The Stitch Gathering

Hats off to Jo Avery for organising a really fantastic event - it was great.   

The day started with registration where we picked up our goody bag - the sponsors had been amazingly generous.

There were Aurifil threads, Nairns biscuits (actually more - I have no idea where the others went, cough), a Frixion pen from  Pilot, Coats needles and thread, lovely fabric and a panel from Dashwood, Love patchwork and quilting mag, embroidery floss from DMC,  Liberty fabric from Very Berry, scissors from Groves and Banks , a Liberty tote bag and fabric, yet more lovely fabric from Blend and Robert Kaufman, and DMC perle cotton and beads from Mybearpaw.  My word.

This was followed with the hunt for your secret name tag swap partner - here is the one I handed over to Agnes once I had finally tracked her down.  

The butterfly is made of Oakshott, and the veins on the wings are tightly zigzag stitched. I had a head-poppingly difficult time making it but it got there in the end.

I received this one from Norma who was very bashful about it but I love it especially the tiny flower.

Then we went into our first class - mine was improv New York Beauty with Jo.  I kept finding myself anally trying to get the wonkiness just right if you know what I mean, rather than just go with the flow, but it was a lot of fun.

There was time during the lunch break to vote for your favourite embellished Stitch Gathering ticket bag before giving your own to your secret partner.  You can see the variety of beautiful bags here - each person came up with something so different and they were all amazing.  You've already seen the one I made - here is the beauty I received from Jane - it's so pretty and grown up.

There was also a lucky dip, show and tell, and a raffle for the quilt made from last year's fabric tickets - and a lovely buffet too!

In the afternoon there was some very intense sewing.  I took the tote bag class with the brilliant Katy Littlest Thistle Cameron.   The bag needed a patchwork panel for the front pocket so I just whipped this one up (haha) the day before in case the New York Beauty wasn't ready.  A massive gin and tonic was required when it was done.

We picked up a lot of really useful tips, including one for making neat boxed corners, how to put in magnetic fasteners and a method for inserting the zip for an interior pocket.

I didn't manage to finish the bag at the class, but the sprogs and I had a pyjama day yesterday because they were having a holiday Monday and I am still getting over the back-to-school cold they infected me with last week.  They made pompoms while I finished it off, only nipping out to the shops at teatime so we didn't starve.  Bag photography is definitely not my forte so you will have to take my word for it that it is rather nice, if I say so myself!

This post has so many superlatives it is beginning to remind me of Brilliant Kid on the Fast Show, but really it was a brilliant day. Thank you to Katy, Jo and all her helpers.

Daisy, Daisy

I am really looking forward to the Stitch Gathering this coming weekend and have nearly finished the homework I need to do.

Maybe you remember this?  This is the bag which is also an entry ticket, and the idea is to decorate it for your secret partner.

I have been staring at it on and off, waiting for inspiration - for a while I kept thinking of a quatro stagione pizza, but I'm not sure if anyone would appreciate that on their bag!

This is it now.  This is the front.

The centre of the daisy is FMQ'd with two layers of batting and is also sewn over a small wodge of stuffing to pad it.  The petals are made in the same way that I make speedy bunting flags, and I folded the bottom corners in and then threaded them together to hold the folds and gather them into shape.

This is the back.

The flowers and leaves are fused into place, then zigzagged round the edges (flowers) and free motion embroidered (leaves).  The stems are satin stitch (close zigzag on my machine).

I lined the bag with Ikea curtain lining fabric which was almost a perfect match.  I had already had to unpick the side seams and open out the bag in order to decorate it, so I cut a piece of lining the same size as the opened out bag plus a turnover allowance along what would become the top edges.  I folded and pressed this allowance down, then with the bag opened out flat and with wrong sides together I sewed the bag and lining together close to the top edge.  I then folded the bag back up (ie bag shaped, handle to handle) right side out and lining inside and zigzagged down each side before turning inside out again and sewing a straight line outside the zigzags, thus making French side seams.

Among the dumber things I did was fusing my blue-green circle to the bag before sewing the daisy on, which made the daisy very, very hard to stitch in place. One day I hope to get to the stage of being able to make things without it being a learning experience!

How to Make a Komebukuro Bag - Part 2, General Construction

How to Make a Komebukuro Bag - Part 1 showed how I made the exteriors for two bags.

So, if you have decided to make a bag, settled on the finished size and made your sides here's what you need to finish it.

How to make a Komebukuro Bag - Part 1 Liberty Patchwork exteriors

I have got round to sorting the process photos I took when making my Komebukuro bags (here and here) and thought I would post a bit of a how-to in case anyone was curious. [edited to add links, sorry!]

These bags (originally made to contain rice) are quilted so they have a bit of structure to them, and being square and flat bottomed sit nicely on the floor or on a shelf when full.  I made the larger one above - great for knitting wools or a crochet project perhaps - and the smaller one below which could happily contain a stack of fat quarters.

The construction of the bag is quite straightforward, and you could make up the exterior in any way you like and to any size you want so I don't include measurements but just show how I constructed my two versions, with instructions for assembling the bag in another post.   If anything is unclear, or if you find it difficult to work out your own measurements, please do let me know.

Fresh Sewing Day

Finishes: three Artist Trading Cards on an autumn theme for the Very Berry Handmade swap (see the loveliness on flickr), another music bag, and 10 metres of halloween bunting made with my youngest from Ebay bargain orange felt and black bias binding.  It was all hand stitched as we were away from the sewing machine so we were quite chuffed with ourselves.

I should also have photographed this room after the children's halloween party it was tidied up for...

WIPs: Unfortunately getting the car through its MOT meant no fabric purchases so I am temporarily and frustratingly stuck in the middle of two quilts, Big Pebbles, and Leaves, but this did mean I got out a third quilt I started at the Stitch Gathering, in a class taught by Fiona of Poppy Makes.

Fiona's fab quilt is  here.  Mine is being made from Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill, and Natural Seeded Klona.  I am struggling with it slightly because it is someone else's pattern and I find that hard as I like going my own way, but I wanted to learn something new and it is a great pattern so I am determined to make it for one of my daughters.  I have all the pieces cut and paired. Three quilts in progress is a record so I'm hoping for a finish soon.

Incoming: a week of happy post.  This book was my winnings (by luck, rather than merit) at Celtic Thistle Stitches Holiday Memory competition.

Thank you so much to Fiona - I look forward to next year's competition, and the book is my current bed-time reading.

And this pencil case arrived from Fran:

It is for one of the Misses Knotted Cotton in return for  the music bag I sent Miss Patchy Rose.  It is lovely and so beautifully made I might just have to keep it for myself;-)

A good month!

Applique Music Bag 2

Another applique music bag.

The birdies in this one got fancier tails, red and pink...

 and blue-green variegated Guttermann Sulky.

This bag also features mice with bead eyes.  Birds or mice might have been enough from a compositional point of view but sometimes you just have to go for it!

I've been wondering whether anyone would buy a bag like this (we can all dream).

This one was made as a gift.  One of the reasons I blog is to make contact with people who also like making things and I am really grateful for the support of other bloggers, so once in a while it's nice to be able to show my appreciation.  Miss Patchy Rose this bag is for you  - I hope you like it!

Finished just in time to link up with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Fresh Sewing Day - A month of Liberty!

Not just because the children went back to school.  There's been a lot of Liberty fabric in my sewing this month.

First I finished this mini quilt which I started at the Stitch Gathering as part of a course on Crazy Patchwork.

Then I did something quite new to me which is bag-making.  Just before the summer holidays Ali of Very Berry Fabrics very kindly sent me one of her Liberty maxi scrap bags so I could have a play with it.  So, first I made a Liberty and linen komebukuro bag. I'll post details of how I made it because it was quite satisfying!

Satisfying enough to try a second komebukuro bag.

Then since I was on a bit of a roll (for me) I supplemented some of the remaining pieces with a few more bits from a scrap pack I had already, and made these - two Liberty pouches.  The squares are about an inch across.

Finally I used some of the remaining scraps to make a panel for a music bag.  This is a detail.

On the offchance you are not already familiar with Ali's shop you should check it out as it is full of beautiful and irresistable fabric - she also has a lovely blog, and is a really nice person to deal with.

My one non-Liberty make used Oakshott cottons, and is this entry for the Holiday Memories Mini Quilt competition at Celtic Thistle Stitches.  (Not too late to enter!) It is inspired by collecting pebbles with my nephew on holiday with family, and so represents three of my favourite things.

Linking up with Fresh Sewing Day.

Music bag - WIP

Making my daughter a bag to take her piano music to lessons.  Free-motion embroidery, raw-edge applique.   My ability is trailing behind what I wanted to achieve, but I'm having fun!

East Meets West - Liberty Komebukuro Bag

Over the last couple of posts I've shared pics of a work in progress.  This project started a while back when Ali offered some of her beautiful Liberty fabric to anyone who would like to try out a particular idea, and I wrote asking for a Maxi Scrap Pack.  I'd been thinking for a while about a bag I wanted to make, and here it is!  (Sorry for the picture heavy post.)

My bag was inspired by an interest in Japanese textiles and embroidery (a shout-out to Cynthia who fuelled this interest with her fascinating posts from Japan).

In particular I'm interested in boro and its relationship to English crazy patchwork in the way they both aim to use scraps of fabric to make a larger piece of usable cloth.   Boro fabrics are often stitched using a large sashiko running stitch and English crazy patchwork is often embellished using a variety of decorative stitches.

I thought it would be fun to unite two cultures in a Japanese style komebukuro bag (traditionally used to carry rice) made using English crazy patchwork panels made of Liberty tana lawn.

I used some of the stitches on my new sewing machine to embellish the crazy patchwork, and running stitches in different shades of Perle 8 to quilt the 'sashing' which was made with Essex Yarn Dyed Linen.  Each side has a different colour of quilting (thanks commenters on my last post:-)

It has a cotton lining made using some Dorothy from the Liberty Bloomsbury range, which I was lucky to get in my Stitch Gathering goodie bag.

I didn't want to use it all, so I supplemented part of it with some plain cotton at the bottom.

The tabs are made of red grosgrain ribbon.

A piece of yellow ribbon pulls the tabs together.

I had difficulty photographing it in a way that does it justice and wish I had finished it at the weekend where the jewel-like colours of the Liberty would have looked lovely in this setting!

Thanks to my local B&B for the use of their garden instead:-)  Passers by on their way to the bus stop must have wondered what the idiot lying on the patio was doing.

I'm really happy with this bag and I think the Liberty goes beautifully with linen but it also teams up well with Klona, or Oakshott and I'm in the middle of making two smaller bags pairing it with different fabrics.

You'll find a tutorial for one way of making a komebukuro bag on the Oakshott website but the process I used was different and I'll post about it, and another alternative method, soon.

Thank you Ali, for the luxury of an opportunity to experiment!