Further Adventures in Fasteners -- Snaps

After looking at a few patterns for pouches and clutches, it seemed like a good project to try out. There were a number of good projects, but nothing spot on  with what I had in my head, so this is an amalgamation of approaches. These were very quick projects, once I figured out what I was actually doing.

These projects are made by creating a long top, and then applying fusible interfacing to the wrong side. The piece is then folded and sewn together. There was a mathematical error with my first attempt, resulting in a much longer bag than I intended. This uses three fabric from Connecting Threads.

Another miscalculation resulted in incorrect snap placement for my second try, so this one currently doesn't have any kind of closure. However, I loved the fabric so much, I went back and bought more.

With the final creation of the night, I managed to get everything more or less as I intended.

 

Of course, I couldn't tell you what these are actually for, but in future versions, I would like to use magnetic snaps, rather than traditional ones. 

Experiments with Zippers

I've been trying to work with installing zippers in bag. The first project used the wrong type of zipper (oops!) and I initially cut the strap for the back too short and extended them using scraps, which didn't turn out very neatly. The plan was good, the execution left something to be desired. I will probably try to make something similar in the near future.The pocket fabric is very exciting!

 

 The cosmetics bag turned out much better! It is 8" by 6", lined with a layer of batting. Next time, I might try just using interfacing, rather than batting.

 

Also, there was a members sale at Fabricland today, requiring a ridiculous amount of self-control. It's on until Saturday, so who knows what will happen.

Potholder Weekend

This weekend, I set out to find batting to use in potholders. One phone call to a local quilt shop and two Fabriclands later, I had one metre of Solari.

The first Fabricland visit was still a success. The yellow paisley was $3/m. The pattern isn't as pronounced as it appears in the photo.

There were also a few other finds, including the stars and they orange fabric used for the first potholder.

Returning tired, victorious from shopping, I set out to make my first potholder. It is made from another $3/metre Fabricland find. It is quilted at approximately 1 1/4" lines. The binding is the same fabric as the front, since I couldn't find a good coordinating fabric in my stash. It was my first experience with a mitred binding, well any binding really. There were definitely some lessons learned.

I found the photos on this site were a good illustration of how to do the binding. You won't see photos of the back because it looks pretty rough. In an effort to not slip stitch the whole edge, I decided to fold the back edge over and stitch-in-the-ditch on the front around the binding. The result was not very polished, not helped by the fact that I cut the binding fabric too short, but it certainly didn't take very long.

Potholder II fed my growing addition to paper piecing. Made from four fabrics from Connecting Threads and some black that I already had, the pattern is called TripleStar from Ulas Quiltpage.

The centre area is 5 1/2" square, and I added strips of the cream for a finished size of 9 1/2" square, which is a bit large. Here again, I used a mitred binding using the stitch-in-the-ditch approach. The back doesn't look that nice, but it's better than the first one.

I also stitched along the lines of the extra strips. The layers are in order backing, reflective batting, normal batting, top.

Finished Object: Drops Bag

Pattern:A Simple Six-Pocket Bag

The blue fabric is from ConnectingTreads and some black I already had.

The finished dimensions are slightly smaller than the pattern because I used larger seam allowances than the standard 1/4 inch. It's about 13 1/2" by 10".

 Technically there are seven pockets, including the main one.

Fabric Order Arrived!

Earlier this month I placed my first order with Connecting Threads, and today it arrived! This was something of a stash building exercise.

Muted Blues

Plums & Purples

Greens

Oranges & Yellows

Swirl Batiks

So much beautiful fabric, so little time...

First Design - Folded Ribbon Coasters

I was facinated by some of the folding ribbon blocks that I had seen online, and have decided to embark on a coaster-making spree. I've also had an urge to explore designing something of my own. To that end, I designed a 4" square paper-pieced folding ribbon coaster.

The first step was to design the paper piecing pattern. Since we don't have a printer setup at  the moment, I drafted it on 1/4" graph paper and made four copies. The strip is 1" wide.

And then cut the materials.

Once I had finished sewing the middle section, it looked like hell!

Once I cut off the excess to a 1/4" seam allowance, it really started to take shape.

The dark purple fabric with the flowers had sections that are dark purple, black, and gold. I added a half inch border to each side of the ribbon.

And then adding an inch of the light tonal purple. I used the light purple as the backing as well, leaving a 2 or so inch opening on one of the solid sides to insert the batting.

Once I had the batting inside, I sewed up the opening and voila! I added stitch in the ditch top stitch between the light purple and dark purple strips to bind the layers.

I'll work up a proper pattern soon!

Cloud Pinwheel Coasters

Eventually I had to do a project that involve batting and top stitching. The blue and gold cloud fabric and the solid navy blue are both from Fabricland. The coasters are 4" squares, with an approximately 3/8" top stitch border in black thread.

A Start at Paper Piecing

This is pattern is from an introduction to quilting book that my mom leant me. The original pattern called for foundation piecing on muslin, but in light of my total lack of muslin, I opted to try the pattern as paper piecing.

I found this video to be an extremely helpful tutorial on paper piecing:

First Finished Object

My mom started quilting a year or so ago, and since then I've been fascinated by the whole process. Knitting has been my main hobby for a long time, but I finally decided to dive in and start sewing.

After exploring a number of online pattern sites and being wracked wtih indecision, I finally decided on a rail fence apron as my first project. Each section is 3" by 3", in a six by four grid. The fabric is from Fabricland, on sale for $5/metre. There is no batting or top-stitching. Keeping it simple to start.