Adorable, Funky, Wonky, Crazy Cat

A long time ago, when my Not So Little Boy was really Little, he made a drawing of a cat that he called simply "My Cat". No, we didn't have a cat and he never wanted to have one but in his imaginary world it was his cat. Absolutely adorable, funky, wonky, crazy cat that I simply fell in love with from the first sight.

We always talked about making t-shirts for all of us with a print of this cat but we never managed to do that. But yesterday morning I had an idea - why not stitch a smaller version of this cat on something? Not thinking for too long, I scanned the drawing, made it smaller, transferred on calico and got lost for a while in a soothing noise of my sewing machine. A few minutes later the cat was ready. According to my Not So Little Boy, it looked messy but cute. Phew!

While admiring my creation, another idea entered my already excited mind - I was going to turn it into a lunch bag but not any bag. A bag inspired by a brown paper bag. That sounds a bit strange, I know. A few sketches, some calculations, cutting, pinning, sewing, a bit of giggling, more sewing, hammering, finger whacking and this is what I ended up with.  A cute small bag with two snaps at the top.

Now, looking at this bag, I already have a few more ideas; different styles that might work quite well.

Sing a Rainbow

Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue... Which one is your favourite? Out of all the colours here, green, purple and orange really stand out for me. This is a tiny quilted wall hanging that can be used as a placemat as well - perfect for an afternoon cup of tea with a friend.

I like the happy colour combination and how the running writing around the flower turned out, and the way the binding accentuates the colours of petals. For this quilt I used a straight edge binding.

It still surprises me that while I am working on a project, everything seems fine but once it's finished, I see quite a few things that I wish I had done differently. I suppose it's an avoidable part of a hands-on learning experience. You can't perfect your technique if you don't experiment, if you don't try various ways of creating things. I believe there's always room for improvement and that's what makes it so enjoyable. 

Some spots and dots, and houses with pots

Remember the houses? And the thinking they caused? They even inspired a short poem.

Well, no more thinking... it's a fabric envelope at last. I have made quite a few of them since the beginning of this year. I like the fact that with just a few adjustments you can create anything from a simple pocket for papers to a padded iPad cover. You can add any type of a fastener and you can decorate the envelopes any way you like - there are no boundaries for your imagination here.

I really like the colours of this cotton, they make me think of Autumn. Warm, sunny days with carpets of red, yellow, orange leaves spread around and a particular cool autumn air filled with mushroomy smell. It's something I would call an Autumn Palette with deep cadmium, crimson lake, rose pink and flesh pink shades. I love Autumn! Do you?

If you are interested in making your own fabric envelopes, you can find a tutorial here. Have a great day everybody!

Tutorial: Fabric Envelope

Today I am going to share with you a way I make my envelopes. With this quick and simple tutorial you can create your own personalised Fabric Envelopes of various sizes. I am using linen with hand embroidery for the shell and cotton for the lining. If you would like to use the same embroidery pattern Houses, you can find it here. The measurements bellow are for the envelope 18cm x 27cm in size. Generally I use Magnetic Snap Fasteners for my envelopes but in this tutorial I am going to skip the step of attaching the fastener. You can use any type of fastener for your envelope or leave it without it.

Important Note: Fabric with one way design won't work for this pattern because it will appear upside down on the back of the envelope. A better choice is a solid colour fabric or fabric with no direction pattern.

Material:

• Piece of fabric for outer shell measuring 29cm x 44cm
• Piece of fabric for lining  measuring 29cm x 44cm
• Fusible light weight interfacing measuring 29cm x 44cm
• Embroidery floss
• Sewing machine
• Pins, scissors, sewing needle
• Optional Fasteners of your choice: magnetic snap, sew on snap, prong snap, Velcro cercles, Button

Note: For a more structured envelope, use fusible batting instead of interfacing or even fusible foam.

Step 1: Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric you are going to use for outer shell. I am fusing the interfacing to linen with embroidery. Make sure to set your iron to the right temperature and gently press and glide the iron from the centre to the edges.

Step 2: Place the outer shell and the lining right sides together. Pin in place.

Step 3: Mark about 1cm allowance around all edges leaving a 3-5cm gap on one of the long sides for turning the envelope right side out.

Step 4: Stitch around leaving the gap open. Back stitch at the beging and at the end to secure the seam.

Step 5: Cut off the threads. Trim all four corners.

Step 6: Turn the envelope right side out carefully pushing the corners out with a chopstick. Iron well with a lot of steam.

Step 7: Lay the envelope with the lining facing up.  Measure and mark about 7.5cm from the top for the flap. Measure and mark about 17.5cm from the marked point for the bottom fold of the envelope.

Step 8: Fold up the bottom part on the 17.5cm mark and iron well. Pin in place. Make sure that back and front parts of the envelope are well aligned on top of each other.

Fastener: If you are using one of the fasteners,  make marks and fix it in place now. I am working on a separate tutorial for a few different types of fasteners.

Step 9: You can hand stitch the gap close or leave it as it is and try sewing the sides very close to the edge as I do. Stitch the sides with 0.4cm allowance. Start about 1cm above the body of the envelope. Back stitch to secure the seam at the beginning and the end. Cut off the threads.

Step 10: Remove pins. Close the flap. Iron well.

Step 11: Now is the fun part. Using the embroidery floss of your choice, hand stitch around the right, bottom and left edges of the flap of the envelope using a running stitch. You can mark each stitch to make them even. Make sure that you take the floss of the right length.

Step 12: Depending on the type of a fastener you are using, you can add an extra decoration to your envelope. I like using yo-yo or fabric covered buttons on top of the magnetic snap fasteners. You are done!

I hope you enjoyed this project. Have any questions? Please feel free to leave a comment or email me.

Happy stitching!

Framed Applique: A Girl Went Walking

A little girl goes for a walk on a sunny autumn or maybe spring day. It's not raining and it's not cold but she loves her new red gumboots and a matching beret, she has to wear them no matter what. She just likes walking around the neighbourhood on her own. It does not matter if the sun is out or if it's raining, there are things to see and explore around.

Here is one more raw edge applique that was done a while ago but was not photographed at the time. The hand stitching of the walking girl with some applique elements was ment for a fabric envelope at first but the piece of fabric was cut too small for the envelope. Then I thought of using it for a bookmark but the girl ended up here instead. The houses were done with free motion machine stitching. If you are interested, you can see the same houses done by hand here.

Work in Progress: Free Motion Machine Stitching

Have you seen my sketches of Clover and Plantago on the Sketches page? Well, I am using them for this quick and easy project. It's a fun way (even addictive I have to say) to practice my newly acquired skill of free motion machine stitching and, yet again, to use up some of the small cuts of fabric.

Using calico and black thread I "sketched" my pictures with ease. It did not take any time at all, and I like the fact that it looks a bit messy compared to hand stitching. I do not have a special free motion foot for my machine and I do not use a hoop or gloves for stitching but still that does not stop me. I just have to be careful and watch my fingers while "sketching".

You must be wondering what is it going to be. Well, you have to wait for a while to see the final result. It won't take long if I manage to find some free time of course.

Work in Progress: Still Thinking...

Today I would like to share with you what is happening in my creative space.

Some spots and dots, and houses with pots.

Embroidery floss and cats of course.

Some trees with swirls and grass with thorns

But what is it? A purse of couse. Or maybe not because...

I am still thinking.

Yes, this is exactly what is happening here at the moment. The hand stitching of houses on stone colour linen has been finished, the fabric for the lining has been chosen but the main question is still the same  - what is it going to be? Right now I am tossing between two ideas, I like them both but I cannot decide which one. So I might as well do one more embroidery of houses and make two different things all together.