A Fresh Start

04 Tuesday Jan 2011

Posted by Bonnie in Sewing Projects, Tuffets

Life is starting to take some semblance of order now that kids have returned to school. I had been working on a number of projects over the holiday season in preparation for Christmas when my life came tumbling down less than a week before the big day. The light that Christmas brings was dimmed and so the projects were put on hold and thus there haven’t been any to show you for some time. I have slowly been putting the pieces back together and completing what I had begun.

The little gems I have to show you today are fun and fast to finish. I had hoped to complete several but I am happy with the three I have so far.

I had never heard of the term ‘tuffet’ before when referring to a pincushion. I discovered this pattern from Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co. They are a darling set of 6 different tuffets done in various patchwork blocks.

I chose a couple of different ones and the third was a creation of my own. They are a great way to use up small scraps of fabric. They measure about 4.5″x4.5″ and the 6 shown on the pattern picture were originally made from a charm pack of 40 different fabrics.

The first one I chose was the Courthouse Steps. I made this one from some bright and colourful fabrics. Although not perfect (and who needs perfection anyway!) I do love the result.

Just to show you a bit of the process I have included a few pictures for this first tuffet.

The next tuffet I made I added my own touch to. A bit of Christmas whimsy.

The tree and angel were cut from some of my Christmas fabric stash. I appliquéd it onto the base then beaded in some of the areas in the angel and some garland in the tree. I finished by quilting some little snowflakes on and around the tree.

The last tuffet I finished was taken from the original pattern again. This time I chose the Shoo-fly block. The back of this block was pieced with some co-ordinating fabric bits.

These were fun and easy and I can see a few more of these appearing on my sewing table soon.

Torn Silk

15 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Bohemian Silk Bag, Sewing Projects, Silk

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Sometimes I think I should have named this venture Cotton and Linen and Silk since silk is also one of my favourite fabrics. Perhaps even my most favourite although I do not sew with it very often. It’s not really a practical fabric for every day use but that’s what makes it so special when you do use it. Like in today’s project.

My sister celebrated her birthday yesterday and I made her a special gift of a Bohemian Silk Bag. There is some background that you should know about this bag. Some of the silk fabric I used was a multi-coloured dupioni silk remnant from a prom dress of my sisters from many moons ago. I found the piece in my Mother’s stash several years ago and scooped it up knowing that I would someday find a special use for it. The other thing you should know is that we have some Scottish blood in us. We grew up to the sound of the bagpipes and to this day whenever I hear the pipes it brings a tear to my eye in memory of my father, an accomplished piper. For this reason, I chose a “plaid” effect for my pattern.

My inspiration for the bag was born from the book ‘Silk Unraveled’ by Lorna Moffatt. In it, Lorna elaborates on her use of torn silk strips which she transforms into all manner of imaginitive creations. To take a piece of precious dupioni silk and literally rip it into strips takes great courage. Lorna has perfected her courageous craft.

From the bundle of silk you see above I have ripped my pieces in preparation for the bag. At this stage, I only knew that I wanted to make a bag. I had no idea what would emerge as a final ‘pattern’.

I chose a gold dupioni silk as the background to the strips. The gold pieces and the lining are cut approximately 8 ” by 10″. I then began experimenting with the pieces until the ‘plaid’ emerged as the favoured pattern. I also chose to put one horizontal strip along the back near the bottom to add interest.

Pin the strips in place and sew. Fold down and press a 1/2″ on the top of the front and back Pin the zipper between the top and the bottom at the top where you have folded the fabric. Sew the zipper in place. With right sides together sew the front to the back along the sides and the bottom. Turn the bag right side out through the open zipper. The bag is shown with the zipper in and as yet unlined.

The next step is to sew the lining together front and back right sides together leaving the top open with a 1/2″ turned under at the top similar to the bag. Insert the lining into the bag wrong sides together and hand sew the lining to the top edge on the inside of the bag close to the zipper opening.

I chose a burgundy cording to use for the strap and wanted to add some beads to the bottom of each side of the cord for effect.

The beads are attached to the ends of the knotted cord and hand sewn to the sides of the bag.

And the final product!

I’m happy to say that my sister was pleased with her gift.

Outside the Box

09 Tuesday Nov 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Outside the Box, Sewing Projects

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A vessel is a wonderful thing. A special place to hold your treasures or everyday things. I chose this next project from a book called “Pretty Little Patchwork”. It is a compilation of several projects by various contributors. These special little boxes are an excellent way to use bits and pieces from your stash and could easily be modified to a number of sizes.

Start by cutting out 2″ squares from several different fabrics. Then sew them together in pairs and then rectangles (3 sets of squares) or squares (2 sets of squares). I’m sure I could have sped up the process by making strips and then cutting them up but I think by sewing each pair together I was able to get much more variety.

Next I paired up the sets of squares into visually pleasing groups, then sewed them together.

The pattern did not call for any interfacing but I decided to add some to make the boxes slightly more sturdy. I cut the interfacing to fit inside the seams of the lining. Next the box and the lining are sewn together separately. Then the patchwork box is set inside the lining to be sewn together along the top edge. There is a small hole left on one side seam of the lining in order to turn the box right side out. After sewing the box to the lining and turning the box right side out, hand-sew the hole in the lining closed with an invisible seam.

The finishing touch is a hand-sewn blanket stitch all the way around the top.

I have made two tall boxes and one short box, each with a different coloured embroidery thread for the blanket stitching. I have enough patchwork squares left to make two more boxes, one in each size.

But I think it’s time to move on to another project and come back to those boxes another day.

A Girl and Her Shoes

30 Saturday Oct 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Sewing Projects, Shoe Bag

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I’ve been working on a special project. This one is special because I had someone near and dear to my heart in mind to receive it. My daughter is en route home at the moment to visit us for the weekend. A quick reprieve from her studies. I have made up a quick shoe bag for her to have something elegant to carry her footwear in.

The fabric is leftover from a tiered skirt we made for her many years ago. The bag is approximately 12″ wide by 17 ” long with a simple drawstring closure. I cut out a shoe appliqué to grace the front, applied it with HeatnBond Lite and zigzagged all around the outside of the shoe.

Here are a few close-ups of the bag.

You could make the bag without a shoe appliqué and in various sizes and it would be useful for any number of things. I hope you like the bag. It was simple and quick and makes a great gift.

Cozy Cube

16 Saturday Oct 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Cozy Cube, Sewing Projects

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Anna Maria Horner

The New Sewing Room Colour

Wow, I just realized it’s been almost two weeks since a post. It has been hectic. First the painting had to be finished (that was a longer job than I planned!), then Thanksgiving came and went – it was good to have family and friends around the table, after that the customary “the-big-day-is-done-so-my-body-can-let-down-it’s-guard-and-get-sick” time ensued, and finally I had to do a project to show off. (Just between us we won’t tell my husband that I’ve been calling this the “Sewing Room”. He thinks it’s called “The Lounge”. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?) The paint colour is called “Bonjour” from C2.

Here’s my latest project!

I chose the “Cozy Cube” from Anna Maria Horner’s “Seams to Me”.

I wanted to use up some of that delectable new fabric I’ve been collecting. I chose some bright colours and made the box in two different prints with a third inside. The pattern called for some heavy, double-sided fusible interfacing. It’s very stiff and does a wonderful job of holding up the sides. The end product was originally supposed to be an 8″ X 8″ cube but I chose to make mine a little smaller. Mine is 5″ X 5″. It got a little fiddly in spots and difficult to iron the interfacing on to a 3-dimensional box but I was quite pleased with the outcome.

In the end there was only one slight problem. In my zealousness to finish the cube the fabric sides ended upside down! A detail I’ll definitely remember for the next time!

On to the next project!

Fall Colours

01 Friday Oct 2010

Posted by Bonnie in Inspirational Books, My New Sewing Room, Sewing Projects

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There doesn’t seem to be a lot of sewing happening just yet. Lots of thinking, dreaming, web-surfing, idea-gathering, and organizing. My new sewing space is taking shape. After many years in boxes my treasured sewing books have emerged and made their way onto the shelves above the sewing machine ready for quick reference or ideas. A few other books that haven’t seen the light of day for quite some time joined them as well. It was like Christmas pulling them all from the boxes. The paint for the room is purchased and ready to go on the walls. And a couple of projects have been half-started. Can you half-start something?

One more step to cleaning out my old stash and making room for new was to pull out some flannel I had purchased for pyjama bottoms for my boys. I couldn’t find a pattern I liked so am using a comfortable used pair as my pattern and tracing them. It wasn’t as easy as it looked and I’m still tweeking the pattern.

I made a slight boo-boo and ran out of tracing paper at the top of the pyjama pants when it came time to include the elastic casing. A simple “cut and paste” was in order.

Tomorrow’s project – Paint!

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!

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…

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: