Ragtime Christmas Wreath - Christmas Tutorial no.10

Right, from the get go I am going to tell you this is not what I had planned for this weekend but I went on a trip to Hobbycraft looking for a flower loom but could not find one.  However, I did find a polystyrene wreath which I had been after for a while because I wanted to make a slightly different sort of rag wreath this year.  I think that this might be a great hit with the children over half term if you do the fabric cutting in advance and it looks equally good on your front door or hung inside to match your colour scheme.  The other great thing is that this wreath can be used for a number of years and by carefully storing the fabrics you can recycle it throughout the year - which means you will be green without an ounce of greenery!

(Ros confesses - I never have a colour scheme for Christmas, in fact I totally suspend taste so that everything in my Christmas decs box can be used... be honest how else would I find a spot for my salt dough Christmas sheep?)

You will need the following:

A polystyrene wreath or a florist's Oasis wreath

Selection of Christmas fat quarters or other fabric scraps - remember you will be cutting them in squares of 2.5" x 2.5" for smaller wreaths and 3" x 3" for larger wreaths

A chopstick or screwdriver (preferably Phillips)

A metre of Christmas Ribbon

Glue gun (optional)

Iron and Ironing board (go on you know we are using fabric)

Rotary cutter with a pinking wheel or a pair of pinking shears

Cutting mat and ruler

Select your fabrics and iron them - I know it may seem silly to do this when you are going to chop the fabric up but it will give your wreath a much finer and professional finish.

Use your rotary cutter cut out 2.5" or 3" strips, then lay the strips on top of each other and cut across them to make square which are  2.5" x 2.5" for smaller wreaths and 3" x 3" for larger wreaths.  My wreath is about 13.5" in diameter and I used three strips of nine different fat quarters (usually 22" long) cut in 2.5 x 2.5" square and I was struggling at the end to find a space for all the squares.

Now the next bit is down to your artistic eye and design bent... you may want to stripe it, mix it, make it in all one colour.

Take first square and place the piece of fabric with the right side against the point of your chopstick or Phillips and push it into your wreath - yes, it really is that easy.  

Now if you are worried that the fabric will not stay put, dip the tip into a little blob of warm glue... if you use another glue make sure it does not contain a solvent because it will dissolve your wreath!

Continue to build up the squares until none of the wreath shows.  

Take your ribbon and cut out at least a metre.

Double it up, place the ribbon behind the wreath, bring the loop under the wreath and pull the ends of the ribbon through the loop.

Now go and hang it on your front door... and wait for the carol singers to arrive on the doorstep... to admire it!

And now it is time to go over to Wendy's Handmade Monday and see what everyone else has been up to during the past week.  Wendy is coming up to her 100,000th hit... let's see if we can push her through to the other side!

If you want the other traditional strip rag wreath, take a look here.

The Deborah Tote Bag - And how to make it

I made some tote bags for the last show that I did, but my friend Deborah suggested some changes that she would like to see in the next bag and not only that she gave me an early Christmas present - labels so that I can try and spot them out on The Broadway.


Am also featuring this on Wendy's Handmade Monday Blog


Preparation is everything when you are making anything, if you get everything together before you start, it makes your life so much easier, so you will need to gather up the following:

• Fabric for outer and lining
• Webbing (1.5" wide)
• Cutting equipment, shears, scissors, mat etc
• Sewing machine
• Cotton
• Iron and ironing board (your new best friend for any sewing project)

  

Your fabric - both outer and lining - heavy cotton 

works really well



Your cutting kit, including rotary cutters, mat, ruler, 
pinking shears and small scissors



Remove the selvedge and cut the bag to size, for a 
medium bag,  you need a outer and lining measuring 
14"(width)  x 28" (length) and for a larger bag 
16" x 32"



Fold the fabric in half (should measure 14" for the small 
and 16" for the large, with the printed sides together, 
seam both sides with a seam allowance of 5/8"



Press open the seams of your fabric so that it will lay flat,
now remember in school when they told you that knowing
about angles will come in useful - today is that day!

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.



Measuring 5/8" sew across the seam as above.  Do this for
both sides.



Now trim off the triangle with your pinking shears - you
have now made the base of your bag, so that it will sit
properly.



Now repeat these steps with your lining fabric to exactly 

the same dimensions



Cut out a piece of fabric which matches your bag to
make an internal patch pocket, it can be the same fabric
or a contrasting pattern, you will need a piece 8" x  6".

Fold over the top of the fabric 5/8" and seam it.
Now place the pocket with your seam at the top,
4" below the top of your lining and equidistant from the
sides of your bag.  



Stitch around the left, bottom and right hand side 
of the pocket.  Then top stitch another seam 

3" from either of the side seams to make a pocket for

your phone.




Now fold together the lining - making sure that the 
pocket is on the inside.  Sew a 3/4" seam - I know this 
is a bigger seam than the outside fabric but it means 
your lining will fit snugly.




Seam the sides and go to the top of the maths class and 
do the triangle work again - Thank you Miss O'Reardon 
who taught me the joy of angles, so useful in piecing 
patchwork...



I then stitch a label on mine over the side seam
























Your bag is now ready to go!

So there you go, a tote bag, a maths lesson and you are
now ready to shop!