The Hemming Way

Roxy's nauruan flowers

I have a very dear friend, Michelle, who has family in Nauru. Although I have never been there, it is a destination point for me - one day!

I have been to many of their community functions, and the things that spring to mind when I think of Nauru is their beautiful singing and their flowers/leis. (Fresh flowers that are joined together to form a head wreath.)

Michelle recently bought these handmade flowers back. They are made by her friend Roxy.

I had to buy the red one...

When I eventually get to Nauru, I would love to meet Roxy and see her making her gorgeous creations!

5 designs for a bag (at least!)

I am always encouraging my uni students to do as much design development as they can for their folios. It doesn't have to be the most detailed/finished artwork, just enough to see the possibilities. It is so frustrating when - in wk 6 of 1st semester - we are only seeing a fraction of what is required.

The common lament is, "I ran out of ideas...time..."

I must say, modern technology makes this so easy... I am using my iphone so much these days, always documenting my work, my students work, anything I spot in mags, books, etc. 

I started this bag about 2 years ago, and put it aside while I pondered embellishments/trims.

Here is a sample of what I mean.

or 

or

or

or

The point that I am really making is that this exercise  only took about 3 mins. The most time-consuming part of it was checking that each pic was focused! 

Hmmm....which one? The possibilities are endless! (Read, I may have to sit on it for a while longer!)

Another new faux fur bag

Another day, another bag.

I made this one a while ago, but I rushed to finish and didnt fuse the body. (Use an iron-on interfacing to stiffen and strengthen the body to avoid collapsing.)

Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the bag before I worked on it, but this is the end result.

I unpicked enough to get into it, and because I couldn't use an iron-on at this point, I hand-sewed a suitably stiff fabric onto the seams.

And it worked!

beaded and gold embroidery - stage 2

I have finally completed the dark gold.

Now for the 2nd colour. Silver, here we go!!

up-cycling... and making a simple cushion!

Occasionally I come across nice samples/remnants of furnishing fabric.

In this case it was only about 60 x 65cm - too small to cut up and make a conventional cushion. So I had to had to think outside the square...forgive the pun!

I also had the added problem of trying to centre the flower as much as possible...

I trimmed it to form a perfect square (60cm) folded it in half and stitched up the 2 short sides.

I pressed the seams open, then folded it diagonally, pinned the 2 ends and left a 30cm opening in the middle

stitched and pressed the seam open

turned inside out (bagged out), then stuffed insert in and pinned opening together

slip-stitched close

Done! How simple and satisfying!

I could have taken the time to put a zip in, but I figure that as it was a quick cushion, I can take the time to unpick it when it needs washing.

A great result for a remnant - and it only took about 10 mins!

beaded and gold embroidery - stage 1

I allowed myself to start this gold and beaded runner when I completed the Lady and the Unicorn (which is still to be framed). It was another purchase from my recent trip to Greece.

The main reason I am working on this and not my burgundy lurex cushion, is that although my shoulder has recovered from the embroidery injury I acquired, I have - in the wisdom that time has afforded me! - decided that I am not SO sure about the colour of the beads that I had started to use.... bugger!

So while I am waiting for divine inspiration, this is my current WIP.

Will post continuing progress...

and now for something completely silly

Although my wardrobe consists of black, black and more black, I absolutely adore colour. You can't imagine my childlike glee when I spotted these fluro faux fur fabrics in Spotlight a while back......I JUST HAD TO HAVE SOME!!

My reasoning at the time was that I could justify the purchase by making something for my girls. Well, imagine my soul-destroying dismay at their utterly disgusted reaction, "No way Mum! Do you still think we are 6?"

I made the bags about 2 years ago, and yes,  have seriously taken them out of the house albeit for 'fun' occasions like mums' get-togethers, etc... as they a frivolous focal/vocal point with my friends:

"OMG - are you serious?"

"Too much time on your hands!"

"Only you...."

But the best reaction came from a dad (an ex-politician) during a recent school function. He made a beeline for my bag and complimented me for my cheekiness and audacity. By Jove, I think he got it!

What can I say....I love and embrace my inner wogalina!

I recently found the leftover scraps of the bags and decided to whip up these 2 very fast cushions. In my treasure trove I found some purple poly satin lining...purrfect!

Sewing and stuffing the cushions ( I recycled the poly filler from 2 tired looking cushions that the kids used in the car during long trips)  

Slip-stitching the opening 

A peak at the underneath

And a score for...Lou Lou!

What can I say - these took me only about 10 minutes each to make..... and I am feeling very satisfied as I was able to recycle and find a use for the faux fur scraps.

(read simple things for simple people)

All I have left is about 289,485 projects to finish....but the march of a thousand miles begins with a single bite of an elephant!

Dilemmas and decisions...

Having embroidered this pair of cushions in 2005, I thought it may be time to 'finish' them.

I went through my treasure trove and found some possibilities.

I then narrowed it down to these 3 choices. 

And now separately.

Too pink?

Too green?

Too orange?

Ahh... I will have to leave this one out for a while and see it in assorted lights.

Any feedback?

Cushion tutorial - pt 3 - putting it all together

One of the best tips on the art of cushion-making I can pass on is the following: trim all the corners by about .6cm.  Taper this sliver down to nothing over 10cm.

(Gotta love my gridded table top!)

This helps reduce the corners from being too long and pointy.

(Gotta love optical illusions!)

To help pin piping evenly around the cushion, I divide the cushion and piping into quarters then match one to the other. 

I also make sure that I position my ribbon seam and my cord join on the lower edge of the cushion where they are least visible. To keep bulk to a minimum I make sure that they are about 5cm apart.

Then onto the machine using the same long stitch to sew the cord on. You can see the stitch length in the picture - about 3 stitches per cm.

I then pin the backing on, making sure that the zip is on the lowest edge.

I pin from the backing side, then stitch from the other side using the previously stitched seam as a guide. This seam must have a reduced stitch length (4-5 stitches per cm) and it is important to make sure that this seam is on the inside of the previous seam as we don't want to have any seams visible we 'bag' or turn our cushion inside out.

Make sure you open the zip before sewing as it is difficult to do so afterwards! After this seam the slivers on the corners of the backing fabric can be trimmed off. I dont like to do it earlier as 'things' can 'shift'. 

Then onto the domestic to zig-zag

A close-up before bagging out

A light press

A view from the back

And the final product! 

I hope this tutorial has been easy to follow.

Please feel free to offer any constructive feedback or to send in photos of your projects to me - I would be delighted to see what you are working on.

If you need specific assistance on any areas that you may be 'stuck' on please free to ask me. Who knows, it could become a future post! 

cushion tutorial - pt 2 - innovative piping

Having successfully inserted the zip, it is now time to work on the piped edge.

I have accurately measured the circumference of the cushion on the 1cm SA stitch-line precisely. I then cut my piping cord to this measurement, allowing 1.5cm overlap. This allows me to hand sew my 2 ends securely together. We do not want the finished product to have a gap in the cord!

Here you can see my 'join'.

Now the ribbon - I trimmed the edges to a 45 degree angle, then pinned, machined and pressed open.

The ribbon was - conveniently!- about 80cm longer than my cord. I thought I would ease the excess in to create a ruched (gathered) effect.

Sewing the piping.

I had to do this in 2 sections as there was excess ribbon. I used a long stitch, and did not do it too 'tight' as I still have to do another 2 rows of sewing and we do not want ANY of it to be visible!

Next....putting it all together!