Sock monkeys. Don’t thank me, thank Wikihow!
Pinky and Wonky
I made Wonky first, overstuffed him and made his head all, well, wonky. Then I made Pinky, understuffed and also slightly wonky. Then I made two much nicer ones for my nephew. They’re called Spinky and Sponky. Shut up, Sophia, they are!
Sophie took the picture, I think, or possibly I did. Anyway, you can tell it’s Sophie’s camera because there’s actual image quality.
Home-made skirt, with buttons.
Hiya folks, it’s Helen. It was Christmas recently (you know, in case you didn’t notice). I took my sewing machine down south with me and decided to sew a skirt there, however I didn’t quite measure it right. Sigh. Luckily thanks to Bombay Stores practically giving the stuff away, I had loads more material, so I made another one. I didn’t buy more buttons though. Those were expensive!
My Grandma got me a cunning little gadget for making bias binding, I used it instead of hemming on the top and the bottom. On reflection, I probably should have used some thinner fabric for this as it would’ve creased better and probably would have been neater, but I was caught up in the moment and decided to use what I had instead. Things happen that way when I’m sewing 
Here it is on me, Sophia took the picture and I wanted to show off all the buttons so I tucked my top in, which I don’t usually as, as you can see, it makes my boobs look enormous!
Me, in the skirt with buttons on it.
So, I’m just back from my holiday (I took part in this year’s Camp for Climate Action in London) and am in that end-of-the-holidays-back-to-school-new-start kinda mood. I spent yesterday cleaning and tidying and baking but I’m still in a really domestic mood so it looks like today’s activities will include sewing. There are quite a few projects that I’m working on at the moment and I think it would be helpful for me to list them in an effort to force myself to complete some old projects before starting new ones.
Quilts
Black and White Mod Sampler
Both Sophs and I are making a version of Oh Fransson’s Mod Sampler. Sophs is pastel colours with white sashing whereas mine is black and white with grey sashing. My first attempt at machine quilting was a bit of a distaster (luckily the recipient really likes things to look ‘handmade’, aka a bit shonky) so I’m a bit worried about ruining this quilt. The flimsies look great but I’ve been putting off sandwiching and quilting. Stippling is off the cards so I’m currently choosing between a grid pattern and ‘random’ all-over curved lines. I really need to buy some batting and just get on with it.
Metallic String Quilt
Ashley over at Film in the Fridge has been making a lot of versions of her Kaleidoscope string quilt and I can really understand why. I’m a fair way through my take on it using a jelly roll with gold metallics on various colours and patterns, with a dark beigey, creamy colour as the constant thread running through. In all of hers the pattern runs right to the edge but I think I’m going to have to give mine a border in order to get it to thr right size for my bed. I have 2 blocks left to do, then sewing the clocks together, adding the border and piecing the back before I even think about quilting it.
Christmas Block Swap
Yay, our first ever block swap. Sophs and I are really excited about it (Hellie didn’t have a chance to get her blocks done before she left on holiday. I can’t wait to see what we get sent. I’m planning on making some more blocks myself as we only signed up for a six block swap. Here’s what some people’s blocks are looking like. I’m trying to decide what to make with our bloacks when we get them.
Other craft projects
Rag rug place mats
I’ve posted about these before. They’re intended as a Christmas present so I’ve got a while yet to finish them. So far I’ve done two blue and one black, or maybe the other way around. Either way I need to make one more.
Handquilted trivets
These just need binding so it’s a little ridiculous that I haven’t finished them yet.
Beach Houses patchwork picture
I took these to Belgium and to London but I’m still only halfway through. The project was created for the express purpose of entertaining myself on long journeys but I think I’m gonna have to start sewing in front of the tv to get this one done before Christmas.
Posted in Craft miscellany
Tagged christmas, handquilting, Helen, patchwork, Quilt, quiltalong, quilting, rag rug, sewing, Sophia, Sophs, stringquilt, weaving
Hiya, it’s Helen again. Just wanted to update with some skirts!
I like making skirts. In fact I like making skirts more than wearing them
Firstly, this is a pink cord wraparound skirt I made. Really must get a better picture. It was the first skirt I made for myself (see below for the first skirt I made ever). I spent ages carefully measuring my waist, the back of my waist, the front of my waist, my bum, etc. The nice thing about a wraparound skirt is if you discover, as I did, that it’s a bit too big, it’s simple to take in… And also has plenty of give to let out! I put poppers onto each end to secure it, with a velvet ribbon for decorative purposes.
Secondly, this is a skirt made from a patterned gauze type material I found at a local textile shop. I used white polycotton for the lining. The design was quite simple, if I’d only thought to draw myself a diagram beforehand, it would have been really quick. As it was, I forgot what I was doing part way through and ended up unpicking. Oh well The main skirt bit was made from two rectangles, with three darts added to each for shaping. I made a skirt from the gauze and a skirt from the white material and sewed them together, leaving a gap to sew the zip in. I even used the finished edge of the material for the bottom edge of the skirt so I didn’t have to hem it. The waistband was a folded strip of polycotton with interfacing. I’ve got some orange gauze and some black polycotton which I want to make into a skirt when I have the time and the inclination…
My skirt. And my feet. Yeah, the skirt needs ironing.
And here's me wearing it.
Finally, here is the first skirt/dress I ever made. But not for me, though thankfully it was for a woman who has about the same waist measurements… It was for a production of the Wizard of Oz. I started with loads of give because I was paranoid I’d make it too small. I made an underskirt in white, which I made first just to make sure I had the right size. I didn’t give it a proper waist band, just sewed around some gingham ribbon to make the edges look neat. I also used gingham ribbon for the shoulder straps. I got Dorothy to try it on at every opportunity in the making!
