I've been away from my Blog for so long now. Part of my excuse was that we were busy relocating to another state. Aside from that, I've had a hard time feeling motivated to sew. I decided to learn knitting while I waited for my sewing passion to return. I took a three part class at one of the local yarn shops and now I'm on my way!  As you can see, I'm very good at buying yarn (above) but not perfect yet at knitting with it. I've recently completed my first class assignment of a basket weave dishcloth. It turned out pretty well except that halfway through, my tension changed. So that is something I'll have to work on.  Here it is:

I just need to slipstitch this set of six place mats and then off they go in the mail! They are 18x14 with green “Katie Jump Rope” fabric by Denyse Schmidt on the front and black cotton on the back. Inside is a layer of peltex by pellon. I made these the exact same way I made Alice’s Place Mats if you would like to know additional details about construction.

My blog has moved to new software. It's been very exciting and I want to thank my Husband for all his hard work customizing the site for me!

If you subscribe to the site using RSS or Atom, then you'll want to re-subscribe as the feed URL has changed. Just click the Subscribe link here or over on the top right and you're good to go.

Also, if you had linked to any of my posts in the past, those links will be broken because there is a different post address format with the new software. I'm real sorry, there was no way to keep it the same. :(

Thanks for visiting and happy sewing!

Dawn

View a large photo of it! ... I'm to embarrassed to post a picture of mine buried in fabric.... =)

I thought I'd write about some of the sewing tools that I really love.  To first understand why I love it so much, you should know about the old tippy ironing board I had from target for many years.  The grooves where the legs slide through to put the legs up or down had a channel on the opposite side. To be more clear, as steam condensed under the ironing pad, it would drip into this channel and cause a pile of rust.  Since I always stick pins into the ironing board when doing things like ironing bias tape or pocket flaps, I just knew they were getting stuck through the pad to rust city. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of tetanus, and I hear seamstresses do get it. Some of us stab ourselves a lot during sewing projects....and it's not just a surface scratch!

Finally, I'd had enough. I decided to look for the biggest and best ironing board I could find...on amazon.com so I could get free shipping.  I settled on the Rowenta professional ironing board. This means my ironing board is wider (a lovely 18.5" wide!) than the average one you buy at Target or similar store. SO AWESOME. So much more ironing and project surface. I can never go back EVER!!!  It's 53" long not counting the iron rest on the end.

What else I love about it:

• It has a cord holder that keeps my iron cord out of my way while I iron.
• It has the metal hot iron holder with ?silicone? heat resistant thingies on it.
• The iron holder has a little bar you can put hangers on....or hang your bias strips or press cloth...or whatever you want!
• It has a treated metal surface that is supposed to resist rust.
• The top of the leg tracks are flat so no more water and rust collector!  I checked under the pad first thing to see if this was designed better than my old board.
• It's has a "laundry rack" underneath that I pile full of fabric.... =/
• It has heavy duty legs so it's not tippy!!!  Amazon.com says it weighs 24.2 pounds if that gives you an idea.
• It has a nice thick ironing cover/pad. It does shrink a little in the dryer though, so beware!

Rowenta IB6300 Professional Ironing Board

I made these place mats for my Grandmother, Alice. I only have 3 done so far, but it seemed like a good time for a photo =)

I wrote in more detail about how they are made in my post about Peggy's Place Mats.  The only thing different about these is that they are not home dec weight cotton. To give them a little more body, I interfaced the back side of the top. So, in this photo, the pear fabric is interfaced with fusible lightweight interfacing.  I absolutely love these pears and they will go wonderfully in my Grandma's kitchen. Polka-dots are her favorite, so I used those for the back.   The pear fabric is by kokka and the dots are a from Moda's "It's Snowing" line.  I had originally purchased the dots for some holiday season bags, but it just went so well with the pears, that I had to order more.

Other things I did differently from Peggy's Place Mats:

• I pinked  the top fabric's (the pears) seam allowance to reduce seam bulk which shows through more on lighter weight cotton.
• I taped two pieces of template plastic together so that I'd have a big enough piece to cut a 19" x 15" rectangle (finished place mats are 18" x 14" with a 1/2" seam allowance). Not only was it easier to cut out the place mats with the template, but it allowed me to choose the most appealing section of the fabric to cut.  I wanted to make sure that I got two full rows of pears on each place mat so I aligned my see-through template on the fabric until I was happy, then I cut!

Update: My husband is my official place mat stuffer and he just reminded me that he finds place mats with interfaced cotton much harder to stuff than "un-interfaced" home dec weight ones.  The interfacing causes a lot more friction as you try and shove the peltex into the place mat. Something to keep in mind!

Photo of Knit Cupcakes courtesy of Julie from http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk

I've had a great day of browsing through other crafter's creations. I just found the most lovely knit cupcakes on Little Cotton Rabbits blog.  She has the most beautiful knit crafts. When you visit her site, you must check out her little knit animals as well. The bunnies are adorable!!

If only I knew how to knit!!  I would love to make these. Fortunately, she is kind enough to share her pattern for these which you can purchase at her Etsy shop. I will be buying it as motivation to learn knitting. =) Oh, my craft to-do list is growing longer by the day!

Getting Back into Crafting! "Wasp Bag", originally uploaded by AmericnJewl.

I was browsing Flickr again for inspiration when I happened across the Wasp Bag. The original was made in Kokka's wasp fabric with a thrifted belt for a strap. I own that fabric in pink =)  However, I also like the completely different take on it by AmericnJewl with the upholstery fabric.

I think the bag is very cute, and the maker, Alison of the Machen Machen blog, kindly shares the pattern.

You can view her patterns here: http://machenmachen.wordpress.com/patterns *Be sure to note her usage agreement!

Not my best photo, but the winter isn't giving me much light to work with!

I just finished some little turtle coasters. My first coasters ever. It was hard to part with even the tiny squares of my turtle fabric. I just love that print. I don't know who makes it, but you can find it at several places that carry Japanese import fabrics.  I chose a plain patterned back side so that I could quilt meandering lines between the turtles on the front. If there were turtles on both sides, one side would have had quilting through the turtle's bodies and I didn't want that.

How I made them...

1. I cut 4.5" squares out of my front and back fabrics.  (I made two sets of coasters, four coasters in each finished set. So I cut out 8 fronts and 8 backs.)
2. I cut eight 4" squares of cotton batting that I had preshrunk. I also clipped the corners off of them so they would fit nice inside the coasters.
3. I stitched around the coasters with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving about a 3" opening in the middle of one of the sides. I then turned them right side out through the opening.
4. I employed my husband to stuff the piece of batting into the coaster. =) =)  Then we pressed them flat with the iron. (If you read the post on Peggy's Place Mats, you will know that Ben is an expert place mat stuffer as well...)
5. I folded the edges of the opening to the inside and stitched around the coasters (probably about 1/8" from the edge), closing up the open side in the process.
6. Then, I sewed meandering lines between the turtles to quilt the coasters and hold the batting in place. I was careful not to stitch over border I already sewed in step #3 to keep them looking nice.
7. That's it, they're ready to give to a good home!

*I bought my turtle fabric at crafty planet (see fabric store tab on my blog), but they are currently sold out.

I just finished six place mats for my Aunt Peg. They are loosely based off the pattern in Amy Butler's In Stitches book. (Page 41). I used home dec weight cotton by Joel Dewberry from his Ginseng line.

What I did different from the pattern:

1. I didn't put the 3" side panels down each side on the front. I chose to make the fronts a single fabric. I thought the panels, with this fabric, would make them look more modern and I wanted a traditional look to match their home.
2. I altered the finished size to be 18" x 14".
3. The pattern is for four mats, but I made six.

Frustrations:

1. I hate hand sewing and I had to slip-stitch the seams together on the 8" opening that had been used to turn the place mats right side out. I stabbed myself in the finger and also managed to catch one stitch through a few threads of the jeans I was wearing. =/ So, basically, I sewed one to my pants...but I was trying to sew in a moving car (passenger seat).... Note to self: don't sew in the car! =)
2. I had a heck of a time getting the Peltex to fit in the place mat.  The pattern says to cut the Peltex to the exact finished size of the place mat (that doesn't give you any wiggle room!) and leave an 8" opening to shove it through. However, the Peltex catches on everything due to the texture so it takes some work to get it in there. Plus, mine kept bowing because it was a hare too big. I'd take it out, trim it, try again. Repeat. I was about to go insane when my Husband took over. He came up with a great idea to set the Peltex on the cutting board, lay the place mat on top. Then, slip the cutting ruler between the two and line the ruler up under the place mat. Then he lifted off the place mat and roller cut the excess Peltex off. Perfect sizing! The Peltex began to fit inside in just one try!  He also clipped the corners off the Peltex (just a tiny bit) so they weren't competing with the seam allowance bunched into the turned points.

Other notes:

1. I used my walking foot to help reduce stretch as I sewed them.
2. Top stitching through the top, bottom, seam allowance, and Peltex, I found that the top stitches were perfect but the ones on the back side of the mat were crooked. I talked to Nancy at my Bernina Dealer and she had some great advice. She said I didn't do anything wrong. She explained how the needle looks for a space in the weave to push through. My needle obviously had some issues finding a spot on the bottom fabric, especially after going through Peltex as well. She said that when I'm not using fabric with linear patterns (i.e stripes or plaids where you'd notice they were a little crooked), to cut the back of the place mat slightly off-grain and I should not have that problem. She said it better, but that's the summary.

Overall, I'm really pleased with them and will be making 2 more sets (in different fabrics) as Christmas gifts.

Back Side:

For my Sister's Birthday I thought I'd make an apron with matching hot pads. I chose some fun fabric to match her tough-girl personality. I used the apron and pot holder pattern from Amy Butler's book "In Stitches".  The apron features pleats, a pocket, and a towel loop.

Apron Back

What I did different than the book for the Apron:

1. I placed the towel loop and the pocket on the left side of the apron because my sister is left handed.
2. I cut the blue polka dot pocket flap/trim longer because I thought it looked better. I probably added an extra 3/4 inch.
3. I cut the pocket out of pink fabric instead of the same fabric as the main apron panel.
4. I don't know if this is necessarily different from the pattern, but I used color matched thread on the project. I even sewed the pocket to the apron using teal thread on the polka dot top half, and pink thread on the pink part of the pocket.

What I'd do different next time:

1. I'd make the top trim of the fabric longer again. I liked the look.
2. I'd interface the waistband.
3. I might cut the point into apron ties (cut the ends at an angle) and sew them up. The pattern actually has you make square ends and then, after you've sewn them up and turned them right side, has you fold them into a point and slip-stitch. It's very odd. (However, I cheated and used steam-a-seam two sided seam tape to attach it instead of slip-stitching...)

The pot holders feature a place to put your hands in the back side of the pot holder so you can fold it in half and grab hot pans!  You are seeing the back side of the bottom pot holder.  (Your thumb goes in the bottom "pocket" while the rest of your hand goes in the top "pocket" so you can fold the pot holder in half to grab things with.)

What I did different than the book for the Pot Holders:

1. I used special "batting" called Insul-Bright that is made for pot holders. It has something in it that "reflects the heat back to the source" and "consists of hollow, polyester fibers needlepunched through Mylar". You can buy it in the interfacing section at Jo-Anns, or order it from their web site pre-packaged. I'm sure you can find it at other shops as well. I used two layers in the main square pot holder section and one layer in the hand flaps on the back. Also, this product says it can go in the washer and dryer.
2. Since I stuffed my pot holders with insul-bright, they were a little thicker than the pattern expected. When I stitched the bias binding to the back side, I needed to do less than the 1/2" seam allowance so that it would fold over with enough on the front side.
3. I used the dual-feed foot (also called a walking foot) on my machine to quilt the pot holders as well as sew the bias on. I LOVE THAT FOOT. It made such a big difference in how nice they turned out. If you have one of these feet, you really should use it. For those who don't know what it is, it's a special foot that feeds on the top while your feed dogs move the bottom. It's good for thick fabrics (and stretchy ones) as it helps the top layer and bottom layer move through the machine at the same pace.
4. My dual-feed foot (as well as some machine's standard foot) comes with seam guides. This was awesome as I did not have to do the masking tape method to quilt the diagonal lines evenly apart. Here is a photo of what I'm talking about. I had to draw a chalk line for the very first row, and then I could use the guide for all the rest.

Dual feed foot with guide attachment. Place the guide on the previous line of stitching to quilt evenly spaced rows.