Design team make......Victorian Sewing Box

Hello everyone...Genny here. Well I had it all planned to share a patchwork block with you all today..and then real life came into plan and I had to change my thoughts. I was all set to do some sewing and then I wasn't very well..so I decided to make this Victorian sewing box, as it meant I could sit in my chair with my legs up. That's one of the things that I love about crafting..if you can't do one thing because of the way you feel...there is always something else you can do.

I had been sent this fabulous kit by Julie here at JB-Crafting Supplies..so I decided to give it a go...and I loved it. To make it you will need the kit, material of your choice, bookbinding glue, some ribbon to match and some wadding if you choose to use it.

 The material that I've used is available from Julie. I had some green ribbon in my stash and I had some bookbinding glue left from the last kit I made..The box with 1001 uses...which is now in my bedroom keeping my rings safe from the cats..lol..and I have to say it's working really well and looks delightful.

 There are full instructions in the kit. I would recommend reading through them a couple of times and getting to know which pieces are to be put together.

 On the pieces that hold the ribbon, I have used some wadding.

On the lid, I have put double wadding, so the top can be used as a pincushion.In fact I have had a couple of requests for one of these boxes already. I think it so handy, having one of these..you can keep everything in here to do a quick repair. A couple of small reels of thread..perhaps black and white, a small pair of scissors,some needles, a thimble..all will fit in..oh and a couple of safety pins..so handy..and you can never find one when you need one..lol

I am so happy with the way that it turned out. I'm thinking that I may make a couple of these for presents..it's so nice the way that it all closes into a neat box.And of course, you can make it using whatever material you think that the recipient would like..Julie has a fabulous range.

So hopefully next week I will get to share my patchwork block with you all.So until then..take care and happy crafting

Design team make...A Fairy Pocket.

 Hello everyone...Genny here.I am so excited as this is my first design team make featuring sewing.Over the years, I have done a lot of sewing, but hadn't done any for a while.And then over the last year, the more I saw of Julies sewing projects, the more I was twitching to get my machine out.

So here I am with my first project.I thought it would be nice to go through it , step by step. Of course, the sheet itself has instructions printed onto it. But as usual I tend to do things a little differently..lol

I first cut the pieces out. The whole project is in one piece and is available from Julie. To go with the material piece, all you need is a piece of backing material to match the project (I have used some pink spotty fabric), some wadding to go between the pieces (the front and the back) and some interfacing to use on the back of the pockets.

I  ironed the fabric and ironed what would be the hem. To my mind just ironing what is going to be a hem makes things so much easier.

 I then ironed the interfacing onto the pocket strips and then pressed the top edge of the pockets.

 Then stitched to pocket top (above) and then pressed the pocket lengths to give the definition to the box pleats.

 Matched up the dotted lines to their corresponding lines on the full picture.And then stitched them. This is the major area where I did it differently to the instructions, mainly because it made it easier for me.

 Whilst I was stitching the dotted lines, I also stitched into place the ends of each pocket row,

Finally I stitched the bottoms of the pockets strip, catching the            at the same time

 Whilst I was stitching, I also cut two lengths of the backing fabric into 30cm by 8cm.,folded in half and stitched the length. I then cut both strips into half again,which made 4 strips. These will become the hanging strips

Once all the pockets have been stitched into place, I then tidied up all my threads in preparation for sewing the front,back and wadding all together. I layered the pocket topped piece, the wadding and the backing fabric together. I then pinned them together. I then went round all the edges, turning the raw edges in, making sure that the wadding was captured securely. I then sewed the two sides and the bottom edges. On the top edge I pinned in the straps, securing then inside the edges. I then finally sewed the top. I then sewed again around the inside on the small pink line   to make sure that the wadding was captured even more.

I have so enjoyed making this fairy pocket. I made it over two afternoons, taking my time and doing a lot of shouting at my cats, who thought the whole thing was just done for their entertainment. I would recommend making this pocket without cat help..lol. This would be the perfect gift for a young girl..but I have to say that this girl is going to use this to hold my collection of scarves on the back of my bedroom door. At the moment they are all hanging on coathangers..but as expected the kittens think that they are only there to hang on to..so this will be perfect to keep them away from kitty claws.

Everything that I have used is available from Julie here at JB-Crafting Supplies. Julie has a wonderful selection of materials available. On a personal note, I have also started a quilt and will share some blocks with you in the next couple of weeks. So until next time...take care and happy crafting.

DT post

Hi everyone - hope you are all well & didn't get too disrupted by the snow.
For this weeks DT project I decided to make a pin cushion using the Stampendous Teacup Cupcake stamp.
I found some lining material & cut myself a piece large enough for the stamp & with a bi extra for seam allowance.
I inked up the stamp using black Stazon ink & stamped this onto the material. It didn't come out very black, as you can see on the cupcake wrapper on the photo.
I coloured the image using Sharpie pens.
I decided that the main image needed outlining so I sewed around it using some black thread - I didn't go over the wrapper though as I thought this would look too much.
Once I had done the outlining I drew a circle around the image, cut another piece of material for the backing.
I wanted to use the pincushion on  my wrist so I found some elastic to attach to it.
I placed the piece with the image face down onto the backing piece, with the elastic across the middle between the two pieces. I pinned these together  where the elastic was to hold everything in place.
I sewed all around the edge of the circle, leaving a small gap to enable me to turn the piece the right way out.
I snipped around the seam - hopefully to give it a more smooth look.
Turned the piece the right way out, inserted some stuffing then sewed the gap up.
On my wrist when I'm sewing - just to remind me to stop for tea & cake!
I thought it would look good in a proper teacup & saucer as well - might have to have a look around the charity shops next week!
Here it is on my wrist - have managed to crop my gnarly old hand out of the pic! Didn't want to frighten anyone!

Have a good week, thanks for stopping by.
Hugs,
Bev xx