Fabric stories

We have no electricity at home today, so I'm indulging myself with some paper piecing. I'm working on a magazine commission which, as always, is 'hush-hush'. It is the first stitching I've done in months, and it feels good! 

I raided my stash ... my fabric mountain ... my carefully curated collection of fabrics, and emerged with an eclectic assortment of brocades, taffetas, shantungs and even some ivory silk left over from my wedding dress. I knew there was a reason why I'd kept those scraps for the last (almost) 30 years! The 'I might need it someday' has arrived! 

I was listening to Radio National this morning and they played a wonderful fabric-related short story - only on Radio National, bless them!  Here it is, a tale of unlocking a vintage fabric wonderland by Janine Hilling. Only you, my fellow fabric obsessed friends, will fully appreciate this story, especially if you remember crimplene! It made me laugh.

That's a wrap on 2016

A very happy 2017 to you! I am personally glad to see the end of 2016. It was HUGE and I'm only now drawing breath. I suggested at this time 12 months ago that I had all sorts of grand plans for 2016. Little did I know what the year had in store; that my 'grand plans' would go out the window, replaced by other events.

In April, we sold our beloved farm and garden of 20 years. I've poured out my soul about this previously, so I won't put you through that again! We moved our 20 years worth of accumulated stuff and squeezed it into our house in town.

We determined that we would rest for a while, recover from the wrench it was to sell the farm, take our time to find a new place, and get our middle child through his HSC. Hmmmm ... what do they say  about best laid plans?!

So it is that 'the best laid plans of mice and men (and Bloom!) often go awry'. Having thought that we would spend a year or two searching for a block of land to build again, we quite unexpectedly stumbled upon a house out of town. While it's not the house we'd have chosen to build, the truth is that we were exhausted from 10 years of living between two properties, and the prospect of starting again from scratch seemed overwhelming. And so, by September, we'd bought a new home and moved two houses worth of accumulated stuff, the week before our boy finished school.

Next on the to-do list was to sell our house and garden in town. Unlike the farm, I didn't have much of an emotional attachment to the town house, but I did have to leave another garden!

In amongst all of the packing and moving and packing and moving, my only creative activities were to complete two projects for Australian Homespun magazine. For the June 2016 issue, I submitted these three little embroidered luggage tags.

And in the December issue, these travel sewing books. I will blog about these projects in more detail soon.

I feel like I'm being a bit of a princess complaining about what a big year it has been. I am really thankful that despite the craziness of 2016, we all remained in relatively good health. We've not been seriously sick; we haven't suffered any major deaths or catastrophes. January 2017 sees us with all our children and all our goods and chattels in the one place at the one time for the first time in 10 years. We are blessed, no matter how I look at it!

And now I have another garden to plan! We currently have very little garden to speak of, and what there is needs some loving care.

But there is enormous potential, and we have views ...

... and water ways ...

... and eucalypts and sloping ground.

Let the fun begin! 

I hope 2017 brings you much creativity and contentment. Bloom x

SaveSave

'The Novel Approach' fabric bookends

Thank you for your interest in my blog. This post has moved and is available in its entirety at this link. Best wishes, Bloom 

TGIF

Not sure how this week has treated you, but I'm worn out! I'm looking forward to a weekend to catch my breath. Now, do you remember this little waif from my last post?

Well, she's now stitched and ready for action. She accompanies the Liberty pencil case I made from Alice Garrett's book 'Little Lady Liberty'.

Ain't she sweet? She seemed the perfect 'Little Lady Liberty'!

The stitchery design is by Sarah Jane Studios and I've been waiting for just the right reason to stitch her up. 

I hope you have a great weekend. Bring it on!

Bloom x

New journal cover tutorial

One of my most popular free tutorials over the years has been my journal cover tutorial. I have returned to it over and over to whiz up a quick gift. 

I've updated my tutorial to provide instructions to custom fit the dimensions of any journal. I've also come up with a couple of nifty options for elastic closures. Enjoy!

Step 1: Preliminary measuring

Measure and record the length (A) of your journal in inches.

 

Measure and record the total width of the back cover + spine + front cover of your journal(B) in inches. Do this by wrapping your measuring tape around your closed journal. 

 

A = length of journal

B = total width of back cover + spine + front cover of journal

Step 2: Gather your supplies

• Main fabric - yardage required = (A + 2)" For example, a journal with length 9" requires 11" x width of fabric
• Lightweight fusible batting, e.g. Vilene H630 - (A + 2)"
• Lining fabric - (A + 2)"
• ½" wide elastic - (A + 2)" length
• General sewing supplies
• Purchased white crocheted flower, approximately 2" diameter (optional)
• White stranded embroidery cotton (optional)

Step 3: Cutting

From each of the main fabric and the fusible batting, cut: 
One rectangle that has a length of (A + 1)" and a width of (1.5 x B)".

From the lining fabric, cut: 

One rectangle that has a length of (A + 1)" and a width of B".

Step 4:

A ¼" seam allowance is used unless otherwise stated. 

Fuse the batting rectangle to the wrong side of the main fabric rectangle. 

Overlock or zigzag the short edges of both the main fabric and lining rectangles. Note: Overlocking or zigzagging the edges is optional - it just gives a neater and more robust finish.

Turn the short ends of the main fabric rectangle to the wrong side by ¼" to form a hem. Top stitch the hem in place.

Step 5: Optional embellishment

If you would like to embellish your journal cover with a crocheted flower, mark the centre of your cover with pins as shown below. Using a pencil, lightly mark a line 6½" long, at a point 4½" to the right of centre.

Please note, my journal is approximately A5 size. If your chosen journal is significantly different in size, you may need to 'eyeball' the position of your stem and flower.

Using 6 strands of embroidery floss, work a running stitch along this pencil line. Hand stitch the crocheted flower in place.


Step 6: Elastic closure #1

Cut the ½" wide elastic to the length of your cover. Position the elastic 1" in from the right hand edge. Baste the ends of the elastic in place at the top and bottom edges using ⅛" seam.

Step 7:

Place the main fabric rectangle wrong side down on a flat surface. Fold each of the short ends of the rectangle in equally, right sides together, so that the total width of the cover measures B". Pin the ends in place. 

 

Step 8: Lining the cover

Lay the lining rectangle on the cover, right sides together. Pin all layers together.

Using a ¼" seam, sew along the top and bottom edges of the cover through all layers. Overlock or zigzag to neaten the seams if desired.


Step 9: Turning the cover

Turn the cover right side out and press well. This is the only step that can be a little confusing. I've addressed this in the following (rather dodgy!) clip:

That's it! Nothing remains but to slip your journal inside your cover and stand back to admire your work!

The elastic closure should extend from the front cover and wrap around the back of the journal.

The journal that I used had a transparent cover, which by chance was perfect because it allows you to see the lining fabric you've chosen when the journal is open.

A variation: Elastic closure #2

I made a second journal cover to show you an alternative elastic closure.

Follow the previous instructions up to and including Step 4. 
Place your main fabric rectangle wrong side down on a flat surface. Using a pencil, lightly mark vertical lines at equal distances from the left and right edges of the rectangle, so that the width between the lines measures (B + ½)", as shown below. 

Mark each of these lines at the midpoint. Place marks 2" either side of the midpoint on the left hand line.

Cut three 1¾" lengths of ½" wide elastic. Fold them in half to form loops and pin them at the three points that you just marked. The raw ends of the elastic should meet the marked line. Baste each of them in place using ⅛" seam, as shown below. 

Fold each of the short ends of the rectangle along the vertical pencil lines, right sides together. Sew a ¼" seam at each short end of the cover. This seam encloses the raw ends of the elastic loops.

Complete the journal cover by following the previous instructions from Step 8. Note that the width of lining fabric should lay between the two seam lines that you have just sewn. 

On turning your cover, it should look like this, with elastic loops at either end:

Insert your journal, and slide a pen through the loops to secure the journal closed. Nifty huh?

I hope you have as much fun with this tutorial as my previous one.

I would love to see your creations, so please send me photos! Best wishes, Bloom x

TGIF

Friday ... time for a little end-of-week tipple in the garden - and to play with photos in Picmonkey!

Still admiring my purchases from The Home Patch last weekend, including some of Anni's 'Love to Garden' fabrics and some sweet-as thread keepers from The Red Thread that I've been searching for.

Hoping to make some progress on Anni's 'Heart & Soul' pincushion kit in whisper-soft Tilda fabrics.

Although too much tippling might put an end to the sewing - or perhaps lend a more relaxed look to my stitches :) Happy Friday evening everyone!

My dog, my kite and me

My girls have been duly connected with their kites, and my felt table centre is completed.

The design is by Mandy Shaw of Dandelion Designs and is from Australian Homespun #109. It reminds me of scherenschnitte, a form of German paper cutting which I love.

The table centre is large, at almost 60cm across. I chose neutral colours in contrast to Mandy's more vibrant red and green. It is pure chance that it happens to match the carpet!

The table centre is essentially two layers of felt, the upper brown layer cut carefully with small scissors, and appliqued to a cream lower layer. 

I began blanket stitching by hand, but soon realised it would take me an eternity. So the hand stitching was unpulled and replaced with a machine blanket stitch. Only the kite strings are embroidered by hand. It is very satisfying to have finished a project - it has been a while :) And just quietly, I love it. Great pattern Mandy!

As useless as ...

... a kite without a string!

A problem to be rectified this evening :)

Happy Friday night to you.

Coquetterie cosmetic wallet PDF pattern

Many moons ago, I posted about stitching this cosmetic wallet. After many hours (and a considerable amount of wrestling with Adobe Illustrator!), the PDF pattern is at last 'shop-ready'.

Of all the projects I have designed, this remains one of my favourites. It incorporates some things that I love to work with: linen, embroidery, botanical fabrics, and a vintage buckle. I was aiming to replicate the ethereal feel of antique French monogrammed linen with this project.

The wallet is able to be folded for travel, and unfolds (above) to hang conveniently for easy access when you reach your destination. 

It has specialised compartments for storing all your makeup needs: two clear vinyl pockets;

three elasticised pockets for storing compacts;

seven narrow pockets for brushes and pencils, with a felt cover that flips down to protect your brushes;

and an elasticised lipstick keep.

I made the wallet from a jelly roll of Moda's fabric range 'Etchings' by 3 Sisters which conveniently has a very French feel about it.

I especially enjoyed the embroidery on this project. The pattern includes a full alphabet for personalising your monogram.

Writing this pattern up was quite a task, and the instructions are very detailed which is reflected in its higher price.

The tone and meaning I was hoping to convey by calling this pattern 'Coquetterie' was variously: ‘vanity; concern for one’s appearance; a knack for fashion; flirty; playful behaviour'. So flirt and play to your heart's content with this pattern.

Bloom x