by her.
Both grandmothers were always busy making something. the something was always an item for the home, a table cloth , a cushion or tea towel.
 I remember my grandmother telling me that the project she was working on was for me for when I grew up and had a home of my own I could display the item and remember her. This of course made little sense to me at the time but today when I see the cushions in my mudroom I remember- my grandmothers made those cushions for me.

Matilda

Went to see Matilda the Musical this weekend in New York.

Frilled Cushion

Adding a frill to a cushion cover gives it a soft feminine look. A frill trim need not be restricted to floral fabric.
To make the frill you will need to measure the cushions perimeter and add a seam allowance of about 5cm (2inches) and double it. Decide if you would like a long or short frill for the width and double that figure also. Cut strips of fabric  that measure the length and width you have calculated, joining strips if needed. Fold the strip in half on the short side (width) wrong sides together. Using the longest stitch length on your machine tack the folded strip on the raw edge. To gather pull the threads. The gathered frill should measure half the original length. Attach to cushion front the same way you would any other trim.

Star Gathering

Experimenting with different ways to manipulate fabric using this book as a reference guide.

Craft book Review

The Making of a Rag Doll by Jess Brown

I have been waiting for the release of this book since reading an article in Mollie Makes about a year ago. So when I saw it listed on Amazon I preordered it and last week it arrived.

Jess Brown makes dolls with distinct facial features – star eyes and heart mouths; you may have seen the dolls in the Land of Nod catalog. This book gives you the chance to recreate a similar doll. It’s not the original pattern but close enough.

The book retails for $24.95. It provides the pattern for the ‘Jess Brown Rag Doll’ and nine projects for making accessories. There are two dress patterns, the sundress which is the one I made in the photo  and a drawstring dress which is the one on the book cover. Other projects include knickers, two hats, coat, and apron, bag and a quilt.

I had no problems or confusion while making the doll and dress. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. There are illustrations to support the written instructions. The patterns are to scale and seam allowances are included. However the section of hair is very brief. For example it says to cut felt scraps into 4 x 30.5 cm strips but does not mention how many strips are needed. Also I am left wondering if I should start attaching the strips from the front or the back.

This is a good book for a beginner or someone wishing to make a Jess Brown rag doll. The more experienced doll makes will not find anything new in this book in terms of techniques or knowledge.

It’s a beautiful book to look at however I felt that there was not enough content to fill a whole book,there is lots of empty space and lots of photographs sometimes the same photograph appears twice.

This book allows you to make your own Jess Brown Rag doll and to personalize it, something you cannot get from a readymade.

New items on Etsy

I added a  new item to my Etsy shop today.

Patchwork Cushion Cover

This is a good project to make with fabric left over from other projects.

 

Materials needed

one 12in zipper

17in striped fabric

5in navy fabric

8in floral fabric

Finished size 16in square pillow

Instructions

Cut  the following-for the front one 7in square from floral fabric, two 7in x 2 in from navy fabric, two 10in x 2 in from navy fabric, two 9 ½ in x 4 in from striped fabric and two 16 ½  x 4 in from striped fabric. For the back cut one 16in square from striped fabric.

Sew the 7in navy strips to the top and bottom of the floral square. Follow this by sewing the 10in navy strips to the sides of the floral square. The square should now be framed by the navy fabric and measure 9inches.

Next repeat the same steps with the striped fabric. Sew the shorter strips to the top and bottom and the longer strips to the sides. The square should now measure 16inches.

To attach the zipper place the front and back pieces together with right sides facing centre the zipper on the bottom raw edge measure the zipper  pin and stitch a 1in seam leaving the section were the zipper will be unstitched. Tack the zipper opening closed. Place the zipper face down on the zip seam tack into place. Using a zipper foot stitch the zipper into place starting about 1in down from the pull tab. When you reach the  opposite side of  where you started stop and slide the pull tab down and behind the zipper foot. To do this leave  the needle in the down position and lift the foot so as to not lose your place. Once you have the pull tab behind the zipper foot release the foot and finish stitching.

 

Open the zipper place front and back pieces right sides together stitch the other three sides to complete the cushion cover. Turn right side out stuff with cushion pad and enjoy.