Sewing, book pages and knitting

Messing around with images ready to put together as book pages

It has been quite a busy week with quite a lot of sewing done. The first two book pages have been completed for the Pinfold Book Challenge. 

These first two pages were for the "Feathers" themed book. I went back to the Crows for inspiration for this one. "Birds of a feather flock together". The Crow Fair took place recently and so the idea stuck.

I used my own rust dyed fabric on top of a piece of rough calico. The grey pieces are painted bondaweb. The pages have been free machine quilted to add texture. The figures of the birds and the dancers have been free machine embroidered.

I have now started work on the second pair of pages. These are for the "Leaves" themed book. I'll take photos to show next time once the stitching is finished.

Work did start on the third book pages too, but I wasn't happy with them and so a rethink is in progress.

I decided to start work with my collection of 4ply yarns. They are all either Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply or Rowan Soft 4ply. Since the yarns are so similar, they work together very well and it is not possible to see where one make of yarn starts and the other type ends. Sadly, both yarns are now discontinued, so I am picking up extra Debbie Bliss skeins while I still can. I know the collection I have will only go so far since this is going to be a cardigan. I am adapting the old Phildar pattern you can see above. This was for double knitting yarn. I made the original cardigan back in the 1980s and wore it out long ago. The stripes on this new version will be narrower since I don't have a large amount of any of the colours. Chatting to the owner of our local yarn shop, I was able to pick up the last two skeins of cream and have a look at her collection of odd skeins which are also for sale, but not on display. I plan to save some of the cream so that the second cuff will be the same colour as the first. I will sort out the button bands, collar and ribbing for the waistline once I know which colours will be left.

 The brown jumper is still an ongoing project. I am working my way up through the decreases on the raglan at the front. Unfortunately, the colourful 4ply project is far more interesting to work on......

Sitting on my work table are the recently cut out pieces for my second pair of cargo pants. I intend to get on with these later today, but have the "Leaves" pages to finish first.

Not much to report this time

My Lilka test knit has been completed. Such a delightful beanie style hat to wear. It is slightly slouchy which means it is comfortable around the ears and will be perfect for walking the dogs when the weather gets chilly once more. I am still steadily working on my brown double knit jumper, but progress is slow since it has been too warm to knit recently. I am also planning a long sleeved cardigan using up my collection of 4ply Merino yarns (Debbie Bliss Rialto 4ply and Rowan 4ply Soft). These have been left over from various projects over the past few years, although I picked up the collection of Rowan yarns from a feltmaking group where there was a really interesting sales table. I really am drawn to sales tables at craft group meetings. You never know exactly what might be discarded by a fellow crafter. I'm planning a striped jumper knit from one cuff and ending up with the opposite cuff. More information later once I have got started.

Not a lot of sewing has been done since my last post. The trousers have now been completed and I am planning to get on with cutting out a second pair this week. This will probably have to wait until Wednesday when I can get to the Moulton Sewing Group and use a couple of their larger tables.

At present my mind is full of plans for the three Pinfold challenge books I intend to make before the next meeting. Their themes are: Round and Round; Leaves and Feathers. I really ought to use the time until I can get to cut out my next pair of trousers to get started on these pages rather than leave it all to the last minute as I usually do.

The past few days found me replacing the wings on a pair of old style Crow costumes. These will become spares ready for the Crow Fair in 2019. You can see the shapes of the wings in this post a couple of weeks back when I was making up two new costumes.

Projects in the pipeline - part two

altering the pattern pieces

The cargo pants are now well under way. The first photo shows the pattern pieces which I was altering after completing the second toile. My first pair of these trousers is being made in a brown twill photos of which will be posted next time once they are complete. 

The fabric below is some bought the other day for my second pair of cargo pants. This fabric looks very similar to come bought a couple of months ago. I felt that that cobalt twill was a little too heavy for the trousers and so found this cotton linen-look which is rather lighter.

Linen look cotton

drawing round the wing pattern

I've recently completed an extra pair of crow costumes for the team ready for the Crow Fair which is to be held on the 14th July this year.

Suzette Smart workshop

Recently, I went to a Suzette Smart workshop. She was demonstrating her method of making fabric books. This is my piece under way. It still isn't quite finished.

Showing the stitching under way

We were at the Two Doors Studio in Alsager. A really nice workspace above the shop. The workshop was organised by Alsager Creative Stitchers. It was a delightful day in a well lit space with good company, a good tutor and some lovely cakes too. What more could I ask for? Bliss.

My piece is 34 inches long and 9 inches high. I don't intend turning this into a book, but I haven't decided just how to mount this yet.

Add caption

I recently started another handstitched piece in similar colours to the first one. This will also turn into a background for something or other. There is still rather a lot of stitching to be done before this one is ready for the next stage.

I bought this recently for an experiment I plan to make. I shall let you know how I get on. I had an interesting chat to the woman in the shop where I bought this. She had also bought some but hadn't yet used it. I also promised her that I would report back. I look forward to finding some time to have a go with this.

My latest vintage pattern finds. This first one, Simplicity 7048 is dated 1975. I intend to make versions one and two. The only issue being that I will have to grade the design to reflect my true size. Perhaps a bit ambitious, but I plan to give it a go.  It will be interesting to see how I get on with those darts. There are similar darts on the back too.......

This second pattern, Style 1756 is nearer to my size, but will also need some grading. However since this design is not fitted, it should be an easier task than the Simplicity design. I rather like version 3 and 5. The pattern dates from 1976.

Plodding on with those lists

Toyota overlocker, SL1T

This little overlocker came into my possession a few days ago. It had been on Freegle and wanted a new home. A quick clean, new needles, a little oil and it works perfectly. I wasn't expecting a new-to-me machine, but my husband had seen it and got it for me. I threw out the cones of thread it came with, using my own instead. It isn't often that such an item is offered free to a new home. It isn't as versatile as my own Huskylock 910, but is a good basic machine. The sticky labels with the numbers were just to help me sort out the threading and tensions needed to get it working properly. It now sits under a new machine cover made from the remnants of a curtain. This should keep it nice and dust free before it comes into action again. It was rather useful in repairing some costumes yesterday. I didn't want to disturb the settings on my Huskylock since I needed it for putting together the butterfly top I was also working on. I rethreaded the Toyota with black thread for the repairs. I was really pleased with the resulting stitching.

Toyota overlocker at rest under it's new cover.

It is almost embarrassing to acknowledge that I now have two overlockers and two sewing machines living in my sewing room at present.

Repaired costumes

The costumes are three Crow costumes which got damaged at the Crow Fair a couple of weeks back. They now have new wings ready for performances next summer.

The butterfly top is shown below just before the strip round the neck was sewn in place. It is now ready to wear, though I am not entirely happy with the neckline. The edging seems a little too loose to me so I will probably remove it and redo that a little later today. I have finally decided how to piece the front of the purple top and will probably get that sewn together later today.

Butterfly top nearing completion

The purple top will have a round neck, pieced front and three quarter length sleeves. It shouldn't take long to put together once I've decided whether to alter the neck on the butterfly top. Ah well, at least I will soon have two more items ticked off my to do list.

Fabric pieces ready to reassemble to make the purple top.

I was really lucky to find some vintage patterns from Prima magazine in a charity shop last week. So strange to recall that they date from the time when I frequently bought the magazine. I left one of the patterns behind for someone else since I already have that particular pattern in my collection.

A lucky find in a charity shop

The jacket pattern dates from the August 1988 issue, while the dress is dated April 1992. The zipped jacket comes from January 1993.

 The scrap fabric piece has also been completed. In the end I used three different threads to quilt it getting a darker thread each time I changed the colour. It now needs pressing before making into a messenger bag.

Completed scrap fabric piece

I have also been steadily working on the test knit which was shown in the last post. I am now nearing the bottom edge of the body where there is a patterned border around the base. The sleeves look a little odd since the live stitches are being held on my spare circular needles.

I am looking forward to finishing the stocking stitch and getting on with the lace border. This yarn has a slight marl to it so that the completed knitting doesn't look flat and uninteresting. The only failing being that it does have a tendency to split which is a bit of a nuisance at times. It is the Stylecraft Life 4ply yarn which is a useful acrylic and wool mix. This is the colourway called Heather.

Journal Quilts and sewing.

It has been rather a busy few days here. First, I managed to complete my April Journal Quilt. This shows maps of the village and it's location, close to the River Weaver. The cherry tree and blossom were taken from photos of trees I took very close to my own home in the village. The lamp post is one standing just beside a neighbour's gate. It is almost surrounded by his trees. The light looks wonderful at night, peeping from above the leaves.

The techniques used are - photos printed on Inkjet Printing cotton sheets by Jacquard; applique and free machine embroidery.

I also completed the May page. This one is called "Play Week". Moulton Drama Group celebrated their thirtieth anniversary with the reworking of a play by Robert Meadows. A local playwright, Robert lives, literally, just around the corner. The play is called "The Dawn of the Crows" and relates stories about the village in times past. Amongst the stories is that of the founding of "The Crows", a group which performs at the Crow Fair each year.

I was commissioned to make a second copy of my May Journal Quilt. This was mounted, as you can see. It was presented last night, after the performance had ended, to Robert Meadows as a present from "The Crows".

The techniques used were: painted fabric; applique and free machine embroidery. As always, two buttons were added to the Journal Quilt. These were omitted on Robert's copy.

Oh yes, I must not forget to credit Pat Bennett who took the original photograph I used to create the fabric "Crows". He was very kind in giving his permission for me to use the photograph in this quilt.

I also managed to start my blue blouse this week - I just got to the stage of basting the body together and checking the fit. Amazingly, the blouse fits first time. Such a wonderful surprise.