Another card wallet

Last year(ish) I made Mat a card wallet. He'd had a metal one in mind and was a bit...unenthusiastic about it at first, but came around to it to the point where he asked me awhile ago if I'd make another one for him to put his loyalty cards, store cards etc. in.

I used some fabric he really likes and he seemed pleased with it on reception (he'll be sporting patchwork vests before I'm done*).

I used the tutorial over at Schlosser Designs again, it's super easy and very quick. It would have been quicker if I'd realised that I didn't have to cut separate sections for the back and pocket fronts because they're from the same fabric and form a continuous piece... The fabric is Robert Kaufmann something or other I think, and the circles are Metro something or other I think - I can be a bit more specific if anyone's dying to know!



*If anyone knows him I hope they'll find that image as funny (and unlikely) as I do.

Negroni WIP

You know it's dire when your dad reminds you you haven't updated your craft blog in awhile! I've been doing a bit of archaeology work for Mat, and a bit of sewing and a bit of cross stitch and nothing really bloggable in a cool way. But it's meant to be about the process too, so here is some process!

Mat's been asking me to make him another shirt for awhile, and when I saw the Negroni from Colette Patterns I thought it would make a nice change from the Kwik Sew 3422 pattern I've used previously (which is good but a bit more casual and boxy). I had this very nice lawn in the stash that I'd bought to make myself something with but Mat liked it and I thought it would be lovely with the pattern.

I've now finished the body and it's going together well, although I'm not entirely happy with the collar. I'm not sure what this type is called, with the collar and stand in one, but it's that kind.  With the way the shirt is constructed it looks very neat and tidy, but it's just not sitting nicely. I cleverly photographed it so that you can't tell, although if you look very carefully you can see how the upper part of the collar curves into the seam with the lapel, and then the lapel curves out again. Perhaps it will sit better when the sleeves are in, and I'll definitely top-stitch it, so it may work out in the end. If it doesn't then there is a tutorial about turning it into a standard collar which should solve the issues for next time, or I could just use a collar from another pattern. The fabric looks as nice as I'd hoped, and while light-weight is behaving itself.

Mat's off to a conference in Timaru at the end of the week and I'd like to have it finished by then, although it's going to be mighty chilly down there for a light shirt and he's digging out the heavy-duty winter woolies that haven't seen action since Canada the Xmas before last (we're soft and weak up here in Auckland, let's face it).

Modern Patchwork

I was (and am!) a huge fan of Elizabeth Hartman's book 'The Practical Guide to Patchwork' so I was really excited when she put out a new one called 'Modern Patchwork'.

However, the few advance glimpses of it didn't really get me as excited as I felt I should be, and I was a bit disappointed. However, I should have known that in any book review, the reviewer concentrates on the quilts they personally like, because there are only so many images you can show in a blog post! I got a digital review copy from C&T Publishing and yes there are quilts in it that I love, and no I'm not disappointed anymore - so let me show you the ones that really get me excited and tell you my plans for one of the patterns! And yes of course there are quilts in it I don't care for, but as the owner of far too many a few quilt books, I figure that if you love about half the quilts in a book then it's a good buy and I'm over the magic 50% with this book.

One of the things I loved about Elizabeth's first book was how she showed alternate ideas for the quilts and she's done the same thing here, which I'm really happy about! Although I'm getting better at looking past fabrics I don't care for to the block beneath, I still find it helpful when someone does it for me. This one is Glam Garlands, though I have to say that for some reason it looks more like trees in a forest to me! In this case however, I do like the yellows and greys a lot.

These little houses in Neighbourhood are cute, you could have a lot of fun with the fabric in the windows.

I also love this big geometric diamond quilt called Fire Drill, it's not so precise that it becomes what I dread in patchwork - too precise and geometric (take that hexagons!). Plus if you stare at it long enough it makes you go cross-eyed.

Two of the quilts I especially like feature curves. For some reason I'm paranoid about sewing curves, despite the fact I happily sew them when I'm making clothing! Irrational much? Anyways, these quilts are cunning because they're applique and for some reason that seems easier!

The one I've got plans for is this one, Zylophone

The Monday night quilt group has been talking about doing a bee and I think I'm going to see if this one would work - and do it with my stash of vintage sheets. I've never been especially keen on bees because while I've seen some really great quilts done that way I've also seen some less than inspiring ones! But I think we've got such a great group that I'm happy to give it a go now. I'm not entirely sure how this would break down so that a group could do it, and we're only 8 or 9 people, but I only want a Queen size so I'd probably get at least half of it done for me? I need to sit down with the specs and really think it out - plus figure out how much it'll cost to get the sashing etc. Quilts are so spendy, even if you have half the fabric already and I'm too much of a control freak to not supply the background and most, if not all, the fabrics!

iPhone case

The Monday night quilt group's 'homework' for the meeting last night was an electronic device cover. Since I share the iPad with my husband and I don't think he'd be thrilled by a patchwork cover, I decided to make another iPhone slipcover.  I liked the one I made last year so much I used the same pattern, although this time I made it as one long piece and folded it in half instead of making two separate sides like the first one. Since it was homework I figured I'd better make an effort at some piecing rather than just use one bit of fabric like last time! I've been wanting to try postage stamps for awhile, and something this small seemed like place to try them out.



The squares were 3 cm cut and 2 cm finished. And yeah, that's small! And yes the linen stretched. But actually all things considered, the squares generally matched up pretty well! I love all the reds and pinks against the linen, but couldn't resist putting in a single square of blue.



I had a typical last-step disaster though - if you look carefully at the large red and white polka dot fabric you can see the red has leached into the white, as it has on the two smaller ones next to it - and they're from different manufacturers to boot. Argh! I used water-erasable pen to draw in the quilting lines, so before I gave it a last iron I sprayed them out and ironed it wet and the red ran! I'm not sure if it would be permanent, I bet it is since I effectively set it with a hot iron, but I might try washing the cover in warm water with a colour catcher. I thought that both of those fabrics had been pre-washed but perhaps not. Anyways, not impressed!

I made it just a few millimeters too tight, so had to hand-sew the sides up to make enough room. It was meant to be sewn together along those stitching lines you can see, which this time around are simply giving a bit of structure to the edges. It's such a tricky thing making a cover just the right size - not too big or the phone will slide out, not too tight or you can't get it out in time to answer a call! I like this style of cover though, because I can pinch the fabric at the bottom and the phone slides up and I can then pull it out. I can also press the home button through the fabric and slide up the phone a bit to just see the time, and there's nothing blocking the headphone jack at the top.

So now I have two covers, although I imagine I'll still be wandering around the house saying "has anyone seen my phone cover?".

Wonky log cabin pillow

I started this pillow a couple months ago in an attempt to use up some of the really neat scraps of fabric Lyndy sends along with fabric orders. I came across this brilliant little needlebook by Stitched in Color on Pinterest and thought yes!

                                                           Source: stitchedincolor.com via Hazelnuts on Pinterest

Well it started out like that and then turned into a cushion, but these things happen.

I don't have huge amounts of small scraps really - I'm super-stingy when I cut things out so tend to end up with large scraps and I wanted to use up small ones. I easily had enough pink and red, less blues and fewer greens, so there are some non-scrap fabrics in those two colours. I decided to work on my wonkiness, which I always find hard. As you can see, I didn't manage to be hugely wonky, but dammit I didn't use a ruler or anything so it's wonky. The other problem I had was if things were too wonky then the block wouldn't lie flat. I'm not sure how you manage wonky and flat - are they somewhat incompatible?



I quilted the front in a spiral, which exposed a gaping hole in my general world knowledge - how to draw a spiral.  If you look carefully you can see mine is a bit oval-shaped and not roundish. Why is that? Well I thought if I marked out concentric circles and then fudged it a bit it would turn into a spiral. Apparently not! Of course I looked it up afterwards and discovered the correct way to do it. I will remember that for next time! It looks kind of cool anyways, though I don't think I'd like to attempt it on anything larger on my little machine.

I quilted the back with wavy lines, which I'm now in love with. I told my husband I felt like I was driving the sewing machine with hands on either side moving the fabric side to side. He just looked at me like I was mad.

I haven't had any feedback on it yet from most of the family, but one of us has made it her own.

Emergency crafting

A few days ago Heleen asked me if I could come and do some "emergency crafting" at an impromptu Lucky Penny session so a photographer could take photos of a craft group doing their thing. I duly showed up at Alphabet City at noon yesterday with my hastily assembled emergency craft in hand and had such a lovely time. I'm always intending to get along to the regular evening get-together and am dreadfully slack (I made it once last year) so I'm obviously going to have to make more of an effort in future. It was very interesting talking about crafting with the journalist and seeing the photographer go about her work. Lots of action was called for, which isn't really a crafting thing, so we did what we could - moved arms about, duly admired quilts and crochet, pointed, touched, reached for yummy baking and tried to be animated. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results!

I took along some embroidery - the beginnings of a small cross-stitch of plantain.

 

I grabbed a scrap of linen out of the stash thinking it would be ok, but in reality it's too fine and is nearly sending me blind, even in good lighting! But I'll persevere because I do love cross stitch and it's a Gerda Bengtsson design and they always make me happy. Unfortunately I'm having to mix Danish flower thread and regular DMC floss, but I think that's what is referred to as a 'first world problem'.

Real sewing

If you sew, do you find yourself doing a lot of this?

I do. It's about my least favourite sewing job, but it's actually quite necessary at times, actually saves money, and it gets me in good with Mat. Clearly these jeans aren't his, they're Hazel's. Have you ever tried to hem a pair of size 7 super-skinny jeans? Challenging.