Sewing – Page 7 – Thimbleanna

Good Neighbors

165 Comments / September 10, 2015 September 10, 2015 / Sewing

Well Hello! At last, I’m back from my travels. I had a fun trip and I can’t wait to go through all my pictures and post a few of them!

In the meantime, it’s my turn on the Good Neighbors Pincushion Party blog hop. If you’re a quilter, you’re sure to know CrazyMom. She chose her blog name well all those years ago — she IS Crazy! CrazyMom is also amazing. She’s a non-stop ball of quilting fire — oh, to have all of her energy! She makes an unbelievable number of quilts (I LOVE her 101 Scrap Projects!), writes patterns, teaches quilting classes, co-authored a book, and NOW she has her first fabric line. I’m SO excited for her, and when she asked me to be part of her pincushion party, I jumped at the chance!

Her new line is called “Good Neighbors” and it’s classic CrazyMom style — bright, happy colors, just like her quilts. (I shamelessly stole that little picture above from the Connecting Threads website so that you could see some of the variety of the prints in Good Neighbors.) I love that this line is called Good Neighbors — I’d love to swap these fun fabrics over the back fence with CrazyMom — I can just imagine how fun it would be to have Ms. Crazy herself as my neighbor — my Good Neighbor!

Anyway, on to my pincushion. I knew right away that I wanted to make my favorite pincushion again — Posy Pin Pie by Jillily Studio. This is a large pincushion and it holds lots of pins and needles and … stuff. I love a jumbo pincushion! Because it’s such a big pincushion, stuffing it with all walnut shells would make it pretty heavy, so I chose a half ‘n half stuffing. Half fiberfill and half walnut shells. (Fiberfill on top, shells on the bottom.) In my book, it’s the perfect weight.

CrazyMom’s fabrics are so fun and versatile. I had fun choosing which fabrics to put in my pincushion. And look at the little discovery I made — Good Neighbors goes perfectly with Jen Kingwell’s Gardenvale (I mixed them up in the pile above) — how fun is that???

So, would you like a charm pack of Good Neighbors for yourself? Just leave a comment — and to make it fun, tell me the top vacation spot on your bucket list (i.e., where is the one place that you really want to go where you’ve never been before.) I’ll draw a random winner by Tuesday, September 15th. (Sorry, this drawing is only open to U.S. and Canadian residents.)

Also, you can check out the full Good Neighbors collection at Connecting Threads.

And be sure to check out the rest of the cute pincushions in CrazyMom’s Pincushion Party!

9/1/2015 Amanda Jean – Crazy Mom Quilts
9/2/2015 Anna – Noodlehead
9/3/2015 Mary – Mary on Lake Pulaski
9/4/2015 Svetlana – Sotak Handmade
9/5/2015 Debbie – Esch House Quilts
9/6/2015 Holly – Bijou Lovely
9/7/2015 Carla – Grace and Favour
9/8/2015 Faith – Fresh Lemons Quilts
9/9/2015 Vanessa – V and Co.
9/10/2015 Anna – Thimbleanna (that’s Me!)
9/11/2015 Krista – Poppy Print Creates
9/12/2015 Erin – Why Not Sew
9/13/2015 Lee – May Chappell
9/14/2015 Alex – Tea Ginny Designs
9/15/2015 Cheryl – Nap Time Quilter
9/16/2015 Penny – Sew Take a Hike
9/17/2015 Amy – During Quilt Time
9/18/2015 Debbie – A Quilter’s Table
9/19/2015 Anne – Spring Leaf Studios
9/20/2015 Melissa Corry – Happy Quilting
9/21/2015 Amber – One Shabby Chick
9/22/2015 Nettie – A Quilt is Nice
9/23/2015 Adrianne – Little Bluebell
9/24/2015 Cindy – Live a Colorful Life
9/25/2015 Amy – Diary of a Quilter
9/26/2015 Chase – Quarter Inch Mark
9/27/2015 Rene – Rene Creates
9/28/2015 Erin – House on Hill Road
9/29/2015 Nicole – Modern Handcraft
9/30/2015 Teri – Connecting Threads

Good Luck!
XOXO,
Anna

Happy Summer!

28 Comments / June 22, 2015 June 22, 2015 / Sewing

Well, Happy Summer if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere. And Happy I-hope-Winter-won’t-last-too-long to the rest of you. I can’t believe we’ve already had the longest day of the year for 2015. Time is flying. As always. {Sigh.}

It’s been pretty busy around here. Nothing exciting — just the usual. I’m still weeding — I can’t seem to have all the beds weed-free at the same time. At the rate we’re going, it’s going to take until fall for me to get all the beds weeded. I’m blaming the rain. But it’s sure making things green and pretty, so I’m not complaining.

I also squeezed in a little sewing over the weekend. I’ve had this little shirt cut out since last summer and I finally managed to get it sewn together.

The fabric is a Nani Iro double gauze and I LOVE it! It has a wonderful drape and the double layers give it some body without making it a heavy fabric. I’ll definitely be using double gauze again for clothing.

I used a reeeeeeeally old pattern and changed it a little. I’m not sure how it said to finish off the sleeves, but one of my favorite ways is to just bind them like you would bind a quilt. 3/4 length is my favorite. And, even though I added a little to the length when I cut it out, I didn’t think it was long enough, so I added a bias band around the hemline. It was an experiment and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

So, Yay! I have a new top. Which will definitely cheer me up this week, ’cause I’ve been grumpy. We’re moving into little call-center-style cubicles at work and they’re awful. Really awful. No privacy at all. Stupid short walls and you can hear everything. Today was my first half-day in my cube and I could hear the guy an aisle-and-a-half away munching on carrots. It’s ok though, I’m just waiting for my turn to annoy people. See this guy?

It’s a Flying Monkey. He screams as he flies through the air. The next time the goofballs at the other end of the room decide to have a gabfest, I’m going to launch him. I feel it’s my duty to contribute to the mayhem. I’d like to think it might help the powers that be know what a stupid plan this is — but it won’t (they’re oblivious), so maybe we can laugh a little about it. I’m armed and I’m not afraid to fire!

Have a great week — we should have a pool and guess how long I can hold out before I let the monkey fly LOL!
XOXO,
Anna

Vinyl Project Bag

31 Comments / June 5, 2015 June 5, 2015 / How-To, Sewing

After I posted about my little vinyl project bag a few weeks ago, I had a few questions about how I make them, so I promised I’d post some details.

Before we get started though, a few disclaimers. I’ve been seeing these little bags pop up in a lot of places, so this is nothing new. If you’ve been sewing for very long, you’ll easily be able to figure this out for yourself. There are lots of different (and probably better) ways to do the various steps — this is just how I do it, so if my methods don’t work for you, just remember that google is your friend. Especially where the zipper is concerned — there might be a method out there that works better for you.

So, in case you’ve forgotten, this is what we’re making (the bag, not the blocks). ;-D

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 – 10″ x 12″ pieces of fabric (the back of the bag)
1 – 10″ x 12″ piece of batting (or flannel or soft and stable or whatever, depending on how firm you want the back of your bag)
4 – 10″ x 1 1/2″ pieces of fabric (the prints on either side of the zipper)
1 – 10″ x 10″ piece of vinyl
1 zipper — longer than 10″ (I used 14″ because that’s what I had in my stash)
Approximately 55″ of 2 1/2″ wide binding folded in half and pressed

Cats are optional.

The first step is to prep the back. Place one of the 10″ x 12″ squares of fabric, wrong side up, on your table. Place the batting on top of it and then place the other piece of 10″ x 12″ right side up on top of the batting. You’ve made a quilt sandwich that will be the back of the bag. I like to quilt this sandwich and you can quilt it however you like — stippling, straight stitches, mattress style, etc. I chose to quilt a grid, starting in the middle and then stitching a few lines on either side of the middle line. In the picture below, you’ll notice map fabric behind the piece I’m quilting — I’m just quilting several back pieces at once. If you’re going to make one vinyl bag, you might as well make several at once!

Now, take one of the 10″ x 1 1/2″ strips and turn one long edge under 1/4″ and press. This step is optional, but I think it makes it easier later. Then, take the zipper and sandwich one edge of it between the right sides of two of the 10″ x 1 1/2″ strips of fabric. Pin or glue, whichever works for you. And make sure that the piece with the pressed 1/4″ edge is on the back side of the zipper.

If you’re a zipperphobe, don’t quit now! Take your little zipper sandwich to the machine and stitch a 1/4″ seam. Be sure you have your zipper foot on your machine. And you’ll notice that there are more pins in the zipper sandwich now that we’re stitching — my top fabric was slipping, so I added more pins.

Press the two pieces of fabric open — or so that they have their wrong sides together.

Repeat those steps on the other side of the zipper with the other 10″ x 1 1/2″ pieces of fabric.

Ta – Da! Zipper in fabric! ;-D I forgot to take a picture of this next step, but, from the right side, top stitch close to the edge of the two seams that you just sewed. (You can see the top stitching in future pictures.) Reward yourself with some chocolate. Preferably M&Ms from a crystal dish — a little elegance makes them taste better!

Now it’s time to sew the vinyl to the zipper piece. With the zipper facing right side up, place the vinyl on top of the zipper piece with one edge of the vinyl along the unfinished edge of the fabric that is on top of the piece with the 1/4″ pressed edge. That’s hard to explain — hopefully it made sense. Now, flip the piece over and pin the fabric to the vinyl, being sure to keep your pins horizontal and close to the edge — the area that will be part of the seam. If you pin farther away from the edge, you’ll be able to see holes in your vinyl after you sew the seam. Take this fabric to your machine (regular foot or 1/4″ foot should be back on machine now) and sew a 1/4″ seam.

At this point, we need to discuss the vinyl. It’s difficult to sew directly on vinyl because it’s sticky. For this seam, the vinyl will be face down, against the feed dogs. In order to keep things moving smoothly, I use scraps of tissue paper between the machine bed and the vinyl. You stitch through the tissue paper just as if it were meant to be part of the bag.

After you’re done, peel the tissue paper off of both sides of the stitching line.

Then fold the vinyl seam toward the zipper and press on the right side of the fabric. Two things to note here: a) ignore that ugly water stain on my little pressing board, and b) if you put that hot iron directly on your vinyl you’ll have a hot mess. Haha — sorry for the pun. But really, DO NOT put the hot iron directly onto the vinyl. I just grab a fabric scrap or a flour sack towel or something to place between the vinyl and the iron. Another thing you don’t want to do is leave the iron sitting there while you take a picture. It won’t melt the vinyl, but it makes it a wee bit wrinkly. ;-D

Ok, moving on. Flip the zipper concoction so that the wrong side is up. Here’s where having that 1/4″ seam folded over and pressed comes in handy. You might have to adjust it a little, but place the folded edge up against the vinyl seam and pin. I really wanted to glue here but I knew that the glue wouldn’t work on the vinyl.

Now … dang it! I forgot another picture! Anwway, flip the zipper concoction right side up and go to the machine and top stitch along that edge that you just pinned. Your pins will be hidden under your piece, against the throat plate, so sew slowly and remove the pins as you go.

Now you’re ready to attach the front vinyl piece to the back piece that you quilted earlier. Lay the vinyl piece, zipper right side up, on top of the quilted piece. You may need to trim up the edges and then pin them in place. And remember, if you’re going to pin along the vinyl, only pin very close to the edge, in the area that will eventually be part of a seam.

Now, it’s time to trim the zipper. Be sure you’ve pinned securely on both sides of the zipper. Take a deep breath and have some more M & Ms. And ALERT! Be sure your zipper pull has been pulled so that it’s on top of the quilted backing. (If you leave the zipper pull out on either edge of the zipper, you’re going to have way more than a hot mess and you’re going to be saying a LOT of bad words. I don’t know this from personal experience, but I have a vivid imagination.) Cut the edges off of the zipper. Rotary cutter or scissors, whatever works for you.

Now, bind your little bag, just like you would bind a quilt. I’m not going to tell you how to do that part, there are a bajillion tutorials out there on the web. I like to attach the binding by machine to the right side and then sew the binding to the back side by hand. If you can make yours all by machine and have it look great then go for it!

And there you have it — finished vinyl zipper bags! I love these little bags for hauling around my handwork. Knitting too — next up, I’m going to make some bigger bags. They keep all my work clean and tidy while it rambles around on the inside of my backpack. (Oooh, and see how the edge where the vinyl meets the fabric attached to the zipper looks a little wobbly? That’s because I stopped to take that vinyl-pressing picture a few steps back. It’s hardly noticeable in real life, but just thought I’d point it out. Also, can we just have a moment of silence to appreciate how those zigzags on the blue print on either side of the zipper lined up??? They’re a wee-bit off, but I couldn’t have planned that better if I’d tried! I love a happy accident and I attribute it to the heavy consumption of M&Ms.)

One last thing — don’t forget to embellish your zipper pull — there are lots of fun things you can do with it!

Now, go forth and make Vinyl Project Bags. And eat M&Ms. It’s Fun!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!!!

XOXO,
Anna

Excuses, Excuses

43 Comments / May 2, 2015 May 2, 2015 / Chat, Liberty Love, Sewing

Well, I don’t know about your place, but it hasn’t been very productive around here in the last week or so. I do have excuses though — so I hope I can be forgiven.

First off, today was MeMum and BigDaddy’s 60th wedding anniversary. Sixty Years. We had a nice little family dinner last night — it was wonderful to take the time to go out together and relax. It was fun to hear the stories of the day they got married (they eloped) and their wedding trip (they saw a mushroom cloud from an open-air atomic bomb test as they drove through the Nevada desert on their way home). Anyway, it was a good time, and we all feel fortunate that we could celebrate together.

And then, there’s been a fabric delivery here in ThimbleannaLand. Lots of beautiful Liberty fabrics. Personally, I think this excuse could stand on it’s own — it’s hard to resist fondling beautiful fabric – I know you understand! Here are some of the pretty prints that have arrived:

These Liberties (and a few more) are loaded into my little shop. (Bundles will be coming soon!) Thank you SO much to those of you who have purchased fabric — your purchases have made it so that the selection can expand.

So, back to my excuse list — I blame this next distraction on Jan. She posted on instagram that she was mesmerized by a live feed of an eagle’s nest in Latvia and now I’m hooked too! It started off, innocently enough — look at that cute little baby!

Before long, it was time for a little dinner. I was fascinated watching Dad Eagle (Is that the Dad, Jan?) feed the baby. I was amazed that when he pulled pieces off of a fish that were too big, he would put the piece back under his talon to rip off a smaller piece for the baby. And if he pulled up a bone or tail, he ate it himself — only the finest for that little Eaglet.

Then they settled down for a little nap, which was perfect timing. I had to go take MeMum out for lunch so that the cleaning ladies that she doesn’t have (haha) could do their magic.

When I got back a few hours later, they were sleeping, but look! Someone had re-stocked the pantry with quite a few fish. They must be amazing fishermen!

I keep checking in now and then (they’re just waking up to a new day as we speak). You might want to check these Eagles out too, don’t blame ME if you get hooked. Blame JAN!!!!

And, if those top three distractions weren’t enough, there’s this:

Isn’t she beautiful (the knits too!)? (And can we take a minute to oooh and aaaah over that sweet print on Kate’s dress????) How exciting that little Prince George has a baby sister. I can’t wait for the name reveal — and … bring on the little smocked dresses!!!

In keeping with the royal theme, I had to hurry and whip up a little project pouch (it’s hard to tell, but there’s a clear plastic front on the pouch) with some Brit-themed fabric. Sometimes I take a little something to work on during my lunch hour at work, and I’m tired of using ziplock bags. Everything was in my stash (I love it when that happens) and this was a quick little project. I’m planning on making a few more — these will be perfect for my Chuck Nohara blocks. (Btw, CrazyMom has a cute pattern for totally clear project bags.)

Whew! I’m done making excuses — thanks for sticking with me! Hope you’re having a great weekend — it’s a beautiful one here in the midwest USA!
XOXO,
Anna

A Knitting Bag

30 Comments / March 31, 2015 March 31, 2015 / Sewing

Hello Hello! How are things going out there? Warming up? Cooling down for those of you down under? Can you believe March is over? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty happy about that — March is one of my least favorite months. The only thing that saves it is the First Day of Spring and the TheSecondChild’s birthday. Otherwise, it’s a pretty bleak month in our corner of the world. Lots of windy, cold, unpredictable weather. It does make for good hunker down time though, so that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing.

I’ve been wanting to make a new knitting bag for the last year or two, but I’d had a hard time deciding on style and fabric. When Amy posted her Maker bag a month ago, I knew her idea would make a perfect knitting bag. (I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here who loves everything Amy makes — I’d follower her off of a cliff!) I searched all my patterns and found a bag in a Japanese book that I’ve had for awhile. I don’t understand any Japanese and the bag in the book was too small, but luckily they have drawings and dimensions in those books, so I was able to extrapolate and come up with a bigger bag.

I added a few fun little details to the outside of the bag — some embroidered words that I made with my embroidery machine and a few little applique/embroidered knitting motifs that I shamelessly stole from the Vechernie-Posidelki blog. I can’t pronounce the blog name and I can’t read a word she writes, but I can certainly appreciate the beautiful things that she makes. You should definitely pay her (I think it’s a her) a visit!

I also put a zipper in my bag — just to keep things neat and tidy. I don’t think knitting bags usually have zippers in them — there’s probably a reason for that. I guess we’ll see how long it is before I get my project caught in the zipper. That Maker fabric on the zipper gusset is my very. favorite. print. I love it! (Shameless fabric plug: all prints are Art Gallery prints and the brown dot is the moda mochi linen dot in charcoal.)

I opted not to put any pockets on the inside — I’ll make some small little bags to hold knitting tools inside the bigger bag. I did put a pocket on the outside of the bag though — I thought it might be a good place to throw my phone and wallet if I take my bag to a knit night or something. (Hey Quilty Peeps — we need a knit night!)

I also debated what to do about the bag handles. Over the years, I’ve learned that flat handles don’t work very well for me. They get squished and never seem to last long. I finally decided to use the mochi linen and wrap it around cotton cording. Then I embroidered a bunch of little x’s on top of the seam line. It really wasn’t necessary — because the fabric is dark, the seamline was barely noticeable at all. And I doubt it will provide any more stability — if anything, those little x’s will probably wear out first.

Anyway, it looks like a weirdly shaped bag, but I love how it fits over my shoulder. After several unsuccessful attempts to take a picture of it on my shoulder, I finally just hung it on my tripod so you get the idea how it hangs.

It’s just what I was hoping for and I’ve already pressed it into service with a new knitting project. It’s a small project now, but it will grow and so far, there’s plenty of room.

So … Happy April! I hope you don’t get pranked too badly tomorrow!!!

XOXO,
Anna