Buttons and Bobs

Having lots of fabric scraps that seem to pretty to just throw away I decided to experiment sewing on card. I am not naturally artistic so I spend lots of time sorting and resorting colours.  Which colours do you think go well together? Well I soon found that though I have a lot of scraps, it is hard to find any that match the ideas in my head. My first attempt reminds me of a windmill on a giraffe's neck.  I made a template for the design. Sizing it to the front of the folded card. Then I drew each part of the design on to the back of the fusible web. The flower petals are symmetrical  so there was nothing extra to remember  but the stem and leaf are not. I had to reverse my templates for the stem and leaf so that they wiould be facing the correct way when they were placed on the final card. I cut out the pieces, peeled off their paper backings  and arranged the pieces on the card one by one to iron in place. I abandoned the idea of a le...

Fighting moths We haven't seen moths flying out of wardrobes as some people describe on the internet. What we do have are small chewed holes in our best clothes. One cold day I put on a pair of new Christmas present, unworn,  cashmere gloves and they were like colanders!  We have tried just about every product on Amazon, thrown out clothes that have been affected, frozen best gloves and scarves. Our moth visitors like only the natural best so my clothes purchases are becoming more and more polyester. Alongside new lavender sprays, moth catchers and storage bags from Lakeland I am making lavender bags. If you get a strong smell of lavender you'll know this old lady is approaching.  We have a lot of lavender in the garden. I have cut it whilst fresh and I'm trying a variety of ways of drying it.   Stripped of leaves I have bundles hanging to slow dry in a dark shed. A googled guru says this is the best way to keep the colour and scent. Elastic bands woul...

These shorts were a quick make  using another free pattern from Oliver and Schwinn. Clear instructions.    I like long shorts!  I added an inch to the length to this pair for a three year old. Fingers crossed they will be a good fit.  Later... They are a bit baggy on the waist so the elastic needs to be cut down.   The little model reports that she will be able to run fast in them but it may be that they will drop to her hips if she moves far.  I'm glad I did not add more than an inch to the length.  I do like the Oliver and Schwinn pattern. The things that need to be altered on this pair of shorts are my adaptions to the pattern.

Finished! I learned a lot.  The written instructions were clear and friendly. I think the bright illustrations and the booklet form help a lot too. I thought  I was being extravagant in buying this pattern  but I like it a lot and I will  definitely use it again.  Tilly and the Buttons Coco tunic with funnel neck and three quarter cuffed sleeves.

My sewing machine is a Janome so I am going to watch these!  Janome How To Videos   .

I used up some of my blue scraps to make a zipped pouch to hold my sewing tools and a Oliver and Schwinn sunhat . Whilst the Heat and Bond fleece interfacing made the pouch easy to sew, it was definitely not useful for the brim of the sunhat as it simply refused to iron flat with so many joins in my patchwork.  I did not make the sunhat reversible - I lined the cap area with a light cotton. I pressed the brim edge flat ready to top stitch but did not use a pressing cloth. Another lesson learned - my iron decided to deposit a stain on a light lilac area. Well it would choose that colour wouldn't it? So not perfect but from a distance - interesting and as my husband commented, "It's nothing to worry about - it's only a hat." Edit: Hooray! The wearer has since had compliments about her hat. Several have likened it to a Holly Hobbie hat. Pleased!

For far too long our shop bought dining room curtains have been far too long! I have kidded myself that it is fashionable to allow them to pool / straggle on the floor.  Today I have decided to shorten them. Instead of the many hours I expected - having to unpick, measure and shorten both the curtains and the linings. So far it has only taken an hour and a half. This is because I heeded advice given in online chats between members of the Facebook group "Sewing in the UK.  I measured how much needed to be taken off the bottom but then I unpicked the heading tape. This didn't take long as with just a few stitches snipped here and there it was almost ready to lift off.  I allowed for a 1.25 inch turning by deducting this from the 4.5 inches I had decided to shorten the curtains by. I put in a few pins to hold the lining and top fabric together then I cut 3.25 inched off the the top cutting through both curtain and lining. I turned down and pressed a seam a...