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in Arts and Crafts· Beginners· Behind the scenes· Guest Blog Post· Sewing

That time I tested the W-Under Woman cloth pad pattern

The weather outside is frightful (hmmm, kinda), but the fire is so delightful (yeah, no, definitely not fire weather this side of the equator), and since we’ve no place to go (thanks corona), let us sew let us sew let us sew ?

What better way to get into the swing of celebrating the festive season than with some uber festive cloth pads (the red dawn doesn’t care what season it is so might as well be prepared) :b

Pretty much started out like any other testing pattern day…send file to the Husbander for him to print; instructions gets printed; Husbander gives me the printouts; put printouts down somewhere; survey fabric options; decide that I’m ready to begin; struggle to remember where printouts are; hunt entire house for printouts; find printouts; start reading through printouts; realize it’s missing the pattern pieces; ask Husbander to print pattern pieces; pattern pieces printed; move sewing projects, random toys & other things that have now magically appeared in the 10minutes I was away from my sewing space; take a deep breath, ok I think we’re ready.

I took the instruction’s advice (make sure to read through the instructions more than once) & measured (more like eyeballed) one of my current cloth pads so that the ones I’m making can be similar in size (plus it gives me a visual for construction). After umming & aaahing for a bit I settled on the 2.75” pattern pieces at a 10”inch length, & I’ll be attempting the 3 different core options (exposed, visible, & hidden), because I like being extra like that.

Cut out pattern pieces, added tape, making sure everything has been connected with the precision of advanced OCD…easy peesy lemon squeezy. 

Cotton woven top, bamboo/cotton fleecy fabrics underneath

Delve into the depths of my fabric containers for suitable fabrics, message your sewing person to double check you’re using the correct fabrics, delve back into the depths because that piece of fleece you spotted before will come in handy & let the cutting begin! 

Honestly out of the whole process I think the cutting & tracing was the most difficult part (thank goodness) although truth be told I’m probably using the wrong thread, most definitely the wrong needle, the fabric is also questionable, but honestly I’m ploughing through a lot of fears here & it actually feels great so might as well give all the different stitches a try (I don’t think I’ve ever used an overcast stitch…where have you been all my life!!! And it actually came out looking pretty good). 

So after all the stressing & worrying about making mistakes, wondering if they’ll look any good, hoping my machine doesn’t give me a mini heart attack when a needle breaks (no needles were harmed in the making of these cloth pads- hooray! Don’t forget channeling stitches & pressing seams are your friends) I think these came out pretty marvelous & best of all, no-one died! Can’t wait to give these festivenessnessnessnesses a try. Hope you’ll attempt them too!

Happy Sewing!

V

Not too shabby

in Arts and Crafts· Behind the scenes· How To

Dog Lino Printing – Step by Step

I have had heaps of questions about how I made these dog pants for Week 8 of the 52 Week Sewing Challenge earlier this year so thought I’d write a more in depth how to. (Find the original blog here.)

I got both the rubber block and the carving tools from Spotlight, I’m not sure how the quality compares to others but they were relatively cheap and I could order online plus they worked well for me.

Parker was very insistent he wanted a dog stamp on his pants so we searched Pinterest for some inspiration and once we found the photo below there was no talking him in to anything else.

I printed the image out in the size of my rubber block and then used tracing paper to trace the image out using a 2B pencil. I then flipped the tracing paper over onto the block so the drawn side was touching the block and used the other end of the pencil to rub the design onto the block.

I then drew over the copied pencil design with a black permanent marker, so it wouldn’t be accidentally rubbed off while I was carving the design out. Below is the printed design and my carved stamp before I started testing it.

I don’t have a proper tool for applying the paint to the rubber tile so I just used a foam brush I already had (like these ones). I tested the design with regular acrylic paint and onto paper and after each print removed any extra areas I wasn’t happy with until I was ready to try on the fabric.

I decided to use a textile medium mixed into acrylic paint so I would have more colour options, because I already have acrylic paints, however you can also buy specific fabric inks and paints. This has held up with washing okay so far.

I decided on the pattern I was going to use, the Star Shorts in the Hunter version and traced my pattern pieces onto the fabric so I would be able to line up my prints exactly where I wanted them.

I reapplied paint between each print for one pair and alternated with the second pair for a different look. If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer them in our Flosstyle Fair group on Facebook.

Happy Sewing
xx Gail

in 52 Week Sewing Challange· 52 Week Sewing Challenge - 2020· Behind the scenes

Sewing Challenge 2020 – Week 1

Oh my gosh I can’t believe it’s 2020 already! This year I thought I’d have another go at the 52 Week Sewing Challenge, its a great motivator to try and sew something each week.

If you want to join ion too you can find the Facebook Groups for the Aussie Group here, and the US Group here. Both follow the same concept but the tasks for each week are slightly different, I will be following the Australian group since I’m in Australia, because the tasks align better with the seasons here.

This weeks challenge: Clean your sewing space
Accepted/Rejected: Accepted

I decided to do something a little different this week and make a video you can find it on the Flosstyle Patterns Facebook page here. Want to see what I made and how far I got last year? You can find all the my past 52 Week Challenge Post here.

Will you be joining in the challenge this year? I’d love to see what you make over in the Flosstyle Fair.

Happy Sewing

xx Gail

in Behind the scenes· Flosstyle Patterns

Top Nine for 2018

Wow I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone! I thought I would jump on the instagram bandwagon and create a top nine collage of my makes for 2018.

From Top, Left to Right: Sprouts Blossoms, Bunny Buckets, Super Suit Singlet and Tooshies, Ultimate Bucket Hat, One Yard Tote, Tidy Travel Tote, Jukebox Dress, Whirl Skirt and Jukebox Dress.

Before I sat down to look through my pictures and pick my top nine I was feeling like I hadn’t sewn enough this year after struggling to keep up with the 52 Week Challenge. But looking through all the things I did manage to make I’m pretty happy with the outcome.

I will be joining in the 52 Week Challenge again in 2019 and look forward to hopefully getting further along than I did this year. You can find my wrap up of the 2018 52 Week Sewing Challenge here.

Happy Sewing
xx Gail xx

in Arts and Crafts· Behind the scenes· Sewing with Kids· Things to do with the Kids

Spray Dying Fabric with the Kids

I have been eyeing of this white cotton lycra in Lincraft for months now, I always walk away without buying it because my boys and white don’t go well together. Today it was half price and I couldn’t leave it in the store any longer. I had originally thought that I would buy some liquid dye and dye the whole piece but when looking for the liquid dye I found this really cool spray on fabric dye. (bonus it was cheaper too!)

I asked the boys if they wanted to spray dye some fabric and they were both keen. I laid the fabric out on the lawn and let them go to town.

    

Apart from the blue can getting a blocked nozzle early in, the cans were pretty kids friendly to use and the boys had a blast. The finished fabric is now hanging up drying before I can turn it into clothes for the boys, I’m thinking it will be perfect for some Ventura Shirts for summer with all the bright colours.

Xx Happy Sewing

Gail

in Behind the scenes· EZ Wrap Wallet· Flosstyle Patterns· Sew Along

Whoops!

By now I think you all would have seen my finished wallet from the EZ Wrap Wallet Sew Along, how many of you noticed the purple patch that appeared after Day 4?

I had a little helper sitting on my lap (which isn’t unusual while I’m sewing, he likes to push the scissor button on the machine to cut the thread for me) and while I was cutting away my seam allowance after joining the outer to the card slots I accidentally cut into the corner of my outer. Normally I would have pulled it all apart and started again but because of the sew along I needed to get it finished. I unpicked just that corner, cut a purple patch big enough to cover it and put some vlisofix on the back of it to attach it to the outer and then sewed it in place. I then re attached the back to the outer and continued as normal.

I would prefer it without the patch, but it does add some character. If you haven’t shared photos of your finished wallet already I would love to see them. You can share them in the Flosstyle Fair Group or the EZ Wrap Group.

    

Happy Sewing xx