Being Resourceful

The bedding I was after is £45 for a single quilt cover and £13 per pillowcase so I was more than pleased when I managed to get a kingsize cover, double flat sheet and four pillowcases for the same price!  I've reduced the cover to a single so combined with the fabric from the sheet there was plenty enough for another single cover using just over £3 worth of popper tape.  Forgot to take pic of the 2nd cover but basically it's wide bands of varying depth using the three fabrics with the nautical stripe on the reverse.
 

Two sets of bedding (plus two extra pillowcases) for the price of one ........ I'm really very happy with that!  There was plenty of fabric left for the two planned cushions though the bolster didn't happen.  I don't do well with feather pillows (they make me wheezy) but I did buy a feather bolster pad a few years ago.  Getting it out of the bag I brought it downstairs, placed it on the sofa and went to look on the laptop to see exactly how I'd done the last (foam) one.  My eyes started watering so I rubbed them ........... they were instantly very gritty, puffy, swollen and even more watery and the whole of the whites were completely bright red.  I hadn't done anything except touch that feather bolster so my husband threw it straight in the bin whilst I loaded the throws from the sofa into the washing machine.  I know I'm allergic to dustmites ........ sneezing and a bit wheezy but this was another level!  Fortunately I was fine after just a few hours.


The cushion that did get done ............

  

The kids don't really say much about my stitching exploits.  The very occasional "What's that for?" or "I don't want you to make me anything for Chrismas (sigh)" so the very best bit for me was when my husband said they were arguing ............. 20 and 25 and they're arguing over whose cushion(s) are best!  YES, thankyou!!!!!!!!!

With a hospital visit imminent I suddenly remembered yesterday that I hadn't made my husband the promised cover for his Kobo Touch.  In a flash I thought it would be easier and quicker to find a  tutorial on the net and amend the measurements to fit ............. wrong!  Not reading it through before hand I found it rather long winded to follow, got to step no. 10 and the said points didn't match at all.  Never mind, I worked it out and got there .........

 

  
I like the back pocket for the lead .........

I think that's enough with that fabric for now though more to catch up with soon ..........
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Bits & Pieces

A couple of bedroom cushions.  The buttons too large to use the automatic buttonholer on the Juki, I used the "two step" program ......... it was a disaster, stopping and changing to a bar tack whenever it felt like it!  I've not had cause to use that machine for buttonholes before so I need to have a really good play before I attempt them again!

Another colourwash I Spy Quilt in the making - I've got so far as piecing the top:

A few pieces of fabric which I hope will combine to make a pretty bag (my current project):

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We Have Colour ............

on the back of the cushion ..............

I like the surprise element.  It wasn't difficult to decide which of the ideas to use ............. I dropped the rotary cutter on the tiled floor so the other two were out (and that's the 2nd blade I've ruined the same way this year).  No buttons this time (trialling velcro).  I've been looking at machines that do more decorative stitches (I only have a couple to choose from) .............there's no harm in looking ................... and, for the first time, think I might quite like one!  I think might like is as far as it will get for the forseeable future!


A few pics from a recent drive to Dungeness .........

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with fish and chips at the Pilot never failing to please.
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Shabby Chic

Well, the cushion front is done!  Not sure about the "experimental" centre panel - should have spent more time thinking about it - but it's done now and doesn't look too bad in reality.  I could add a central button but doubt it would stay there very long in this house!

Not quite the luxury of some faux chenille but not bad for an old sheet and might improve with age - there's not much that comes with a label "Must Tumble Dry"!

Another sample ..........

I have ideas for more faux chenille .......... a lap blanket would be nice for the winter evenings if the fabrics weren't too heavy ........... too many ideas too little time!

The shirt ............. I'm still looking to pluck up enough courage to cut out the real thing!  I already had the pattern (well 2 actually) but didn't have any intention of using them anytime soon when we saw this Italian shirting.  I am thinking grandad collar and suggested that it might go with the navy suit for a wedding we are attending shortly so need to get my skates on and fingers crossed!

I bought a metre of this lightweight cotton just because, like you do, and himself thought he'd like a shirt in this so I got some more ....................

I picked up some lovely quilting cotton - kitchen blind in mind but thinking it would make a lovely sleeveless summer dress for a toddler when himself said he would really love a shirt in this ................ now this is juxtaposition!!!

So we now have enough fabric for 3 shirts!  Toile also fits no 2 son who would like "loads" of shirts ............ plain, striped, check, not too heavy - just like the toile ........... well apart from the pattern!  Steady on eh ............. fabric don't come cheap and I'm only gonna live once!!
 

Ooooops ...................

Recycling one worn cotton sheet into a luxurious faux chenille cushion .............

 Revisiting possible designs for cutting on the bias .....................

  

So why did I mark out, stitch and start cutting the middle square on the straight (not sure what's happened to the pistachio green in this pic)?

Will be interesting to see how I rescue it!  My excuse is that I was distracted by somebody in the kitchen making these ...............

From the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook bought from here using a free delivery voucher found here .  I have to say that it's a lovely book.

And on another positive note (at least for the moment) ............. the toile I made for my husband's shirt using McCalls pattern 8409 seems to fit ok ............ well after I lopped 4" off the width.  The pattern comes up big ......... well not just big but huge so have gone one size smaller than comparable RTW.

The sleeve length is about  right so I'll have to add some extra seam allowance and am going to get rid of the curved bottom (by request).

Oh, and I won't be using a relatives old quilt cover for the real thing!
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Shisha

A bit of shisha work that I did on the rainbow piece a couple of weeks ago ............

There is a little bit of shisha on the cushion I did last year and which went off to a new home at Christmas ...............

India was the chosen research subject for one particular term when I was studying for City & Guilds part 1 ............... the first term we had to actually produce an item.  Here is my cushion (all fabrics & threads hand dyed, reverse applique, quilting, shisha and buttonhold bars).  I don't have a picture of the back (before we possessed a digital camera) but the closure was dorset buttons ............. the rings of which were recycled along with the (remaining) mirrors when the cushion eventually went off to another land in the sky!

Look what the postman brought this morning .............. a cat "bag" to cut out & sew ...............

Do I need it?  No
Do I even know what I want it for?  No, not really except perhaps for inspiration
The point is it seems that nobody else wanted him so for 99p he has a new home!
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The Roses .............

For my husband ....................

Having spent the best part of a week on this I'm in no hurry to make another but my husband likes it so that's all that matters because I've kept to my word of making him one albeit not quite the same as what we saw in the shop. I think my version is more in keeping with my beach/sea theme and the "Beach Hut" chenille quilted cushions - at least I like to think it is! Perhaps I'll call it "Sea Urchin". I washed the appliqued panel in the machine before making up to get "the look".

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I recently came across Judy's Art Dolls blog and found it totally enchanting - do go take a look if you haven't already seen it - there's some wonderful delights to be seen!

Another One Finished ....................

The brief (my own of course) was to create some cushions for everday use which will withstand laundering well ie. still look good this time next year. I've learnt that tassels, beads etc. on cushions in this house don't wear too well!

There is a secondary purpose for the ones I am doing at the moment too - a relative of my husband always says to me "I only have my old industrial machine which doesn't do anything fancy like zig zag so I only do ordinary sewing". I don't know if her machine has the ability to do FME but I hope to show her that there are other things she can do with straight stitch,

I am continuing with the roses. I took the following pic the other day so I have done more now - 30 to be precise. I need to do 64 and that's without the little filling in ones!

Is it fun to do? I'm not sure. It requires a high level of concentration so can be quite tiring. It is a fiddle. I'm not really sure what is best but I am using the open toe embroidery foot so at least I can see where I'm going.and the mini screwdriver to poke fabric out of the way.

Like the chenille, this technique does use a lot of fabric but these three cream cushions have been created from the back (plain cotton for the chenille and roses) and front (for the backing fabric) of a little used quilt cover acquired when my parents changed one of their spare bedrooms into a living space a few years ago. I had intended to cut it down to a single size which would have been a good deal quicker but just never got round to it so, for me, they have been economical and the ready made buttonholes and pearl buttons have been useful too .....................

Playing with Roses

I have two more cushions underway - the front panel of one is just about to go in the washing machine before being tumbled - it should have been in there already but after going around the house gathering up some whites to go in with it - I left it out!

I'm a bit stuck with the other until the postman brings me some more Italian Quilting wool. I was hoping that the little shop where the wool came from originally still stocked it but it wasn't to be - still who can be surprised - things do change during the course of 2 decades! Just hope the Anchor stuff is similar to what I've been using - I have no idea what brand it was.

Some weeks back we saw these cushions in one of the major high street chains but at £30 a piece they were beyond our budget.


I had a good look to see how they were constructed and continuing with the textural theme ..............


My little sample is about 2" wide so I can see that I'm going to need very long strips to get to a decent size flower without a break - not sure where I'm going with that as I'm supposed to be using whatever I have in my stash and I have a feeling that too many compact little roses might look more like a bridal accessory ............... we shall see!

Accessorising

The dust and paint fumes got to my respiratory system and caused havoc for the best part of a month. However, this past week I have started to feel better so it's time to get on with some accessories for the living room. Here is the first cushion .............


I love the texture and shabby chic essence of faux chenille quilting even if cutting the channels through all those layers is rather hard going on the fingers.

Another coiled fabric bowl - this one's for keeps!

Crazy Patchwork

Looking at the fabrics that I had out for the elephant the other week, I thought they might make a nice cushion so on Saturday thought I'd spend an hour roughly patching them together before getting out of my nightclothes - it took 8 (minus minimal breaks for refreshments)!

It's something to do in the evenings and is going to use a large chunk of my hand dyed threads. Now all I need is a volunteer to sand the edges of some Shisha mirrors! I'm really, really pleased with this photo - taken outside on an overcast day - I'm learning all the time!

The Cushions

I didn't realise it had been such a long time since I last blogged - I have heaps to catch up on. Anyway, here are some pics of finished cushions (I've no idea what went wrong with the lighting on this first one as they were all taken at the same time):



The reverse of the above cushion:

The Indian fabrics used were quite loosely woven but the use of folded patchwork and quilting has added some depth and, I hope, durability.