PBS Sewing Shows

For those of you whose PBS stations no longer carry “Sewing With Nancy”, no problem!  You can watch her shows online at Wisconsin Public Television  http://www.wpt.org/sewingwithnancy/

Nancy’s most current shows (52 of them) are available.  Streaming.  And FREE!  If you’re not in the US, I’m sure you can watch them on the internet, too.

Visit Nancy’s blog, too -- nancyzieman.com   She has a lot of things to offer.  Always learn something from her programs.

On TV, I found “Sewing with Nancy”, Fons & Porter and Donna Dewbury on another PBS station that my cable company offers.  It’s called “PBS Create”.  It comes with my basic cable. 

Go to http://www.createtv.com/  and see if you have PBS Create in your area.  Lots of good programming.

Zipped bag for all those chargers

It’s been a long while since my last Blogger post.  Life gave me some twists and turns and changes.  I hope that I can come up with some things to share with you – I enjoy doing that.

On a recent trip, I realized that a light-weight zippered pouch/bag would be just the thing to keep all those chargers together.  You know – one for the cellphone, iPad, Kindle, camera, etc.  I had used an old pouch that I found in a drawer & knew that I could make a better one.

Why do pouches always have a zipper at the top?  I thought a zipper in the middle of the pouch/bag would make the contents more accessible.  And here’s what I came up with --

 

When I make pouches/bags, I like to encase the ends of the zipper in fabric tubes so then I don’t have to deal with zipper teeth or the heavy zipper tape in the seamlines of the bag.

 

Fabric Tubes for ends of zipper:
Cut each rectangle for tube 2-1/2” wide (this allows for 1/4” seam & goes around the zipper)
Length to cut – 2-1/4” is enough to allow for clearing ends of zipper tape and will be enough for a seam allowance of 5/8” on the bag.
So, for the Fabric Tubes on my zipper –-
I cut two rectangles -- 2-1/2” wide x 2-1/4” long

Right sides together, stitch the ends of the fabric tube(s) in 1/4” seam, down the 2-1/4” length.  Do not turn right side out, yet.

 

Slip the zipper end into the “unturned” Fabric Tube - that would be right side of zipper to right side of Fabric Tube.

 

Above pic shows the Fabric Tubes pinned to each end of zipper.

The orange dotted line shows the stitching line of the Fabric Tube to the zipper.

 

After sewing Fabric Tubes in place, pull the Fabric Tube over the end of the zipper tape; the right side of Fabric Tube is now showing and the end of zipper tape is encased in the Fabric Tube – no raw edges showing. Press.
This would now be called a “Zipper Unit”.

Now you can take that Zipper Unit and sew it into the bag, treating it just like a zipper.

There are so many tutorials on the web for making pouches/bags, I’ll leave the rest of the construction up to you.  And most of them will show you how to insert a zipper and you would just follow those directions and insert a Zipper Unit, which is just a zipper with covered ends.  I just wanted to show you how I did my zippers.

Before the sides are sewn, the zipper can be located anywhere on the bag
Towards top/bottom.
At top/bottom
or, centered on bag front – which is what I did with mine.

I chose to use French Seams on the sides of the bag, with the final stitching of the French Seam on the outside of pouch/bag, so I could have something to hold on to when opening or closing the zipper. For the 1st stitching of the French Seam, I use 1/4” seam allowance and then for the 2nd stitching, I used a 3/8” seam allowance.  That way, I did not have to trim the 1st seam.

Uh-oh, looks like there’s room in that pouch/bag!

45” fabric ???

Whatever happened to 44” – 45” wide fabric? I’ve put in some sewing time this week and had the occasion to follow directions that called for a cut of fabric that measured 41-1/2” of fabric across the width. I had to cut into part of the selvage to get 41-1/2” of fabric in that cut!

Now, this was “Quilt Shop” fabric. As opposed to “Big Box Store” fabric, which tends to be not as generous in their widths. Altho, some of the big box stores are carrying some high-end fabric and things are getting better on that front.

Being a quilter, I generally take big pieces of fabric and cut them into small pieces and then sew those small pieces into big pieces. I usually buy a little more fabric than my design calls for. And if sewing something created by others, I generally buy a little more, too. Doesn’t hurt to “feed the stash”. Plus, most times, I buy Fat Quarters. So, I really don’t concern myself with width of fabric. I buy what fabric grabs my heart, my senses.

Unless I am designing a pattern. Then, I am concerned with fabric width and that’s another story.

I wondered if other fabrics in my stash came close to being 44'” – 45” wide. Well, after measuring several fabrics from my stash – I did not have any that measured 44” wide. None at 43”. None at 42. I lucked out to find 41-1/2” wide fabric! That’s not anywhere near 44” – 45”! Karamba!

I went to simplicity.com to see if the newer patterns compensated for these narrower fabrics.

Nope, they were still using 45” as a “buyable” width. Even if you could buy 45” wide fabric, that width would include the selvage.

I went into EQ to see on what fabric widths they were basing their “yardage to buy”.

EQ had a 44” wide option. But, NOT a 45”. They must have measured their fabric, too! They also have 42” wide as an option. I use the 42” width for determining fabric yardage in EQ.

Now, why would a pattern company such as Simplicity still hold onto the notion that there is 45” wide “usable” fabric in the width? Never was. If fabric were 45”, that would include the selvage – selvage is NOT usable. With clothing patterns, you follow their directions to place your pattern pieces on the fabric and generally they don’t give you much “wiggle room”. And if that wide sleeve butts up against another pattern piece on a narrower width of fabric (less than 45”), you WILL have to piece that sleeve in the underarm area. Been there, done that.

I don’t think I have any 44” wide usable fabric. Do you?

The price of sewing has gone up

I save things.  In some circles I might be known as a pack rat.  I’d rather be referred to as a “keeper of important things.”  In my container that has snaps, hooks & eyes and other closures is an old card that used to have snaps snapped to it.

If you will click on the above pic, you will see that the empty card on the left is from “Penneys” and the price printed right on the card is 13¢ !  I don’t know the year that those snaps were bought, but Pennys is now known as JC Penney and certainly does not sell snaps today.  The card on the left has snaps made by Dritz and they sell for $2.29 today at JoAnn.  Same amount of snaps – 12 of them – but very different pricing!

I did a search in Bing for “calculate percentage increase” and got a formula that gave me a price increase of 1661.54%.  That’s One Thousand Six Hundred plus percent increase!   That can’t be right!  Anyone out there who knows their math?  Let me know if that percentage is right.

Actually, I got the snaps from JoAnn on sale and only paid half-price $1.14.  And using the same formula to calculate the percentage it was only a 776%+ increase.  Such a deal …

Raccoons & Dinosaurs

Another grandchild came to use the sewing machine on Sunday and Tuesday.  This wasn’t the 1st time that Jessi has been here to sew/quilt.  In fact, way before I started blogging, I wrote about our first Quilting Adventure together.  Goodness, she was 5 then, is 17 now.  Doesn’t seem like 12 years ago!

Along with pics of grandkid’s shoes, I like to take “back” shots --

Jessi is working on the planks in the boat.

We found that the “waves” fabric we liked didn’t show up too well on the fleece background.  Soooo, fused “wave” to blue fleece and cut a margin of blue around & were able to use the fabric.

Looks like a tall chair with feet!

    Aaaah, but it is only Jessi!

Jessi had bought the fleece & a Tshirt with a raccoon on it.  Her mom sketched paw prints on the Tshirt and we were able to appliqué the paw prints down on the fleece, also.  The boat fabric came from this grandma's stash.  The blanket goes to a special friend.

There’s a raccoon on the other corner.  There’s a story to this blanket & the appliqués, but it’s not mine to tell …

We have raccoons back in our neighborhood, again.  The cold weather had kept them away, but they are back to digging in the flower beds and the mulch and knocking things around.  So, my DH traps them & re-locates them.  This guy is no longer in our neighborhood --

What a coincidence – a raccoon in a cage and a raccoon in the sewing room … I prefer the sewing room kind!

To pitch or to keep

It’s always a tough decision for me when it comes to the smaller pieces of fabric left over after all the patches for a project have been cut.  Do I throw them out?  Do I keep them?  What’s considered small enuf to throw away.  When you do PaperPiecing, the decision is more difficult as you can use really small pieces of fabric.  How small?  Now, that’s the question.

The scraps in the pic above are from a project that I will be blogging about in the next post.  The spool of thread is there to show scale.

I already have a small drawer with small scraps of fabric in it.  I don’t go into that drawer very often, so that should tell me something. 

I have made a decision that I will no longer keep small pieces.  Anything under 2-1/2” hits the trash.  Starting with the scraps in the above pic.  And also the scraps in the small drawer.

Now, watch – next week I will be needing one of those scraps that I threw away this week!  Don’t you hate it when that happens?  Well, if it does happen, I’ll just have to take a trip to the fabric store!  ;-) 

Perfect 1/4” seam

The secret to getting a “perfect” block is a “perfect” 1/4” seam – or so they say. Well, I found out it’s true!

The above block is the first time I ever made a block with rotary cut patches (other than a square) and templates and it turned out to be the perfect size! I have always shied away from rotary cut blocks and templates cuz when I sewed the patches together, the completed block was always a little bit off. This one measures 12-1/2” square – as it is supposed to.

It has 29 patches and a whole bunch of points. Lots of places to make a teensy error that multiplies into a big error as more seams are sewn.

I usually make my blocks divided into Paper Piecing parts, which I then sew together. The only time I use rotary cut is for squares. HSTs - I make by sewing 2 oversized squares together on the diagonal. Odd sized patches are usually in the Paper Piecing parts.

My secret for the perfect block -- I used a new foot on my Janome 6600 - http://tinyurl.com/ykvasw2
It’s a “Clear View Quilting Foot and Guide Set”, $16. It gives the most accurate 1/4” seam I’ve ever done on this machine or any other machine.

The block is one I saw in Quilters Newsletter Magazine, July/August 2005. Starry Star was designed by Judy Martin. The article had lots of “blocks within blocks” that Judy designed.

I belong to the Sunshine State Quilters Association, Inc. and also am the webmaster of their website. SSQA is a statewide guild for the state of Florida. SSQA was collecting blocks for Quilts of Valor and then distributed the blocks to member guilds who will be making them into quilts for Quilts of Valor to give to wounded servicemen and servicewomen.

Whenever I make donation blocks, I like to make unusual blocks, such as this one. It’s good for a personal challenge and gets the block out of my system. Cuz, when I finish one of these unusual blocks, I usually find out I don’t want to make more than one!

Little mini gifts

I’ve been working, here & there, on some little gifts.The above is a “Travel Tray” from Angie’s site  
http://ajpadilla.com/freebies
I think it will come in handy on trips to hold things that might otherwise get misplaced.  There’s velcro in the corners which makes it possible for the tray to lay flat. 

Once you make one, you can figure out how to make them in any size.  Angie suggests to use a solid color fabric for the floor of the tray, but, I chose a fabric that “reads” solid and I like that.

And here’s Angie’s “15-minute Flower Brooch”.  I must say, it took me a little longer!  I am very pleased with the way it turned out, especially with the little beads I decided to sew to the center.  This can be used as a brooch as there is a pin sewn to the back.  And when you pin this brooch on your shirt, it becomes very handy to stick some pins in while hand sewing as the center is stuffed.  Sure beats sticking pins in your shirt!

I wrapped a gift in a Fat Quarter and pinned it shut with the brooch.  It made a nice presentation.

I made myself one of the Travel Trays, too.  And am going to have to make a brooch for me, too.   Or maybe I’ll try one of Angie’s “Finger Pincushions” made from a 3-1/2” fabric square.  Or maybe both!

Many mini Projects from Angie

Are you running out of ideas for little gifts to make for Christmas?  Well, not Angie!  She has got a whole slew of projects that will be just the thing. 
http://ajpadilla.com/patterns/bom/christmas-all-year-round

Lots of the projects are free.  Look around her website – Angie is some talented lady!

Sign up for Angie’s newsletter and she will send an email each time she puts up something new --
http://ajpadilla.com/newsletter/subscriptions

Portable Design Area

My Feathered Star wallhanging is coming along nicely.  I thought I'd let you know about the small design area that I made that I find very useful with smaller projects such as this.

In the photo above, the pieces of my wallhanging are either adhered to or pinned to the design area which is white. I've pinned some of the pieces to the design area cuz they have little pieces of paper that need to stay with the them cuz they are labels which tell me where the pieces go.

Most times when I use this design area, I just put the fabric pieces on it, no pins needed, cuz they adhere like magic. I also use this as a background when taking pics of items for the internet.

I got a piece of foam core board, 30" x 40", from the office supply store.  I made a "pillowcase" for the foam core board of white sweatshirt fabric and brown broadcloth on the reverse side.  I purposely made a light side and a dark side which enables me to use the side that shows up the items more clearly.

When cutting the fabric for the "pillowcase", I allowed 2-3" more at the top so that I could close it up.  Be sure to cut ample fabric for the seam allowances.  The 3 sides of the "pillowcase" are sewn on the sewing machine. Have the wrong side of sweatshirt fabric facing out, as items will adhere to the nice, soft, napped surface. 

After the 3 sides are sewn, slip in the foam core board and then slipstitch the opening closed, remember, you’ve allowed ample extra fabric to do this.

Another thing about having the pinnable foam core board is that when taking pics of items, you can pin them to the board in a nice pleasing manner for a photo.

iPod Touch & Sewing

I found another great use for the iPod Touch.  I found the best way to keep track of my sewing stitches and the adjustments I make to the stitches on my new Janome 6600 is to take a close-up picture of the foot used and then type notes on the photo.

If you click on the pic above, you will be able to read the note better on the enlarged pic.  My note tells me the Needle Position to use for a 1/4” seam when using the Open-Toe AccuFeed foot.  And the red arrows remind me where to line up the raw edge of fabric with the foot.

Putting this in the IPod Touch saves on ink and paper as I don’t have to print it out.  I bring my iPod Touch into my sewing room a lot.

Zipper on small purse

Sherry had asked  -- how did I add that extra outer zipper?

My purse consists of 3 sections –-
1) The Front, which continues up and over the top to the back for an inch.  I created it that way so that I could take advantage of an uninterrupted design area for the front.
2) A 1-1/2” section between the upper and lower zippers.
3) A section which is below the lower zipper.

The section below the lower zipper (lined) is sewn to the bottom half of the lower zipper and it becomes the frontside of the outside pocket.

The backside (inside) of the lower zippered pocket is a piece of the lining which is sewn to the top half of the lower zipper.

The lining of the purse consists of 2 sections --
1) Back lining sewn to bottom half of top zipper (which also covers up the area of the lower zipper).
2) Front lining sewn to top half of top zipper.

After sections and lining of purse are sewn together and while it is still flat, the purse template is laid on top and cut around (See previous blog entry).  After purse is cut out, I then stitch around the purse’s lower pocket at sides and bottom (defining pocket) to give the pocket sides and a bottom.  If you don’t stitch around, defining the sides and bottom, stuff in pocket would move to parts of purse you don’t want stuff to move to.

When you look inside the finished purse, you do not see any sign of the lower zipper.

Hope this helps you Sherry (and others) to figure out how to make that lower zippered pocket.  I think I initially figured out how to do it by looking at something that had that kind of construction.  You can learn a lot about the construction of an item by looking inside or turning it wrong side out. 

UFO complete – Purse with Trees scene!

Here’s the pieces of my new purse all constructed and cut out and ready to be sewn together.

This is the 3rd time I’ve made this purse.  Each one is different.  I got the idea for it from a “Triangular Cosmetic Bag” on Craftster.  One of those zippers on the back is for the main part of the purse – the place to put everything.  The other zipper is a smaller outside pocket.  There is also a pocket on the inside lining.

That’s the completed purse, all ready to go shopping!
And here’s the backside, showing the zippers --

Top zipper opens to main part of bag.  Lower zipper is the small, but oh so convenient, outside pocket.  It holds my library card, a pen and some paper and some eyeglass wipes.

I used to carry a big purse.  One day I decided it was a nutty thing to do.  The bigger the purse, the more junk you haul around.  Now, that would make sense if you used half the stuff, but I found out I wasn’t.  The first thing I downsized was my wallet.  Went from a big leather thing with pictures in it and all kinds of stuff.  Got a small wallet which carries coins and paper money and IDs.

One day, I laid out all the stuff from my big purse and only put back into it the very barest of essentials.  I figured if I found I needed more stuff in the big purse, I could always put it in.  What I found myself doing was eliminating more stuff from the big purse!

Went shopping for a smaller purse and at the time, couldn’t find anything I liked.  So, went online and searched.  I found wristlets and then the cosmetic bag instructions which I found suited my needs.

My small purse goes on my shoulder and lays under my arm, very close.  They say that is the safe way to carry your purse – on a short strap, close to your body.

Besides what I normally carry in the purse, there is still room in it for my iPod Touch and earbuds and a cellphone.  I’m one of those few people who does not always carry a cellphone!  LOL  If I ever need to carry stuff that doesn’t fit in my small purse, I then throw the small purse into a tote bag along with my camera and other odd assorted things. 

WIP = UFO = WIP

WIP = Work In Progess, UFO = UnFinished Object

Here’s the front section of a small purse (for me), WIP:Here’s the reverse side to show the quilting -- Did some Stitch-In-The-Ditch quilting around the scene in the middle. Added some curlicue wind to the scene. Bordered by overlapping tongue shapes.

What I found works good for purses is a 3-layer combo of fabric, 80- cotton/20-poly batting and non-fusible interfacing. The interfacing gives it some body.

I made the PaperPieced scene from the EQ CD “Town & Country Patchwork” by Cori Derksen & Myra Harder. I got inspired by those very same trees on that CD to make the Christmas Shopping Bag that I designed last winter.

I’m the type of quilter who likes to have several projects going all the time. So, I have a pile(s) of WIPs which turn into UFOs at some time or another and then back to being WIPS again. Right now, my UFOs outnumber WIPs! But, I do finish projects. Eventually.

Do you have more UFOs than WIPS?

You know, I’ve heard of quilters who start a project and stick with it until it’s complete! They never have UFOs. I’ve never actually met someone like that … just heard about them. Do those quilters really exist? Or did someone make that up to make the rest of us feel guilty!

Feathered Star Layouts

I made a bunch of layouts in EQ6 and like these 2 and can’t decide which one I like better.  Which do you like – 1 or 2?

Now, to go and see if I have enuf of the lighter green fabric to make either version!  If I don’t, I will have to have another plan.

The setting triangles on the FS present an upcoming decision – what do I want to quilt there?  It’s a pretty big area.  Flowers?  Leaves on a vine?  Geometric?  Abstract?  I’m sure the quilt will talk to me as I work on it.  It happens every time!  The quilt seems to know what it wants.

Clover Needle Threader

Something that really works the way it’s supposed to!

As eyes get older, they require all kinds help.  Like eyeglasses, good lighting, magnifying glasses and needle threaders!  While doing some handsewing the other day, I realized how I’ve come to really appreciate the Clover Needle Threader.  It is such a simple, magical tool that works every time.

Insert needle eye down.  Lay thread in the slot.  Push button.  Needle threaded!  Works every time.

When my 9 year old grandson was over one day, the Needle Threader was out and he asked what it was.  Told him it was a needle threader and told him what to do and he threaded a needle and got that wonderful look on his face that meant he was impressed.  And he wanted to do it again.  And he wanted his mom to do it!  Takes a lot to impress these 9 year old tech-savvy kids these days … yahoo for the Clover Needle Threader!

My Feathered Star

 
Wow!  I’m happy with this block.  There are over 200 pieces in it.  And lots of match points!

It is a PaperPieced block and is from Sue Garman’s 2009 Block of the Month quilt from thequiltshow.com  It is the center of the quilt.  I did not want to commit to the whole quilt, but I sure liked this Feathered Star.  I also made a block from Sue G’s 2008 Block of the Month quilt.  It was appliqué.  Made it into a one-block wallhanging.

Now to go into EQ6 and see what kind of layout I can come up with for this wonderful Feathered Star.  I want to make a wallhanging and I know where I want to hang it, so I also know approximately what size WH I will be needing.

Now to go and have some fun playing in EQ6!

Christmas Shopping Bag & EZ shopping bag

I wrote a tutorial for a Christmas Shopping bag last November.  Thought I’d bring it back now, in case anyone would like to make one for this Christmas.  They make nice gifts.  The can be used to “wrap a gift”.  Make one for yourself to put your Christmas shopping items in.  http://anotherpatch.blogspot.com/2008/11/christmas-shopping-bag-tute.html

And if you want to make some super-easy-to-construct Shopping Bags that are good give-aways, here’s a link to my bloggin’ buddy Sunnie’s http://patchworkpie.blogspot.com/2009/08/fabric-bags-e-z-way.html tutorial.

Project gone wrong!

Did you ever have it in your mind to create something and then as the sewing progressed, you realized it just wasn’t working out?

Well, I had another one of those “project gone wrong” things happen to me.  Yep, there’s been more than one!  I wanted to make a couple of “Bah Humbug Bags” and I didn’t want any raw edges in the bag.  Thought I’d like it to have a layer of batting.  Well.  That just didn’t work out.  Tried Traditional Batt on the larger bag and it was way too bulky.  Tried Cotton Batt on the smaller bag & it was still too much.  And the added bulk of the batting made sewing thru some of the seams with all those layers a bit much.

I don’t have a pattern for the Humbug Bag, but I had made the bag years ago after seeing it on a “Sewing with Nancy” program that featured the bag.  I made several of those, at the time.  They make nice gifts.  And also a nice cover-up for a gift.  Had made one for myself, too.

Well, my 2nd try (bags 3 & 4) turned out better.  There are no exposed raw edges anywhere in the bag.  Got back to basics and used denim for its durability.  No batting.  Nice fabrics for lining and decorating the handle.  The fabric & denim are quilted together with some deco stitches on my new sewing machine.

The bags look just a bit different, cuz I found that I had lots of bulk when stitching the handle in the same place with the zipper insert as on the smaller bag.  So, I moved the zipper insert away from the middle on the larger bag and that did the trick – the zipper insert & the handle are sewn thru separately, rather than all on top of each other.  I even made each end of the handle to be sewn side by side, rather than on top of each other, again, less bulk.

This was a good project to choose for sewing on my new Janome 6600p.  Lots of practice on many techniques, including using the zipper foot.  Even the original idea with the green bags that didn’t work out gave me some nice practice on quilting with the AccuFeed Foot.

The old dog IS learning new tricks!  LOL

The denim bags are a gift for a niece who will be starting college in the fall.  I know Holly will put them to good use, transporting any manner of goodies in them.

The original green bags I will finish up and know I will find some use for them around here.

Knee lifts & noodles

Ever think the knee lift on your sewing machine felt uncomfortable against your leg?  I mentioned to my husband that while the knee lift was wonderful, it hurt the side of my leg as I wear shorts most of the time and that plastic handle was not comfortable against my skin.

He came up with a solution – pad the handle!

He cut a section from one of those noodles that you use in the pool and poked a knife down the middle, then slipped the purple noodle onto the handle.

I made it even more comfy by slipping a cotton footie (short sock) over the noodle.

It doesn’t look all that attractive, but boy oh boy, does it make a world of difference when I use that knee lift.

Isn’t it always the little things that make life easier?