Travel bag

Project - Travel Bag, my own design
Started - Around May 2014
Finished - June 2014

We headed off to Fiji for a week at the end of June.

I really wanted a travel bag that would have pockets to keep the passports and travel documents safe but handy. I wanted it small enough to prevent carting too much stuff around with me, but large enough to keep the essentials contained in one place.
I couldn't find anything I wanted in local shops and did some web searches and found a few bag patterns that were cross body style with multiple zip pockets, but they were all smaller or larger than I was looking for.

I grabbed some paper, jotted down the ideas I liked and then started sketching.
I came up with a design I liked, dug some fabric from the stash and got creating.

The outer fabric is Ikea upholstery weight fabric (stash), the lining is a green shiny remnant that has been used for lots of things (stash), the zips are chunky open-ended ones purchased specifically from Lincraft and the bag rings and slide adjuster are from Voodoo Rabbit. I also used a heavy weight interfacing from the stash.

I ended up with a rectangular satchel, with a single adjustable strap, so it could be cross-body or shoulder-bag style.

There is an external zip pocket for tissues, sunscreen, panadol, room keys and other small bits.
Behind the zip pocket is a slip pocket big enough to hold a magazine or ipad.

The top of the bag has a recessed zippered gusset.

Inside the bag on the rear side there is a zippered pocket on one side that extends the depth of the bag. This was designed to hold the passports and travel documents.

Inside on the front side is a slip pocket divided into three, to hold my mobile phone, a pen and a notepad. I could tuck my sunglasses in them as well.

The bag is large enough to hold a water bottle, my wallet, hairbrush and a few other small things if required.

Good things:
I loved the external pockets. They were great for stashing things like room charge receipts.
The inner pockets kept everything organised and the small size meant I wasn't overloaded with stuff because we simply couldn't take it in the first place.


Bad things:
The strap and rectangular bag rings didn't work so well. The strap was a bit on the short side for comfort, and the bag rings slipped sideways causing the strap to gather. I'd make a longer, wider strap next time, with an extra layer of interfacing, and round bag rings.


 
I wasn't overly fussed on the fabric I used. I think a denim or unisex print would be more my style, and might mean that the males in the family would be happy to carry it when necessary.

 I've kept the diagrams and directions that I wrote out as I made it, in case I want to make another one.

I would probably make the sides a bit deeper next time, and play with the strap - possibly a fixed length strap rather than adjustable.

I was pretty happy with this bag. It served us well on our trip, and after a good wash it has gone into rotation with my every-day bags.

Note - white fabric is not a good choice for a bag!

KTB - Broderie top (and some extras)

Project - New Look 6392 Broderie top in size 3

Started - probably in 2007? It was part of a number of outfits I made for my niece who is now 10.
Finished - November 2014
Gifted - Christmas 2014
It is amazing what you can find when cleaning out the stash. While looking for something else I came across this pattern bundled up with the white broderie already cut up to make a size three top with the puffy sleeves.

I had started it as part of a gift for my now-10-year-old niece. The other items had been finished and gifted but for some reason I never sewed this one up.

I had some dragon and cow fabric already selected to make clothes for my 2-year-old niece and her dolly so I decided to use this pattern and finish the top as part of a set.

I packed up the lot and carted it off to quilt camp in November and had the top, cow shorts and dragon dress completed pretty quickly.
It must have been the elastic casings in the sleeves that put me off last time. I did 8 sleeve casings this time and they ended up pretty neat.

The whole reason for making the clothes was to have matching dolly clothes for the Kinder Doll I gave my niece for her first Christmas in 2012. I called her Ruby but she now goes by 'Dolly'.

Dolly already had a top made in the same white broderie fabric so the matching shorts were quick and easy. The dress took quite a bit of time because I wanted to make similar sleeves and end up with something that was close in appearance to the big dress. It was fiddly but fun.

My nieces parents skyped us on Christmas Day and saved the gift to open while we were online (which was such a thoughtful thing to do).
She put the dress on straight away, found Dolly and dressed her as well and then went and posed in front of the mirror. The rest of the clothes got modelled as well and although the size 3 was too big it was fun watching her play.

KTB - Rainbow Dropstitch Scarf

Project - Easy Dropstitch Scarf
Started - August 2013
Finished - August 2014
Gifted - September 2014

The Easy Dropstitch Scarf pattern is a free download from Ravelry.
It is an easy pattern for a beginner that gives a result that looks far more complicated than it really is, but I recommend using a thicker yarn than I did. Use something slippery for the best result.

I used Opel Sockenwolle - sock yarn and 4.5mm needles.
I picked the pattern because I wanted something easy but lacy.
I picked the yarn because it was in the stash.

The scarf took far longer to make than I ever intended partly because the yarn was so fine, partly because I kept putting it down, partly because I got sick of it half-way through.

I pulled it out again in winter and got it finished and blocked in time to send it to my sister for her birthday. She lives in the coldest place in the country so scarves don't go to waste. I did take some post-blocking photos but can't find them, so this work-in-progress shot is the best I can do.

KTB - New Look 6429 Mock-wrap Dress

Project - New Look 6429 view D. Knit dress with mock wrap detail.
Started - Who knows? Probably about 4 years ago.
Finished - 28 December 2014

This dress has been sitting in the sewing cupboard for years. It needed the hem to be unpicked, reshaped and resewn, dangling threads removed and floppy facings fixed.

The fabric is a really stretchy jersey knit I picked up on special but is really too stretchy to hold the shape of the dress well. A firmer knit would hold the design lines much more effectively. The fabric pattern was difficult to match and you can see that it is printed off-grain, so the front panel looks like it is hanging skewed.

I remember that I got most of the dress put together in a day or two but wasn't happy with the fit so shelved it.
I remember pulling it out again and adjusting the wrap front and sewing the hem, only to put it on and be dismayed to find the back hem had a big dip at the centre back and the skirt was too clingy and revealing over my stomach and hips. I stashed it away to deal with later.

This week, seeing as the sewing machines were out, the room was tidy and I was on a bit of a roll, I decided to pull it out and finish it off once and for all.

I figured out that the droopy hem was because I had lengthened the back bodice but forgotten to remove the same amount of length from the back skirt. Over-locking before folding up a hem wasn't the greatest idea on this fabric either. I unpicked the zig-zag hem, lay it out flat and trimmed the entire hem using the rotary cutter. I pinned them hem up, pressed well and then stitched in place with a twin needle.

The facings didn't sit well (an issue with everyone who has reviewed this pattern) so I trimmed them back to the edge of the top-stitching, creating more of a bound edge.

All in all, the dress isn't a disaster. it is light and comfortable to wear, so may become a round-the-house dress.

I don't like the cling across my stomach but that is more about accepting my body shape than a design fault with the pattern.

I love the back - the v-shaped waist line sits perfectly. I'm wondering if I can combine the back design with a more fitted front bodice?

Rainy Holiday sewing - knit dress

Project - New Look 6280 View A - knit dress with 'V' neck and bust gathers
Started - 27 December 2014
Finished - 28 December 2014

I purchased this fabric and pattern in November just before my quilt weekend, intending to get it started - at least cut out and ready to sew. As usual I took far too much with me and this didn't even get a look in.

Post Christmas, with an empty, tidy house and a grey rainy day, what else is there to do but pull it out and sew while the boys are flaked out in front of the TV?

The fabric is a fairly firm knit with one-way stretch. It isn't the colour I would normally wear but fine for trying out the pattern to see if it fitted and if I liked it.

The lining was a stretchy jersey. All up, the fabric I used cost around $17 and the pattern was $6.


I've been looking for summer dresses for a while, but everything I try on is either shapeless or far too small in the bust. I bought this pattern hoping I could adjust it for a custom fit.
I tried out a Full Bust Adjustment using this tutorial from 'Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing'.
I used my high bust measurement and the finished garment dimensions from the pattern tissue to select the size to use.

My full bust measurement is 8cm larger than my high bust so I needed to add 4cm width and length to each side of the bodice. This would have been easier if the shoulder line and bust apex were marked on the pattern.

I guessed and ended up too full through the high bust. I could probably get away with a smaller increase but it is lovely to put on something that doesn't pull over the bust and that has an under-bust seam that sits exactly where it should.

I made view A from the pattern but altered the front bodice to have a vertical centre seam rather than a cross-over neckline, as there was enough bulk from the gathers under the bust. I should have dropped the neckline lower as it ended up higher than I wanted.

I sewed the bodice pieces with a smaller seam allowance (by mistake) so the straps ended up too wide and the underarms too high. There was also some bagging on the centre bust seam caused by the incorrect seam allowance. I added a piece of elastic to the front bust seam to gather the excess fabric and pull the 'V' down a bit lower. I think I attached the straps a little too high, so it sits a bit strange over my back. Using the correct seam allowance and getting someone else to help place the straps correctly should fix all these issues on any future dresses.

I picked a size with less than the recommended ease around the hips, and when I make it again I will go bigger through the hips for a looser skirt, especially if I make a maxi version.

The result is a comfortable summer dress. I'll make more of these, but with the changes I mentioned above. I've already been scouting out fabrics online.

KTB - Portfolio dress

Project: Voile Lisette Portfolio Dress
Started: November or December 2012?
Finished: 27 January 2014

A while ago the Lisette Portfolio dress was popping up every where in blog-land. I took one look at the design and went 'Nah - not for me'. Gathers over the bust, no hip, bust or waist shaping. I just thought it would look like a sack on me.
Later I saw a few versions that really appealed so I got the pattern and then it sat, and sat and sat.
Last summer I had a long break and was looking for some light summer dresses that would double as work wear. I had some voile (or lawn...something like that) and thought I could try a wearable muslin.
Matching the patterns required a lot of careful measuring and pinning before I even cut the fabric.
I got it all cut out, got the front together and fussed around with fancy top stitching that disappeared into the print. I got the back together and pin basted the dress together for fitting. That is as far as I got.
I didn't like it and debated cutting it into a skirt. I made up a skirt in a similar weight fabric to check sizing for a yoke, but cut a size too small.
Gave up, shoved it all in a bag and put it on a shelf.

Fast-forward a year and I had a free evening and wanted something quick and easy to play with and found this on the shelf. I sewed the front and back together, tried it on and was happy enough with the fit so decide to finish it off and see how it went.
In a few hours over two nights I got it finished.
The fit at the front is fine and I love the pockets although they disappear into the busy fabric, and I'm still not fussed over the gathers. The back was a bit sack-like so I added some darts to shape it to my waist.
The colour of the fabric combined with the loose, A-line style remind me of a school uniform.
The fabric has a bit of cross-grain stretch so it is comfortable to wear and it is nice and light.
It is hanging in the wardrobe at the moment and I'll wear it some time this week to decide if I keep it or donate it.

KTB - Chinook Scarf

Project: Chinook Scarf
Started: July 2011
Completed: 28 Dec 2013
Gifted: January 2014


Sometimes you start a project to learn a new skill and when the results are less than spectacular you shelve it and move on to something else. Sometimes you have even finished it and it just needs a little bit of special treatment to bring it up to standard but you aren't quite sure how to do it, so into the UFO pile it goes.

This was my first lace knitting project and it was complete apart from weaving in the ends, but I was unhappy with it and shoved it away while I decided what to do with it. I had pretty much made up my mind to unravel it and use the yarn for something else but my sister-in-law (a fabulous knitter) convinced me to block it first to see if it opened up the lace pattern.

Wow! So glad I did. Washing and blocking softened up the yarn, opened up the lace and really made a difference to this scarf. I loved it!

The pattern is a Ravelry  download - the Chinook Scarf by Ali Green. I used Sean Sheep 'Stirling' 100% wool from Big W and the colour is called Madeira Rose. After blocking it measured 172cm by 39cm (at the widest point), long enough to wear as a scarf or as a shawlette over the shoulders. The lace pattern was simple enough and the knitting was fairly quick. I'd make this one again.

I have very little need for warm, pretty scarves and shawls here in Queensland so I packed it up and sent it off to a different sister-in-law in New Zealand. It arrived in the second week of January - just in time for a big dump of snow and ridiculously low temperatures right in the middle of summer.

 It feels so good to complete something and to be happy with the result. Makes me want to go cast on a new project - but I won't. ;)

August 2013 - Bookweek Alien

August brings Book Week and that means dress-up time.This year's theme was 'Reading across the Universe' and the kids were encouraged to come to school dressed either in a space theme or as a favourite book character.

  Jack wanted to be an alien so we dug through the book shelves looking for alien books and found 'My Brilliant Book' which has three-eyed-aliens who attack earth.

 

We had an inflatable alien head and hand set in the cupboard, bought on sale some time ago with the thought it would come in handy sometime. As luck would have it the head was a three-eyed-alien.

 

We needed a body so used a tracksuit pattern to draft up a one-piece jumpsuit with back opening, similar to a skeleton costume he already had, and went shopping for some fantastic shiny green dance fabric.

 

I did the work on the costume while Jack was asleep - bad idea, as was the idea of joining a tracksuit top and bottom pattern together to draft a jumpsuit. I should have traced the costume he already had and just made it bigger. Instead I did something wrong and ended up with a jumpsuit that was far to narrow and far too long in the body.

To salvage it I shortened the sides and added width by adding a shaped insert to each side seam from just below the underarm to the hip, gathering the side seams to fit. Jack thought they were gills and apparently gills are awesome. I added a row of gathering along the centre seam from front neckline through the crotch to the back neckline, and then stitched the gathers in place. It worked but the gathers didn't hold in place very well and a strip of elastic would have been better.

 

Jack thought he was super cool and had a great day, even though several people thought he was a frog. As a bonus he got to wear the same costume to a Space dress-up night at Scouts two weeks later and won a prize. 

November 2013 - Spring Chickens

 The annual Doll Quilt swap nearly didn't happen this year. Thankfully someone suggest a stress-free option: no partners, no requests, a theme, a minimum and maximum size, a four-month time frame and a due date. If you send one in, you get one back.

The theme was 'Spring' and there was some major Pinterest action going on. My favourite pin was a quilt depicting 'springs' - of the bouncy kind - in a lovely garden setting.

As usual, I dithered, trying to make a decision about what to make. I was leaning towards a star in 30s fabrics but I had already done that. Finally I remembered a Margaret Rolfe quilt book that I had always wanted to make something from.

 
I flicked through and found the chook blocks and decided on a design - Spring Chickens. I wasn't too worried about the design not being everyone's cup of tea as this group of girls have an ongoing in-joke about chooks, with an ever-growing and somewhat quirky collection that circulates the country. Someone would appreciate a chook quilt.
 I drafted out the blocks during one of my quilt group meetings then traced them onto freezer paper that I picked up at the last craft fair - very handy!

The freezer paper is awesome for this type of quilt. You cut the templates apart along the lines, iron them to the fabric, draw seam allowances directly on the fabric, cut the fabric apart and then sew the templates together using the edge of the freezer paper template as your seam line.

As long as you mark everything and refer to your diagram as you go it works (almost) perfectly.

The final layout wasn't decided until I had finished all the blocks. It was originally going to be a more traditional doll quilt layout with hen and two chicks at the top and the rooster and two chicks below, but playing around I though this layout could do double duty as a table runner and wall hanging. At this point I was worried about not finishing it on time, and decided if I ended up keeping it then it would fit perfectly on the dresser inside our front door.

 

This was made totally from stash. The black and white fabrics were from a birthday swap years ago and that 'barcode stripe' was exactly perfect for the binding which used up most of a fat quarter. The green was a fat quarter from one of my earliest quilting fabric orders and there was just enough of it to border around the blocks with only tiny scraps left from a full fat quarter. The red, yellow and browns were from a 'scrap pack' I purchased long ago - really handy for this type of project. The backing was another fat quarter that had been floating around forever.

All up I used just under a meter of fabric for the whole quilt.

 

I quilted about 1/8 to 1/4 in around each of the chooks and then quilted straight diagonal lines in the background. I was planning to quilt back the other way to make a diamond pattern but got this far and thought any more would be too much.

 

As usual I cut it pretty fine to get it finished - I was hand stitching the binding down and tying off quilting threads at my quilt group meeting on the day it was due to be assigned to its recipient, racing against the clock as I had a plane to catch!

 

Thankfully it was finished with minutes to spare and was sent off to Catherine, who lives on a farm surrounded by hundreds of chooks - perfect quilt for her!

 

 

July 2013 - Little Hoodlum

 

 I started this jumper in July 2012. Jack wanted a green jumper with a hood and I had seen several completed versions of the Little Hoodlum (by Julia Stanfield, available on Ravelry) around the blogs. I liked that it was knit in the round with minimal seaming so I dragged Jack off to Lincraft to select the yarn. Green is hard to find! I wanted a variegated yarn but most greens were mixed with pink. He settled on this rainbow-multi with a mint-green base. It is Patons London 8ply acrylic/wool blend.

 

I got most of the body completed before it got hot and put it aside to work on the sleeves throughout summer, thankful I had cast on a larger size. As happens with all my projects it was a long time between stitches. I picked it up again at the start of winter, determined to get it finished.

 

The sleeves and hood took much longer than expected and I cast off and wove in the ends right at the end of July 2013. Just in time for a 30deg heatwave. I think it got worn once. I'm hoping I made it big enough to still fit him for winter 2014. Might need a brick on the head to slow him down a bit.

 

 

June 2013 - I-spy Flannel quilt

 

The top for this quilt was made in July 2010 and the backing was together and ready to baste in January 2011. ( I also made the pillowcases the same month).

 

In June 2013 I finally pulled it out, added a few strips of fabric to the backing, basted it and quilted it. I did straight lines 1/4 inch (ish) from the seams in the borders and around each of the squares on the front and then added a square double line of quilting in each 4 patch. I used a red/green/blue/yellow variegated thread on top and bottom and the stitching blends nicely into the busy prints.

 

The hardest part was deciding on the binding fabric. Jack had selected a green spot but it was the wrong colour and I didn't want to stare at it for hours while I stitched the binding down,  so I dug around and found a blue multi-colour-spot that we were both happy with.

 

 

 One side of the quilt is all flannel fabrics and it is a simple, ordered design. It was easy to make and I think it looks quite effective.

The other side is all quilting weight novelty cottons and is a riot of colour and pattern. This was lots of fun to put together. I got all the directional prints to face the same way to match the other side of the quilt (so there is a top and bottom) and I'm pretty sure I only used each fabric once. 

 

 The quilt ended up at 206cm x 154cm (roughly 81" x 60") and as you can see from the top photo it is a perfect size for a single bed.

 

 It was wonderful to get this quilt complete, and even more wonderful that it has been slept under every night since then. We often have games of ' I spy' or 'Can you find...?' using both sides of the quilt.

Makes me want to finish more things.

 





January/June/July 2013 - Jelly Roll Race Quilt

 Towards the end of 2012 I had quite a few friends making Jelly Roll Race quilts. You take a jelly roll, sew the strips into one very long ribbon, fold in half and stitch the long side, cut, fold in half and sew the long side again, and keep doing that until you have a quilt top. Plenty of quilt groups have done races to see who can be the fastest to produce a quilt top using just the jelly roll.

I wasn't particularly fussed on them. But then, a few days after Christmas (big family get together) the women in the house got a bit of cabin fever and needed some crafty retail therapy. We headed to the local craft store and there, hanging behind the counter was the nicest Jelly Roll Race quilt top I had ever seen. It was a rainbow of batik fabrics finished with two co-ordinating borders.
I was sold. I picked a batik roll from the remaining stash and then we spent some time picking border fabric. The lady in the shop helpfully wrote down the border measurements for me and I was determined to go back home and make it that very night.

 

It didn't quite happen that night, but the following afternoon I dug out Mum's old sewing machine and set it up on the deck where everyone else was playing cards and scrabble or crashing remote controlled helicopters. There was a bit of eye-rolling from the men folk. I got stuck in expecting it to be a quick easy project. Some of those races on the internet managed to produce a top in just 45 minutes.

Ha!

Took me much longer, and sewing with an empty bobbin doesn't really speed things up. The whole process kept the non-sewers amused (and almost converted one or two).

I got the strips all together sometime after dinner and laid it out to see how the borders would look. I wasn't in love but it was bright and cheerful and was planned as a serviceable couch throw so I was happy enough.

I used a 2" inner border and a 6" outer border. 

 

We packed up and headed home the next day, so it was another day before I got the borders on. Had I bought the backing and batting at the same time I probably would have finished the whole quilt that week, but instead it got folded up and put aside and it was more than six months before I got to it again.

 

I finally found time to buy the backing and get it basted, and it was under the machine by the end of June. I quilted with a diagonal grid pattern in the centre of the quilt and straight lines in the borders using a multi-coloured embroidery thread.

The binding took forever but seeing as it was July it was quite nice to curl up in front of the fire, under the quilt and stitch away.

The whole thing was finally finished at the end of July and it has been on the couch ever since.

It really is a bit big for a couch throw. It ended up at 216cm x 176cm (85"x70") so it is plenty big enough for a double bed.

I don't think I'll make another one using this method.

If I did I would cut the strips in half before making the long ribbon, to break up the colours a bit more. It was an easy way to make a quick top, so never say never.

And most importantly - the dog approves.