Make Up and Move On - The Make Up Bag Tutorial

I don't know about you but I find it really difficult when I am in the Chemist at this time of the year to resist those little holiday pots of shampoo, bath oils and other unguents ready for you to take off to your little piece of Paradise in the sun. I want them all... but you need to have a new bag to put them in .  So this week, we have an over-sized cosmetic bag to accommodate them all.

Let's get making, you will need the following:

Two pieces of fabric ( one piece 10" wide by 18" long and the lining 9" wide by 17" long)
A piece of wadding just a smidge wider than 10" x 18"
Pins, cotton
8" zip
Measuring tape
Scissors
Iron and Ironing board

Press your fabric and cut out two pieces 10" wide x 17" long.  Pin the top (outer) piece to the wadding, use a quilting stitch from your machine to join together the top fabric to the wadding.  I used a multi-coloured thread for added interest with a Serpentine stitich.  Trim away the excess so that the quilted square is now 9" wide by 17" long.

You are now going to make a sandwich with the zip, put the right sides of the top and lining fabric, slip the zip in between the two so that the back to the zip is on top of the lining, keep the edges together and sew all four layers together, make a roll and repeat this for the other side. Turn the roll right sides out.  Pin the top fabric down and top stitch it closely next to the zip.  Leave the zip open.

Measure up 2" from the zip on either side of the top fabric, this is going to create the top of your makeup bag, repeat this on the lining fabric.  Pin down the quilted fabric but having pinned down the lining, cut the lining along the base.  Sew down the quilted fabric using a 1/2" seam allowance, from the top to the zip, then repeat up from the base to the zip, repeat on other side. 

Cut along the base of the lining.   Sew down the sides of the lining using a half inch seam allowance bottom of the base but leave a 3" gap in the base and sew with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Now to give you a boxy base we are going to use a new technique which I have seen on a number of blogs and thought I would give a go. From the sides measure in an inch and a half and from the bottom measure up an inch.  Cut out an oblong on both lining and quilted fabric on both sides.

Press open the seams  and fold the fabric so the base of the sits in concert with the seam... sew it over twice to give it strength.  Repeat this on each corner.


Now using the gap which you left in the base of the lining turn the bag inside out.

Sew together the base of your lining... you can slip stitch this or machine the lining together.

Push each corner of lining home, it will create a bag like a cake slice you would get from a birthday party ready to take all you lovely little pots...

Now book your holiday... you are ready to go!


Some of you may know that I got shoulder surfed at the Cashpoint on Monday evening, however my bank were superb.  By Tuesday morning, they had refunded my money and my new card arrived on Wednesday, that is amazing service.  Thank you so much Royal Bank of Scotland!


And now it is off to Handmade Monday to see what everyone has created during this rather lovely warm week in the UK

Let's Quilt While We're Ahead - The Log Cabin Cushion

We have been doing quite a few projects recently that have used some quilting now it's time for us to venture into some proper quilting blocks and I thought we could start with a nice easy pattern, Log Cabin which is also known as Cathedral Steps.  It is a great block to start with as it gets you used to cutting and sewing accurately.  I know that the purists may say but you are using a machine but sometimes you need some instant gratification and later we will move on to hand sewing quilting blocks... but lets learn to walk before we embark on a marathon.

So let's get started, you will need:

A selection of fat quarters (I have a pack of six quarters and I know that I can get 3 cushions from this)
1/2 metre of plain contrasting fabric
Wadding
Rotary Cutting Wheel
Self Healing Mat
Rotary Cutting Ruler
Thread
Pins
Cotton
Small scissors
Fish Knife
Cushion pad
Iron (dry not steam)
Ironing Board
Zip - I am using a 9" zip for a 12" cushion pad

Before you start, iron every piece of fabric flat... although it may look flat, it will need pressing.

If you are using fat quarters, cut along the 22" side as this will give you the longest strips of fabric.  You need to cut your strips 1 1/2" wide - in quilting we use 1/4" seam allowance - you may hear this called a scant 1/4" seam allowance because it needs to be really accurate and this is a fine seam allowance.  Very often you will find that the distance from the needle to the edge of the foot is a quarter of an inch, or else mark it up on the plate of your machine so you can use that as a guide.

Now a safety warning, Rotary Cutter are very dangerous, incredibly sharp, always cut away from yourself... and do not let me catch you leaving the safety catch off or woe betide you... say to yourself, "cut and close."


From your first strip, cut a square 1.5" x 1.5" which will make a square 1" square when you have sewn up the seams.  

From your next strip cut another square exactly the same size, and sew it to your first strip, Iron the seam closed to the outside - do not use steam as this can distort the fabric and stretch the seam.  

Now cut two pieces the same length as your two squares and sew them on each side and press the seams to the outside.

Next cut a length that fits across the top and sew it across the top - you have created your first round.  Remember when you cut, to measure twice so you cut once.  You will make mistakes and even after all this good advice that I dish out, I still lose concentration and make mistakes.

Now repeat this in the the same manner - ie, the short piece is always on the same side and the two medium pieces on the sides and the longest piece always in the same place... do be careful because it is easy to muddle them up (says the voice of bitter experience).

Continue until you have a square slightly bigger than the cushion pad you want to use. 

We are then going to add a final round but instead of 1.5" we are going to 2" strips to finish off the cushion.

Now cut a piece of wadding that is 2" larger all round and a piece of cotton that is an inch larger all round.  You are now going to make a sandwich with the plain fabric at the bottom, next the wadding and finally your pieced piece of quilting.  

Starting from the centre and using flat headed quilting pins, pin the sandwich together.


Next we are going to stitch in the ditch - this means sewing close to the seam,  Remember how we ironed all the seams to the outside, we are going to sew on the other side of the seam where there is the least amount of fabric (you are only going through three layers and not five!).  Again I have used my foot for guidance but this time, I used the inside of my foot as the guide, keeping it running along the seam.

Start in the middle square, when you come to the corner, leave your needle down in the fabric, lift the foot, turn your work by 90' and lower your foot sew down the next side and repeat until you have sewn all four sides.  Trim away the excess wadding and fabric


Measure your quilted square, and add 1.25" to one side (to allow for a 5/8" seam allowance), so if the cushion is 16" square, you need to cut a piece of fabric 16" x 17.25"... Now cut it in half, so that your pieces  measure 16" x 8.5/8".


Now insert your zip - You want it to sit in the middle, which is just a quick bit of subtraction and division - your zip is 9" long, take that away from 16 = 7, now divide it by 2 = 3.5".  This means you will need to mark  in 3.5" in from each side and sew a seam at each end up to this point.  And now you can press the seam OPEN!  

Pin your zip in, remembering to place one side snugly against the teeth of the zip to ensure that the zip is well hidden.  Open the zip fully - this will be important - believe me!

Pin the wrong sides together and sew a 1/4" seam all the way around.  Cut off the corner triangles, so that when we turn the cushion we will get sharp corners.  Remember how I told you to leave the zip open, well that is so we can turn the cushion right sides out, it is a swine to try and undo a zip from the wrong side.

Use your fish knife to create your sharp corner - fish knives are brilliant for this, they have no sharp blades so will not cut your stitches and the soft point of the tip will tease out the point - I am so glad I found another use for them.

Press the cushion and pin the final round together - we are now going to sew around the inside seam, to create an Oxford style cushion with a valance running around the cushion using a seam allowance of 3/8". Sew in your loose ends and sit back and enjoy your cushion.

If you want to you can totally change the effect by working two sides in one fabric, and the other side in another fabric, which really does create the Cathedral steps effect.


I have also thought that it might be nice to give this cushion away, so if you leave a comment on this post during this week, I will pull a name out of the virtual hat next Sunday morning and be in touch to send it to you.


Right, time to take a look at Wendy's Handmade Monday and see what everyone has been making over the last week.


What's that... did I buy... err yes, just a little sock skein.  And no, Pierina found a rather lovely Debbie Bliss pattern but she is threatening to make my pink cardie if she finishes her project first...

This is a fabulous hand dyed skein from Chile... soft as an angel's breath... and the last in the shop :)


Good luck with winning the cushion!

Making a Spectacle - Glasses Case Tutorial

I found some fabulous bias binding in my local shop and just had to have it... floral bias binding is the future!  Then what could I make from it... well, the answer was in my handbag, my reading glasses case was looking a little the worse for wear, also it was black and I could never find it in the bottom of my handbag to say nothing of the suitcase which held my sunglasses which was almost as big as my handbag... so I was off an running.  What I need is a simple quilted speccy case!

You will need
2 pieces of cotton fabric
1 piece of wadding
Sewing cotton
Pins
Cutting mat, Rotary wheel and Ruler or Dress making scissors
Sewing machine
Iron and Ironing board
Small drinking glass
Scraps of contrasting fabric if you decide to applique

Iron your fabric and cut out two pieces of fabric 8"x 8"  If you have larger sunglasses or are making the case for Dame Edna then you will need to increase the size a little.  Cut out your piece of wadding about 1/2" wider all round

Now make a sandwich of your fabric, wadding and fabric and pin it together.  Take your top fabric and mark it lightly every inch along the side, as we are going to become expert straight line sewers on this project as we quilt it together with our machines.

To make our diamond pattern sew all the lines in one direction, then turn it and sew across in the opposite direction to create the pattern above.


Trim off all the excess fabric... the square will shrink with quilting and I trimmed it to a 7" x 7" square.

Pin your bias binding across one edge of the square and sew it into place, if you are feeling a little nervous tack it into place using a a contrasting cotton so that it is easy to remove when you have finished.

Fold the square of fabric in half with the bound edge at the top, take your glass, place it in the bottom open corner and trace around it with a water soluble pen and cut around this to give you a gently curving edge.

At this point I thought it looked bland, so out came my pastry cutters and I found a suitable cutter to create a little bit of applique.

Sew the patch into place.

Fold the fabric together, match up the edges and sew a fine seam of about1/4" from the base up to the bias binding at the top.  Now, you may find that your machine baulks at the amount of fabric you are trying to push through it, so just increase your stitch length as this will make it easier for the machine.

Take your bias binding and fold about 1/2" under to create a neat end, you may find it easier to iron the bias binding in half before you tack it into place.  When you  come the rounded corner, because this is bias binding it will ease around the curve leaving a really smooth finish.  As you get to the end cut half an inch more than you need and tuck it under just as you did at the beginning.  You really do need to tack this bias binding into place, I do this because I know no matter how well I pin it together, it will slip, it's the law!

Sew in your loose ends, I usually over-sew the ends to make it look really neat... however you guessed it, I still thought it needed more, so I found a heart shaped button to sew onto the case (next time I will do this before I sew it up!).  The great thing is that I can find this in the stygian gloom that is the bottom of my hand bag and better still, because it is cotton it is easy to wash.

Now everyone over to Wendy's Handmade Monday as I reckon there will be great ideas for things to make and buy for UK Mother's Day.

And in a couple of weeks I will show you how to make your own bias binding.