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Video Tutorial

Jul 17th, 2011 2 Comments

At the moment my first hat pattern is out with a group of wonderful test knitters.  They’ve been great with ideas on the best way to present the pattern for maximum clarity.  To say I’ve been nervous about all this is an underestimation.  I’ve fretted and worried about every stage of the process.  If I was a nail biter then I’d have no nails left!

Fortunately this wonderful bunch of people are great.  They’ve let me know how they’ve been getting on and checked in with me when something hasn’t been clear.  A few changes have been made, such as adding in US needle sizes which I hadn’t thought of, and the pattern has changed name.  However, one particular stitch has needed a bit more explanation.  I tried explaining it over email and this helped some but for others I just seemed to confuse them further.

 

 

So with the help of Maytheweed I made a little video.  I hope it’s easy to follow.  We did get a few strange looks doing this sat by the window in one of our favourite tea shops over lunch, but I think it was more curiosity than anything else.  I’ve deliberately not added a vocal explanation on the video based on my own experiences.

When I look techniques up on sites such as YouTube it means I’m sat by my pc.  If I’m sat by my pc then practically by definition I’m playing music or listening to an audio book.  In both cases I only want to see the technique, my ears are busy with something else.  So I’ve removed the sound and put text on explaining the method.  Besides it spares you all from having to work out my accent!

Crafting or Needle Roll Tutorial

Apr 24th, 2011 Leave a comment

Recently, when my mother was visiting, she expressed an interest in a ‘roll’ to keep some of her card making and crafting equipment in.  So on a visit to Quilters Haven I asked her to pick out some fabric and I would make her one.

roll 6Between us we picked out two fabrics, one for the outside and a matching plainer fabric for the inside.  The idea then formed to write down how I made the roll as a tutorial which I hope will be of interest.  This is also the first time I’ve tried to explain one of my sewing projects so I hope it makes sense.

Firstly you need to decide upon the overall size which you want your roll to be.  I went for 10 inches high by 21 1/2 wide.  This allowed me to make the whole thing out of two fat quarters (which I asked to be cut straight across the roll).

To make things easier I’ll call the outer fabric A and the lining fabric B.

roll 1

Cut two large pieces 1 of A and 1 of B.  10 1/2 inches tall by 22 inches wide.  I’m calling these pieces 1A and 1B.

Next two smaller pieces, again one out of each fabric.  One each 22 inches wide by 5 1/2 tall (called 2A and 2B).  Then the final two pieces 22 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches tall (3A, 3B).

You should now have 6 pieces of fabric in 3 pairs.

roll 2

Next it’s time to make the pockets.  With the right sides together sew 2A and 2B together along one of the long sides.  Do the same for 3A and 3B.  These can then be turned the right way round and pressed along the seam.

roll 3

Place these on top of the right side of 1B  (that’s the big piece of the lining fabric).  So at the bottom you have 1B, then the combined 2A/2B and finally 3A/3B on top with all the raw edges at the bottom.  I varied which one was visible so that once the flap (more of that later) you would have two stripes of fabric A at the top and bottom.  I’d spend a bit of time at this point checking out the exact positioning of the pockets.  I decided on a range of different sizes to give some flexibility on what goes into the pockets.  Once you’re happy then sew all 5 layers of fabric together in vertical lines to form the pockets.

Once this bit is done it’s time to put the outer fabric on.  If you do that before this you will have the sewing for the pockets visible on the outside, hence leaving it till now.  Place the wrong side of 1A and 1B together and sew round the edges and trim so that you have a nice neat edge.  I used a 1/4 in seam allowance.

roll 9

Next it’s time to put the edging round.  I picked a black satin bias binding and matching black satin ribbon.  There are different ways to do binding and you can obviously chose the way you prefer.  I chose to sew round the outside with my machine (adding the ribbon underneath to allow the rolled up roll to be tied shut with a nice bow), then hand stitched the inside.

roll 8

A few other thoughts……

It’s worth going over the stitching in a few places such as the tops of the pockets and where you attach the ribbon for added strength.

roll 5

I also sewed a line of stitches 3 inches from the top which helped to form the flap.  This flap stops things from sliding out when you’re carrying your roll.

roll 4

Then take a few piccys and hope the intended recipient likes it.

Silk Flowers

Feb 1st, 2011 1 Comment

flower-4I love flowers.  Most girls do as far as I’m aware.  Unfortunately they don’t last long, and having two dogs and three cats doesn’t help.  Vases get swished off tables and knocked off windowsills.  Enter silk flowers…

I have several different types of the traditional type of silk flowers in various places around the cottage.  The are much better at surviving a swipe from a paw or a waft of the tail.

Recently however I came across a very simple way to knit flower shapes.  So I dug out some dk silk that had left over from Elle the Elephant and also a ‘pet skein’ I was given by the same vendor at Ally Pally.

flower-6

They really are very simple to make.  Firstly decide how big you want your flowers.  The number of stitches should be a multiple of 6.  So far I’ve made two small ones (starting at 36) and two large ones (starting at 66)

flower-5You then need to knit in stocking stich a few rows.  For the small ones I did 6 rows and the large 10.  You should end with a purl row.

flower-2On the next row knit 6 and then rotate one of your needles through 360 degrees to form a twist.  Repeat this to the end of the row.  Next row purl.

flower-3Then knit 1, knit 2 together to the end of the row.  If you started with 36 you should now have 24 stitches.  Purl back.

flower-1Next row knit 2 together to the end and then purl back (12 st).  Repeat these two rows (6 st).

Then break your yarn and using a needle thread the tail through the remaining stitches.  You can then twist your flower round and use the tails to stitch it in place.

Your flower is now ready to either be sewn onto something or attached to a clasp to create a broach.