Sewing for Pleasure and Friends

I have not been completely idle these last couple of months; I have been busy sewing up a few samples for my good friend Lynda (Laa Laa Land) as she is exhibiting at the NEC in Birmingham at the Crafts for Christmas on 7th to the 10th November 2013 (this week).  

I got a bit carried away and made Lynda a quilted hanger with her logo inspired by her business card.

Earlier this year I made some mini crochet bunting for the stall.

Can you tell I wish I was going too, this way a little bit of me will be there?

I have been working on some of these for a while now but I couldn't share these until now as Lynda has only recently added them to her online shop.  Some in progress shots.

blocking...

  

If you are planning to visit the Exhibition do pop over to see her and say hi, she really is a lovely lady, and if you can’t make it you can snaffle up kits and patterns from her online shop here, there are new patterns being added all the time, including these beauties.

  

  

 and just in time for Christmas

 

How delightful.

Back soon

1" Little Hexie Cushion Tutorial ~ Part 2 of 2

Firstly, thank you very much for all your kind comments on my post yesterday, it's clear lots of you fancy a go at this.  I would urge you to try, it's someting you can just pick up and do as and when, I think my first cushion was several months in the making!

Shirley asked yesterday about the whip stitch to connect the hexies, I thought I would show you how it's done rather than try to explain. Have a look at this YouTube Video ~ fast forward to 22 seconds.
 You simply sew through one side and straight out of the other, then bring your needle back to the start and enter the fabric next to where you started your last stitch, the cotton comes over the top each time.


As I don’t have another 144 mini hexies ready stitched I will show you the remainder of the cushion using the larger hexie front I have just completed ~ same principal.

Make the Cushion Back 

Next make a cushion back. You will need;

·        A zip ~ at least 16”long (a dress zip)

·        Two large rectangles of cotton 9" x 17”

·        Two small rectangles of cotton 3 ¼” x 2 ¾” (for ends of zip)

 

Start with the zip ends.  Iron a 1cm seam at each edge of the rectangle.  Fold the whole thing in half width ways and iron again.  Slip your zip end into the fold and pin in place.

 

Machine stitch this close to the edge.

Now trim the zip to the length required and add the second piece of folded fabric to the other end, pin and sew in place again.

The zip with ends attached should now be the same width as your cushion front.

Now place your zip, right side down on the long edge of your cotton (above left) and pin in place.  Machine sew the zip along one side using a zipper foot.

Now, turn your zip over and fold your fabric back, pressing it into place. 

(Trim your zip ends if they come past the end of your fabric)

  Place your second rectangle of cotton face down on your first (above right) and pin in place and machine sew as before.

Now, turn your zip over and fold your fabric back, pressing it into place.  When sewing close to the zip, as you get up to the bulky zip pull, with the needle still in the material; lift the foot and pull the zip pull past where you are sewing (above right), lower the foot and continue.

To keep the zipper neat and to stop the fabric from catching on the zip I always add a line of stitching to each edge of the zip using the zipper foot as a guide.

Now with right sides facing machine sew around each edge using a small stitch, then if you don't have an overlocker (like me) add a line of close zig zag stitches to give extra stability.  Trim your excess fabric and snip your corners to give a better finish.

Turn right side out and voila ~ you made a cushion.

You don't have to make a cushion of course, if you had the stamina you could continue on and make a fabulous quilt. 

One good idea is when you get fabric in a swap or as part of a present snip a bit off and put it in your hexie tin, when you construct your cushion you can look and see people in there through the fabrics you used.  Likewise with loved one's old clothes, snip them up and use them in your cushion.

I hope this tutorial made sense, if you have any questions or comments please get in touch.

Nb. Apologies for the dark photos in the cushion construction section, I was making this after work and I missed the light

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If you are interested in getting a little head start I have popped some starter packs in my folsky shop which come with;

♥ Full colour instructions,

♥ A little hexie needle case,

♥ 6 completed hexies to give you an idea,

♥ Approx 36 fabric squares (7cm x 7cm) enough for one quarter of your cushion,

♥ 150 little paper hexies to make your own 1" hexie cushion (no cutting required).

A good chunk of the work done for you ~ click here!

Please note there is only one of these left from the five I listed yesterday!  Thanks guys, if you need one give me a shout and I will make some more.

 

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~ ♥ TTFN ♥ ~

1" Little Hexie Cushion Tutorial ~ Part 1 of 2

I have been asked a few times to do an Idiot's guide to making and connecting the little hexies I used in my Hexie Cushion; so here it is.

Here's a good way to use up your scraps of fabric that are just not quite big enough to do anything else with.

I have a little tin that I always have close to hand and it contains lots of little hexagon shaped papers, lots of little scraps of fabric, a needle, cotton and a pair of little scissors.

Here is a link to a site that you can use to print out your hexie templates.  Remember hexagons are measured in inches by the length of one side, a one inch hexie will be just under 2" square once made.

As always there is always more than one way to skin a cat; but this is my way, this is how I do it.

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Make The Hexies

Cut your fabric into little squares, you can cut them into hexie shapes, but I quite like the bulk of the extra fabric.  Make the squares large enough so that they cover the hexie with a little overlap, mine are around 7cm x 7cm (or 2 ¾” square).

Start folding the fabric over along one side and move on to the next edge.  This is where you start your tacking, these can be really rough stitches as they are either going to be removed or left on the reverse.  

I prefer to tack on the back only just picking up the fabric and not sewing through the paper, this way there is nothing to remove at the end and these little stitches help to keep the hexie's shape once completed.

 

  

 

Another method is to just sew through the lot, fabric and paper and right out the other side, I think most people do this, but it is extra work at the end and leaves little needle marks in the finished fabric.

Now comes the hard bit, make 143 more :)

Arrange The Hexies

One you have a good stash of them you can plan how you want to sew them together.  I would recommend that you make enough hexies to complete your project, rather than making the hexies and sewing as you go.  This way you will have scope to plan where you want to place them all and move them around before you finally get stuck in and sew them together.

Join The Hexies

 The most secure and easiest way to attach them together is to use a simple whip stitch.  Hold both hexies to be attached together, right sides facing, and whip stitch across the top.  Add an extra few stitches at each end to secure the joints, then just move on to the next.

For my first cushion I made hexie flowers (13) hen sewed the flowers together.  For this current one I sewed the hexies in straight lines (14) using hexie strips and then sewed the strips together.  You can pick whatever method suits you best.

My cushions are a standard 16" x 16", so I make the strips long enough to cover the 16" cushion with a little extra for the seams.  Overall looking at the hexie cushions I have made for a 16 x 16 insert, there are approx 12 hexies across and 12 hexies high, therefore 144 hexies in total (this includes the seams).

The sewing together does take a long time and your fingers will be sore!  I do mine in little chunks, they are nice to do as you can take them anywhere and you don't need any fancy equipment or a sewing machine and they quickly come together.  I would recommend using a fine needle and when stitching together use the smallest stitches you can manage (15), only picking up a few threads from each fabric side; this will ensure a neat finish on the other side.

If you have gaps at the edges of your work just cut some hexies in half to fill the gaps.  Remember that you can cut them two different ways (18), look at your gap shape first to decide which way to cut your hexie.

Finishing off the Hexies

Once you are happy with your hexie square, turn over and remove all the papers.  Just scrunch the fabric up a little to get in there and pluck them out.  The papers will get creased, but just flatten and stash them away to use again.

Now iron your work and to be sure that the hexies all stay together I like to add medium weight iron-on interfacing to the back.  It stiffens the fabric and kind of glues all the hexies together for extra stability.

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As I don’t have another 144 mini hexies ready stitched I will show you the remainder of the cushion using the larger hexie front I have just completed ~ same principal.

I will post this tomorrow in a seperate post as poor Blogger will be groaning with all my photos today.

I hope this tutorial made sense, if you have any questions please ask.

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If you are interested in getting a little head start I have popped some starter packs in my folsky shop which come with;

♥ Full colour instructions,

♥ A little hexie needle case,

♥ 6 completed hexies to give you an idea,

♥ Approx 36 fabric squares (7cm x 7cm) enough for one quarter of your cushion,

♥ 150 little paper hexies to make your own 1" hexie cushion (no cutting required).

A good chunk of the work done for you ~ click here!

 

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n.b. when I started making little hexies I got a head start from the lovely Cate of 23rdSpiral (no blog) and I read Melanie's blog with great interest Texas Freckles, which is where I found the links for the hexies.  Pop over and have a look she is an amazing quilter!

p.s. thanks heavens blogger is back and working, I have really missed it ~ it's where my friends live x

~ ♥ Back Tomorrow with part 2 ♥ ~

Cushions and Fabric Gifts

Afternoon Ladies.

It's still a little manic in my neck of the woods, but I have made time this weekend for a little crafting.

I apologise in advance for yet another cushion, I think I have a problem; but that's my thing at the minute.

I finished this little beauty today, I love cable and it's just so detailed and right at home on my couch.

Here is where I confess; unlike the last cable cushion I made, this one didn't take me month, it took about an hour.

I cheated!

I snaffled this jumper up in the charity shop a few weeks ago and as soon as I saw it I thought cushion!

I snipped and sewed it and crocheted a row on the back to make button holes and added three Grandad buttons from my vintage button box.

I have to also show you this little beauty, I received in the post on Friday from my lovely friend Sue.

What makes this even more incredible is that Sue is sewing after having had an operation on her hand only 3 weeks ago!

Isn't she clever it's a beautiful fabric tray made with the most wonderful shabby roses fabric it's right up my street.

It has now taken pride of place on my messy shelf which is full of my favourite things, it's perfect for keeping my scattered bits and bobs in place.

Thanks again Sue xXx.

I also used it to hold my latest crochet; the softest sweetest little grannie squares for my next cushion, watch this space!

p.s. I just have to send lots of love and light to those affected by the terribe tragedy in Japan, I just can't get my head around the scale of the carnage my heart goes out to them all xXx

~ ♥ TTFN ♥ ~