Sewing on Thursday: Sewing Skill Builder Part 3

For part 3 of our sewing skill builder, we're going to make 2 additional pockets for our sewing basket. These pockets will be the couching sampler and the puffing sampler. Samplers 1 & 2 can be found here.

Puffing sampler on left, couching sampler on right

Materials for puffing sampler: 

1 piece of copy paper

1 - 5"x 8" piece of fabric

1 - small scrap contrasting color for ribbon center

1 - flower or design of choice iron-on applique (sew on work too)

1 - 1"w x 45"l strip of fabric

1 - piece of newsprint or lightweight tearaway stabilizer

1 - yard Belgian lace, ribbon, or cording

We will begin with the puffing sampler. To start, you will need to draw a 5"x 8" rectangle on a piece of paper. Regular copy paper will work just fine. 

Draw cross hairs across the center length and width of the rectangle. The book instructs us somewhat vaguely to "Refer to photograph on page 6 for pocket design. Draw and cut from paper the shape to be puffed." Which is probably why not a lot of people pick up these older books. They are too assuming that you know what they are talking about! The shape they reference is the upside down "awareness ribbon" (that's my name for it). Start by centering and drawing a teardrop shape in the middle of the cross hairs.

Center your flower applique on the middle of the teardrop to make sure there is plenty of space.

Finish drawing the ribbon shape by making sure that your ribbon width is no more than 1" wide. I actually drew mine around 7/8" to accommodate the fabric strip we'll attach later. Cut out your shape. 

Pin the shape to your 5" x 8" background fabric, in my case the yellow with white polka dots, and using a water soluble marker or a Chaco pen, trace around the outline of the shape, including the middle. 

Remove the pattern and place it on your contrasting color of fabric. Draw the center of the shape ONLY on the contrasting fabric. 

Cut around the shape at least 1/4" larger than your marked lines. 

Pin your teardrop shape to the center of the 5x8 fabric, using the outline of the shape you drew as a guide. Baste it to the background fabric using a long stitch. This helps make sure it stays in place! Then iron (or sew) your applique to the center of your shape. 

Do a final zigzag stitch around the entire tear drop shape to secure it in place and seal the edges. 

Now we're going to work on the actual puffing piece. Draw another copy of you shape onto a new piece of paper. I found that copy paper does not tear off very well and that it is good idea to use lighter weight paper like newsprint or a thin tearaway stabilizer for this part. Do not cut the shape from the paper. 

Gather the 1" x 45" strip of fabric by using a basting stitch and sewing down both long sides of the piece. Tie the thread ends on one short end and carefully pull the bobbin threads on the opposite end so that the fabric starts to bunch up on itself. Continue to bunch and move fabric toward the tied end, until it is as bunched as you want it. 

Arrange your puffed piece on the outline of the second shape you drew. You can adjust the gathers to fit the shape. Once you have it where you want it, pin it in place. 

 Baste the piece right to the paper or stabilizer. Make sure it is where you want it, then zigzag stitch around all of the edges. Remove the paper from the puffing piece. If you use a tearaway stabilizer you can leave the section behind the fabric attached. I left my copy paper on, although I think it was much too stiff afterward.

Pin and baste your puffing piece to your 5" x 8" background fabric. Zigzag around the edges. It is okay to sew over where it crosses.

The book suggests using Belgian lace to cover the zigzagged edges. I couldn't find any I really liked, though, so I used a strip of satin ribbon instead. I pinned the ribbon in place, covering the stitches, then sewed along the inside and outside edges of the ribbon. Mine was 1/4" ribbon. You could probably go 3/8"without encroaching on your applique. 

Couching Sampler Materials: 

1 - 5" x 8" piece of background fabric (dots again!) 

1 - piece of tear away stabilizer

 cording, ribbon, thread, and materials of different thicknesses

1 - thread colors of your choice

On your piece of background fabric, mark diagonal lines in both directions. Vary the distances between your lines. 

Place your stabilizer under your fabric and lay a piece of selected cording over one of the lines that you drew. Using a zigzag stitch, center your presser foot on the cording and sew over it. You can adjust your zigzag width to accommodate the thickness of the cording (usually). 

Continue sewing different cords, ribbons, and threads across your lines, adjusting your zigzag stitches as necessary. I used some metallic cording, pink cording, and doubled-up pieces of embroidery thread. 

Trim the edges of your cording so that it is even with the edges of your swatch. 

I hope you got some good hints and tips during this session. If you missed any of the previous sessions please click the link in the sidebar for Thursdays. You'll see them all lined up there! 

Sewing on Thursday: Sewing Skill Builder 2

Sorry about the delay in our "weekly" sewing skill builder. Circumstances beyond my control have made posting difficult the last couple of weeks! To make up for it, we'll do two a week starting next week so we're not too far behind. So without further delay,  let's dig right in and get started on this week's skill builder!

We're working on our openwork sampler this week. This sampler employs some age-old techniques of removing part of the weave in the fabric to open up the other fibers running in the opposite direction. It takes a good piece of open weave fabric to work with, but it can make some lovely results.

Materials: 

Make sure your open weave fabric
has obvious warp and weft threads you can remove

• 5" Square of loosely woven fabric
• Red thread (or color of your choice)
• 1 - 5x8" piece of fabric
• 1 - 2x5" piece of fabric
• seam ripper
• stabilizing paper
• 
  

Cut a 5" square of your loosely woven fabric and mark a 1.25" horizontal band in the center. I did this by first finding my center, then marking 5/8" on either side of that. Pull out a thread at the top and bottom of the band. Here you can see where I used a seam ripper to loosen the threads along the marks.

Loosen the threads using a seam ripper or similar object

Sew along the lines where you loosened the two threads. Now pull out all horizontal threads between the stitched lines.

Sew along the loosened thread lines

Using a narrow zig-zag stitch (practiced in our first skill-builder) and lowering your feed dogs, sew along the vertical lines that are left. Pull some together, adding in and removing sections as you go. You can move from top to bottom and bottom to top to get your variations. (Just a note here, I forgot to lower my feed dogs until I had sewn the entire thing. I went back over it and lowering the feed dogs makes it much easier.) If you don't know how to lower them in your machine, please consult your owner's manual. On the Janome, there is a switch on the right-hand side that lets you easily lower them. You may also want to use a foot such as the "F" foot on the Janome that easily glides over the fabric but also allows for a zig zag.

Sew over vertical threads

First pass with feed dogs up

Second pass with feed dogs lowered 

 Once you have completed sewing the cords on the band, place a piece of paper behind the open area. I used freezer paper and ironed it to the fabric. Zig zag stitch across the top and bottom of your open area band and remove the paper.

Back of openwork with paper removed

 Trim 3/4" off the top and bottom of your openwork and then turn under 1/4" on the top and bottom. Place openwork piece 1" from bottom of 5x8" piece of fabric and stitch along the top and bottom of openwork piece where you turned the seams under.

Carefully cut out main fabric from behind the openwork fabric. Place the 2x5" piece of red fabric underneath the band area with the right side facing up. Pin and topstitch along the fold lines of the openwork piece.

Finished piece with contrasting fabric behind openwork

My openwork ended up a little wonky, but I'm not too worried about it because it will be cut and shaped when we finish the pockets anyway. Remember, these are practice samplers and you can change them up or use them however you want. 

Sewing On Thursday: Sewing Skill Builder Part One

This week also starts our sewing skill builder! Yep, that's right. We have a Block of the Month and a sewing skill builder. I've been pretty busy at the machine. Not to mention, I also have 2 quilts in the works!

Ok, so part one!

This first bit is actually pretty easy, but it will give you a chance to play with your machine's zig zag settings a bit. I think this is a function modern sewists sometimes take for granted, but the zig zag function wasn't available until Helen Augusta Blanchard patented it in 1873, 27 years after the sewing machine's first patent by Elias Howe. It wasn't really common to have a machine that could both zig zag stitch and straight stitch until the early 1900s. Even then it took a special gadget to perform the function. Today's machines are electronically or mechanically equipped with a zig zag function built in.

Therefore, behold the zig zag!

Materials:

One 7x12" piece of fabric
Thread
Stabilizer, freezer paper or piece of copy paper

For my sampler I chose shades of yellow and pink. I'm not big on off-white, but think the fabrics I chose have a vintage flavor to them.

Since I changed out the colors of the fabrics, I also wrote a little sticky note to myself on the book with the colors I'm using in exchange. .

So for our zig zag sampler, you may want to iron on a piece of lightweight removable stabilizer or freezer paper or put a piece of typing paper behind it. This helps to keep the fabric from bunching up. I used freezer paper because it irons on easily and peels right back off.

Keep the long side to the top and sew the zig zags spaced evenly apart, but leave enough room to run a line of straight stitching between them. Vary your zig zag widths, but try to leave the stitching distance about the same. We want a nice close line of satin stitching.

Once you have sewn your stitches, take the fabric over to the cutting mat and cut a 2" strip off of both sides. Your center piece should be about 2.75" wide. Take the center strip and turn it upside down.

cut 2" off sides

turn middle section upside down

Sew your sides back on to the center strip.

You now have the front of your first pocket piece. In later sessions we'll be shaping and sewing them all onto a backing and actually making the pockets.

Next week we'll discuss making an openwork sampler pocket. For this you'll need a piece of loose weave fabric along with your other fabrics. I used a piece of burlap, but you can choose something else, as long as it has a loose weave where you can pull threads from. Until then, happy stitching! 

Sewing on Thursday: Sewing Skill Builder Series

Most of us buy a sewing machine with a singular goal in mind. Learning to sew probably tops the list for those that don't know how. We want to make things. Awesome things. All those things we see on Pinterest! So we buy a sewing machine. And it sits in the corner. Because we can't figure out how to thread it. Or use it. And all those things we had dreams of creating sit in the corner with it. Or fill up our Pin boards.

Bone needles

Which brings up the question, how did people learn to do things before they had the internet? It was passed down from generation to generation. First, people learned to create by hand. They used bones, animal guts, and eventually iron needles.

They passed these techniques down and future generations improved on them. Then in the 1800's the first functional sewing machines were built, but were failed enterprises because of fears the "machines" would put tailors and seamstresses out of business! Elias Howe received the first patent on a working sewing machine in 1846, upon which Isaac Singer stole used Howe's patented mechanism to make a foot treadle machine that became wildly popular. Bellis, Mary. The History of the Sewing Machine. About.com http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/sewing_machine.htm

My circa 1908-1913 Singer Treadle - needs work, but I love it

As everyone was trying to invent the machine, seamstresses across the world were still teaching their daughters the "old ways" of mending, stitching, sewing, and embroidery by hand, in preparation for running their own households. Mothers would sit their daughters down and show them a stitch, then give them instructions to create sample pieces. As the girls worked on their sample pieces, they would create works that blended all of their stitches and lessons together. These became known as samplers and some were quite valuable later on.

So with the background lesson, we come back around to using a sewing machine. Mothers don't always set their daughters down and teach them to sew anymore. Grandmothers may live somewhere far away, have passed away, or never learned themselves. So arts start to disappear. Thankfully, we DO have the internet and books. Lots and lots of books.

I love finding vintage sewing books. They are chock full of information that you can't even find on the internet today. One of these books that I found I have treasured for a long time. It's called Creative Machine Stitchery and is published through Better Homes and Gardens in 1985. I've been wanting to work through it bit by bit and teach myself some new things, making a sampler and putting it to good use.


One of the lessons in the book is on using your machine's potential. Aha! This is sounding good enough to do a skill builder series on!

Sampler pockets for sewing basket

I'm finally going to go through this book step-by-step and share what I learn with you, hopefully teaching you some things along the way and helping you to use that machine sitting in the corner. There are a few lessons and projects that I will not be using, but I'm choosing the ones that I think will help improve and teach sewing. Here is the outline and what you have to look forward to:

Lessons

1-6: Sewing samplers to create sewing basket pockets
You will learn to create various size zig zags, openwork, puffing, couching, smocking, and faux French hand sewing.

7: Assembling the Samplers

8:  Fabric Collage Pin Cushion
We will learn how to do a little pit of applique to make a pin cushion to hang off of our sewing basket sampler.

9. Making a Rug out of Yarn - on the sewing machine
This is one of those very interesting techniques that have been rediscovered and are very exciting for me!

10. Using the machine to stitch on canvas
We'll use our machines to make needlepoint-style stitches on canvas

Materials

These are the materials needed for the first 8 lessons. The other two I'll give you plenty of heads up for as we get nearer.

• 1/4 yard each of 3 different fabric colors (they use ecru, off-white, and cranberry)
• 1/2 yard muslin
• 1/2 yard quilt batting
• 3 colors of sewing thread to match your fabrics
• polyester fiberfill
• 1 package pre-made binding for pockets, 2 pkgs. pre-made binding for alternating pockets and to join pockets. (you can also buy a little extra of your 3 materials to make binding) 
• 17" 1/4" wide lace
• 8.5" of 1.25" wide lace beading (I'll be doing a crochet lesson on this before we get to it, so if you can crochet it, don't buy it! Same goes for the doily. I'll be making mine, but not sharing the lesson.) 
• 17" entredeux (french lace that goes between panels. I will also be giving a lesson on how to make this homemade, but it may be worthwhile to purchase it.) 
• 1 yard Belgian lace
• Lace doily (very small, for pincushion)
• cording of various thickness
• flower applique
• typing or stabilizing paper
• marking pen
• elastic sewing thread 

Ok, so here's your chance! Let's do this thing and learn how to use that machine! 

Sewing on Thursday: An armrest sling for crafty projects

I have a mess in my living room. It's not from the kids, or the dogs, or even the husband. It's me. All mine. It's globbed up in piles in various areas. I have organizers and bags filled to the brim with tools and accessories, yet none of them seem to be able to give me the rapid availability I require for my projects? It's a conglomeration of yarn, threads, sewing needles, knitting needles, crochet hooks, patterns, scissors, stitch markers, and coffee cups.

Try as I might to keep it tidy, I get back in there at the end of the day and start working on my projects. Before long, everything is right back out again. After 2 days, I've given up trying to put it away when I'm finished with it, because rarely is there a point where I say, "Ok, I'm done for the night." Nope. What usually happens is that I work up until I send the kids to bed around 8. Then we go in, read or tell stories, say goodnight prayers, and drift off to sleep. Yes, me included sometimes. They're just so warm and snuggly. It's difficult.

I want all of my tools right where I can easily grab them, without having to undo an organizer roll or search through the bag at my feet. They need to be ready instantly and be able to drop right back into place. So I created: The Armrest Project Organizer

Materials:

Approximately 2 yards of top fabric for sling top and pockets
1 yard muslin or backing fabric
lightweight interfacing
thread
ruler

First things first, measure your couch. I went from outside in, first measuring the drop on the outside of the arm, then the top of the armrest, the drop inside the armrest, and across the bottom of the couch under the cushion.

Also measure the distance front to back for the depth you want.

My measurements were 10" outside drop, 8" top of armrest, 13" inside drop, and 21" across the bottom. The width was 18" across. Add 1/2" to all of your measurements. I'll be referring to my measurements throughout, but please substitute your own measurements for mine. 

Cut from top fabric

1-18.5" x 21.5" (bottom)

1 - 18.5" x 13.5" (inside drop)
2 - 18.5" x 8.5" (top of arm/pocket)
2 - 18.5" x 10.5" (outside drop/pocket)
1 - 18.5" x 5.5" (pocket)

Cut from muslin or backing fabric

1-18.5" x 21.5" 

1 - 18.5" x 13.5"
1 - 18.5" x 8.5"
1 - 18.5" x 10.5"

Cut from interfacing for pockets

1 - 18.5" x 8.5"
1 - 18.5" x 10.5"
1 - 18.5" x 5.5"

1. Using 1/4" seams, match the sections to each other, right sides facing. Outside arm to top of arm, top of arm to inside arm, and inside arm to bottom. You'll have one long piece of fabric x the width you chose. Iron all seams open. 
   
   
   
   
2. Do the same with the muslin or backing fabric. I chose to cut these in sections so that they would hang better on the couch. You could also do one very long piece of each fabric if you choose.
3. Iron on interfacing to the 3 pocket sections. Turn the top edge of each pocket under 1/4" and stitch down to create a narrow hem. 
4. To do the pockets, decide how many sections you'd like. You'll only be able to section one of the pockets in this, and I chose to do the middle pocket. I made one 6" section and three 4" sections. I matched the edges of the bottom and sides to the longer (10") inside section and sewed straight lines from the top of the middle pocket to the base, then sewed a 1/4" seam around the sides and bottom. 
   
5. Layer the bottom pocket to the other two pockets and sew around all three thicknesses. 
6. Match the main fabric to the muslin, right sides together, lining up seams and edges, and sew 1/4" seam all around, leaving an opening for turning. 
   
7. Clip the corners and turn the piece right side out. Iron flat and top stitch around seam allowances. 
8. Attach to armrest by laying long piece under cushion and over the top of the armrest. 
   

TADA! You now have a beautiful, one-of-a-kind armrest project sling. You can use this for any type of craft such as knitting, crochet, needlepoint and much more. You can also use it as a handy remote control holder or a candy bar stasher. I hope you had fun with this and as always, if you make one, please post it to our Flickr group!