Who sewed this?

Annalise sewed this! This is the result of her 2nd lesson - a Sewing Basics 2 bag.

With floral lining and a touch of applique ....

She is now the proud creator of a very cool bag ...

Sorry about the lack of focus .... and next we have Nicole's monumental quillow for her neice ...

This is the pillow that the quilt folds into - all hand embroidered with love .... Nicole was an absolute beginner at the start of this year - she is now sewing with confidence and creating some fab projects ....

This is the quilt - fabric range is "Hello Betty" by Chloe's Closet (MODA) - she used a Layer Cake - nice and easy - she also added some piped contrasting strips to break up the pattern a little ..

Here's Nicole (on the left) and Anissa (Happy Birthday!)- yes! the quilt works! It's soft and cuddly!

Now, for some of my sewing .... here is a very very very big cushion -

You can see that it is the KING of cushions up next to those weedy ones .....

Fabric - IKEA ....

This is a birthday pressie for my 17 year old neice ..... Happy Birthday Miss B!

Cushion Insert from Goldies ..... BOUND to be BOUNCIER!

You may already be aware that I dabble in dyeing ... this time I had a go at the opposite - removing the dye - bleaching some denim. The tub on the left has a bleach solution - just your laundry liquid bleach .... you put the fabric in and wait for it to bleach to the degree you want .... then the tub on the right is a neutralising solution - something like an enzyme based laundry soaker - eg. Sards Wonder Soaker or Napisan - read the label - it should say "Do not use with Bleach" - so you place the bleached fabric in that solution to stop the bleaching process - otherwise you'll be left with holes ... leave it for 10 minutes and wash.

The black and white stripey fabric is some interlock scraps that I used as "ties" for the denim - by the way - the striped fabric did not bleach - not one bit - the power of polyester!!!

You can see some of the denim losing colour ... and here is the finished product ...

the effect was quite random - because I bleached such a bit piece at once - smaller bits may be able to be done more controlled if that's the effect you want ...

And here is a bag I made from the bleached denim - another gift for my 17 year old neice ...

It's a Squared Swing Bag - pattern designed by my clever school colleague - it's our new Year 8 Textiles bag - the other one had a curved gusset - it was a tad difficult for beginners so, this one is easier....

I used Vilene S520 as a hard base ...

Tie dyed fabric for the lining - of course!

Now, as I was uploading these photos ready to blog ... I found the following photos ..... my 12 year old Sweet Pea cut off her jeans to make shorts - it's just funny that she thought she needed to photograph the process ...... a future blogger???

Here's the BEFORE ...

And now for the CUT ... right where mum chalked a line ....

And the result! Easy!

Finally, it was Father's Day today - Happy Father's Day Shaun! Here's a portrait by Sweet Pea!

Quillow Talk

I am organising some School Holiday Sewing Workshops for the April school hols. One of the projects is a Quillow ....... This is a Quillow .... It's a quilt that folds into a pillow!

More Prints Charming ..... Just love it - not only visually but tactilly (if that's a word?) - this fabric is soft and lovely - no other way to describe it - a couple of the pieces I used are their hand printed panels that I bought at the Finders Keepers Markets in Sydney - the rocket on the pillow is one such panel ....

So, here is how it folds - this green fabric is the backing ... I quilt tied the layers altogether ...

That funny shape is the running stitch around the "pillow" - so you place the quilt on a flat surface, with the pillow opening "up" - that's where the handles are ... you then fold the quilt longways to the middle and tuck the first bit into the pillow - oh dear, I knew this would be complicated, and I think another photo of that stage may help - but stay with me ...

Fold the remaining length into thirds ... heading down to the pillow ... and tuck it into the pillow.

Here is a close up of the groovy rocket - you can't really see the running stitch, (because I'm so perfectly neat) because it's dark blue on black ...
I followed the instructions from here ..... (I did alter the dimensions and attached the handles) go on, give it a go! When it's unfolded you can slip your footsies into the pillow for some extra cosy warmth.