Friday, July 30, 2010

Ties for little boys

Hi all,

So I found a tutorial for little boys ties over at Kelly's blog "Sewing in no mans land". It has solved a few issues I was trying to solve myself but getting nowhere.
The main thing I wanted was to have an elastic or velcro closure around the neck. Which Kelly has done marvelously! And the best bit is these ties don't need to be cut on the bias!

The only problem I had with Kelly's pattern was I couldn't get the tail angle right so it doesn't fold to a point properly, but you can't see it so no biggy.

But I also wanted to make the tie longer, so I got out the tie pattern I have already used to make TP a few ties and just overlapped the two pieces about 6 or 7 inches to make one piece much like Kelly's.

As you can see, it is much like Kelly's only longer and with a bit more shape. I think the shape makes the knot sit a bit nicer. And this also solved my point folding problem.

So I have made 2 (on the left) for TP and 2 (on the right) for BW. The paisley blue tie is from Kelly's pattern. I am really happy with how they look and concidering that they are unlikely to hang themselves with them makes it all the better!
Overall, massive kudos to Kelly for doing something I couldn't! She has a great blog with fantastic tutorials, so go take a look you won't regret it!
Otherwise, I am back to working on things for the fete. I will do a "fete wrap-up" early next week!
Be happy,
Jess

Monday, July 26, 2010

Before & after - my creative space!

Hi all,

I haven't got much sewing to report....what I have done I won't show yet as it is for the recipient of my quilt in the quilt swap!

But I have been very busy tidying up my creative space. You may remember the before photo...

After a week of sorting and throwing stuff out, it was a real sewing mojo killer, this is what it looks like....

I'm disappointed - it still looks messy! But it is a million dollars on what it was before!

This is a vintage sewing pattern tin that was my grandmas. Imagine 15 cents for a pattern!

Now that my space is tidier I seem to have some of my sewing mojo back, so I will have something to show you soon!

Be happy,
Jess

Saturday, July 17, 2010

More fete - book bags!

G'day mates ;)

These are some of the letters that you saw in a post a couple of weeks ago....

Excuse the dark photo - I seem to leave taking photos til it is getting dark!

This is one of the eight (yes 8!) book bags that all those letters are now gracing! They look very cute, I think!

I used raw edge applique to sew the letters down, and the bags are seeded homespun. The idea came from somewhere in blogland, I can't remember where right now but if I come across the blog again I will let you know!

My creative space has been literally turned upside down this afternoon ....

We are finally doing some serious reno work on our house, it will take a while to get it all done (the list is long!) but I am very excited that we have taken the first step. So every now and then you will see some before and after pics.

As you can see I need to do some organising, things have gotten out of hand with all the fete sewing and now it has all been thrown in a pile in the middle of the room! I have my work cut out for me!

Be happy,
Jess

Friday, July 16, 2010

Sandys having a giveaway!

Hi all,

Just a quick one to let you know Sandys Patchwork Angel is having a giveaway!

There are great prizes up for grabs so go and take a look!

Be Happy,
Jess

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Donation Quilt.....Finished!

G'day all,

Yah! I have finished the quilt I am donating to TP's kindy for their fete. I have called it "Fishing Adventures"!

I've actually had the top finished for a while, but didn't know what I'd do with it when it was quilted so I stashed it with all the other finished tops! There's at least another 4 quilt tops in that box!
The pattern is based on Jouy Medallion Wallhanging from the book Quick Colourful Quilts, I have made it bigger and added the extra black strips and changed the border to the feature fabric with foundation pieced "sun" corner blocks.

This is a close up of the feature fabric called Fishing Friends by Ingrid - Nutshell Designs for Red Rooster. I quilted it free motion and stitched along all the straight lines.

For the backing fabric I used a print from the Ron's World range by the Buggy Barn. It has the A-Z of encouraging thoughts, eg. G.ive thanks, H.elp others, I.magine....if you get the idea. And a pieced strip of fussy cut pictures from the feature fabric.

Sorry for all the extra info but I am using this blog as a sort of diary of what I am sewing, so I am trying to include as much detail as possible.

I hope you all have a good and productive week! Be sure to check out the link on my side bar for the Raggedy and Friends BOM that is starting on the 20th of this month!

Be happy,
Jess

Sunday, July 4, 2010

1st OPAM for July - Baby Blocks!

Hi all,

I went to another baby shower last night - there must have been bad weather 9 months ago!

This time it was for a boy, even though I have 2 boys I sometimes find it hard to get inspired by boy things. So I went through the tutorials on some blogs that have lots and ended up using one from the Moda blog. I did 2 changes, I didn't put ribbons in and I made the blocks 1" smaller.

This is my little helper, TP. As he is stuffing his first block he says "you know what these need? a little rattle to put inside! but it is night time (sigh) so we can't go out and get some, so they will have to be quiet blocks!" So creative and logical for a 4 year old.

The blocks are 3" squares, I tried not to overstuff them because I didn't want them to lose the square shape. I also used 2 prints from the Love U range by Deb Strain (I love this range of fabric!) and chose 4 other coordinating prints from my stash.

Be happy,
Jess

PS. Check out the free stitchery download from Snickerdoodle dreams - It has me written all over it! Definitely one to add to the to-do list!