A couple of months ago my twitter chums Jenny and Carolyn and myself decided to start an informal sewing group, completing a simple project once a month, with the aim of improving our sewing skills and generally not being terrified of the sewing machine anymore. My sewing machine may be small, pink and called Audrey but trust me, you should not be fooled. She can be ferocious.
Anyway, this month's challenge was to make a cushion. Last week I showed you Jenny's fabulous creation, and here's my attempt:
Anyway, this month's challenge was to make a cushion. Last week I showed you Jenny's fabulous creation, and here's my attempt:
I did start to make a blue number with polka dots and hearts and things, but really, my own heart wasn't in it. I had also been admiring Jenny's appliqué on her cushion and was itching to give it a go myself. Before I knew it that project was panned, and this - tellingly autumnal - cushion was born.
A first attempt at chain stitch...
I love zigzagging on the sewing machine!
It turned out to be a very thrifty cushion too. The cushion fabric itself is from a whopping 1970s bed sheet I bagged in a charity shop for £2 last week. I had to cut out the middle section where it was a little worn, but two washes and some snipping later I still have a heck of a lot of fabric left, and I've kept the middle section for practising stitches on.
The tweedy fabric for the robin is vintage too, having been given to me by my great aunt a few years ago and cut from a skirt she had owned in the '70s. The orange and the eye are leftover from my Foxy Frank project, and I already had the cushion pad.
Alfie hasn't had a chance to pose in a post for a while, so here he is.
He was having a little sulk because we'd just done the dreaded guinea piggy manicure. We both hate it. He has two white feet and two black, so it's a tricky business. Fortunately we got it over and done with and he retreated home with a nice stick of celery while I retreated to the kitchen for some gin tea.
Before I go, a big thank you to everyone who's entered my giveaway so far. It's open until the 23rd, so you still have loads of time if you haven't yet. The best part for me is discovering your blogs, so I'm pleased as punch.
Have you had any crafting successes recently? If you're a new follower feel free to join us for Creatives Unite! tomorrow.
Ta ta for now and have a cracking Wednesday,
Beautiful cushion Anna! Love your fabric choices!
ReplyDeleteVictoria xx
Thank you Victoria :) It was one of those rare moments in life where everything matched up and came together naturally! x
DeleteThat is adorable! I am going to shamelessly steal (I mean 'draw inspiration from') the robin idea and add a robin to my own cushion mountain. I love that you incorporated vintage fabric into it. I love those floral 1970s prints, they were still EVERYWHERE in the 80s when I was a toddler. I also LOVE that you used chain stitch for the legs. Plus, Alfie is just too cute :-D x
ReplyDeleteThank you Jenny! A robin keeps visiting my garden at the moment and he hopped across as I was looking out of the window trying to decide on a design. It was surprisingly easy to draw, too. I wasn't too sure about the '70s floral print at first but having seen the same design in pink sell for £30 on eBay a few weeks ago I knew I'd be wise to buy it - even if I had to cut some out - for £2. Fortunately it's grown on me! x
DeleteOh your cushion turned out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by your machine appliqué, as I've been have a long exchange with Claire about this just recently. I got so frustrated with the appliqué stitch going all over the place (trying to border letter shapes) that I've given up and am now hand-stitching! Perhaps I should have tried a wider zig-zag stitch - is it easier than the tight, almost-satin stitch I was trying to use, do you think? Or if not, do you have any tips for keeping it neat and going round the curves? I don't have any problem doing this with a normal straight stitch.
Also your chain stitched legs are brilliant! I've never tried it and might well do some for my current project, we'll see...
Thanks Suki. You know, I am very much lacking in confidence and inexperienced with my machine but I seem to have the opposite problem to you! After practising straight stitch for weeks before daring to sew anything I still find it difficult to 'steer' round shapes and often go wrong. I thought it would be the same with the zig zag but instead I found that really easy - perhaps because the side-to-side motion of the needle slows things down for me - my machine only has one speed. If you look closely above you can see it isn't perfect but the ease was noticeable. Tell you what, I'll do some experimenting and pop a quick extra post on here tomorrow, then perhaps we can compare and see whether it really is just the difference between machines. x
DeleteThat's very interesting - thanks for your reply! My secret for getting round tight curves etc. with straight stitch, is to use a really short stitch length allowing more precision. I still go wobbly etc but it has got a lot easier since I figured out that trick.
DeleteThis is probably a silly question but when you say your sewing machine only has one speed - do you not control the speed with your foot pedal? I can't imagine not being able to do that! When things get really tricky I turn by hand using the dial-thingy (don't know its real name) on the side so I can do one stitch at a time.
Funnily enough I DID use a zig-zag to attach the wings on this owl - but it was a very shallow curve so much easier. I am also thinking that I didn't make my life any easier by starting with a letter that was on some very thin fabric - probably should have put some back on or something to make it more stable.
I would love to see your tips on the blog - thank you so much for looking into this for me! It is awesome having people to talk through these problems with!
Ah that's a good tip, thank you! Think I'll start keeping a journal of sewing lessons and tips I need to remember.
DeleteMy sewing machine's pedal is pretty much all or nothing - it's not actually too fast, just too fast when you're a beginner like me! The first machine I ever used was my mum's victorian one with a wind handle; that's how slow I'd like it to be!
I used iron-on interfacing for my robin shapes which definitely helped, and it stopped the fabric from wrinkling under the presser foot too.
It looks so wonderful! As Suki has said above, we have been discussing the best way to machine applique. I need a lot of practice.
ReplyDeleteI'm also trying to learn some different embroidery stitches and feel inspired by the chain stitch of the birdies legs!
x
I'll definitely investigate this - Jenny may have some idea too having just tried machine applique on her cushion for the first time. x
DeleteYeah, I'm pretty much terrified of my sewing machine. I have a hard time getting past thinking I'm going to sew through my finger. It actually happened to my grandma! Eeek. Anyway, love your cushion. 70s fabrics are just so much fun, which is probably why the vast majority of my (admittedly small) vintage collection is from that decade.
ReplyDeleteI've been there, Lauren! I remember being about thirteen years old, sitting in my first textiles lesson at school and being shown how to thread a sewing machine. I was terrified of either breaking it or breaking me! Nowadays I take the Nike 'just do it' attitude.
DeleteSuch a cute cushion, I really admire your machine stitcing skills, wow! You have made me want to make something now....
ReplyDeleteDo it Jo! x
DeleteLove it! What with our rubbish Summer you've got me day dreaming of Autumn!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lisa - it's no coincidence that I swapped from a light blue polka dot number to an autumnal one!
DeleteI "awww"ed everything in this post: your cushion and Alfie are incredibly cute! xx
ReplyDelete