Burlap, Strawberries and Cream

I promised to show you what I have been working on.

There is a surprise coming soon, a tutorial I wrote about making the baskets to be shared with a wonderful fabric shop...more on this soon.

Here is what I have been making

 Burlap basket with dusky pink polka dot cotton. I lined the pockets with burlap, which made ironing a crisp edge on the seam tricky, but they are very strong.

 I added interfacing to the burlap and zig zag-ed all the edges to make sure it does not fray. Sewing the thick layer near the handles was a challenge.

I have never tried this handle before. I am quite pleased how it worked out...and how psychedelic the dots look here!

 I made some more little caddies. At 5" at the base, these are hard to box the corners and hard to iron. Nice cute size for toiletries though.

I just love the strawberries!

 Sun Bonnet Girl

We recently made a very long car trip and when I was taking my turn being the passenger, I sketched a few of these bonnet girls. When I came to make the applique, I came up with the idea of the scalloped edge to her top. She is made from 100% wool felt which is thick stable to work with.

I thought it may be too tricky to satin stitch neatly, so I left it and stitched a straight line above, to make it look like a frilly ruffle on those dresses you see women wearing in Westerns. I love watching them on Saturday afternoons as a child. 

 This fabric is so cute. I want to make the hen and the flower pot into appliques next time. It is a line look cotton by John Louden. I like a few things from their collection and this fabric was a pleasure to work with.

What have you been doing this Bank Holiday weekend?

Sunday Stash- 10th August 2014

I have been buying LOTS of fabric this week and other supplies.

a few things have arrived

 Amazing birds and butterflies in duck egg. This is a curtain fabric from Clarke and Clarke, an English firm who make amazing upholstery and curtain cottons. The quality is fabulous and it comes in 150cm width.

I find it works really well for my fabric baskets and is more hard-wearing.

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 A lovely soft roses bouquet quilting cotton. 

I love the sweet design of the pink background, how it looks like lace doilies.

 Another Clarke and Clarke curtain fabric, dotty in yellow. It looks a bit more lime here, but in reality is is a soft powdery yellow.

 I have made fabric baskets with the reverse of this fabric, Dotty Taupe with Pocket Teddy. I am very excited to be using this option called Natural, pale cream with mocha cappuccino dots.

 Here they are all together.

These are hair pins! They work wonderfully in keeping thick fabrics together, the kind of thickness that gets distorted by pins and even bends them. They cost under £1.00 for 20, so they are much cheaper than long quilting pins. The spring is quite strong and they are super quick to attach and remove as you go.

I have been busy with orders from the shop, but managed to make one new thing: a burlap storage container set. There is a square one to be used for general "stuff" and a tall and narrow one, the size of a coffee cup, to use as a pen stand.

Burlap was easy to work with and zig zaging the edges was fairly quick. It made me sneeze a lot at first because loose fibres were coming off, but a squirt of spray starch solved that problem and gave it a nice crisp looking finish. This is pre-washes burlap so the weave is dense.

 

I have put a brooch on the bow, to make it removable. I really like how these turned out, I think I will make some for myself.

What did you get up to this weekend?

Have a great week.