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Cotton and Linen

Cotton and Linen

Monthly Archives: September 2010

My New Sewing Room

26 Sunday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in My New Sewing Room

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I have found a new sewing space in my house. You may recall my original sewing room – the messy one – that I showed you a picture of a few posts ago. Well, rather than clean it up I have found a new space to encroach upon.

This requires a bit of background information but I’ll try and keep it brief. About a month ago, we decided to move our two teenage boys into the basement as their sleeping quarters. They were more than ecstatic about this decision and moved furniture and music equipment and computer equipment down to their new space. I like to call it The Pit. They also moved the couch that we used to watch television from upstairs to one of the bedrooms. The TV however did not make it upstairs. They have absconded with it for their video games. I don’t mind. It leaves me more time to read, sew and blog!

We also used to have our office (my husband and I share a home office) in the basement. The boys were kind enough (read ‘excited enough’) to help move all the office equipment up to the second floor as well. So now we have completely taken over the second floor for ourselves. Besides the master bedroom we now have an office and a lounge. It’s very decadent! The rooms are bright and welcoming and I love our new spaces.

Much to my husband’s chagrin, however, I have begun to move some of my sewing paraphernalia up to the lounge a bit at a time. I’m only taking up the closet space so I don’t feel like I’m taking too much of the space for myself but you might get an argument about that out of my husband. Especially in light of the fact that he only just finished constructing the old sewing room out of some storage space in the basement just last winter.

I intend to keep my old sewing room as my main storage area and stash but I love the bright new space I have found to do my actual sewing. There’s still lots to do to pull it all together and some leftovers on the shelves from the boys to get rid of but I’ll be working away at that project daily. The room does need a coat of paint as well. Some colour don’t you think? But I’ll keep the sewing area bright white for a clean palate to showcase my cloth.

Here’s a picture of the old and the new.

The Old Sewing Room

The New Sewing Room

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Ta-Da!

25 Saturday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Broadturn Bag

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The completed Broadturn Bags

Well, it seems to have taken waaayyy too long to complete these bags but they are done and they’ve already been to the grocery store and back. There were some snags along the way but all in all I’m pretty pleased with the outcome.

Here are the steps involved in making these bags (please bear with me, I have taken more than enough pictures but I don’t profess to be an expert photographer…..yet):

From the beginning:

The pattern was taken from Amanda Blake Soule’s ‘Handmade Home‘. The Broadturn Bag is named after the farm where they purchase their local produce. Amanda originally turned these bags out of old tablecloths, a much better choice than my flimsy cotton. I’ll remember that next time. I made two bags each with an additional coordinating trim/pocket.

I lined the pockets with plain white cotton and sewed them onto the fronts and backs of both bags. The pockets were too wide and floppy so I made three pockets on one side and two on the other of each of the bags by sewing a straight seam from top to bottom of the pocket in the appropriate places.

The next step was to sew the fronts to the backs right sides together down each side.

Now we come to the tricky part. The bottoms had to be pinned and sewn onto the bags. First the lining for the bottoms were sewn to each of the tops wrong sides together. Then the bottom was pinned to the bags right sides together. You can never have too many pins in my world!

Although Amanda suggests clipping the curves after sewing I had to clip the curves before sewing in order to make the bottom fit properly. Afterward all the rough edges were pinked to prevent fraying.

We’re almost done. Just put the straps together and sew them onto the bags. The straps started out 8 inches wide and 34 inches long. They are folded lengthwise into the middle then together again to make the strap 2 inches wide by 34 inches long. Then topstitch all the way around the strap. Here is one strap unfolded so you can see the fold marks. The other is folded completely.

And for the final step the straps are  sewn onto the bags at each side. They are sewn to the inside of the bag with an inch overlap and topstitched in a box pattern.

Have you ever purchased a baguette that because it is so long has toppled out of your bag on the way out the door? Well, with some spare cloth I got inspired and whipped up two long skinny bags to go with each tote specifically shaped and sized to hold a baguette. Now, if my baguette falls to the ground it will be protected by the new baguette bag. It’s actually long enough to fold over the end of the baguette, I just inched it down so you could see the bread inside. Hmm. Maybe some velcro to fold over the top would help too.

The Ta Da Moment!

Amy Butler Fat Quarters

21 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Amy Butler Fabric, Fabric

≈ 1 Comment

It seems I can find any number of activities that keep me from my sewing. Sick kids, appointments, dirty laundry, making meals. You get the drift. Today’s distraction was a visit to a small town outside of my big town in search of some good home-cooking for breakfast after a visit to the bank. Well the home-cooking wasn’t anything to write home about so I won’t go into those details but I did find a wonderful fabric shop located just across the road. It was a mecca of colour and texture. Lots of wonderful quilting fabric with a wall of gorgeous yarn to boot. I’ll leave the knitting for another day. Much as I like a lovely knitted sweater they take far too long for this novice to complete. I’ll stick to the speed of a sewing machine for now.

The find of the day was some beautiful Amy Butler fabric that I’d been ogling over on the internet. There was more than enough to choose from and I had to keep my purchases down to a dull roar so in the end I picked up some fat quarters to whet my appetite. But now that I know where that little shop lives I’ll be back. Here is a sampling of my meager purchase of the day. Now, what to do with it? Any ideas?

Contemplation

19 Sunday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Broadturn Bag, Sewing Projects

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Well, I finally got to cutting out the pieces for the Broadturn Bag. I managed to squeeze out enough pieces to make two bags. Here you’ll see two fronts, two backs, two bottoms (an inside and an outside) and two straps. I tend to over-analyse most things in my life and this was no exception. This is really just a simple unlined bag that could have been completed by now but as usual I wanted it to be perfect. After much contemplation I decided the pattern on the fabric was a little busy so I would add a little interest with some trim on the bottoms of the bags. Not only that I could turn that trim into a small pocket for keys or a cellphone. Once I made that decision I spent much deliberation in my stash until I found some pieces that would work. I also cut out a bottom to match each of the trim pieces. That way the outside bottom will be the same as the trim and the inside bottom will match the bag fabric.

I’m ready to sew!

A Starting Point

17 Friday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Broadturn Bag, Sewing Projects

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There are so many projects that I would like to begin and yet for each one I can’t find just the perfect fabric in my stash. I think my stash needs a serious overhaul. My tastes have changed considerably since I last pulled from it. Or perhaps I’m just being too picky. So in light of the fact that I didn’t want to go out and purchase any fabric for this first project I have pulled out a fairly large piece that, although I am not in love with it, it will do in a pinch. I have decided to make a very simple sling-type market bag. The pattern I have chosen to use is from a lovely book called ‘Handmade Home’ written by Amanda Blake Soule. She calls this the Broadturn Bag whose namesake comes from the Community Farm where she supports her local farmers.

The fabric I’ll be using:

Here are a few pictures from the book:

Stay tuned…

Serendipity…

17 Friday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Blogging for Bliss, Inspirational Books

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'Blogging for Bliss' by Tara Frey

Serendipity dropped this beautiful book Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey into my hands today. Since I am so new to blogging and can use all the help I can get this was a particularly fortunate find on the shelves of my bookstore. The book features 50 different blogs and has plenty of inspiring pictures and ideas to incorporate into my own blog. Prepare for some changes over the next few days as I digest the pages.

Sailcloth

15 Wednesday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Fabric, Sailcloth

≈ 1 Comment

I picked up this gorgeous sailcloth today for just $20. There are two sails in the bundle. Aren’t the colours beautiful?

I’ve long thought about making grocery totes with sailcloth so now I have some to experiment with. I stopped in at the local fabric store and picked up some heavy duty thread for the project. There seems to be a little staining on the cloth so I’ll probably give it a good scrub with some bleach and water before I start.

So before you ask, no, I haven’t chosen my ‘first project’ yet. Lots of pondering, lots of searching through that messy sewing room, and life getting in the way.  My sister would love something special for her youngest daughter Bronwyn. And in fact she was the first recipient I thought of for the first venture. Back to the pondering.

The birth of ‘Cotton and Linen’!

14 Tuesday Sep 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Inspirational Books, Sewing Projects

≈ 2 Comments

The feeling of cotton and linen between my fingers elicits nothing short of bliss. I can walk into a fabric store and do nothing but walk around between the bolts of eye candy and rub the cloth between my fingers. I tend to stay away from the man-made fabrics. Instead I am drawn to the bolts and bolts of natural fibres. Thus the name for this new blog.

I have decided that in order to “follow my bliss” and spend my precious time working with fibre (something I have sadly neglected for far too many years) I need some medium to force me to focus on projects and bring them to completion. And so my blog is born. It is mostly for myself but I find joy in folowing other seamstresses ongoing pursuits so I hope that mine provides some joy for you as well.

So, what will my first project be? I have so many in mind. Something simple. Something fast. The satisfaction of a completed project to get the momentum going. This will take a trip to my sewing room to root through the stash. That in itself will be a feat.

My messy sewing room 😦

Here are some books that I’ve been perusing of late…

And now for some of the projects that look interesting as a starting point…

From ‘French General Home Sewn’ by Kaari Meng:

A Lavender Heart Pillow

Something to go along with my homemade bread, A Bread-Warming Seed Bag. The bottom is filled with flax seed that warms in the oven or microwave and keeps your bread warm at the table. How clever!

The Party Garland. I can imagine this done up in all sorts of colourways. For kids, for girly girls, and for adult parties too!

The Butcher’s Apron. Everyone needs a good utilitarian apron and this one fits the bill perfectly.

And the Farmer’s Market Tote. I love all kinds of bags:

From a lovely book I just discovered yesterday. ‘Carefree Clothes for Girls’ by Junko Okawa.

An Apron and Babushka Scarf:

This is simply beautiful. A Dress with a Quilted Bodice:

So adorable:

A Treasure Bag:

My aunt Caroline in Saskatoon is an avid quilter. She imparted a love of all things quilted in me. From ‘Pretty Little Patchwork’ from Lark Books, these are  Lavender Eye Pillows by Belinda Andresson:

Imagine all the wonderful things you could store in a multitude of these pretty Soft Boxes:

And last but not least, a City Satchel from ‘Sew What! Bags’ by Lexie Barnes:

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