Cardi care

This is my comfy cardi. The warm one for wearing around the house. I have had this for years.

It's starting to look well worn with pilling.
It's time to do something about it.

You can get yourself one of these things. They have multiple names.
Usually a depiller or pill remover

Or you can just grab one of these from your bathroom cupboard.

Whichever you choose to use, you will need to have the garment on a flat hard surface.
Make sure you hold the fabric of the garment at the same time so the fabric doesn't move.

Work in small areas.

This will take quite a while if your cardi is as bad as mine but, you will be able to make it look decent once more

Sally

xxx

Circle Applique Tutorial

I love using Circles in my projects, and thought I would share how I get a nice turned under edge on my appliques. There are heaps of other tutorials and methods of making circles, this is just how I like to do them.

First - decide how big you want your circle. For my project, I needed 5inch circles (to fit in a 6inch quilt block). I have a circle template for the 5in I needed, however, I regularly use a compass to draw them or trace around whatever I can find around my house - eg. Baby formula tins, spools of thread, dinner plates.

Trace your circle onto some cardboard. I use cereal cartons as I always have at least one available (sometimes I dont wait for the kids to finish eating the contents of the box!)

Cut out all your circles and place on top of the fabric you are using. Roughly cut out leaving approx 1/2in around each circle. 

Using a large running stitch, gather the fabric around your circle - and tie it off. Now head over to your ironing board.

Press your circles. I like to do this a little bit at a time, carefully making sure not to press any folds into your nice curved edge. (I also use these covered discs on the backs when framing my Embroideries in the hoop!)

Snip the gathering thread and remove the cardboard circle.

Pin your circle onto your project and sew! 

Any questions, leave me a comment!

Kate x

-- My completed Penelope Quilt can be seen HERE

Chenilling Tutorial - with a tip to help sore wrists

Hi there guys

This is my first tutorial for 2012, I hope you really like it and find it useful. This is excellent for those scrappy bits of fabric you don't want to chuck out but don't want to waste either. This technique is called Chenilling and is excellent for bags, table/place mats and could even be used in quilt squares.

Items required:

• Sewing machine (if you're really keen you could hand stitch it)
• Thread and needle suitable for sewing through several layers of material
• Fabric - this can be any fabric you like in any shape you like, as long as there are at least 4 pieces the same size. Aim to have at least one plain colour piece for the lining. I personally did a piece with 4 layers of fabric sandwiched together so my tutorial will only reference 4 pieces, however I do know someone who successfully did it with 7 layers. 
• Something to mark lines with
• Ruler
• Sharp long scissors

Method:
Step One: Cut your material to the same size, and sandwich the pieces together with a plain piece on the bottom. In my example, I chose black for the bottom, an orange/white for the second layer, a plain blue for the next layer, and a cute country pattern layer for the top. Line up the pieces so they are even and pin them in a sandwich.

Step Two:
Starting at one corner, measure across the lining piece diagonally and mark. Then mark a diagonal line 1 inch on either side of the middle line. Continue this across the lining piece until it looks like the picture shown below.

Step Three:

Once you've completed that, using your machine (or hands) sew the first middle diagonal line, through all four layers. Continue stitching the first line on the right, then the line on the left, and stitch diagonally across so it looks like the picture below. Continue through until all the lines have been stitched.

 Step Four:
For this step, you will require your scissors again. To complete the step, you need to cut the top three layers of fabric (not the lining) between the lines, Carefully slide of the scissor blades in between  the bottom layer and the top three layers, as shown below.

I found the easiest way to hold it while cutting was to slide the blade under the top three layers, then pinch the material around the blade - as shown below. I have RSI and very sore wrists a lot, and found this method put less strain on my wrists. Try it out and please comment below if it helps you.

Once you've finished cutting all of the spaces between the lines, it will look like the below picture.

 Step Five: Finally, you can either choose to leave it as the picture shows above, or you can choose to make it more raggedy by washing it and putting it in the dryer. Both have very effective results. You can either choose to roll in a hem, or you can insert it into a bag to secure the loose edges.

Above picture courtesy of Cooma Craft Group showing the raggedy edges achieved from washing/drying


Hope you enjoy this neat little tutorial and please show me if you choose to make something following it. Thanks for reading, and tune in next time

Tutorial - easy shirred baby dresses

I wanted something special and handmade for my daughter's first Christmas so I drafted up a simple dress pattern. As complicated as they look they are really quite quick and shirring is totally addictive!

This is the tutorial for the shirring and it worked a treat. My only issue (that was ongoing for about an hour before I face-palmed at my oversight) was that the elastic in the bobbin was not feeding correctly, the elastic was pulled out of its little niche in the bobbin holder and this caused the elastic thread to bunch up on the underside of the fabric. Once I kept an eye on the bobbin, ensuring the thread was in place the shirring went like a breeze.

I kept my thread length at about 2 and had my bobbin tension around 2.5 on my Janome MyExcel machine. It took very little practise to find the thread length and bobbin tension that worked best.

I made 7 dresses in total and an extra top for Christmas day. The top is a little different and a bit fancier but once you have made the basic dresses, you will see how the top was made. The first dress was a bit long, my daughter is only nine months and not walking yet so I didn't want something that would catch her legs. My first attempt was also too slim. It fit fine in the chest but it was not roomy enough to accommodate a nappy bum!

My absolute favourite fabric

All the fabrics together

Front of the Christmas top

Back of the Christmas top

Just click on the tutorial picture and save to your computer - or Pin it!

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

We would love to see your dresses, please post us a link if you make your own!

Thanks :)

Nikki

Eveningsong Ink

Christmas Ornaments on a Budget Part One

Ever wanted to buy the beautiful sparkly baubles sold at exorbitant prices in shops but can’t justify the cost? I have a solution for you – create your own stunning decorations for mere dollars following my simple tutorial.

Material list:

Foam shapes including balls, Christmas trees, wreathes etc – these can be found at most crafting stores

Sequins, beads, thin tinsel, glitter or acrylic paint, tissue paper, foil, drawing pins – let your imagination run wild here and use whatever inspires you

Beading pins – these are also found in crafting stores

Glue if required

Methods:

Decide what sort of design you want – this can be done either mentally or by doing a quick paper sketch. If you choose to do the sequins and beads, as shown in the photo, find the “seam” on your foam item and use this as a starting guide line to follow – this will help you to keep your sequins going in a straight line.

You can choose to place the pins directly through the sequins (as shown in the purple and gold bauble) or use a small bead and then a sequin (as shown on the two left baubles) – both result in a gorgeous unique look. If any of the pins feel loose, use glue as you see fit to secure the sequins in place.

If you would like to use paint, you can create a design or just paint randomly – you can also use sequins over the top, placing them in such a way that bits of 

the paint shows through, or roll the item in glitter. If available, using glitter paint would also be another beautiful option.

To use the foil, you can either cover the foam items in one or two pieces of foil (I would recommend the wreath or tree shapes for this) or rip the foil up into small pieces and glue it on.  Any shape could be used for decoupage and is also an excellent activity for the kids.

Depending on the foil type chosen, you could do it in a decoupage style provided the glue leaves a shiny finish, some glues may dry in such a way that it results in a matte effect. Decoupage, traditionally used with tissue paper, entails using one part water and one part PVA glue mixed, painting a little of the foam pieces at a time and sticking on small ripped pieces of foil or paper. The ripped edges allow the pieces to blend seamlessly together. If you choose to use paper, I recommend painting the glue over the top of the paper as well as underneath, this strengthens the paper layers and will give a shiny sheen to the item as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my post and I’m interested to see anything anyone makes that has been inspired by this post. Stay tuned for my post on Wednesday 30/11 where I will be exploring the various uses of pine cones, candles and paper crafts as Christmas ornaments and centerpieces.

Happy crafting,
Stefanie

Cute Reindeer Monogram Ornaments!!

What you will need – felt, ribbon, sewing machine

I'm using an appliqué design that I found at planet applique but this technique will work for pretty much any shape you can think of!

I figured out I would need to do this shape in two parts, so that I could place the ribbon hanger easily without accidently sewing it to the antlers!!

Let's get started… Stitch out your appliqué on the felt. Cut out the pieces roughly – by sewing first, then trimming, it gives a nice clean edge to your ornaments . I wanted the year on mine, so I embroidered that on to the backing felt.

 The antlers are done first, so place the smaller backing felt piece directly behind the antlers . Don't worry about pinning, the felt stays where it is. If you have one of these 'open toe' feet, pop it on, makes it easier to see where your stitches are going…

 I'm using white thread for this part, if you think you might go over the edges a little bit, maybe try the clear monofilament stuff on top with a bobbin thread to match the underside. Stitch all around the antlers only.

 Trim around the antlers, make the edge as wide or narrow as you like – I like 3-4mm on mine. Cut a length of ribbon for your hanger - 20cm should do it – and place directly behind the antlers. Pop your back panel over the ribbon (centre the date detail) and put a pin in from the front to make sure your ribbon doesn't move.

Now sew around the letter.

Trim up your edges (be careful not to cut your ribbon!) and you are done!!

Pop one on a card or use as a gift tag for a pressie!!

 

Kate x

--kwiltsbykate--