Itching to stitch.

Fabric collage

An interesting workshop with Liesbeth making fabric collage. The idea is to put the pieces together without thinking too much about it. The fabrics are bondawebbed in place. The pins are there since I also added some scraps of fabric which had not had any bondaweb ironed to them. The idea is then to place L shaped bits of card to find interesting pieces for future stitch projects.

Using improvised L shapes to make mini stitched pieces

These small pieces are around 5" x 3" (13 x 7.5cm). In the end I chose a couple of other pieces to cut out since these seemed a little dull and "safe". So far I have just cut out two pieces to work on. There may be others.

Another mini piece

In case you are wondering, I improvised the L shaped pieces. These are actually cut from flyers I found at the venue since I don't have any such shapes of my own.

Charity shop finds - lace edging and cotton hankies.

One of my failings is that I really cannot resist going into charity shops and rooting through their textile items. I do try to plan what I shall do with each piece rather than just add to my growing collection of fabric. I had intended the lace edging and hankies to be used for nuno felt. However, the hankies are so pretty I think I shall probably keep them as they are for now. The lace edging will definitely find itself added to some nuno felt before long.

Cotton fabric

Now, this cotton lawn piece could become a long skirt. I think it was intended to be two long scarves since the design has distinct borders. Each shawl is approximately 1.5m by 1m (59" x 39"). This is after washing. Luckily, I chose to hand wash since the fabric was steeped in size and really quite stiff. It is a lot softer now and has shrunk slightly. I said it was lucky that I chose to handwash this since it lost a lot of loose dye in the process. I'll have to find a suitable fabric to line this with if I decide to make it into clothing. Any thoughts?

More vintage patterns

I found some really nice patterns too. I used to own a copy of Simplicity 9254 when it first came out in the eighties. I made a long sleeved version of the dress which I wore for quite a few years. It is one of those patterns that I really wish I had hung on to. The McCalls pattern is from 2003 and is for stretch knits, a type of fabric I really must get around to working with. The third pattern had never been opened. I've never heard of "Successful Sewing", so can only assume it came out with a series of magazines. There are no sewing instructions, but since it is quite a basic style that shouldn't be a problem. I see this as a potential pattern to use some of my own printed fabrics. I just need to start printing some much larger pieces...... Now that could be fun.

My only problem will be what to start first. Perhaps I should finish some of my UFOs first..... decisions, decisions.