Sew-a-long Fabric Choices

What a great response!  Thankyou!  It is so much more fun to sew with others.  You can grab the button in the side bar, the code is below it.  Or grab the pic in the last post. And I have added a page where all the posts will be for easy finding.  Don't forget the Wiksten Flickr group if you want to share photos.

So you've bought your pattern and now you are thinking fabric.  I thought the best way to look at this is to  use picture of Tovas that show a range of prints and fabric weights.

Quilting Weight

Jenny Gordy has made lots of Tovas in different fabrics.  This dress version is in a Katie Jumps Rope print with a contrast for the panel.  I know a lot of you will have lengths of quilting fabric at home.  Some quilting cottons are thicker than others, I would plump for a lighter feel.   The benefit of quilting cotton is the Tova will not be see through, the downside is if the cotton is a bit thick the gathers on the panel at the front and the sleeves could get a bit bulky.  I have some white Echo Little Flourine print and I will use that for one Tova, I am already thinking multiple versions.

Plaid/Check

Kate at Harmony and Rosie made a lovely flannel plaid version.  What I like about this choice is that the fabric looks the same on both sides, so if the collar falls forward the inside looks like the outside. With any patterns, you do need to consider that you will need to match sections, I can see how Kate has matched the panel and the side sections of the shirt so they all blend together.  You could also cut the panel section on the bias with diagonal plaid- no matching to so and it would look great.  Flannel is a great choice for colder weather.  It does tend to cling to other clothes-something to consider if you are making the dress version, and thicker flannel like Anna Maria Horner's flannel fabric would be too bulky,  Kate is designing and selling clothes herself and has just opened a very pretty shop- check it out here  

Liberty Lawn

Ashley from Film in the Fridge has just made these beautiful Liberty lawn Tovas and I know some of you are thinking of cutting into your treasured Liberty stash.  I think this is a perfect fabric for spring/summer.  Lightweight, crisp and easy to handle and sew and not so flimsy as to be transparent.  Perfect!  There are other lawns too, Rita has made this beautiful Lisette lawn Tova

Rita has also made a maternity Tova with a few alterations to the basic pattern

I think it looks incredibly stylish, especially for maternity wear.

Voile

I have voile sitting and waiting for this, I know it can be a b*tch to sew at times but it is so silky and floppy and shimmery, it is hard to resist.

Leila's looks so pretty and soft, I can imagine wearing a voile version in the summer.  Voile is often a little see through, OK if you are planning to wear it over your cossie at the beach as a cover up or with a little vest, not OK to show everyone your bra at work when you thought you could get away with it.

I am intending to make two Tovas, a quilting cotton Lotta print and a Anna Maria Horner Little Folks pastry voile in water. 

 These are different widths so check your pattern for your fabric width as the length needed varies according to width.  On the voile version will be attempting to used a balanced layout for my stripes so they are centred on the Tova and cross cut fabric for the panel so the stripes run the other way.  

What ever you chose, consider making a test version first.  From reading others' experiences many say they didn't have to make alterations but the seam allowances are small in this pattern, 3/8 inch in most places so you may not want to cut into that expensive Liberty lawn before you have had a test run with a bit of cheap cotton.  Bust measurement is the deciding factor to work out the best size for you and there is a size chart on the pattern that relates bust to size.  Check your chest measurement at the fullest part and use that as your guide.  Sleeve length and garment length is easy to change, width across the shoulder and bust is harder.  Once you have chosen your fabric, prewash it just incase it shrinks a little and press it ready for cutting out and transferring marks Wednesday 21st March.   Don't forget thread- good quality general sewing polyester thread like Gutermann Sew All or Coats Duet.  These are polyester and they have more strength than cotton and a little stretch.  If you plan to zig zag or finish your seams on your machine buy two spools, if you are using separate threads on a serger/overlocker, one will be fine.  Get your pattern taped together and either trace the size you need onto more paper or cut it out from the print out.

 I will answer any sew-a-long questions in the comments reply so others can see or you can email me direct kerrykit(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot)uk or on Twitter as @verykb I don't have all the answers but someone else in the sew-a-long might so dive in and reply to someone's comment if you can help!

Spring Swoon

So yesterday was cold but sunny and my little pot of hope started to flower...

there is a little more light in the day.  This week I have been working on Swoon block 2 and I went for spring colours, fresh light prints. I used a mix of Amy Butler Soul Blossom voiles and Anna Maria Horner Little Folks.  The cream is Kona Snow.

I also bought a big A2 industrial cutting mat from Creative Grids.  I was a little nervous buying this online, I had one very badly mailed in the past but this one arrived well packaged and is excellent quality!  I also ordered the mini ruler you can see in the pic above, perfect for adding 1/4 seam to little pieces when freezer paper piecing.  I cannot recommend Creative Grids rulers more highly, they grip the fabric so reduce slippage when you cut, easily my favourite rulers.

Today, there is no sun just rain and cold but even late in the afternoon it is light enough to take photos .  Swoon is a bit of a palette cleanser for me, all I have to do is systematically follow instructions, arrange pieces into piles, chain pieces and make assembly lines.  It all fits together like magic

Half term next week so a week off work, time for us all to get over colds, coughs and laze around.  And whilst lazing, finish a quilt for my sister, make a dress for a wedding invitation and make a few bee blocks, plus a few other things to design and plan.

Enjoy your weekend!

I Swoon, you Swoon, they Swoon, we all Swoon

At last I found a little window of time to make my first Swoon block.  All the support and inspiration you could even need is in Katy's Swoon Quilt A Long group on Flickr.  This project would never have started without it.

I have to be very disciplined to sew a big block like this successfully.  A series of assembly lines is needed, stacks of half square triangles waiting to be sewn.  I used a Frixion pen for all my lines and a walking foot for sewing the slippy sliding Little Folks voile

Pins are definitely needed with the voile.  Along the way I must have 'lost' a square here and a piece there a 100 times.

I enjoyed this a lot more than I ever imagined I would.  The block design is simple but very effective and is just what I was looking for with the Little Folks- I know many of you suggested Swoon when I asked what I should make with these fabrics.

Cutting does take ages but I am working only one block at a time so it is easily manageable.  It is a whopper, a mini quilt in itself, 24.5" x 24.5.  I am going for the full 9 blocks but slowly, slowly.

Pressing the seams open is worth the extra effort and made joining a lot easier.  The thiness of the voiles really helps and they have a lot of give, handy when I am trying to match up points.

I am actually bursting to make another but I I have promised my sister a quilt for her birthday, end of February so more Swooning will have to wait.

Wordless Wednesday- Flickr Fabric Swaps

thankyou Crystal, Lisa, Amisha, Pam and Nikki

Fabric Gifts- the best kind

I had two great fabric parcels yesterday, the best thing to get in the post and both form overseas. Firstly a parcel from Ayumi containing packets of goodness from Japan!  She put together a little parcel for each coaster make from Suzuko Koseki's gifts at the Tokyo Quilt Festival/

Ayumi also sent me the cutest stickers and postcard, I could seriously lose myself in a shop selling stuff like this.  Ayumi, you choose the best things!  The little jar of peanut butter jumped out at me straightaway, and the box of biscuits with the Bonne Maman style gingham box.  She has a great blog entry with some amazing pics of Zakka gifts and goodies here.

And this beautiful silky, shimmery pile is the Block party Prize for my spools block generously provided by Kim at Poppy Seed Fabrics.  She has a wonderful range of fabric but it was these Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voiles that really stood out.  Kim has such a good selection and some lovely rainbow Little Folks bundles including the new pastry line with the scalloped stripe.  I got a big length of pastry voile  in 'water' (the blue) to make a Pochee tunic and the other FQs are to make a silky blanket/quilt of dresdens.  

A big thank you to Kim, Heather and Megan at Quiltstory and everyone who commented on my little block x  

Remember to visit here tomorrow- a fabric giveaway is sitting ready for someone to win!

Holiday clothes, sun, sea and sand

Sun, sea and sand are three words that  don't always sit happily together in the UK but this weekend was all of those.  I finished my Pochee tunic just in time (I won't mention the lace underdress/petticoat that I made but couldn't wear as it was too weird and needs more work)

A bit posey, this is more like it

The Anna Maria Horner Little Folks voile is I the nicest fabric I have ever sewn with.  It is soft and silky, cuts well, doesn't slip and is a pleasure to sew.  This pattern is Diamond Mine pattern in Sky.  It feels just as lovely on and was great for keeping lily white skin covered on the beach.  I buy Pochee magazine from ebay and etsy seller pomadour24.

We stayed at Challaborough bay which looks on to Burgh island.  The hotel there was made famous by Agatha Christie and is a beautiful Art Deco building.  As England were playing on Saturday night we had the beach to ourselves

Damian taught Lula how to skim stones

All of us restored, rested and home.

I am going to try Japanese clothes patterns as my next immediate project.  I have made a lot of clothes before and pattern adaptation and blocking but these are something new and need a bit of decoding work.  I have a favourite which I am going to make as a toile first just to check on fit.

I have been so tempted by all the discussion and photos on Flickr and blogs by Anna Maira Horner's new cotton voile Little Folks prints.  They are still hard to get in the UK but Saints and Pinners who are also based in Devon, are stocking some and have kindly sent 7 samples.

Last year Heather Ross's Far and Away fabric line seemed to be the big summer hit, I succumbed to that and I think I will have to yield to this as well.

I am thinking of Diamond Mine sky for the main body of the top and 4 square in Berry for the bias trim. Which is your favourite?