sewing – Page 3 – Knit one, read two

Home economics was never like this

October 13, 2009March 28, 2010 SusanLeave a comment

The last time I took any sort of organised sewing class was back in High School. I enjoyed my home economics classes and still have some of the things that I made (including an elephant whose ears I sewed on upside down) but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to go back and do them again.

Unlike the class that I attended last night. Under guidance from Steven, his mum bought me vouchers for the Make Lounge for my birthday. To quote their website: “The Make Lounge offers contemporary craft workshops with a stylish, social twist – perfect for embracing the ‘make do and mend’ ethic in a fashionable way!”

I took one of their intermediate sewing classes, the zippers clinic. We learned how to sew in regular zips and invisible zips and then made a little zippered oilcloth pouch. Here’s mine:

And with the zip open, just to prove it works:

There were wine and nibbles on hand and the atmosphere was fun and friendly. I had been a bit nervous about turning up on my own but I had a brilliant evening. I had enough vouchers for two classes so I’m already booked on the reversible handbag class next week and I can’t wait!

As well as their sewing classes, they offer crochet, jewellery-making, needle-felting, leather-working and lots of others with even more being added all the time. I realise I might be starting to sound like an advert but I promise I have no connection with them other than being a very satisfied customer!

P.S. I still haven’t finished the last two Double Vision squares and here are a couple of sneak peeks at why:

What I did on my holidays – Part 4 – Hawaiian Quilting

September 16, 2009September 12, 2009 Susan1 Comment

So I didn’t actually do any quilting on holiday but I certainly learned a lot about how it’s done in Hawaii. As you might expect, quilting is a not a native craft in Hawaii but was imported by missionaries.

Despite huge amounts of temptation, I managed to restrain myself and came back with only two books on the subject. Unfortunately, I also managed to resist the urge to go into any of the many fabric shops we saw so I don’t have any beautiful Hawaiian fabrics to show you.

The first book is Hawaiian Quilts: Tradition and Transition. A bilingual (English and Japanese) book that was written to accompany a touring exhibition of vintage and modern Hawaiian quilts. It has a good description of the history and progression of quilting in Hawaii right up to the modern day but my favourite section is the beautiful pictures of the quilts that formed the exhibition. Some of the vintage quilts can be seen online at the Bishop Museum website or there’s a glimpse of two of the modern ones below.

The second book is The Pillows to Patch Quilt Collection: The Hawaiian Way. It is a beautifully illustrated quilt pattern book full of quilt squares and applique patterns based on Hawaiian motifs. Other reviews say that the instructions are clear and easy to follow, even for beginners, but I will report back after my exams when I actually have time to try them.

The picture shows a section of the table of contents. I’m already enjoying planning a quilt with this book; I just hope making one is as much fun!

Knit one, sew one

September 13, 2009September 12, 2009 Susan2 Comments

Two finished projects to show you today, one knitted, one sewn.

I finished the teddy bear baby blanket. I washed it but didn’t block it in any way, just hung it up and let it dry. It was knitted in Sirdar Country Style DK, which is a machine-washable wool/acrylic blend because I don’t think the friend it is intended for is likely to be handwashing blankets after the baby is born. However, it washed very nicely and is now very soft and snuggly. I just loved this pattern; it was straightforward and quick to knit but the combination of stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch is just so effective. The best part of this project is that the baby isn’t due for another 2 months so I can wrap this up and put it away until it is needed and I won’t need to subject myself to the usual frantic week or two of knitting that takes place just before or after the birth!

Second project was a roll/case for my KnitPicks interchangeable needle tips. Despite being only my second sewing project in about 16 years, i.e. since home economics classes in school, it’s entirely my own design. No pattern, no tutorial, just work out what needs to go where and try it and see what happens. This did, of course, result in the odd hiccup. For example, see the small loop of ribbon attached to the left-hand side of the roll in the bottom picture? It’s now a design feature (and I may even have come up with a use for it) but was originally supposed to be the ribbon for keeping it all together when rolled up. Unfortunately, my brain has yet come to grips with the inside-out back-to-front thinking that’s needed when sewing things up and then turning them right way out and the ribbon ended up beautifully sewn in between the lining and the cover.

I’m so pleased with the way this turned out in the end though. It takes all my tips, plus some crochet hooks and my sewing and needle gauges. The striped flap (shown lifted up in the picture) keeps everything from falling out no matter how thrown around the roll gets in my bag and everything is just so much better organised and easier to find than in the pouch that they came in. I’m considering making another one, incorporating the lessons learned from this one and some ideas I’ve had since and if I do, I’ll put up a tutorial on how I did it.

The more I use this striped fabric the more I love it; things made from it are just automatically appealing and make me smile when I see them. I’ve got some left which I might make into a holder for my interchangeable cables or a pouch for my stitch markers since there is nowhere for them go in here. Do I really want an entirely co-ordinating set of knitting project and notions bags though?

A new hobby

September 7, 2009September 5, 2009 Susan3 Comments

Because what I need right now, obviously, is another hobby.

It was my birthday at the end of August and I used my birthday money to buy the sewing machine that I’ve been craving for ages. Actually, I’ve been wanting a sewing machine since my last one broke, which was about 20 years ago now! (It was a toy machine but did actually sew things.)

And here it is:

It’s an Elna 2600 and I love it to pieces. Especially since I’ve just completed my first project on it.

The project is a sock-knitting project bag. I don’t knit socks that often but I couldn’t resist Crazy Lanea’s tutorial and I’m glad I didn’t because the finished bag is one of the most adorable things I’ve seen.

The tutorial was really easy to follow and the whole project took less than 2.5 hours. I even made sure I matched up the stripes:

The ribbons are actually re-purposed hanging loops from a t-shirt. I cut them off because they kept showing when I wore the t-shirt and they turned out to be the perfect colour match for the fabric.

The fabric is all from IKEA. I picked up some bits and pieces when Steven and I were there earlier in the week.

The red and white stripe is called Sofia, the plain white is Lenda and the brown geometrical is Petronella. Between the three lots I ended up with 5.5m for less than £18. The red-and-white and plain white are for experimenting with, I’m going to try and make a more useful container for my interchangeable needle tips, and the brown geometrical is going to be covers for some seat pads for our dining chairs since it matches the fabric table runners that we already have.

Now I just need to work out how to fit in sewing time along side work, studying, knitting, crocheting…..