New tutorial and my UFO project for November...

 

This time of year I know many of you are looking for quick, simple, useful and pretty projects as gifts for your sewing friends, but I also think today's needle-book tutorial would be good for those who don't stitch or quilt.

Why? Because it holds packets of needles and a pair of scissors - and these are useful in any homemaker's tool box. At some point we all need to mend a tear, sew a button in place or repair a fallen hem, right?

Another bonus is that you can make use of any small UFO stitcheries which you weren't sure how to display, and the completed project will post very nicely in a small package or medium envelope.

I first made this design in 2017 for my old Stitchery Club, using one of the stitcheries in THIS sampler pattern, but today I printed up my original pattern and re-made it using another of my little stitchery designs, "Sew", which you can find HERE

I'll take you through the tutorial today on the blog for those who don't have access to a printer, but I also have it prepared as a free download if you'd like to save it to your computer and print it out later. Use the link below...

DOWNLOAD the Blooming Needle-Book Tutorial

Let's make the needle-book!

The fabric cutting instructions are for the aqua floral version, so just substitute your own fabrics/colours to suit.

You will require:

* One small stitchery which will be trimmed to 4” high x 3 ¾” wide. (IDEA: You could also fussy-cut a pretty section of fabric, or make a tiny paper-pieced flower.)

* Two different fabrics - one peach tonal, one aqua floral.

* One, ½” x 9” length of aqua cotton lace

* One, ½” x 26” length of aqua silk ribbon

* One, 5” x 9” rectangle of thin Pellon or quilt wadding

From the aqua floral fabric cut –

o   Two, 1” x 4” lengths

o   Two, 1” x 4 ¾” lengths

o   One, 4 ¾” x 5” rectangle

o   One, 6” x 9” rectangle

 From the peach tonal fabric, cut –

o   One, 5” x 9” rectangle

After trimming the stitchery…

* Create a floral border around the stitchery block by sewing the 1” x 4” lengths of fabric down both sides and the 1” x 4 ¾” lengths across the top and bottom. Press the seams away from the stitchery.

* Sew the 4 ¾” x 5” rectangle of fabric to the left side of your bordered stitchery. Press the seam open. This is now the front of your needle-book. Put this aside while we make the lining and pocket.

* Fold the 6” x 9” rectangle of floral fabric in half along its length to make a 3” x 9” pocket and sew the 9” length of cotton lace along the top folded edge so that only half the lace shows above one side.

* Fuse the Pellon behind the 5” x 9” rectangle of peach tonal fabric.

* Lay the pocket over the peach fabric, the raw bottom edge of the pocket in line with the bottom edge of the peach fabric.

* Draw 4 very faint pencil lines down the peach fabric and over the pocket. These will create the two smaller pockets for storing packets of needles. Use the walking foot on your sewing machine (if you have one) to stitch these lines.

* The two outer lines need to be placed 1” from the side edge, and the two middle lines are to be made 3” inside the outer lines. In the photo below the white dashed line represents the middle of the needle-book lining – do not stitch this yet.

*Lay the right side of your needle-book front onto the pocket lining so that all sides are even. Pin the two sections together.

* Sew around the outer edges with a ¼” seam, leaving a 3” opening along one side of the needle-book.

*Turn the needle-book right side out and press it flat with your iron. Ladder stitch the opening closed.

* Find the middle of your length of silk ribbon and pin it onto the centre seam of your needle-book front. Machine-sew a line down the length of the centre seam, catching the ribbon as you go.

 

Fill with packets of needles, fold the ribbon around the needle-book and tie in a bow!

I've decided on my UFO finish for November, well two actually.

Firstly, I need to keep working on the hand-quilting of my Simple Days quilt, but as it's so ghastly hot and won't cool down until next May or even June, this will be slow going, even with air conditioning.

One I can work on this month and complete is a table runner using these two blocks I made four years ago from a pattern called "Pollen" by Jen Kingwell, which had three other blocks but I chose these two as my favourites and never progressed any further.

I just need to find complimenting fabrics and then I can get moving with it.

Have you chosen your November UFO project? What is it?

The other day I showed you my latest UFO finish, a sewing pillow, and Gayner asked in the comments if I could show her how I use it. As I explained in the last post, I do not use a hoop for my hand embroidery, but rest my hands on a small firm pillow which sits on my lap.

I've been doing this for about ten years and have found it to be wonderful for thread, needle and stitch length control. 

If you'd like to know more have a read through THIS blog post where I share a free practice pattern and backstitch tutorial. 

That's all for today. 

It's getting on in the afternoon and once I get the washing off the clothesline, fold it and put it away, I'm going to bake one of Nana's desserts - bread and butter pudding. This is real comfort food for me and some days I just find baking things she used to make is like gentle and soothing medicine, especially after this run of back-to-back barometric migraines lately. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Rosie's for morning tea and stitching, and then I'll drop in to Blossom's on the way home for a little catch up with her and the children.

God bless you all, and may the days ahead be full of hope and joy, grace and provision, kindness and hugs.

A vintage finish and childlike creativity...

Earlier this week I finished the second version of my vintage style needle-book but hadn't taken any photos due to time spent with sick family members and rather dark and cloudy days which do not offer favourable light in my south facing sewing room.

Yesterday, between more clouds and more rain and the odd scattered moment or two of sunshine I made sure to have my camera at the ready and the needle-book open and waiting, just in case. Thankfully when a good shaft of light spread through the window and across the sewing room table I ran in and began snapping away until I had a few that looked good. 

Last week you saw the completed outside but without the button and ribbon which I use to fasten the needle-book closed. The pretty red rose button was perfect and I chose a crinkly ribbon in the same soft tone as the faded doily...

To make this kind of closure you sew a button on one side and stitch the centre fold of your ribbon to the opposite side, then the ribbon is wrapped around the button in a bow. Very simple...

For the inside of my needle-book I cut a circle of cotton quilt wadding and along the top half added a paper pieced flower using half inch hexie shapes. A line of red chain stitch was embroidered around the centre hexie, four green leaves embroidered around the flower and a few aqua cross stitches added to highlight that colour in the floral Tilda fabric (apple butter) used on the outside cover and lining.

(I have a tutorial for the leaves which includes a free pattern HERE

Once the flower and embroidery were completed I blanket stitched the circle of wadding to the inside of the needle-book, being careful not to stitch through to the outside, and then using Perle 12 thread crocheted around the circle using a simple pattern of two dc in one blanket stitch and two trebles in the next blanket stitch.

Last week I showed the small half-circle of cotton wadding which I'd crocheted. This was secured inside the bottom half of my main circle with a one inch wide length of cotton lace.

It's a nice place to put your pretty pins...

....and when you lift it up there are needles hidden underneath. 

For my part there was a lot more detail added to this second version, most especially the hand crocheted edges around the cotton wadding which to be honest I thought gave this needle-book that 'something else' it needed.

If you don't do crochet (I am a newbie!) you could hand stitch some fine lace around those edges.

This new needle-book shall be one of those treasures I'm keeping to hand down one day to a daughter or perhaps a granddaughter.

The basics of making this style of needle-book can be found in THIS blog post where you will see the steps taken for making my original version.

The changes I made for this second version have been explained in today's blog post. 

My sweet Cully May 'created' a new flower the other day on our walk by the ocean.

No wonder Jesus tells us to be like little children. They see such wonder all around and for a 2 yo there's much that is exciting, adventurous and new to discover with each new day.

I have felt a bit stifled creatively this year and mostly that's from the many interruptions to life which included floods, the clean up, ill health of family members and the many migraines which batter my head during the tropical wet season. But it was also from a sense of overwhelm about what we were facing and embracing in this new-to-us journey of home ownership, the things we'd not been prepared for.

When Cully May and I walked by the ocean on Monday I realised she has no time restraints, no expectations, no concerns of the world clouding her thoughts. Her young eyes see creation in all its glory and her response is always JOY and amazement.

You and I need times like that, don't you think?

Hours where we lay aside all else, every burden and expectation, and simply walk outside to look with fresh eyes at the beauty which lies before us. We too need moments that fill our hearts with wonder and joy, but how often do we take that time to do so?

When Cully May picked a pink flower and a yellow flower and put them together, declaring, "Nana, look, I made another flower!", her mind was not cluttered with other things, it was free to create.

I'm going to take more walks in future and clear my thoughts so I can take in God's gift of nature and receive the creative inspiration it offers so freely.

What about you?

hugs

Block 8 - "the love of home" BOM...

Mending was a big part of Nana's sewing, crochet and knitting life. 

She also mended chairs, the clothesline, shoes and many other things as well. Nothing was discarded until she'd made sure there was no way to revive it.

"Make do and mend" wasn't just a slogan for Nana, it was a necessary part of homemaking life and by her example that natural inclination to repair and reuse became my way of life too.

Born in 1910 she lived through both World Wars and the Great Depression, and as a young mother with three children aged 2,4 and 5 she also took on her beloved sister's two children (aged 2 and 4) after Marie died of goiter. 

Mothering five children under 6 through the Great Depression Nana had to draw on everything she'd learned from her own mother and grandmother, skills she improved on over time until at age 52 she once again became mother to a small child, me, and found them to be just as practical as ever.

That wonderful spirit of making something last, repairing or updating so that it's useful or beautiful once again - it's an art many people have lost.

Or perhaps they were never taught to be that way? 

How blessed am I to have learned to make do and mend at Nana's knee.

I find it so inspiring to see how others breathe new life into old things because that's something I enjoy doing too, but mending is one skill that gives me more pleasure than any other around home.

A sense of accomplishment from knowing how to fix a broken footstool, for example, and make it useful again (something Mr E and I did together recently) encourages me to look for that option first before throwing an item away.

I admit there was a season in the past when I let this mindset slip, but once I began embracing the gentle domestic life again, and all that entailed, reacquainting myself with the skills Nana taught me became natural once more.

This month's free BOM design celebrates the gentle domestic arts of making do and mending and your pattern includes the two redwork stitcheries which you can use in any project you like.

I decided to make a needle-book and pincushion...

These small redwork blocks were designed and embroidered in 2014 and have sat unused in my UFO stitchery box ever since. Probably waiting for a time (or project) such as this.

The scissor keep was made by drawing a triangular shape around the "make do" block and fusing thin Pellon behind it. I then cut around my traced line before laying the block face down on a piece of backing fabric. A quarter inch seam was sewn all around, leaving a small opening for turning out. 

After turning the scissor keep right side out I slip stitched the opening closed and pressed it flat.

The pincushion began with a 2 1/2" hexagon shape as the centre, then a round of narrow fabric strips sewn around each straight edge. I fussy cut the heart fabric for those borders - cute, huh?

I cut the stitchery into an oval shape and blanket stitched it onto the centre of the hexagon before fusing some scrap cotton wadding behind the completed front of my pincushion and hand quilting in the ditch and outside the hexagon border.

Once the front was made I trimmed the excess wadding away and made the backing from two pieces of the red fabric. Sewn together with a 1/2" seam, I left a small opening in the middle to fill the pincushion with ground walnut shells after I'd sewn the front and back together and attached the binding around the outside.

Once the binding had been sewn down and the filling added, I slip stitched the opening closed with very tiny, close stitches.

The pincushion is a generous size and simply lovely to use.

The scissor-keep was slip stitched to the front of my needle-book, leaving the top open to slip a pair of scissors in.

I made the cover and the inside of the needle-book separately, sewing them together around the outside edge just before adding the binding.

On the cover I also stitched a couple of small hexies and added a crochet flower and vintage button.

Inside there is a pocket for needle packs, a piece of doctor's flannel for storing pins and needles in use, and a magnetic hexie pin keep.

I also stitched in some vintage Ric Rac braid and cotton lace before finishing with a trio of red buttons.

My husband bought me some very strong tiny magnets and one of them was slipped into the pin-keep hexie before I stitched it down. It works wonderfully!

If you'd like some more specific steps to making your pincushions or needle-books visit my TUTORIALS page. There are plenty there, and most of these steps have been covered in one or another.

To download the free redwork "Make Do and Mend" stitchery patterns go HERE to my shop.

What will you be making from these designs?

Blessings

TUTORIAL - Vintage Style Needle-book...

I have hundreds of ideas swimming through my mind at any given time, but the ones I'd like more time to explore and play around with are ideas for re-purposing vintage linens. 

We had a lovely relaxed weekend. 

On Saturday morning we checked out a few garage sales and found a brilliant rowing machine for minimal cost, I experimented in the kitchen and successfully came up with a lovely slice recipe which I'll share another day, Mr E pottered around with the car and wrote some school assessments, we watched a wonderful new movie (Lion), and eventually closed our weekend with fish and chips by the beach at sunset.

In between these activities I indulged myself by following through with a vintage doily idea that's been simmering away in my mind for weeks, so felt totally content when it was complete. 

Some cutting here, some stitching there, I didn't rush anything but weaved the project throughout our two day break until all that was needed were a button and ribbon sewn in place early Monday morning.

I'll share with you the steps I took, but there's no measurements or patterns sheets because it grew from one circular cross-stitched doily I've had for many years. Your doily may be a different shape or size, but the basic instructions will work none-the-less.

I began by choosing two 1930's reproduction fabrics in pink and blue from my stash, with colours as close as possible to those used in the doily's cross stitch. 

Then I cut a circle from the blue fabric about 1 1/4" wider in diameter than the doily, a square from the pink fabric slightly larger than my circle, and a square of Parlan which I fused behind the pink square.

(you could use thin fusible Pellon instead)

Lay the circle right side down on the pink square and pin the two fabrics together.

Sew around the circle with a 1/4" seam, leaving a 2"- 3" opening for turning out. 

I used blue pins as my markers for where to begin and end the sewing.

Cut away the excess pink fabric...

...and clip into the curve with your scissors, being careful not to cut through the seam line.

Turn the circle right side out and press. 

You now have two sides of the opening to hem.

Tack the curved fold of the Parlan backed pink fabric in a contrast colour and iron a curved hem along the edge of the blue fabric.

Ladder stitch the two sides together to close the opening and remove the contrast tacking thread.

Fuse a strip of applique bonding paper along the centre back of your doily, and once cooled, peel it off.

Gentle fuse the doily onto the centre of the blue side of your circle with a warm, dry iron.

Now you'll need two strands of blue embroidery thread, a length of cream Ric Rac, and some cream Perle #12 thread.

Sew a line of blue running stitch 1/4" inside the edge of the blue circle. It's fine for the stitches to show through on the pink side.

Turn over to the pink side of the circle and use the cream Perle #12 thread to hand sew the Ric Rac over the blue running stitch. Don't stitch right through the circle, just place your needle between the blue and pink fabrics as you stitch.

Use pinking shears to cut a circle of cotton or wool quilt wadding, two inches smaller than your fabric circle.

Fold the circle of wadding in half and sew a line of contrast tacking stitch just under the fold as a guide for you when working on the next step.

 On one side of the fold, embroider some simple flowers with colonial knot centres, lazy daisy petals and cross stitch leaves. 

I chose variegated threads very close in colour to the threads used in my vintage doily.

You can scatter the flowers around any way you like. I kept the middle of the half circle free because I wanted to add something there later.

Take a length of silk ribbon, lay it in position on the pink fabric circle, and carefully embroider a flower into the middle of it, whilst sewing only through the pink fabric and not through the blue. 

The ribbon is to hold your scissors in place so choose where you want the scissors to be before you start the embroidery.

Turn the circle back to the blue side.

Blanket stitch around the edge of the doily with two strands of blue thread to secure it onto the fabric, being careful not to stitch through to the pink side.

Remove the tacking stitch from the wadding and sew the wadding to the pink side of the needle-book along the centre fold line with cream thread. Hide the stitches between the pink and blue sides of the needle-book.

From here you can finish the needle book as you like.

I sewed a mother of pearl button onto the centre lower front of my needle-book, then folded a length of blue silk ribbon in half and stitched the fold to the opposite edge of the circle.

This way when I close the needle-book I can wrap the ribbon around the button and tie a bow for closure.

Inside the needle-book I added a few vintage buttons and sewed a sweet round of crochet to the front of the embroidered wadding before adding a mother of pearl button to the centre of the crochet. Lastly I secured my very old embroidery scissors in place with the ribbon. 

Now you might be fussy about wanting to hide the back of your wadding embroidery?

If so, you could add another piece of same sized wadding behind the embroidered one and blanket stitch around the edge of the two wadding circles to secure them together before sewing this piece in place on your needle-book.

But me?

I actually love the raw homeliness of my threads when the pin keep is opened...

Truly, this was a delight to make and I hope you have fun making something similar.

Have a blessed and joy filled week!

hugs