Tessellation table topper

Today I share with you my Tesselation Table Topper, I completey blame the name of it, on Mr.F, maths extraordinaire.....

I recently decided I wanted to get back into sewing some home accessories, I have previously made quilts cushions, caddies, tables cloths and the like, but with no real vision.

This time round however, I knew what I wanted to get started on. I wanted to create a table mat for the centre of our dining table, one that could live there permenantly when the table wasn't in use.

My colour scheme was grey, so I set to ordering my fabrics from the lovely The Village Haberdashery and M is for Make. 

Let me first explain something, when I designed this project I thought, yes! This can be my first English Paper Piecing project. Alas, when my beautiful fabric flew through my letterbox I got over eager, cut out my triangles and thought, I can sew this by machine! I don't need to hand sew! Let's do this thing. Well I did infact machine sew it, and I who would have thought it...... It was a hot mess!!! Ha ha. So I ripped it all apart and decided to do it properly.

I cut myself plenty of paper triangles, armed myself with my super new (and now favourite) Sewline Glue pen and prepped all of my triangles. I have to admit it was a lot quicker than I had anticipated. Then came the sewing, I found that a slip stitch worked the best for me, and as usual I used a super fine beading needle. 

The whole process of sewing the triangles went together quiete well, I struggled with some areas, mainly I think because one of my fabrics was a heavier weight and added some bulk to the joining seams. 

I then had the decision of how to finish it?

Do I quilt it? Do I add wadding? Do I machine quilt it all? Some of it? Argh!!

I had no idea what I was doing, this is my first piece of EPP and I think I made things more complicated by the somewhat awkward shape. 

No fear, armed with my other new toy, Clover Wonder Clips, I decided to bravely start to sew on the backing. I decided I didn't want wadding and I didn't want to machine quilt it.

In the end I opted to blind slip stitch a plain white cotton backing onto my table topper.

And here it is done!

Admittedly I really should have ironed this before I photographed it. (Curling edges are not cool)

The fabrics I used were;

Cotton and Steel - Moonlit Gems- Truly Outrageous Grey

Carolyn Fiedlander - Botanics - Crosshatch in Grey

Art Gallery Fabrics -  Indelible - Spirodraft in Carbon

Some grey and white cotton from my stash, and some grey paisley off cuts from Mr.F's trousers. 

I hand stitched in grey around only the white triangles, just enough to keep the backing in place.

I loved making this, and  am so glad I started afresh and completed my first EPP project.

I am now hooked and can't wait for my next project. 

I would love to know what you think and if you have any comments or tips for a beginner, I would love some shared knowledge. 

~HJF~ 

Alder Shirtdress - a Grainlinestudio Pattern

The Grainline Studio Alder Shirtdress is one of the many lovely patterns I received for christmas. 

Check out this sweet haul! 

Pretty lucky girl huh!

So I am gradually trying to work my way through the patterns, Linden - done, Nest egg Tote - done, and now the Alder shirtdress is finished, Yay!

I decided to try out this pattern using some lovely fabrics from M is for Make (they had a super sale on, and as ever they have excellent service)

I used a Kona cotton solid in Prussian (which in honesty was a little more *blue* than I had anticipated, more on that later) and some rather awesome Leah Duncan Florascape Moonstone from her Meadow collection by Art Gallery Fabrics. 

This pattern was a breeze to put together, it really was. I was a little hesitant about putting a collar in, it has been a few years since I have done one, the pattern is beautifully cut and didn't give me any trouble. 

I decided on adding some top stitched lines down either sides of the button placket to add some texture to the plain fabric. I have used bright blue Kam Snaps instead of buttons, and I am quite happy with the finish. 

The Snaps however were not the breeze I thought they would be! I trialled a few on Christmas Day when I got my new tool, and thought....yes! This is the most amazing thing ever! What can I put snaps on, I want to put snaps on everything!!! Quick, make something you can put snaps on!! Ha ha. 

In reality, I wasted seven, yes, SEVEN! Snaps making this dress, think I was tired and rushing to get it finished, so maybe I will have better luck next time. 

I adore the contrasting fabric I used for this shirtdress, in an ideal world the whole dress would have been made from it, alas, my contrasting collar and back yoke will have to do. 

I finished this dress and before adding the snaps I tried it on, and couldn't quite believe it. It fit, no FBA needed, no awful drag lines, ok, I would prefer a slightly softer fabric but the fit is good! 

Please excuse my awkward posing and weird non smile face, it is -1°C, there is still snow on the ground and I am outside prancing about in my summer weight shirtdress and jelly shoes trying to look all casual like I am not freezing... Ha ha. 

(p.s. I had ironed the dress just before I took the pics, looks like it's going to crease a little) 

All in all I love this shirt dress and I already have a lovely soft floaty rayon mix lined up for my next version. I also plan to take a few inches of the hem, so it sits just above the knee.

 I do have a slight issue with this dress, the colour. It is more blue than I anticipated, I was going for navy and this is quite royal blue. Totally my fault, it is true to the website colour swatch, I guess I didn't have my eyes on straight when I was ordering ha ha. The colour reminds me of a uniform a little too much, but I will still be wearing it. 

Thanks for stopping by.

~HJF~ 

Nest Egg Tote

I am so thrilled to have finished this tote bag, and it is officially my first sewing make of 2015!

Below is my Carolyn Friedlander - Nest Egg Tote.

I first spied this lovely pattern when I browsing through my instagram, it really stood out to me on Carolyn's page, and immediately fell for the unusual design. 

The tote is designed to initially to hold all of your sewing goodies whilst on the go, while this isn't usually something that happens for me I wanted to give the pattern a go.

I chose to use some Sew Caroline fabrics from her Gleeful range that I already had in my stash, I am so glad I did because I think the pop of colour compliments the tote shape nicely. 

I started this bag really not anticipating the amount of work that it would hold, there is a lot of measuring, cutting, and interfacing to be done before the sewing can begin- but that is in no way a criticism. 

The pattern called for some fairly strong interfacing, I couldn't find the one mentioned so I opted for the next best thing, which in strength worked wonderfully in ensuring the bag held it's shape. I did however encounter some problems sewing through the thicknesses, it turns out my lovely little Brother XR-65 machine is not too fond of the super strong interfacing I used. (I can't really blame my machine- its a whole 10 years old, and I have really put it through its paces in the past). 

I managed to sew everything together, but in places the stitching doesn't really fall into the 'pretty' category. 

I had the odd problem finding the right sized components here in the UK too. The tote handle is only 19mm wide, so finding appropriate buckle and D-rings proved a little tricky. (Ok, well not that tricky, but I wanted to order from the UK so I could get started ASAP, rather that waiting for some shiny metal ones to arrive from China)

I opted for some white plastic buckles and matching D-rings, I am happy with them for this project, but next time round, I want something a little more....snazzy! 

I made the tote exactly as the pattern recommended, I just wanted to get a feel for how it was going to look rather than going crazy with the changes just yet!

The Gleeful fabric was a dream to work with, I am a sucker for a quirky polka dot, so this fabric was perfect for me. I really do like the quality of Art Gallery Fabrics. 

I loved making this bag, I am not going to lie, there were times where this project sat on my sewing table for a few days because I was apprehensive about making the next step, but it was totally worth it in the end! 

It is a fairly intense make and I believe that fabric and notion choices are key to this project being a success. I have definitely learnt a lot on this one and already have plans for Nest Egg Tote number two!

(p.s. If you have this pattern already and are wondering which method I used to attach the lining, I went for the hand stitching method. I toyed with the idea of the glue gun as recommended but, the glue gun and I are not always friends, so I hand stitched the lining in with a beading needle.) 

Fabric - Gleeful range by Sew Caroline for Art Gallery Fabrics

Notions - White buckles ebay, D-rings -Kleins of London 

And lastly a few photos of the Tote with my drawing materials stashed inside.

~HJF~