It has been a long time since I posted anything, times has flown by! I hope this post finds everyone well and happy!
Finally I have prepared my first online course! In this course you will realise a beautiful needlebooks completely hand sewn. This video course will teach you how to make these wonderful needlebook from scratch. You will learn how to:
-collage your fabrics -how I approach colour and texture -how to create your base with invisible stitches -further embellishing your pieces with laces and embroidery -how to construct the needlebook -ideas for future projects using similar techniques.
No sewing machine is required, just a needle and thread.
Both
beginners and advanced sewers will enjoy this course, you can make the
needle books as simple or as embellished as you like.
This
course is nearly 3 hours and has been divided into segments of
approximately 30 mins (give or take) so you can easily complete this
project at your leisure. Picking it up and putting it down as time
permits.
Here's a great basket making tutorial! You can make them in an array of colours and sizes, just experiment a little and see how they turn out. You can also make placemats and pot mats as well. They make for fabulous original gifts!
So gather up those scraps and let's get started! You will need: Fabric scrap strips - approximately 1-1.5cm wide (1/4''-3/4'') in a variety of colours Rope - no wider than 6mm (1/8'') as it needs to fit under your sewing machine foot
Step 1:Prepare your strips of fabrics. I divide mine into colours and keep them in zip lock bags. I like to have more linen and hemp strips as I use these the most. This way whenever you are sewing something and have some scraps you can just put them directly in a bag. Step 2: Decide whether you are going to do a mixed colour baskets or just blue etc. Step 3: Put your machine on the zig zag stitch. I have mine set on a 2.5 stitch size. You don't want the stitches to be too small as they need hold the basket together. Step 4: Take the end of the rope and your first strip, wrap it twice around the end, pin. Please note I do not cut my rope at this point I cut it at the end when I feel what I'm making is large enough.
Proceed to wrap slightly diagonally along the rope until the length of the strip is finished.
When you arrive to the end take your next strip and start wrapping where the last one ended. Make sure you overlap them and place a pin where they join.
Proceed in this manner until you have covered a large amount of rope. I normally sit and wrap the rope for 30-60 minutes and then start sewing. This way I don't have to start and stop sewing all the time. It's quite a long, boring job so I put on my favourite TV program (My Kitchen Rules Aust) and watch that. It makes it a little less painful!!! I ended up wrapping nearly 7 meters for this basket.
If I find I need to wrap more I will do so whilst my project is still in the sewing machine.
Step 5: Take the end and start to wrap into a coil as shown in the photo. Place a pin through it to hold.
Place it under the sewing machine foot, remove the pin and zig zag back and forth to hold.
Start to sew around catching both pieces of rope with the zig zag stitch. As you can see in the photo the center of the foot travels in the center between the rope so the stitches catch both sides.
Continue going around until the base is the size you would like. Please note with my left hand I guide the piece in a circle and with my right hand I hold the loose rope close so the machine catches it.
My base was approximately 14.5cm (6'').
Step 6: Building up the sides. Now hold the base up at a 90° angle and continue sewing around as before.
Your left hand will hold the base up and the righthand will continue holding the loose rope close so the machine catches it.
As you continue around you'll see the sides slowly build up. It's pretty cool and fun!
When you decide your sides are high enough cut off the rope, make sure the end is wrapped and covered with fabric, hold it as close to the basket as possible and stitch backwards and forwards to secure it.
My 6.8m of wrapped rope made a basket with a base 14.5cm (6'') diameter and sides 6cm (2.25'') high. Please note: if you run out of wrapped rope in the middle of stitching. Just stop and wrap some more the same way you did in the beginning. I don't even remove my project from the machine. I just stop sewing and start wrapping. To make placemats or pot mats you start as before following steps 1 to 5. I used about 4m of wrapped rope to create a decent sized pot mat.
Towards the end cut the rope.
If you want to create a loop, tuck the end in between your 2 layers and hold firmly.
First I stitch back and forth towards the loop. Just a little way to make it strong.
Then I stitch a little way to attach is to the rest of the mat.
To make a place mat you will probaby need 8-10m of wrapped rope depending on how large you want it. When you come to the end just end it off the same way you did the basket. To finish mine off I just randomly stitched some fabrics around the edges.
As you can see even though the rope wrapping part is a little boring I love making them and now have quite a collection!!!! I would love to hear your thoughts about this and how you go should you decide to make some sweet baskets!
Lastly, I am not an expert basket maker but I thought I'd share how I make mine! Thanks for reading! Best wishes Rachel
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A problem
most of us who sew face is how to store our ever growing supply of
fabrics, trims, buttons and so on! It's such a dilemma!
It's easy
when you first buy a fat quarter or meter of fabric and haven't cut into
it yet, but what happens when you start using it and have uneven bits
hanging off it everywhere???? This for me is when the mess begins! So first
of all where do you store your fabrics? On shelves, in drawers, in
plastic bins??? With what logic do you categorize them? There are so
many possiblities! I'll tell you what works for me but I would love to
hear other ideas as I'm always trying to improve my organisational
system! Here are my categories: 1. Large,
small pieces of fabric and scrap pieces - Large pieces go on shelves,
fat quater pieces go in drawers and scrap pieces go in Ikea plastic
containers
2. Colours - all of the above are divided into colours
3. I have a separate draw for geometrics - stripes, checks, dots etc - this one is always a mess! 4. Antique hemp, old tea towels, old sheets etc - go on their own shelf
5. Antique florals - on their own shelf
6. Mid to heavy weight stripes - all together
7. Plains - all together
8. Vintage embroidered tablecloths, tray cloths etc - folded in plastic containers + they are divided into coloured and plain
Then
there's the tiresome task of keeping them tidy. When they are a mess I
can't find anything does anybody else have that problem??? I found a
fabulous method on Pinterest that has revolutionized my shelves! I
blogged about this a couple of weeks ago. You can read about it here. This just
the fabrics, of course we don't only have fabrics do we??? We have trims,
felt, buttons, zippers, batting, threads and the list goes on. Some I
have successfully stored and others not so well! Maybe someone can
suggest some better methods! For my
trims (old and new) and smaller doilies I have these fabulous Ikea
drawers. They have dividers! I wrap them on trim cards and store them in
rows. This works quite well but does need to be tidied fairly often!!!
For my antique trims I made some fabric baskets that fit nicely into the drawers.
These
classic wooden Ikea drawers are great for zippers, sewing machine
threads and so on. I decorated mine with some lovely gift wrapping paper
I found on a visit to Melbourne. When I was home in Sydney I saw my
sister had done hers this way and loved it.
I love
antique and vintage tins and have been collecting them over the last
year. I love these for my buttons! And they look so pretty to have
around!
My felt is
a bit of a mess to be honest! I divide the felt into colours and slip
them into large bags and have them in a largish plastic container. It's
rarely in order so is a continual thorn in my side! Any suggestions????? There are
many ideas on Pinterest for storing fabric in a tidy fashion. I guess
the method you choose depends on how much space you have. My sewing room
is small so I have shelves along one wall, I like to see my larger
pieces of fabrics there. Earlier
this year I bought Margaret Sampson George's book and was interested to
read she stores her fabrics in plastic containers based on large and
small prints. I considered trying this method but feel dividing by
colour is better for me.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I would love to hear what works for you! If so please leave a comment below. Do you want to stay in the loop? If sosign uphere to receive discounts, first dibs on new products and sales, freebies and tutorials.
Right now I love paper, old and new, coffee dyed paper, old lace and vintage/antique fabrics.
If you read my previous post you'll know I'm loving sewing paper. Ideas are flying around in my head, what type of book shall I make next, and how can I incorporate textiles into those books???
Since my last post, in between orders, I have made another book (technique fom MAM's 'Stitch Bookery' course). I'm really excited about this one! I'll blog about this in a few weeks as it's not quite finished and needs to arrive to it's destination first! Here's a sneek peek though to give you an idea!
I have other ideas for these wonderful stitched books and am itching to get started! Some special travel journals as a gift. Many images have come from Pinterest! Maybe I will be able to work on these this weekend??? Orders first , then I can play!
Back to my main passion, textiles both old and new! I'm always looking to create new items with these wonderful pieces and give them new life! Recently I made these cushion for a market I participated in. They are so florally and feminine! They will be going in my shop in the next few days.
I recently revisited some other items I used to make for little girls. Sweet pillows and girlie totes. These too will soon be listed in my shop. I'm a little slow at keeping things up to date. I keep getting distracted!!!
Finally, the weather has cooled to the mid to high 20s, thank heavens no more high 30s, I couldn't take it anymore! This my favourite time of the year, the weather is perfect! It's an inspiring time to work! Do you want to stay in the loop? If sosign uphere to receive first dibs on new products and sales.
