This week’s project

Our church is collecting in shoe boxes, soon, for the Operation Christmas Child appeal. So I have been making some warm scarves for our boxes.

I had fleece left from workshops I did at the Birch Hill library, rediscovered in recent sorting.

These are for the girls

Layer two scarf size pieces and stitch ribbon and trims down the centre. Then cut from edge to the centre about 1in/2cm intervals to make the frilly edge. Be sure not to catch the ribbons in the centre.

And these are for the boys.

I didn’t think they would appreciate frilly scarves, though it is a bit of fun. So I remembered I had a scalloped edge rotary cutter blade. It was too hard to get the layers of fleece cut with a straight edge blade as it somehow ended up raggedy. But I wanted something to finish it nicely. And the scallops work well without being girly.

More weaving on sticks

Since I really liked the result of the weaving with weaving sticks I did last week, I decided to have a go with some fancy yarn I got quite some time ago at a charity shop.

One 100gm skein makes this much. It isn't double, like the fancy yarns I used last time, so not so thick. That is fine, because the extra fuzz on the yarn gives it thickness while still being supple.

I used slippery yarn for warp (even though Carolyn advised against it!) because I didn't have any yarn that played well with this fuzzy kind. So, you can just see that I am using a hair grip to keep the yarn from slipping right down and unwinding. I move the hair grip down from time to time as it grows. This will be longer because I want to make a skinny scarf from it.

The blue bit you can see took me about 3 hours.

Oh, and I think I will wash it before wearing so my neck doesn't look like this!

Several things

We went to Yorkshire at the beginning of the week. And then I have been down with a bad throat. Still, here are a few items of interest for you.

My Sister-in-law wearing a scarf I made her.

One of the lovely bits of fabric someone brought to an Offcuts meeting. It was a piece from the end of a bolt, so needed a bit of thought on how to do away with some of the faults. I had to cut about 1 inch from one side and 3 inches from the other side. So, I sewed it like a tube along the faults and then trimmed the seam and turned it right side out.

This was a big birthday, so we went for a meal.

I caught them reading menus or discussing their latest phones! The siblings at the end and my mother-in-law in the red. She was really brave! First time she has come out for a meal with us after moving to the home. She will be 95 in September.


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Today I went to collect The Heat and the Flame from Lady Sew and Sew in Henley. It was there for the Henley Art Trail. I had forgotten my camera when I set it up. So, I grabbed some quick ones. The Thoughtful Man had taken the day off to chop back the ivy, but he was willing to do the driving...and carrying Mademoiselle.

front

back

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And then whilst I was away, there was an email about the 6th European Triennial hosted by the Textile Collection Max Berk in Heidelberg.
Although I am still unable to show the work on my blog, they have actually posted my piece along with other 'big names'! So, you can get a glimpse on the site. Museum webpage. If you scroll down, you can read the text in English.

The list of accepted artists is on the pdf which opens when you click the first long link. Or direct to the pdf. Several SAQA members and some who are CQ members.

Chemo Scarves - version 2

The feedback I got on the scarves I made was that although they fit me, they needed to be a bit larger for my family member. Trouble is, I had already cut out about 7 at previous size.

Due to struggling a bit with my own health, I was having a hard time getting my head round how to make them larger without much fuss.

Then I saw this video the other day on another textile artist's blog. She was making some blankets for a grandchild. When I watched it, I thought I could use the same process to add a border to the scarves I cut.



I had some thin voile type fabric given to me by a friend recently. I thought it would be just the thing to add a border, but not add a lot more thickness.
The only thing I did different to the video was to press the seam allowances over to the solid fabric so they wouldn't show through the thin fabric on the border. I just took the seam, smoothed the fabrics away from it and then folded it over and pressed. The fabrics at the corners didn't get in the way then.

I turned it through, pressed and topstitched on the edge of the middle fabric to hold the layers together. Just like the video. Then I folded corner to corner, pressed the fold and put the wadding in the centre. (See how I did it here).

Then I stitched it through all layers, like I did before.

The wadding is enclosed,, but the rest of the layers are loose. I am hoping this might also help with the issue she was having about adjusting the scarf so her head didn't show through the gaps at the back.

The original scarf was cut at 20in square. The piece I added was 25in square, but this is then folded in half in the process of making the border. I hadn't thought of that when I chose the measurement. I have sent 3 off like that which are made of lightweight cotton. But for the heavier weight cotton I am going to try 30in square for the border bit because it won't drape as well, and may still be hard to arrange at the finished size of 22 in. square. ( The 1/2 in from the measurement goes into seams.)

I still have some fabrics uncut, so when I find out how these work, I will just cut them at the full size and make them the previous way.

Chemo Scarf made from a fat quarter

I thought I would do a little tutorial on how I did the chemo scarves. These are from a fat quarter, which leaves a very small tie at the neckline. The result of the tutorial is for a pre-adjusted scarf that can just be slipped on. You can adjust the directions to suit you.
Cut wadding strip (from offcuts of quilt wadding). approximately 15-16in x 2 1/5in.

1. Take one fat quarter or cut a square from a length of fabric. Mine were approximately 20in square - a fat quarter metre. Square off the fabric - all the sides should be equal.
Fold from opposite corners to make a triangle. Press fold.

2. Fold the fabric in half on the folded edge and press a little crease to mark the centre.

3. Turn the fabric with right sides together. Fold the wadding strip in half and place the fold of the wadding against the centre crease mark.

4. Open wadding and pin in place through top layer only. Open fabric and tack stitch into place. (not pictured)

5. Fold the fabric again with right sides together. Stitch a 1/4in (or 1/2cm) seam along raw edges, leaving an opening on one side at least 4 or 5in unstitched (so you can turn it right side out.) Trim corners and point.

6. Turn the scarf right side out through the opening and poke the corners and point of triangle out.

Press, making sure the edges of the opening are turned in by the depth of the seam allowance.

Adjust the wadding so it is flat. Stitch lengthways up and down and along the short ends to hold it in place. (Scroll down to the bottom photo to see what it will look like. This keeps it from shifting around when it is washed.) When you have started sewing, remove the tacking from step 4 before you get to the point where you stitch over it.

I just feel the position of the wadding through the fabric and stitch it, but you can use your favourite marking method to make sure you know the placement.


7. Put it on your head and tie the ends at the neck. The ends will be very short, so just the first step of tying. Hold onto that and slip off - pin the knot tie so it won't shift. If you have a wig stand or hat stand, put the scarf onto it.
Adjust the scarf by tucking the point in behind the knot and tucking the sides in. Pin the point to the knot.

(If you are making the scarf from a larger square of fabric, you may be able to make a larger secure knot that you don't have to stitch in place.)

8. Use a small button and stitch through all layers. This will hold the knot and the scarf in place so it can be slipped on easily.

9. Put it back on your head and adjust the sides the way you like them. Different fabrics will behave differently, so if you didn't use quilting cotton, the fabric will drape more. It also depends on how far forward you want to wear the scarf. If the person you are making for has lost their hair, they may want it further forward than someone who has a little hair to show at the front.

Hope you find this useful. If you have a question, just ask in the comments.
As I said, you can adjust the steps if you find a way that suits you better.

bits and pieces and fabric stash busting

Today a Certain Lad went off on an Adventure for a few months to help my parents with some jobs they need help with...roof fixing, wood chopping, and garden digging, etc.

Then, being of a tired mind after all the getting ready and away, I made a postcard for my other family member. But, sent it off without getting a photograph. sigh   But it uses the same colour and motifs as in the teaser project I posted yesterday.

And then I washed some of the random things you find lurking under and in piles in a lad's bedroom and took a nap.

And before this turns into a twitter type saga...I did something Sewing related besides my fabric bead for the day.
I am managing the Fabric Stash contest on Pattern Review. It is running through June and July. So, I needed to get it set up today. If you don't know Pattern Review, you can check it out here.

I usually hang out on the Contest Review part of the board. Actually, I have a link set up to go straight there! The rules of the contest can be found on the thread called Fabric Stash Contest 2013 - Official Discussion . It is all about sewing as much of your stash as you can. and even if you don't have a top score, all the yardage sewn by the contestants are tallied together and can reach awesome amounts! You don't have to pay to be a member and the rules have recently changed so that if you sign up as a member before a contest starts, you can begin participating in a contest straight away.

But then again, if you aren't fussed with contests, you could get involved with sewing up some of your stash as a bit of a follow along on your own. As manager I can't take part, but I can sew along. So I hope to do some more of the skirts and maybe some shorts for the over 10 year old children where my friend works in Ethiopia. and I hope to make some more of the chemo scarves.

Oh, you need a photo?
here are the fabrics from my stash for the chemo scarves!

And now off to bed.

and chemo scarves

So, my family member just got to the hair loss part of her treatment. She saw some scarves online that had a bit of padding along the front from ear to ear. She thought that might be better than a straightforward scarf, as it would give a profile more like when you wear one over your hair. could I make some? Oh, and there was another site with some more fancy ones which would be nice for going out to dinner, etc.

So, first of all I had this scarf a friend brought back from Portugal. It wasn't quite my colours, but it is great for her. and it really looks a lot like the fancy ones she saw.

So, I cut some wadding/batting strips from trimming quilts. Because the fabric was sheer, I covered the wadding first with a scrap of black chiffon. It means it doesn't show as obviously through the scarf fabric as the white/cream colour of the wadding.
Then I folded it into the front middle section and stitched it down back and forth lengthwise.

Here it is on my hat form.

And here are two made from quilting cottons.

When I get a bit of feedback on these, I am doing some more from scraps of fabric in my stash... she has chosen some pretty bright and raucous colours from the quilting cottons!