Sweet Dreams . . . .

The lovely Rhonda has been blogging for some time about sewing pillowcases for Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, and says:

. . . . They have a very interesting charity, pillowcases for the children who come to the hospital. The hospital gives out over 900 pillowcases every month. The children are allowed to choose their pillowcase from those that are donated. This was the sponsored charity event of the Sewing and Stitchery Expo held in Puyallup, WA this year. They have found that the pillowcases bring so much comfort to the children. . . . .

Rhonda thought (quite rightly) that this would be a fabulous project to be involved in, and is co-ordinating the collection and disbursal of 900 pillowcases - one month's supply.  As of today's date, she has received 260 pillowcases.  Wow! That equates to 260 comforted children.  So I have decided to play . . . .

Although I do not sew that much 'non-clothing', I do have a rather impressive amount of quilting fabric passed down from my Mum.  There is more than I would ever use with my projects, and I thought that this would be a great use of the fabric - and I know my Mum would approve!  Last weekend I cut out some fabric and got sewing . . . . 

As you can see from the picture below, I used slightly different instructions than those that Rhonda has suggested, (I got a bit confused, did a Google search, and used this great tutorial).  What I particularly liked was that there are no raw seams - they are all hidden! 
 

These pretty flowery pillowcases were the first ones I made.

And then I hit Mum's Christmas fabric.  What I like about this project is that three metres of fabric makes three pillowcases.  Out of each metre you cut one main piece, one accent piece and one trim piece, mix them all up and you have three 'co-ordinating but slightly different' pillowcases.

It is interesting to see how the patterns and colors play out against each other :)

And here is my little stack!

Sew, 10 pillowcases that will be on their way to Rhonda, and I hope that means 10 children whose hospital visit is made a little easier.

If you fancy taking part - drop on over to Rhonda's blog, and get sewing!!

ETA:  You can see Rhonda's post about my pillowcases here!

Poppy Tote and a Top Tip

I have been following a great blog by a young seamstress who made a very cute tote bag.  Do pop over and check out her blog - she is hugely talented :)

So, I knew I had to make me one of these totes, so I hot tailed it over to Megan Neilsen's blog (the designer of the tote) for the details.

And here we have it - pretty cute!
 

The fabric is a gorgeous duck canvas and I added a bit of plastic canvas in the bottom to give it some shape.  I wanted to share a Top Tip (argh, I really can't remember where it came from - did I read it somewhere, or was I told it - if it is your top tip, please let me know so that I can give you credit!) that I have been using for years.  It is a foolproof way sewing straight, accurate stitches and all you need is a Post It pad.  I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Yep, pretty simple isn't it?!  Simply take the back off a pad of Post It notes, and stick them on your machine to act as a guide as you sew.  All you do is butt your fabric up against the pad and you will sew a perfectly straight row of stitches.  I find it really helpful when I am sewing two rows of stitches close to each othe (no need for a double needle) and when I need to stitch a distance that is not marked on my machine.  When you are done, remove the pad, and next time you want to use it, take off the bottom 'note' and you have a fresh (non-sticky) sticky strip to stick to your machine.  I find that to get the best results, have the sticky strip on the left of the pad where your fabric run along it.

Well, that is my top tip - what is yours?

And Now for Something Completely Different!

I have been really busy with my dressmaking and have made a number of lovely skirts and trousers as well as (almost) finished a blouse/top that just needs buttons and buttonholes.  Unfortunately, due to work schedules, Mr. SDSC and I haven't managed to get it together for a photo shoot, and my other photographer, the 'Old Folk' (my father), has taken himself off for a one month 'European Tour' (well, the UK and Tenerife!), as that leaves me somewhat high and dry, I decided to sew something that I could photograph myself!

I totally copied was inspired by Svetlana's patchwork place-mats and knew that I had to sew me some of them!  The fabric I bought about 8 years ago when we first moved to Canada.  I spent about 6 months working in a quilting shop and built up a rather impressive collection of quilting fabric - including this:

The fabrics were purchased for a quilt top (the pattern is somewhere safe!) and I really need to start using up all the lovely fabric in my stash instead of 'saving it for something special' - because everything we sew is special, right?

It took me quite some time to get my head around purchasing fabric in the $15-$20/m range, cutting it up into small pieces to then sew it up again into something larger (although it does sound like dressmaking doesn't it!!), but I persevered and overcame, and I do like making small quilted items.  I really like the precision aspect - using my 1/4" foot on my machine, straight stitching only, lots of pressing and trimming, it satisfies the OCD streak in me!  I made 6 place-mats, two in each design using the dimensions that Svetlana mentioned in her tutorial.  And I love them!  I kept the quilting simple - 2" (approximately!!!) squares with a hand-stitched border.  I did try a machined border but I wasn't too keen on the look.

I backed the place-mats with rectangles cut from some Ikea pillow cases.  I use Ikea duvet covers and the cheap duvets as dog beds, but have a surplus of pillow cases!

And guess what?  Svetlana has added another post with more place-mats . . . oh well, I wanted some in Christmas fabric as well, the temptress!!!

Three Out of Four 'Aint Bad

I really don't enjoy sewing for others.  I would like to enjoy it more, but really I don't.  I think it has something to do with other people having their own opinions and wanting their vision and not mine.  However, when I see someone having a problem that can easily be fixed with some stitching, well, I just can't keep quiet.  And so it came about that I started this weekend with four ties that were an embarrassingly 10cm wide (hello 1970's!!)

Pretty colors though!

And have you seen what goes on on the back of ties - all those fabulous co-ordinating fabrics.  Gorgeous!

 

And layers.  Let me tell you about the layers - there was the outer silk, a thicker, shaped, bias cut, woven interfacing (wool I think), and a silk-organza partial lining.  Phew!

Anyway, this isn't a blog about menswear . . . . . . so after following a number of links this is the result!

 Some very respectable 7cm wide ties.  Much more 'in' I think you will agree!

And I managed to keep the makers' label to use as the tie stays/keepers - to stop the two ends flapping around willy-nilly . . . .

 Not bad eh?!

'Hold on a sec', I hear you shout - 'what happened to the green number?'  Well, unfortunately I got a little scissor happy, cut it too narrowly and it now resides in that great fabric shop in the sky.  I don't think the owner will notice, do you?!

All in all, it was a quickish sewing job.  Probably about one hour per tie.  Measuring, trimming and hand-sewing.  I am quite pleased with how they turned out!

How about you - do you like sewing for others?