Another UFO!

So I was down in the shed on the weekend looking for extra glasses (explanation: when we renovated our house most of our "stuff" was stored in the shed. Some of it is yet to come back) I came across a bag from a long defunct local fabric shop. I don't remember this bag at all. Inside was not 1 but 3 patterns and one had fabric cut out and ready to be made up. Even better it was in one of my favourite all time patterns that I had thought was long gone. Check this out... I absolutely love this pattern. I've made all of these pieces. The shirt was the first yoked shirt I made. And I still have it, in a muted floral fabric. Very 1980s. This version had been cut out in aqua woven gingham. I can honestly say I have no recollection of this fabric or cutting out the pattern. X is now 11 and the bag must have been hidden away for at least this length of time. Maybe I was pregnant when I bought the fabric and cut it out.

Anyway, having finished the Sassy Librarian Blouse recently I thought that this would be a good time to make this up and practice all the new things i learned. So I set to with tailors tacks and pleat marking. What fun! I have gained a heap of confidence in making up the SLB. Existing methods were confirmed and new techniques learned. I approached this pattern in the same way. And yes, my iron was on full steam and the ham got a work out. My tailors ham would have to be one of the best recent acquisitions to my sewing tools.

As this is a loose-fitting shirt, I made it true to the pattern. One very minor mod, I removed two pleats in the pockets - they wouldn't have shown up with the gingham anyway. Now it's made, I realise that I should have cut the shirt pockets on the bias to make a feature. The way the check has lined up means that the pockets disappear (although the pattern matching is awesome!)

I am really pleased with how the cuffs have turned out. They have placket openings which are a bit fiddly but the effort was worth it.

I'm also happy with the collar. Also fiddly, but the techniques I learned with the sassy librarian blouse stood me in good stead. Taking the time to do it properly was worth it. The pattern instructions are pretty good too.

I am really pleased that I offered the shirt to my mum and she accepted it. My body shape has changed significantly (!) since having children so I don't think I would get much wear out of it. I am hoping to get a photo of her in it but in the meantime here is the finished object (sorry about the daggy hanger - it was what was at hand).

Sashiko bag

What fun! I have been spending the last few weeks going through my stash - patterns and fabric - to figure out what what happens next. This is one of my favourite pastimes (sigh!) I have found a number of UFOs. Actually an embarrassing number of them. Shhhhhhh! Don't tell anyone...

But the one that has got me excited is my Sashiko bag. I don't remember much about this. I know I was given a cute Sashiko kit with the circles pattern imprinted on it. I don't remember who gave it to me (thanks!) and I don't remember when I finished it but I do remember really enjoying the process. It was very zen. Repetition with exactness. Good stuff.

Anyways... I finished the stitching and thought it would make a really great centre panel for a tote bag. I also did a bit more Sashiko. I remember(!) reading that Sashiko was used to pad garments and other stitched objects so I made a base using rice stitch. I thoight a padded base would be more robust. I found some Japanese quilting fabric (yes, no idea where I found it) and decided that it would make a good "other panel". Over a period of time, I also found some nice subdued-but-not-boring fabric that would do well as border and lining fabric. And then...

Nothing...

And no, I don't remember why. Probably something new and exciting came along. Isn't this what always happens?

So last week I found it again and was re-energised. I was lucky enough to find some old diagrams as well. I brought out my trusty  quilters ruler and got to it. All the pieces had 1/2" seams.

• Other panel the same dimensions as the Sashiko piece
• Edging for both panels of 1"
• Side panels - don't forget to add the increased height of panels + edging
• Handles - I measured reusable shopping bag handles to get an indication of how long they should be. The bag is similar dimensions.

I also had to cut extra panels for the base because my rice quilting is the same length as the Sashiko piece (should have planned this better...). I then cut out lining using panel + edging dimensions. I also had some fusible batting - quite thin but enough to give the bag some structure. After I had made up the quilting panels with their edging I fused the batting to the outer pieces.

Note to self: more research on construction is required before designing. I spent ages fitting and stitching the corner seams. I then found a heap of bag tutorials suggesting a mitred base which would have saved hours. Sigh!

Photos below showing the bag sides and base. I'm pretty happy with the result. I've asked Mr Practical to come up with a base insert to give it some structure. I wonder what he'll come up with.

Simple knitted cowl

It's hot. Damned hot. But it's March for goodness sake. We are in the midst of a 10 day heat wave when we should be having cool nights and mild days. Today I was kicked out of the house so Mr Practical could sand the floor in the 'last bastion'. This is the room in the middle of the house that was the kitchen and is to become the study. It's the last room to be renovated. Needless to say I went quickly. Anything to help. So instead of spending a sweltering day stitching in the air conditioning I spent it outside. My sewing machine was calling me but I had to make do with hand worked things. My body clock has started to crave cooler crafts like knitting. So I went to my stash and found some wool that talked to me ("come on, take me, use me"). I had been thinking about a cowl. I have heaps of scarves but I want something smaller, closer fitting.

So I found this wool in my stash (Cleckheaton folklore in green). It's a lovely green-green tweed of varying widths. Its label recommends knitting in 6.5mm needles  but I don't have any of that size (there's something that I will have to remedy). But I found some straight needles in 7mm. No rounds so I had to knit something with buttons or ... Hmmmmm buttons. I found a great pattern here. But the cable patterning would not do the lovely variations in the wool justice. But I really liked the ends - moss stitch with buttons. So I decided moss stitch ends and then simple stockingette.

To get the right width, I CO 24 stitches. Then 8 rows moss stitch. I knitted as many rows as I could in the one ball leaving enough to finish off the moss stich and buttonhole end. This was straightforward: knit 3 rows moss stitch, 4th row K4 BO3 K4 BO3 K4 BO3 K4. 5th row K4 CO3 K4 CO3 K4 CO3 K4. 3 more rows of moss stitch and BO. I was pretty happy with how it felt straight off the needles but I've set to soak and will pin it out tomorrow. Photos to come. And I think I'll need some new buttons...

Something new but old

This is something that I haven't posted about before but have been working on for a while. The Princess received a latch-hook rug kit for her birthday last year. We started it just after her birthday. But she wasn't interested for long - it was hard work - especially for little hands. So it sat there, and sat there, and sat there... just started. I have made a promise to myself to drop my number of UFOs so why not the Princess's? So over a few weeks I finished it off. It was hard on my hands too. It seemed that the rug holes were too small for the latch hook. It was a struggle to get the hook through each time. But I did it in the end. But what to do now? The kit recommended making a pillow but I wasn't sure. In the end it was the Princess's decision and she said "pillow" so pillow it was.

Following the kit directions I started to attach the completed front to a simple pink gingham backing. Honestly, this was horrible. Trying to manipulate a lightweight fabric to back a completed carpet verged in ridiculous. Keeping the stitching straight was impossible. After a few disastrous attempts I gave up. And the half finished project sat in a bag for a few months. I didn't forget it - it was in the back of my mind. I was ruminating...

So fast forward to last night - about 3am (so that makes it morning :)). I had a revelation. Make up a cushion and then stitch the rug to it (looking back this seems so obvious!). So this afternoon, whilst the Princess was out at stitching classes (!) I made up the basic pillow. I found a pink zip so added this to the equation. I used the pink gingham to make the cushion back but didn't have enough for the front. Out came the trusty calico. I cut the gingham in half and inserted the zip. I left the zip exposed. Having measured the rug (twice) I calculated how much of a seam I would need to build into the pillow. I stitched up the pillow and was immensely gratified to find my measurements were accurate. I know that there was no reason that it wouldn't be correct but there is something awesome about seeing it happen in reality. Then it was a simple hour's slip stitching the rug to the cushion. Once it was stuffed (with a pillow insert) I flipped it over and gave it a little hair cut - just a couple of longish bits. And then it was done! One less UFO and a nice surprise for the Princess. I bet she'll love it.