Sewing

Bargello Table Runner #2 – Finished

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After yesterday’s experiments with fabric face masks, today I went back to completing the bargello table runner. I had more than half to stitch in the ditch and because I was matching thread colour to the blocks it wasn’t straightforward sewing – lots of stitching a short distance, changing direction, a bit more stitching, then another turn…. Nevertheless, I was able to finish the quilting reasonably quickly (I looked at the clock – it was close to 1pm).

Then binding. I was planning to use a black “crackle” from my stash but I wasn’t totally happy with it. All fabric stores in the region are now closed so I was limited to what I had in the apartment. I was putting away the leftover fabrics from the bundle of strips I used to create the bargello to find two perfect bronze strips left. Each 5″ wide – I decided to cut one strip into three 1 5/8″, I cut one 1 5/8″ strip from the second. Joined the binding strips and attached them to the front of the runner.

Finished Table Runner

Again, I wanted a very narrow binding (a smidge more than 1/4″) which left me with a 3/4″ binding on the back side – it had to be sewn by hand.

I realized once I’d put the binding on that I didn’t have a signature/date on the piece – on the previous table runners I was smart enough to embroider my name and year BEFORE I added the backing and quilted them. This time I forgot and had to embroider my name and year through all layers. (I hope having made this mistake here, I won’t make it again.)

Table Runner On My Glass Table

I auditioned the runner on my glass table – it’s either a bit long or a bit too short depending on how you look at it. It isn’t “just right”. Also (I can’t believe I’m actually saying this) it is too bright and strong for the room decor. Perhaps I’ve just become used to the more toned down runner I’ve been using on the table.

This piece is now stored away in my quilt closet along with the other wall art, table runners, quilts living there. I’m anticipating all the showing I was lined up to do this spring and summer will now not happen. If I’m lucky, some of those venues will come available when this period of quarantine comes to an end (whenever that might be).

Fabric Face Masks

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Last evening, Rachael Maddow had an item on the surgical face mask crisis in the US and talked about Deaconess Health Centre’s call for crafters in the community to help build a supply of masks.

I’ve been looking for a way I could do more than self-isolate as a way of pitching in during this pandemic. I can’t do much because I’m “over 65”, with a preexisting cough that makes it difficult for me to be out in public at this particular time, but this was something I could do.

I found the link: https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask and this morning I printed out the instructions from the Turban Project Face Mask and gave it a try.

First, the instructions recommend using flannel for the inside layer. I have a relatively large fabric stash but no flannel – I did, however, have some densely woven muslin which I thought would work reasonably well. I also wanted to improve the impermeability so I added a layer of thin fusible batting to one sample, and a non-woven fusible interfacing to the second. The instructions also called for either “rope” elastic or 1/8″ elastic – neither of which I had on hand – remember I can’t go shopping and local fabric stores are closed anyway – so I improvised using some metallic-wrapped Christmas elastic I had in a drawer which was fine for a sample.



Then I sat down to sew. I quickly sewed the two layers together (elastic included in the side seams), turned the mask right side out. The rest should have been easy but trying to position the pleats and stitch them in place was a bit awkward. In my first attempt I made the pleats too narrow so the side of the mask was too long and the whole thing wouldn’t sit well over my face. I need to make a template marking the pleat position if I’m going to make a batch.

I then decided I needed a small bit of wire over the nose (like one of the commercial masks I found in a drawer in my bathroom – heaven knows where I got it). I dug around the apartment and came up with a set of twist ties in a box of garbage bags – I took two and stitched them to the top edge of the mask. This allowed me to pinch the mask to my nose! But the mask still gaped on the sides so I took the pleats apart and made them a bit bigger – turns out a good fit needs to reduce the side measurement by about a half. To finish off,  I added two small pleats to the bottom edge which made the mask fit snugly beneath my chin.

Inside of mask showing wire at top edge

I still don’t have the elastic length right – the pattern calls for 7″. Because they recommended tying a knot in the end (to prevent pulling it out from the seam) I cut the elastic a bit longer – turns out on the first (mauve) mask the ties are a bit too long.

With the second mask I cut the elastic to 6″ – too short!  6 3/4″ would be about right to allow me to tie knots and stitch the pieces into the side seam.

So my masks are actually three layers, not two – a firmly woven print (a batik would be even better), a fusible non-woven interfacing, and a closely woven muslin with a slightly brushed side for softness. The point of the mask isn’t to stop virus particles from coming in to me but to stop my coughing and sneezing droplets from getting out – in other words to protect other people.

I plan on making one for each of the gals in the Friday afternoon knitting group here in the building – the recommendation from health professionals is not to wear a mask if you’re not coughing/sneezing but it can’t hurt to have one one hand, in case. And for the ears I will cut lengths from my roll of 1/4″ elastic (of which I have quite a lot!).

The caveat, of course, is this face mask is not meant to replace a surgical face mask; it is a contingency plan for those who haven’t been able to find any surgical masks in the stores. And it’s washable – it can be cleaned repeatedly after every use.

Bargello Table Runner

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The women in the last class I taught asked for another project. I thought they might be interested in bargello piecing. It looks complicated, but it’s another of those techniques where you sew strips together to set up a colour palette, then recut and re-sew to create some kind of a pieced pattern.

Bargello is a type of needlepoint embroidery consisting of upright flat stitches laid in a mathematical pattern to create motifs. The name originates from a series of chairs found in the Bargello palace in Florence, which have a “flame stitch” pattern. Traditionally, Bargello was stitched in wool on canvas; but bargello can also be created from fabric piecing.

A number of years ago I made a bargello quilted jacket:

Bargello Quilted Jacket – Back

The jacket was cut from 6 panels constructed from pieced strips – 2 fronts, 2 sleeves, 2 backs (joined in the centre). In this case the second cut was done so that there were two sets of strips on opposite diagonals creating the zigzag effect.

There are simpler ways to piece bargello. Today, I took nine 2″ strips cut from the width of fabric graduated in colour from pale to dark blue with a contrasting yellow/green. I sewed the nine strips together from light to dark, then added the contrast strip and sewed the first and last strips together to form a tube.

Bargello Table Runner – In Progress

Next, I cut the tube into 11 strips of different width (1″ – 2 1/2″) and sewed them together to create the parabolic curve. I had enough fabric in the first sewn panel to make two blocks which I then stitched together in opposite directions to get the “diamond” in the panel above.

I started out by cutting two sets of 2″ strips – I will use the second set of strips to make two more bargello blocks to add to either end of the current piece to construct a table runner – the project I’m suggesting for a class.

I will need to take pictures as I construct the second two bargello blocks to record the steps in the process.

So far we’ve heard back from one person who is interested in doing the class. Hope there will be a few more.

Finishing Wall Art

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I’ve finally got around to creating instructions for adding borders and piping to a textile wall art panel as well as instructions for hidden bindings.

It took some time because I had forgotten to take photos as I added the borders etc. to the Iris panel last week.

This morning I took a small panel I’d made quite some time ago, removed the backing, and added borders & piping and a hidden binding – and I took pictures along the way to illustrate the process! Finally. I did it because the panel wasn’t really finished and I needed something already assembled (instead of taking the time to construct something new) so I could take photographs as I did the work.

If you’re interested here are links to the PDFs

No More Bags – Right?

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I thought I was finished with the Christmas bag making – wrong! Yesterday afternoon I distributed the zippered bags to the women in the knitting group (they all loved them) – however instead of the dozen I’d planned for, by last evening I had given away 20!

I reconstructed a list of other people I’d already given bags to – that was another 15, and I still have a further 16 on my list. In spite of the ten small bags I made the other day I was going to be a few bags short and I still want to have some around for ready gifts through the year.

So this morning I got up and started prepping for another twelve bags (finished size 6″ x 8″).

Even More Bags

I cut the outside fabric, lining fabric, batting, zipper tape, grosgrain ribbon – that took about an hour. I sat down to production sew the bags which took just over 90 minutes (that’s less than 10 minutes/bag). By 11:30 I had another dozen bags.

And that wasn’t the end. I visited my friend Joan during the afternoon. She’s 88 and not as active as she used to be. I didn’t think she’d find a use for a bag so I didn’t take one. However we discussed them and turns out she could use a small bag to carry a credit card, a bit of cash and a key. When I came home I made her one. I’ll take it over to her tomorrow!

20 to the knitting group
15 given to other friends
14 more to give away
10 sent to my niece (for her to use as gifts)
24 in my stash

That makes 83 bags I’ve done in the last month and a bit. No more!

Last 10 Bags For 2019 – Really!

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Not much to say about these – I can practically make them with my eye’s closed. The size of these bags was determined by the fabric pieces I had – a sample collection of colour ways in graduated sizes I was given at the sewing retreat last month. I was limited by the size of the smallest sample piece. That was when I decided to add a top strip using leftovers from the larger pieces.

Last 10 Bags For 2019!

I have now sewn close to 50 this season – that’s it, no more. Ten went to my niece for her to use as gifts.

Maxelle’s Gift Bags “Hand-made by Aunt Judith”

The Gifts

Twelve are for the women in my knitting group – they get their’s tomorrow.  The others have been disappearing quickly from the stash – which is why I decided to make ten final ones.

I should now have enough zippered bags for this season with a few left over to give away during the year.  The bags don’t need to be wrapped – they are the wrapping and useful besides.

That’s it! No more till next year.

The Elastic Wallet

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The other day Barbara Emodi shared in her newsletter “The Elastic Wallet” (from Threads Designs Inc. Theory). Sounded interesting so I bought and downloaded the pattern and tried one.

The Elastic Wallet

The wallet is made from 2″ elastic with a non-fraying fabric piece on one side (although there’s no reason not to add it to both sides if you wanted to). The elastic is just the size of a credit card – Barbara suggests giving it as a gift with a gift card included – a nice idea.

The wallet is simple to make – but I have one suggestion – in the instructions is tells you to cut 15″ of a 2″ elastic (I just used the black elastic I had on hand), fold the two ends into the centre point, then fold in two again enclosing the two ends.

After constructing the one above, I’d do it the opposite way, I’d fold the ends into the centre but fold the elastic in two again leaving the open ends on the outside – my reason for doing it that way is because my 1/8″ seam allowance missed the open ends of the elastic in a couple of spots and they’re not secured. Leave them on the outside, use a decorative stitch to sew the two side and bottom edges together, and those ends would be sewn securely. I plan on making another one that way tomorrow.

Let you know how it turns out.

 

 

Instructions For Making Zippered Bags

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I’m posting instructions for making zippered bags since I’ve received requests about how I make my bags.

I make zippered bags two ways – one using zipper tape which gives a very nice finish to the bag:

Zippered Bag Constructed Using Zipper Tape

I also make bags using zippers:

Zippered Bag Constructed Using A Zipper

The bags look similar, however, I prefer using zipper tape because it simplifies the process.

I purchase my zipper tape from The Zipper Lady who sells the tape by the yard in a gazillion colours – she also sells zipper pulls.

She has video demonstrating how to put the slides onto the tape.

Hope this helps you out.

More Small Zippered Bags

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When I got home from my sewing weekend I showed my niece my stash of small zippered bags. Offered her one, she took two. She was going out that evening for dinner with a friend whose daughter was having a birthday – she took one for Fiona and another for her sister Dana. I took another and put a birthday gift in it for a friend of mine. Now I was down five bags from the collection intended to be for Christmas gifts.

My niece sees me put the gift in a bag and asks if I would make ten bags for her to use as gifts – she’ll pay me, she offers.

Can’t say no to a request like that, so after she left for Toronto the next day, I dug out what fabric I had left over from the original batch, prepared 10 more bags, sat down and stitched them up over the next two days.

Zippered Bags For Maxelle

Past Thursday, I packaged them up and sent them off to Toronto – as a gift for my niece. What am I going to charge her? $5 is too little and $10 is too much to ask her (although were I selling the bags at a craft fair I’d charge $10 for the smaller size, $12 for the larger ones). I was using leftover bits of fabric and batting, I buy zipper tape by the yard, so while I have an idea as to what my materials might cost there’s still nothing much to reimburse me for my time. Better a gift to my niece than try figuring out what to charge her.

She should get them next week. I told her to make sure she tells her friends where she got the bags! I’m sure whoever gets one will enjoy having it. You can’t have too many small zippered bags for carrying stuff, right?

Skinny Quilts/Banners II, III, IV – Completed

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The remaining skinny quilts/banners are finished. I hand stitched the hidden bindings on the back of each hanging and added a sleeve for hanging it.

I’m happy with the combination of background fabrics and the appliqués – a close look shows I managed the edge stitching precisely. I like the quiet background and strong appliqué colours in this panel.

Skinny Quilt II

I wasn’t sure how I felt about the bright colours in this second banner but now that it’s completed I like the profusion of “dots” in the appliqué fabrics, echoed by the two small circles to fill in the space on the right. In the right location this could be an interesting accent piece.

Skinny Quilt III

I’m less happy with this banner – now that it’s finished I can see my idea to increase the spacing while decreasing the circle size didn’t work so well and I didn’t see, until now, that I have an inbuilt curve to the left! I think I chalk this one up to experiment and construct another to take its place.

Skinny Quilt IV

That’s what’s so interesting about improvising – I’m always amazed by how most of the time my experiments turn out well. It’s not that this one didn’t have potential – it’s just that I didn’t see the “flaws” until it was actually finished and hung on the door. It’s a lesson that I need to be a tad more detached and analytical when looking at these pieces at a distance.