Thirty gifts for Thirty - Algebra Bow tie and pocket square

Hi  there guys!

Today I am back sharing one of my favourite makes from the Thirty gifts for Thirty series. I have been having a lot of fun making menswear recently, but one of the items I have found I love making are bow ties! I started making them last year when Mr. F requested one for our wedding, then I cranked things up a notch when I made him eleven for Christmas last year. I had a blast making them, choosing different fabrics, some from my stash, and treating him to some new ones in some snazzy prints!

So naturally when I came to making the birthday gift list I had to include the odd bow tie in there somewhere! The hardest part was choosing the fabrics, there are so many amazing fabrics out there, I was really spoiled for choice. I decided to go for a bit of a Maths theme... it seemed fitting after all.

I have drafted this pattern from scratch and have made a few mods to get it to this point, but I think I can finally say I am happy with the proportions and the finishes.

Here we have it gift number four.... the Algebra Bow Tie and Pocket Square.

I love this fabric so much it is Moda Elementary Equations, and it is so lovely to work with. I bought it from The Village Haberdashery and my pattern for both the pocket square and the bow tie fits perfectly onto one fat quarter. Talk about stash busting!! 

I had a lot of fun with the packaging on these guys too....first up is the pocket square!

I like the wrap around packaging you get on fancy items sometimes and tried to mirror that style...

Next up is the bow tie packaging, I am kind of proud of this one...

These dapper treats went down a treat with Mr. F and I  am pretty happy with the packaging prototypes too. 

Thanks for visiting my blog, It means a lot that you folks stop by to visit :)

That's all for now, I will be back with more birthday related treats soon.

~HJF~

Thirty gifts for Thirty - Mens Keyboard wallet

Hi all,

Today's post is yet another instalment of Thirty gifts for Thirty, where I challenged myself to make twenty handmade gifts for my husband for his thirtieth birthday! 

Today I wanted to show you the handmade wallet I made for him. I wanted to make him a simple fold over wallet but with a bit of personality, so I set about drafting a quick pattern. 

I wanted a simple design with a fold down the centre, a place to hold notes and cards, and that's it. 

I came up with the pattern fairly quickly and set about sewing. I decided I would take step by step photographs of each stage so that I could make a tutorial with the hope of giving my pattern away as a free download. It was the first time I have made an accessory pattern with the intent to make public, it is usually garments patterns I draft for myself, so I tried to be organised about it and made sure I documented each step.

 It all went together fairly quickly, I made a couple of silly mistakes near the end, but I think that was just due to tiredness. I ended up remaking the whole wallet because I had handled it so much by this point it looked a mess! But I got it together and finished it off in time for his birthday.

 I can't say I am overly happy with the finished product, it just doesn't look professional enough for me. So after taking all of the photographs and drafting the pattern, I decided not to post my tutorial after all. I think I am better sticking to the garment making and this has definitely taught me that small accessories are not my thing! But I am ok with that, you know, I am a garment girl at heart, and that's ok. I have loved sewing clothes for as long as I can remember, so maybe this little accessory adventure didn't go quite to plan because my heart wasn't really in it (it was, I wanted to make Mr. F a rad wallet) but who knows, I am ok with not being a whiz at the old wallet making. Pass me the dress patterns any day....:)

So here we have it, gift number three...

As you can see in this photograph the corners are not square, this is due to the amount of bulk, even though I trimmed out all of the excess. I am not sure how I would eliminate this next time?

The two lovely fabric I used were from The Village Haberdashery.

Here is the finished gift with the label attached. Although I am not completely happy with the finished product, it still taught me a lot, and it taught me about what I enjoy sewing too. I really thought I would enjoy sewing this, but I really didn't. I guess there won't be too many more wallets in my future sewing plans. ;) 

Are there things you sew that you don't particularly enjoy sewing? 

Are there any things you sew that you know you find difficult?

 I would love to hear about them in the comments below! 

Thanks for stopping by. 

~HJF~ 

Thirty gifts for Thirty

Hi Lovely people,

Today I am back with a bit of a different post, still my usual sewing, but this time it isn't for me!

So, early may Mr. F turned 30, and to mark this pretty special occasion I wanted to make him something really awesome!! The problem was I wasn't really sure what, I know that probably sounds awful, but I just couldn't settle on one gift idea. So, in the end I decided, why have one gift when you can have thirty.... I mean that is the rational jump to make isn't it?! Everyone else was with me on that one right?! hmm thought so.....

So I set to making a list of gifts I wanted to make for Mr. F ( if you haven't guessed already, that's my husband ha ha, thought we should just clear that one up) I decided to try and make a gift for each of his thirty years would be way too ambitious so I whittled it down to a mere 20... the rest were token gifts that I bought throughout the year leading up to his birthday.

I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the gifts that I made for Mr. F. It has been my first real adventure into menswear, so I hope you stick around for the next few posts :)

First up is the Star Wars skinny tie

I have made a few ties this year as it seems to be the year of our guys turning thirty and ties make a great gift! The original skinny tie pattern is from the See Kate Sew Blog , which is a great place to start. I have however made some mods to the pattern and use a more traditional method of assembly to create the point lining you see below.

If you are looking for a few tips on Tie making or, like me you work better with a few visual aids, I found this really helpful video that also has a downloadable pattern. They walk you through the whole tie making process and every step is made very clear.

Tie Making Tutorial Video on Youtube - Not my content!


I bought official Star Wars Quilting cotton a while ago and it was perfect for this project, I lined it with some scraps of quilting cotton in a neon green because it matched the lasers so well!!

The finishing touches I decided to create for my gifts were packaging labels for each gift, now at this point in the game I think I had lost the plot a bit.  I was making hand made gifts, then making labels to make each gift look shop bought..... but I am still glad I did it, it was a lot of fun and I think it finishes off each gift nicely. 

I really enjoyed making this tie, it was so quick to put together! The hand sewing really is the most time consuming part, but I did most of that watching Season 3 of the Killing (I know, I am late to the party on that one!). 

  

That's my first installment of Thirty gifts for Thirty, I hope you have enjoyed seeing something a little different on my blog.  I will get round to posting gift number two shortly.....

When I decided to make my twenty gifts, I set myself a schedule but as ever, things take a little bit longer than expected. I had NO idea this would turn into the crazy challenge it did! This was just gift one and was a breeze... :)

Do you make a lot of handmade gifts or do you mainly sew for yourselves? 

Have you ever set yourselves a crazy challenge or deadline for someones birthday? I would love to hear about it!

As ever thanks for stopping by!

~HJF~

Tokyo Train Ride Tank Top

Sooo..... I did it y'all!!

I completed the first garment on my list for #selfishsewingweek.

Well... Technically I don't know whether it qualifies for the above hashtag, because, well, the first garment on my list is for my mum. 

It is Mother's Day on Sunday and I like to make my mum something each year when I can. When I showed my mum my new stash of Cotton and Steel from my favourite collection (Tokyo Train ride - by Sarah Watts) she loved the Train Ride print as much as I do and mentioned she would like to make a top from it. I knew she would never buy the fabric for herself though. 

So I ordered extra yardage of the print, from the wonderful The Village Haberdashery and set to making her a top.

The pattern is a vintage Simplicity pattern that has been tweaked beyond recognition and in no way resembles it's former self, so I have no pattern info for you. As you can see it is a basic tank top pattern with just two bust darts at the side seams, and it is my mums tried and tested, go to pattern for the summer.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric to pattern match the side seams, but I think it can handle it due to the amount of awesome pattern going on!!!

I kept it simple with a super fine binding finish for the armholes and neckline. The pattern calls for facings usually, but this fabric is quite a thick linen blend and I think it would have been just too bulky. 

I love this print soooo much, and am super jealous of this top, good job it isn't my size or my mum might never see it ha ha!

As ever I would love to hear any comments you have. 

Is this your favourite fabric collection too?

Thanks for stopping by, next up will be will be my Emery Dress, so don't wander too far!

~HJF~

Simple Paisley scarf

At Christmas Mr. F asked for a vintage men's scarf, you know the ones, paisley printed silk one side, cosy complimentary coloured wool the other. I would call it a men's dress scarf but who knows the real name?! Well he asked for this about a week or two before christmas, and I searched but couldn't find one anywhere, and without time to venture to manchester to wade through the wild array of vintage shops there I decided to give up...... For now.

After my bow tie making marathon before christmas I realised I had quite a few sections of some lovely quilting cottons left over. So I felt a quick project was in order. I realised I had some rather lovely paisley cotton left over that was just big enough to make a scarf with. So I rummaged though my remnant box and found a piece of lovely camel coloured wool mix twill that was an incredibly good match! 

It may not be the vintage one he asked for, but he is happy all the same.

This was a super simple project that probably took half an hour in total with cutting, sewing and pressing. Okay, okay, well maybe a little longer if you include hand sewing the lining shut. 

There you see the lovely warm lining. This scarf was four pieces cut, joined and then, "bagged out". Then a quick trim of the corners, turn the right side out, press and finish with a little hand stitching.

I debated whether to top stitch the whole way round the scarf but I thought that might make it look a little clumsy. 

The fabric is a really lovely quality quilting cotton that I got from Minerva Crafts, unfortunately i don't have a brand or name for it, and there was no selvedge on my piece.

And here he is modelling the scarf. I am sure he really loved modelling this for me.... Ha ha. 

Thanks for popping by, and as ever I would love to hear your thoughts on any of my projects. 

~HJF~ 

Embroidered wedding gift

Hi all, 

So after our wedding in July we were totally overwhelmed by the amazing gifts we received from friends and family. We received some lovely presents and some really personal gifts from people who had really thought about us as a couple. 

When my cousins wedding was fast approaching last august I decided I wanted to make them something personal for their wedding gift, I struggled to settle on something and in the end decided on an embroidered piece relating to their wedding day.

I sketched out my design freehand and using my (homemade) lightbox I transferred the design to my calico fabric. 

I then used watercolour paints to add colour to my work. I free machine embroidered the rest of the piece using different shades of blue and green. I then finished it with some hand embroidered french knots. 

Here is the finished embroidery, excuse the poor quality photographs, I forgot to snap it before I framed it. I really enjoyed making this for my cousin, there are definitely a few changes I would make next time around. The feather shapes need some improvement and I would maybe throw in another colour just to mix things up a bit.