I like telling you about all the bits that didn't work

In my family we always make Christmas and birthday lists to help each other choose gifts (though we like surprises too). One of the things my sister wanted was a fabric cover for an A5 diary. She had seen some on madeit, and I would have been quite happy to buy her one there, if I could have found an option that seemed right for her, or had left enough time to request a special order.

So, in a moment of pre-Christmas craziness, I decided to try to sew it myself.

This really is a very simple sewing project. Except for the fact that I don't really sew.

I do have a sewing machine that was given to me years ago by a friend who was leaving Canberra. I've only used it a few times and generally for some half-thought-out (if that...) attempt to alter clothing.

So this was a challenge, and I am proud of how it turned out - not perfect, but she thought I had bought it, which, under the circumstances was a compliment!

Unfortunately I can't find the instructions I actually used, but it was basically this method, though I also used interfacing on the front piece of fabric.

This was one of those projects where I thought I was going to make something fancier, and had to simplify. I really wanted to embellish it, and tried quite a few options, but in the end this rather detailed Japanese print fabric just didn't want to be embellished. By me, anyway.

I vaguely considered having a section of contrasting fabric or a ribbon/trim, but gave that up quickly as it was a rush job and I didn't manage to find fabrics that played well together.

So I moved on to embroidery, trying it first directly onto the fabric...


The two above both use whipped backstitch and the beginnings of some seed stitch filler, as seen here. The one below is split stitch.

I was trying to use elements of the print to pick out an 'E' monogram - thereby biting off WAY more than I could chew - and had trouble getting anything sensible to happen. I couldn't even decide what colour thread would work - I think blue silk which closely matched the fabric was the best option, but it was inclined to disappear a little too much.

Meanwhile I searched for examples of hand-embroidered print fabrics and found lots of inspiration, including Amy's lovely work which I had admired before on her blog.

I'm pretty sure I should start with a fabric with a different sort of print, something much simpler, if I want to try this type of embroidery.

Next I decided to try applique (which I have never done before), embroidering a monogram onto a different fabric. Although I don't really know what dryer sheets are, I managed to work out this technique using scraps of non-fusible interfacing.

But I would have needed more planning and time and probably practice to - maybe - make this work. There were two main problems. The first was that I didn't come up with a combination of fabric and thread colour that would work with the main fabric. And the second was the difficulty of getting the shape right, I wanted my applique to match one of the shapes in the print, which might have worked, but only (I think) if the shape of the embroidered monogram was more sympathetic to that shape as well. I would have needed to invest some time with a pencil and paper to have a chance of making this work.


Finally, I was going to add a button and elastic loop for closure. But I realised that E might not want this (a friend pointed out that with the button, it wouldn't sit flat on a table for writing, which could be annoying). So I just took the button with me on Christmas Day and checked if she would like one - she said she wouldn't be inclined to fasten it anyway.

So plain it was.

And even though I spent a lot of time on things that didn't pay off for this project (as well as some that did: I didn't mention at least two practice goes sewing the cover with scrap fabric first), I have no regrets. Firstly because I like the final product and it does the job. And secondly for all I learned in the process, lessons I will be able to apply to some other project in future.

Drink to the sound of the song parade

This Christmas present for our littlest nephew was a collaboration between my sister (she's here too) and me. I knitted the doll and she brought it to life by adding the face. It was a joke that instantly became an excellent plan - I sent her the link to show her what I was making and said 'don't worry, I promise not to call on you at the last minute to rescue me, like to embroider the face at the last minute ....wait... unless you WANT to collaborate?'

It turned out she loved the idea, and didn't she do a sweet job? I would never have come up with those eyebrows! Such personality.

I used this lovely simple pattern (there is also a version knit flat, in several different sizes, designed for beginner knitters), though I did the in-the-round version, and added a little bit of shaping to the top of the head, hands and feet.


I was delighted when Dolly was immediately given a good gumming.

Actually not only Dolly, but also this post, is real family effort. The photos were taken by our biggest nephew (just 6). I should note, he actually composed them nicely with people in them - I've just cropped them for this post. Later their mum, our sister, drew this sweet portrait.

the galaxy from inside a jar

I had plenty of lavender left after making the eye pillow, so I took the opportunity to make a few little lavender sachets for presents. The lavender came in a big bag and it was a bargain because it was still on the stalks rather than just petals. It was a bit time-consuming pulling the petals off to use (though a lot had fallen to the bottom of the bag, which helped, but it smelled great! I still have lots left, and I think I might make myself a neck pillow with the remaining linseed and lavender.

The pink one started with a picot hem, a round with eyelets for the drawstring, and then I used this
chain-of-hearts motif - after several failed attempts to reverse the direction of a different heart motif (also, that pattern included SK4P and K4tog, not super fun in splitty cotton).


For the other two I just did a normal cast on edge, and this leaf lace pattern. The ties are just a crocheted chain. The white one is Patons Feathersoft 4ply, and the orangey one is Trekking XXL sock wool. I switched to the navy blue fabric for the lining because I became slightly concerned that the white cotton I had used for the pink one might not be tightly woven enough to stop a few bits of lavender/leaf/sticks I missed poking through. I hope it wasn't a problem though, as I used that white fabric for the eye pillow as well. I like the navy with the white sachet, but I think white would have looked nicer under the orange one. Still, all of them will smell nice in the wardrobe or underwear drawer.

Quoits!

Hello! I hope Christmas was restful, tasty and fun for everyone.

It's time to get on with the parade of Christmas gifts. As ever, not everyone got something hand made, but I came up with as many simple quick(ish) things as I could.

My grandparents had a wonderful old quoits set that we used when we stayed with them. I remember the rope quoits being quite heavy and rough, and I think the stand/base might have been wrought iron - it seemed to weigh a ton. It's such a simple game, suitable for all ages, so it seemed like a good 'whole family' present.

Wrought iron would have been great, but I made do with a wooden toilet roll holder, bought new and very inexpensively from at Hall Markets. I originally thought that a stand like this might need a wider base attached underneath to make it more stable, but with testing, it seemed to be fine as is. A good thing, as I don't have any woodwork skills to speak of.

My painting skills aren't much better. I had already bought little sample pots of enamel and done the first coats (yellow) when K suggested that spray paint might be easier (and noted that we had access to plenty of it). I persisted with the paint brush, did a shocking job of the blue layer - largely because I propped it upside down to paint the bottom and let it dry - but I had already painted the top as well, so the paint moved around and dried in uneven lumps. I don't have photos, but trust me, it was a mess. So then I lost time in the precious last week, scraping it all off to start again fresh with the spray paint. The result was not perfect, but much better.

For the quoits I followed these instructions for grommets though I didn't understand the splicing part and went my own way with that. I found that I could avoid having a thicker part by weaving the ends in just before finishing the third round of twists. They seem to hold together - but if they end up failing the kid test I will have another go at doing it the proper way. For the coloured stripes, I wound acrylic yarn around one third of the total length of rope. They definitely have an uneven, home made look but on the whole I'm pretty happy with them. It was fun spending some evenings working with rope instead of wool.