Monthly Archives: February 2019

Needle Organiser

February 22, 2019Miscellaneouscaroline

Over the years I have found several ‘must have’ accessories that make my sewing life easier. This needle organiser designed by Meg Leach of New Threads Quilt Shop is just one of those items.

“Have you ever wondered what needle was in your sewing machine? Do you lose your needles or get them mixed up? Keep track of them with this handy needle organiser. Whenever you put a needle into your machine, place the daisy-headed pin in the appropriate section of the needle organiser and you will never wonder again.”

I have made many of these organisers to gift to my sewing friends and of course I needed to have a coordinated one to take on the Sewcial Retreat.

The panel is printed onto cotton which is then bordered with 1.25 inch wide strips and a backing added. I insert a piece of thick card (which stops the needles poking out at the back) before stuffing firmly with polyester toy filling.

Completed needle organiser does exactly what it says on the tin!

Machine Needle Storage Pouch

Now that I have a smart new needle organiser I also needed some form or pouch or purse in which to store new and unused needles. I was inspired by the clear vinyl pockets that are in the Sew Sturdy Sewing Organiser by Annie Unrein and also the Peek-a-boo pouch by Caroline Fairbanks-Critchfield featured on the sewcanshe.com website. This roll-up pouch seems to be the answer.

I cut a long length of my chosen outer fabric, layered it up with some trellis pre-printed wadding and quilted. I then layered up some plain White polyester cotton which I quilted in channels approximately 1 inch apart.

I cut 4 pieces of clear vinyl the width of my outer panel x roughly 3 inches deep. I made bindings for the tops and bottoms of each vinyl panel from 1.25 inch printed fabric. It was easy to slide the vinyl into the folded bindings and because there was fabric top and bottom, the machine coped well with feeding the fabric through for stitching.

I placed each vinyl pocket onto the lining panel and stitched the bottom edge of each binding. I then basted the sides to the lining panel. Next was the slightly more difficult bit of stitching as the vinyl kept sticking to the underside of the foot. However, with determination I succeeded in stitching sections through each pocket to make a total of 12 sections.

I added a Gold sparkly bungee loop to the top edge of the outer panel together with a ‘handmade’ faux leather label. I placed the outer and lining panels right sides together and stitched around both long edges and the short edge where the loop was basted. Turning through to right side out was a little fiddly and I carefully pressed the fabric, taking care to avoid the iron coming into contact with the vinyl. I turned in the final short edge and hand stitched closed.

I folded up the pouch and checked button placement. I found this lovely ‘jewel’ button in my stash which is the icing on the cake!

Now that I have a pouch for my woven fabric needles, I need to make a second one for storage of the jersey/stretch fabric machine needles but that can wait for another day……

Daisy the Dachshund Pin Dog

February 20, 2019Miscellaneouscaroline

As part of my new coordinated set of sewing accessories that I want to take with me to the Sewcial Retreat in Oxford next month, I have just completed a new Pin Dog. This is a favourite TNT pattern that I have made many times. For this set of accessories I am using some pretty Red-background floral cotton print from Fabricland that has been in my stash for a very long time. Even after making the Sew Sturdy Sewing Organiser featured in an earlier post plus the pin dog and a couple of pouches, I will still have sufficient fabric remaining to make a dress- but maybe not to wear to the Sewcial Retreat!

Daisy came together quickly and easily, the only real points to take special care of is the matching of the notches for the head gusset and the underbody gusset.

I used polyester toy stuffing, making sure that the tail and feet were well-stuffed before moving onto the head and body. Once fully stuffed, Daisy has her belly closed with some neat hand stitching. Her eyes are two black glass-headed pins that will be replaced with drawn eyes once I am completely happy with eye placement.

Finally, a pretty gold collar from a hair bungee to complete.

Different Stitches – Knitting a Cropped Cardigan

February 19, 2019Knittingcaroline

As I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like in the Sewing Room, I have instead been stitching of a different type.

I learnt to knit way back in the late 50’s when I wanted to make a bonnet for my new baby sister. I remember that the yarn was yellow and scratchy, the knitting needles plastic. Whatever happened to that bonnet I don’t know but it certainly never made it to adorn my sister’s head!

Inspired by Sian of Kittenish Behaviour, I wanted a short cropped-style cardigan to wear over my full-skirted dresses. Having made several Aran sweaters and cardigans over the years I enjoy any form of cable knitting.

This pattern combines the two requirements of length and interesting texture using my favourite Double Knitting yarn. The yarn that I used is Hayfield Bonus DK which is 100% acrylic, machine washable and can also be tumble dried. The washing instructions were important for me as using a Light Cream yarn I knew that the cardigan would show every little mark and I am rather a ‘dirty’ knitter!

I made the largest size which calls for 13 x 50 grm balls of yarn. I purchased 7 balls of 100 grms as the last thing I wanted was to run out of yarn. As it turned out there was no fear of that as I have 1½ balls of yarn leftover which I can use for another project.

The pattern is simple, based on a 4 row repeat for the back and sleeves, and an 8 row repeat for the two fronts (to include a simple cable). I knitted the back and fronts to the length dictated by the pattern and in hindsight the cardigan is a little longer than I would like. Next time I will shorten by 2 inches. The sleeve shaping was also simple being a raglan design – a favourite of mine as it makes the garment very easy to wear. I did notice that once again my arms are shorter than the standard measurement which meant that I did not knit all the additional rows on the sleeves once I had finished the increasing and just before Istarted decreasing for the raglan armhole.

All went well until I got to the part where you have to pick up and knit the rib that encircles the front edges and the hem of the bodice. Having first knitted the neckline ribbing, over 200 stitches for the hem band are picked up onto a circular needle from one of the fronts around to the centre back. The left side is just plain k1 x p1 rib and the right side has to incorporate the buttonholes. I have never knitted on a circular needle before and this was at times a frustrating experience. However, now it is done and I am fairly pleased with the result.

I am knitting the pattern again. This time I will make the back in a smaller size as the current version is too big across my back.

To avoid all that circular knitting I have opted for the straight hem version. I have already purchased some Lavender-coloured yarn and have started knitting the fronts.
Once this version is complete I plan to go onto a much more challenging project which is knitted in 4-ply yarn and will involve a lot more concentration to get the pattern right!

Simply Spot-on Paola Turtle Neck Tee

February 17, 2019Blouses & Tops, Dressescaroline

Regular readers will know that the Paola tee is one of my ‘all-time’ TNT tops which have been regularly hacked into many variations. For this iteration I wanted a plain and simple turtle neck tee to go under that ‘oh so subtle’ appliqué corduroy pinafore dress featured in an earlier post.

Colourful Appliqued Corduroy Pinafore Dress

I purchased 1 ½ metres of Pink spotted cotton jersey which is a new line offered at New Threads Quilt Shop, Weyhill Fairground, Andover. As soon as I got home the fabric was washed and hung over the airer to dry.

Meantime, I was distracted by making up the SORA top by Blank Slate Patterns and also completed another version of the Paola using Cloque jersey, neither of these garments was an unqualified success so it was with some trepidation that I cut out the Pink spots Paola.

I used my latest adapted version of the pattern for the bodice front and back. Bearing in mind my thickening mid-section, I ignored the waistline shaping and cut a straight line from under the arm to the hips. I extended the length of the bodice by 3 inches. Using the original sleeve pattern, I increased by 1 inch at the underarm seam, grading to 0 at the wrist. The length of the sleeved was reduced by 2 inches. The turtle neck collar was reduced in height by 1 inch but increased in width by 1 inch.

It took just over 1 hour to construct the tee which included drafting a pattern for a double cuff which does away with the need to twin-needle stitch the sleeve hems and provides(I think) a professional finish. The hem of the tee was turned up by ¾ inch and pressed with steam before top-stitching with a jersey twin needle.

I am delighted with the fabric, fit and finish of this tee and can foresee that it will get a lot of wear both now and into cooler days of Spring. In fact, I am so pleased I may well re-visit New Threads as I know that they have this fabric in several other colourways.

Hacking the Paola tee

February 16, 2019Blouses & Topscaroline

Those of you who follow my blog will know that the Paola top is one of my favourite TNT patterns. I have hacked it to within an inch of its life! Today I hacked again.

Paola Turtle Collar Tee from
Named Clothing

According to Named Clothing, the Paola is described thus:-

Classic semi-fitted turtle neck tee
Full-length sleeves and a turtle neck collar
Choose a light jersey with approximately 50% stretch. The sample is made up in a rayon blend jersey.

For this iteration I used yet more of the Cloque Jersey mentioned in the previous post. What I should have done before cutting out was to read the stretch requirements and check the Cloque fabric (it turns out that it does NOT have 50% stretch). If I had checked then I would have adapted the pattern and this garment would have been the original Paola turtle neck top. However, I did not do that!

I pulled my original adapted pattern (previously used for viscose/polyester blended jersey fabrics) and cut out the Cloque jersey.

I used clear elastic in the shoulder seams and set in the turtle (polo) collar. I then attached the sleeves and stitched the side and underarm sleeve seams.

First fitting – what was I thinking? The tee was so tight over my head that I was in danger of being strangled and the effort of pulling the collar over my head also pulled out my earrings! The sleeves were a little short so I decided to use the cuffs that were left over from the SORA top.

So an almost completed garment had to be altered. No way is that my favourite past time.

I removed the collar and re-cut the neckline, dropping the centre front by approximately 1inch. I made up a neckband that was 80% of the measured length (plus seam allowance) and attached to the neckline. It looked OK but not great. Next the sleeves – the cuffs were a lot smaller than the diameter of the hem of the sleeves. I re-stitched the underarm seam grading down to the same width as the cuffs. The cuffs were then folded in half and attached.

Second fitting – the neckline was still not good and now the sleeves were very tight. I cut off the neckband and re-cut the neckline AGAIN, this time dropping the centre front by approximately 1½ inches. The second neckband was attached and this time looked much better. I pin marked the point on the sleeves where they became uncomfortably tight. By laying the sleeves on top of one another I cut off the bottom and drafted a new cuff pattern. The pattern folded double and shaped so that it is wide enough to attach to the sleeve cut -off- point but narrows down to a snug fit at the wrist.

Apart from top-stitching around the neckband the entire garment was constructed using the overlocker. Finally I pressed up the hem and stitched with my jersey twin needle on the sewing machine.

I am pleased that I now have a wearable tee although I know that it will never be a favourite. I have a good pair of Bright Terracotta Jeans and with changes to scarves I shall be able to wear the top in both Spring and Autumn.

Sora Top by Blank Slate Patterns

February 12, 2019Blouses & Topscaroline

I have had the pdf of this pattern for some time and was reminded of it when I saw another version(the cardigan) on someone’s instagram. I had recently purchased this lovely Pale Mocha-coloured cloque ponte roma from The Textile Centre at the bargain price of £1.79 per metre. Due to the very wide width of the fabric and by cutting the back with a centre back seam, this top took just 1.3 metres of fabric.

I checked my measurements against the size chart and cut a 1XL which should fit just right. Unfortunately, although the pattern pieces look large when laid out flat, they turned out to be just that little bit too small around my middle.

I stitched the godets using the lightning stitch on my Brother 4000D sewing machine, but most of the construction was completed using my Juki overlocker. I used clear elastic to stabilise the shoulder seams before inserting the collar. This feature is what attracted me to the Sora design and I will be ‘hacking’ the collar onto an alternative top/tunic pattern in the future. In hindsight, I wish that I had top-stitched the edge of the collar and its facing but a good steam press means that it is sitting nicely.

The side seams were sewn and the sleeves inserted ‘in the round’. The Sora has a dropped shoulder and I should have known that I would not like this feature on me. My shoulder width is quite narrow in comparison to my bust and waist. In my eyes, the dropped shoulder just looks awkward especially when combined with these particular sleeves which turned out to be very slim (and LONG!). Was this pattern designed for Orangutan arms? I omitted the cuffs and have kept them back to put on the Paola top that is next in the queue. I turned up the sleeves and the hem of the top, giving them a good steam press to set the crease. Both were then top stitched with a jersey twin needle.

I hope that I can sell the top on eBay so that it won’t then be a complete fail. I look forward to ‘hacking’ the collar design, and maybe the side hem godets, onto an alternative top pattern with a standard set in sleeve that is the correct length for me.

A change of plan

February 12, 2019Bags & Pouchescaroline

Annie Unrein Sew Sturdy Sewing Organiser Bag

I am greatly looking forward to a Sewing Retreat to be held at an Oxford hotel in March 2019. This will be my very first weekend retreat and as is my wont, I plan to have a matching set of sewing accessories.

The first and major item of the collection would be a Sew Sturdy Sewing Organiser Bag by Annie Unrein. I first discovered this great design on the Craftsy website a couple of years ago. A friend had already made one and was taking commissions for more. Maureen made two for me, one of which I gave to a.n.other friend as a birthday gift. Eventually I had to make my own which was completed over the period of 7-10 days and was given to yet another friend for Christmas in 2016.

http://carouselcottagecrafts.com/category/bags/page/3/ for full description.

As I have not been as productive as I would like and have a long list of projects to be completed in a relatively short time, I asked Maureen if she would help by making up this latest bag. She swiftly agreed.

I found just the right cotton fabric print in my stash and using that combined with a metre of contrast fabric for the lining (purchased from New Threads Quilt Shop) and some Bosal ® made up the quilt ‘sandwiches’ that would be required. I cut the various pattern pieces and prepared the zips. Meantime, Maureen had prepared the vinyl for the internal pocket pages.

I handed over my contribution on Thursday morning and by Monday morning we met again and Maureen presented me with the completed bag. Apparently it had been finished by Friday evening! What a star she is.

Zip up mesh pocket on inside of outer bag case

So that’s the main item prepared and ready for the Sewing Retreat. Now I have to make a new dachshund pin cushion, scissors case, clam shaped pouch for wonder clips and foldover wallet for machine needles. These are all relatively quick and easy projects that I will fit in around other items that are on my ‘to do’ list. Wish me luck!

CeeGee in Stitches

a story of sewing projects by an avid stitcher!