Felt fun!

I have been having fun making some Christmas ornaments from felt,  I have recently joined a woman's group and they are planning to hold a market stall and sell decorations for Christmas so I have been mulling over what I could contribute.

I have had a good friend using felted wool and old wool blankets in her textile art so I started thinking along that line and decided on felting some wool jumpers and making Scandinavian inspired decorations.

I managed to score a 100% wool vest and jumper from an op shop sale and put them through the washing machine at a high heat and then through the dryer.  The grey jumper I bought was already starting to felt so felted beautifully.  I ended up putting the navy vest in for a second run and it has the most gorgeous suede look to it now.

I recently attended the craft fair n Brisbane and got to see and feel some commercial wool felt.  It is way nicer than the synthetic based ones you can buy at the chain fabric stores but still stiffer than my lovely soft felt.  However I am thinking about using it in the future because of the range of colours you can get it in.  Perfect for Santa faces and the like.

I was loaned a Sissix with some cutting dyes and have been able to cut perfect circles and stars.  So much fun to use!

So I trawled the Internet and found some snowflake designs to embroider and just had fun!  I made the cords by the twirling method and love the finish it has given the ornaments.  Some were made into coasters as the circles just felt right for it and the wool doubled up is perfect for protecting furniture.

Is anyone else crafting for Christmas? If you love these but don't want to make your own, I have listed some in my Etsy shop  - SusySewandSew.etsy,com.

Happy Christmas crafting everyone!  Ciao for now!

Holiday sewing

Just before Christmas I was offered an opportunity I could not turn down.  A chance to buy a great second hand Cover Stitch machine.  It was from a good sewing friend who has upgraded for various reasons so I was happy to take it off her hands.  It arrived just before Christmas but I had to wait until after Christmas to give it a try.  BTW it is a Brother 2340CV, before you ask. 

I have decided I will concentrate on getting the hemming reasonable before moving onto any attachments.  I played with wovens until I managed to get it stitching and then moved onto a jersey.  I know I should probably practice more before moving onto garments but I am too keen to sew all the things, so I made Vogue 1179 for the third time.  The first time here and the second time here.  I love this style of dress and it is so easy to wear.  The only difference in my third effort is that I had to make the collar less full as I did not have quite enough fabric.

...and to show the fabric in more detail...

 At this stage I won't show the CS hem but it is reasonable enough.

No more cover stitch again for a little while but I did do a make-over on a dress I sewed back in 2015 - this one.  I have worn this dress a lot as it is so cool and easy to wear.  However, being silk it didn't take to the heavy wearing and the fabric gave way at the backside.  I must sit too much!  I decide it was too good to throw away so I hope I will get a few more wears out if it as a top.  I marked and cut a new hemline (hi-lo) and sewed a narrow hem.

And as I am a bit of a messy sewist I decided I needed a little caddy to sit near my sewing machine to put all the bits and pieces I use often.  That way hopefully it will be easier to tidy up and dust than having it spread all over the place,

I did read some tutorials on-line and you can find many.  I just based this on those that I had read and made it to the size I needed.

A good way to use up some quilting fabric remnants.

Well I may be back soon with more cover stitch trials.

Ciao kittens... Happy 2018!

Pincushion ...

I use magnetic pin holders a lot and I had been thinking I needed another one so I can leave one near my sewing machine while the others (yes two - I use two different kinds of pins!) sit on the sewing/cutting table.  However I realised that what would work better is a pincushion on a cuff.  I was gifted one once but it died an unnatural pincushion death as it had that kind of strap that you slap on your wrist and it goes from straight to holding your wrist ... aka a kid magnet!

I looked in Spotlight but ugliness and nastiness abounded, so I remembered a sewing buddy making some many years ago.  A search of the web and I found this tutorial which is very good to follow and now I have my own...

I did use the hint at the top of the tutorial and put a 2" square of template plastic into the middle of the strap by inserting it through the gap used to turn the strap out the right way.  I then folded the gap edges tidily over it and top stitched the strap as per the instructions. 

  It works great and would be a great gift for a like-minded sewing buddy...

 Ciao kittens, back with pants soon (honest!)

Baby gifts.. pink ... *sigh*

I have made a few things I need to show you but due to not having photos of the items, no blog posts on them for now!  I have been busy at work as we have moved office and the weather has been very variable to say the least, so no wearing of new Summer clothes.  I actually got to wear my new black wool jacket the other day!  I didn't think I would be able to use it again until next year, but I am happy to report that on a very cold blustery day it kept me warm and cosy.

Onto things I have been able to photograph... My DSIL's daughter (from a previous marriage) recently had a baby girl.  All smiles everywhere as I have boys so I am more than happy to make a little pink gift!

I used a bib pattern from Nicole Mallalieu.  A download - so no wait and I love the cute 50's styling and the fact that it is a useful bib as baby should not be able to pull it off. 

I pulled a couple of fabrics out from the quilting stash and this is what I managed to sew.... (I wanted to photograph it on a stuffed toy, but my teddy bear (now almost 50 years old) does not have enough stuffing and my boys' old baby toys are not much better!)

I used an old hand towel to back the bib.  I made the stripey binding from a fabric which coordinated with the main fabric.

My thoughts on this pattern:

• fabulous instructions.  If you were a beginner sewist and wanted to try binding this is a great project with excellent instructions.  The pattern comes with 6 pages of detailed instructions!
• you can either use purchased bias binding or make your own.  Nicole gives the length needed if you make your own and it is spot-on.  I had none left!
• I would love it if this pattern came in more than one size.  This would be a great bib/apron for a toddler.

If you are looking for a baby gift this is a great pattern.  I am loving the fact that I know of someone else having a baby soon so I get another crack at this pattern and using great funky fabrics.  I only have to wait and see if the next one will be a boy or a girl! 

Ciao folks!... I am on holidays next week so I hope to get photos of my new clothes (if the weather plays nice!)

It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that bling...

Well however it goes, I haven't been sewing but I have been crafting...

I bought some hot fix studs at the Textile Arts festival and ages ago I bought an iron-on blingy arrangement at another Craft Fair. I went and bought a couple of singlet tees at an outlet shop and viola...

An afternoon of fun!

Now I have to wait for the weather to warm up enough to wear them!