Two BOM’s on the go!

Posted on February 17, 2016 by craftycreeky

004I’ve been busy quilting today. Last month I started Pat Sloans latest quilt-along, a Block of the Month (BOM) called My Secret Garden. I really enjoyed taking part last year (Vacation Time Quilt) and felt I learnt a lot and improved a lot. This year there are nine 16 1/2″ blocks, that’s a pretty big block! I’ve got a purple, green and gold palette of fabrics, about a third were from my stash, others I bought specially. Continue reading →

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1973 UFO finished!

Posted on February 14, 2016 by craftycreeky

cooltext156747814765691My challenge for February was to finish my oldest UFO. This goes back to when I was 8 years old! I started this embroidery to go with a cockerel I’d stitched the year before, both patterns were from the Needlewoman magazine. My mum was always very encouraging if we saw something we wanted to make, suggesting little adaptations where necessary to make it feasible for a child to stitch. I found the lyrebird in my old workbox and decided I either finished it or disposed of it! After 5 minutes on Google I also found a photo of the original magazine with the Lyrebird on the front cover!

Continue reading →

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Another Fumeterre

Posted on February 12, 2016 by craftycreeky

I’ve just finished my second Fumeterre skirt from Deer & Doe. I love this pattern, it’s straight forward to make, hangs beautifully and is comfortable to wear…what more could a girl want!

#ddfumeterre

I made this pattern first last month in a yet to be identified, drapy fabric in a lovely teal colour. Having made a cardigan in teal I decided what I actually needed was a navy blue Fumeterre. In my stash I found a length of navy blue which feels like a linen mix, perfect for a fumeterre!

I decided to stitch the view with a button closure again but this time I added the pockets. They’re cut on a slant which I think gives a nice detail. They are very  easy to add as they fit over the side front piece.

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Flat-felled seams & bias binding on hem

I flat-felled all the seams this time, well it’s what I would call a cheats flat-fell as I stitched to seam as usual, overlocked it just skimming the edge, pressed it over and top-stitched the seam flat. It looks really neat without the bulk of a turned under flat-felled seam. I thought it was good practice too for when I finally get round to sewing a pair  of Ginger Jeans!

 

The main thing I stitch differently to the instructions is the waistband. The instructions say to stitch the wrong side first and then press over the outside before edge-stitching. I prefer to stitch the outside first, press it to the inside, hand-stitch the seam on the inside and then edge-stitch from the front. I  find it gives a neater finish.

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Fumeterre by Doe & Deer

I haven’t quite worked out how much I need to cut off the length before I’ve made the skirt up. It is designed for a pretty tall person, even bearing in mind it’s a maxi pattern. The finished length is about 105cm so I probably cut over 6″ off the hem. I like the way the hem is stitched with a facing, it makes such a neat finish for curved hems and the edge-stitching keeps the hem neat. I found some navy bias binding to finish the upper edge of the facing.

 

I’ve got an automatic buttonhole on my machine so the twelve buttonholes were pretty quick to do, but there’s always one that messes up!! All there was left to do was hand-stitching the buttons on and it was finished.

I wore it to WI last night with my teal cardigan and I think it looks great! Next thing to sew is something from my buys in Dewsbury with the Yorkshire Spoolettes!

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#ddfumeterre

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Butterick 6258 again!

Posted on February 10, 2016 by craftycreeky

Butterick 6258Last week I made yet another couple of items from Butterick 6258 it seems to  be the pattern of the season as I’ve now made five cardigans, two tops and a skirt!

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Fumeterre Skirt

When I was visiting London last year I went to Raystitch, a lovely fabric shop in Islington. I fell for this teal cotton jersey, it’s quite a heavy jersey, possibly a ponte, I love the colour. I was originally planning to make a long straight skirt out of it, but I decided to make another cardigan instead, thinking it would go with my teal fumeterre skirt.

 

These cardigans go together really easily, especially with an overlocker. The pattern is more knee length, which is a style that doesn’t suit me, I now just take 6″ off the bottom as I’m cutting out. I hemmed with a double row of top stitching on the sleeves and the main cardigan.

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Shame I didn’t straighten that picture first!

 

The fabric feels lovely to wear, unfortunately I don’t think it quite goes with my skirt, it’s either a close miss or just too much teal!! I’m now making a navy Fumeterre skirt which hopefully it will look good with!

Eva Dress 1

Eva Dress

My second make was a long sleeved tee shirt from the same pattern. Just before Christmas I saw this jersey on Leeds market, I hesitated as it was £10 a metre, but it felt so nice I eventually asked for a metre, there was only 1.3m on the roll so she let me have the extra. I found out it was Liberty jersey, no wonder it feels so nice! I went back to see if they had got any more in as I thought it would make a stunning Eva dress, only to discover that Liberty are taking all their contracts away from the English mills and moving them to Italy instead. So no more Liberty fabric factory sales! I do think it is sad that such a quintessential English brand is no longer buying English fabric.

 

The jersey made up beautifully, I’ve worn it several times already! I’m still keeping my eye open for more of this fabric, fingers crossed!

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Yorkshire Spoolettes meet again

Posted on February 8, 2016 by craftycreeky

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yorkshirespoolettes1I had an amazing, if exhausting time on Saturday! Ali AKA Thimberlina had organised the second meet-up of the Yorkshire Spoolettes and sewing bloggers from all over the north of England descended on the fabric shops of Dewsbury, a couple of ladies had travelled over 120 miles, now that’s dedication!! Continue reading →

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My Oldest UFO

Posted on February 7, 2016 by craftycreeky

I’ve just started to work on my oldest UFO, it’s a grand age of 42 years old!! This embroidery is my Monthly Challenge for February. I started it my Lyre Bird when I was 8 years old to match a cockerel I embroidered when I was 7, there’s more of the story here. I want to stitch sufficient for it to be considered finished without being tempted to add too much which will contrast with the stitching of an 8 year old,  a fine line! Continue reading →

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A woolie update

Posted on February 5, 2016 by craftycreeky
Coast Ripple Blanket

Attic 24

I haven’t posted much about my new hobby of crochet, mainly because my current project isn’t that photographic, it’s just sort of getting longer!

I started a ripple blanket over Christmas. I saw the Coast Ripple on Attic 24 a few months ago and decided I needed to learn how to crochet in order to make one. I learnt to crochet at the WI Tea and Tents Camping Festival in July, I bought loads of wool at Yarndale in August, but it wasn’t til Christmas that I finally got myself organised!

Wool for Ripple blanketI want to make one in heather colours, so I’ve now got a bag of wool in lovely heathery colours, however I decided to learn the pattern first on some spare wool I had in my sewing room, its aran wool in navy and teal. A practice blanket was a good idea in theory…but maybe something a little smaller might have been a better plan, rather than twin bed size! I’ve decided I’ll be happy to get it to square, learn how to finish it and then start the heather one.

005I only had two large balls of the teal and about six of the blue, so I crocheted teal stripes until the first ball ran out and now I’m making a long stretch of navy ripples before starting with teal again for the top…well that’s the plan! I’m making good progress, I’m just impatient to start the heather one!

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Dodepus Scarf

My other woolie project is some weaving. At Yarndale last year I fell for a pin loom made of cherry wood. The stall had a beautiful blanket made of squares from the pin loom. When I had some wool left from making my Dodepus scarf I decided to have a go with my loom.

 

The instructions take a bit of understanding, the wool is woven across the pins three times altogether, two warps and a weft (the only way I can remember those two is that the weft goes from weft to right!) The weft is then woven using the weaving needle. It is a seriously big needle!!! It took a bit to get into the rhythm of needle weaving but I got there in the end!

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The wool is a beautiful mix of plum and slate grey/green, I love it and it made a stunning scarf. At first when I wove with it I wasn’t too sure about the effect, as the variation in colours seemed to get lost in weaving. Although it is a chunky wool it wove fairly loosely too. It wasn’t until I took it off the loom (rather nervously!) that I loved it. It’s like a soft tweed fabric, beautiful! I went back to Fletchers on Leeds market and bought the rest of their stock (all of two balls!!) and a couple of balls in silvery/pewter grey shades from the same range. They are very big balls so I want to see how many squares I get from this ball before I decide to order more on line. My OH isn’t quite sure what we’re going to do with all these blankets and quilts, but it’s certainly more practical than pictures!!!

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A UFO for February

Posted on February 4, 2016 by craftycreeky

cooltext156747814765691Ok, a question, how old is your oldest UFO, not one that’s been passed on to you, but something you personally started and didn’t finish, the ubiquitous unfinished object, or UFO?

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Lyre Bird c1973

This post is about mine, it’s 42 years old!!!! I know exactly how old it is having started it when I was 8 years old after winning the craft competition at the school fair with another embroidery. I came across it last year when I was sorting out my sewing room, I decided I either finished it or disposed of it, harsh I know but you haven’t seen my sewing room!

When I decided to do a monthly challenge for myself, it was fairly high up on my to-do list. As I’m about to embark on a couple of big embroidery projects, I decided to set myself the challenge of completing the Lyre Bird in February. Continue reading →

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Damson Gin Jacket

Posted on January 28, 2016 by craftycreeky

013Monthly Stitch Jan 16Over on The Monthly Stitch the challenge this month was Cheers for New Years, an outfit inspired by your favourite drink. This year I’m going to try to complete every challenge, so I put my thinking cap on for a drink inspired outfit!

Damson GinOver New Year it came to me, I am rather partial to homemade damson gin, I have a huge Kilner jar with a tap on the bottom that I make it in. It’s great, plenty of room for the ingredients to go in the top and damson gin comes out of the bottom! All I needed was some damson coloured fabric…

001I fell for this fabric in a mill shop in Burnley a couple of years ago, it’s actually a furnishing fabric so I’m hoping it doesn’t look too much like a pair of curtains! It’s a lovely soft velvet with amazing gold flowers appliqued on. I have to admit though, I did think afterwards, what am I going to make with it! Continue reading →

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My Secret Garden BOM

Posted on January 28, 2016 by craftycreeky
Vacation Time

Vacation Time

I’ve started a new Block of the Month (BOM) with Pat Sloan, it’s called My Secret Garden and the first block was a big flower, I’ve managed to complete it just in time before the next one is released on Monday. I must admit to procrastinating a bit over this one, mainly because it looked quite complicated, what with all those triangles…with Pat’s instructions I need not have worried!

I made a quilt last year through Pat Sloan’s BOM, it was called Vacation Time and I learnt loads sewing it, how to do half square triangles, flying geese… I was really please with it when I finished it, and so were my in-laws who received it for Christmas! I find it a good way to learn, there’s lots of support, encouragement and inspiration on her facebook page, she does podcasts too as well as her website, so there is lots of support if you need it.

020I decided to do Pat’s BOM quilt again this year. I looked through my stash of quilting fabrics, which are mainly fat quarters and pulled together a few purples, greens and creamy golds which seemed to blend ok. I knew I would need more fabric so I kept a look out for some more purples and found some in Samuel Taylors and also in Viking Loom in York. In an effort to  be organised I’ve put all the fabrics together in a storage box. I did this last year and it worked very well, everything from fabric, thread, pattern and completed blocks goes in the box, it means I’m not spending half my time trying to find everything the following month!

023I bought the boxes at TK Maxx, they’re fairly inexpensive I think for such sturdy, pretty boxes. I’ve got quite a few now, for sewing projects, over-locker thread, buttons, beads…I’ve started using one for current dress-making projects as I was getting a bit fed up of mislaying pieces, I put everything in the box!

Anyway, my BOM…it’s gone together pretty well! I used my die-cutter to cut out all the squares and it was a godsend for trimming all the half square triangles down to size! As Stuart Hillard of GBSB said, your 1/4″ seam can be as accurate as can be, but if the piece isn’t a perfect size, the quilt will still be out! I think my points are a personal best since I started quilting, I’m well chuffed with them! One block done, eleven to go!!

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My Secret Garden

I’m doing two BOM’s this year, I hope I haven’t taken on too much! I’m really excited about my other one. Last year I saw Lynette Andersons quilt ‘Journey of a Quilter’ and fell in love with the whole concept of embroidered and appliqued quilts. I’ve even been collecting embroidery patterns to potentially use…then I got an e-mail from Coast and Country in Cornwall, Lynette is releasing a new BOM called Andersons Farm. the sneaky peep we were given looked gorgeous. We get the pattern and a special button for each block once a month, the first one should arrive in mid February. It’s not cheap, I’m giving up Costa Coffees and sewing magazines to cover it! I’m so excited about it I can’t wait for it to arrive!

Andersons Farm

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