So Sew Easy ‘make it yours’ competition

Posted on 30 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I thought I’d have a go at the exciting competition over at the Sew So Easy blog but I am a bit on the last minute!

The competition is to make a bag using the pattern provided here and add your own design features/embellishments etc to make it your own. The contest rules are fairly straightforward – you can read them here. The bag pattern was for a small clutch style and this type of bag always reminds me of a ‘night out’ as it’s the only time I ever have a neat little clutch bag! Most of my life has been accompanied by a handbag big enough to carry round extra paraphanalia applicable to my stage of life! This was nappies, wipes, drinks etc when the children were small – and now taking my mum out it’s …. well not a lot different really 🙂 (ha ha she’s not really that bad!)

So onto the clutch bag!

I chose some milk chocolate coloured linen look fabric for the outside and an orange floral print for the lining – very 70’s – more or less the last decade when I actually did go out and about as a young free thing!

After cutting out the fabric and some interlining for the interfacing the first thing I did was to insert the magnetic snap closers. I found pushing a pin through the marker on the pattern and then marking where it came out on the other side was a good way to ensure the parts are in the right place for matching up later.

pinning through the pattern marker

marking where pin comes out

Next I decided to add an internal pocket in the same fabric as the lining as that way it’s not so obvious where your valuables are when you open your bag!

using paper template for the pocket placing

Getting in the right place was a little tricky as I had to keep folding the bag into its finished form so as to make sure the pocket would be placed right. I used a paper template to mark out the final position.

I cut a double sized piece of fabric for the pocket piece, folded it right sides together and sewed up the sides. I then turned it right way out and sewed it to the lining, turning under the bottom hem as I sewed.

handy little internal pocket!

inside the bag

bag with my seventies beads!

I finished the bag off by sewing a shaped piece of lining fabric to the front and adding two big decorative buttons! Just need to get my orange nail varnish and beads and I’m off!!

Stash Building…not Stash Busting!

Posted on 25 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

No pictures of stuffed tights on the line this week 🙁 …… this is because it hasn’t stopped raining long enough!! I can’t wait for the warmth to return so I can get my wool washed, and also now I have a HUGE pile of fabric to wash! Why? Well I have been stash building instead of busting!!

I have been given someone else’s stash!! Yes really – it’s amazing and I was sooo excited when I saw what was in the bags as it’s really lovely pretty cottons. Some of it is small off-cuts but some is unused, folded, still-with-a sheen! It’s fantastic and I am very fortunate to have been offered it, the only drawback is the smell … it has obviously been kept in a smoker’s house and really reeks. I can’t even keep it in the kitchen I had to put it in the garage! The fabric doesn’t look dirty in any way, if it did I probably wouldn’t have accepted it. Now I know why people put ‘made in a smoke-free house’ on their selling sites!

: about a third of it being washed!

I am having to unfold and wash every piece and then I suppose it will need ironing too (boo, nasty word).

One wash was not even enough to remove the smell but as I use non-bio unfragranced soap powder I thought I would go and buy some biological stuff with added essential oils and see if that worked. It did! It now smells sweet and fresh. I decided to put in on the line even though it’s going to rain as the rain and fresh air should help even more !

It’s been interesting unfolding the cut pieces though as it’s a peek into that other unknown woman’s sewing life as I try and guess what the circular shape cut out of some ditsy floral could have been! There are navy blue ‘school skirt’ fabric remnants and what looks like an airtex pocket shape too, I wonder if she made school uniforms for her kids?

on the line in some SUN (didn’t last long!

It makes me think about what someone would make of my stash if they suddenly were to acquire it!!

Well I am sure I will have plenty of new makes to write about once I have it all washed and .. ironed… (shudder!)

Off to link up with the lovely Handmade Monday Crafters as usual and enjoy some reading with my glass of wine 🙂

Sunny days and writing reviews!

Posted on 18 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Wow it’s Sunday again – weeks are flying by, and yes, in 5 weeks the days start to get shorter! (sorry!) I do love the warmer weather though, not the intense summer heat of July and August but the warm Spring-nearly-Summer days which often seem uplifting and full of promise….. somehow though I never quite do all the things I intended but at least the weather does make everything more pleasant – especially boring housework jobs! I love being able to wash and dry throws, dusters and cleaning cloths all in one day! This week I have been washing and drying old wool blankets for felting – the fluff in the tumble drier was amazing – I kept thinking I should make something out of it but maybe that is taking upcycling just too far?!!

I haven’t had any success with my loft-stored wool by leaving in out in the sun for a couple of days – it still has the ‘dusty’ smell so now I am going to try washing it all. I will take a picture of my washing line full of tights stuffed with wool and post it here next week!

I’ve spent some of the warm days out in the garden working on the review section of my website this week. I always enjoy finding and reading reviews of items on blogs where it’s more of a how-useful-is-this-in-real-life type of review instead of the short one sentence ones on manufacturers websites, so I decided to write about my experiences using things and post them here for others who are researching before buying. As crafters we have a wealth of varying experience and it seems a shame not to share our knowledge. It’s a section of my site which will be an ongoing project with new reviews and updates added along the way. As I just got my Huskylock overlocker back from being fixed it’s time I added that to my machine section!

I was very happy indeed to find that it had a 5 year guarantee so it was sorted out by Jaycotts (where I bought it from) at no cost except for the £11 for a new blade! I thoroughly recommend Jaycotts in Chester. They sell online but also have small unit where you can see sewing machines and threads and notions and purchase things from the online stock. It’s so nice to have real people to talk to about your machine and who will service and mend things – something you don’t get if you buy online or from ebay!.

Off now to link up with handmade Monday… see you there?

Upcycling!

Posted on 11 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I’ve not done a lot this week. I decided my quillie rug needed more swiss rolls making so I have been cutting up strips from felted charity shop jumpers! Charity shops are great for getting materials to work with as long as you take time to check the composition of each item. So many times I have found a beautiful wool jumper only to see it is ‘superwash’ which means it won’t felt!

There was a wool blanket in one local shop for a couple of pounds which would make lots of strips for a rug! I didn’t buy it though as I have been in the loft and reclaimed 3 huge wool blankets which where my mother-in-laws and which we used for camping carpet and play tents when the children were small. These should felt up nicely!

I also found a suitcase full of my wool from years ago when I knitted and crocheted a lot of things. It is all in good condition apart from a musty ‘loft’ smell. Same applies to charity shop wool – it often smells funny to me so I don’t buy it. I don’t know if you can wash balls of wool without ruining them or whether I should crochet them up into things then wash the finished item? Can anyone offer any advice on how to make this wool pleasant again? Hopefully I can reclaim this old stash as it must add up to a fair amount of money in today’s prices!

I’ve also bought a couple of really good quality cotton shirts recently which will make beautiful patchwork fabric! If you’ve never investigated your local charity shops I would recommend it next time you want some fabric. Even a cotton dress for around £3 will yield plenty of fabric for patchwork or to make bags.

I did manage to finish one WIP this week! A sundress for me – made from an Abakhan remnant and some lilac cotton jersey from my stash and a home made pattern based on another charity shop sundress! It actually fits and two people have admired it and asked where I bought it!

I’m now off to the Handmade Monday Linky!!

sundress in cotton with stretch cotton jersey bodice and straps!

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Standing Wool Rug- Quillie Rug

Posted on 4 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

At Wonderwool last week I was fascinated by the beautiful rugs made with by the standing wool rug-making technique also known as making a ‘quillie’ rug. I wrote about it in this post. Apparently it’s not a very well known or practised technique which is strange because it’s very addictive and I found it not at all difficult to do. I thought I would show you how I did it in case you would like to have a go! I watched the quillies being rolled up at wonderwool and then how they are sewn into a complete rug but didn’t see how they were kept individually rolled beforehand so that bit is just my own way. I started with the cut-offs of wool blankets I bought at Wonderwool

my wool cut-offs

Back home I cut them all up into strips with my rotary cutter.

The wool squares cut into strips

Then the fun bit: First lay two different coloured strips on top on one another and begin to curl them up between your fingers keeping the initial fold as tight as you can.

two strips laying one on top of the other

beginning to curl the strips

It’s quite easy to roll them up but you do need to keep tight hold or else they flirt open and leap onto the floor! I kept mine from uncurling by sewing them through the middle using sock wool with a very long needle. Mine is a called a Doll needle and there were 3 in a packet, I find the 5inch one easiest. It was very hard to pull the needle right out of the other side of the roll without using a needle grabber. Once I bought the grabber it was very straight forward. If you were making these to combine for a rug or item to be used you should sew them together with linen thread for strength.

pushing the long needle threaded with sock wool through the ‘swiss roll’ quillie together

wool right through the ‘swiss roll’ quillie

I just snipped the wool off the leave a short piece through the middle

finished quilllie with wool through

Here are the first few I made

First few quillie rolls

Here are the finished ones grouped together but not sewn together. I wanted to experiment with the colours. I haven’t decided if this will be the final colour layout but I will add more quillies as soon as I cut more strips from my store of felted charity shop jumpers! I could sew these together and then add to the rug so it grows like freeform crochet or I could wait until I have all my quillie rolls and create the design first. Decisions!

The sewing up part involves sewing two together – straight through the middle of each in a couple of places, then adding another one and sewing it to the first two in what ever shape you want. Each quillie needs to have several strands of wool, or preferably strong linen thread, holding it to the others around it, using the long needle, and then needs to be sewn at the top edge to the adjacent quillie, using a curved needle. I imagine this is to make it secure enough to be walked on unless you wanted to have it as a wall hanging. They could also be made into place mats though which would be much quicker!

using curved needle to sew up at the top edge

My largest quillies are about 3inches in diameter, the ones in the picture are 2 inches. You just roll up the strips till you have the size you want then cut off the rest! Hopefully next week I will be able to post a complete rug! Linking up with Handmade Monday now and off to see what everyone else has been making!

More Bunnies!

Posted on 2 May, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Oh dear!

It all started when I read on Pillows-a-la-mode’s blog about making bunnies! To be fair she got the idea from another blog! The Little Fabric Shop Blog Well, I was hooked! Quick, simple template and oh so cute!!!

First it was these…..

basket of fabric bunnies in red and white and green and white.

Basket O’ Bunnies!

and now I’ve started again ….

I think I prefer the pinking sheared edge ones the best, which is a shame ‘cos I made a non-pinked one in my favourite liberty fabric!!

three little bunnies sitting in a row!

They are stuffed with soft fibre filling and dried lavender, they smell wonderful and, I don’t care if it’s a placebo or not, they are helping me sleep better!

But I really have got to stop making them! – So I am linking up with Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet in May at Lily’s Quilts – so now I have witnesses – I really will stop making bunnies 🙂

And that was my highlight of my April makes!

Birthday Weekend and Wonderwool 2014!

Posted on 27 April, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Well one year one it’s my birthday weekend again and I’m back in mid Wales for Wonderwool. I loved this place last year and this year I have enjoyed it all over again although it’s never quite as good the second time around! It’s full of lovely, tactile, woolly goodness, intricate tools to make things with and unusual and individual clothing!

We arrived on Saturday and stayed in the same B&B as last year – Guidfa House at Crossgates, Llandridnod Wells. This is a very warm, comfy place to stay and the hosts, Tony and Ann are very friendly and helpful. We were given tea and date and walnut cake on arrival which we enjoyed in the peaceful guests’ lounge. Our room had 2 comfy chairs and coffee table – something that I always appreciate in hotel rooms as I don’t like having to sit on the bed all night. Oh the joy of relaxing by the window, looking over at the hills while doing my crochet, watching TV and drinking a glass of wine…, wait …actually that’s a pretty standard Saturday night for me … albeit without rolling hillside for a view!! Oh well I do know how to enjoy myself anywhere!!

Early this morning we arrived at the Royal Welsh Showground and there was plenty of parking and it was not too crowded inside at all, though with lots to see and buy and lots of people showcasing their crafts – I love watching the spinners, in fact last year I really wanted to buy a wheel and go on a spinning course and I just realised it’s a year ago and I still haven’t learnt to spin!

It’s actually quite similar to Yarndale but more spread out and much easier to see what’s on offer as the stalls are in bigger spaces and more spread out. There are also live sheep, lamas and angora rabbits!

I did really love this rug below though and this wall hanging, both by Gill Curwen of Bapple and Jo Jo – It’s a craft called ‘Quillie’ which is sort of rolling felted wool strips cut from blankets or clothes into Swiss Roll shapes and then sewing them together to make mats and rugs in beautiful shapes and toning shades. I am looking forward to perusing her website now I’m back home!

I was talking to my daughter about Wonderwool before I went and she asked what her dad was going to do while I was engrossed in the woolly world I told her he follows me round then goes and reads his book in the cafe area – she said there should be a ”long suffering partners’ ” area with comfy seats, internet access and various reading material! Wouldn’t that be good?!!

I didn’t spend too much at all – just some felted wool and this handmade button kit from Beaker Button, which once you’ve learnt how to do it you can upscale it and make giant hangings in embroidery hoops and even hula hoops! The information in the kit explains that Dorset button making was a huge cottage industry from the 1600s until the Great Exhibition of 1851 when a new button making machine was showcased. Families were left destitute and starving and many were forced to emigrate! It is the WI and others now keeping this craft alive – I am happy to become one of them!

Wonder if I’ll spend next birthday at Wonderwool?

Over to some other wonders now – at Handmade Monday!

Granny Squares and Granny Naps!

Posted on 20 April, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Ooh I am feeling rather full and sleepy after a big family dinner at my sisters this weekend! I think I may need a nap! My DS’ are home too so it’s a busier household here from normal when it’s just me and my DH rattling round here! Not much time for making granny squares!

This week has been very exciting though, as my new sewing machine arrived! I am in the process of writing about it and will have pics and a review next week! I am already loving the extras on it and spending time getting to know all the new features is very enjoyable.

I’ve done quite a bit of crochet squares towards a new blanket!

getting the squares ready!

and I bought two new books! Both of these seem to be very, very good at first glance!

my new books

I can’t wait to start adding some granny square variations to the blanket and start making some more bags! Of all the sewing I do, I think I love making bags the most!

Well that’s it for now – I am full of pie and cupcakes and I need a granny nap, never mind a granny square!

best wishes to all the handmade mondayers celebrating Easter!

See you next week.

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Fabric Shops and Coffee Stops!

Posted on 13 April, 2014 by patchworkfairy

Well as I mentioned last weekend, I had a trip to Blackpool recently as DH likes to go to the annual Amateur Radio Show in much the same way as I like to go to fabric shops and events like Wonderwool and Yarnfest! Now that our children have all left home we have a hobby room each – mine is full of fabric and yarn etc and his is full of radios, components and model railway parts! Last time we went to the Blackpool show I was very disappointed with the ‘craft centre’ I had found on the internet – basically it had lots of empty units and most were closed! This year however my internet research showed that things had improved! Having dropped DH off at the radio show I excitedly drove to the March Mill Craft Village in Thornton. It’s still not as good as it could be but it’s sooo much better than it was, as it now as a lovely coffee shop called ‘Tiffin’ which sells good coffee and homemade cakes, 🙂 and a wonderful fabric shop called ‘Grace and Favour’.

Grace and Favour Fabric Shop

Having forced myself not to run straight into buying fabric I settled down to scrumptious millionaires shortbread and an Americano in the warm coffee shop and contemplated the peaceful hour or two I would have before DH ‘phoned to arrange his pick up! I was not disappointed – I didn’t even get in the door for about 10 mins as there were baskets of fabric packs outside to browse through. I entered the shop with two of these already chosen!

Linen colour fabric with vintage rose pattern by Clarke and Clarke

Vintage Roses Fabric by Clarke and Clarke

Cotton Lawn Fabric

It’s a lovely bright shop, not very big, but well laid out so you can enjoy a good browse working your way round the well stocked walls and then perusing the craft shelves in the centre. I was in their well over an hour – browsing, choosing, re-choosing and chatting to the friendly assistant Jess, who is also a sewing tutor at their sewing school ‘The Sewing Sanctuary’ in the same craft centre where they hold social crafting and run courses! Wish I lived nearer!

I was very pleased to get these fabrics – only £1.50 a fat quarter!

red and pinky-red floral fabric in fat quarters

Far Quarters in lovely Cotton

I also got some trimmings for various projects – this is for my upcycling projects using the vintage linens I have acquired – I think it will make a beautiful addition to the dresses and tops I am designing! I am going to make these out of a mix of vintage and contemporary fabrics and trims and it’s very exciting gathering the various bits and bobs and starting the designs!

Lace Flower Trim

By a happy serendipity I got the ‘I’m ready to be picked up’ call just as I was paying for my items – so off I went to collect him and see who had spent the most!

And so to link with Handmade Monday!

Bye for now, Ali xxx

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ATC Swap!

Posted on 6 April, 2014 by patchworkfairy

I have always wanted to be part of an ATC Swap (Artist Trading Card) but have never seen one at a time when I could realistically join in. So I was very pleased when recently I was able to join the ATC swap organised by Ali (another one!) at VeryberryHandmade The theme was ‘Spring’ or ‘Books’. Can you guess what I chose? 🙂

Here is mine!

ATC for the Verry berry handmade spring swap

My ATC I sent to my swap person!

The brief was to make a card using any craft technique and it must be the size of a business card.

ATC must show artist's name and contact email

The information which goes on the back

I had a lot of fun making mine and incorporated sewing, needle felting and embroidery into it. You post your card out to a different person from whom you receive one and it’s a secret swap until the day it arrives!

This is what I received – a lovely countryside scene.

ATC received as part of the Very berry ATC SWap Spring 2014

The ATC I received!

Well I am off to link with Handmade Monday now – not so easy as I am in the car on the way back from Blackpool where I visited an amazing fabric shop called Grace and Favour – more about that next time!

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