It's amazing how busy one can get while not going places

Hello, everyone.

I looked at the last post today and realized that I'd slipped a few days. Oops.

There has been sewing going on around here.

A second mask for me, and one for a family member who needed a spare. The purple fabric has been used in a baby quilt also, I think. The elastic is from the order I received from Sew4Less.com. 

This, a Sew4Home project, involved a lot of playing with fabrics. There is one more of this set that needs to be bound, as soon as the binding strips are cut and sewn together. There are also more that I am thinking becomes a second set of four.  The original project at their site was for 7 strips of fabric 20 inches long. I accidentally only did 5 strips--but really I don't think my family members would want a placemat that is 14" wide and 20" long. Were the ladies thinking that the fabric would draw up a lot with quilting? Or was the "romantic" Valentine placemat supposed to be for one of those tiny bistro tables, with two diners sharing the ends of one placemat? I cut the length down to 17 inches which is room for a dinner plate, two forks, a knife and a spoon. (Tested the fit!) Now there are a collection of 3 inch strips on hand to do "something" with...don't know what yet.

As I'm behind on my Jingle All The Way homework, I'll probably wait to cut and sew more strips to make into more placemats after the second set is put together. Various of the fabrics are certain to change as there isn't enough left of these to do more. I had to run over to A Block Away and pick up a yard of plain red to get the bindings done on these 8! So glad they were open and I didn't have to mail order in something.

A little project, embroidered and sewn

Hello, everyone.

Recently I noticed that the poly lense wiping cloth that came with some pair of glasses or another, and lives in my purse, had lost its clear plastic case. It was just sitting there, possibly collecting grit to scratch the lenses with. That won't do.

There is an assortment of poly satin fabric in the stash. I picked out a color and decided to embroider a small motif onto the small bag. (Wanted to have a larger one on the front and a smaller one on the flap.)

There is a small flower in the included files of my Janome MC500e and I decided to do it in red, white and blue on navy blue satin. I used iron on woven stabilizer as the sole stabilizer, and topper on the surface. (Pellon Shape-Flex, which is iron-on, stable, and light weight.) Possibly there should have also been some cutaway as well? there is a bit of rippling.

The front of the pouch. 

Inside view with the cleaning cloth.

View of the flap from outside. The flap design was shrunk a bit in the planning stage with the software.

The hem was done with a decorative stitch on my (made by Janome) Kenmore computerized sewing machine. 

The project came out reasonably well and would make a nice stocking stuffer. 

This sewing machine is one of the older computerized type, where there is pre-stored info that you select from, but no availability to add more via computer cable. 

It works well, but it has no adjustment for the presser foot pressure. "It's automatic!" as the trendy marketing people say. (More like, it's preset to one level and you had better like it.) Other than that quibble, I like it. This machine was why my newer sewing machine was also made by Janome: HD3000 not in some cool color but in the basic white. 

 

Revisiting fleecy embroidered toys

Hello, everyone.

Yesterday I tried a new approach to the stuffed toy made in the hoop: making an opening to begin with in the back side.

How? you wonder. By piecing the back from two pieces of fleece with an opening in the seam for stuffing later.

The final back side of the kitty. (The seam line can be brushed out if one wants, the minky style fleece has a definite, though short, pile.)

While trimming I accidentally cut the seam allowance off on one of the paws, but that was easily repaired.

The only tricky thing about this pieced back was the sudden discovery that it is really important to tack down the seam allowances of the center back seam. (The seam allowance got eaten up by the foot, and it was a bit tricky to cut it free. Plus there was a small hole in the fabric at the end.) With that adjustment, the trick worked. And an opening that is hand stitched closed with seam allowance at the opening is sturdier than one that is just pulled together with stitches across a slit, and a better looking result than cobbling together seam allowances at the slit that will work like an unplanned dart. IMHO.

This is one of the Minkee Pals toys. It's about hand-sized, and you use the small (not miniature) hoop to make it.

Obviously, since the fleece I have is white, the colors were changed. I think they work out okay. And even though I bought the white remnant expressly to make these critters, I am going to use up the rest of the white: it's officially from stash now. (Found the remnant at Hobby Lobby.)

The kitty can be a toy for a baby, as everything is securely stitched down. It can be a small Christmas gift. It can be a package tie-on. It's a little bit small for a fidget, I think, but the back side is uninterrupted pile so it could even be that. Maybe it could be tucked into a pocket on a fidget, with a little tethering ribbon so it doesn't get lost. A flock of them could be party favors for a children's party.

Test stitching on something new

Hello, everyone.

A little while back I encountered a free embroidery pattern on the internet. (And now I can't remember where it was.) It was a "primitive" style angel, and the photo showed an angel stuffed toy made with Minky-type fabric. There was the stitch file, right there, and a link to the maker's blog, which drew a blank. So, being in the mood to experiment, I downloaded the stitch file. 

Opened the file in the embroidery software that came with my Janome MC500 and printed out the alignment page. Also I put it into the thumb drive. 

Loaded the file into the embroidery machine. Dug around in the info provided there. It had 11 colors of thread. Each color had a color spot next to it and a nominated Janome thread color. I don't have that brand of thread in the house, so I went by the color chips and approximated the colors.

Having no instructions for the project, I used the instructions for the OESD Minkee Pals which are about the same size and look to have similar ground fabric.

This helped me to decide on stabilizer and topper. It also allowed me to try out the other pattern, which I had bought the package with the idea of making gifts, and see how I like the construction method.

A close-up of the little angel.

At the top right, part of my notes on which colors go to what. I think I misread the color that ended up on the little face, the chip looked like bright pink and probably should have been some shade of beige/tan/flesh tone. There was a pair of final colors that was a bit confusing: a speck of green that seems to have no purpose, and after adding the back fabric to the top of the sewn material in the hoop an outline stitch. This was spec'd as charcoal gray on my screen and probably should have been the same pale pink as the first outline stitch, as the charcoal shows at the interior corners of the shape. 

I don't think I like the "primitive" style. The dot eyes and the half-circle mouth just aren't my thing. The texture on the wings and hair is interesting...blue wings? whatever. It is a cheerful looking little thing, perhaps as a tree ornament or package decoration? All it needs is a little ribbon loop added at the top. Maybe that was why the tiny green line was placed? It's at the top of the halo.

The most key thing I have difficulty with is the method of construction of this stuffed angel--and by extension the stuffed animals in the Minkee Pals pattern set. (Remember, this was copied from the Minkee Pals instructions as an approximation.) The final outline stitches a seam *all the way around* connecting the front to the back. This produces an inside-out angel with no turning opening. The user is supposed to cut a slit into the back fabric and turn through the slit. "It's Minkee, you can just stitch the opening together and it doesn't ravel!" Right. But I was thinking of giving the Minkee Pals to children. 

I put a piece of the trimmed off stabilizer inside the slit after the stuffing was inserted and used it as an interior patch to stabilize baseball stitching and closed the slit that way. 

I'm not sure I'm excited about this. The minky-style fleece and the stabilizer and topping worked out well. (A mesh in the hoop below, the fleece on top and not actually hooped, and Sulky Solvy on top--spray temp glue and tape were involved in this.)  

Maybe it's time to make the first of the Minkee Pals and try a different way of attaching the back to the front. Like using my regular sewing machine to make an outline seam that has a turning opening. With a little flap to tuck in at the opening so it can be sewn shut by hand. 

This was basically the way the coasters went together, except that the instructions there said "hand stitch" and I tucked the flap (just make it while trimming the fabric, they don't say anything about such and idea) into the inside of the coaster, pinned it, and edge stitched all around the edge to close. I think the machine edge stitching won't work as well on the curves and corners of this type of project.

If the Minkee Pal works out, I'll probably do another post on this stuff.

The natural world: creeping critters seen

Hello, everyone.

Lately, since there is time to look more carefully, there have been some odd creatures seen. (Not a snake this time!)

Hike and Bike walk

Subdivision walk

The one on the left was scootching along in the gutter in the subdivision. It was about 5 inches long. (Appx. 13 cm. for my metric zone readers.)  It had rained a day or so before, at least an inch and maybe two. Possibly the critter's home was inundated.

The one on the right was at the Hike and Bike trail,crossing the path. It was about an inch and a half long.

Other than saying "lots and lots of legs" I am not sure what they are.

Progress report on the mason bee nest: the mud plug is still in place, the babies are obviously too young to have hatched, eaten their food, pupated, and come out.  We just check in on it and keep from putting our drink glass on top of it!

Re: beading, nothing at the moment. 

Re: sewing, hemming some napkins for the practice of it, thinking of making some purificators afterwards. The mitered corners and quarter inch hems of the one help to prepare the muscles for the other, is my thought. 

Re: quilting, my homework for the Kimberbell Jingle All The Way quilt class is pretty much caught up. The "bonus" small chenille tree is still sitting here and might end up framed in a small oval or rectangular frame to be a Christmas decoration on its own. (This would give an opportunity to add beads to it, always a plus!) 

Stash report: still a lot of it. But the napkins are using up some black linen. Some of the blue linen got turned into the last set of coasters, but there is more in the house I think. A bit of the leftover blue satin got turned into a pouch for an eyeglasses wiping cloth, that could be a gift idea for this winter.

A gift from the birdies

Hello, everyone.

As the title says, we have found a gift from the birdies. It actually sprouted up in a lily pot, which was near the mother tree.

We have concluded that this is a baby guava tree. (It's the only plant around with the same kind of leaves.)

It is available for adoption, eventually I may find myself with a huge potted thing and that's kind of a hassle to deal with.

Speaking of birds, the feeders in the yard have been popular.

Doves may be ground birds a lot of the time, but these ones have figured out the hanging feeders. Sometimes there are as many as four doves on one feeder.

On occasion we have seen house sparrows load up with a mouthful of seeds and head to their nest.

There is no picture available--cell phones are only up to a certain amount of nature photography--but we think there is a mason bee building her little nest in a small knot hole in the cable-reel table. She has gone down inside of it, flown around it, and cleaned out bits of straw and suchlike, right in front of us as we sat at the table. I think I should maybe buy one of those mason bee houses and hang it in a nearby tree so we can have more of them to come around when the avocado tree blooms.