Solar Flare Mug Rugs

I am slipping behind with Samelia's Mum's 52 Week Scrap Challenge. Nevertheless I am really pleased with my version of Sunny Mug Rugs from Week 8.

Once again I have slightly gone my own way. I have written before about my difficulty learning free motion machine sewing. I so love the results (other peoples' I mean), but it is clearly quite a skill, that I have not yet mastered. 

I also think I find it hard because not only have I not mastered the technique, but it also goes against my natural instinct, which is to have everything neat and tidy, even stitches, and no raw edges. Ok, I admit it, I'm probably a bit repressed.

I decided to make a set of four mug rugs, and partly because of the amount of material and wadding I had, to make them a bit smaller than Samelia's mums. I did intend to sew the points of the sun, and started with my centre circles, using a really bright fabric which used to be a lovely wrap-around skirt, but unfortunately I have expanded and it no longer wraps around me. 

As you can see my stitching went completely messy. But at least I do know why. My rugs were too small to fit in the embroidery ring, and I have not been able find a darning foot that fits my sewing machine. I was a bit distraught, and tempted to throw them in the bin, but then hubby said that they actually did look very sun-like - just like the solar flares that you see in photographs. So I decided to just go with it, and added some even more eratic edging. They didn't seem to need points, but I did hand sew some little twinkly gold stars.

And then I could let my inner repressed sewer, who likes everything to be neat, tidy and in boxes, express herself by sewing on different coloured binding. 

Time for a nice cup of tea I think, with a cheese and chive muffin.

 

Birdie Bucket Bag

I've been busy on the 52 Week Scrap Challenge again. This weeks challenge was to make a mini quilt, and I have only kept to the challenge loosely, as I decided to incorporate my applique birds into a bucket bag for my knitting projects. 

I did keep to the idea of using scraps, as this was all made with fabric I already had. You may notice my favourite vintage curtain fabric. I still have a whole untouched curtain of this fabric, so it may well turn up again. I love the gentle green, and the fact it is genuinely old, gives it a lovely soft feel. The cream is leftover fabric from some chair covers that I made.

For the birdies I used a mixture of spots and flowers. I wish now that I had photographed them in a line, before sewing the bag, but I forgot. The brown zigzag they are sitting on is meant to be a branch. Despite trying I just can't get to grips with free motion machine embroidery, so I edged the birds with a zigzag stitch, and then handsewed the beaks and feathers. 

The bag is made from a free tutorial from Craftsy. This is the first time I have followed a Craftsy lesson, and I'm sure will not be the last. It was very nice been shown all the sewing techniques, and it was easy to download the video and the paper pattern etc. I think this is going to be so useful for my knitting projects, and I can see myself making other bags for storage. Can you see the special pockets for my knitting needles?

Dresden Block - 52 Week Scrap Challenge

I have finally finished my Dresden block for the 52 Week Scrap Challenge. I've had my mum staying which has been a bit distracting, but I was also dithering about what to put in the middle circle.

Although I have a big box of leftover material, when it comes to trying to find fabrics that go together, I find that nothing seems to match in colour or weight. So for this challenge I used some leftover bits from my watermelon bag that I made last year. 

I really enjoyed making and assembling the wedges. My son gave me a rotary cutting wheel and board for my birthday, which was great fun to use. I also love a bit of hand sewing, so enjoyed doing the running stitch decoration around the edge, where I exactly followed the tutorial.
 

I had the idea to make the middle look a bit like the seeds of a watermelon, but in the end I just sewed with a scallop stitch across some red felt. Used a huge amount of thread doing this.

I think this is destined to become a cushion cover.

Needle Case - 52 Week Scrap Challenge

I've been a bit naughty today. I've been sewing and I should have been packing. It's the second week of the 52 Week Scrap Challenge at Samilia's Mum.

This has been a bit of a rush. I didn't have enough time to applique, so decided to hunt through my fabrics to find one where I could embroider on the pattern to add something. The fabric with the circles came from my sister. She is moving house so was having a clear out, which was lovely for me. If I had had more time I would have made all the circles into daisies.

The inside fabric is from some old curtains, which came from a friend. I love the gentle green of the fabric, and you may remember seeing it on my blog before for various projects.

I got a bit confused by the word pellon, but I think the fleece interfacing that I had left over from making some bags is the same thing. And for the inside pages to pin the needles I used some white felt.

I'm happy with the final needlecase, which I will probably keep for myself. Up to now I have either been using a tiny little orange felt thing (which I have had since I was a child) or I keep my needles stuck in a pincushion. Not very clever as they disappear inside!

52 Week Scrap Challenge

I've decided to join in on the 52 Week Scrap Challenge, which I found on And Sew We Craft Together. It is going to have an idea each week for something to sew out of scraps; and I think all sewers have box of scrap material left over from other projects. Not promising to join in every week, but it seems like a really nice idea and way to share, as there is a linky page to post your finished sewing on.

My other reason is that I have just committed myself to three Christmas craft fairs (sorry to mention that word so early). I know once I'm back at school time will be really limited, so I thought if I could make a few Christmas decorations I will feel that I at least will have something for my stall.

I didn't completely follow the instructions on Samilia's Mum. Most of my scraps seemed to be in long strips, so I sewed these on to a piece of fleece, and then used this to make the hearts.

I particularly like the lime green material, as this was a bit of the shirt that my husband wore when we got married.

I also sewed the hearts wrong side out, and then turned them. This probably made it more work. My other recommendation is to make the ribbon or cord for the tie longer than you think. This makes your decorations much easier to hang. 

I really like them and am going to make a few more in some sparkly white material I have, with a mix of blues.  Looking forward to seeing what next week's challenge will be.