Side sloping pockets for a dottie angel frock…….

While I’ve been really happy with the dottie angel dresses I’ve sewn up over the Summer, I’ve gone back to the drawing board and re-tweeked the pattern again this time to add a couple of side sloping pockets.

The original pattern has front pockets but I prefer a more hidden pocket to the side.

I’d already re-drafted the small size pattern to fit me better across the shoulders and neckline, but this time I used the pattern block I’d made for my medium dress as I was intending to add some tucks at the front and darts at the back.*

Without any seam allowances, my bodice waistline measures about 15 inches down from the top of my shoulders…or about 10 and 5/8ths of an inch down from the centre front neckline of the bodice…(I’ve raised the neckline from the original pattern but hope this gives a general idea)

Square across (draw a line 90 degrees from the centre front line) along the bodice waist line….this is where your pockets will hang down from.

The next stage involved me standing in front of a mirror with the pattern pinned to what I was wearing while I placed my hand in a series of positions before drawing around it to get a nice pocketty shape.  It’s surprising how big a hand sized pocket needs to be (and in fact I could have made mine a bit deeper).

Once I was happy with the pocket position I re-drafted the “skirt” front section of the dress, allowing an inch seam allowance at the top (actually I only needed 1/2 an inch but I was intending to sew French seams but they were a bit bulky and I ended up using a binding after pressing the seam open)

Rather than buy fancy pattern cutting weights to hold down my pattern pieces, I just bought a whole load of square washers from my local iron-mongers…they’re about 2 inches square and are surprisingly weighty.  Because they’re quite thin they don’t get in the way when you’re drawing round patterns and french curves, and best of all they were dead cheap, about 20 pence each.

Along with the cut away skirt front, your pocket is made up of two other pieces, a piece to fit in where you’ve cut away and then a pocket lining.

You need to draw the fabric grain direction on both of these pattern pieces so they’ll be positioned properly on your fabric, then the pocket will hang nicely (this runs parallel to the grain on the skirt pattern piece.)

My pockets measure 13 inches on the grain line from top to bottom (this includes a half inch seam allowance all round with an extra half inch at the top (which I didn’t actually need as I didn’t go with the French seams.)

They’re about 9 inches across at the widest point.  They sound quite roomy but next time I’d make them a bit bigger.

You’ll notice on the top pattern piece in the above picture, at the bottom of the curve where your hand will fit, there is a short straight line across to the side seam allowance.  This helps the pocket fit in a bit neater when you sew the side seams rather than if you’d just kept drawing the cuved line.  (I hope that makes sense.)

Once all the fabric pieces have been cut, sew any tucks in the skirt front before sewing the pocket together (if not the pocket will only get in the way later on.)

With right sides together, pin then sew the pocket lining to the skirt front.

Once you’ve sewn them together, cut out little notches around the seam allowance of the pocket, these will help the edge of your pocket look neater when you turn it over.  (I’ve got a pair of Merchant and Mills button hole scissors and they are brilliant for cutting notches as they have short and chubby little blades which helps prevent you cutting too deep a notch and going right through your row of stitches.)

Once the notches are cut, turn over the pocket lining and pin it nice and flat against the skirt front.

Sewing just a 1/16 th of an inch (or a couple of mm) away from the edge, sew a line of top stitching (you may find this looks neater if you increase your stitch size up a little but if you do, don’t forget to lower it back again)…..this stops the pocket seam rolling out and looks nice and professional.

Then pin the pocket back to the wrong side of the skirt front, make sure all the pieces are in position correctly and matching up before sewing it in place.

As this part of the pocket can be seen when you turn your dress inside out you may like to sew a pice of bias binding around the edges for a fancy finsh, or you can use pinking shears to trim the edge of the fabric, or if you have an overlocker you could use that.  This is all done not just to neaten the pocket edge but will stop the fabric fraying.

Once the pocket is all sewn in, the rest of the dress is ready to sew….the bodice front fits on top (you’ll want to sew that on first and then the binding over the waistline seam)….the sides of the dress are sewn exactly like in the dottie angel dress pattern, the sides of the pocket are sewn in along with the side edges of the dress so will be tucked into the French seams, and when finished will hang perfect and almost be invisible..

And yes, another blue and orange fabric…purchased at my local John Lewis in their sale section.  It’s quite a wide fabric and I was able to make this using just 1 1/2 meters.

There’ll be pictures of the dress all finished coming soon.

*I did add some tucks and then I unpicked them as I’d sewn them up a bit high and they made me look a bit too bosomy…so next time I’ll make the bodice waistline an inch lower and that should solve that problem.

My grannies paperweight crochet scarf……

After what seems like an extraordinary amount of time, my grannies paperweight crochet scarf is now all fit for modelling in the Autumn sunshine….

A few years ago I fell in love with the Grannies Paperweight crochet pattern (otherwise known as the African Flower pattern) after seeing a beautiful blanket on Flickr by Andamento, and after I tried it out using acryllic yarn (and not particularly caring for the results), I then thought it would be the perfect project to make using tapestry wool as that seems to come in a million and one different colours, certainly a wider range than most wool companies produce.

I was very happy with the results, wonderful combinations of colours that took me by surprise blended together perfectly, and making hexagons that varied often only a little in rich and gentle hues and tones of one colour made the crochet pulsate and look like a jewel box when it was being spread out on the carpet while it slowly grew bigger.

While I was still making the blanket I began to think of other ways I could use this pattern and because as soon as the joined hexagons became large enough, I was finding myself wrapping them around my shoulders, I thought about making something I could wear out and about…I love being able to fling something around myself in dramatic and affected way (think Miss Piggy having a full blown diva moment) and so I began work on a scarf.

While I’ve been crocheting the tapestry wool I’m aware that the wool varies in thickness somewhat from brand to brand, and that I use particular brands differently..

Certain vintage brands like Penelope or Beehive are slightly fuzzy and I think these work best either for round three or for joining the hexagons together. Vintage anchor wool from old needlepoint kits is also very good for joining the hexagons together.

More modern Anchor, DMC and Rowan wools are plumper and seem to work better for the other rounds.

If you live in America then you should be able to source “Elsa Williams” needlepoint yarn (I was lucky to buy some a few years ago via Ebay)…this is a really nice wool, perfect to use for all the rounds.

 

Although you don’t have to use tapestry wool (indeed, if I had the budget I’d use wool from  Jamieson’s of Shetland or Jamieson and Smith as both their colour ranges are really rather breath-taking) it was a lot more affordable than you’d think.  Most of the wool I’ve used has been sourced from Antique shops/flea markets/ jumble sales/ charity shops/car boots….very little has been purchased new (although I’m a sucker for DMC shade number 7120 and I never find that second hand…it’s a lovely soft barely there pink, the colour of faded rose petals)

Generally before I start anything I like to have a little play around with colour,  I always up-end a big bag of tapestry wool and have a good old mess about with the different wools, comparing colours and different tones together.

And I’ll often paint out combinations of particular colours I have a fancy to before crocheting….sometimes the colours work, sometimes they don’t but I never see this time spent as wasted.

To make a scarf you’ll need to start off by making 4 rounds of a grannies paperweight hexagon.

I found it a bit easier to make a dozen or so little circles for the centre of the hexagon at a time, before making them bigger and working on the other rounds..

(these are a whole load of little half hexagons that I got a tad carried away with making…..)

When I was first trying to learn how to make a grannies paperweight hexagon, the very best tutorial I found for making them  was on lovely  Heidi Bear’s blog, and her tutorial on making them is exceptional, however she makes her hexagons larger than mine,  I prefer to make them smaller as I think it makes the colour more intense.  She also suggests using a 5mm hook but I find a smaller hook size suits me better.

I found I got a nicer result when I used two different hook sizes.  (the smaller hook pokes through those top stitches of round 3 a treat and then helps form a nice dense band of colour when you join the hexagons together.

For the first 3 rounds I use a 4 mm hook and then change to a 3.25mm hook for rounds 4 and 5.

As well as changing hook size I also changed the type of hook…I prefer to use a Clover Soft Touch for the 4mm hook and then I switch to a Brittany wooden hook for the 3.25. (The Brittany hook has a lovely pokey tip and I found it was smoother than the Clover one)

After you’ve made a dozen or so hexagons (only up to round 4),  you can begin to lay them out, have a play with which hexagons look best together. This bit is so much fun, it’s  rather like a jigsaw puzzle where, although all the pieces are the same shape, positioning a piece in a particular place either works (making all it’s neighbours sing) or looks a bit pants.

Once you’re happy with your arrangement, you can begin to join them together,

Heidi has a lovely easy to follow tutorial on how to join the hexagons just here.

The hexagons are placed together a bit like bricks on top of one another, 1, then 2, then 1 then 2 and so on until the scarf is at the length you require.  Both ends of the scarf will be finished with a single hexagon.

The sides will each have a row of half hexagon gaps along them, these will then be filled with half hexagons.

I found it easier to make the half hexagons once the whole ones had been made and joined together as they are crocheted back and forth rather than in a round and it gave me a headache trying to switch back and forth.

I was also able to spread the scarf out and make a note of any particular colours I felt were lacking or that I thought would fit in nicely.

Joining in the half hexagons is a bit more fiddlesome than joining together the whole ones.  At this point I often stop and make a pot of tea.

Once all the hexagons have been joined together then it’s time to sew in all those troublesome woolly tails.

While I appreciate that there is a way where you can work your woolly tails in while you crochet (and save yourself the what seems like an endless amount of time sewing in umpteen ends) whenever I try to do it that way my crochet looks all lumpy and mis-shapen….so I’m a woolly tail sewer, but if you can do it the other way, then go ahead as it will save you a fair amount of time.

Once all the tails are sewn in then the scarf is almost ready.  (if you want you can wear it like this but I find the half hexagons are often a bit lumpy so crocheting all the way around the scarf makes it look a lot neater.

I used Jamieson’s of Shetland wool (double knit weight) as it was perfect to use for the edging as it was almost the same weight as the tapestry wool.

I used a Brittany 3.25 hook to crochet the edging.

I use slightly less stitches when I crochet across the edge of the half hexagon as it flattens off any “fat tummies” that may be bulging out from the sides of the scarf. (it’s like “magic tummy knickers” for your crochet.)

Once the edging has been crocheted then I’d really recommend gently washing your scarf in a special wool conditioner (tapestry wool isn’t the softest in the world) and then blocking it out and allowing it to dry thoroughly.

The scarf has two “pointy” ends which I think would look fantastic finished with super fat pom poms (however my boyfriend has very somber tastes and I think pom poms on this scarf would be the very end of enough for him.)

Using a little bit of what seems to be about every colour there is going means this will look just  perfect worn with anything, there’s nothing it won’t look spectacular with.

My hexagons are made up of 5 rounds, each round has 2 ends or tails so 10 per hexagon (even the halfsies which doesn’t really seem fair) so that’s 690 woolly tails to sew in when you’re all finished crocheting.

Regarding how much yarn is used…these are approximate measurements as it varies a little on which brand of wool you’re using (as they differ in thickness)

Whole hexagons

round one…..60 inches

round two…98 inches

round three…155 inches

round four…91 inches

round five  (where you join into two sides*)…169 inches

Half hexagons

round one…43 inches

round two…55 inches

round three….87 inches

round four………53 inches

round five  (joining the half hexagon to three sides)…127 inches

Tapestry wool skeins vary from 9 yards up to 15 yards.  There are 36 inches in a yard.

For my scarf I made 43 whole hexagons and 26 half hexagons using roughly about 948 yards of wool for all the hexagons.  I forgot to measure the wool for the edging but it doesn’t use all that much.  (a ball of dk wool will be plenty)

This has really been Inspired  by memories of buying a little paper bag full of fair rock from the shop down the road when I was small (sadly an old time sweetie that doesn’t seem to have been resurrected), mixed in with those beautiful millefleur paperweights that you often find in antique centres and sumptously embroidered velvet collars on evening coats designed by Paul Poiret, I’ve made this scarf so you can wrap yourself all up in every colour under the sun and then some.

Please understand, this isn’t a weekend make, it’s going to take a while (I started mine in the Spring of 2013 or thereabouts and though I wasn’t working on it all the time it won’t be fastest scarf you ever crochet) but I think it’s worth it.

I’d also like to thank Heidi Bears so much for her tutorials which made sense of how to make this hexagon.

A vintage style patchwork knitting bag…….

At the start of the Summer I had a brief and rather passionate fling with hexagon paper piecing, sewing them seemed to fill every moment and I became somewhat obsessed and after umpteen cushions had been sewn then thought to make myself a big, fling it across my shoulders tote bag, sadly what in my head looked amazing, in reality was rather pants, so after some colourful language I unpicked the pieces and thought about using the patchwork for a granny style knitting bag (I’ve already got 3 but I really like this type of bag and the ones I have are all full with different works in progress that will one day maybe get finished……)

I wanted to make a nice big bag that along with whatever I was knitting, would also accommodate a book, and a few sewing/knitting supplies.

After drafting up what I felt was a decent size bag I then set about making sure the hexagon patchwork  I’d already pieced would be big enough, and then sewed together hexagons for a back to match.

I had some striped fabric that was possibly mattress ticking (no doubt car boot treasure which I’d been saving to one side), which I thought would be nice and sturdy for lining, and which would give a bit of weight to the bag.

To stop my paper pattern from flying about I use large washers that I bought from my local ironmongers, they’re about 20 pence each and are surprisingly heavy, they’re about 2 inches square so aren’t huge but do the job (and super cheap to boot).

You’ll need to cut two pieces for the outside of the bag and then two pieces the same size for the lining.  I included a half inch seam allowance in my pattern.

Because I’m always losing stitch markers and those rubbery things you stick on the top of knitting needles to stop them poking you in the eye or whatever, I thought I’d include some pockets in my bag…..this is pretty much what I do when I make a tote/market bag else I’m constantly having to delve down in the bottom of my bag and feel rather like James Herriot.

My pockets are about 8 inches deep, along the top of each I’ve hand sewn some grey binding so it looks a bit neater than just turning the seam over. (though I could have done that and then sewn binding along the back)

One of the pockets I’ve divided into 3 and the other by 2, just pin equal distances along from the edges and sew up  from the bottom to where the binding is sewn.  I followed the lines on the fabric but if you use a non striped fabric then maybe you’ll want to pencil in a sewing line. (I also just pinned the fabric around the outside to stop it wiggling about too much while I was sewing.)

Lay the 2 lining section together with the pocket sides facing each other, pin them together, and measure up about 12 inches.  This is how far up you’ll want to pin your sides. (if you click the picture to make it bigger, you’ll see that there is a pin placed horizontally along the side where your sewing will need to start and end.)

Now do exactly the same for the main fabric of your bag, right sides together and pin around the outside edge.

Once both pieces have been sewn you’ll need to cut little notches around the sewn edge, this gives the edge a smoother and neater look when you turn the bag inside out.

It’s not really necessary to do this for the lining although I found because my lining fabric was quite heavy it needed it but if you’re using a light weight fabric then I don’t think you’d need to do it.)

Whenever I’m cutting notches I use a pair of button hole scissors from Merchant and Mills…these are totally brilliant scissors which have a fat and stubby blade so you can’t get carried away and cut out huge pieces from your work.  Honestly, as far as I’m concerned these scissors are worth their weight in gold, I use mine all the time.

Turn the main fabric “bag” inside out and pin the edges out around where you’ve sewn, some of the patchwork may be a bit on the stiff side so you’ll need to shove your hand in and nudge out the edge with your fingers.

For the top where you haven’t sewn, fold over about half an inch and pin the edges over.

After the edges have been pinned you’ll want to tack or baste the sides and edges.  I prefer to use one colour for the edge where I’ve sewn and then a different colour for the top edges.  (if you click on the image you’ll see I’ve used pink for the main body and then blue thread for the tops…this just makes it easier when I un-pick the stitches.)

Cover the patchwork with a cloth and give it a press.  (my fabric was a proper jumble, wool, cotton, silk, synthetic, covering it with a cloth just protected the fabric and also my iron.)

One the bag is pressed, un-pick the tacking from the main body (the pink thread.) but leave the thread in place that is keeping the top sides in position.

You also need to pin and stitch the top sections of the lining but don’t turn it inside out.  Make sure you pin and tack the sides so the raw edge is sewn against the back.  The pockets will be facing forwards.

If you squish the lining bag out a bit you’ll see how the pockets form.

Place the lining in to the main fabric bag, line up the edges and where they meet pin into place (I’ve used a pin horizontally in the picture)….. then pin the top sides together, working upwards from the horizontal pin.

If the sides don’t quite match and the two top edges of the bag don’t lay flat together you may need to un-pick the turned sides of the lining and just adjust them so that the top section lays flat.

Along the edge of the patchwork I like to just sew a piece of binding to protect the edge.  In part it’s because the patchwork is hand sewn and where it’s cut to form the shape of the bag it’s easy for the stitching to come un-done, it also gives a bit more security to this part of the bag (it’s where it goes through the slit in the handle).

And then just sew the binding in place.  You don’t need to sew in a big piece, maybe 4 inches at most.

I’ve not used it on the lining fabric as that is proper sturdy being a type of mattress ticking.

Slide the top of the outer fabric through the slit in the bag handle.

I find it easier at this point to lay the washers or weights on top of the handle to keep the fabric in place.

You can also see where the binding is supporting the edge of the patchwork.

Fold over the lining and pin it in place along where the main fabric is folded.

If it’s a bit wiggly it doesn’t matter at this stage, you can adjust it so it looks neater once both sides are pinned.

Pin the pieces all together and check that everything is laying straight and that the bag is hanging right before you begin sewing.

I find it’s easiest to un-pin the two sides of the back (or front) before sewing the handle section, that way my hand can slide in and I can check I’m not sewing through too many layers of fabric.  I use a small whip stitch like when I’m hand piecing over papers.

Once both handles are sewn and I’ve checked that the bag is hanging nicely, I then whip stitch the sides together, sewing up from the centre where I placed the horizontal pin up to about an inch from the wooden handle (this allows the handle a little room and the bag will swing nicely when filled with wool.)

Once the sides are sewn together you’re all ready to fill your bag with yarn and needles (and a packet of Werther’s Originals will fit nicely into one of those pockets).

These are a few of my car boot needles, lovely wooden needles that make a calming and resonant clickety clack when I’m knitting with them.

The yarn is from my lovely local knitting shop and is a wonderfully soft blend of alpaca and Peruvian highland wool, which I’m planing to knit up in to a nice big scarf as soon as I can make my mind up on a suitable pattern (I’ve got three skeins in an aran weight  and am thinking I may be needing more as I prefer a scarf that really can be wrapped round that one extra time.)

Woolly tails, pots of tea and preparing for the Autumn…..

Even though the bank holiday had rather wretched wet and windy weather there was a silver lining as it allowed me to nest down on the sofa with endless pots of very nice tea* and finish sewing in all the remaining woolly tails on the back of my grannies paperweight scarf…

I’m not sure exactly when I started making the scarf, sometime in the Spring of 2013 because I’d been working on the grannies paperweight blanket by then and just loved the pattern so much that I then wanted to be able to wear something using it.

Now it’s all made up it reminds me very much of those beautiful turn of the century coats by Paul Poiret that had sumptuous velvet embroideries down the front, and while recently re-watching The House of Elliot**, noticed Miss Evie wearing a rather nice coat that had a raised collar that was all embroidered in what I think of as “Bloomsbury” colours.

Rather than join the hexagons together into a flower shape or cluster of 7, the hexagons are joined 2 on top and 1 to the side with half hexagons used to fill in the gaps.

When I first tried making the half hexagons I found them really difficult and other people’s patterns I’d seen for them weren’t really what I needed to fit into my blanket, however after a bit of playing around I’ve came up with a way that worked best for me so over Christmas I sat down and just made a whole load of them and before I knew it I’d made enough for the tops and bottoms of the blanket (tails of which are still slowly being sewn in….) as well as half hexagons for the scarf….

Then once the half hexagons were all joined in it was a case of sewing in the woolly tails on the back (and yes I know there is a way where you join them in as you crochet along but whenever I do it like that then I get a fat lumpy side and the crochet looks proper peculiar, I can only think it’s because I’m doing something wrong as I’ve seen other peoples crochet worked this way and their’s looks fine…) Each hexagon has 10 tails (even the half hexagons) so they soon add up.  It’s probably the part I like the least, it’s boring more than anything else and I can always find something more enjoyable to sew or work on instead.

However, as the weather was so wet, and rather chilly  I thought it best to get this finished so I can be all ready to wrap myself up and keep warm as Autumn’s presence is being felt. (I do feel the cold something rotten and seem to have a 101 scarves, and it’s the ones I made myself that I always get the nicest comments on….it was great getting stopped by a lady who said “is that the dottie angel scarf” and we then spent a few minutes squidging the puffs of my scarf together.

Once all the tails were sewn in, my scarf was pretty much ready to wear though the sides were a tad on the lumpy side…I decided a very simple edging would probably work the best at pulling in the bumpy bits (the crochet version of magic knickers) and also I didn’t want to do anything too fancy as I knew that would just make the scarf too wide (in the past I’ve made scarves that I could barely see over once they were wrapped around me and when my face gets too covered my glasses steam up.) I’ve used Jamieson’s of Shetland double knitting wool before when I was edging the cushion fronts and thought this would be the best wool to use for a simple single crochet edge.

The rest of the scarf was used in tapestry wool and the Jamieson’s wool has a very similar texture and weight to it.  And their colours are lovely.  I’ve used mint as that seemed to look the nicest against the colours used in the main part of the scarf.

The edging was pretty easy to do though I’m explaining it in a fair bit of detail because when I learnt to crochet I really needed every part shown thoroughly or I just didn’t understand what I was supposed to do…..if you can crochet then please bear with me.

(ohh and I’m using Brittany crochet hooks, they are lovely to use and mean I can crochet all day and not get achy hands or fingers)

First up, make a slip knot and slip it over your hook and tighten, then insert your hook into the gap that you’ll see at the corner of the two sides.  The edging is worked under the stitches, (between the bars) rather than through the chains that lay horizontally around the edge.  Make a chain and then make a single crochet stitch. (This is all UK terminology)

Just keep working along the edge making the single crochet stitches through the bars along the side.

When you get to the end of the side, make a single crochet stitch in that little corner gap and then make another one next to it.  (if you want you can make a chain between them but I didn’t.  I think it depends a bit on the weight of the wool you use…try both ways if you like as the edging is easy to un-ravel if you don’t like it.)

Now just work along the second side, making a single crochet stitch through each “bar” on the side.

When you get to the corner there are two different ways you can work the corner….

You can avoid inserting the hook into the gap at the end of the first side, and instead insert it straight into the gap of the second hexagon (this is what I’m doing in the picture above.) Scoop the wool round the hook and pull it through the gap and continue to make a single crochet stitch before working along the rest of the third side.

I crochet quite tightly and found this looked better for me.  However, depending on the wool you use and how you crochet you may prefer this way….

Insert your hook in to the gap on the first hexagon, scoop up the wool around your hook and pull it through the gap, now with that wool still on your hook, insert your hook into the gap in the next hexagon, wrap the wool round the hook and scoop it through.  You’ll now have what look like 3 stitches on your hook, pull them all through the first stitch on your hook and then continue along the rest of the side with the single crochet stitches.

Whichever method you use, make sure you only go through the corner gaps and not between the two hexagons where they join together.

When you get to the corner you’ll need to make 2 single crochet stitches in the gap, and again, if you want you can make a chain between them.  It’s completely up to you.

When you work along the edge of a whole hexagon, crochet between the bars exactly like you did for the previous sides. When you crochet along the edge of a half hexagon it’s a little different.

This time you work just under the bottom of the stitch and you want to make about 12 stitches along the half in total so you aren’t working under every stitch.  I know this sounds a bit odd but I found that this helps keep the bumpy bit in line (think of it working like magic knickers for when you’ve had too much cake).

Try not to make a stitch right at the start and end of a half hexagon so the stitches through the gaps of the whole hexagons have enough space.

If you click this picture it’ll come up nice and big and you’ll see the start and end stitch through the gaps in the whole hexagons either side, and then you’ll be able to count 12 stitches along the half hexagon between them.

I promise you it’s a lot easier than it sounds.

Then you just continue like that all the way around the edge of the scarf before joining it off and sewing in those 2 last tails.

At this point it really is ready to wear and in the past I would have been out and about with this all draped around me, however this Summer I blocked a couple of scarves and couldn’t believe the difference it made (also tapestry wool which I’ve used is a bit scratchy so giving the wool a gentle wash in a special wool conditioner will help the scarf feel nicer as well as looking much better.)

After a little soak in some lukewarm water and wool conditioner I let the water drain before folding the scarf over and over and then pressing out the water, it’s important not to squeeze or wring it as then it’s going to look a bit rum.

I then laid out some towels out along on the floor which I’d folded a few times so they were a nice thickness and then laid out the scarf.

Working out from the middle I pinned the scarf at all of the points where the hexagons joined together, and using a ruler made sure that the scarf was nice and even all the way along….I didn’t use special blocking pins just cheap ones that I’d been given but which I found were too thick to use for my everyday sewing (though I’m thinking I may need to get some of the proper blocking pins and some mats for future projects).

The hexagons look a bit “soft” and hazy and in part this is because as you know I’m no David Bailey but also this is the reverse.  I laid the scarf out face down as Bernard will keep laying on things that are on the floor and I didn’t then want this covered with cat fluff. (and I knew if I laid any towels over the top then those pins would only be stood on)

I left the scarf for two days like this and then when it was pretty much dry folded it into four before placing it in our airing cupboard so it could completely dry through and we’d get our living room back.

Pictures of the scarf all finished and modelled will be coming along with all the relevant links to post on how I made it.

*this is the nicest tea I’ve ever had and could happily drink it ’til the cows come home.

**(ooh and if you enjoyed The House of Elliot I’d thoroughly recommend Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries…it’s a good series to watch but the costumes totally steal the show.  It’s set in the Twenties and it’s an Australian drama, one episode even has Shane Ramsey from Neighbours in it doing a well dodgy French accent.  It’s about a lady detective called Phryne Fisher who has a habit of getting into mischief while wearing the most incredible looking clothes.  There’s a fair bit of romance and brief liasions with her and what seems like a new dishy fella occur in each episode but that doesn’t stop her from still flirting terribly with the local police inspector.  It’s available as dvds so you should be able to hire it from your local library.  Essie Davies as Miss Fisher is so good and she really suits those lovely period costumes.

Paul Newman’s baby blues, sprouts, peas and lemon sorbet yellow…..

Some while ago, when I was working on the star quilts for Miss Peggy and Pearl, I was asked about how I make my colour choices, picking out particular colours and teaming them together in unusual combinations….at the time I said I’d be writing a post about it.  I got about half way through writing one then realized that what I thought was going to be quite a simple piece really was becoming a bit of an epic post so I’ve taken my notes and have tried to break down and show how I work and chose my colours and team ups across the mediums I work in which is fabric, embroidery and crochet.

I love using as much colour as possible in my work and although there are pairings that I’m not so fond of, colours that I’ll shy away from, on the whole I’m happy to use what ever is going…it’s a bit different when I’m using fabric as I prefer to use prints rather than a plain solid so other factors like print design then begin to creep in, but for the most part if I can put in a little bit of every colour under the sun then I’m happy.

To begin with I think it always helps to have a bit of a basic understanding of how colours work, even if later on you throw “the rules” out of the window, then it still helps to know what is being thrown out…..I find having a sketchbook for colour notes and playing really helpful, it doesn’t have to be huge, but I like them big enough that I can work bigger than just thumbnail sized swatches of colour.

I generally start any colour sketchbook with some colour wheels over the first few pages in a variety of mediums (colouring pencil and paint, snippets of fabric or tufts of yarn)

The first three colours to consider are what are called the Primary colours….these are red, yellow and blue.  They’re the most simple and basic colours and you can’t make them by mixing other colours together.

Red is always a hot colour, whether it’s chilli red or cherry, fire engine bright, post box red.

Soft and soporific blue…never a warm tone but always cooling. (just the memory of a walk amongst the bluebells in April can cool me down and help me sleep in August when the nights are too hot and sticky…)

Ultramarine, and icy, sometimes almost grey…Prussian and inky and Paul Newman’s baby blues…..

Sunshiny and bright, golden and mustard, most mellow and lemon sorbet tasting yellow.

The next colours are the secondary colours.

From mixing two of the three Primary colours together you create the secondary colours…..(I think they make the happiest albeit safest) pairings when you team them up with either of the two colours that make them.

Yellow and Blue together make green…fresh and vibrant, forest pine and leafy glade, sprouts and peas, the smell of a greenhouse on a warm Summer’s day….

Blue and red together create purple…….mauve and violet, lavender meadows and blackberry crumbles, wild violets and shiny aubergines.

Red and yellow makes orange….. the brightest fruitiest hue, to soft coral and peachy, apricot tones, amber and persimmon, tangerine and henna.

Caramel, ochre, chocolate, mocha, chestnut and sienna, mushroom tones all velvey soft……Brown is a composite or neutral colour…it’s made by mixing the primary colours together.

It can be thought of as being a bit drab or boring and although it’s not a colour I tend to go for straight away when I’m making any wardrobe choices, I’m quite happy using it in crochet (blends of a range of brown shades or mixed in with blue, pink, orange or yellow look particularly good)

Pink is a bit of a where did that come from colour, it’s actually a red tint although it’s often seen as a colour in it’s own right, and I know some people really don’t like it but I don’t have any of their qualms (pink and yellow is a particular favourite combination that I find myself using and wearing time and time again).

Before I finish off this first post regarding how I use colour, I just wanted to mention what I have found to be two excellent resources for super good reading regarding colour.

Firstly is the always inspiring Uppercase magazine, in particular issue 22, it’s full of beautifully illustrated interviews and essays about colour.  Visually this issue is a real treat, and the magazine reads like a rainbow….. (if you’re like me and live in the UK then you can buy it mail order from Housekeeping)

Secondly is the utterly brilliant Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook by Felicity Ford.  It’s an excellent book about looking at where to get your initial colour inspiration from and how to translate it into a workable project. I’ve wrote about it before but I love it so much and it’s such a great book I hope you’ll excuse me repeating myself.   Although this book is probably of more help to knitters, I’ve still found it riveting to read and it’s made me really think about where my colour choices come from and how I can make them even better.

A hexagon how to without sewing through the papers…..

What can I say… I can’t stop making them, little 2 inch wide hexagons have started to take over all and everything…there is a pile of ironing draped over the banisters upstairs that is threatening to tumble at any moment and a list of chores as long as my arm but all I want to do is make hexagons and sew them together…..

I’ve become like those ladies at Bingo with all their cards spread out before them…instead of cards though it’s umpteen needles all threaded up with different coloured basting and tacking threads, to keep stopping and starting to thread a needle is an interruption to the hexagons so I like to thread up nearly two dozen assorted “sharps” and applique needles and pin them to the cloth on my sewing table…nothing is coming between me and my hexagons.

The other day I wrote about how I like to empty out a scrap box of fabric and make hexagons from a proper old assortment of prints and fabrics…..for the most part I don’t fuss too much about ironing the fabric first, I’m happy to just pin and cut round the papers.

When I sew the fabric around my papers I do it a bit differently from how you may have seen other people do it, I don’t sew through the papers but just through the fabric. I don’t have any problems with the hexagons dropping out while I’m working and it saves me the bother of having to un-pick all those tacking stitches.  For the most part I use a generous 1/4 inch seam allowance, veering towards 5/8 of an inch, but even then it’s only guessed at, the bigger the hexagon shape, the wider the seam allowance.

I wrote about this briefly the other day but was later asked if I could explain how I sew the hexagons in place so that they aren’t loose and liable to drop out when you pick them up….

I start off placing a hexagon on the fabric, pin though the centre and cut around the fabric, judging the seam allowance by eye….. then fold the fabric over one side of the paper shape and carefully down over from the top, you want the fabric nice and tight around the paper…and then pin into place, going through both the paper and fabric. Depending on the type of fabric I’ll sometimes pin every other corner or even every corner if it’s particularly slippery fabric….. however, after a while of making the hexagons, you may find for some fabrics you don’t need to pin all the corners but instead can fold the fabric over as you sew round….always pin the first corner though as it keeps the fabric that bit more secure. (it also helps if you have long nails to hold the fabric in place…if not you may find using pins easier).

Or, if you have them, those little Clover Wonder Grips are very good and they also hold the fabric to the paper, I find they are especially good for wool cloth fabrics which easily become bulky when you fold them over, if I’m going to suggest to follow any one rule then it is to use what you have and which feels comfy for you.

Fold the fabric down along the top edge and the bring the fabric over from the side so you have a second corner covered, hold the fabric securely with your thumb nail (apologies for my grubby nails but I’d been weeding earlier in the day)…just like before, you want the fabric to be nice and tight around the paper template.

Using a fine sharp needle make a series of small stitches through the layers of fabric but not thought the paper to hold the corner seam in place….

Start at the bottom of the fold and carefully make 3 or 4 stitches upwards to the top of the fold…try to use small stitches and insert your needle almost directly under the line of where the fold edge lays….work up to the top and then make one or two stitches back down to the bottom again….keep working round in this manner.

Keep the end pin in place until you are ready to sew the last corner, and keep the central pin in place until the last corner is actually sewn.

As you sew the fabric, the hexagon is rotated clockwise in your fingers, as you move your hands it feels like you are working anti-clockwise so it feels a bit odd to begin with.

Using really sharp and fine needles does help a lot as does using good quality tacking thread…. I tend to favour vintage cotton basting thread as that seems to be less tangly, but more often than not I just pick out what thread is in my sewing basket, but find I need to cut shorter lengths if I’m using a synthetic thread or blend.

I also find it easier to use a contrasting coloured thread to the fabric so I can see my stitches easier.

For hexagons that have sides wider than an inch, you may like to run your thread along through the fabric in a series of small running stitches, still avoiding going through the papers.

I’ve found this method works fine on hexagons with sides of up to 2 inches (4 inches wide across the centre of the hexagon)… when they get bigger than that you may want to increase the seam allowance to a half inch all round, as the sides will begin to gape a little, and the extra seam allowance will provide more security and stop the paper dropping out.

Not sewing through the papers is also better for your needles, we all know cutting paper with fabric scissors will blunt them quicker than anything and sewing through all the papers isn’t particularly good for needles, some needles can be sharpened in a bag of emery but many, like the Clover Black Gold ones won’t like that treatment one bit (the black coating comes off the Clover Black Gold…..

This method means that once you have attached your hexagons together, you can easily pop out the papers and re-use them without needing to snip and cut away the basting/tacking thread.  The basting/tacking thread also serves a purpose, it keeps the back of the fabric in position and stops it all flaring out and being messy, it also helps to give the patchwork some structure and stability.

Delightful dottie’s happy hanger how-to…..

 

Some years ago I well and truly lost my heart to these beautiful crocheted hangers that the delightful dottie angel had made…at the time all my hangers were rather too wide to work this pattern quite as nicely as I’d have liked, so while not forgetting about them just never expected to own a little collection of my own.

But then a few weeks ago I walked a different way into town and found some rather grotty covered hangers that after a bit of prodding and poking,  I realized were the skinny minnies that I needed for Tif’s happy hanger how to.   I bought a handful (as many as the purse would allow at the end of a week) and walked off with a lumpy bumpy shopping bag and feeling very pleased with my purchase and thinking I knew what I’d be doing once I got 5 minutes for myself.

 

 

Those 5 minutes have been a while in coming….but as it was a bit of a wet and windy Bank holiday I settled down on the sofa with a bag of yarn and some crochet hooks and made a beautiful pile of crocheted cosies.

I already had the yarn (it’s mostly Rowan cotton and a couple of vintagey synthetic yarns). I followed Tif’s pattern pretty much to the T, only really changing my hook size.  Not sure if that was because I was using Brittany wooden hooks and they come up a bit big maybe…anyway I used a 3.75 for the main colour and then when I joined the two pieces together I went down to a 3.25.

Anyway, beautiful new hangers are jangling proudly in my wardrobe, and I’m just waiting now for the dottie angle frock pattern to be released.  (I’ve been hoarding dress fabric for a while to make some of these with)

Binding a mitred corner…….

 

In the last of my posts about binding a quilt, I wanted to explain how to mitre the corner…..it seems really fiddly and okay, it is a bit, but a neatly mitred corner looks so nice that any fiddlesomeness is well worth the effort.  It’s just important not to rush it.

Once the binding has been sewn into place on the front, fold the binding over along the 1 inch pressed seam so you have a nice folded edge to sew along. The corner neatly folds up and sits on top of itself.

 

 

Turn the binding over, it pretty much rolls over the edge of the quilt, and will reveal the neatly folded corner that you made when sewing the binding to the front.

 

 

Pin or clip the corner on the back.  (I like to use Wonder Clips made by Clover)  When you were sewing the binding to the front using a back stitch, a row of stitches formed on the back.  This is the guide for sewing the binding to the back.  It’s important that you’ve clipped enough away from the corner so that the corners can be mitred neatly, so I like to check this by seeing if the corner pulls down comfortably enough to the corners of the sewing guide (where the two lines of back stitches meet).  Sometimes I have to clip a little bit of wadding away if it is still a bit bulky.

 

 

Now clip or pin the binding over the edge of the quilt into position.  You can remove the corner clip or pin at this stage as it’s no longer really required.

 

 

Nudge the bottom binding right up into the corner, and give it a bit of a press with your thumbnail to stay in place (you can pin or clip it if you like.)

 

 

Using a slip stitch (in some books it is called a whip stitch) sew along the folded edge of the binding, securing it to the back of the quilt just above the sewn guide line.  Sew the binding in place along into the corner.

 

 

With the needle just tucked out of the way, bring the next side of the binding over and check that it forms a neat edge.  You may need to very slightly tuck the diagonal edge underneath with the point.

 

 

Once the seam has been tucked under and the binding edges meet exactly and form a neat diagonal, pin the top binding down into position.

 

 

Turn the quilt over to check that it looks neat from the front.  Sometimes the corner is a bit lumpy, you may need to unpick it and re-sew to neaten it.  This can be caused if enough care wasn’t taken when the binding was sewn onto the front.

 

 

Bring the threaded needle out at the bottom of the folded seam.

I like to use Clover Black Gold Applique needles for sewing the binding as I find they’re really sharp and pointy, and are excellent for really fine stitches.

 

 

Carefully slip stitch the folded corner closed.

 

 

I generally find that tiny stitches make for a neater finish.  When you get to the top, make an extra slip stitch to keep the fold secure, before moving your needle slightly and then slip stitching the next binding edge into place.

 

 

And that is your mitred corner finished.  Once all the corners have been sewn, I turn the quilt over and then hand sew each of the front corner folds down using tiny slip stitches.  I do this last in case any of them need un-picking to reshape in case they’ve come out a bit on the lumpy side.

I hope these posts have shown how easy it is to make your own binding and how to bind a quilt with mitred corners.  At some point I do intend to cover other binding methods that you may not be familiar with.

Sewing the binding to your quilt part two ….

 

Once you’ve sewn the binding in place around the front of your quilt, it’s then time to sew it into position on the back. Begin by trimming both the wadding and backing fabric to between 1/4 and 1/2 an inch over the raw edge of the binding.  It depends a lot on the type of wadding you are using and the sort of binding you are sewing.  For this quilt I’m using a double binding and the wadding or batting is pure wool, so I’ve trimmed to 5/8 of an inch (or what I like to think of as a generous 1/4 inch).

 

 

After trimming all the sides of the quilt, snip the corners across to about 1/8 of an inch. Removing the corners of the wadding makes the finished mitred corners sit flatter and look neater  (my original pictures were really blurry so I made up a little sample edge…which as you can see has also come out a bit fuzzy looking, but hope you will be able to see what I mean about the clipped corners…..)

 

 

You can check that you’ve cut enough wadding away by turning over the binding. you don’t want to be able to see the wadding or backing fabric.  It’s important not to cut too much away though, the edges of a quilt get handled a lot so the bound edge needs enough wadding inside it to keep it nice and plump.

 

 

You can also turn the quilt over to check the binding just peeps over the back.  As the binding is sewn into place and rolls over the edge of the quilt, the wadding folds in on itself, doubling up and forming a strong edge.  The tiny back stitches show you the guide line you will be wanting to bring your binding edge over to.

 

 

Up until very recently I used to secure both sides of the biding in place with pins, however, a couple of years ago I was sent a huge box of Clover Wonder Clips and although they took a bit of getting used to, I now think they are brilliant for holding the binding in place. (They’re also very good if when you’re sewing over papers or paper piecing, you don’t get the tiny holes like when you are using pins, and they keep the papers perfectly in place.)

Starting somewhere along the bottom edge, preferably just off from the middle, bring the folded edge of the binding over to the guide line of your back stitching. Pin or secure with a “wonder clip” into place.  Repeat until you have secured about a foot of the binding into place.

When I used to use pins I’d position them pretty close together, the clips have a bit more strength so I place them about 3/4 of an inch apart.

 

 

Normally I never make a knot when I am hand sewing, instead preferring to make a couple of stitches on top of each other to secure the start and finish of what I’m sewing……however, when I’m sewing the back of the binding into place then I do make a small knot in the end of the thread, before slip stitching (or whip stitching) the binding into place.

 

 

Some books call this a slip stitch, others a whipped stitch. The needle only goes through a small amount of the backing fabric (not all the way through to the other side) and then through a few threads of the binding fabric.  The stitches are worked along at a slight angle and it helps if your thread isn’t cut longer than 12 inches.  (too long and it tangles).

You’ll get the best results if you use a fine applique needle or sharp for this.  Clover make two excellent needles for this type of sewing, one is called Clover Gold Eye Applique Needles (at the time of writing they are about £2.50 for 15).  The other ones they make are called Clover Black Gold Applique Needles…okay they are pricey…you may need to sit down at this point…..the last ones I bought cost about £4.50 for 6….. so yeah they aren’t cheap, but ohh, they are sharp, as skinny as a moonbeam and as strong as an ox.

The Clover Gold Eyes ones are really good, and if you have a little emery sharpener then they are a good buy because you can keep them lovely and sharp.  Sadly if you try and sharpen the Black Gold ones then the black coating will come off, but to be honest they won’t really need it (I just wanted to know what would happen if I tried to sharpen one)…….so if like me your purse doesn’t always stretch to such pricey items, you could let family know when it’s your birthday.  (I’ve used the Clover Black Gold quilting needles as well, they are good but I know they aren’t for everyone…however the applique ones…..haberdashery heaven)

I’m still lucky enough to be able to regularly find vintage sharps in antique markets and they are also very good. Blue Dorcas is a particular favourite brand

 

 

If you’re worried you’re making your stitches too deep then you can just turn your work over and you’ll be able to see if any offending stitches are coming through.  If they are then you can easily un-pick them and re-sew the binding in place.

Rushing this stage is so tempting because your quilt is nearly finished but you’ll get a much better result if you just sew slow and sew steady.  Also, make sure you’re sitting with a good light source so you can really see your sewing.

 

 

I really do love these little clips. They are such a great colour so are nice and cheery to use, but they also are very good for holding the binding in position.  I’m lucky enough to have a big box of 50, but I’ve seen them in smaller boxes at my local quilting shop.  They are a bit fiddly to being with but as someone who still after many years of sewing still manages to prick herself all the time, they are very forgiving on sore fingers.