Showing posts with label applique. Show all posts
Showing posts with label applique. Show all posts

Monday, 1 July 2013

Super Jak

Super Jak Logo

Another weekend, another birthday party. This time it was for Noah's friend, Jak. We hope Jak is super-pleased with his super-Jak cape, with his own personalised logo on it.

Super Jak Cape

This one I made on the morning of the birthday party. Whew! Talk about last minute! I went through my stash and I was unable to find any suitable fabric, so I had to head out to buy some.


This does not bode well for my SYST13 Challenge. I used up 4 FQs, but I also bought 4!
SYST13 Running totals: in = 180, out = 70, total = +110

Tuesday, 29 January 2013

Duncan's Pencil Case

DSCF2437

My nephews from Townsville spent the summer at my parents' farm. During that time Duncan celebrated his ninth birthday, so I made him a personalised pencil case.

DSCF2438

It doesn't need to be necessarily for pencils, he can keep all sorts of things in there. His name appliquéd on the outside makes it nice and personal. I matched the lining to the appliqué, and finished it with a matching zip. Everything, except for the zipper came from my stash. Why is it that you can have hundreds of zippers and yet, rarely are any of them suitable for the project you are working on?

SYST: I used approximately one fat quarter for this project.
Running totals, in = 103, out = 22, total = +81

Sunday, 11 November 2012

Poppy Breeze

DSCF2329

My swap partner, Kylie, received her quilt on Thursday, so I can now reveal what I sent. This is some of what Kylie had to say about what she would like to receive:
I like just about anything. Brights or rich tones - especially reds. Not a fan of cutesy stuff, loving abstract designs at the moment. Not a big fan of lots of embellishments. Finished quilt will be hung.

DSCF2359

I designed the entire quilt by myself. I decided to do poppies, because poppies are red, but then ended up doing them in these colours because the fabric was sitting there, calling to me... The grass has bees on it, which I think might me a little bit cute, I hope Kylie doesn't mind.

DSCF2358

I pieced the sky using various pieces of blue fabric, radiating from the bottom left corner. I used some fabric from my stash and some I went shopping specifically for. The original idea was to give it a bit of a sunset type look, but I ended up sticking with just blue fabrics to keep it simple. The sky includes fabric with planes, raindrops, umbrellas and spots.

DSCF2341

I really enjoyed quilting feathers into the sky, I'd never done feathers before this project and although it is more of a traditional style of quilting, I think it works in this more modern style of quilt. I think it looks a little like clouds.

The poppies were attached using raw edge appliqúe before placing the backing fabric on and I later quilted around them. I like how this gives them a puffy look.

DSCF2338

I added the stems after all the quilting was done, which was really tricky and I had to use pliers to pull the thread through all the dense quilt stitches as it was so tight. I could have stitched them before I did the quilting, but I was a little worried about quilting catching on my thread, preferred not to quilt around the stems and didn't really want to quilt over them either. It might have been a little easier to have them show on the back as well, but I wanted to keep the back all white. I stitched the stems on an angle to give the impression of the poppies bobbing in the breeze.

DSCF2346

Tuesday, 2 October 2012

2. That's what little boys are made of

Liam & Noah frog hats

Before the dead-line, I managed to scrape in two more hats. There is nothing like leaving things to the last minute! Of course, I once again used Nicole Mallalieu's (You Sew Girl) Kids' Hats Pattern. I should mention that if you are looking for options, this pattern has them. You have three sizes, small, medium and large. Then added to that, you have a range of different brim sizes and also brim finishes to make your hat just how you like. I personally like to go large when it comes to brims and give my boys lots of protection from the sun, so my brims are the second largest brims and the boys are wearing medium sized hats.

Frog detail - red hat

My favourite thing with these hats, I wasn't really sure wasn't going to work. I love the appliqué. I applied some Steam-a-Seam 2 to the back of some left-over lining fabric and then cut it out a couple of frog motifs, really carefully. I then peeled off the backing and ironed them onto the (already interfaced) crown pieces. I lowered the feed dogs and used my free-motion foot to stitch them down.

DSCF2083

I was really worried about those long, skinny toes, but it seems to have worked. I did three laps around each frog, matching the main colour of the frog on each one. When I did the toes, I didn't so much go around the edges as I did kind of meander along them.

Noah - frog hat

I have made these hats before using corduroy, which has really stood the test of time. The boys hats have been through the ringer and so abused, yet they still look really good. The lining in the old hats was a Kokka cotton-linen, so it will be interesting to see how well the quilter's cotton holds out.

Liam frog hat

I'll be back here very soon to do the wrap up from the sew-along...

Saturday, 7 April 2012

Don't Look Now! I finished my cushion!

DSCF1183

I finally finished my cushion from Kellie Wulfsohn's work-shop from oh-so-long-ago.

DSCF1182

The free-motion appliqué on this, is actually my first ever attempt at it, and I'm thinking, not so bad. Yes, it is a little wonky in places, and I would like to think my skills have improved a bit since then, but still...

DSCF1187

The free-motion quilting is a mixture of early and recent quilting, but it seems to blend okay.

DSCF1186

I couldn't remember what I had set aside to bind and back this cushion with, so I dug these out of the stash yesterday. I didn't have a cushion insert, either, so I kind of made one using some sew-in interfacing (which is already splitting in places) and some poly fill I had on hand. I may yet get a proper insert.

DSCF1185

It's good to have it finished and out of the UFO basket at last!

Thursday, 5 April 2012

My Creative Space - Sunny Works in Progress

DSCF1171

I'm enjoying sitting at the machine with the window open in this beautiful weather. I decided that it was high time I pulled these two UFOs (unfinished objects) out and turn them into WIPs (work in progress). They are from when I went to a Don't Look Now workshop.

DSCF1168

Once a UFO is being worked on again, it is no longer a UFO, it is a WIP.

DSCF1176

Before I do any quilting, I always check my tension and do a little practice on my practise sandwich.

DSCF1177

I think I may need to make a new practice sandwich soon, as this one is getting a little full.

DSCF1175

Does anyone else over-lap their practices like this?

See who else is playing along with Our Creative Spaces over here.

Monday, 19 December 2011

With Bells on their Toes

DSCF1496

I spent a fair amount of time last year trawling Etsy and Made-It, looking for just the right pattern to make some lovely elf-stockings. This year, I googled, and found this amazing free tutorial.

DSCF1490

Instead of the appliqué monogram in the tutorial, I used my embroidery machine to put their names on felt, which I then appliquéd onto the stocking with blanket stitch. In addition to the instructions, I also added some bells to the toes, which I think adds a nice festive touch. Despite the fiddly-ness of the operation, I think sewing on 18 little pompoms was well worth the effort.

DSCF1492

I also added a lining. The original pattern has no lining, so the stuffing is accessible at the bottom of the stocking. I used the stocking pattern to fashion a lining, chopping it off just below the ankle and adding a bit of a rounded edge. I stuffed the toe before adding the lining to the inside of the stocking. I basted the top edges of the lining and stocking outer before adding the cuff. You could still pull the lining out, but not the stuffing, which is what I wanted to achieve. I also under-stitched the lining so that stays nice and neat and doesn't pop out of the top of the stocking.

DSCF1491

They have Noah's approval: "I really do luff it a lot".

Hopefully they will get used for many years to come.

Friday, 16 December 2011

Tutorial: Appliqué

DSCF1482

As promised, I am back with my appliqué tutorial. I will apologise in advance as it is very wordy and quite picture heavy. The appliqué I am showing you is part of my Christmas bunting project. 



DSCF1409To appliqué following this method, you will need some fusible web. I like to use Lite Steam-A-Seam 2. Steam-A-Seam 2 is a double sided fusible web, sandwiched between two sheets of paper. It is designed particularly for lightweight fabrics.

There are heaps of similar products on the market you could also try. I prefer Steam-A-Seam 2 because the paper backing stays on well, and the webbing sticks lightly to the fabric before you press it with the iron, so things stay put a little better but you are still able to re-arrange things before you permanently affix it to your work with the iron. This makes fussy cutting and appliqué positioning very easy.

I purchased my Steam a Seam 2 from OzQuilts.

DSCF1410

If you peel away a corner, you will see that between the two layers of paper, there is a layer of fusible web. This web will be sticking to one piece of paper more than the other. This is the sheet that you want to trace onto, as the other sheet will be peeled away.

DSCF1412



You will need to trace a mirror-image of the final appliqué because this will be sticking to the back of the fabric. One thing that you can do, is trace it the right way around on the paper that you will be peeling away, and then trace that line onto the liner with the fusible web on it.

DSCF1413

Once you have traced your design (remembering that it needs to be back to front and on the paper that will be peeled away first), you need to roughly cut out your design, leaving some excess paper around the edges. This will ensure that you will have webbing right to the edges of your applique.

DSCF1415



Press the fabric that you are planning to use for your appliqué design. Press it from the back, so that you don't have to flip it over and you can then keep it flat, ready for the webbing.

DSCF1414


Peel away the backing, ensuring that your traced design stays on the paper that is still attached to the webbing. Peel away carefully, so that if you notice the webbing is attached to the wrong sheet of paper, you can fix it before it's too late.


DSCF1416

Position the webbing so that you are happy with the placement of the fabric within your design. If you are using fabric with a large motif, or a design that has a definite right-side up, then you might want to move it around a bit until you get it right. The webbing will stick a little, but is easily lifted and moved around. Once you are happy, give it a good press with the iron to bond the webbing permanently with the fabric. A good 10-20 seconds on cotton setting with some steam ought to do it.

DSCF1417

Roughly cut away the fabric with the design on it, ensuring that you keep all of the paper intact. You can now store away the remainder of the fabric, knowing that there is no sticky webbing left on it to ruin your next project, or make a mess of your iron.

DSCF1419




Now, trim away the excess fabric, carefully following the outline that you traced on the fabric.




DSCF1420

And throw the waste edges into your over-flowing bin. Your bin is over-flowing, right? Mine is. It's also sitting up on a table right now, away from small children who like playing with fabric scraps.

Give your main or background fabric a good press, this time from the right side, as we want a nice smooth surface on which to place our appliqué motif.

DSCF1422
Peel away the backing from your motif, ensuring that the sticky webbing is adhered to the back of the fabric.


DSCF1424






Place the appliqué motif face-up, on the backing fabric, moving it around as before until you are happy with its position. Give it a good press with your iron to bond the appliqué permanently to the fabric.

DSCF1425
Take some tear-away stabiliser, larger than your motif, and place it on the back of the fabric. You might like to hold the fabric up to your sewing machine light, or a window (during the day-time)  to make sure that the stabiliser covers all the edges of your motif.

According to the instructions that came with the Steam-A-Seam 2, the paper backing can also be used as a stabiliser. I have heard of other people using baking paper as well.

Stabiliser is used to keep your fabric nice and stable whilst you stitch it.Without stabiliser, your fabric can stretch and skew and warp out of shape. You want your fabric to stay nice and flat and not become a lumpy, bumpy, three dimensional mess when you're finished.

There are different kinds of stabilisers, some can be ironed on so that they don't move at all whilst you are stitching, some can be disolved away with water and are great for things like lace making. The one I use can be torn away when I'm finished so that the fabric returns to its original, flexible shape once it is finished.


Choose a nice, decorative stitch on your machine. I chose to use blanket stitch. When I was looking to replace my sewing machine, a year and a half ago, blanket stitch was highish on my list of priorities. This is the first time I've really used it since I tested it before and after I purchased the machine and I'm pretty happy with it.

DSCF1428Test the stitch on a scrap piece of fabric before you start sewing on your design. I used some nice shiny machine embroidery thread on my design, along with a bobbin thread that I normally would use on my embroidery machine.

When I tested my stitch on the scrap fabric, I decided that it needed to be wider, so I made that adjustment. I also found there were a few loopy bits of thread from the back showing on the top. I loosened off my  top tension a little, and this fixed the problem.

Now, flip your fabric to the right side, with the stabiliser underneath and the appligue on top, and get stitching!



DSCF1429You will need to be careful when you are turning corners with decorative stitches like blanket stitch, my machine does a series of stitches like forward-backward-forward-left-right-repeat. You really need to be stopping and pivoting, with the needle down both before and after it does the left-right bit so that it makes a nice neat turn.

DSCF1430




When you flip your fabric to the back, you will see your stabiliser all nicely stitched to the back of your design. Hopefully, everything is all neat and tidy like mine is here.


DSCF1432

You can now carefully tear the stabiliser away from the outside edges of your design. You can tear it away from the inside edges too, if you like. If you used paper, and you are planning to ever wash the finished project, I would strongly recommend that you do remove it all.





Your appliqué is now complete - now you can get on with the rest of your project!

DSCF1453



Please let me know if this tutorial is useful to you, or if you have any feedback. I would love to know what you think.

Sunday, 11 December 2011

Christmas Bunting

DSCF1453

I've finally managed to complete a Christmas decoration! I've been meaning to make some Christmas bunting for years, and I've finally gotten around to it. I used the blanket stitch on my sewing machine, along with a bit of machine embroidery thread. If you want to know a little bit about appliqué, I should hopefully be back in here in the next couple of days with a tutorial.
Blogging tips