Friday 29 August 2014

Commonwealth frolics

So this post is kind of late to the table but July saw Glasgow host the commonwealth games.

It was brilliant - the city was just alive.  

It started off with a rocking party and we were lucky enough to be doing some filming down at Glasgow Green so got to soak up the atmosphere.
  

The weather was insane!

 

The people were fantastic and Glasgow really put on a show.

We also got to go see some gymnastics - which was so good
  

And then some more filming - this time a flash mob with Nicola Benedetti

  

We got to do a quick interview with her for our film too.

There was just so much going on around the city.  We had these cool wee clydes all over the city too


 



And it was a challenge to say the least, with a closed airspace but we even managed to get permission to fly a drone and get some aerials - which looked incredible...

  

And the city finished it all off with another big party, so it meant back to the Green....

 

For some compulsory flag waving!


And even more compulsory beer drinking!




It was sooooo much fun!  Wish we could do it all again























Patterns and fabrics

I recently bought these lovely fabrics.... and the Colette knit dress pattern


I just need to find time to make them now.  The green bird fabric is going to be a dressing gown

In other news I've been attending an advanced dressmaking class and I've just about finished my hawthorn blouse - just sleeves and buttons to go in - but man those plackets are a nuisance!

Crochet


So anybody who follows me on twitter or instagram you will know I have been getting really into crochet lately.

Whilst I love my sewing - I find it quite anti-social and when i'm in the sewing room I can't interact with the boyfriend... and when I'm sat watching a movie or box set with him I feel guilty I'm not sewing so I wanted something to do with my hands.  I do knit but on anything more complicated than a straight stitch it's impossible for me to knit and really watch something.  The boyfriend says I'm an angry knitter - not really the point, right?  But if he interrupts me when i'm in the middle of a lace pattern what do you expect?!  lol.  So anyway crochet seems a perfect fit.  I'd been wanting to learn for a while and I just started following videos on youtube and taught myself.

I'd been making granny squares for a while.... so I still have those piled up to put together in a blanket... so I just decided to keep going...


It started coming up fairly quickly


Soon enough I had a Pippa sized blanket...

She seemed to get pretty comfy in that there blanket....


And then later on that night still wouldn't let it go..

That face just says it all right?  Don't steal my blanket mum?  lol

Anyway I did (cruel mum) and it's still coming together really well now.... except I ran out of wool just a few crochets away from the end of a row - so I'm now awaiting my ebay delivery (hopefully tomorrow) as I'm getting crochet withdrawals.

It really is the perfect craft to do in front of the box and a great way to use up yarn!

xx


Sunday 27 July 2014

Recent Fabric Purchases

I have bought quite a bit of fabric recently.

Let's start by admiring this amazing silk Liberty bird fabric.


It's amazing.  I love it.  I feel like I need more practice making blouses before I start to cut this up!

So I took advantage of a sale on Minerva


And bought this gorgeous bundle.  I've started to make the Hawthorn Colette Pattern at my Advanced Dressmaking Class  and I think I will use the dark green cotton.  Then if I have time I think I'd like to do it in the blue satin.  I've never sewn anything with satin before, so I want to get the shirt right first and then use the tough fabric.



This final bundle is an old purchase from my last trip to the States, to JoAnns.  It will make up my next quit, which I think will be a Flying Geese design.  

But for now after finishing those last quilt projects, I'm going to concentrate on dress making and get the most out of my course.


Quick Diamond Quilt

I've been meaning to make a quilt for Pippa for some time.  She always loves my quilts and I hate how the dog/cat hair gets stuck to them, so I figured if I made her, her own she could stop stealing mine!

I used some bits and pieces of either scraps I had left over, or fat quarters I have had in my stash for a LONG time


I wanted to make it pink for a girl dog! ;)

Out of each fat quarter I managed to get a rectangle piece for a triangle and a strip for binding later on



The bigger rectangle pieces I cut on the diagonal



Then use one light and one dark


And lay out to sew together... 

                                         

Use a dark, light, dark, light combo pile

                                        

This is for ease of grabbing, next to your machine


Just sew along the edge


Chain stitch to be thread economical!

Then iron to the light side


And this will be your first part of the block.  You need four of these to make one block


You make your diamond, by sewing the light or dark edges together.  You want to alternate how you do this for effect on the top.  I did a 9 block quilt. 


This is me trying out different designs.  I finally settled on the light vs dark design, rather than a giant pinwheel.



So I had 9 of these blocks, 3 per row.

The smaller strips from earlier I just sewed together to make a binding.  You could use it as a border and then use a plain colour for a binding, but I was happy with this.


So many different opportunities to play around with this design.  

I think Pippa's happy with this one tho



 She jumped straight on it.  Yawned and fell asleep


So that's one sewing companion happy.

Next it's time for Sparky to get his own quilt.  Here he is next to my machine on his favourite perch.



Falling Charm Quilt

I started this quilt quite a few months ago.  I seem to have been doing it for ages, but not because it's hard or tricky to do - just a lack of sewing time.

It's a Missouri Star Quilt Co youtube tutorial.  I got 3 charm packs off ebay and used up white fabric I had leftover from a previous project.


So it's a bit like a log cabin, but without all the strips.  The charm packs are a great way to save all the cutting!  


I spent a little bit of time considering a layout, so that I didn't have similar or same charms too close!


You also want to make sure you get the 'falling' bit right.



Once you get a layout, I always find it useful to snap a pic, so I have it to refer back to


The dog thought she'd nip in there and get in this pic.

Then it's just a case of sewing each square together and then each row together.

Pinning!  I wish I had an adjustable table as my back is always killing after this bit!

I just stitched round the ditch of each of the charm squares.  It was a bit fiddly and took quite a bit of time.

I had a jelly roll that I used for the border and binding


The binding took forever to put on - the jelly roll was just too narrow  - note to self; don't do that again!

So I was up until 1 in the morning last night binding and then gave up.  

I was also using a new wadding - Mountain Mist which I bought from the Create & Craft TV website.    I had a few problems with it.  I think it took a bit more effort to get through the machine compared to warm & Natural and it kept getting stuck on my walking foot upon entry to the quilt top.  I also had quite a lot of creases.  Part of the reason why I was up so late last night as I had to do a lot of unpicking.  So I don't think I'll use it again.   I will just find the extra money and stick with the reliable quality of the Warm & Natural brand.  

But here's the finished result - I'm quite pleased with it!