Here's Sam having a lilttle sleep in my sewing basket. Oh oh. But he doesn't seem to mind that it's just a tad too small ....
And here's a bag I made this past winter.
I put some sewing paraphanalia in it and parked it on the window sill. Oh oh. Summer came. Here's what the facing-the-window-side looks like now. Call me crazy, but I sort of like this fading effect. Which, I suppose, is fortunate.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
And may 2009 to good to you and yours.
No New Year Resolutions this year - aside from losing weight and saving more money, hanging on to my job and being sweet, loving and positive to everyone.
(The usual. Not to make those things sound banal. But I will try harder this year to be good to myself and everyone around me).
So - now it is ok to show the bags that were made for presents this year - each of m neices got one and I think they did like them. I will do a tutorial on these very soon, because they are fast and easy and I have learned a new trick with wadding which I will share with everyone. I alo knitted like a fiend this Christmas - scarves for my brothers-in-law and their brother. But I did not take any photos of them ...).
Camels for Kerry to take back with her to New York, and pears for Meg to take with her to Sydenham Hill!
Cute little pigs for Jo, home from Berlin and going where we know not next and Russian dolls for Canadian Alex to take to her UK home in the 'Sham.
And for Zoe - Kentish geese!
And finally, for Kristy - hopefully safely back with her in Columbia.
It was lovely making all these bags for my favotrite people, but the best part was having them all at my house for Christmas so I could give them to them in person. 2008 ended on a lucky note for me!
;o)
Another scarf finished - this one for a friend of my daughter. Knit with Rowan All Seasons Cotton - which is lovely to work with:
Close up of the pattern - very easy to do and the stitch pattern is reversible. For some reason I have suddenly taken against scarves that have a wrong side.
I like this pattern so much that I have nearly finished another one - this one for ... me! It is made from Rowan Classic Bamboo. It is so soft - I keep putting it 'round my neck just to feel the softness of it. The stitch pattern makes it very warm. I am not enjoying knitting with this yarn much - it is very prone to splitting.
Also found an easy bag to make in this Craft Stylish magazine.
Although, the pattern listed incorrect measurements for the "waistband" which forms the top of the bag. Of course I thought it was probably me being wrong, but I checked and re-checked and they are just - WRONG! Easy enough to fix, but I was a little glad that I stopped to think before I cut, because I had to be a little bit inventive to get the lining and the waistband out of the amount of white fabric that I had - there would have had to have been a Plan B if I had cut before I found the error.
Next week - the making of Christmas gifts begins in earnest!
Don't you love the Sunday when we "fall back" with the time? Most Sundays speed up (I swear) so that they can turn into Mondays - but the Sunday of the time change seems like such a lovely long day. Much longer than just an extra hour, somehow. I love it. Yes, tomorrow morning will be extra dark when its wakey-wakey-go-to-work time, but I'll deal with that then - this is now!
I've been sewing:
Red bags: the lining in the fold-over pouch is the same red as the binding and button. The little pouch has one of those squeezy metal clasps sewn into it, makes an O when opened and its lining is also the red/black fabric.
Blue bags: these are Easy Peasy Pouches - see tutorial here.
A grey bag; I like the yellow with the grey and I really like this fabric, which I got here. Better view of the yellow fabric in the next photo:
And finally - a specs case. Super easy - super fast - I think I will do a tutorial on this one.
I've also been knitting:
I have been going crazy with the scarves - this is my 4th one, and nary a one is going to be going around my neck - they're all for keeping other people warm! This one is made with Regia 6-ply sock yarn - this bright colour combination has the very inventive name of "5404" - the marketing team was working overtime to come up with that one! And anyway, in this case, it is Regia 6-ply scarf yarn.
Here it is closer up. These photos do not pick out the pattern of stitches very well - it is actually done in a honeycomb rib, and every 10th row has eyelets. In the photo the eyelets are there, but they just make it look like I am a messy knitter. You can kind of see them along the purple row quite near the centre of the photo. They do look nice in real life!
The Pattern is really easy:
Cast on enough stitches to produce the width you want but make sure the total number is divisible by 3. I cast on 48 stitches, using 4mm needles.
Odd rows: K1, P1 rib.
Even rows: knit to end.
Every 10th row (every 5th knit row) K3, *K1, Yarn Over, K2 together - repeat from * to last 3 stitches, K3.
This scarf is not reversible - but the "wrong side" looks ok done in this rib/eyelet combo.
The swatch below is for the next scarf; I like this stitch because it is completely reversible - the back side looks exactly like the front. It is a multiple of 10 stitches worked over 10 rows. See below the photo for how-to make this stitch pattern.
This stitch pattern is done this way. I don't know if it has a name other than swirly reversible scarf stitch. It looks a bit Art-deco. (I have cast on 20 stitches and worked 20 rows for this swatch).
Row 1: K5, P5
Row 2: K4, P1, K1, P4
Row 3: K3, P2, K2, P3
Row 4: K2, P3, K3, P2
Row 5: K1, P4, K4, P1
Row 6: P5, K5
Row 7: K1, P4, K4, P1
Row 8: K2, P3, K3, P2
Row 9: K3, P2, K2, P3
Row 10: K4, P1, K1, P4
Gotta go enjoy this lovely loooooooonnnnnggg Sunday. Bye for now! ;o)
I have been MIA in the blogging space for the past two weeks and I have missed my happy, crafty little world.
What have I been doing?
* I always said that I would make no political comment on my blog, but I have to say that I am breaking that self-vow. I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT ANYONE WOULD VOTE FOR THAT WOMAN AND PUT HER NEXT IN LINE TO LEAD A NATION WHICH HAS MAJOR IMPACT WORLD-WIDE. I think that makes me an Obama-mama. A seriously agitated Obama-mama. However, being Canadian and not 'Merican, I can but watch. Come on big bro to the south - get it together!
So - having got that off my chest, let's get on to the knitting! I decided I would like to knit a scarf - it's for my daughter and I wanted it to be like her: warm, but not heavy/thick. And I wanted it to be quick to knit and so I discounted several pretty, but intricate and time-consuming lace patterns. Also, I like scarfs with no "wrong side". So I made up my own pattern. This does knit up very quickly - it's kind of lacy, it's reversible, and it's beginner-easy.
Here's how:
Yarn - 200 g of DK (about 295 yards/ 300 metres)- mine is Stylecraft Special which knits with 4mm/US6 needles to about 30 stitches and 22 rows to 10cm (4 in), but near enough will do.
Needles - 4mm/US 6
Cast on 45 stitches (or your choice, just make the number of stitches divisible by 3.
First 4 rows: knit.
Row 5: K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3.
Row 6: K3, *K1, YO, Slip 1 knit-wise, K1, PSSO. Repeat from * to last 3 stitches, K3.
Row 7, 9 and 11 : K3, purl to last 3 stitches, K3.
Row 8, 10 and 12: Knit.
Row 13 : Knit (this reverses the pattern so the knit rows are on the "back" side - this will happen every time you come to a "Row 13" and is what makes the scarf have no wrong side).
Repeat rows 5 through 13 until the scarf is as long as you want - I am making mine about 6 feet. Just remember to leave enough yarn to knit 4 last rows and cast off knit-wise.
Also made this weekend:
2 kids bags and 1 Easy-Peasy Bag for the upcoming craft table
And finally -
my lovely, but sleepy, Dylan!
So you know how it is when you get back from a lovely holiday - sometimes you think - "ahhhh, my own bed" and "awww, I so missed you, cats times three". Well this time there was none of that; I was so not ready to get back! We'd had three weeks of lovely Atlantic Canada and New England Indian Summer, and when we arrived at Gatwick, the queue for non-Europeans was at minimum a mile long. Then out we went to - RAIN. Yuk. So. Enough of that, because here is what I found when I got to my house:
So - all in all, that definitely took the sting out of being back from holiday. To all of you - THANK-YOU! Here's the bag that Oge sent - I have commented to her so many times that I love the fabric she chooses. And now I have a purse made out of some of it - YAY! And go here to see that pattern that Juliana sent. I am going to have a go at this once I get the holiday laundry done. To Jo, I hope you are recovered from the jet lag - I was slurping at the lovely fabrics you picked up. I was traveling with 3 non-crafters and although I found some nice buttons and a pack of turning doo-dahs (see below) - I did not buy a single bit of fabric while I was in the States - never really got the chance to take the time to do all the browsing/scrunching/feeling/imagining that goes along with picking out fabric. I was worried about baggage weight and also about the amount of fabric that is sitting in my house waiting to be used. Buttons, zipper pulls and the turning doo-dah that I picked up. This, for me, is a very meager stash! Hopefully the turning gadget works as promised in the hype. If so, I will demo on a later post. Oh - and I also found this in New Hampshire - it's by Chef'n, for cook'n (actually, for chop'n garlic); it works a charm and comes apart for wash'n. (Of course, immediately after I got back, I found it on Amazon UK - for almost twice what I paid for it. Hee hee. Of course, if you include my air fare ....). The Garlic Zoom by Chef''n This weekend I need to make some drapes for a friend - so blogging is going to be scarce. I think I will have to post some holiday shots, though!
The Fam came to dinner last night and a good time was had by all - so I celebrated this morning by sleeping in. Well, that is what the 3rd day of a three-day weekend is for, I feel. Now, since I generally get up at about 6 during the work week, "sleeping in" involved staying in bed until 8. Pretty daring, huh? I had cleaned up the dinner party debris before going to bed last night, so after a leisurely tea and toast, I decided to finish off my sewing WIP - and now the kids' bags are complete. The photo does not show the pretty polka-dot lining - it's the same fabric for all and matches the tabs on the sides of the bags. They are small-ish - just right for little hands.
And the ribbon scarf is now 90 cm long! Should be able to finish it during the week, too - can't wait to see it after the contrasting ribbon is woven in.
Want to see some kick-ass Wellies and an excellent tutorial on How to Procrastinate? Look here (good blog, too).
*Knit-WIP and Sew-WIP
Finally I have stopped ripping out and have decided to move forward with this ribbon scarf. Took a little while longer than I anticipated to get back into this knitting thing. See this post for the opening moves.
Here it is - all 72 cm. of it - almost exactly half way there. If you look very closely you can see a white thread running horizontally though it - near the needle. "Necessity is the mother of ..." and all that; knitting with this slippery ribbon means that you can't go back and pick up stitches if you make a mistake. Well, I can't anyway. Three times I have had to unravel all - right back to the beginning to start all over again; I thought my world would not be a happy place if I made an unrecoverable error after I had knit 60 cm or so! I came up with the bright idea of threading a piece of string through the stitches on the needle so that the string would act as a holder for the stitches - every 5/6 cm I slide it out and move it up so that a few rows is all that I can lose. Like having a net under the tightrope.
I am also sewing today - even though my mind keeps wandering back to the K-WIP. I have to get some kids' bags done by early October for a carft table at my niece's school, and with September pretty much taken up with holiday (YES!), I thought I better get a move on. So here is the S-WIP:
This collection of cuttings will end up being 4 little bags - I have cut the owl and the turtle out of the same fabric that is peeking out on the far left and have used Bondaweb to put them in place - I will zigzag around them; the horse (maybe zebra?) was a purchased applique so it was iron-and-go. The rectangles with the owl and the zebra will become pockets and the turtles will be appliqued directly onto the front of one of the bags. The pretty dotted fabric is the lining; I was going to make a sun dress out of this but then there was no summer and so there was no sun dress. Not really my colour anyway, but I thought it was so pretty.
OLYMPICS 2008
I got into Beijing waaaaay late this time - it was the end of the second week before I really started to pay much attention. My favorite person has got to be the little kid Brit diver - Tom Daley. What a pumpkin! So talented and so not into himself.
<----- Tom Daley - Brit sweetie Olympic diver
The debate was on last evening about whether THE Olympian of these games should be Bolt or Phelps. Now there's a tough one! I agreed with everyone's opinion regardless of which one people were picking.(On the news this morning there were comments about Bolt showboating - what is it about human nature that makes someone, somewhere, have to come up with the negative comment)? Go for it, Mr. Bolt - if you can run faster than anyone else on the planet, and you can make it look exciting - then hey - GO FOR IT, BABY!
So - off to cut out some interlining - perhaps I will stroke the K-WIP on my way to the interlining stash. ;o)
Found this wedding present for some friends in France at a local gallery;I couldn't attend the wedding, but I hope my friends will have many years of happiness together. This really pretty bowl is by a lady called Heather Powers - she screen prints onto glass, fuses layers together in a kiln, then returns to the kiln to shape lovely bowls and dishes like this one. I think it is gorgeous - hope my friends agree!
Heather Powers - Cotton Pods
Another friend celebrates the big four-oh this week coming up - she doesn't know yet that a few of her friends are celebrating it with her this week - got another piece of glass for her. It's by another British artist, whose name I can never remember - I couldn't decide between this one and a very dainty, smaller one with a red heart in the middle. In the end, I just liked this colour.
I also made a couple of little bags; I am so on a roll with using up some FQ's - much fondled, never cut ... 'til now!
Little guys
Buoyed with success, I finally did a bag that I had been planning for a little while, using Lisa's U-Handblog tutorial, to fix in metal rivets. The rivet bit was much easier than I thought - just a little scary 'cause you don't put them on until the bag is otherwise complete - not the time to be making a fatal error like punching a hole off-centre or something. Armed with Lisa's good tutorial, I had no problems this time, though - and I am so pleased with the result that I am actually going to keep this bag for myself. I used a little square of the exterior fabric behind each of the magnetic fastenings. I usually do this on the back side of the lining to reinforce the closures so they won't tear through the lining with use, but I thought I would put these where they would be visible as a little "design feature". My daughter likes the red lining in the bag and on the underside of the strap - because it peeks out on the strap she's called this the "Louboutin of Maccabags". I wish. Know what one of those babies would sell for?!!
Blue and white fabric is home decor weight; the lining is red linen.
Neat rivets!
Magnetic closure
Next weekend, no sewing, no blogging - I am off to the south of France, just for 4 days, to help my brother-in-law celebrate his birthday. My daughter and my other brother-in-law are coming with me. The Birthday Boy is getting the present he requested - Series 2 of Doctor Who (I feel that this is not really worthy of a photo). But at least he suggested something - men are so hard to buy for! May have some photos of the party to add next week, though....
Want a really fast project which uses up smallish bits of left-over fabric or your FQ's? These pouches are lined, can be left plain or embellished a little.
For the basic pouch, you will need the following bits of fabric - the measurements include a 1 cm (.5 inch)seam allowance. The finished pouch is 12 cm wide, 16 cm high and 5 cm deep (5 x 6.5 x 2 inches), but these could be easily adapted to different sizes - just add or subtract the same amount to the width and/or length of exterior and lining, and make the casings & drawstrings longer or shorter (but not wider).
To embellish the pouch, you could use all sorts of things - here are some ideas but there must be a zillion more: What to do: Step 1 - I have used purchased cord in my pouch below, but follow this step if you want to make the drawstrings as you see in the photo above. Fold one of the drawstrings in half, lengthwise. Press. Open out and fold the edges into the centre, so that they meet at the crease you just pressed in. The fold again along the first crease, encasing the edges. Stitch down the middle of the drawstring. Repeat to make a second. Step 2 - Finish the edges of the casings. Turn under .5 cm (1/4 inch) on all edges and press. Step 3 - Position the casings. Centre one of the casings on the pouch exterior, parallel to and 5.5 cm (2 and 1/4 inches)from one of the short edges of the pouch exterior. Pin in place. Stitch along both long edges - do not stitch across the short edges, this is where the drawstring will be inserted into the casing. Repeat with the 2nd casing along the other short edge of the pouch. If you are using some embellishment, add it now, and position it no more than about 5 cm (2 inches) from the bottom of one of the casings. This shows the positioning of the casings and the patch. Sew the casings and the patch as marked, hopefully straighter than my wiggling lines! Step 4 - Pin the lining to the exterior, right sides facing - short edge of lining to short edge of pouch. Stitch. Repeat with other short end and press seams open. Here's my pouch/lining seams pressed open. Step 5 - Make pleats at bottom of pouch and bottom of lining. Place the pouch/lining on a flat surface and carefully line up the seams you have just pressed open, and pin together - just pin at those seams for now. Turn the pouch end towards you and draw a line 2.5 cm (1 inch) up from the bottom fold. Flip the pouch over and do the same on the other side. Turn the pouch around and repeat these markings on the lining end. Open out the pouch and fold, right sides together along one of the markings. Press. Fold and press open along the other 3 lines you drew. Then line up the folded edges at the pouch end, right sides together, and pin. You should have a pleat of the pouch exterior sandwiched in between the folds. Do the same at the lining end. The pouch/lining seams matched and pinned, the folds made. I have left one edge of the bag with the seam line unmarked so that you can see how the folds have "sandwiched" a pleat of fabric. See Step 6 below - don't forget to leave that gap for turning - on one side only! Step 6 - Sew one long edge of the pouch/lining. Sew the other side as well, but this time leave an 8 cm (3 inch) gap in the seam, at the lining end, backstitching securely where you stop the stitching at each end of the gap. Reach through the gap and turn the pouch/lining right side out. Push the lining into the bag. Since the lining was not as long as the pouch, about 2.5 cm (an inch) of the exterior will turn into the interior of the bag. Now poke out the bottoms so that they look like this - that's me pressing everything neatly! Step 7: Insert the drawstrings as in the photos below - then tie small knots at each of the drawstring ends, like I have here, or tie two ends together and knot as in the beige-and-gingham pouch in the photo at the beginning of this posting. All done. OH NO - not yet! Go back and sew that little gap in the lining shut! And now there are four! I thought three of these, maybe in graduating sizes and mix n' match fabric combos, would make a nice gift. Another thought: insert a same-size-ish plastic bag containing sand or rice, for a cute doorstop. And, made out of bridal fabrics, embellished with seed pearls/embroidery and with longer drawstrings for over-the-wrist carrying, this pouch would make a lovely bag for a bride or a bridesmaid to carry. Make it out of silk dupion and add some sequins or feathers and you have a little evening bag.
Feed one of the drawstrings through the casing on one side and continue on through the casing on the other side. The drawstrings should then look like these photos. Do the same thing with the other drawstring, but start from the opposite side of the pouch.
A Gaggle of Cushions
Phew! Busy weekend:
Aside from the cushions I did make a bag - this one from Lisa - again! Everyone seems to love this bag and so I have just finished making my 4th one. This one is from white ticking with a black stripe - and the lining is made out of black linen.
The Bag
The Hardware
I like the way the side came out.
So - I am going to take a break from making this style of bag (probably only for awhile because I am going to try to teach myself how to crochet with this book and then I will need a nice craft bag). For the moment, though - next up will be some bags with rivets - where would I be without Lisa? Here's her tutorial on using rivets in bags.
I got very adventurous and ordered some books from Amazon.co.jp. (It didn't feel quite so adventurous after I discovered that there is a link on the Home Page which switches everything to English; it seemed rather more intriguing to be ordering in Japanese, which I do not speak nor read). The prices were good, the postage very reasonable, and books that I ordered on Sunday arrived on Wednesday.
The books in question were Happy Sunday (ISBN 4-579-10914-7, which I used to search, leaving off the "ISBN") and Journey (ISBN 4-579-10969-4). These handbags are made by UI Nakabayashi. Photos from the two books follow - the question is - are these mere handbags? No - I make handbags - Ms. Nakabayashi does ART!
I just can't imagine putting anything in them and wrecking the lines!
From Happy Sunday
And - from Journey
See what I mean? Even a tube o'lippy would make too big a bulge!
Requirements for making this bag:
Materials
Ready? (This bag involves far more getting ready to stitch than actual stitching).
Step 1 - mark the fabric, position the interfacing squares & cut a little bit more
Figure 1. I couldn't get the detail I wanted on the exterior piece fully opened out, so I folded it into quarters to show how each corner should look with the markings and the corner rectangles cut out. The square green blob is where the interfacing should be fused in place. Figure 2. Step 2 - Press and stitch - fininshing of rectangle edges Figure 3. Step 3: Fold some more, press some more, fold and press, press and fold! Figure 4. Lining in position, 1 cm hem turned under, and you can see where I have also pressed the second fold, but have turned it back out again for in the photo. Figure 5. Edge stitching the ribbon casing. This also partially covers up the corner where the lining bit was turned under. When the casing for the handle is made, the remainder will be covered. The remaining unfinished sides will need to be prepared to form the casing into which you will sew the handles: Thus, now begins the Patience-Required bit: Figure 6. Sewing on the inside of the circular handle. I have used my zipper foot because it is the narrowest one I have and won't bump into the handle quite so often as I sew. You can barely see the marked line that I am lining the casing edge up against. You will be able to see this better in the next photo. (Observe: the next thing that is going to happen is that the black screw which holds the needle in place is going to hit the handle and I will not be able to sew further). The guideline for positioning the casing is more easily seen here. The needle is down and I have stopped sewing so that I can push the handle (just visible under the fabric) slightly up and slightly to the right - then I can continue to sew without the black screw hitting the handle and stopping me abruptly! Keep sewing, stopping, repositioning - repeating as often as you need to. The secret is to go slow, and to ensure that the the needle is in the down position whenever you need to stop sewing. It is also helpful if you keep the casing that you have already sewn from wandering to the other side of the handle as it seems to want to do. Each time you stop and reposition, move the sewn casing back towards the needle. About the time that you feel like you would like to be playing tennis rather than bag making, you will come to the end of the casing, and the first handle will be inserted. Then, all you have to do is get this one off your machine, and do this all over again for the second (last!)handle.... ;o) Step 5 - Finish line! Insert and tie the ribbons - easy-peasy. Figure 8. And - you're done!
Inserting the handle involves positioning it inside the casing and then edge stitching the casing in place. The trouble is this: the line of stitching has to be straight i.e. parallel to the edge of the fabric. The handle is round. Oh-oh.
Figure 7.
I was going to write a tutorial as I made this bag. However, I tried a different method to prepare the top of the bag for insertion into the straight purse frame. AND - it turns out that this way was much harder than the way I usually do it: see Lisa Lam's tutorial at U-Handblog. SO, really, not much point in composing a tutorial to show how to do something in a finnicky and difficult way.
Never mind - I'll think up something else and do one soon.
Here's the interior - I do like the colours and fabric combo, so I am pleased with this, even if I did take much longer than necessary and use some interesting words along the way when "The Better Way" turned in to "I'll Never Do THAT Again".
The second bag of the weekend - I am seriously liking this design. I like the way the hex purse frame opens, and the bag makes up so nicely - I have used Lisa's design twice now, the first one was Pen's bag, and both bags look very crisp and neat:
Hi!
I'm Judy - I'm an ex-pat Canadian living in the UK. Hopefully you might find something in my blog that's helpful or enjoyable.
I LOVE comments, so please say hello if the spririt moves you!
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