Straighten Your Seams - The Christmas Stocking Tutorial

I don't know about you but one of my most fave childhood Christmas memories was waking up in the early hours feeling the weight on your feet and knowing that Father Christmas had been, filled your stocking and waiting until daylight before I was allowed to open them.  Although I was lucky that I was not my mum, as one Christmas two of her sisters, she was the eldest of 12, got up in the middle of the night and swapped the presents around so that they got what they wanted... at least, until my granny woke up!  Back then I used my father's socks from his wellingtons, large creamy socks with utilitarian writ large, so we are going to make something a little more aesthetically pleasing for the end of our beds.

You will need the following:

Selection of Christmas fabric strips 
1 yard / metre of wide ric rac braiding 
Christmas fat quarter, choose one with a good pattern
1/2 yard / metre plain cotton lining fabric
Selection of Christmas ribbons
1/2 yard / metre of cotton batting
Cutting mat, rotary cutter, dressmaking shears
Pins
Iron and ironing board

Let's get cracking, iron your fabrics and set them aside.  You will need a template to cut around, either use an old stocking and draw around it, or at this time of the year, there are lots around in magazines and Christmas make books (check out your local library, so use one and adapt to suit you... ie, with a longer, wider leg if you think Father Christmas is going to be generous this year!

Cut out two in cotton batting, two in the plain cotton lining and one in your fat Christmas quarter.  Lay your Christmas fat quarter on top of one piece of batting, now this is important, really IMPORTANT, lay the other piece of batting down and ensure that the toe is pointing in the OPPOSITE direction.  

Now we are going to layer up the stocking, cut strips of varying widths, now play with them, see which ones work best together.  You could lay them in parallel lines down the stocking or fan them out around the heel.

Sew down the strip at the top of stocking using a 1/4" seam allowance, now sew the next strip to the first strip, iron the seam open, continue this until it covers the whole of the stocking.  Trim the excess from around the stocking.  

Now the fun starts... more is more at Christmas, pop some ribbon over the seams, for the other seams use an embroidery stitch in a contrasting colour... one of those that you have on your machine but never use.  You could apply some applique, a snowman or a child's name... make sure you choose children with short names or we could be making Easter stockings!

Pin your ric rac braiding so that the centre is 5/8" away from the edge and sew it down.

Place the two linings together, now put the back of your stocking with the right side up on top of them and finally put the front of your stocking face down so that you can see the reverse.  Pin them all together.

You will be able to see the line of sewing that you made to attach the braid.  Sew along that line, do not deviate away from it, stay with it all the way around.  When you have finished, trim and notch the curves... for a small project like this pinking shears will give you the easing you need.

 

Now turn it inside out and hey presto your lining is in place... yes, really it is.  Pin more braiding around the top of the stocking 5/8" from the top and sew it in place.  Measure around the top and add 1 1/4" to this. Now cut a strip of fabric 3" wide by the length you have just measured, sew the ends together using a 5/8" seam allowance.  With right sides facing, pin the top strip and the stocking together and just like sewing the stocking up, sew along the seam line used to secure the braiding.  

You will now have a raw edge, iron under 5/8" and pin it over the top of the stocking... now you can either slip stitch it into place or top stitch it into place.

Cut a strip of fabric 12" x 3", fold it in half lengthwise, sew across the end and down the length, trim the excess and turn it inside out.  Press and fold it in half... so that you have a handle, pin it inside the stocking on the back on the heel side.  Machine it into place and now it is ready to hang at the end of your bed or on your fireplace.

And now over to Handmade Monday to see what everyone has been up to over the past week.

Charlie is my darling... the dog bandana tutorial

Everyone should have at least one good friend who hears all their troubles, and mine is Charlie who is a rather handsome bulldog, who hears everything and says nothing... actually he fulfils this role for a number of us.  Recently, he has become quite the dandy about town sporting topical bandanas... he wore a Union Jack for the jubilee but I thought I would use one of the newly launched animal ribbons from the Jane Means collection... mind you, Charlie asked me to let Jane know he is available for modelling assignments when she realises that a bulldog would add that touch of macho doggy class to her great doggy ribbons!

So let's get started, you will need:

A dog
A fat quarter
Ribbon
Cotton
Scissors and pins or cutting mat and rotary cutter
Iron and ironing board
Matches
Fish knife


Iron the fat quarter and fold it on the diagonal to create a square, cut off the excess fabric.  If you have a smaller dog then you will need to cut out a smaller square, you could use Charlie's bandana as a tent for a Yorkie!

Now look at your dog collar and measure the width, Charlie's collar is an inch wide, so line the fold up and cut off a triangle from each side with a base of 1.5".

Open up the square, fold under a seam of 5/8" where you cut off your triangles, press with the iron and sew into place.  Pin the top ribbon .5" from the fold on the right side of your fabric,  remembering to seal the ends of the ribbon with your matches... Now pin the ribbon along one side, an inch away from the raw edge,  slip this ribbon under the ribbon running along the top so that it is not seen, repeat on the other side.  Now at the point of the triangle, you can either mitre the ribbon or cheat... keep one ribbon flat but fold the other one over to create a triangle.

Sew the ribbon in place on the inside and outside to secure it.  Fold the bandana so that right sides are facing, sew using a 5/8" seam allowance along the two sides but leaving open the seams you have sewn at the top.

Turn the bandana right sides out, having first trimmed the excess seam allowance, you can use either side of the scarf to pull it through, use the fish knife to ensure you get a nice point in the corner.  Iron the bandana from the reverse side... this will do two things, a) make sure you don't melt the ribbon and b) raise the ribbon.

Sew straight across the top of the scarf, 1.5" below the fold to create the channel for the lead's collar... I didn't do this initially but have done so since the pics were taken and it gives a much better finish and the bandana lies much flatter.  Slip the collar through the channel, whistle up your model and get out there for a walk.

I think that this has a much great chance of staying around Charlie's neck.  So there you go my first official blog as a ribbon stylist for Jane Means, hope you like it :)


Now if you have time, hop on over to Handmade Monday on Handmade Harbour... Wendy has some brilliant news, she is featured on the front page of Sewing World... isn't that fab?

Flower Folding For Fun - An Alternative Kanzashi Tutorial

One of the great things about making things is that there are so many ways to arrive at the finished item, which is why I am posting a new tutorial on Kanzashi flowers.  For those of you who have not heard of them, they are a Japanese fabric folding technique to make flowers which were originally made to adorn the hair of Geisha girls.


Equipment


Fabric - cottons are great to start with  especially as they do not fray but as you become more skilled, try using silks too.
Cutting mat and ruler
Scissors and/or a rotary cutter
Needle and matching cotton
Pins
Cardboard
Iron and Ironing board
Glue Gun
£2 coin and a wine glass

Iron your fabrics and cut out 12 x 3" squares - this will make a flower with a 3" diameter, 12 square will make a really full flower - I have chosen to use two complimentary fabrics but you can use all the same fabrics or even more colours.

Fold your square in half diagonally and press with the iron, do not worry if your square is not absolutely right, these flowers are very forgiving.

Now fold the one corner from along the long axis to the point at the bottom.

And now repeat it with the other corner to make a diamond.

Turn the diamond over so that the folds are on the reverse side.

 Now, fold the right side into the middle.

And fold the other side into the middle

Pick up a pin and fold the two sides together along the vertical and place the pin through the centre and flip it over to see your very first petal.

Now repeat this for the other 11 petals, I tend to do this like a factory line and do them in groups of four.

Arrange your petals in the order you want to see them.

Now cut off the triangles at the ends off, cut them straight across to get rid of the excess fabric.

You need to thread your needle with a double thread and make a lovely big knot to secure it.  Put your needle through the thickest part of the petal.

Now pull the knotted end of the thread out and pulling the other end tight, tie the two ends together as tightly as you can.  Trim away the excess thread.

Gently ease the petals into place. Looks pretty rough eh, well we will soon sort that out.

Use your £2 coin to create a template to cover the back of your flower.  If you notice that you have not managed to capture all of the fabric, do not panic, you can either sew it in or use your glue gun.  Now cut out a larger piece of fabric using the wine glass base as your template.

Now do a running stitch around the template about a 1/4" in from the edge of the fabric, pull this tight and you have a covered button.

Now if you are using your flower as a brooch, decoration or bag embellishment you can glue the covered cardboard onto the flower.  If you are using it as a hair decoration, place your elastic under the covered  cardboard, then glue it... and because I go for a belt and braces approach, also sew the button onto the back of your flower.

To top off the flower, you can use an interesting button, or a covered button using the process we have just used to cover the cardboard, using your glue gun you can then attach the topper to the flower.


Now remember that wine glass, fill it with your favourite vin de plonk and sit back to admire your creative genius!


To see what wonderful things you can make and decorate with your flowers take a look at Dream Star's Blog - she is an inspiration!

Crochety Old Bag - A tutorial for a ruffly crochet handbag

Did you notice how many people have taken up crochet recently, even my guest, Susie blogged about it?  So before the bandwagon drives off, here is a little something that I have created for you to make.  And if you don't believe me take a look at Handmade Monday on Wendy's wonderful site and see who else has been bitten by the bug.

Can Can Handbag

Materials

1 ball of Rico Can Can or similar tape yarn

1 size 8.0 crochet hook

1 fat quarter for lining

Make 12 chain using the tape unwrapped.

Round 1: Open up the tape and work in slip stitch down the chain (12 stitches), now turn your work and work down the other side of the chain (24 stitches)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Round 2: Slip stitch twice into the first chain, slip stitch into the next 10 chain, slip stitch twice into the next two chain, slip stitch into the next 10 chain, slip stitch twice into the next chain (28 stitches)

Round 3: Sl st into the first chain, Sl st twice into the next stitch, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next two chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next chain (32 chain)

Round 4: Sl st into the first 2 chain, Sl st twice into the next stitch, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 4 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 2 chain (36 chain)

Round 5: sl st into the first 3 chain, sl st twice into the next stitch, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 6 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 10 chain, sl st twice into the next chain, sl st into the next 3 chain (40 chain)

Round 6: Work in sl st until round is completed

Continue to work in sl st until the bag measures 7 inches or more from the bottom seam, cast off final sl st.

To make handles

Count in 7 ch from the centre of the side seam (ie where you cast off), count down three rounds and attach the yarn unwrapped to the row with a sl st and do this up each row, when you reach the top of the bag, chain [24], reattach the chain to the bag with a sl st, continue to slip st down 3 rows.

Turn the bag and sl st up to the edge of the bag, at the first chain dc , 1 ch miss one ch,; dc 1 ch miss 1 ch) 11 times, sl st down 3 rows and fasten off.

Now repeat this on the other side.

To make the button

Make 5 chain and join together.

Make 2 chain, double crochet 8 stitches into the chain round, slip stitch into second chain and fasten off.

To line your bag

Measure your bag, around the largest point (ie the top of the bag) and then from the top of the bag to the base (double this figure).  For my bag, it was 20” (length) x 14” (width), so giving myself ⁵/₈” seam allowance I cut out a piece of fabric 21¹/₄”  x 15¹/₄”.

To make a pocket for your phone and keys, cut out a piece of fabric 7¹/₄” x 7¹/₄”.  Fold a seam allowance of ⁵/₈” all round.  Sew across the top of the pocket.  Now pin the pocket to the fabric 1¹/₂ “ below the top seam, placing it an equal distance from both side seams and sew it onto the lining fabric.

Fold the fabric in half with right sides facing and pin the seams together, start from the top with a ⁵/₈” but as you reach the crease at the bottom you will need to increase the seam allowance to a good inch to allow for the narrowing at the base of your bag.

Press open the seams of your fabric so that it will lay flat. You need to create a right angle (the corner of a square and get the seam to bisect it at 45' (which should be slap bang in the middle, just like this picture).  Fold the top of the seam down to make a little triangle.  Sew across this.  Now trim off the triangle with your pinking shears - you have now made the base of your bag, so that it will sit properly.

Take your button which you have crocheted and stitch it firmly between your handles.  Now find the centre stitch between the other pair of handles and make a slip stitch one chain to the right, make sufficient chains to go around the button and close your bag, then slip stitch this to one chain beyond the centre point stitch.  Sew in your loose ends.

Now fold ⁵/₈” around the top of your bag lining, turn the crochet bag inside out and pin it just below the top row of crochet.  Hand slip stitch this to your bag.

Turn bag inside out.  Now gaze in wonder at what you have created!