And ( the crafting) life goes on...........

Well after my lack of interest in crafting when my Dad died, this week has been more productive. I discovered a bag full of "useful" bits of fabric the other week and have been considering ways to use them. 

So far I have a few tops cut out which I have yet to sew up though one is almost finished, and lots of small bits of fabric left over,  but I was looking at ( and cleaning) my sewing area the other day and decided to use some of the bits to update some of my clutter. My more useful clutter that is.

I started using these old washing tablet boxes ages ago - as you can see by the build up of dust on the lids. Luckily that doesn't show too well in the photos so you cannot see how dirty my work area has actually got! Its well overdue for a clean shall we say anyway.

These boxes work really well for keeping everything I need handy but they don't look too nice really so I decided to give a couple of them an update. I only did a couple of the boxes, because when I cleaned and reorganised I decided I do not actually really need the large number I have saved, so I cleared some of them out to the recycling pile and just decorated two boxes. 

 

I used fabric glue and scraps of fabric from the stash bag I have been trying to find uses for. You have to apply this kind of glue to both the fabric and the surface and yes its a very messy job but fun all the same and a nice change from stitching with a sewing machine. Using fabric glue I simply glued the scraps of fabric to the outside of each box.

I used newspapers to protect everyting from the mess and that was actually the hardest part because we do not read actual paper newspapers and it seems neither do my friends, neighbours etc. Eventually I was give some just as I had given up asking around. It seems people in the 80s do still read paper newspapers. Well thats good to know sometimes. Saves me buying protective paper for the work area. That was the option I had come to accept I had to do. I need to think about this and maybe buy some protective plastic or coated fabric or something for the future.

This is the fabric glue - bought from Ebay some time ago. I did have 2 tubes but seem to have mislaid one. I tend to keep fabric glue in, just in case I get an idea that needs it. "Strike when the iron is hot" so they say, because if you don't do it straight away you tend to lose momentum, and things never get created. So I keep such stuff in stock - just in case. I shall have to replace it now in fact.

 They definitely look more presentable after the update don't you think?

I added a scrap of fake fur on the top edge of the one box but then ran out of glue on my second box so will finish that one once I get some more glue. Anyway this is the end result and I am very pleased with how they look now.

I also bought some new pattern books this week. Mainly for childrens patterns but also some for me.

These are all Made by Oranges patterns so BTrendy is the kids version and My Image is the adult/ general sewing because I think you do get the odd kids pattern in them. I might be wrong on that though. 

I have tried a My Image pattern before and wore the top I made loads so its time I made a few more. The magazine was on offer if you bought the two new editions ( My Image and BTrendy)  together and I was feeling so down after losing my Dad I went for the offer. Generally I am careful with money but I splashed out here and am glad now that I did. So here you can see the two current issues and also 5 back issues of BTrendy.

In total this little lot cost me 34 Euro I think. Plus postage, but well worth it by the looks of it and now I can make kids clothing for other family members which is something I have recently got into and would like to improve at. 

I find mistakes or slightly wonky un-straight stitching shows far more on kids clothing than it does on adult sized clothing so this will challenge me - and also hopefully I will use up lots of smaller sized bits of fabric that I tend to just stash because its too big to throw but difficult to find a use for because its not really big enough.

So buying patterns also led to my tracing some which I did onto wall paper.

Also I find Burda (above) much harder to trace than BTrendy ( below).

Over the years I have tried all sorts of different paper for tracing patterns. I even used Ikea kids drawing paper at one point. That was great but does not last long if you want to reuse the traced pattern a few times. It just disintegrates. But shorter term its nice and cheap and a good width. In recent years though I just look out for really cheap wallpaper in places like B&Q. 

Sometimes you can pick it up for £1 or so and then thats how to buy it. It lasts ages even if you keep using the pattern over and over again. 

The strongest so far is blown vinyl and because all I want is the paper fpr making a pattern, not to stick the stuff to my walls, it really does not matter if its got a really horrible design on it. Also if you ask around people give you their excess rolls for free because most people buy more than they need when they wallpaper. I even use wallpaper when making patterns from scratch for example when I made the Vampires Wife inspired dresses I used a Winifred Aldridge pattern making book for help and I still have those patterns. I think they will last a long time yet. I really must get a new version made of that. I have some fabric I have been saving for one of those dresses for years now. 

Anyway I traced several new patterns so I have hopefully labelled them all well enough I can work out what bits go with what bits in the next few weeks as I get round to cutting them out.

I ended up tracing both BTrendy and Burda Style so I will have plenty to got at in coming months. I use the washers as weights to hold the patterns down when tracing.

So as well as tracing some new patterns out I also got my winter fabrics washed, dried and ready to cut out.

French terry

These are all new fabrics bought a few weeks ago with some money I was given for my Birthday. This washing and drying prep is well worth doing because many new fabrics shrink, so at least if its done then the item will still fit after its been washed, but it does take a long time to get this done in between the normal every day house work, and on top of that hanging up a large bit of fabric to dry is a right pain. I tend to hang it over doors because thats the only place with enough space. Of course really it should be dried flat but mine never is.

Red ribbed fabric salvedged from my stash bag - potential leggings?

Assorted jersey - for childrens clothing?

Despite all this pattern tracing I am still going to use a TNT pattern for the french terry. I want to make 2 dresses from this stuff because I made a black dress at the start of summer and I have lived in this on colder/ wetter days so I am thinking two more for autumn should do the job and I love this style so thats my next project I think;

I also have a desire - very strong desire to somehow use these other patterns this winter. They go in my to make pile year after year and since I paid for the things they will be used.

So what else have I done? Well I was doing quite well with my sock knitting but I just unpicked more than half of my knitting when I realised I had somehow confused which strand I was knitting with. This two strand pattern is not really so difficult though I have managed to mess it up last year when I first knitted it. You, in theory, do a full round of one colour with some slipped stitches. Then do the second colour and you slip different sttches to give the multi coloured mosaic pattern so its a cheat in a way because it looks like fairisle but its much easier. Or should be. 

Now I think I know how I messed up last year, and its got a lot to do with my tending to use 4 pins to knit socks. I somehow knitted half way round the row, probably then put down the needles for some reason and when I went back to the knitting, which could have been a week later, I started with the other strand of yarn and carried on. Only when I realise I am twisting the colours together at end of rows in the wrong place do I realise what I have done. You should twist them together at end of / start of row which I marked but I was doing it somewhere in the middle of the row. Well it took me a whole evening to carefully unpick what I had done and I have gone back a good 4 inches or about 12cm. Thats about half of what I had knitted. I did have a problem a few weeks back with the pattern being out but I thought I had worked it out. That must have been luck. Anyway its all ripped back now. Since these are for my Christmas socks it really is a good thing I started them in June!

 I own Addi sock wonder circular needles but really I don't like them but because of this mistake I am now persevering with them and determined to learn to knit with them. It seems most people prefer them to having 4 double pointed pins so I should eventually get it. At least it should stop this muddle because the unused strand will be nowhere near the end you are kniting from when being knitted. This may not make much sense if you are not a knitter so sorry if thats the case, but I think most knitters will understand what I am on about here. Addi sock wonder is my new friend. I just need to learn to knit with it because it makes me really slow.

OK so the other thing I have been muddling along with this week is a child's romper. Its for a baby currently only wearing 6-9 months and this is a sized 12 months romper so I have time to get this right.

I saw a romper like this in Cornwall. It was for sale for £25. Well thats quite a lot and it wasn't well made so I decided to have a go myself. The main problem was learning how to add poppers to the straps and legs. I have managed the straps and have yet to sew the binding to the legs. Its just pinned on here but its looking hopeful and if I works I can make lots of these for much less money. You can see the poppers better here:



This is the first time I have attempted using poppers. These are Prym Love poppers. I have yet to see how well they hold out when worn but I am hopeful.

So I do feel I was productive over the last week or so and I am trying to now get my head down to some real sewing and make something worth wearing for me as well as for the baby I am sewing for. 

I hope you are having a great week

Bracken