Saturday into Sunday

SATURDAY:  I had a list of things to do today and they didn't include much cleaning.  However, I got stuck into sorting out heaps of fabric and half-finished projects, and a corner of my sitting room now looks massively neater.  I should've taken a 'before' photo really, but it would've merely been a picture of a mess.

Now things are in clear plastic tubs and neat-ish piles, and I feel a whole lot better for it.  I'm convinced that if your head's in a muddle or you're stressing about the million and one things you imagine you ought to be doing, then you need to do one of the following.  Or preferably both.  

Go for a long walk.  

Clutter clear a section of your home.  By a section, that could mean a kitchen drawer, a shelf, your wardrobe, maybe an entire room.  In my case it was a bookshelf that acts as a sewing/fabric storage area.  My fabric stash is now divided up in colours.  The yellows and greens together.  Reds and browns.  Black, white and grey.  Blues.  There're separate tubs for my quilts-in-the-making.  Terry Rowland style blocks, Chris English style scrappy blocks, my 'winter' quilt of corduroy and velvety material.  There's also a tub with orphan blocks in it.  Odd little bits of stitching that I gathered together and hatched a plan to deal with.  I'm going to sew them together any old how, clashing colours and patterns, anything goes!  Then, the resulting fabric can be used for either a cushion backing or a quilt backing.  

I'm determined that 2024 is going to be the year when I get to grips with my many half-finished projects - either completing them or re-purposing them or finding another home for them.  This morning I've already bagged up a stack of large hexagons and hexagon rosettes made in the English paper piecing method.  My eyesight's not as sharp as it was, and realistically I'm not going ti make anything with these large hexs.  So it's off to the charity shop for them, and hopefully a keen sewist will see 'em and think she's got herself a bargain.  I've also got masses and masses of small EPP hexes.  Some made up into rosettes for a Granny's Flower Garden style quilt.  I might batch these up and try putting them on Etsy.  See if there's any interest.  

SUNDAY: Okay, it's late on Sunday afternoon, and I've no intention of staying up till midnight to see the New Year in.  I'm already in my PJs and I'm certainly not putting glad rags on and going out.  I thought I'd show you some pictures of what I did with the orphan blocks and odds & sods that I collected together when tidying up.  Basically, I sewed 'em together into one big piece of fabric.  

It looks mad, but I think it's fun, and it's better to use all these offcuts and scraps up in true Zero Waste style than to bin them, isn't it?  

I even used the strip of material that has these manufacturers marks, a series of numbers.  I love those two squares blocks of chunky crosses, might make more of those.  

There's a section of Slow Stitching here, with the pale blues and greys.  I'd sewn it as I just fancied stitching by hand, so it's good to find a practical use for it.  

Tonight, I'm watching an old episode of 'Strike' on the BBC iplayer, will read a little more of Wray Delaney's 'The Beauty of the Wolf' (reader review: 'hmmm, not bad but I'm reserving judgement') and drink copious amounts of tea.  Oh, and scoff the odd Bueno bar.  That's my final evening of 2023 sorted.  Hope you enjoy your New Year celebrations, whether they involve partying or pyjamas.  Have a good 'un, and let's raise a glass - or a teacup - to a new year and a fresh start.  January, here we come!  

Remind me again, what day it is?

It's that strange time of year, isn't it?  Twixtmas, the in-betweenie days between Christmas and New Year.  When we all regret overeating and overbuying and know we ought to move off the sofa and do something ... but it's dreary outside and Storm Gerrit's doing its thing right now.  All gusty wind and rain, meaning it's best to stay indoors and - well, maybe not lie for hours on the sofa but get crafty things done.  

Santa bought me some very welcome gifts on 25th.  Among them, two new gell plates, Pebeo paints and a handful of stencils.  I'm going to have fun with those.  But rather than get stuck into those I did some sewing instead.  Making more blocks for my Terry Rowland style quilt.  I've made roughly 125 so far, and probably need to make at least another 125 in order to get enough colours and patterns to achieve a pleasing colourwash effect.  

The postie called in the afternoon with an eBay parcel of new fabric, but it's not destined for patchwork blocks.  I bought a bundle of scarves and sari fabric.  The scarves were maybe the less successful purchase, but I'm much happier with the saris. (The colour in these photos isn't great.  They're much more vivid.)

The idea is to sell packs of fabric on Etsy, for fellow crafters who want to either make boho beads or decorate art journal covers, or make dolls clothes or who knows what!  When I was making my own boho style beads I was thinking about what fabric I'd ideally like for them.  That led me to decide I'd try and sell a selection of pretty materials myself.  I'm thinking about offering several pieces, maybe a dozen, in each pack, and for at least three or four of them to be reasonably sized.  Maybe 12 inch squares?  I want to include enough fabric that buyers feel they've got good value for money.  Tomorrow I'll put together a sample pack and play around until I'm happy that it's right.  

Hope you had a good Christmas, and that you're cosy and warm.  The days are getting longer now we've had the Winter Solstice, so let's look forward to 2024 and all the good things a new year can bring.  

I spy with my beady eye ...

 

Christmas present buying is done (even though I never feel I buy enough or get everything right), Christmas food shopping is done (and there are way too many calories lurking in cupboards, ready to ambush me with their sweet tasting treats.)  So, it's the ideal time to get stuck into some non-Christmas crafting.  Armed with a tube of Original Hi-Tack All Purpose Very Sticky Glue (that's a name that says it all!) I set about making a handful of boho beads.  

I've watched various YouTube tutorials, and most recommend you start off with a packet of drinking straws, cutting one of the straws up to make your basic bead shape.  The only issue with using a straw is that the resulting bead has wide openings at the top and base.  I think they look better if they're narrower at each end.  For a narrower bead it's easier to roll a piece of scrap paper around a thin knitting needle, or - what I found ideal - a spindly plant support cane.  I used copier paper initially for the beads, but a softer paper is easier to roll and stick down.  Such as a page from an old book (that's too tatty for the charity shop and only fit for re-purposing.)

Then it's a case of winding strips of fabric around your paper bead, adding glue to secure it.  Bright silky material works best if you're going for a boho look.  Ribbon with a bit of sparkle is perfect.  Your bead can be as plump or skinny, as long or short as you want.  The tacky glue I mentioned earlier does the job of keeping the fabric in place, though you do end up with fingertips coated in sticky gloopy dried glue.  Easily washed off though.  

After that it's a matter of inserting the wire, adding beads either end, and whatever embellishments you fancy.  The fabric looks pretty enough, but the beads can be prettified some more with seed beads and bugle beads threaded on to thin wire and wound around them.  I added Lurex Thread too, a bagful bought for a couple of quid in a charity shop, because I knew it'd come in handy sooner or later.  

You can jazz up your boho beads to your heart's content as this isn't a craft for anyone who's into minimalism.  It's also a good way of using up any single earrings or broken necklaces or bracelets that you have.  You could add sequins or even little bells, like the kind you'd find on a cat's collar.  Anything goes! 

These are the ones completed so far, and I'm happy with how they've turned out.  Not certain what I'll use them for, possibly something to hang at a window where they'll catch the light.    

Hope you like 'em, and you're welcome to leave me a comment if you do.  (Of course, if you don't like them then you're welcome to keep your opinions to yourself ... 😉 )  Have fun! 

Defeated by the zipper foot

I'm not a natural when it comes to using a sewing machine.  Any use of it is usually accompanied by some rather 'industrial' language.  But I decided to finally tackle the tricky business - or would it be easy? - of inserting a zip using the machine.  I gave the zipper foot a go, but couldn't get along with it at all.  My stitches slid all over the place, and any sewing was followed by copious amounts of unpicking.  Sweary unpicking.  

Here's one of my errors.  Gap should've been left in the lining, not the outer fabric of the pouch.  Doh!

However, reverting to a standard foot and following the simplest of patterns for a lined zip-up pouch I managed to get three pouches made and three zips working fine 'n' dandy.  They're not 100% perfect - a wee bit lumpy and bumpy - but they're good enough.  

I realise other people will be able to knock up one of these in ten minutes flat, but for me doing something like this is a big deal.  Making a full sized patchwork quilt pieced from hundreds of hexagons?  Yeah, I don't break a sweat.  But faced with any kind of machinery my brain generally turns to mush.  But I'll soldier on, and hopefully my pouches will look sleeker and I'll progress to more complicated patterns.  

As ever, YouTube is my friend in circumstances like this.  How-to-make videos can be endlessly rewound, slowed down, they're full of tips and good advice.  Honestly, I wonder how we managed before online access became as easy as tapping away at a smartphone.  Trips to the reference library and instructional manuals are almost a thing of the past.  

These two Christmassy pouches will be used to pop presents in, making them two-in-one gifts.  By the way, the zips are upcycled.  If you're cutting up charity shop bought clothing for patchwork or other sewing projects, then the easiest thing in the world is to save buttons, hooks & eyes, zips and any decorative trim that might come in useful.  Plus, I've been saving cuffs and collars from mens shirts, as well as denim pockets from jeans.  Waste not, want not, don't you reckon?  

Handmade boho beads

As a distraction from wrapping Christmas presents, I had a try at making boho style fabric beads this morning.  My efforts would've been a lot more successful if I'd got the right glue ... but more of that in a while.  

The bead shape is easily made, using a paper straw as your base.  If you haven't any straws then improvise, as I did, by rolling a piece of paper around a paintbrush handle or a pencil, securing it with double sided tape.  Then it's a case of winding little pieces of brightly coloured fabric around the paper tube and adding a dab of glue to keep them in place.  I used Decoupage Medium as my sticking agent as I'd got it to hand, but PVA would've been fine.  As far as cotton fabric was concerned that is.  

You see, the problem came when I tried using the Decoupage Medium to stick ribbon.  Fine gauzy ribbon, slippery satin, petersham ribbon, none of 'em would stay stuck, and I doubt PVA would've been any more effective.  I think Fabritac or another glue specifically for fabric is what's required, so my bead making is put on hold until I can buy some.  

I did manage to complete two beads, and here's how - once you've wound whatever fabric you want around your paper tube, you take a thin length of wire.  Florists wire or similar.  Take a pair of round nosed pliers and bend a loop in one end of the wire.  Thread on a bead or two on to the wire before pushing the wire's tail inside the bead.  When it pops out the other end you add more beads before using pliers again to bend the wire around the final bead and cut off any spare.  You can add any charms you want or thread seed beads on to wire or thread and wind those around your fabric, or stick on sequins or whatever you fancy to prettify your bead and give it that boho vibe.  (If my instructions aren't too clear, simply head over to YouTube and you'll find several videos by various crafters showing you step-by-step how to make these.)   

Let me know if you've had a go at making these already as I'd love to see what you've created.  Enjoy your weekend.  Bye! 

 

The unicorn's stolen the top spot!

The tree went up on Monday, and it's got more baubles hanging off its branches than you'd find in a John Lewis Christmas department.  I may have gone a wee bit over the top, but then Christmas is a time of excess, isn't it?  I haven't an overall theme for the tree - there are sparkly stars and frosted apples Christmas puds, cats in Santa hats, snow topped red pillar boxes, a couple of reindeer, plus lots of birds nestling among the greenery.  The grumpy looking fairy, who came from my mum's house and which I remember as a little kid so it's proper vintage, has been relegated to halfway up the tree, while a silver sequinned unicorn in a tutu is occupying the top spot.  

Getting all the decorations out of their hideaway in the spare bedroom and having everything strewn across the floor meant I began tidying up that room.  Which had become a dumping ground for clothes, cardboard boxes and bubble wrap packaging from online purchases, old DVDs, electrical equipment that's waiting for a trip to the tip/recycling centre.  I had a major clutter clear, which was weirdly enjoyable, and I felt very virtuous as I took bags of stuff to the charity shop.  Plus sorted several paperbacks for the charity bookshelf in my local Co-op.  I organised and labelled craft supplies, and put aside clothes to try and sell on eBay.  Clutter clearing is definitely good for mental health, I reckon.  You feel calmer having bought order to even just a small area of your life, and with Christmas being such a manic time - shops getting rammed, endless cheesy Santa songs over the tannoy until you're sick of 'em - we all need a little oasis of calm here and there.  

I finally finished reading 'The Mercies', which as predicted was very good but grim, given its storyline about the witch burnings, and am about to embark on Bridget Collins 'The Betrayals'.  I've high hopes for that as I enjoyed her previous book 'The Bindings'.  My reading seems to really slowed down this year.  Too much staring at screens instead of book pages.  Ahh, the seductive power of box sets on the iplayer and crafty videos on YouTube.  

The other thing I've been doing this week is messing about with another scrappy piece of patchwork.  After vowing to finish the partially completed projects I've got on the go, I forgot all about that good intention!  But in its favour this quilt top's growing like topsy and is so simple to sew.  

Each block is only three fabrics.  The plain rectangle is 6 inches x 8, and the two patterned strips are each 3 inches wide.  Easy peasy.  

I've tried to be as scrappy as possible, using any and all colours, not bothering about them clashing.  I think I'll make this single bed sized, and use a suitably scrappy binding.  I haven't got a single length of fabric large enough for the backing, so that'll be cobbled together from whatever substantial pieces of material I have in my stash.  After decades spent slow-stitching with English paper piecing hexagons, it's very freeing to machine sew blocks together.  You work at such a faster speed.  Eventually I'll hand quilt this scrappy patchwork as I like how hand sewing softens the hard lines.  

Right, that's all for now.  I need to wrap presents, and finally get around to writing Christmas cards before I miss the last posting day.  Bye! 




 

Oops! I seem to have bought more crafty clutter ...

I'm supposed to be cutting down on the crafty clutter, using up my existing supplies and not buying new.  But ...  

Sometimes you have to snap up a bargain when it's put under your nose.  A fiver bought me a bagful of ribbons - always useful to have a selection - and three printing stamps from a local charity shop.  Someone who'd previously been into papercrafting must've had a massive clean out 'cause there were dozens of stamps, a Sissix machine, and all kinds of odds & ends in the shop.  

When this kind of thing happens, It's like you get little glances into strangers lives.  Suddenly the charity shop's home to dozens of books about stamp collecting or DVDs about steam trains.  There are a shelf full of Mills & Boon paperbacks or stacks of maps and field guides. It's always poignant when you see several packs of Tena as it's very likely an elderly person's died and the family's had to clear out their house.  A grim task that many of us have to do at some point.

But back to my bargains - I also spent a fiver on this lot.  Blank cards and envelopes, a carrier bag full of 'em, purchased via marketplace on Facebook.  

I'm going to try printing on to cards, or maybe cutting up gell prints and making collages.  Possibly doing a wee bit of 'textile art' too, little embroideries, that kind of thing.  It'll keep me occupied during the dull, long days of January, when we're all broke and overfed and desperate for sunshine and milder weather.  

On to other matters:  I came across several scrappy blocks that needed joining together while I was searching for something else.  So I got that small task done.  

I also made a couple more of these mini fabric dolls.  I'd previously made two of them, but thought the method of sewing them together required a few tweaks.  I reckon this couple will end up dangling from the Christmas tree along with various homemade snowmen and sparkly fairies.  

I don't go in for co-ordinated, restrained tree decorations, all matchy-matchy and super stylish.  My tree gets overloaded with anything and everything!  I was going to put up the decorations today, but got side tracked.  I'll give the front room a good clean tomorrow, then up goes the tree.  It's an artificial one as my housewifey skills don't run to hoovering up endless pine needles that've embedded themselves in the carpet, even though a real tree's a joyful thing and smells wonderful.  

Right, that's all for now.  Enjoy what's left of your weekend.  Bye! 

 

Should've worn a lot more clothing!

                                         (shopping in Leeds can be a glamorous business!)

THURSDAY:    

I thought I was well wrapped up yesterday, but obviously not.  I've always been one of those people that feel the cold, but maybe that gets more deeply felt as we get older?  Anyway, I could've done with a few post-menopausal hot flushes as the weather was dry but flipping freezing  when I hopped on an early bus to town for an art class.  It was held at the city art gallery, a free two hour taster session about lino cutting.  I've played around with lino printing years ago, but was happy to be re-introduced to the craft.  The group of about a dozen were all women, and given the session was held during the day, it was mainly 'Women of a Certain Age'!  Though there was a young woman in her early twenties who was there with her mum, which was very sweet.  Firstly, we were shown the latest gallery hangings and then it was a brief explanation of how to come up with a simple design, and how to use the cutting tools.  There were some photocopied images to inspire us - poppy seed heads, leaves, that sort of thing.  The lino we used wasn't the kind many of us would've encountered years ago.  Those hard red clay tiles with hessian backing.  The ones where you had to soften them up on a radiator, otherwise they'd be a struggle to cut into.  These new versions were pale, softer blocks, much easier to carve shapes in.

I went for a stylized teasel, though it kind of ended up looking like a spider or some weird sea creature!  The cutting around the teasel was done with scissors, as I hadn't a craft knife, so the overall teasel was fairly crude, but it was only a practise piece after all.  To print with we used oblongs of simple calico and tubes of Speedball fabric paint, and I was fairly pleased with how my teasel turned out.  

Unfortunately we ran out of time, the session going over its two hour slot, so there wasn't a chance to do any embroidery, apart from the tiniest bit of running stitch.  But I might turn at least one of these teasels into a pincushion.  

Enthused by this, I couldn't help nipping into Hobbycraft afterwards and buying my own lino cutting tool and a couple of small tiles.  

Back home and slightly de-frosted, I carved into the teasel shape some more, and a sharp craft knife definitely worked way better than scissors.  Printing on to paper, this version looked more teasel like.  Though the acrylic paint wasn't ideal for the purpose, so I'd need to buy some printing paint when funds allow.  

FRIDAY: 

Well, I meant to post this yesterday, but my photos were taking ages to upload, and I didn't end up getting it done.  Friday's arrived and the day's weather forecast reckons it won't rain.  In a spirit in optimism I've pegged washing out on the line, hoping some of the moisture might be dried out of it before I drape a load of damp laundry over the radiators.  (No tumble dryer, you see.)  

This morning I had a sudden urge to make a brand new quilt, so I began pulling out fabrics from my stash, going for a range of blues.  Then, I deliberately put the brakes on.  Nope, not a sensible idea to start yet another quilt when I've several in various stages of construction.  With heartfelt sighs and rolling of eyes I decided to make progress with my existing unfinished pieces.  I dragged out this denim quilt that'd sat on a shelf for ages.  I'd made the patchwork top, then wanted a tomato red fabric for the backing.  However, I didn't have anything tomato red and never got round to buying any.  

Which was probably a good thing as I really need to use up the material I've got instead of constantly buying new.  If I don't, then I'm just being consumerist.  Acquiring more, not out of need but because I want it.  Of course, anyone who quilts wants a decent stash of fabric from which to work, with a variety of colours and patterns.  But there's no use buying such a volume of stuff that it merely becomes clutter and goes un-used.  

Anyway, I picked out a pretty print for the backing, with orange foxes that actually look good along with the blue denim.  

I sewed the backing on, and am tying the three layers of denim, wadding and backing fabric together with red embroidery thread.  Which unfortunately I've run out of.  But I'm pleased to have got within sight of the finishing line with this project.  

This is the other quilt I've made progress with today.  It was complete except for the binding which was pinned but not stitched.  To my annoyance I discovered a few pins had gone rusty - it must've been where they'd previously come into contact with glue and the moisture had caused the rust - so I've had to improvise to cover those small marks.  I rummaged in my button tin and gathered together several white buttons, the size you'd get on men's shirts.  I've been sewing these on to disguise the marks and that's worked out well.  Note to self: be more careful with your dressmaking pins!  That's a lesson learnt, believe me.  

Finally, as if this wasn't enough, my sitting room carpet is currently half-covered by quilt blocks, from what's intended to be my second Chris English inspired scrappy quilt.  I'm in the process of pinning the individual blocks together in twos, then in blocks of four.  Maybe that'll be my occupation for this evening?  Unless I've run out of creative energy by that point.  Hmm, let's see what today brings.  

It's been snowing ...

 

The snow's not fallen deep and crisp and even, but lightly and for the time being everything looks pretty and kind of magical.  I set off fairly early this morning for church, walking along 'The LInes', a disused railway track that's now a combined bridle path, cycle way and footpath, home to joggers and dog walkers a-plenty.  Not this morning though.  It was beautifully peaceful. 

I think these are hawthorn berries, and they look like ruby coloured jewels with their white frosting.  

I'd wrapped up warmly, double gloved too, so I was cosy enough despite the chill air.  

I tried to capture details of how the snow had fallen on individual plants and seedheads.  

Love the contrast between the white snow and the carpet of fallen brown and gold coloured leaves.  

It's after 2pm now, and I'm home and not intending to head outside again.  It's an afternoon of sewing, nibbling on chocolate and reading more of 'The Mercies, a novel I'm enjoying but I'm wondering how many of the central characters are going to make it alive to the end of the story!  

Hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.  

Fabric printed mini dolls

I've been wanting to play around with printing on fabric, and decided to have a go after watching this video.  Making these stylised dolls looked fun, and as they were unlikely to be washed then using acrylic paint instead of specific fabric paint would be good enough.  They're also not intended to be put in the hands of young children because of the beads (dangers of choking).  So, like the birds I sewed the other day, they're meant to be decorative rather than functional.  

I started out by finding pieces of plain white cotton in my stash.  I gell printed on them in mainly yellow, orange and red, then used stencils to add more detail and colour.  

After letting the fabric dry overnight, I cut out two squares using a quilt ruler as a guide. 

I added a loop of ribbon, pinning that in place at what'll be the top centre of the front of the doll.  Then folded the square in half lengthways.  So now you've got a long thin rectangle,  

I machine sewed the side seam together.  Then keeping the fabric wrong sides out I moved the fabric so the seam ran down the centre of what'll be the doll's back.  Then - after a couple of attempts that didn't quite work - I used a lip balm tin to mark a semi circle, and machine-sewed that.  

I trimmed the edges around the dolls shoulders, and turned the fabric right side out.  

The doll was lightly padded out with polyester wadding.  

I used a strong thread to string several beads, as well as pieces of a broken necklace and part of an earring.  Tucking them into the gap at the base of the doll, I turned the fabric's raw edges under and machine sewed the gap closed.  

That was fiddly and I didn't do a great job.  On one of the dolls my stitching was so dodgy I covered it over with a strip of gold coloured washi tape! 

Creating the doll's face was done with a circle of white felt.  I drew on it with gel pens, then used a little acrylic paint to stencil on what's meant to be the doll's hair.  The face is attached with a generous amount of decoupage medium, though I'm sure PVA would do just as well.  

These are the finished dolls, and as first attempts they're not too bad.  

If I was making these dolls again, I'd embroider the face instead of drawing it on, doing that first of all, before the step where you add the ribbon loop.  I might still use white felt, but once I'd embroidered the doll's features I'd hand-sew the circle in place on the square of fabric instead of gluing it.  

I'd also prefer to have the gap through which you add the stuffing on the back seam, instead of at the base.  Maybe I'll have a fiddle about and make a third doll to get things exactly how I'd want 'em.  

Let me know if you have a go at these yourself.  I'd love to see them.