Peg bags, baby bibs and an injury!

We're off on holiday this week but we had two sewing tasks to do before we leave and put our feet up - peg bags and baby bibs! Strange combination of 'must do's' but hey-ho! The red material in this baby bib was the leftovers from a friends' project. The terry towelling backing is pre-washed, as it is notorious for shrinking! When you cut it, it makes quite a mess with little white bits everywhere - my friends black leggings looked liked she'd been snowed upon!

This peg bag utilises both free-motion (for the lettering) and an almost satin stitch (close zig-zag) for the clothing on the line. I was so amazed by my machine which effortlessly tackled all the stitching without jamming once! Now whilst that might be normal for most of you out there, with my previous machine that was most certainly not the case! It used to jam up all the time and as it was my first machine, I thought that was normal!

Zig-zagging your way around curves is quite an art form! After a while you work out where the needle needs to be positioned, depending on whether it's and inward curve or an outward one. I still think that one pair of socks on the washing line ought to be substituted for a pair of Y-fronts but then that's probably my warped sense of humour at work!

Only one industrial injury today! I was sewing around a baby bib and didn't pull the glass headed pin out in time, so it stabbed me. This happens quite a lot but unfortunately this time, I automatically yanked my hand away, which made the pin go further into my finger and I ended up with a small flap and a bit of blood! My friend said at least I was sewing a red bib! She was quite horrified though when I continued to sew whilst holding a kleenex in that hand. Repeated calls to go and get a plaster were in vain! I thought, I'll just finish this bib first! And anway, the plasters were downstairs and we were upstairs, sounds reason enough to me! Suffice to say, with a bit of sustained pressure, you'll be pleased to know, I did not bleed to death and neither did I get blood on the finished article!

Maritime A6 re-usable notebook covers

Here are our latest creations. These are made from remnants of the maritime material that we used to make our lined tote bags with. We cut out the sailboat motifs and using bondaweb, attached them to the background material. We decided that a little row of bunting across the top, balanced the picture. We used a combination of straight stitch and free-motion, to stitch around the motifs in dark grey cotton - we find black can be quite unforgiving! We used wadding to provide an extra quality feel. We love the overall appearance and hope that other people will too. Have learnt that one should stop free-motion sewing when in the middle of a coughing fit - it doesn't make for smooth flowing lines!

The Badger!

Here's another creation from Make Your Own Misfits book - Wise the Badger! 

In the book it says to paint the stripes on his head with fabric paint but I've already decided I don't like that idea, so I sewed strips of black felt into position on the face before I assembled the head. I think this works quite well! Luckily I managed to find two white buttons the same for the eyes and my friend found a chunky black bead which is perfect for his nose. He had to have several operations when he was being stuffed though, as I'd obviously sewn to close to the edge and the stuffing was showing through! I do love making these, they are so quirky and so simple, each seems to develop its own character as you assemble it.

I have four more lined up ready to make! My friend and I are going on holiday soon and I thought it would be good to assemble a few whilst we're away! What better way to relax and have fun in the process! Talking of which, I've also knitted a large bear which will also be assembled whilst on holiday! So we'll go away with two dogs and come back with two dogs, a bear, a frog, a sausage dog, a snake and a pig! Tee-hee!

Mini breads - salt dough

We like most things crafty and here I've made some bread out of salt dough. 

I've made loads of salt dough items in the past and there's something quite therapeutic about making and modelling in salt dough. It's very tactile and I love the fact that you can virtually make anything out of it with a little imagination and patience. These little loaves, with or without the poppy and sesame seed toppings, look really authentic. The baguettes are so simple, just a roll of salt dough slightly flattened on top and then indented with a knife. There's even a mini pretzel! The loaves aren't coloured in anyway, just varnished with gloss polyurethane varnish which naturally changes the colour of the pale salt dough to this bread-look-alike!           

Belt bags!

These are some of our, now renamed - belt bags. They were called Designer Doggy Doo bags but after a comment from someone who thought that the bag was for picking up triangular poo, we thought we'd change the name! We think the little bags are perfect for a dog walk as they'd take poo bags, tissues, treats and your keys. But also they'd be good for an iPod or even as a purse. The karibiner means they can be clipped to a belt or to a handbag strap etc. My friend had one which she used on dog walks. Unfortunately, she left it lying around within reach of her springer spaniel, Bessie, who chewed her way through it get to the dog biscuit inside! Needless to say, I've given my friend another one and she's gonna keep this one well out of Bessie's reach!

Sharon the Sheep!

This is the cutest one so far - her name is Sharon and in case you didn't know, she's a sheep! The black face is an old t-shirt and the cream body is an old fleece that belonged to my friend's mum! True recycling at it's best! She's another creation from the Misfits book. She has a black button for her nose, which if I remember rightly, was a spare off a black cardigan. I decided she looked better with googly eyes! We used a black pen to colour her arms and legs but i think if I make her again, I'd make her arms and legs separately out of black material and then stitch them on afterwards - wouldn't want a child to suck on them and end up with black lips! 

Giraffe baby bibs!

Aren't these cute? Couldn't resist this giraffe material when I saw it and knew I just had to make some baby bibs with it. They are backed with pre-washed terry towelling and have used yellow plastic poppers as fasteners. Can't wait until someone has a baby on the way, so I can give them as a pressie!

Reindeer Christmas decs, a fish and a monkey!

We've been at it again, making Christmas decs, this time with reindeer on.  These have our Christmas spice inside still but as they are a little larger, we used a wider ribbon for the top.  We again stitched strips of red and green together to make the quilted backs.

 

Here's the fish, another from the Misfits book, he's called Goldie!  Luckily someone gave me some orange buttons that they had left over and I thought I'd never find a use for them!  But here they are as Goldie's eyes, just perfect!

 

 

And the latest creation?  A monkey called Maki.  He's made from the brown t-shirt we bought from a charity shop!  His scarf is a bit chopped off a scarf my friend decided she didn't really like!  His arms and legs are a little thin!  I didn't make the templates for him as large as the book suggested coz I thought he'd have been too big!  So now he looks like he needs to eat more pies!

 

 



A bag made from curtains!

What do you do if you have a pair of curtains that you love but unfortunately, are past their sell by date? Answer? Make them into a shoulder bag! This is what we were tasked to do by my friends mum for her birthday. The curtains were faded where the sun had bleached them, so it took us a while to figure out which bits to cut out! We wanted to replicate the pattern on both sides of the bag with a single poppy being central to the design. Then I was let loose with my free-motion! 

We cut out extra leaves and flowers and used bondaweb to stick them over the pattern that was already there. Then I free-motioned the outlines in grey, as well as the veins for the leaves etc. Grey is a lot more forgiving than black! We even free-motioned three little leaves which we then used to embellish the little pocket that the bag has on the inside. The handles are simply folded in half and stitched - though I did break a needle in the process! I had changed to a denim needle but hadn't realised the needle didn't fit right up into the needle holder - sometimes cheap sewing needles aren't always the bargain they seem!

The curtain material was quite difficult to cut out etc as it seemed to move around all on its own! You'd spend ages drawing a straight line and then when you went to draw the next straight line, the line you'd just drawn looked more like the rocky mountains! We got there in the end though. The telling time is when you slip the lining inside the outer material....if the two don't fit, then you really have a problem. We both heaved a sigh of relief when the two matched up without the need for any gathering - this was more by luck than judgement!

We then used a few stitches at the bottom of the bag, to secure the lining to the outer material and keep it in its place.

We love the bag and the little details on it, even though it took an absolute age to make! We think it's very special and we hope my friend's mum thinks so too.

I think we're making a habit of this but it's a good habit - no unpicking again!!!