Wednesday 29 April 2015

Done, and done!

I finished the requested bag...
 Effective for a beach bag...
 and a simple back, with magnetic catch pocket,















and those useful pockets inside.


You can get a towel, the sun lotion, your sunglasses and your book in there, and still have room for a bottle of water, and any other little essentials..







so, having done that one, I thought I could proceed with another of my summer tops... I copied the neckline from a t shirt I already have, and I widened those sleeves a little, a bit more airy, in the hope of warmer weather!

So, now all I need is that warmer weather!

Sunday 26 April 2015

For fun

I have had a bag request, for a beach bag... so I have come up with this, so far..
 two pretty beach huts,




















and a towel and umbrella, to shade one from the sun...














so it is making some progress, slowly.

Pincushion winner

And we rolled a die earlier on, and there will be a pincushion to attach to the machine, coming your way Barbara!

I will message you privately.

UK bee  needs you!

If you are living in the UK, and fancy a little bee, please get in touch. The commitment is to one block per month, You send out approximately one fat quarter's worth of fabric, and give directions as to what you want made. Your bee mates will add to what you have sent, from stash, and try to fulfill ( and generally exceed) your wildest dreams...and post it back by the end of the month...

Want to see what we have done last year? have a wee look here, and you will see lots of things...

In the last 12 months these are some of the blocks I have made for the bee:










































 Please contact us if you would like to join in with us, and have some fun!






Monday 20 April 2015

A pincushion for your machine, and a small giveaway!

You saw the pincushion I made for my swap partner, and the one I made for myself, which happily fasten round the sewing machine? I have promised to write up a tutorial for this, so you may make one for yourself- if you do, please tell me, I would love to see your results!

This is the one I made originally, because I end up with a pile of pins beside my machine, and a scattering of them on the floor- I needed that pinnie ON the machine...
So, I made a few more for favoured people... including this one for my Tote bag swap partner...

And it seemed sensible to write  a tutorial for it- You can just make it up as you go along, after all, that is exactly what I did... Or you can follow a set of instructions...




This is a perfect pattern for using a few scraps!

So, what do you need?

Those scraps!

Some elastic, long enough to go round your machine, with a little tension on it,

Stuffing for the pin cushion

a button,
some wadding- tiny offcut- you shall see...

co-ordinating thread

snap fasteners


Ready to go?

Cut
4.5" square- for the back
2 coordinating strips, one each 2.5" wide by 5" long
strip about 30" long ( may vary, according to your machine-more later) 2.5" wide
Strip 2.5" wide by 5" long.


Elastic- My machine measures approx 23", so I cut my elastic at 20". It needs to be long enough to fit with a slight stretch.

 Start with the strips!

take your 2.5" x 5" strip. Fold in half along the length, WRONG sides together. Press. You now have a strip 1.25" x 5". Fold the raw edges in to the centre fold, and press.  The strip now measures 5/8" x 5".
Stitch close to each long edge.

Set aside.


Take your long strip, Fold along its length, RIGHT sides together, and stitch with a 1/4" seam. Turn Right sides out.
Now take your elastic, and attach a smallish safety pin to each end. Thread your elastic into the tube, and as the back end is trying to disappear into it, use that safety pin to attach it at that end, while you get the rest threaded through... The beauty of this is, if you lose the end up the tube, you will be able to retrieve it without pulling it right through and starting again...

You now have a piece of elastic inside a bunched up tube.
Machine stitch across both ends to anchor it firmly, remove safety pins, and then stretch the elastic and the tube, until the tube is full length, and let go, This should have distributed the excess evenly, to give a pretty ruffled effect.

Now you need to put ends on so you can fasten it.. This is what I do, but feel free to vary it, and use sewn poppers ( snap fasteners) or 'velcro'.

Cut two pieces of scrap, a little over 1/2" wider than your elastic strip, and about 3" long.

 Place the elastic strip on the end tab, as shown,



 Sew firmly in place. Turn it up the other way, and press.


Now take your offcut of wadding, and mark a piece the width of your elastic, and cut.


Tuck the end under the fold, and carefully press the sides in, to enclose the edges of the wadding, and the end over a little,




       


I use a needle to help get a neat fold over here, fold over and press, the stitch neatly in place.
and repeat for the other end.

I then attach 'kam snaps' as fasteners, they are quick and easy, and seem secure. Please attach whichever fastener you find easiest.







Set aside.

Pincushion. 




Place strips 2.5" x 5" right sides together, Stitch one long side with 1/4" seam allowance.  Press open your preferred way.
Now cut 2.5" off one end, turn and place right sides together, and stitch to make a four patch. Press open.











Now take the short strip you made, and place on the right side of your 4.5" square, not quite centrally, as below.









Stitch the ends in place, there should be some 'spare' at the ends..



Now place the four patch face down on top of this.
Sew, starting part way across one of the sides, and remembering to do your back stitches at the start, round all sides, but leaving a 2" gap, for turning and stuffing! Back stitch at the end.


Turn through the gap you have left, the strip will help if you get hold of that, and poke corners out quite neatly.
Now stuff it fairly solid!

Hand stitch the gap shut, and sew the button centrally .














You may find this slips over your hand quite neatly when required, Just be careful of the pins sticking out the other side...













You can now attach the pincushion to your machine in the best position for yourself,


If you would like to have one of these made by me, please leave a comment at the end- I am willing to ship wherever, -just tell me which two colours you would prefer!

and feel free to pass the message on, if you wish!

One lucky (?) person will get chosen at random on the 25th, in the evening!

Thursday 16 April 2015

sending...

So, I was in that tote bag swap, and I packed up my tote and posted it off. There may have been a couple of extra bits included... It is possible, for example, that one of these landed into the bag,













I had also made a couple of these pincushions to attach to the sewing machine lately, so  this one hopped into the bag....




 and then it felt like this dumpling should get involved as well... I am not quite sure why....














and then, one or two scraps of fabric somehow jumped out of my hands and tucked into pockets, too....

So a somewhat stuffed bag went off in the post... What do you mean? You haven't seen the bag proper yet??

Ohhh... well... How about this then?


with a zip pocket on the front.






















but not on the back,















and a variety of internal pockets to go at.
This went in the post a week ago, and I am impatient for it to arrive at it's destination. I do hope my partner loves it....













linking with Scraptastic Tuesday!




Scraptastic Tuesday

Wednesday 15 April 2015

ducks...

A friend of mine made a request. Not a big request, but a request nevertheless. She wanted a new peg bag. Anything would do.

That request must have been a year ago... and, until now, no peg bag.. I had never made a peg bag, I think..


Looks like a peg bag? 

Another job off the to-do list... 

Friday 10 April 2015

Received

The swap package from me has departed... and very swiftly, a swap package for me has arrived!

A 241 tote with extra goodies! A heavy purple linen, and a black fabric with those designs swilred on in stitches.. This is a most handsome bag- and an excellent size too! Beautifully made and with a label in, saying who made it- Not Yet the Dodo. 

All wrapped up in that purple trellis fabric, and with a pretty fabric purse designed with teacups on, and a pencil with an owl rubber, and a useful notebook to go with it!

What a lovely package to receive!

Thank you Mrs not yet a dodo!

it is perfect!

Sunday 5 April 2015

Belated...

I cannot believe I did not post about a great weekend from last month!

We had a mini international sewing retreat right here in my home!

Lovely ladies came, and stayed, and we went shopping for fabric, and we sewed! The ladies came from the Lazy Bums group, and only those who could come, came. I had the lovely cheeky monkey blogger from Austria via Galway, the amazing Strandkorbtraum from Germany, and the wonderful Fabraholic from Finland via Germany. Add me and my daughter into the mix and you get an international group, near enough.

We ate, we slept, some of us walked up a hill, some of us gardened ( come back, please and do some more!)




 yes we worked at it!


















fruits of our labours































 and we left some scraps in the bin, too!





























and the lovely Lucy joined us for the evening on the Saturday, too, A lovely treat.

Come back please ladies!
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