Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Featherweight tote/dustcover part 2

When i get an email from someone who loves something i have sewn, but needs additional info, i'm happy to oblige since there's at least one fan. *lol*
So with more pics and more "how did i do it" the Featherweight tote/dustcover again!

 First things first: was it my design? NO. Was it my idea? NO again. the only thing i did was combine 2 tutorials into one. So credit where credit is due.
The paperpieced block is to be found here and the bag pattern here.

The bag is intended to protect the Featherweight IN it's case.
...and what would a heavy pic post be without at least ONE flipped over....
The original bagpattern is for a white FW which is a bit smaller than the black ones. The PP block also is bigger than the given patternparts, which is good since i wanted to make a bigger bag!
My bag front is 11.5"x11.5", WITHOUT seamallowance. Just add your fav seamallowance; mine was 1/4".
The PP pattern swapped two pattern parts, but if you look at the overall pattern, you should be okay.
The piping adds extra sturdiness but I found it a real pain to sew it as tightly as possible. i made the piping myself sewing a cord in a ready bought piece of bias strip, using a zipperfoot.
 Afterwards i cut a 1/4" seamallowance. I didn't know any other way to get it as I wanted.
 The bag pattern says you have to iron interfacing on the liningparts. I used a fusible fleece (Vlieseline H640) and ironed it to the OUTER parts. The fleece gave a sturdier bag with more padding to protect the FW. By ironing it on the outerparts, the paperpieced block was more secured as well. Mind to sew the PP block UPSIDE DOWN!
 
The reason that i made the bag higher is not just caused by the measurements of the paperpieced block. I wanted to fold it over the machine. My machine foot clip is in the case lid. It probably fell off once onto the machine, since my letter "s"is chipped. To prevent that from  happening again I needed protection on top of the machine.
 The details were embroidered on . The original pattern says "the perfect portable" but i declined on that much lettering and put '221k4" instead. Transferring the text can be done by taping it to your window as use sunlight to see through your fabric. I took a Sewline pencil.

When you use the bag as dustcover, you'll find you'll have extra space on top (remember as a bag it is folded over) No problem. With the fleece and piping it will stand and if you have to put your machine in a tiny space it still works :)
Hope this all makes sense for those who want to make this too. I mean: I know what I'm talking about but hopefully you do too :)
 
Happy sewing!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

New quiltshop :)

Today C and I went to check out the quiltshop that a former employee of the fav quiltshop, started. (do you still follow) Since fav quiltshop closed it's brick and mortar building, she was out of a job and decided to follow her dream!
It was a bit of an adventure to get there; it was outside town, near the river ánd a road was closed. The house is just behind the river's dike! Gorgeous!



Ah! a quilt showed the way:)
Outside....
 C's new allstar sneakers reflected in the lovely teacabinet...



 Willeke, the owner, has a great eye for detail and everything was displayed very nicely. Even the towelrack in the kitchen was worth a pic..
..and check the view from the workshop area!
I bought a pair of scissors to match the Featherweight
For those who live in the area:
"Fat Quarters" in Culemborg. www.fatquarters.nl  and her blog http://colourfulaffairs.blogspot.nl/

Tomorrow, C, Quilting DD and I will go out again to a quiltshow in another lovely little town..Busy weekend!

Friday, October 19, 2012

My tiny world

Last week I had, what we call, "autumn break", meaning I had the week off. I had planned a lot of sewing time, but all i did was sleep and take naps inbetween. Guess I was tired :)
Wednesday i told myself to snap out of that routine, wake up and actually DO something.
While searching through Pinterest pages I found the  little world teacup pincushions from Mimi Kirchner and it triggered my pc obsession :)
Here's what i came up with
 With steppingstones..flowers in the garden..

 and for cold nights you need to have some logs for your fireplace..
 Now I have to clean up the mess on my table
..and get ready to start quilting again!                                                                                                       
 I'll probably make more. After the first 2 you'll only get more and more ideas about the next one. How about an island? Or something with blue felt? A pond? C's fav pink and purple? Big flowers instead of trees? Impossible to make just one, or 2, or......

For those who share my current obsession: Mimi Kirchner uses wool balls and covers those with wool fabric or felt. I took small leftover battingstrips (the ones you cut of a quilt before putting the binding on) and rolled them up to a ball, and plain felt I had lying around. Fabric glue to hold tiny pieces in place, came in handy. More info on how to make these "tiny worlds" is to be found at Mimi's website.