The Sewing Room

glynisrose

Don't forget to make yourself a good shopping bag that will roll up and be there whenever you go to the shops....

hmo

Made this last night

tattycath

hmo wrote: »

Made this last night

Love the bag-I wouldn't mind trying to make a bag in a similar style myself.
Did you use a pattern or did you design it yourself please?

PlymouthMaid

Hello everybody - I have just discovered your sewing room and would like to join you from time to time when I remember I mainly make patchwork quilts but after making a double bed sized wedding ring quilt for my girl last year, I am taking a wee break and revisiting my crochet hooks. I have a several unfinished quilt projects to tackle such as the two 'jar quilts' which still need the animal's features embroidered and then the dreading making of the quilt sandwich before my favourite part, the quilting. I have also promised my OH that I will make him his own quilt eventually (I will aim for his 50th birthday which gives me a couple of years).

In the past I have made cushions but not really tried clothing as fabric is very expensive and weirdly it seems cheaper to by clothes ready made. Also scared that i will not like the end result and still slightly traumatized by school needlework lessons where I had to make sky blue crimplene trousers! I do like the shopping bags and little cases people have made on here.

rufusdog52

Hi Plymouthmaid, nice to see you join in. Dont be scared of making clothes, may be you could start out just altering some to get the hang of how they fit together etc. Scour round the charity shops for something in your size that looks like its not too complicated like a nice top, then take it home and unpick the seams so you can see how it was made, you will probably be surprised how little sewing there is to it. Then you could go onto buying something a bit bigger and altering the side seams or something to get it to fit you. These dont need you to actually buy any extra fabric. Once you have gotten over the fear of clothes being something you cant tackle then keep a look our for market stalls selling fabric or just put on here where you shop and people can say if they know of anywhere near you. I live in Kent but sometimes get up to London to see a family member and there is a stall there near her home that sells fabric at £2 a metre so I save up and when we go I go and stock up to make dresses. Bags and bits are good anyway though xx


HMO, love that bag, its really pretty. I bought some calico to make some bags from when I was at the craft show last year and havent used it yet. I will be starting some new stock soon, not sure yet whether to use it for bags or cushions. Is that calico that you used on your bag?

Tattycath, as for the fabric you got, well done on grabbing a bargain. The lining type of fabric, you can use that as the back of a cushion if you are doing something more fancy on the front. May be try some applique or something on the front, or if there is a piece of fabric with flowers or shapes on, sew some sequins along the lines or beads etc to make the fronts look posh. Then you can use the lining fabric on the back. I have bought cushions before where the back is different and plain up the front. People only see one side anyway. As for bags, well a lined bag is better than an unlined one, may be you could make them for people for presents for the women in the family? Mine all get bags of some kind or another each Christmas.

hmo

tattycath wrote: »

Love the bag-I wouldn't mind trying to make a bag in a similar style myself.
Did you use a pattern or did you design it yourself please?

Made it myself

hmo

PlymouthMaid wrote: »

Hello everybody - I have just discovered your sewing room and would like to join you from time to time when I remember I mainly make patchwork quilts but after making a double bed sized wedding ring quilt for my girl last year, I am taking a wee break and revisiting my crochet hooks. I have a several unfinished quilt projects to tackle such as the two 'jar quilts' which still need the animal's features embroidered and then the dreading making of the quilt sandwich before my favourite part, the quilting. I have also promised my OH that I will make him his own quilt eventually (I will aim for his 50th birthday which gives me a couple of years).

In the past I have made cushions but not really tried clothing as fabric is very expensive and weirdly it seems cheaper to by clothes ready made. Also scared that i will not like the end result and still slightly traumatized by school needlework lessons where I had to make sky blue crimplene trousers! I do like the shopping bags and little cases people have made on here.

Hi and welcome the biggest quilt I've made was a single bed one and that was fairly awkward to do heavens knows how you did bigger ones, well done.

I mainly make small home decor items and bags etc but love it

hmo

rufusdog52 wrote: »

Hi Plymouthmaid, nice to see you join in. Dont be scared of making clothes, may be you could start out just altering some to get the hang of how they fit together etc. Scour round the charity shops for something in your size that looks like its not too complicated like a nice top, then take it home and unpick the seams so you can see how it was made, you will probably be surprised how little sewing there is to it. Then you could go onto buying something a bit bigger and altering the side seams or something to get it to fit you. These dont need you to actually buy any extra fabric. Once you have gotten over the fear of clothes being something you cant tackle then keep a look our for market stalls selling fabric or just put on here where you shop and people can say if they know of anywhere near you. I live in Kent but sometimes get up to London to see a family member and there is a stall there near her home that sells fabric at £2 a metre so I save up and when we go I go and stock up to make dresses. Bags and bits are good anyway though xx


HMO, love that bag, its really pretty. I bought some calico to make some bags from when I was at the craft show last year and havent used it yet. I will be starting some new stock soon, not sure yet whether to use it for bags or cushions. Is that calico that you used on your bag?

Tattycath, as for the fabric you got, well done on grabbing a bargain. The lining type of fabric, you can use that as the back of a cushion if you are doing something more fancy on the front. May be try some applique or something on the front, or if there is a piece of fabric with flowers or shapes on, sew some sequins along the lines or beads etc to make the fronts look posh. Then you can use the lining fabric on the back. I have bought cushions before where the back is different and plain up the front. People only see one side anyway. As for bags, well a lined bag is better than an unlined one, may be you could make them for people for presents for the women in the family? Mine all get bags of some kind or another each Christmas.

Yes calico and hessian been using it a lot lately made all sorts of things photos on my blog

PlymouthMaid

HMO - thanks for the welcome. The trickiest bit with the big quilts is getting them through the gap in the machine which is probably why I prefer hand quilting, Doing the binding can be a drag literally as the weight of the quilt easily pulls you off your lovely straight seam.

Rufusdog - that is a good idea re taking apart charity finds to practice. My daughter is getting into dressmaking and I bought her a dressmaker's dummy for her birthday last year so she could probably give me some tips, I think as I do so many other crafts she wanted something that was hers so i will try not to tread on her toes. Also thanks for welcoming me

rufusdog52

PlymouthMaid wrote: »

HMO - thanks for the welcome. The trickiest bit with the big quilts is getting them through the gap in the machine which is probably why I prefer hand quilting, Doing the binding can be a drag literally as the weight of the quilt easily pulls you off your lovely straight seam.

Rufusdog - that is a good idea re taking apart charity finds to practice. My daughter is getting into dressmaking and I bought her a dressmaker's dummy for her birthday last year so she could probably give me some tips, I think as I do so many other crafts she wanted something that was hers so i will try not to tread on her toes. Also thanks for welcoming me

I like handquilting too over machine quilting. I have tried and tried again but cant get the hang of it although it doesnt put me off, I WILL learn how to do it one of these days without the back looping up lol.