Sewing Shelves

My patchwork fabric collection had been housed in a two old suitcases and were somewhat organised - or so I thought.  After looking at some beautiful shelving systems on various sewing blogs I decided I needed something similar to those.  Unfortunately I'd rather spend my budget on fabric and notions so I came up with an alternative shelving unit.

 I spent a grand total of $4.50 on my shelves - and that was for screws.  The offcuts of wood were left by my in-laws in our garage and no piece was wider than 15cm.  After some fiddling with various lengths my H cut them for me and I was left to sand, drill, screw and paint.

Part way it looked like this:

 And by that time I was doing ok but realised that I should have:

• drilled each hole longer, so that the screws had plenty of room and there was less chance of the wood splitting - it did only a little.
• assemble it on a hard surface - not carpet!
• find clamps to hold it - if at all possible.

But despite each piece being a slightly different width than the others, (the two sides are the same) it has come up very well and is a great place to store fabric.  The paint was 'Colonial White' and was last used for a ladder project ten years ago. 

It was also a great project to show K what you can make with wood.  She loves the carpentry table at Playcentre but this was a chance to show her that even mum could make something!

So I have spent the last week ironing, folding, sorting and trimming through my collection of pieces for patchwork.  Anything too small to be folded went back in a suitcase.  It also helped me to realise what I did have plenty of and yes - there were some gaps.

The top shelf is sorted by colour.
The second shelf is by style (L to R):  Christmas; 30s reproduction; checks; stripes & spots; florals (have heaps of these); and then large eye-spy prints.
The third shelf is by designer:  Sweetwater; French General; a mix; Anni Downs & Bonnie and Camille; Amy Butler etc; and lots of Debbie Mumm (that shows you how old my collection is!)
The fourth by colour again.
Then the final layers have larger cuts of assorted fabrics - including more French General, 3 Sisters, Oliver + S, and a little of Heather Ross.

My larger cuts of yardage - for sewing clothes and quilt backings are stored in other boxes.

Miss Ngaire

I finally got around to knitting the fingerless mittens from the last part of the Vintage Purls Summer Sock Club and I am very pleased with them.  I didn't knit them in the wool provided - a denim blue - but instead chose a high twist fingering weight (4ply) 100 % merino from 'Joy of Yarns', colour: Blackcurrant.  This range of yarn is no longer available, but as I only used 67grams for the long gloves I have another 33g available for something smaller.

 Excuse the second and third pictures as it is very tricky to take a picture of one's own hand.  :-)

I wrote about the pattern on my ravelry project page - it was interesting and challenging to knit - but the pattern was not as full as I would have liked.  I can see myself modifying it slightly to knit some more gloves in the near future.
And oh!  My wrists are so super warm now.

Something Simple

I have decided to get better at free motion quilting.  I have a number of quilts that need completing and know the designs I want to use on them - but at present I am being a bit ambitious considering my skill level.  So out come the books, clips and blog posts - all to teach me better techniques at free motion work.

To practise my work I have created a number of small projects to quilt.  Many are finished, some of which I am happy with the quilting of, others not.  Some need a border or cushion backing - but here is one I made - a simple small table topper.

The fabric is from the original range by Anni Downs and I used 4 1/2 " squares turned into a disappearing nine patch.  The good thing about small projects is that you can play with different blocks as well as different quilting techniques.

I really like the flowers I quilted and I was pleased to see progress in my skills.  The spacing of the flowers just needs to be improved - and I'm marking still it all out with a dissolving blue pen line!

Too Nice Not To Share!

This is another project I made a while back - more than six months ago.  But I love, love, love it and so does K.

I made it from four charm packs and some yardage.  I used 2 yards of the light colour dots for the sashing and another half yard of striped fabric for the binding.

The backing was more Cape Ann.

It was also my first attempt at an all-over free motion quilting pattern.  Not the most even - but I was really pleased with my first attempt.

Found Fairy

I went through some photos from last summer recently and found this one of K being a helper on the farm.  Excuse the delay in posting but I thought it was too good of a photo to ignore.  Where else would you see a fairy dress and gumboots!  We were shifting an auger and it was hot.

Poor K wanted to stay in her 'Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress' that I made prior to Xmas from some 60 year old crepe my grandmother had given me.  I adapted the pattern only to lower the neckline and it meant I had no collar to worry about.  I made a muslin in the polycotton I used for the lining and as that fitted K fine I kept going.  The dress has a large bow at the back and three layers of tulle.

Woolly Cuddles

I've switched my sewing machines over to ball point needles so am busy churning out knit garments.  I've found that if I use four threads on my overlocker for most of my seaming I get a good result.  For topstitching I use my sewing machine with a twin ball-point needle - it gives a finish like a coverstitch machine when worked over the overlocked edge.

I made these PJs from a merino blend - K has problems taking them off in the morning - so they must be good.  The top is Oliver + S 'Field Trip' raglan tee.  Super easy to make - much easier than having a shoulder seam and fitted sleeves.  The pants are from 'Growing Up Sew Liberated' by Meg McElwee - they are the 'Sleeping Johns'.  I made both in size 5, so a bit big yet.

 Yes - she really does love her teddy bear - but he's not for sale!

To continue the woolly theme we both went out to help H the other day sorting sheep and I took my camera to snap a pick of K with her homespun jersey's original owner.  In case it is not obvious - the jersey came from the black sheep poking her head up behind K.

The jersey has been made from a heavily adapted Debbie Bliss pattern - I'm still new enough to spinning that I can't spin to a required wpi (wraps per inch) yet.  I have to swatch and work out stitch numbers from there.  This jersey was made a year ago - but you can see that I'm going to have to start thinking about the next size up.  Luckily I've got one and a bit black fleeces from this ewe in my possession.

Winter Wool

It's suddenly got colder and we now have the fire going regularly.  It's also time to get knitting fast.  I am currently working on Georgie Hallam's 'Annabel' for K in The Wool Company's 'Watermelon'.  It's certainly very colourful and I'm having to work from three different balls to avoid colour pooling.  It's got a couple of new techniques in it - so am enjoying the challenge.

Just thought I'd put in a note about this book - it's fantastic.  'Cast On: Bind Off' by Leslie Ann Bestor.
A little book so sits nicely in the knitting basket, but really useful.  Every time I use a new pattern with a different cast on or off technique then this becomes my bible.  Excuse the poor photo.

Now as the weather gets colder we've got out the winter wear.  Here's K in her farm gear.  The coat is an Oliver + S pattern (School Days Jacket) made from an old swanndri that belonged to K's great uncle.  For those of you that are not from NZ - a Swanndri ('swanny') is a pure wool coat/over shirt worn by bush men/farmers to protect them from the cold.  They're a national symbol!
This coat was made last winter and a bit of a hodge-podge - but is super warm - and quick.  I even re-used the existing hood by just trimming the front edge back.  Note:  the pink hat is NOT meant to be worn over-the-top!

I have also finished this vest.  It is 'Boheme' by Allegra Wermuth.  I haven't blocked it properly though.

Here are a few pairs of socks I have finished for K.  Most made by using up scraps.
More information about my knitting on Ravelry

I love wool!  There's nothing better.