*NEW*

February 15, 2012

My Old Irons

These are my antique irons....

The brass one I received from my grandmother many years ago and I treasure it.

My husband purchased the other two for me, when we were planning our move off-grid. He thought I could use those to iron my fabrics when our power was limited.

The clunky one on the left, with the removable handle sits as a door stop, and the one on the right has been useful when I need something heavy to hold down something.

I prefer to wait until there is enough power and use my electric iron, instead of taking the chance at scorching my fabrics :)

Have a comment?
Let me know!

~~~

December 8, 2011

Ribbon Needle Book

In my sewing box that I keep next to my hand sewing chair, I've always had bits of fabric scraps with different needles and special pins that I use for all of my sewing.

I always wanted to make myself a needle book to keep these in.
Recently I enjoyed putting one together which I made out of a lovely piece of ribbon I had in my collection.

I cut a matching felt piece to sew on the backside of the ribbon (folding the ends of the ribbon in first), and blind-stitched it to the back of the ribbon, being careful not to stitch through to the front.

I then cut (with pinking shears) a few slightly smaller pieces of felt.
I stitched them together with embroidery floss, and stitched these pages to the center of the ribbon section.

I also stitched a small pocket on the back cover, to keep a needle threader handy.

Now I can keep all of my different needles & special pins that I use for a variety of sewing & embroidery jobs.

~~~

October 3, 2011

Blocking & Pinning Tips

One advantage of having this space is it allows me to share some of my favourite tips with you.

I personally have never been able to sew a perfect block, with perfect seam allowances, which effects how the whole finished quilt top sews together, as each 1/16th of an inch can add up to a significant amount in the finished size.

What I came up with early in my quilting, was to draw a line at the 'finished size', with a mechanical pencil, on the back of each unit or block. I use the line as a guide to pin to the next block, plus to sew along. The final result may have the blocks slightly off, or 'charming' in the quilt top, but the final quilt top itself lays flatter and in the end the finished quilt is nicer.

The 'Blocking' how to page, that describes the technique step by step, is available by request (free) here.

I start with a fine grade piece of sandpaper and tape it to a cardboard with masking tape.

I lay the unit or block with the wrong side up onto the sandpaper (or rough section of my cutting mat if the block is larger), and center a ruler (the finished block size I need if I have one, otherwise I use a ruler the closest to the size) onto the back of the unit.
Draw a 'sewing' line, with the mechanical pencil, around the ruler.

This gives you good corners and makes up for any uneven sewing. You can trim any extra seam allowance, if you wish to take the time.

Pin your blocks together using this pinning trick:

Place a pin in each corner of both the two blocks you are joining. Don't anchor them. Hold the pin perpendicular (90*) with your first two fingers (underneath) and your thumb on top. Now place an anchor pin (going in at an angle) beside it. Do the same for the other corner, and a few times in between, making sure you are matching up the two sewing lines. This pinning method keeps the blocks from shifting out of place.

When you combine both of these tips I promise your quilt tops will end up neater.

~~~

August 31, 2011

Thread Catcher Tip

To catch the thread bits that I clip or pick off my patches, as I sew by my sewing machine I kept a small piece of scrap cotton batting...But this had to be pinned to the rubber mat that sits under my machine.
When I came across a large covered button in my stash, this idea came to me!

I removed the shank on the back, cut a circle of cotton batting, and put this thread catcher together.
Having a sticky felt circle the right size for the back, I added it to finish it off.

Now it sits in front of my machine, and magically holds the threads until I'm ready to move the batch accumulated, into a large 'tiny fabric bits' tin, which I save to stuff pet beds (older pillowcases) to donate to my local animal shelter!

~~~

August 11, 2011

A Sewing Machine Cover

I've always wanted a sewing machine cover to keep the dust from my machine, when I'm not using it.

I hadn't seen any that I really liked until recently, when I came across one that was made from a decorated old pillowcase, which did appeal to my 'reuse' gene.
After trying to find a nice one in my linen closet, and the town second-hand shop, I discovered there were no old pillowcases that would fit around my machine.

Not giving up the idea of the reused pillowcase, I remembered I had a homemade cream-coloured curtain I wasn't going to use, that I could sew into a shortened pillowcase shape.

Here's how I made my sewing machine cover, in case you want to make your own.
I measured around my machine and the height, adding a few inches to the measurements for the seam allowances.
To decorate it, I used the 'Sewing Machine' block from my Rose Cottage quilt pattern, placing it in the centre of the strip of fabric I had cut out of the curtain.
[I designed mine with the one side seam at the back.]
I hemmed the bottom edge, and added some trim and eyelet lace from my stash.

I then stitched the sides together using a French seam to keep the inside clean of threads.
A simple seam was used to finish the top opening.

I really love how it turned out, and am enjoying what it has added to my sewing area!
If you make your own, send me a picture, as I'd love to see it!

~~~

July 12, 2011

Repurposing Tip

I really like reusing items like tins, as storage for my sewing items.

I found this tin perfectly holds my large spool of basting thread, so I turned the lid upside down, on a piece of wood, and hammered a nail gently through the center of the lid.

I pull the thread through the hole, as I need it, and now the spool stays dust free and looks much prettier!

~~~

July 5, 2011

A New Place to Share My Sewing Room

I like to decorate my sewing area with inspiring items, interesting jars, tins and baskets. These treasures of mine above are extra special to me. They include my Mothers' Sewing Box, the Brass Iron I received from my Grandmother, an antique spool holder, button box, and other sewing notions I like to use.

Some things you might already know about My Creative Space...

I received this very cracked Delft Blue egg cup, that my parents repaired and saved.
I love it, with the pretty blue and white on top of the heavy metal base, and believe it or not, it brings back such wonderful memories from my childhood.
I have grand plans to transform it into a pincushion, to use when I hand sew in my big comfy chair.
[By posting it here, I've now committed myself...and I'll post a picture when I get it done!]

I've just begun transforming a section of the 'panelling' that makes up the walls of the main room/studio of our new off-grid home.
It's all inspiration, with pictures of loved ones and things, that I've modge-podged directly onto the panelling.
I printed the pictures onto thin cardstock first, to preserve the original picture, and included a fabric swatch and favourite ribbons to fill some spaces.

This is the very first quilt top I began at 13.
I loved Little House on the Prairie and the quilts on their beds, plus I was learning to sew on the sewing machine.
Like many quilters, I was given my first needle and spool of thread at 6, taught how to hand sew and never looked back.
I had saved fabric scraps from my mom (who loved to sew clothing) to make into doll clothes.
Without a pattern or instructions I made the 9-patch blocks from these scraps of fabric.
You can see that they didn't line up well at all, as I had not considered the variation that could occur...and I even used fake fur from a puppet my mom made for my brother.
That's the best part of this keepsake. There are fabrics from clothing and aprons my mom and even my grandma wore.

I designed this Rose Cottage ~ A Sewing Room Quilt for my studio.

I enjoy using this Victoriana Sewing Kit I designed for my hand sewing and applique.

I also love looking at the Victoriana Dresdens Colour Wheel which inspires me with colour.

The Block of the Month in 2010 was Celebrating Words. I made this 'Believe' sign to display in a wooden hoop and it hangs in my sewing room.

The plan is to add some projects and ideas that I hope to add to my studio, that I will share with you here.

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