It’s a busy blog post today. We have a caption winner. It’s also time to take it up a notch in the woolly world of Morris and Sons, as we wait for all of our fabric to arrive. Yes, we are going to stock fabric. It’s on the ocean somewhere, but it’s on its way. Let’s hope it encounters favorable winds and gets here soon. In the meantime all the sewing books have arrived. It’s so exciting and we just couldn’t wait to review just one of them. To whet your appetite even more we have a really quick sewing tutorial. As if that is not enough we had a response to our request for a ‘hug me tight’ and an explanation of what exactly it is. Thank you to everybody who let us have patterns and images. It’s all on Facebook.
First things first. Congratulations Robyn Lee. You are our caption winner. Of course we loved them all and most of them made us giggle. In the end we decided to go with the caption that got the most ‘likes’. It’s witty and funny as well. If you want to read them all, they’re on Facebook.
Sewing Books: ZAKKA STYLE, compiled by Rashida Coleman-Hale. A design Collective.
24 Projects stitched with Ease to Give, Use and Enjoy. ‘Rashida has gathered talented designers from around the world to bring you 24 delightful Zakka projects’. What does Zakka mean? We have been hearing the word bandied about a bit lately. It’s a Japanese term meaning “many things.” According to the explanation on the dust cover of the book it is all about the little things that improve your home and appearance. We all need a little thing or two to make us happy and this little book surely does deliver. All the products in the book are simple, sweet and relatively quickly made. We chose to make the project featured on the front page.
Sewing Kit on Page 23.
It is by Theresia Cookson. Toss it into your craft bag or take it on a trip with you. It’s small and handy.
The instructions are well presented. All measurements are in inches. A little irritating if you are used to the metric system, (our sample maker had to re-cut the odd little square here and there as a result).
A tip for the beginner sewer. Linen is actually not that easy to work with. It has quite an unstable weave. If you don’t like your piece to keep moving about and changing it’s shape, calico or any other homespun is a really good alternative.
We used some linen and fabric we have in the store and made our own sample.
TUTORIAL: Crochet hooks and double point needles lying all over the show. Let’s tame them and get them into some kind of order. Turn off the television and turn on your sewing machine. This will take you all of an hour. Make a few for friends.
Follow these easy how to steps. You will need:
2 main pieces of fabric 20cm x 50cm
Enough iron on webbing or fusing to back the above two pieces of fabric.
1 piece of pocket fabric 25cm x 50cm
2 pieces of ribbon or cord 30cm long each and a fabric marker.
1 button. Whichever button you choose to use, make sure it has a shank.
Step 1: Fuse the two main pieces of fabric.
Step 2: Iron pocket piece in half lengthwise.
Step 3: Place the pocket at the bottom of one main fabric piece. Raw edges of pocket in line with raw edges of main fabric. Pin
Step 4: Place ribbon pieces on top of pocket fabric.
Step 5: Secure with a 6mm seam.
Step 6: Mark stitching lines 2.5cm apart all along pocket. Stitch up and down all along.
Step 7: Place second main fabric on top, RS facing. Pin.
Step 8: Stitch around leaving an opening for turning.
Step 9: Turn and press. Top stitch around, closing the turning opening.
Step 10: Sew on the button.
Step 11: Store all your crochet hooks and dpns. Roll up and twist cord around button.
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