Learning new sewing related stuff

 We have all been exhorted during the lockdown to learn new things to keep our brains active. My husband and I often note the things we have learnt during a day. Yesterday it was on Sewing Bee that wearing of woollen caps by the working classes was a law brought in by Elizabeth 1 to protect the woollen industry. Well, I did not know that!

What else did I learn yesterday?  I am not as technological a duffer as I thought. I downloaded a printer driver to my computer and resolved a two year problem with printing!!! Yeah!!! 

What did I print? A free sewing pattern for a ladies overall for gardening. What else did I learn from the notes given lovely Australian designer?  (In to the Folds/Peppermint Magazine) How to change the settings of Adobe Printer to have layers and then turn off the lines for the unwanted sizes so the pattern you printed out was just my size and not have 12 other sets of lines to confuse you. Saves ink too.

As they say, Everyday is a learning Day.

 (Even when you have a 2nd Covid jab headache)

Summer thinking

 I was laying in bed dreaming of summer days earlier in the week (when there was a hint of sun, unlike today's heavy rain) and was running through my summer wardrobe plans. I had decided I needed to get back into skirts. I have not worn anything but jeans for 18 months (?). 

Thinking through the existing clothes I have a Mother of the groom dress (7 years old) and a date nice dress (2 years old).  And this cotton dress I made about 8 years ago and probably not worn more than a dozen times. No other skirts at all.

I love the material but the collar never really set well and felt uncomfortable. I have taken into my sewing room and decided that it has to earn its keep or its a waste of space!

I took off the collar and reused most of the facings to reform the V neck line. I had to re cut one facing (from the discarded collar) . 

I have sewn a line of top stitching in yellow outside the black tacks.

I fiddled about for a while wondering if it was too far down. I really hate being older and having a wrinkly front (Known in our house as the Deidre Barlow look after a certain soap character's neckline) and I have cut a "fill" or modesty piece. Not put in yet. I am going to wear and see how I feel.

Meanwhile the dress is in the laundry basket for a quick re fresh ready for the season. When it stops raining as indoor drying is not my thing - all washing has to go out even for just an hour or two.

Another tasks ticked off the what shall I do with my lockdown day list and another day when cleaning behind the kitchen stove is avoided.

First two tops for Scrubs NHS

Finally got the first two scrub tops done for Norfolk Scrub Volunteers. They supplied the fabric which was a nice stable poplin linen and pattern. 

I suspect I was being slow as I wanted to be very accurate and clean and tidy!  The trousers have side insert pockets that I have not done since 1971 when I made a maxi (long length) coat for my A level Needlework project.

First rain for a month here so I am using the wet days to do this and trying not to think about the weeds popping up in the garden meanwhile!

Volunteering

As my ambitions to volunteer for Garden Organic as a Master Gardener helping people start growing own veg are on hold except for posting on social media and putting up my videos on YouTube (Grown to Eat - An Acre in the Fens) I have turned my spare time to another of my hobbies!

I have volunteered to make scrubs for the NHS. Doing this through an organisation that supplies everything so that is great for me as funds are a bit sticky with having to buy local/online and not getting to go to Wilko for bits and pieces at better prices!  In our county its called Norfolk Scrubs Volunteers.


Meanwhile its not rained for 2 or 3 weeks and all the water butts are empty. Should not complain after all the wet and windy weather but now its too hard to dig!  I shall get the picnic chairs out instead and admire our shrubs in full flower.

Fabric Stash

Anyone who sews knows how easy it is to fall into the trap of gathering to your ample bos**om lovely fabrics for potential projects.

Yes, look away. Stand away from the fabrics!!

We did the Sewing show at NEC this weekend, and was drooling at the fabrics on offer which were amazing after our rather drab local town shop. I resisted the fabrics but did order an over locker machine. (Paid for by trading in some other "leisure" stuff on Gumtree over the last few months.)

While my husband drooled in the Photography show next door at the NEC I took the train into New Street and the Rag Market behind Birmingham's Bull Ring shopping centre.
The shop in the photo above is just over the road. Its not as cheap as the Rag Market stalls of fabric but it was £2/£3 a meter cheaper than the show prices generally!
Which one did I choose in there?

No, none of those. A metre of this at £4.99. Cushions to cheer the lounge are planned.  In fact saw some in the same pattern in a shop in the Bull Ring with yellow piping for £18 each!!

Then I went to the Rag market stalls with a big bag and £35.00 in cash. Things (especially jersey knits) start at 50p a metre, work up to a £1 a metre, top at £2 or £3 a meter for speciality thick linens etc.

Here is my dining room table.

This end is a thick canvas stripped pattern for tote bags £3 pm at 60" + wide, and two upholstery/curtain linens (£2 a metre).

Then some poly cottons for blouses and other projects - mostly a £1 a metre

Some cottons for cushion covers etc etc. Things got a bit brighter and bolder! £1 or £2 a metre.

Then jersey for T shirts and Pointe Roma for tops mostly 50p a metre.

I'll stop now before those interested in sewing are over come with jealousy.  The trip was well worth it, but I will not moan about the crazy cross country trip by Rail and the trains generally - I survived.

Next week my over locker arrives and my husband has insisted I make some pennies back selling stuff on my Folksy site!  Sewing season awaits me (revenge on my part as Grand Prix started this weekend and he will not be willing to leave the settee at weekends till its over).

Meanwhile I have located a Facebook group and a shop way, way out in the Fenlands who is stocking lovely fabric in her workshop. When I have worked out a route and have some cash I will be paying her a visit. Once a fabric addict, always a fabric addict!

Tablet bag

I am still experimenting with this new tablet.  I find blogger very difficult on it and cant connect to facebook account. I find video hard work as the sun gets on the screen and I can't see if on or off. 

Still struggle on.

Meanwhile I have to get some sort of cover so I can slip it in a bag and take out with us. Started a zip up case.  I have put quilting batting and stiff interfacing between the two cotton fat quarters and will quilt up. Found a second hand dress zip to use down one long side.

I think I might prefer something more of a case with a folded over flap, so I may well make another one later on.

Meanwhile husband has vertigo and I am on carer duties as every thing needing bending over (shoes etc) sends him off.

Fabric boxes

I have been spending some of these cold afternoons learning how to make fabric boxes and working on altering the design from SheCanSew blog I started off with.   The stripy one has iron on stiff interfacing, on the ends there are "slots" to fasten the folded in ends together and is finished by zigzagging on all the edges. 

Doing in it with two fat quarters and especially purchased stiff interfacing and all the cotton for the edges made it quite expensive.  I was really looking for an easy way to use up stash and recycled materials to make cheap storage  solutions.  I had a look on You Tube for more ideas too.

The box on the left I made the same size overall, but started by putting the right sides together and stitching all round before turning and quilting.  That meant cutting into the piece to make the flaps and making turned in edges which was a fiddle as much as making the slots.  When I folded it up occurred to me that I could put a button on the inside flap and then made buttonholes through the other two.  

My third attempt was to use a very stiff denim material and face it with a poly-cotton fabric. It stands up well on its own and does not need extra quilting. I tried out using ties to fasten the ends of the box. It seems to work quite well. 

I am going to road test these fabric boxes before publishing a pattern.

Fourty shades of January

I was thinking of how to describe the current weather and feelings and the only way is GREY.  Low blanket of cloud, with barely a glimpse of sun, no rain but its damp feeling all day. No wonder I am wandering around in a brain funk..... I need sunshine and light.  At least it has not rained in some days.

Trying to get fit, I have continued to find small patches of the garden to tackle. I have studiously ignored the large veg beds that need digging over. Yesterday I stole my husbands builder's line from his shed site and remarked the edges of the asparagus/strawberry bed. Monty Don once said if your garden felt a mess the easiest way to make it look like you were on top of things was to re cut the bed edges. It is true, a nice sharp edge to a flower bed does make for a smart look.

Trouble was by the time I had cleared the grass edges of the first 5 feet of the asparagus bed I was knackered and had to go in to make lunch. Staggered back later to empty the wheelbarrow.  Hopefully I can carry on nibbling away re vamping this bed in the next week when we are predicted to get up to 10C.  When I am done with the strawberry end I think I will put down some black weed suppressing cloth round them as the weeding never got done last year.  I will put more mulch on the asparagus.

Indoors I am playing around with one of Christmas presents - 3 packs of fat quarters!  There was a pattern inside the packs for a patchwork tote which I have made straight away.

My husband immediately said I should sell it on my Folksy site but I have to admit I made a mistake on the other side.  I find concentrating very hard these days and when I got to cutting out square 18 I got it all wrong and had to make up 5 cms on the last 2 squares.  Besides it was such a lot of work that I could never charge the hours it took and I could do with a new bag for the Spring myself..

My next target for learning new skills is to work with stiffening/interfacing in bags and to work with D rings etc.  I started with this bag by adding a purse attached by a  clip to a sewn in D ring.

I soon found that to sew the D ring in I needed to change the machine foot to the zipper foot so I could stitch close in. I should have also chosen the setting that automatically over stitches at the start and end.

I have got hold of two types of interfacing both labelled as "stiff" but so far I am not sure they are hard enough. One is labelled "foam" but is hardly that.  I am trying to make a fabric box as shown on the blog  Shecansew.   Again it is stretching my concentration and accuracy.

Weather forecast is for cold, possibly some sun later in the week, and some very high tides. 

Designing

I have been helping one of my son's fledgling company by designing and prototyping a bag for some of his products.

He got a load of material dyed in India to a specific colour he needed.  It has been easy to sew once a got heavy duty needle and thread for the machine. But by the time I had been folding and unfolding, handling the seams etc, the dye was staining my hands!  They need to spray some sort of fixer to the material.  Also it needs to be steam ironed to get the creases out!

I think I have the design nearer something useful.  My first prototypes had zips but that was so difficult to manage well I have gone "book bag" style now.

Doing something like this long distance is hard work.  I was pleased to hear that they have given up having other products made in China and made a relationship with someone in east London! They are enjoying the better communications!

I have been making some simpler bags for my Folksy account. I like the bright coloured handles made from some webbing I got locally.  I am hoping the chicken and hens will be a popular print for shopping bags.  Whenever I look at other sellers they have the most lovely fabrics.  We only have one local material shop so choices are limited.  I keep promising myself a trip to the locally "rag" market in Birmingham one day.

Owl recycling

Another rumble through the box of worn out 2/3 year old clothes from my grandson and the internet for ideas I came up with an owl cushion pattern.

I have used mostly two cute sports kits from (expensive) rugby for toddlers club he did for a while. The wings are the sleeves of two of those all in one swimming costumes ( whatever happened to swimming trunks?).

The pattern was a free download through Craftsy .  I went wrong with the wings but achieved a rescue.  I also used batting to quilt the features on the front to give it more shape.  I thought the 4 inch wide band that joins the front to the back owl shape would be the most difficult but it turned out to work really well.

As it was a gift and not being sold I did not have to do the safety checks on children's toys. Though I will warn the parents that it is not fire proof (non smoking, underfloor heated house so no real risks there).   I cut an old pillow in half expecting to use the foam or fibre filling as stuffing and found it had a thick foam layer in the middle.

Never seen that before. No wonder this old pillow had been shoved to one side as uncomfortable. Still this foam layer was actually just right for giving the owl a move rigid structure.

So some more recycling achieved and a cheerful cushion on the spare room bed ready for their next visit.

Upcycling rugby shirts for 2/3year olds

My son sent a box of grandson's 2/3 year old clothes for me to play with in my sewing room. Quite  a few rugby shirts like this.

He really loved this style and wore these shirts a lot so they were very washed out and some stains!

I choose two in slightly different red and blue strips and turned them into quite a large stuffed elephant. You can get quite a bit of material out of these shirts as they had long sleeves!

Pattern from the internet, stuffing is a mostly an old pillow innards and some left over batting for the trunk and feet.

I shall have to offer to do the same for the other son's two if they want to save memories.

Plastic bags

Have you heard the proposals charge for these goes up to 10 p next year and even small retailers have to charge?

My main shopping is delivered by a large supermarket without bags (they add 40p on for bags if you tick that box) but they insist on putting frozen and household stuff like washing powder in bags anyway.  I always think it is unnecessary as those things are well packaged and super tight lids etc.

I am sometimes reminded of days of yore  (late 1950s) when the local grocer would wrap my mother's purchase of toilet rolls in newspaper!

Meanwhile I am back in my sewing cabin planning more tote bags for my occasional shopping trips and to sell on Folksy.

Three boxes of tissues later...

Finally seeing the back of our flu after working our way through 3 boxes of man sized tissues and all the odd ones tucked in bags and pockets.  Together we managed to cut the front and garden lawns today which are now mostly nice and green after 20 mm of rain and lower temperatures ! But had to have a long lay down with our books at afternoon tea break.  Veg garden and field will have to hang on a few more days before we can do any serious work.

The flowers on this bush produce a deep red berry on the ends of springy arching branches. The blackbirds are desperate to get them and lurch up and down and tumble in and out.

What else is happening here?  Tomato crop is producing well. We have been unsuccessful at selling surplus at the gate this year as the main road in the village has been closed for road works for 7 weeks and everyone is going round the other way!  So lots of tomato soup this week to help with our sore throats. Sweetcorn is ripening now and providing some nice quick lunches.

In my sewing cabin I have been going through a box of 2-3 year old toddler clothes left by one of my sons for recycling. Here are two polo shirts, a pair of pyjamas and some shorts.  What to make?

I cut the clothes along seams to give as much flat material as possible.  Did not need the shorts. A shopping bag is tried first, using the rocket theme to reflect the print material.

The back is a patchwork of left over rectangles. Avoiding the hole in the left knee of the trousers and using any logos which had cheery messages.

Lined with some new calico curtain lining.  The polo shirt material proved quite thin when cut into so I used some old cotton fabric from some summer trousers under the applique rocket and under the patchwork.  (I must try to get some cheap fusible backing material for these projects.) So the bag is quite soft and padded.  I was going to use the old collars to make handles but they are quite narrow and would not quite fit round any strengthening cord I had available.  So used some straps from an abandoned apron for handles.

They also left a lot of odd baby socks.

If you cut down back and sole you get quite a lot to work with and the heels and toes make good ears and noses for SOCK MONSTER PUPPETS!

Wigwam or Tepee?

Last year I made the grandkids 3 hobby horses on broomsticks for the summer holidays. This year I made them a wigwam. My son called it a tepee.  My 4 year old grandkids  called it a tent and had no idea of a cultural background. Wild west or "Cowboy and Indian" films obviously not on CBBC or Tiny Pop or these other channels??

It was made of 4 of my husbands best giant thick bamboo poles (not needed as we were only going for one row of runner beans this year) and four cloth triangles. I used one half of a white king sized duvet and a long length of thin black cotton dress material (donated free to me) from my stash. No great loss as it was so thin it was no good for dresses and I had already had 3 blouses out of it.  So cost nothing except a few afternoons puzzling out the mechanics.  Secured at top with string in a hem and made a door way by splitting one triangle and putting a facing on it with odd ribbons sewn in to fasten up.  I did sew heavy washers into the corners thinking I could use the wire hoops from the veg netting to pin the sides but the ground was too hard and this was last piece of green grass in the garden.  So I made a hem in the excess material round the bases and threaded in some old roofing battens from the scrap/fire wood pile on three sides which held it out nicely as long as it was not too windy. Old bed covers for sitting on  and stretching out to provide a play patio.

It went down very well, as you can see the giant lego stuff was out here and not all over lounge floor to trip up Granddad. Teddy spent time in the tent and often came flying out. It was a good shady place to send one fractious girl with a digital device who was tired, hot and wanted to watch a cartoon when we were all having a cup of tea and chatting and did not want to go indoors.  Not strong enough for the 18 month old of substantial proportions to practice his standing up skills though.

On reflection how I may improve it next year I did think I would keep an eye out for those kids duvets in the charity shops with the garish characters and it may be something they relate to. I think the kids would like that and it would thicken the sides up a bit. I would also fasten the triangle seams to the poles on the insides it was a pain re lining it up each time it got a bit out of line.

They are all gone to the west Country to annoy their other grand parents now. Poles returned to garden stash, string rewound in the shed, wigwam rolled up and stashed. Hobby horses stacked in corner.  Left the bunting up tied to the bushes and fences for a while.  Bit like after Christmas when you take down the tree.

Come back next summer!  But please get out of nappies - my bin has a stench all of its own and it is not collected for another week!!

Going blue

For the last few years I have restricted my wardrobe size by using up everything till they are only good for rags and only buying when necessary and often making my own.  This last bout of warm weather has had me running through all my very light cotton tops and loose blouses. Over the winter I am going to have to do some replacing as they are washed thinner and thinner as I change everyday. 

Needing another decent top for going to the shops I pulled out some brightly printed polyester that I got for £3.50 a meter and a free pattern.

I like a long line top so I am extending the length 5 inches, and putting 2 inches on the sleeves too  and I hate high necklines so I will probably put in a split on the centre front.  Its slow work as it is hot and sticky in the sewing cabin.

Meanwhile my husband has booked an autumn holiday on the west coast of Ireland so I am reviewing the winter clothes stock.  Going to need some warm stuff.
I got this T shirt for a £1 in a charity shop sale. It was brand new with the tags still on.  Its quite thick and far to warm for this summer.

While waiting for my husband in the opticians the other day I wandered into the supermarket to use the loo and have a look at the clothes sales.  He did tell me to go and have a coffee while waiting but I thought I would use that cash towards this winter jumper instead.

It was not marked so it took some time to find out the price was £10.  Its size is marked as 20, but its not that big and it is loose enough on me to put a T shirt or something warm underneath.  Its in keeping with my new blue theme too.

We are flying there so I will not go too mad with clothes as I doubt we will want to pay for extra luggage.

Replacements for those plastic bags wining!

I was reading a sewing blog (So Sew Easy) today (2/7/18)  which said
On my recent trip to Tanzania, I fell in love with the country.  I will share a post about that trip and the fabrics I brought back with me.  One thing I noticed is the lack of plastic bags on the roads, in fact, I was amazed to see a relatively clean country.  The reason: the government has completely prohibited the importation and use of plastic bags in the country.  

Wow, I thought that is good news,  when did they do that?  Apparently, in  November 2006 according to a BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6135886.stm).   The article is a bit disparaging, so I am please the government stuck to its strategy So, come on UK, we can do it too!!!

By the way if you are like me into making fabric bags there is a free pattern and tutorial today on the So Sew Easy site.  In fact, I sold my second tote bag on Folksy today too!!!  So I may retire to my sewing cabin later and try out this pattern too!

Suddenly there is space..

When the electrician came the other week I had to empty the built in wardrobe/cupboard so he could take up the floorboards above the supply box. When I put the clothes back I took out 4 more things that had not been worn for a year and one bath towel that was past its best.

Suddenly there was room to see what we had on the rail and space to put the towels back easily. So 4 years of downsizing and trying to live more simply is finally paying off.  I can easily see what I have to wear for the next two seasons (easily enough for day to day wear) and PLAN clothes needed for the winter to come.

My review revealed that the stretch jersey long sleeve tops will be long gone by the autumn. I had tried buying some in the fashion superstore last summer but they were in no better condition that ones I have had for years or brought from charity shop.  I am going to have another go at sewing some.  I have found a FREE pattern on Itch to Stitch blog.

These pdf patterns are quite easy to download. This one had 18 pages to print out and stick together to make the pattern. I am trying it out on some old TShirting material in my stash but I intend to buy some thicker jersey material - 1.5 metres needed. So should be under £8 for a good jersey top.

60p cushion

I had a terrible time with the numbing at the dentists this week, I could hardly see straight for about half an hour. So I went for a wander round the shops (trying not to dribble) to calm myself before trying to catch a bus home. (some buses were just not turning up - the 20 min between buses turned into nothing for 50 mins and then 3 bus loads tried to get on).

In the local fabric shop I could not find any thing to suit my fish pattern project but I found a piece of material in the bargain bin.  My husband has an oversize cushion on the settee, leftover from eldest son's settee about 8 years ago, which was nearly worn through.  The fabric square was 60p, the zip was from my stash of recycled bits and the backing fabric was left over from another project.

I put the zip in first as the fabric could be kept flat, left a couple of inches unzipped while I then went round the seams. Half an hour at most and the cushion was back on the settee looking bright and breezy.

Fish pattern

I really admired this rug in our holiday rent recently. A clever interlocking fish design.

I made a pattern using a piece of newspaper and have been working on it to get an accurate shape.

I am using some leftover curtaining fabric to mix and match like the original design.  Only - can you spot the error?

The thirds have to be even - if you want to do thirds in different designs and fit together!  I had to start again with the pattern.

The next trail pattern making was more successful.

I am thinking about how I can use this pattern for some future soft furnishing or quilting projects. I am going to look in the charity shops and bargain bins for some suitable materials.