A painted fabric roll, and didn't my fingertips suffer for it!

Over the last couple of days I've been sewing a fabric roll, using as a base this painted fabric. These were scraps of mainly cotton that I painted and stenciled with acrylic paint, then machine sewed together. It took me a while to figure out what I could make with this fabric rectangle, but I liked the idea of slow-stitching into it. Because the paint had stiffened up the material I didn't need any interfacing, but just added a backing fabric and began sewing lines of running stitch up and down to give the quilted effect I wanted.

The only drawback was that, as I noted earlier, the painted fabric had stiffened due to the painted effects, so pushing a needle into it was harder than it'd be with fabric in its natural state. I've never got to grips to using a thimble, so ended up with sore fingertips and some nicely developing callouses. However, after a few muttered curses, I eventually quilted the entire piece. Next I folded over roughly a third of it lengthways to create a pocket. Then sewed two further lines of running stitch to divide one long pocket into three. I added a couple of buttons to show where the pocket edges were. Afterwards I added a length of ribbon for a tie, and the fabric roll was done.

It can be bundled into a smaller roll, so the upper third folds down to form a top for the pockets, safely enclosing any small bits and pieces inside. As shown above and below.

Or if you can bundle the roll up with that upper third unfolded (if that makes sense.) As per below.

And here it is rolled up,

I'm definitely going to make another of these rolls, but next time I'll be kinder to my hands and choose softer material to work with.

Hope you enjoyed seeing what I've made, and thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, won't you?

Comments

Sari scraps, PVA, a couple of books and a necklace

I'm typing this as snow's falling, and has been steadily all day. It's not settling to any great extent, though I bet by tomorrow morning the paths will be slippery with ice. Which always makes me paranoid about falling over and at the very least looking undignified, but at worst breaking a bone or twisting an ankle. Oh well, it's ideal weather to stay inside and craft, isn't it? I finally got around to listing packs of sari scraps on Etsy this morning. I only made up six bundles as I've no clue whether they'll sell or if I've set a reasonable enough price point. Time will tell. This is a link to the listing, if you're interested. This vaguely pink fabric isn't from one of my Etsy packs. It's from a bit of experimenting I was doing yesterday. I'd seen a post on Instagram showing how a DIY version of batik could be done without using hot wax. The Instagrammer used PVA instead, and I wanted to try this out....

What are you watching? Part One

Another cold, bright day, and I spent the morning indoors, reluctantly dragging a vacuum cleaner around before getting down to the nicer task of adding wadding to the back of this patchwork. Backing fabric's now tacked on, and it's ready to be stitched. I also squeezed in some reading. I'm currently immersed in 'Transcription' by ever-excellent Kate Atkinson, who can be relied upon for a well-written book. The book I recently finished - hmm, not so good. I'd fancied a lightweight cosy crime, something easy, quick to read, and picked 'A Pen dipped in Poison' by J.M. Hall. Oh my, I've never come across a story in which so many people sigh. Characters sighing all over the place! There's a fair amount of frowning too, and one character is constantly depicted as stirring a cup of coffee, supposedly to indicate thoughtfulness. Seriously, if I was in a coffee shop with her I'd be snatching that spoon out of her hand and yelling 'For g...

HOW TO MAKE: these decorative birds

I suggested yesterday that I'd run through how to make a fabric bird wall or window hanging (can't think of a snappier title for it than that!) so here goes. I'll start with the first decorative hanging I made. It's something you could make in any colour combination you want, and would look good hanging at a window with translucent beads that'd catch the light I used five birds for this, but you could make it longer if you prefer. (Incidentally, if you're wondering about what's hanging off the bottom on this, it's a metal Christmas decoration, shaped like a lantern. For some reason I thought it looked appropriate to leave it there, looped over the end.) WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO GATHER TOGETHER: Assorted scraps of fabric for the front of the birds - aim for a mix of colours and textures. Silk looks good, as does anything with embroidery or intricate patterns. You might aim for a hippy-ish boho look, or maybe you're ...

rubykittyruby

Search This Blog