Goodbye Baby Quilt #3

Today I say goodbye to my third baby quilt I made as a friend had a wee girl last week. I love the fact I'm now at a stage where I can give gifts I've made and not be ashamed of them!

I took some photos of the finished item. Goodbye Animal Quilt... you're off to a good home!

My first skirt

Look out Dorothy Perkins... There's a new label in town... (with two items on the rack now!)

I've just finished my first skirt (Butterick B5466) and compared to the dress I made in the previous post it was easy-peasy! I'm very pleased I managed to follow all the pattern instructions and remember how to do darts and the likes without the watchful eye of my sewing tutor.

As you can see by my special modelling skills below I've decided to accessorise my new skirt with thermal leggings, hiking socks and slippers. (Anyone would think it was cold in Scotland!)

This sewing palava is truly addictive.

Classy

SUCH a good look!

Baby quilt #3 - nearly done

In a post a few months ago I was having a 'fabric dilemma'. I was a little stuck on this project because I didn't really like the fabric combination all together (it was a Moda charm pack and my first attempt at 'Disappearing Nines') and kept putting the project off.

After much scratching of the head I decided what the vibrant patterns needed was to be broken up with plain white material, to make it a little easier on the eye. So, my third baby quilt is nearly done (need to sew the binding and I'm going to attempt to machine bind it this time, seeing as my hand sewing is crap!)

Feast your eyes on the recovered project below:

The front

Thank goodness for the white!

Oooh... look at the fancy stripe!

Wish me luck on the binding (arghhhh)

My sewing night classes are brilliant and I'm learning loads. I did my first ever 'darts' last week (pretty badly, but still!) I'll take some photos this week when it starts looking more like a dress. 

I LOVE SEWING!

Cushions and class

I've learned many things these past few weeks from the World of Sewing! I attended my first Dressmaking for Beginners class on Wednesday and discovered how to read patterns and other general 'beginner' basics. I need to hit the fabric shop this weekend to find a pattern for a dress I'm to make on the course and get some material. I'm both terrified and excited at the same time!

The other lesson has been more 'hands on'. As I've mentioned in previous posts, my sister requested some cushion covers which I've nearly now completed. But not without some mishaps!

Rule 1: make sure you have the fabric the right side around before sewing together.

Rule 2: don't make the covers the same size as the measurements given. What you get is saggy cushions!

Rule 3: don't use pale yellow thread on a mint colored cushion.

Rule 4: never sew when you're tired. Ever.






I have one more cover to re-work tomorrow then I'll be concentrating my efforts to my course project. Eek... Making a dress!


- Posted from my iPhone

Nearly finished my first quilt

Hooray - I finally managed to find the camera and take some decent photos of my first ever quilt! I've done one side of the binding but am not very good at 'invisible stitches'. If anyone has a good link that could help me get to grips on this stitch I'd appreciate it. 

The binding is a bit dodgy... there must be an easier way

 I also took some piccies of the Lollipop quilt I've started.

Lollipops!

Binding Tutorial

Binding with Mitered Corners 1, a photo by WendysKnitch on Flickr.

I've been saved! After reading loads of online tutorials on how to do binding on quilts this one actually makes (visual) sense to me.
I attempted a mock run-though last night with pins on the baby quilt and now have enough confidence to take the next step to sew the binding together this weekend.

I've also begun my second quilt using fabric from the Moda 'Lollipop' charm packs. I'm in love with quilting!

I won! I won!

I'm currently in 'chuffed mode' at the moment. Yesterday I received an email from Cloth Magazine saying I had won their bumper prize pack and could they get my details so they could post the BOX out! Yes... BOX! It arrived this morning (fast huh!) and I've been gushing over the lovely contents.

Although my husband laughed at me because I TOTALLY missed this page in the latest issue:

Yep, that's me!

This is what I've won from issue 6

Unbelievable. How on earth could I have missed seeing my own name in the magazine?! But how exciting. I never win anything... and to win a box full of crafting goodies just when I've been bitten by the sewing bug is brilliant. 

Here is my lucky stash...

What a lucky lass I am!

Fabulous florals from the new Freespirit collection 

Berisford ribbons, giant buttons, and gorgeous fabric from one of my favourite bloggers M is for Make

Wooden vintage pegs and Liberty print binding on a wooden bobbin. Too cute!

Logan gets a children's apron and some fish scissors!

A fabulous book to teach me lots of goodies to make

And wonderful Christmas fabric as a wee bonus.

At this rate I'm going to need to build an extension onto our new house to keep all my sewing goodies in! A massive massive thank you to the team at Cloth Magazine. You've made this lass very happy indeed. 

Girl or Boy?

Hmm. It seems I have a dilemma. It appears the quilt I'm hand sewing - aka "My Very First Quilt" - is a wee bit girly. Especially if my sister pops out a baby boy. I showed my Mum (via Skype) yesterday and she mentioned how pink it was. I've only sewn the top part of the quilt so the next part is to research how to put the backing material and wadding on and make it look pretty.

Girl or boy?

The thought of doing binding gives me the heebyjeebies. I'll see if I can cheat somehow! Would you give this as a gift to a baby boy or not?

TCx

**EDIT: I've just discovered this fantastic tutorial from one of my favourite bloggers on how to bind a quilt.  Seriously, what did we do before the internet?

Terrified!

I've done it. I've taken the plunge and begun my first quilt. And I'm terrified!

My sister is due her second baby soon so I thought I'd give the wee bairn a little quilt to throw up on. I have a charm pack from Moda's "It's a Hoot" range and have laid the quilt like this:

Quilt of terror!

Last night was spent marking and pinning the rows together. The next step is to start sewing I guess!

Terr-i-fied!

Introducing Funky Cat

I've finished the wee gift for my friend's brand new sprog, born last week. The baby block is made up with some cuts of a 'Lollipop' charm pack, and I made up this wee Funky Cat out of felt last night. Logan saw the cat and has been wanting to get his sticky fingers on it so I'm going to make him one tonight.

I'm quite proud of my efforts!

Me-oow

I love Moda charm packs!

- Posted from my iPhone

I've cracked open the sewing machine!

Ok Ok so my birthday isn't until March 14th so my sewing machine shouldn't "officially" be open. But to tell you the truth, my hubby was slack at hiding it (we were using it as a barrier to stop the monkey climbing the stairs!) so I decided to open it and attempt my first sewing project. How exciting!

I have however, realised I'm crap at sewing and seriously need some lessons. It took me half an hour to wind a bobbin, thread the machine and find where everything goes. Then break the feed-cover-thingy-ma-bob. Nothing like a bit of superglue to start things off huh!

Check out how I've set up my work space:

I know you have workspace envy.

Oh yes. This is how a TRUE professional needs to work. The brand new shiny sewing machine is on top of a wooden chopping board, balancing on an unpacked cardboard box from the move, with the power cable draped over the sofa, plugged into the only socket the spare room has. Utter comfort. True sewing conditions I know you'll all want to replicate. 

I did manage to sew up this wee beauty I hand stitched months ago:

Thankfully the stitching on the outside looks OK and I'm fairly pleased with the end result. As long as you don't look too closely it's not a bad start. I just need my sister to have a baby girl so I can give it to her. Babies can't see too well in the first few weeks so my stitches will look fab to the bairn!