Knitting

It's high summer here in OZ and really to hot hot to knit, especially with yarn that is a wool/alpaca mix. I'm managing though, with the help of fans, and air conditioning.

This little number is for a male member of the family, and was started back in November. So far I have completed the back, the front, and one sleeve. The second sleeve is almost done, and then I just have to stitch the pieces together and do the neckband.

My issue is that I am fast running out of yarn. It will be touch an go if I make it or not. The yarn is still available, so I can get more, it just wont be the some dyelot.

Watch this space to see the finished item and see if I make it with yarn or not.

Another Christmas Bauble

My new Christmas bauble finally finished.

This Christmas bauble was started back in November in my local sewing group, the Georges Hall Sew'n'Sews. We had decided to cancel our December meeting due to the proximity of Christmas, and instead made our Christmas decorations in November.

This decoration is based on a polystyrene ball, available from places like Spotlight and Lincraft. It is divided into sections, cut with a stanley knife, then fabric is pushed into the cuts. I have made plenty of these over the years, so this year I took the basic idea to another level.

I first had to divide my polystyrene ball to obtain a pattern. From there I scanned my pattern into my digitising program to get the correct size to digitise my words. Once done, I could then play with the shapes of the letters to get them into the shape to fit the bauble.

My first attempt at stitching them out showed that I needed more of a border around the letters to accentuate them more, so back to the file I went to fix it up. Once fixed, I was happy with the stitch outs.

My ball is divided into six, three sections are my digitised words, and the alternate three sections are the same green fabric that has been over-layed with a red glittery mesh fabric. The ball has been finished of with red ribbon.

It's probably my favourite bauble on my tree this year, thought I do have other decorations that are not baubles that I like much better. Most of my tree decorations are hand made, this just adds another one to the mix.

Christmas Hearts

Wishing everyone reading a very Merry Christmas, and may the day bring you all peace, joy, love and great times with your family.

These little Christmas hearts have been made with love and given to close friends and special family members. I started them back in August, using a free pattern I found here.

I used scraps of even weave fabric that I had in my stash, as well a scraps of thread. They are backed in red felt to bring out the colour, and I even had that in my stash. The only thing I purchased was the ribbon to hang them.

They are made using the Hardanger technique, combined with some surface stitching which has been counted.

They should all be with their prospective new owners by now, and I know they will be treasured by one and all.

Art Journal Pg 5

Page five of my numbered art journal is finished. I experimented with a few different things this time.

After the last two pages (where I washed them with a tea/coffee colour wash) bucked under the wetness and crinkled my pages, I purchased something called "Mod Podge" which was supposed to be a water based sealer/glue/finish.

 So page number five has been firstly sealed with Mod Podge, then wet sponged with an aqua colour paint. After letting it dry, I worked with my trusty ball point pen and drew my number five. Mmmmm........ I could hardly see the line on the coloured background, so I went over it with a wedge tipped black marker.

From there I continued with the wedge tipped marker, and added in some basic shapes that continued on from the number five.

By this stage I felt that the page was getting very heavy and needed some lightness, so changed to a fine felt tipped pen to add in further patterning.

I quite like the page, it is a bit different for me using a wedge tipped marker on such a small scale. I usually like fine work in anything. Wedge tipped markers in this house are reserved for marking food items in the freezer . This time though I think it has added some dimension with the use of two different tipped markers as well as paint, and the page has certainly given me some inspiration for stitching.

A Crimson Jumper

My new jumper is finished, it's actually been finished for a few weeks now. Made from a Crimson 'Savanah" yarn, which is a 70% wool, 30% alpaca yarn from Bendigo Wollen Mills.

It's way to hot to wear it now, summer is here, so it is packed away until next winter.

The pattern is one received free with my yarn order from Bendigo Woolen Mills. I loved the cable pattern, and found it really interesting to do. I have done cables before of course, but not interesting and multiple ones like this.

I changed the pattern slightly too, just making the sleeves a bit longer. In the pattern they were 3/4 length, which personally I find a silly length to be made in wool. It took a little juggling with numbers and multiple tries to get them right, but I am vary happy with the result.

I also have lots of yarn left over too, which will be enough to make a matching scarf or hat. So watch this space to see which design wins.

Art Journal Pg 4

My art journal continues, if somewhat slowly. I have been a bit slack with the ten minutes a day thing, but I do try when ever I have time, or manage to think about it.

This is page four, which lives opposite page three. It is coloured with the same tea/coffee wash that I used on page three. I actually colour washed the pages at the same time so they would be ready when I was.

This page continued on with the drawing of some seed heads, as well as some words and some patterning. I find that  I like making patterns the best, and as yet am still using just a ball point pen.

Now I have started with the number thing, I think I will continue with it. It gives me a starting point each time.

The other thing I have found is  the ten minutes a day thing can very easily stretch out into 30 minutes as I get lost in this mark making world. Just as I get lost in my stitching world, I end up in some other place for a short time, escaping reality, and creating inspiration for my future stitching.

Art Journal Pg 3

I have been continuing to use pen work in my journal every day, only a few minutes mind you, but still every day.This is my page three.

This page started with a wash of tea and coffee dregs. Somewhere I had read about using coffee washes on paper, why not? I had tea washed fabric before, why not paper? So when making my first cuppa for the day, I placed the sodden tea bag in a bowl. My plan was to drag it over the page, but them I spied the coffee pot from the previous night which still had to be emptied. I emptied it in with the tea bag. This gave me a dirty coloured cold liquid with which I could paint.

When the page was dry, I did notice that the page had gone crinkly (as paper does when it's been wet), but also some of the colour had seeped through to the other side of the page. This is the colour that showed on my page two. Note to self, read how to avoid this.

As I had started with putting numbers on my pages, I thought that the best idea was to continue, so number three became a reality, just a single line at first. Then came the parsley seed head. It had been calling out to me to draw it for some time, so I did. Then I added the word 'Parsley' following the curve of the number three. Form there the page took on a life of it's own.

I am finding it interesting that a page of doodling can have a life of it's own, and that 'things' cry out to be drawn. Just like my stitching really. My stitching talks to me quite often and tells me what it needs, these pages are doing the same. Must be just part of the same creative process.

My page four has been started, I wonder where that will lead.

Knitting

I have been knitting a lot lately. This one is a new jumper for me. It's not finished yet, but it is well into the process.

The pattern is one I chose for free with an order of yarn from Bendigo Woolen Mills. It says in the pattern to make the front and back the same. Mmmmm........ if I did that, I would have pattern up the left side of my front, and on the opposite side on the back when it was complete. I chose to play with the stitch numbers and make the patterns sit on opposite sides as it was being knitted, this way the patterns will meet together at the shoulder on the left side when completed.

It is being knitted in crimson "Savannah" yarn, an 8ply 70% wool, 30% alpaca yarn from Bendigo Woolen Mills. The cable is a different one too. I have done cables before, but not quite as interesting as this one.

So far I have completed the back and the front, and two thirds of one sleeve. The sleeve in the pattern in 3/4 length, which to me is useless in an 8ply wool jumper. If I am going to wear wool, I want all of my arms to be warm too. So I played with the pattern numbers again to make the sleeve longer. My first attempt was not successful, it was too tight, so I un-pulled it all (the sleeve) and did it again. My second attempt is much better in fit, and I am nearly finished sleeve number one. Then I just have to make sleeve number two, sew it together, make the neckband and I will be done. A new jumper for me ready for next winter.

Art Journal Page 2

My journey into this art journaling world is continuing. Most mornings I am putting aside a minimum of ten minutes, while I savour my first morning cuppa and listen to the news of the day. I find though that the ten minutes goes really fast and  I want to continue, which of course I do. It is easy to get lost in this world for twenty minutes at a time, and like my stitching, it takes me to another place.

I have found once a page is started,  I can usually add something to it. In this case, the journal has been started, so it is easy to make that next page.

I did start this journal with page one, drawing a number one on the page and leaving it blank. At the time I marked a number two on the next page, and that has been my starting point for my second page. For the most part, I have left it blank also, except for one tiny part where I stuffed up. Well, not stuffed up really, I just made a mark where I wasn't planning to. This is where I learned that there are no mistakes, I just had to work around it.

I had divided this page off into sections too, the same as I did for page one. Though this time the sections were more curved, where on page one they were more square.

In some of the reading I have been doing, it says to 'follow your heart', and to a certain extent this is happening. My stitching talks to me and tells me what it needs, and now these pages are doing the same. There are also 'things' that I spot that just call me and ask me to draw them. This is what I am finding really interesting.

On this page the leaves called to me, especially the flat leaf parsley that grows in the garden under the clothes line. It's hard to spot now because the page is so filled in, but it is there. Then came the other leaves, the ivy geranium, the gum, the begonia,and the thistle.

The other thing that calls to me is lace, and wanting to design my own, so there are scalloped edges and curved lines and picot edges in this page as well.

There is also a slight hint of colour. This has actually come from the next page which is painted. The 'paint' has actually seeped through the page, not that I mind of course, it adds to the feel of the page. I have bought a product which I plan to use on all future painted pages, to maybe stop this from happening and maybe help strengthen the pages. But more on that next time.

So far I am enjoying this journey. It is my new journey, and I am learning to follow my heart just like I do with my stitching.

Another Baby Shawl

Way back earlier this year I was surprised with a comment that I was going to be Great Auntie again. What great news! I did ask what the Mum-to-be would like for this new baby and was told that everything was needed, everything had been given away.

That was when I decided to make her a baby banklet. So I dug through and found my shawl book. Would I do another circular one? Nah..... I would do something a little easier..... or so I thought.  A square one with a pretty lace edge.

This time I ordered through Bendigo Woollen Mills. Everyone always raved over their yarn, and I was informed it was much cheaper. In the end it was about half the price and only a few days to arrive.

The center of the shawl was an easy pattern, and finished in only a few weeks. It was the lace edge that got me. I very rarely give up on anything, but I gave up on this edge. After unpicking numerous times, and making mistakes in different places each time, I decided I was running out of time and needed to do something else. The hunt for another edge pattern was on.

I hunted both on-line, and in my local library. Surprising enough, the library had nothing, and I ended up using an edge pattern that I found for free on-line that dated back to the 1800's.

This edge pattern was patterned on every row, not just the knit rows like I am used to. The previous lace pattern that I gave up on was also patterned on each row, and I thought this was the reason I kept making mistakes. The second pattern though had a more distinct pattern through it than the first, so this made it easier to do.

Like anything found for free on-line, there is always a problem. The problem with this pattern was there were no corners , so I had to make one up. I would have liked to have continued the pattern, but to do that I would have had to miter it, and this would take some thinking, and time to experiment which I was running out of fast. So I experimented with short rows and keeping the outer edge going. It was simple, but worked.

I loved the final effect, and I believe the new owner does too. It is a one of a kind baby blanket that hopefully will be loved for many years to come.

Art Journal Page One

About a month ago, I was inspired to enter the art journaling world, the beginnings of which can be read here. Since then, I have completed a whole page, a first for me with just my own 'drawings'.

I had read about being intimidated by that first blank page, and that was so true. All the articles I read said to prepare and paint a page. Mmmmmmm............. that would mean getting out paints, brushes, water jars, table protectors etc etc. Did I want to do that? Nah............ So I didn't.

I had also been reading about materials to use, which gave great long lists of things, some of which I had, some of which I didn't. Then I read about the fact that art journaling could be done with just a few simple things such as one piece of paper and a pen. Well, I certainly had that, my little spiral backed sketch book, and a black ball point pen. Yep, that's all I used.

So where did I start? Staring at that very first blank white page sure was intimidating! What to do? So I began thinking about my day and what I had done that I had enjoyed. My phone call to my friend came to mind, which then led me to numbers, after all I needed numbers to call her. So I began at number one, this was after all my first page.

I drew a number one on the page, quite large to hopefully fill the space. What now? I just kept continuing some of the lines from the corners out to the edge of the page, still keeping that number one intact. This then gave me other areas to do things with, some got sectioned off further, some got left as they were. They were little individual spaces that I could fill with what I wanted.

It's taken me over a week to fill this page. Each time I have taken something that has happened in my day and put it into lines to fill a small space. I could be anything from pruning roses, hanging out washing, attending a wedding, or cutting bad spots out of potatoes. Who says our days can't be inspiring?

So I feel the page is now complete, and I have moved onto page two. Would I use this page for anything other than to look at? Absolutely! I have already had view finders out on it and imagined slices cut from it. They would have to be enlarged of course, but they are definitely usable for an original piece of textile creativity. Watch this space!

Art Journals

Some weeks ago, one of my stitching friends led me to a blog called Balzer Designs. After browsing around for a while,  I came across a page about art journaling. What was art journaling ? So I started reading and researching and got inspired.

From what I understand , an art journal can be anything you want it to be. A place to sketch, paint, paste, colour, draw, write, in fact anything creative on paper.

I have been working on visual diaries now for some years, and have quite a few. So how is an art journal different from a visual diary? In fact, I think my pile of visual diaries meet the description of an art journal. I have drawn, pasted, written, and in a few cases coloured. These diaries are my inspiration now for all my stitching.

Possibly the difference between an art journal and my visual diaries might be the 'artistic view'. My visual diaries are quick sketches of things that inspire me, with simple notes written with arrows to help explain what I mean. Sometimes there may be pages from magazines stuck in, which could be anything that may inspire me. It could be a photograph from a travel magazine, a cut section from an advertising leaflet, a cut section from a textile magazine. I even have visual diaries now for specific things. I have one especially for lace, one for drawn thread work, and one especially for any kind of machine sewing, like possible applique or garment construction. My visual diaries may not be pretty to look at, and my not have pages that could be hung on a wall, but they are full of inspiration.

In my reading over the last few days, one of the things I found was that starting was the biggest issue, and staring at that blank white page becomes intimidating. It sure does, but looking around at our surroundings or thinking about our day and what we have done gives us plenty of inspiration. We just have to make a mark on paper. How many times have I been told that over the years?

So why start an art journal rather than a visual diary? In my case I want to explore my creative talent in a different form. I am so comfortable with playing with fabric, needles and thread, now I am going to see how far I can go into the paper/ art world, and yes it is uncomfortable. Sure, I have played with paper and paint before, but I always come back to textiles. It is after all in my blood.

I invite you all to follow me in this journey to see how far I go. At the moment I am just playing with a black ball point pen and white paper. Hopefully I may get the courage to delve deeper with paint, other papers and colour in it's many forms. The above pic is page one of my new art journal. let's see how many more I can create and how I grow.

A Fill In Bookmark

I have been working on another major project lately which requires twelve  little finished pieces, so I have been using up my linen scraps. Sorry, you will all have to wait a while to see that project. One of the scraps was big enough to get two of my finished pieces, but not four. I could have got three, but that would have left me with one tiny scrap of linen left which would not have been much good for anything. So I decided to work  two, and use the bigger scrap left to make a bookmark.

A book mark , well then I had to make some decisions as to how to work the book mark, what colour, etc etc. What better way than to Google some bookmarks to get some inspiration. I did think of some blackwork patterns, but worked in colour of course, but decided on a Hardanger one instead. Then it was a look in my stash of threads to see what colours I had that I could use.

The dark green was my first pick, a Perle 8, then I found the variegated one , also a Perle 8, but I needed a Perle 12 to do the eyelets and needle weaving. I found some leftover in a smokey blue that I had hand dyed, and previously used with this same variegated one. All set, I was ready to stitch.

All was going well, but as the base fabric linen was white, it needed to be toned down. so I decided to fill in the background. I tried a four sided stitch over four threads, but quickly pulled that out. Then I tried a four sided stitch over two threads. Still not real happy, but I left it there. Possibly would have been better with something diagonal. It certainly toned down the white. I worked this background in a pale green stranded thread. I used the same green to work the eyelets.

Then we came to the needle weaving. I worked two bars in that smokey blue before I quickly pulled it out. It was way to dark and heavy, and looked all wrong. I thought a yellow would be nice, but me have yellow in the house? A yellow Perle 12 thread as well? Not likely! I didn't even have much in the way of yellow stranded thread, nothing suitable any way.

In the end I just used the same pale green stranded thread I used in the background to work the needle weaving and Dove's Eyes filling. Stranded thread is a **** to use for needle weaving, but I did manage it and it looks OK. A tassel in the same dark green that I used for the hem, just finished it.

It may not win any prizes, but I have used up some scraps, entertained my self for a while, and now have something that I can use.

Two Inch Squares

Hello there! Yes I am back. It may have been a while since I have been here, but there has certainly been some creating going on the background. I just couldn't show some of it until today.

These are my version of a two inch square. Nine of them in all. Two inch squares was the theme this year of one of my stitching groups. We could stitch what and how we liked, the only stipulation was the finished size had to be two inches square.

At first I took a while to think what I would do, then it dawned on me that I always wanted to try square Teneriffe Lace, so I did.

It was easy to make up my little square pad, then I collected together some scraps of Perle 8 thread from my stash and started to play. The first attempts are the pink, blue and cream squares. The last of these was the square on the top left, and I just loved the pattern that it created. So all my squares after that were in the same pattern, just different colour combinations.

I want to make a few more of these squares using the same pattern, and mixing the colours up. I have a project in mind that I want to use them on and I will need fifteen of them in all, so I have a few more to do still.

For the moment, these little squares, along with others that my stitching friends have done, are all on exhibition until this Sunday. The exhibition is being held at The Masonic Hall, 315 Concord Rd, Concord West, here in Sydney. It is open from 10am - 3pm today, tomorrow ( Saturday) and Sunday. So be quick if you want to see them.

I have other things to show you all too, but not just yet. I am waiting for a few things to happen first.

Digitized Machine Embroidered Multihooped Scallops

Behold! My first project that involved multi hooping!

I have wanted to know about multi hooping for a while. What is multi hooping you ask? It is where a whole machine embroidery design has to be hooped more than once to achieve the final result. The trick is getting it to join smoothly and without the join being noticed.

Then one day I discovered a new canvas in my upgraded digitizing program. It was a hooping canvas. Previously, I had only had an artwork canvas and an embroidery canvas, now I had a hooping canvas as well. I decided to play, and the only thing to play with was a big design that needed multiple hoopings.

I had asked a lady I know who is very good at digitizing. All I knew was that there were registration points for matching purposes, but I didn't know how or where to put them.  The only clue that A---- had given me was to start small, and had suggested to start with a flower that need a long stem. Mmmmm.......... what would I put a flower on? So I go thinking, what else could I do that would need a long line, take little matching, and that  could be used if it worked? So my scallops were born.

I started looking through my files to see what scallops I had. I did have one, but it was too small for what I wanted, so I set about digitizing a bigger one. I was going to stitch them out onto white fabric, cut the excess fabric away then use them as a trim of a bag. Sort of like a lace trim inserted between two pieces of fabric. They didn't need to be too strong just for a trim, but I still wanted them strong. So there are two different underlays under the scallop, as well as interfacing ironed onto the fabric. Hopefully this will be strong enough so the scallops wont stretch, or tear at the points.

The program automatically made them with the stitch angle at 45 deg. This was not good so it needed to be changed. I put it at 90 deg,  It was fine at tip of the scallop, but  did not look good at the points. I had discovered an 'add stitch angles' button which I decided to play with. I am sure I had it before the upgrade, but had never used it. It came in good use now. I inserted multiple stitch angles into my scallops to be at 0 deg at the points, and 90 deg at the tip of the curve. This made the stitches curve beautifully around the scallop.

OK, so scallop done, it now needed to repeated so it stitched out in a smooth stitching sequence. Time to adjust start and end points before repeating. In all, I repeated the scallop so I had a line about 19 inches, that's nearly 50 cm in length. A length  that I could use, and definitely had to be multi hooped.

In the hooping canvas, I learnt how to position hoops, add hoops, add splitting guides and a lot more that in reality I didn't need. It certainly was a learning curve. According to the program, I had one splitting guide, and two hoopings, but when I came to stitch it out, the machine told me that the design was too big for the hoop. Mmmmm........ not according to the program. This is where I found out that I could change the hoop size, and when I put in the hoop size that I had on the machine, I now had three hoopings!

OK, so now I was about to start stitching out this design. I had searched on line for resources on multi hooping, and read tutorials and watched You-tube videos. One of the tutorials said to use sticky backed stabilizer. I had seen it, but never used it. Could I buy it? Yes I could, but I chose not to. Instead I used my trusty tear-away. Lesson leaned, not a good choice.

The program had split the file into three different parts. I had to stitch part 1, re-hoop, match up registration points, then stitch part 2. Part 1 had registration points in the stitch out, and I was supposed to match the registration points in Part 2 to those in Part 1. The problem was that because I had used a tear-away stabilizer, it tore at the registration points! I tried to match them up when stitching out Part 2, but of course I was out and things didn't match. Mmm....... lesson learnt. I was out by about 2 mm, not a huge amount, and my scallops overlapped so at least it was still usable.

When I came to stitch out Part 3, I didn't even use the registration points, I just moved the design on-screen and matched the start point of part 3 with the end point of Part 2. Perfection!

That's when I decided to stitch another line of scallops, the could be used on the other side of the bag. I have trimmed them now, and they are ready to trim my new bag.

OK, so my first try at multi-hooping was a huge lesson. I have learned heaps. Would I do it again? Absolutely! So watch this space for more multi hooping adventures and of course my finished bag trimmed with my own stitched out scallops.

Grace's Garden

"Grace's Garden" is the name I have given to my latest finished creation. It is a quilt that I made for a family member for her birthday. The quilt was born of scraps, with just one added fabric of flowers that blended in with the scraps.

The tiny coloured squares were produced by cutting strips,  sewing the strips together in an order, then cross cutting. This produced a strip of coloured squares separated by white ones.

Overall, the quilt was planned in my quilting program, which is attached to my digitizing program. I could insert fabrics, work out the size of the strips to cut, and have a virtual vision of what the finished quilt would look like.

As I worked on it, the quilt started to talk to me as to how I would quilt it. The flowers won out. Stitched in pink, they were stitched through paper on which I had drawn the design. The paper was then easy to tear away. The sashings were ditch stitched.

The label took nearly as much time to do as the quilt itself. It has been digitized, and I wanted to continue the flower theme into the label. It was these flowers that took the time. I wanted them to 'radiate', and this meant learning about the 'star fill' feature in my digitizing program. In the meantime, my PC crashed and I had to sit patiently and wait for it to be fixed.

The PC is all fixed now, the quilt is finished, and has been gifted. Hopefully the new owner will get plenty of warm cuddles from it over many years to come.

A Mother of the Bride Dress

After some discussions recently on an on-line sewing group I am in, I realized I hadn't shown you all the Mother of the Bride dress that I made towards the end of the last year.

This lady was supposed to make it herself, but she was running out of time and asked me to do it. She had already bought the pattern and the fabric, so what could be so hard?

Mmmmmm............. The fabric was sequinned, something I hadn't really sewn with before, and the pattern, well don't get me started on that! It had seven, yes seven, horizontal seams in the skirt alone, then more in the bodice! The idea was that parts of the dress were left sheer, and the way this was achieved was to cut the fabric, and back only parts with lining. Mmmmmm.......... this might work on some fabrics, and be very pretty too, but not on this lovely sequinned fabric.

My first thought was to reverse engineer the pattern back to a basic shape to reduce the number of seams. This proved to be a nightmare, and I thought it would be easier to pattern make it from scratch, so I did. After many discussions with the client, we took out all the horizontal seams, and put in panel lines. The original shape was kept and the panel lines let me control the fitting, as well as give her the flare on the skirt that she wanted.

OK, so pattern done, toile fitting well, the lining was made and fitted well. I proceeded to lay the patterns out  carefully on the lace, only to find it was a one way design and needed to be cut singly. I had made 1/2 patterns that are used when we cut things on a fold or mirror, so now I needed to make double patterns to make sure there was enough fabric.

I had assumed there was enough fabric, and when I placed all the patterns out, I was missing one panel!  I tried placing them down the length of the fabric as well as across the fabric, and still there was not enough fabric!This was not possible! The mother of the bride could not go to her daughters wedding with one panel missing from her dress! OK, so I needed to find a solution.

Solution 1 - buy more fabric. Fabric stores that sell this type of fabric will not sell  just 30 cms more. Besides, the client had bought all the shop had.

Solution 2 - reduce the flare. This helped a little, but not enough.

Solution 3 - make it shorter. At the clients request, I had made the length 15 cm longer than the original pattern, so I started folding up all the hems by 10 cms, and yes, it made a difference! I could cut all the pieces!

Remind me not to sew with sequins again. Once I cut into the fabric, I had sequins everywhere!

I had been told to cut all the sequins from the seam allowances before sewing, so I tested a sample with my nail scissors and started snipping. What a tedious job! The sequins were so small! So I tested a sample just sewing a seam without removing the sequins. It worked without an issue.

The dress only had two layers, the lace and the lining. That was all the client wanted. That only left me with binding the armholes and the neckline as a finish.   I had planned to bind the seams of the lace with organza as well, but this actually looked awful so they just got over locked, it looked so much better. I had been panicking about the hem, and in the end I faced it with the organza.

Overall I was happy with the final effect, but not as happy as the client. She was over the moon. Would I make another sequinned dress again? Probably, especially if the client would pay me more. My thanks must go out to Christine M for all the help and advice she gave me over the phone.

A New Work Bag

Behold, my new work bag!

This bag was born out of my local sewing group. One of the ladies had so much fabric she decided to cut up a huge pile into squares, and the members of the group could piece together colours of their choice into a bag. At group day, I chose my pieces, and got them all sewn together but one seam. It them came home and sat on my sewing table. I had one brainwave that my bobbin lace fish could adorn this bag, so set out stitching him onto one blank square, then promptly left the bag rolled up, unfinished, in another bag, on my sewing table. I found it again in my clean up last week, so decided to finish it.

It only needed one seam to sew, lining, quilting, a bind and some handles. The lining was scraps, donated by the lady who cut the squares. There was enough of it, it just needed to be be joined to make a piece large enough. The batting was scraps left over from other quilts that I had made. Once again joined to make a piece big enough for what I wanted.

So I made my quilt sandwich -  backing, batting and bag outer, and pinned it all together. I even checked that my fish was in the best place for viewing. Then I decided to have a play with the quilting and do something I had not done before. Because I had added my bobbin lace fish, I thought it might be fun to quilt fish shapes and waves on the bag. I had quilted  plenty of straight lines, shadow quilting, and stitching in the ditch, but stitching shapes and other lines like this was something new. I had tried once before and outlined the marks on a quilt in pencil.  As a dressmaker I should have known better because the pencil has never washed out, and as a result I have stayed away from free form quilting. This time I traced the fish shapes and waves into a tear-a-way, and quilted  through that. Wallah! Fish shapes and waves and no pencil markings! Why didn't I think of this before?

I was on a roll, and my bag was looking good, until I started to join it together into the bag shape. My bobbin lace fish that had taken sooooooooo long to do, was sitting at the bottom! I nearly cried! He couldn't stay there, he would wear, so he had to be moved. But how? All his working ends had been taken back through the green fabric and finished off. There were dozens of them, so he was not moving from that piece of fabric. The only choice was to move the square, but that meant unpicking quilting! So that's what I did, unpicked the quilting, swapped two squares around, then re-did the quilting. Sounds easy right? Took me a while, but I got there and my fish can now be viewed well and is safe from wear.

The bag was formed, seams on the inside bound, once again out of scraps. Then I made my handles, once again out of scraps. They contain slotted waist banding for strength and ease of making, and a layer of batting for some padding.

All in all I am happy with my new work bag, and will use it with pride. Amazing what can be made from other peoples unwanted fabric and one's own stash of scraps.

A Soft Toy

Say hello to Mr Anteater. At least that's what we have been calling him. He is with his new owner now, so I can show him off to you all. S_____ can call him what ever he likes, or rather his parents can, because he is way too little to talk about anything yet.

The pattern came from a magazine that I was loaned by a friend, a knitting magazine I think, though this little fellow is crocheted. I made him from an acrylic yarn that I had in my stash. I had two 100g balls, one blue and one variegated, and I thought this would be enough. it was, just I was pushing it at the end. Just enough to do his eyes!

He had to be stuffed along the way, and I thought I had a bag of fiberfill in my stash. I looked everywhere, but what I thought was fiberfill was actually scraps of batting. I did harbour thoughts of cutting the batting up into tiny pieces and using that to stuff him, but thought he may turn out a bit lumpy. Then I found some old cushion inserts that were waiting for new covers, so they are not cushion inserts any more! The filling of one has become a bag of toy filling!

Anyway, he is finished now, and being cuddled by his new owner. He was certainly something different for me to make, and the first soft toy I have made for a very long time.

A Sampler Nearly Finished

I have been working on my sampler again. Yes, this is the same one that has been going on for nearly 10 years! It it that long? Well, considering it started way back in 2006, the maths does add up!

Beginning as a Counted Thread Round Robin that travelled the world, this sampler has had a little hic-up along the way. The main one was the broken threads, but that can be read about here.

The broken threads have been fixed for a few years now, and every now and then I pull the sampler out and add another band to it. At the beginning of this year, I made a resolution to myself that it would be finished this year. Mmmmmm............ maybe not finished, but it will be close.

Over the last few months I have added a few new bands, some narrow, some wide, trying to add some interest as well as light and shade. I have kept with the original pink and green colour scheme as I think it looks fabulous.

So far I have added in a Wessex band to cover up the fixed broken threads, a fine back stitched border with contrasting four sided stitches, a counted zig-zag band with back stitched border, another row of  back stitch with contrasting intermittent cross stitches and half cross stitches, a row of coloured needle weaving, and finally another row of back stitch spaced with back stitch diamonds that have been filled with a contrasting four sided stitch.

I started yet another band on Saturday, only to find yet another broken thread! I wonder how many more I will find? This broken thread was nowhere near the last group, and so far seems to be the only one. It's been fixed now, an easier fix than the last group, so I can continue on with my stitching. This row will be the final one on the right, then I have a space of about 8cm to fill at the other end before it is finished. I have even found some fabric to line it with and turn it into the bag that it was always intended to be. So watch this space, this sampler will soon be finished!

Wild Socks

How are these for my new socks? A little wild for me but under my jeans and in my boots who will see?

These socks are my latest finish. Made from Schoppel Wolle Crazy Zauberball 4ply, a 75% wool 25% nylon yarn from Germany, which I purchased from Morris & Sons. They will be so warm!

The pattern is the Lupine Lace Socks, put out by Fiber Trends, which I purchased from The Wool Inn.

I had a lovely time knitting these socks. I had also purchased a new set of double pointed needles made by Knit Pro while at The Wool Inn, and I must say these needles are a dream to knit with. Much better than the bamboo ones I used for my last pair of socks. These will be all ready for when the snow hits nearby again. Now I will be able to get on with my shawl.

Pretty In Pink

This pretty pink scarf came about from scraps. One of the ladies in my local sewing group was having a de-stash, and I found this lovely piece of pink embroidered cotton voile. It was long and narrow, perfect for making a scarf, so I tucked it away in my stash with a little note as to what was to be done with it. That was way back in the beginning of last year.

Then a while back, I needed a quick project to do one group day, so pulled this pink fabric out, found some matching thread, took it to group day and proceeded to hem it.

The hem is a very fine turned zigzag, to me it is much quicker and easier to do than threading the over locker to do a rolled hem. As I was hemming it, I was thinking of what to decorate the ends with. It did come to mind that I could add some free standing digitized lace flowers, to match the flowers in the embroidery. More work, but hey, I could handle that, and it would be a good challenge.

When I got home, I searched through my stash and found a ball of crocheting cotton, that was the perfect pink. So rather than going to all the time and effort of digitizing some free standing lace, I decided to crochet some flowers instead.

The flowers add another dimension and some weight to the scarf, even if they do get tangled. I crocheted the flowers first, then added a chain length to add them to the ends of the scarf. I had previously added a little edge in crochet all the way around to help give it more strength and weight, and this is what I attached the flowers to.

Pink is not a colour I normally wear, but it may jazz up a navy or white top in spring or even jazz up a hat in summer. Whatever it goes with, it is finished, and I have something off my to-do list.

Fingerless Gloves

Behold, my new, made to measure, fingerless gloves. I would prefer to call them half fingered rather than fingerless, after all they still have fingers, just not to the tips.

I have never really wanted a pair of these until our last cold snap. There was snow on the mountains not too far away, and although the sun was shining, the wind was icy, and I was trying to sew. My sewing space is at the back of the house which loses the sun fairly quickly in winter, and my hands were so cold they could barely guide the fabric under the machine.

 Light bulb moment!I needed a pair of fingerless gloves! I had never needed a pair before, my theory being my fingertips are the first to get cold, so I prefer full fingered gloves. I had seen what they call "smokers gloves", where one hand is full fingered, & the other has the thumb, index and middle finger short, but I needed all the tips clear so I could guide fabric under the machine.

Made in 100% pure wool in 4 ply, I have made them to fit my hands and my fingers, leaving from the first knuckle free to grip whatever. When I finished the first one, I wore it knitting the second one, so all should be good. I should be able to guide the fabric through the machine, thread the machine, and yes, I can even type on a keyboard with them! They might just become my new winter accessory.

Blue Socks

Another pair of hand knitted socks to the collection.

This pair was started because I needed something crafty to do on a recent weekend away. I always have to think about where I will be going, how long for, what's the reason I am going, etc etc to know what to take with me to do. If I know I am going some place where the lighting is good, I can take stitching. But if I am not sure about the lighting, then knitting is always a good choice.  Depending where I am going and for how long, I have been known to take lighting with me.

My original plan was to knit a very plain pair of socks, that way I wouldn't have to think. To begin with it was just a rib, then plain stocking stitch. As it was only a weekend away, the harder thinking of the heel would happen when I came home.

When I did come home, I found this pattern from Knit Picks and it was free.  I am always a bit wary of free patterns, I tend to think they have a problem somewhere, but hey, I am clever & could overcome any problem. So I pulled my started plain sock undone, and started on this pattern.

Mmmmmm.......... my instinct about free patterns is correct. It wasn't that there was mistakes, it was just hard to read and I feel it could have been written clearer. The fact that I left the pattern digital, and worked from my tablet may have something to do with it too, swiping back and forth to read the pattern wasn't fun.

There were a few other issues along the way, some pattern related, some needle related, some yarn related, but in the end I got there. They are made from a 4ply pure wool, and I didn't quite have enough for my socks, so hence the toes are a slight different colour. But who will notice? They will be hidden inside my boots keeping my toes warm.

Baby Accessories

This is some quick knitting I have done for a new little baby girl.

The yarn is Shepherd Baby Wool Merino 4ply. The pattern for the booties and mittens came from an old book in my library called "Payton's Babytime", while the pattern for the hat is one I made up by myself.

In the pattern book the hat was a bonnet, and I am not sure that babies seem to wear bonnets any more, the fashion seems to be little hats or those horrid elastic head bands with flowers. To me, little hats are much more practical and comfortable for tiny newborns.

So what did I do to arrive at this little hat? I had a collection of baby hat patterns that I had found on the net, and I searched through them until I found one in 4 ply. Most of them were in 8 ply believe it or not! Who knits things for little babies in 8 ply? Anyway, once I found a basic pattern, I adjusted the stitches slightly to accommodate the pattern. It was only a change of a few stitches larger which wasn't a big deal, better to be too big than too small. From there I followed the pattern in my book to arrive at the pretty picot edge and rows of patterning. Then I jumped back to the basic hat pattern for the height and shaping at the top. The shaping was off at the beginning by a few stitches, but cannot be noticed in the finished article.

This cute little set is now with it's new owner.

A Baby Mobile

A cute little baby mobile that I made for my new great niece.

The inspiration for this mobile started two years ago when another of my great nieces was born. I had made her this baby shawl, and when visiting, asked her mother if she needed anything else. The answer came back "a mobile". My niece had been trying to make one, but with a new baby she was having difficulty. So the conversation started about colours, and what she wanted on the mobile...... ........owls. I possibly would have done something different, but owls were, and still are,  very poplar.

I needed inspiration, so hunted around on the net for owl pics. Of course there were heaps, I just had to pick one. Once I chose a pic, I had to work out fabrics and how it was actually going to be constructed, etc etc. I had fabrics of course, that was no drama, and working out the pattern for the construction of the owls was no big deal. The eye area and the chest pieces were to be appliquéd, but what about those half moon eyes, the beak, and the feet? They were all so tiny! I thought about using  felt but how to apply? Glue is messy and I thought they would be too fiddly to hand stitch on. Then one day I had a brain wave that I could use my digitizing program and machine embroider them!

Digitizing is a whole different world, and these little eyes and beaks needed to be an exact size and spacing. It took me two attempts, the first one being slightly too big and slightly too far apart, but I eventually got there. Scanning my pattern and placing it as a backdrop in  my digitizing program  certainly helped. Thank goodness for testing first! I also digitized the eyes and beak in two different colours. This would stop the machine so I could put whatever colour I wanted in the needle.

So once I had the eyes and beak sorted, I could make a start. The owls were going to be double sided and slightly padded, six hanging, so that made 12 owls total. I wanted them all the same, but all different, if that makes sense. So they were all the same shape , size and design, I just changed the colours around and put different designs on their chests.

The designs on the chest were just fancy machine stitches, stitches I very rarely use. I started playing to see what effects I could get if I mirrored or flipped the patterns. Yes, my sewing machine has this wonderful feature available. At first I had picked out sewing threads and machine embroidery threads in plain colours to match the fabrics, but then I dug out a variegated machine embroidery thread that I had dismissed previously and tried it on a sample. Why didn't I use this before? It looked so good!

One of the fabrics had a small pattern of circles on it. I had to be careful which machine stitch to use on it so that it enhanced the circles, not conflict with them. So I chose an eyelet that I found in amongst all the buttonholes. I think it worked well on the printed fabric.

Once the chest pieces were decorated, I could appliqué them to the background, appliqué the eye sections, then stitch out the eyes and beaks. At this stage they were still on squares of fabrics and they were screaming to be made into a quilt, but this was not the end purpose, so I soldiered on.

The owls were then carefully placed back to back with padding in between, so everything matched, then carefully stitched around the owl outline, and cut to shape.  It was at this stage that I placed the feet . I had agonized over these feet the same as the eyes and beak. Once again  I had thought of felt, but as the feet were hanging, I thought the felt may pull out, it was very tiny. So another brain wave said digitize! This time it was the feet outline, in a small stitch length, stitched onto two layers of fabric vlysafixed together. I felt that this would be stronger than felt. Once digitized, stitched and cut out, they were stitched onto the base of the owl, then satin stitched in place as I satin stitched the edges of the owls. Finito!

Well not quite. Once again I had agonized over how to hang them. My initial thought was dowel, painted to match, with tiny holes drilled to tie the owls to the dowel with fishing line. I wanted them to turn and swing, another problem to solve. DH to the rescue with his  fishing and hardware knowledge. 

I had found an old lampshade ring in my stash, so ended up padding it and covering it with matching fabric, This saved drilling holes in tiny pieces of dowel and messy painting. My part done, the rest was up to DH who supplied fishing swivels to let the owls spin, fishing line to hang, and the knowledge of how to tie knots so they didn't come undone.

This is a one of a kind mobile which is now entertaining is new owner. Would I make another one? Maybe, but it would have to be different. At least I now know about the uses of fishing swivels.

A Filet Dragonfly

Behold my filet dragonfly! I am very proud of him as he is my own. Drawn on paper, transferred to a graph, then worked onto my own hand made mesh.

The mesh is made by drawing two threads, leaving two threads, in a pattern, both vertical and horrizontal. The remaining threads are then whipped together for strength. Making  this mesh takes time.

Using my dragonfly graph, I then worked out a weaving plan for linen stitch. This weaving plan has to be precise, as one incorrect turn of the needle, or one skipped over or under, will throw the rhythm of the linen stitch out.

Watch this space as there will be more filet to come.

A Wessex Band

Lately I have been moving on in my counted thread band sampler. This is the same one that has travelled more than me.

For this band I have chosen a Wessex band from the book "Wessex Stitchery" by Gay Eaton. I chose this band because it looked like little flowers, and was not quite as heavy as some of the others in the book. Using the pink as also helped to make it appear lighter, and it fits well with the other colours already in the sampler. Another reason I chose a Wessex band is to help cover up the "fix" I had to do. With lots of reweaving of broken threads. the tension of the weave has changed slightly. All these little flowers will help to hide them.

I have yet to finish the band, but is well on the way. I have one more row of flowers to finish, then I can outline them all and add in the green "trellis".

I love counted work, but this one had me stumped for a while. I found the counting a little difficult and hard to follow as a pattern, but I have now worked out my own  system of working so there are less mistakes. Hopefully this band will be finished soon and i can move on to the next one.

A Sampler Continues

This sampler began way back in late 2006 when I joined in on a round robin with an on-line stitching  group that I belong to. I have blogged about the beginnings, the trials, the fixes, & the additions before if you would all like to read the back story.

I have decided that 2015, (8 years since the beginning!) will be the year to finish this sampler and turn it into the carry bag that it was designed for. So I have pulled it out and am very slowly working on it.

Last year I added another very narrow band of needle-weaving. I had been working another sampler featuring needle-weaving borders, and thought I could work one on here. The ones that I had been working on the other sampler were a little wide to work in the space I had, so I just narrowed it down. I have worked it here in the same  hand dyed green that I used in my hardanger band.

Further up the sampler is my hardanger band, sitting alongside the gorgeous seahorses that were stitched by Margaret. I feel the two bands sitting side by side are a little heavy, and there is still quite a bit of white fabric between, so my aim is to fill the white space. I have always felt that the triangular spaces left by my hardanger needed to be filled, but with what? A spur of the moment decision led me to eyelets, so I added them in pink. Still a little heavy so I have started outlining them in green to help soften them. I will wait until I work them on the other side before I make a decision to add anything else. My mind is playing with ideas, including a very narrow straight band of some kind between my eyelets and Margaret's seahorses, and maybe something else light between the eyelets. Ideas from outside in the blogging world are welcome. Watch this space!

A Drop Stitch Scarf

Behold, another scarf to add to my growing box full. Just finished this morning, this scarf was started as a holiday project for a recent trip away. I needed something to take for the down time that we would have. I had agonised over what to take. It needed to be small, easy, with not too much thinking, no taking of reference books or patterns, but something creative enough that I would not get bored with it. It also need to be something that I could see easily without magnifiers and extra lighting. Some places the lighting can be so poor.

I decided on a simple drop stitch knitting pattern. It is only plain knitting in garter stitch, with the yarn winds varying between the stitches, thus giving the end result a wavy look. I had used this pattern twice before, once in a variegated cashmere yarn, and once combing a textured variegated yarn with a plain.  It was a pattern that I could  commit to memory.

For this one I gathered together three yarns of different colours that went together. The white and the light blue are  Paytons Embrace, a 2 ply of  90% Merino , 10%  Silk. The darker blue/mauve is a Shepherd Baby Wool Merino, a 100% wool in 4 ply, left over from knitting socks. I wasn't sure how the different plies would react together, but they have worked brilliantly.

I had decided for this one that I would knit it sideways. I have never knitted sideways before, but it is just the same as knitting upwards. All I had to do was cast on more stitches. I had needles and cables long enough from when I knitted this baby shawl, so now was the time to put them to use.

My original intention was to do a normal flat scarf, but halfway through I decided to join the sides together to make it tubular. I had lots of ends hanging from where I changed colour, so these just became the tassel at the ends. As I only changed colour every second row, the hanging threads were only at one end, so to make a tassel at the other end I just cut lengths of yarn and added them in with a crochet hook.

All in all I am very happy with my new scarf. It fitted the initial criteria perfectly, and will help to keep me warm when the colder weather arrives in a few months time.

'Holiday House" - A Challenge

At last I can finally reveal another finish. This one was a challenge for Stitchers Plus, a creative stitching group that I belong to. Our challenge was to stitch a house, any type of house, it was our interpretation. They must all be on the same angle as well. Please note the angle at the base, it is not 90 deg. The idea was that all the houses could be placed in a line to form " Thread Needle Street", and the angle would make the street curve and make an interesting display.

At the time the challenge was handed out, my mind was in a whirl, but went straight to our holiday house on the beautiful Mid North Coast. That afternoon when I came home and Googled 'Houses', I found soooooooooo much inspiration! There were tree houses, beach houses, colonial houses, Australian houses, Victorian houses, gee........... I could go on forever! In the end I went with my original thought.

The finished piece is in reality nothing like our holiday house. There are certain similarities, but not a lot. I played with a photograph of the front of the building, cut it down, eliminated lines, changed angles etc etc. It was meant to be a creative piece, and I was only after inspiration.

I have played with pulled thread stitches in this piece. I have wanted to play with pulled work for quite some time, and this was the first time in colour. It is interesting how the eye sees colour first, so the texture of the stitches used can be a little lost. I think I have managed to keep the texture, using certain stitches in certain directions to give certain effects. The colour changes also adds some light and shade. giving some dimension. I still think the piece needs some more dimension though. I wanted to put some plants in the garden and some window pots, but time got the better of me. I might still add them now, but we will see. It means pulling the piece apart to add them in I think,  and I am not sure I want to do that just yet.

Our group now has another challenge going on for next year,2015, but more about that further down the track. In the meantime I have plenty of other stitching to keep me busy.

Colourful Socks

Another pair of socks finished. This is pair number four, and will have to wait for next winter to be worn. At least I will be ready for when those cold days hit in about six months time.

This pair is using the same pattern leaflet from Paytons that I used before, in a Lincraft 4ply Lullaby 100% wool. It is a variegated yarn, and I found it interesting how the colours changed when the decrease to the ankle stared.

What more can I say? They are socks, they will be good to keep my feet & ankles warm next winter, & yes, I made them.

A Lace Bookmark

Behold, my latest finish! A Bedfordshire Lace bookmark.

This little book mark started as a filler. I really wanted to continue my lessons from Pamella Nottingham's " Bedforshire Lacemaking" book. I am up to lesson 5, and rather than just doing a sample like I had done with the other four, I wanted to make a finished piece. So I decided to continue the edge around in a square, and when finished, I would mount it on some handkerchief linen. So I made my pricking, and  tried in on for size on my lace pillow. Immediately I could foresee problems. Yes, the pricking did fit, but it was flat, and my pillow is dome shaped. I could cut the center out to make it fit better, and as the edge has a scalloped footside as well as a scalloped head side, the finished  lace could be moulded flat when I mounted it to linen. Mmmmm...........  But the edge of the pricking came very close to the edge of my pillow, and I knew this would drive me crazy when working it. So I invested in another pillow, a bigger  square one with 9 blocks that I can swap around as needed. This would take time to arrive, and I wanted to do some more lace now!

So while waiting for my new pillow to arrive, I looked through and found this book mark pattern. Could I do it? I thought I could, it was plaits and tallies, and I knew how to do those, so I went about making my pricking.

Step 1. Make pricking - note to self - to consider the colour of thread to be used up against the colour of the pricking when choosing the colour of the contact. Remember to use a contrasting colour !

Step 2. Wind bobbins - how many do I wind? Oooops - not mentioned on the pattern, I would have to work it out!

Step 3. Work out the working order and how to start so I can calculate how many bobbins to wind Mmmmm........... next question - this wasn't on the pattern either and I had no idea how to start!

Luckily I am a member of a few on-line lace groups, so I put the question out there. One of the ladies on this group very kindly sent me a diagram and some notes to help get me started. My thanks go out the her ( she knows who she is). As a result, I could work my book mark above.

It is far from perfect, but I am proud of it. My tallies are different sizes, but they did get better as I progressed. My picots are all wrong, but hey, they are there. I was having problems with them and could not get the tension right. Then when I showed it to some real lace-makers, some comments I received had me going back to refresh how to do them. It was only then that  I realized that I had done them wrong. No winder they didn't tension right!

Oh well, it is finished and very usable. It has served me well in being a filler while waiting for my new pillow, as well as giving me some good practice and revision lessons. Now this one is finished, and my new pillow has arrived. So my handkerchief edging is happening as I write. Watch this space!

Cabled Socks

Yet another pair of socks finished. This makes the third pair this year & I have now started pair number four. This pair, and the pair I am making now, will have to wait until next winter before they can be worn. The weather has warmed up too much for woollen socks.

This pair feature cables, and have been knitted in Lincraft Lullaby, a four ply 100% wool. The cables should make them thicker around the shins so they should be warm when the snow next decided to fall. Hopefully that will be about eight months away. At least I will be ready with a supply  nice warm socks to wear.

I have actually enjoyed knitting socks, they really are not that hard. The next pair are another plain pair with a variegated yarn, but I would really like to make some lace ones, so watch this space!

Pretty Socks

Behold, my latest finish. Another pair of socks to add to my winter warmers drawer .

These are my first pretty pair, and  have been knitted with  'Araucania', a 4 ply sock yarn from the UK, though I did buy it in Australia. It is 75% wool and 25% polyamide, and supposed to wear better than 100% wool. I may still  get to wear them this winter, we have had some cold days just earlier this week.

On the note about 100% wool socks not wearing well, my last pair have been worn twice and  as yet no holes, not even an inkling of a hole. So much for the young sales assistants theory, just a sales pitch in my honest opinion. They are very warm and  soft to wear, and  great for those days when the temperature fails to reach 14 deg.

 My next pair will be another pretty pair, this time with cables. Watch this space!