Spring throw

Hi folks! So it's been a while since I last posted on the Faberdashery blog. I have no excuse really. It hasn't stopped raining for the past month so it's not as if I've been undertaking any great outdoor activities instead of crafting. No, I have just been taking my time with the latest project, as I wanted it to be something that would last well - even though it looks like it's thrown together (which it really is). I had the idea of making a "throw" that could be as versatile as possible - used to chuck on the sofa to cover up the unattractive spilt nail varnish stain, to use as a picnic blanket when the sun eventually comes out, or to throw on the bed if the weather takes an even colder spell.

To create a light, easily storable, and versatile throw you will need:

• Squares of fabric (mine are all approx 30cm squared)
• A backing sheet the total size of the throw you want to make
• Needle, thread, pins, tape measure, scissors
• Sewing machine (not vital)

Method:

1. I began by cutting the squares out of various leftover scraps of fabric and then laying them all out on the floor in a haphazard pattern, before pinning them in rows and sewing together with the sewing machine:

2. When the rowns were ready to be sewn together I ironed the underside seams flat so that the throw would lie better while I was sewing and once it was finished:

3. When all the squares had been sewn together to form the main body of the the throw, I pinned a plain old sheet to the top of the throw, so that effectively the topside (the patchwork) and the underside (sheet) were pinned face to face and then I sewed up three sides using the sewing machine.

4. I ironed the fourth unsewn edges back in on themselves to form creases so that they would stay in place when sewing them together by hand, which I then did.

5. When the topside and bottom side were completely sewn together I set about sewing simple white stitches diagonally across each square to create a quilting effect and to hold the two layers of the throw firmly together:

This was the most time-consuming part of the project and I successfully broke two machine needles in the process...oops.

But finally, I ended up with a country-bumpkin-ish spring throw, that can be used whenever and wherever:

 

Perfect for wrapping yourself up in and hiding from the rain until it goes away :-)

The Patchwork Quilt: the finale

You may have noticed that it's taken me rather a long time to complete the patchwork quilt project, but now, finally, it is finished, and I was so so happy last night when I finally stitched the last stitch :)

So, from where we left off last time (The Patchwork Quilt: how it all began) the next few stages took place as follows...

With all my rows stitched together I set about ironing down the seams of the underside of the patchwork so it would lie better once sewn together with the wadding.

I then laid the patchwork on the floor, placed the wadding on top of that and then the undersheet I intended to use on top of that, in order to cut everything to the correct size, making sure that the wadding was about half a centimetre larger all the way round than the material, so that the quilt filled out well when sewn together.

As my patchwork was larger than the wadding, and I wanted to use as much of it as possible, I folded and pinned each side to the undersheet (face to face, and being careful to avoid pinning the wadding) so that it created a nice, 1 inch patchwork border on the underside.

I then removed the wadding, turned the quilt the right way out, and set the folds where I wanted them in the material using the iron. With this done, I set about sewing the patchwork to the undersheet on three sides, leaving all the corners and one end unsewn to fit the wadding.

With the wadding back inside and the material the right way out, in order to make the corners look neat and concise, I folded the corners of the patchwork in on themselves into a triangle by about 8-10cm. I then wrapped the two corners of each triangle around each corner of the wadding, and pinned them into place before sewing by hand.

Next, I pinned the last edge together, folding over the fabric to hide the sloppy edge of the patchwork, and sewed along the edge of the patchwork by hand, with small invisible stitches.

I then used the sewing machine to stitch all the way down the sides of the quilt, leaving about a 1 inch border along each edge, or using the overlap of the patchwork on the undersheet to give a nice border, ensuring that the wadding was spread out flat, right to the edges of the fabric.

FINALLY, I pinned all three layers of the quilt together with about 40 evenly spaced pins, to make sure the wadding didn't move around inside, while I made the same amount of tiny little knots through the top and bottom of the quilt to hold the wadding permanently in place.

And here is the finished thing, that made me smile with so much relief and a little bit of pride!

The Patchwork Quilt: how it all began...

As I mentioned the other day, this patchwork quilt has been a fairly long-term project. It all began a few months ago when I thought it would be nice to have a light quilt that we could use to throw over our seen-better-days sofa throughout the summer, and that would look equally nice thrown over the end of the bed in winter, over another attempt I made at a duvet cover about three years ago (below).

 
Well, it feels like winter is fast approaching and the patchwork quilt is finally nearly finished!

I started by cutting out hundreds of little squares using a 10cm by 10cm paper template. When I had arranged them into some sort of pattern-like order on the floor of the living room about a thousand times I finally came up with a diagonal symmetrical design I liked with red as the predominent colour (to match the minimal colour scheme in the bedroom).

With the rows laid out on the floor I began the ardous task of collecting them up in the order they were to be sewn together and numbering each pile with little post-its so there was  absolutely no confusion about which little square was going where.

Feeling confident about the order of each row I began pinning each square together face to face and stitching them...

...into long strips as above.

When I had all the strips needed to go across the width of the quilt I trimmed off the excess thread hanging from each seam and ironed the backs of the seams so that the small amount of material on the back of each seam was flat to the main body of material.

I then pinned each strip to the next, face to face, and sewed them together row by row...

...until I ended up with this.

I'm not bothered at all by the squares not lining up exactly, it won't spoil the overall effect of the quilt and unless you've measured the exact size of each patch, and the exact width of each seam, you're bound to end up with a little homemade giveaway in the slight overlap of some of the patches!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Quilting project numero uno

So a while ago I began a patchworking project to make a quilt/throw to cover up our budget cream ikea sofa in the living room, which I successfully spilt purple nail polish on within the first fortnight of getting it...

It has so far been one of my longest projects (much to Jim's despair), as it took me a while to decide which colours to go for, collect the fabric, cut it into squares, pin them together etc etc, but now it has taken on a patchwork sheet-resemblance and this weekend I was down the final decision...

POLYESTER WADDING OR ECO-FRIENDLY BAMBOO WADDING?

I spent about half an hour in Fabrics Galore below on Wandsworth Road - one of my favourite places to spend a Saturday morning, or afternoon, or whole day in fact! - trying to decide between the two waddings, and it was pretty much one of the hardest decisions ever. In my heart I wanted to go for the bamboo as it is much more environmentally friendly, however, it was about five times the price of the polyester. I was also told that the polyester is completely washable, and that made up my mind. Fickle I know, but polyester wadding it is.

Fabrics Galore, 54 Lavender Hill, Battersea, London SW11 5RH

I have the wadding rolled up at home and some time this week it will convert the patchwork sheet I have constructed into a fully fledged, squdgy quilt, with a squiggly pattern sewn on and all.

Wish me luck!

Fabric covered birthday card book

This is a handy little project for making a diary to keep a record of important people's birthdays, combined with a storage place for bithday cards, to help avoid that last minute dash to Paperchase when you realise you've missed your granny's birthday . . .

I came up with the idea when I noticed my mum's diary was bulging with an excessive amount of pre-bought birthday cards, slotted in between the pages of the month it was destined to be sent (you can tell where I get my uber-organisational skills from). However, not only was this entirely impractical for when she needed to take her diary out and about (along came a huge stash of cellophane-wrapped greetings cards) there was also a fairly regular disastrous occurence when the diary and it's entire contents scattered all over the floor after being knocked off the table.

For the birthday card book
You will need:

• A blank notepad, no smaller than A5 (I used an A5 sketchpad which is great due to its thicker than average paper, but slightly on the small side http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-Daler-Rowney-Spiral-Bound-A5-White-Paper-Sketch-Book_105240.htm) - whereas something like this is fine http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-Derwent-A4-Landscape-Sketchpad_333716.htm
• Scissors
• PVA glue
• Fabric scraps
• Needle and thread
• Ribbons
• Pen, pencil and ruler
• Paperclips or pegs

1.  Begin by sewing strips of fabric into two horizontal patchworks about an inch longer than the width and length of the book, to cover the front and back covers. Alternatively, if you are short of time, just measure and cut two pieces of fabric so they are slightly larger than the front and back covers. Set these aside.
2. As the book will be divided up by month, work out how many pages you'd like to use for the monthly calendar (I used one side of one page) and then add on two extra for each month - these will make the actual holder for the cards - "card" pages. It's OK to rip out excess pages as having the cards in the book will take up lots of space anyway.
3. Use a pencil/pen and ruler to mark on a daily calendar for each month (remembering to leave two blank pages between each month).

4. Using a ruler, pencil and scissors, cut half of each first blank "card" page for each month diagonally from about two inches from the botton right corner to halfway up the left side. Discard the top of each of these.

5. Cut 12 strips of ribbon (one for each month) the same length as the width of the book's pages, and glue them to fasten the bottom of the diagonal "half" page and the full "card" page for each month together. Add a little bit on the bottom right hand side as well if you like. Use your paperclips or pegs to hold the ribbon in place until it sets.


6. When everything is dry you should have quite a sturdy little book. Take your fabric - plain or patchwork - and glue each bit to the front and back covers, making sure there is a little overlap glued down on the inside top and bottom.

7. Trim any excess material down the sides of the covers and to give it a more finished look take a final piece of ribbon and glue it to the edge (inside and out of the cover) to hide the edge of the material. Peg everything in place until dry.

 Here is the one I made my mum for her last birthday, in full use!