Shearwater Kaftan in Nani Iro Double Gauze

I'm doing some tinkering on the blog and need to delete all my draft posts........I found this one, which has been hanging around for a couple of years I think. Anyhow, I'm not sure why I never completed the post but it seems a shame to relegate it to the waste bin.

In short, it is a Shearwater Kaftan (one of three I have made - the first was another Nani Iro double gauze made while I was pregnant with Katie and was so comfortable - double gauze is really the best fabric ever invented).  I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest recollection where I found the Nani Iro, I think it was probably a UK online shop.  Previous double gauze purchases came from overseas but it is pretty easy to get hold of here now - yay!

It is a lovely straight forward pattern.  Slightly fitted and perfect for summer  Just what it says on the packet in fact!  I think I made this one a little too long (it worked well with a bump but less so without one) and the next one was a wee bit shorter and probably a little more flattering.  Not sure what else to say - if you're looking for an easy summer top to sew then I'd definitely recommend you give it a go!

The Stitch Gathering - ticket swap bag



Not long now until The Stitch Gathering.  I'm really looking forward to it this year. I did last year, too, but with quite a lot of nervousness in advance of the class I was teaching.  This year, I'm feeling more sure of myself especially since I have taught a few classes throughout the year.  Having written this, and expressed my relative lack of fear out loud, I'm now pretty concerned that I'm tempting fate.  I do hope not!

 

Anyhow, I'm sure it will be a wonderful day. Jo is a bit of a genius for putting together good things (and we'll just have to hope that, for the sake of everyone in my class, I'm not struck by lightning or a similar smugness-induced calamity between now and then). Last year we each received a fabric ticket which we embellished and handed in.....for Jo to turn into a stunning quilt which will be raffled for charity at this year's event.

 

I did wonder how that idea could be beaten, but I needn't have worried.  This year we have all been sent a ticket bag to embellish for a swap partner.  I can't reveal who my partner is as that would spoil half the fun, but I can show my finished bag.

 

After a lot of um-ing and ah-ing the flower applique idea came to me as I was heading off to sleep one night (do you find yourself mulling over stitchy problems then too?).  I much prefer bags with a bit of body and strength to them so I added a lining and picked out some fun lobsters for a wee pocket and key tab too. I hope my partner likes red.  I think she does!

 

I've added a few wee notes below on how I put the bag together.  I really love applique and it was one of the first things I taught myself a few years ago.  I'm not sure I do it the 'proper' way but what I do works for me so I thought I'd jot down a few pointers for the very simple way I decorated the bag in case anyone wants to give it a go but hasn't tried before.  It is fun so do try!

 

Applique notes::

 1. Firstly sketch your design, in this case I just did it straight onto the bag so that I didn't have to copy out the circles which were going to form the basis of my flower - but I could have traced the circles onto a piece of paper and then sketched my design on that.
2. If your design has a right and wrong way round (e.g. numbers and letters) then you'll need to reverse it, I usually hold my paper up to a window and trace the design onto the back of the paper.  In this instance it didn't matter, it just meant that the petals (which I drew free-hand and deliberately weren't symmetrical) would be mirror images of their originals.....but would still be exactly right to fit round the outer circle.  The four inner quarter circles were symmetrical so they didn't change when transferred onto bondaweb.
3. Next, you'll need to trace your design onto the rough side of some bondaweb (check the instructions it comes with if you're not sure which side!) - I use a pencil for this step.  Roughly cut round the outside of each piece of the design, a seam allowance of 1/4" or so works well. 
4. Iron each piece of the bondaweb design onto the wrong side of your chosen fabric(s) (again refer to instructions for exact timings etc).
5. Carefully cut out each design following the traced line on the bondaweb - now you'll have lots of pretty fabric pieces, hopefully in the right shapes!

6.  Now have some fun tearing off the backing sheet from the bondaweb! Place each piece of fabric, right side up, where you want it to lie on your bag (or wherever your design is going).  You can see that my pieces don't match my original design as I didn't reverse it - I have created a mirror image of my original.

 7. Iron in place.

 8. For extra security sew the design down by sewing round the outer edges with a short zig zag stitch - I found it simplest to unpick one side of the bag so that I had more room to manoeuvre the bag while stitching round the flower design.

9. And that's it.  Do say if you spot anything that doesn't make sense and otherwise I hope you have fun!

Working on this design, and playing around with the applique, made me realise how much fun machine embroidery would be - have you ever tried?  Any tips?

Christmas sewing - linen messenger bag or 'Africa Adventure Bag'!

I can't tell you how delighted I was when mum asked me to make her a bag for Christmas.  Mum does not do ostentation and she only has a small handful of bags, each of which has been with her for many years - every one has it's own purpose and she wouldn't just buy a bag on the spur of the moment, only ever if she actually needed it.

So, to be trusted with making one to replace her 'Africa Adventure Bag' was quite an honour (and also a little scary)!  Once I'd said yes to the challenge, mum sent me the dimensions and layout of her current, but falling apart, bag and some specifics about what she was looking for (this was all done in a very scientific and methodical way......that's my mum, she reminds me so much of my grandad, her dad, who was an engineer - and very engineer-like when it came to details).

The specifics included mention of 'room for binoculars, passport, tissues, suncream, sunhat and lipsalve'.  And the following fabric request 'tough material and dirt resistant colours! Present bag tough cotton lined in black'.  Travelling in rural parts of Africa is a grubby business!

All went ahead pretty much as mum requested.  I tried to persuade her to have an adjustable strap or inner zip pocket but they weren't needed.  But I did manage to get an internal key fob and zip for the main compartment added to the spec - yay!

I used linen for the main and lining fabric (full details below) - suitably tough and dirt resistant I hope.  I based the bag on this tutorial but made a lot of adjustments.  I added a zip for the main compartment (to keep those binoculars safe), under the flap there's a patch pocket and a big lined zip pocket (for passport and other documents).  The pattern suggests attaching the flap part way down the back of the bag but I thought it would be neater, and stronger, if attached at the top between the main and lining fabric.  The flap is closed with a loop of black elastic and a vintage horn button which I have been saving for something special.

And there you have it - mum's new 'Africa Adventure Bag'.  She seems very pleased with it and, as we speak, it is off on it's first African adventure.  Having been home (from South Africa) for three weeks over Christmas, mum and dad set off yesterday for Uganda.  After a couple of weeks there - including trekking to see mountain gorillas and chimpanzees - they will be back in South Africa until early April.  That's the life, eh?!

I'd love to know if you and your mum are bag people, or essentials only like mine........I have to confess to having a little bit of a thing for bags (and I battle with my conscience if I see something that I like but don't need - if we ever have more spare money I think I could build up a little collection)

Details:
Pattern - the basis of this bag was mmmcrafts basic messenger bag, I changed the dimensions slightly and attached the flap differently.  I referred to Lisa Lam's The Bag Making Bible for the concealed top edge zip and lined zip pocket.  I also added a patch pocket, key fob and piping
Fabric - Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Black and Ellen Luckett Baker Triangles in Grey
Notions - black hair band for elastic and large vintage horn button for closure
Comments - I loved sewing this bag - and feel pretty proud of it.  In some ways having quite specific requirements made it harder, but at the same time it was much more satisfying to make something just right.

Christmas sewing - Eblieh and Eee Eee

Katie's most favourite animal is Ebliehs (a.k.a. Elephants!).  I decided that Santa ought to give her one for Christmas and had a wee hunt around on pinterest to find a toy elephant pattern.  This is the one I decided to try - but I machine stitched it - for speed really, rather than aesthetics.  Since the pattern wasn't intended for machine sewing there was a couple of places where a number of seams met and they were a little tricky.....but a bit of wrangling and manipulation soon sorted them out.

I also made a couple of wee mice, complete with little beds, for Santa to give the girls.  I saw the pattern mentioned on Flossie Teacakes (Florence has some wonderful adaptations including a pig and crocodile).  The tutorial is here.  The Eee Eees are very satisfying to make - quick, simple and effective.

The photos below show Katie sporting her first ever ponytail (polylail). She was very proud of it, although it lasted all of 5 minutes before being pulled out, and blissfully unaware that she is still completely lacking in proper hair at the front!  Her attempts at a 'camera smile' result in this wrinkled nose grimace - which I find incredibly cute but I am, of course, awfully biased.

I'm burying my head in the sand at the moment and trying to pretend that school doesn't start back tomorrow.  Still, I know they'll have fun and Katie and I may brave the swimming pool.........I do wish the water was warmer.

Hoping you have a lovely Sunday evening and not too much of a shock tomorrow morning.

Wise Old Owl - Katie's handmade birthday

Wise Old Owl is Angus' birthday present for Katie.  Angus had actually started making the owl for himself but when Islay and I made her the teddy carrier he decided that he'd like to give the owl to Katie.

Angus made pretty much all of owl himself - except for hand sewing the gap once owl was stuffed.

 I asked Katie to show me how much she loves owl.  I think she loves him quite a lot!

Details:
Pattern - Wise Old Owl from Sewing For Children by Emma Hardy
Fabric - bought in Tanzania by my sister-in-law
Felt - wool felt scraps leftover from other projects, bought from The Village Haberdashery and Myriad 
Comments - a great wee pattern although the template has to be enlarged which always frustrates me (that was too much faff for Angus and me so we just sketched it out to a similar shape and guessed the size). Angus machine sewed most of it although it can be hand-sewn

Katie loves her Wise Old Owl and Angus is very proud that he was able to make something for her. 

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, especially those of you who have been celebrating Thanksgiving.

Sewing class - making cafe aprons

Beautifully made aprons

We had such a good time last Wednesday evening when Vanessa, Cara, Susan and Eileen came over for an evening of sewing.  I was a little daunted by the fact that Cara and Susan had to be shown how to turn their sewing machines on - but, haven't they all done well?  Eileen had to leave early but I talked her through the last few steps and, with the tutorial handout I had prepared, she has finished hers at home since.

This was my first time using our dining room as a classroom and my lovely friends were the guinea pigs - just to see if the room would work, test my teaching skills, how many can comfortably work in the room and so on.  It seems that four is a perfect number and that I can set the room up as a classroom fairly easily.  And I enjoy teaching so much - it seems that my 'students' enjoyed their lesson too as we're now planning a get-together every few weeks.

I'm going to carry on working up my plans and hope to be able to offer small classes and bespoke tutoring in the future.  All very exciting.  I get such a buzz from helping people learn to work with fabric.

My first sample apron was made more-or-less to an Amy Butler pattern but I found it overly complicated and was concerned that it would take too long to make.  Plus, I feel more comfortable teaching something that is more 'mine'.  So, I adapted the pattern considerably to simplify it's design and also the amount of fabric required.  I have plans for the apple apron, which was to the original pattern, and I have been enjoying using the second......a little treat for myself.

Grannie and Grandad on top of Nape's Needle

Grannie and Grandad preparing to climb the Inaccessible Pinnacle

Grannie climbing the 'In Pinn'

I noticed that the dining room photos showed a glimpse of my three climbing pictures.  They are photos of my grandparents and are among my favourite possessions.  My grandad was a really keen climber and walker and enjoyed an adventurous bachelorhood until he met my grannie.  And grannie must have been quite some girl because she was prepared to learn to climb for his sake.  They spent their honeymoon on Skye and the second and third photos show them climbing the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Cuillin Ridge.  The first photo shows them on top of Napes Needle in the Lake District.

I have walked and climbed on the Cuillin Ridge and my dad and I climbed the Inaccessible Pinnacle together.  I can't imagine what it must have been like climbing with hemp ropes tied around your waist and hobnail boots too.  Sadly I didn't ever have a chance to talk to them about climbing and their adventures - but I love to look at their photos and imagine their trips.