Threads

I am spending a lot of time  fumbling around with technology.  I just got an ipad, I don't have an iphone so this is instead I guess and sort of like a laptop.  Some of it is intuitive and some of it I spend ages trying to work out using google.   This parcel arrived today, super fast from Lecien- that alone made me squeak but the contents really did make me very happy.  This is Cosmo stranded embroidery thread/floss and it is the first time I have seen any.  It is absolutely beautiful.

Lecien are one of the sponsors for the Zakka Style Sew Along- the latest post for this is over at Amy's blog with a very cute house, or even cottage style zipper pouch.  I haven't had sponsors on the blog here, only on projects that I have been a little part of.  No one has contacted me and I haven't searched for it.  I have mixed feelings on sponsorship.  I do get sent materials and I am happy promoting what I really like to use, like Aurifil- I could endorse that all day long.   I am more than happy to mention the Cosmo embroider thread , it is of the most incredible quality- even though I have no idea where I am going to buy more in the UK, and I am definitely planning on more of this!  If you know of UK suppliers, please let me know!  My turn in the Zakka Sew-a-long is coming soon and the Cosmo will feature in my take on the project I am making. There is an Aurifil giveaway at each Zakka sew along blog post and these little trial packs are a great way to fmailiarise yourself with the different weights of thread and Lynne is hosting chance to win a lot more and indulge your creativity in creating a thread mosaic.  You really should look at these, there are some amazing images in this group.
Meanwhile, the Sew-Ichigo patterns are nearly ready, we are just at the final formating stage and I posted a new tote bag tutorial today that uses three of the blocks from the new pattern collection.

 I have also added an extra bonus quicker stage to the lasso tutorial with a great tip supplied by Alison of Little Island.  And if you have had problems leaving a comment, I have sorted a little glitch that was hiding the comment link.  I changed my blog layout recently so I could get bigger pics and that always creates some invisible hiccups!  Any other problems,  please let me know.

Best in Show

This block was for Megan in Cocorico bee. Her theme was 'Country Fair'.  I dallied with the idea of pigs but they started to look more like dogs in my sketches so I chose rabbits.  I had to do two, I think of rabbits in multiples, it must be their breeding habits!  And the "Best in Show" idea was rattling around my overcooked imagination from the start.  The sitting rabbit as from 318 Patchwork, Kumiko Fujita-(you know already that it is, of course, out of print).  I played around with that pattern for the standing rabbit and pushed myself to fit a  total of 5 inset Y seams just into that one rabbit- that was fun!  Both bunnies are freezer paper pieced and the ribbon was foundation pieced. The ribbon was adapted from  Carol Doak's free Pink Ribbon pattern.

The tails were needle turn appliqued on with the straight edge sewn into the seam.  The noses and eyes were wool felt cut with a paper hole puncher and hand stitched on.  For the stamping, I always use Versacraft ink.  I like to live life on the edge, the stamping was added at the very end of the block.
Fabrics
Green- Sweet on NYC for Timeless Treasures
Ripple Ribbon-Anna Griffin
Pink large polkas-Lecien
Pink tiny dot-my stash
Yellow prints- Picnics and Fairgrounds, Denyse Schmidt
Aurifil thread for piecing and Superior needles- my new favourite piecing needle, love them!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  As you can tell I am one class lady, no fancy eggs for me, nothing can be better than 6 creme eggs. And thank you to those who voted in Made by Rae's Spring Top Challenge, I can't quite believe it but I was judge's choice winner of week 1, I am positively beaming just thinking about it!   Now go!  Eat chocolate!

Top Tops

I have been lucky enough to make the first week final selection "Top of the Tops" at Made by Raes Spring Top Sewalong.  Last week I was wearing my voile Tova in the warm sun, this week it waits in my wardrobe for the return of spring- it is really chilly here today!  

Voting is until Friday and there a some lovely tops to see, a great variety to inspire you to make something for yourself, click on the pic below to take your to the top tops! 

 And should you want to make a Tova, all the sew-a-long posts are now available here.

Post 7 -Tova Collar, and your Tova is complete- Linky Time!

Are you still there?  Still sewing a long with your Tova?  The end is in sight and it is an easy finish.  this post is all about the collar and links in with stage 7 of Jenny Gordy's instructions.  I rounded my collar (details on how to here).  When you attach the collar, the important thing is to check that the front edge of the collar extends 3/8" beyond the front edge neck line- you can see the handy measuring gauge checking mine out.  The basting stitches below are not for the collar but for my double thickness inset section.  

(**edited to add**)You could staystitch the collar as Mel suggests here.  Stay stiching is just stitching inside the seam allowance- 1/4" from the edge would be idea around the neck line to stop it stretching.  A smaller stitch is a good idea for this.

I was incredibly lucky with the pattern matching, I centred the collar on the  fabric stripes just as I did the back section and they all matched up nicely!

When you attach the second collar piece it helps to press the 3/8" seam allowance up just at the ends of the collar before you start pinning.

With the curved end collar the only difference is that you are stitching a curve around the collar end rather than a straight line, pivot and continue round the rest of the collar.  It helps on both versions to use a really small stitch for the ends of the collar.  You can use a usual length stitch for the rest of the stitching but the collar end seams will be trimmed back and small stitches gives the seam additional security. 

You can see how the pressed lower collar edge gets sewn into the seam so that when you turn the collar through it should be just covering the seam.  For the straight edge collar you need to trim the corner but for the curve you need 'clip the seam', and because this curve will face inward when the collar is turned the right way out, you need to cut notches out of the seam.  These will close up and allow the seam to curve round smoothly.   You can reduce the seam a little too, I trimmed mine down, then cut the V shapes out.

You can hand sew the collar edge down or pin carefully and stitch close to the  edge of the fabric all around the collar.  And then your Tova is done!  

I am just starting to see sew-a-long Tovas pop up but I would love it if you could link your Tova here so I could see them all!  I would like to thank Jenny Gordy for such a great pattern, I can honestly say I have not seen a 'bad' Tova!  And thankyou for you all for sewing with me, it really does make it a lot more fun- now get your Tovas out.  I have given you a nice long 6 weeks to get your link in!

Boys' toys

It is my nephew's 7th birthday today.  He requested a sewing box for his birthday- how happy was I?

No more Ben 10 or Harry Potter lego, instead a selection to stitch on binca canvas

Lula suggested a bento box- they come in lots of designs and the layers are a great way to store little bits and pieces.  I made him a needle book using Krista's tutorial and a mini pin cushion and Lula designed and cross stitched a robot card.

I love it when a plan comes together, and now to find out if he likes it!  Tea, cake and birthday games of Cluedo are calling x

(Edited to add)- it was a massive hit, he loved it!

Tova Sew-a-long post 6: Setting the Sleeve

In this post we will assemble and set the sleeve into the armhole and add the cuff.  In Jenny's instructions this is stage 5 and 6.  

Assemble sleeves

This is easy, stitchithe sleeve seams right sides together and finish the seam edge- serge/zig zag/overcast or pinking shears.  Look at the notches around the armhole you transferred from the paper pattern (they looked like 'T' on the pattern), the double notch indicates the back of the sleeve, the single notch is the front.  Press seam towards the back.  Repeat with other sleeve so you have a left and a right sleeve.

Cuff

As I lengthened my sleeve I made my cuff narrower because my wrist is thinner than my mid arm where the sleeve would usually finish.  I recommend that you stitch the cuff together at the short seams so it is a loop like a bracelet and check for fit, I made mine smaller by 3/4"  at each end. If you have shortened your sleeve and want to add a cuff it will need to be bigger as your arm is wider at the top!    Prepare the sleeve end by two rows of gathering stitches just like we did for the placket.  I did mine just over 1/8" and 1/2" from sleeve edge and I sewed with the wrong side facing upwards.  Gather as we did the placket, evening out the gathers with a pin and matching the notches with the cuff.  When you are happy with the fit, knot the gathering thread ends and pin all round with right sides together.  You will need your free arm on your sewing machine and I found sleeve end/cuff too narrow to completely fit over my machine free arm so stitch slowly so as not to trap any fabric.  You can see my seam stitching between the gathering threads.

Finishing the cuff from this point is very similar to binding a quilt!  Remove the gathering threads, fold the cuff over so that the bottom edge covers the seam by just over 3/8.  Tuck  3/8" under at the bottom of the sleeve press and pin in place.  This folded line should just cover the seam.  You could hand sew the cuff to the sleeve- it is the inside of the cuff so your stitches will be hidden, or you could sew right next to the folded edge through the cuff.  You can see mine below on a sleeve board.  Sleeve boards are very handy items, useful for bag, purse and pouch making as well as clothing

Setting the Sleeve

At the top of the sleeve, stitch two lines of gathering stitches between the notches at the sleeve cap- look at Jenny's diagram in the instructions if you are not sure where to stitch.   I stitched 1/8" and 1/2" rather than the suggested 1/8" and 1/4"and I had the wrong side facing as that is the side you will be working with when you pin the sleeve in the armhole.  You will only be gathering very gently as there is only a little fullness to reduce so you will hardly see any gathers in the fabric.  The gathering here  is to ease the sleeve in and give you room for your shoulder to fit in rather than a style feature.  At the underarm area there are no gathers.  Your Tova top should be inside out, make sure you have the right sleeve for the right armhole and the left for the left armhole- use the notches to work this out, the double notch is on the back.  The sleeve should be the right side out, place it the through the arm of the Tova so right sides are together.   Match notches and pin working on the inside of the sleeve. When you come to stitch your seam you will start on the inside with your machine.  Make sure the sleeve seam is lying to the back of the sleeve (see bottom of the photo below)  

 I found the easiest thing to do was to stitch the underarm area first where there are no gathers.  I stitched the usual 3/8"seam and then I stitched just next to this line within the seam allowance. This extra line of stitching reinforces an area of strain- just imagine lifting your arms up and the tension placed on this seam.  You can just see the extra line of stitching in the picture.

Then I stitched the rest of the seam, starting my stitching from where the underarm stitching finished and stitching right round, between the gathering stitches until you meet where the underarm stitching started.  Go slow, there is a lot of fabric and it is easy to trap a little underneath- just like I did, see the pic below!

Once you have checked all round the seam to make sure there no pleats or trapped fabric, remove the gathering stitches.  You can then finish the seam edge by serging/zig zag/overcast or pinking shears.

We are nearly finished!  Back mid-week with the collar to finish the Tova!

Remember you can add you pics to the Wiksten Flickr group