house of quilting

We just got back from a week at my mum's. She is a quilter. There's a lot of quilts in her house. I thought I would share a glimpse of just a few. We sleep under them, and they hang on the walls.

Now I see them together as a group I feel impressed! We all take the quilts for granted in our family and don't really consider them or the skills taken to make them. Time for rethink?

If you go down to the woods today...

...you had better take your ear plugs.

Completed ATC Cards

Little I's completed cards. T's are more comples, involving a series of puzzles and mazes, they are going to take a while to complete.

Dee groovey

I had a huge list last week, one item on it was my brother's birthday cushions. Fabric is genuine 1970s (?) from the bags of fabric I was given in Devon. These were fabrics from a quilting friend of my mum's who sadly passed away last year. Her son had brought about 5 bin bags of fabric to my mum's house.

There is a great collection of fabrics spanning 1960s to the noughties. And moving from dressmaking to patchworking. There are a couple of tiny cocktail dresses (she was very petite) and some cut up paisley 1970s blouses, either they are half finished or she was cutting up her old clothes for patchwork scraps.

In a way I can see her life through her sewing which is both moving and sad. As I have been making things from her fabric I have been thinking about her and her sewing.

But my mum reassures me she would have been pleased to see her fabrics being used.

Plans

I found this duvet cover in the charity shop on saturday. I was thinking of making the skirt for the Traveller dress view C (top left corner of pattern envelope) I think to make another shift style dress in this fabric could be too much holiday kaftan-like for me. What do you think?

The duvet cover is currently doing duty as a play tent in the garden prior to being cut up for a dress.

2245 in action

I wore it, I was happy all day. I had a postcard, car keys, phone, and lego in the pockets though not all at the same time. It survived Little I's painting session, making cakes, nursery, running around to do errands.

Wearing smock type dresses is something to get used to, no waist bands is different. Could I fit a cushion up this dress? Probably.

I made it just about hitting the knee as I like my skirts that length if I am going to wear them with my little bare white legs out in the summer. On this occasion I wore it with leggings as it was not quite warm enough for me to brave bare legs.

thrifty 365 days part 1

Look what Little I's nursery teacher gave me ...vintage barkcloth Noddy fabric, sorry for the creases. What do you think I should make from it? I have a couple of ideas...

In the spirit of Sarah's Thrifty 365 , recently we have been finding things to do that do not involve spending much money....we have been planiting seeds to grow vegetables. These are hopefully going to be pak choi.

I found a load of old mount boards in my mum's attic left over from when I last exhibited my art work (eek, too long ago, seems like another life). I bought it home and it looks great with childrens' watercolours on so we are using the last pieces to make our ATC Kids' Swap art cards. Little I did one big piece that I had drawn a grid of 3.5x 2.5 " rectangles on. Then I cut them at her nursery borrowing their big guillotine. They look lovely once cut up, the thickness of the mount board gives them a real Special-Object-like quality when you hold them.

I will photo them but right now the sun is shining and my kids are shouting at me to come and play.

Dress to tunic top refashion

This was a UK size 20 dress in the local charity shop. It is a silk cotton mix and the fabric feels lovely, it is also lined in cotton. I liked the pattern and colours and bought it. Though I am not sure about the fabric if it is too old lady or not, I just cannot decide. So I am wearing it and then I will decide!

The first thing I did was to trim the sleeves, cutting off the edging bands. Then I altered the dress to be a tunic using my Amy Butler Anna tunic as a shape and size guide. I drew round the Amy Butler tunic on the inside of the dress using tailor's chalk to show my stiching line. Then I trimmed away the excess fabric after sewing.

I am hoping this will be a good top for summer.

2245 dress or the ongoing dress nirvana quest

In my seemingly never ending quest for dress nirvana (i.e. a comfortable but good looking dress, one that can be worn in everyday life) I made this dress. Seems like it was a really quick dress to make, it took a week from cutting out to final hemming. But I guess the pattern was fresh in my mind from having made the 2245 top recently. I used view A but used the sleeve length and cuff for views B and C.

The back view of the fabric

Back buttons from my stash. Even though they will not be seen by many people I like these little details.

While making the dress I kept thinking this could turn out to be a really strange dress, due to the fabric. I wanted to make this dress in a lightweight denim type fabric but I don't have any spare money this month to go and buy dressmaking fabric so I decided to use up some of my stash, specifically some of the fabric that I brought back from Devon in February. I was also a bit concerned it would look like an over-sized school girl dress.

The fabric was labelled"Liberty" "Country of origin: GDR, 2m 50" It is 100% cotton but has a weave shown best by the back view. This meant after washing it developed a slightly quilted look which disappears with pressing. However at times it seemed I was making a quilted dress which kept me wondering about how the end product would turn out. I had to do careful trimming of seams as they did bulk up a bit, especially in the neckband.

I have been thinking that as the country of origin was GDR this fabric must be pre 1989 and as the measurements are in metric it must be post 1971.

I think this is going to be a good day dress, useful and comfortable with the all important pockets (yay!). You can expect someout and about dress photos soon.

Memade March

Round up of Me made March:

I enjoyed most of March though it was blighted by having a cold, and an eye infection. I missed about three days of photos but did manage to wear something Me Made each day. Taking a daily photo made me more aware of my moods and energy levels

• I put pockets into my sack dress


• fixed the wonky hem on the red button skirt pictured top.


• I took apart and resewed my duvet top giving it bigger sleeves.


• I am really glad that I had the impetus to do these little adjustments which made the clothes much more wearable.


• I am coming to not mind (not quite at liking yet) my own image in photos although I did crop off my head some days as I just couldn't share the bad hair, no make up, under eye bags.


• There were a few of my clothes I didn't bring out for March as they are too summery


• I tried a bit harder with different tights and boots which was fun


• I couldn't keep up with Flickr this time


• I could really do with a pair of shoes to wear with skirts, hmmmm, thinking about this one

• I do have a good collection of Me Made clothes but am lacking trousers

31st March - Me Made Simplicity 2245 top, Me Made Tate Denim skirt

Kids ATC Swap

We are signed up to participate in the kid's Art Trading Card Swap organised by Ellie and Abbie at Bright Eyes + Blue Eyes. The closing date for registration is 4th April. For those who may not be familiar ATCs are usually about 3.5 by 2 inches and are cards with images on by an artist. In this case they are to made by the children (ages 4 upwards). The kids are to be put into age groups so for instance my eight year old will swap with other eight year olds. (You have to be prepared to pay postage for your cards) Are you in?