Crafty Thread - what are you working on at the moment?

[Manter]

i don't think there's a single room in our place that's ever been finished

This is a very new feeling.... I quite like it- I may have to sort myself out and actually get some other stuff finished too!

 

[Manter]

oh my god! that's so gorgeous. I always wanted a mutli-coloured polkadots nursery... and look at those drawer handles. I'd love a close up of those.

Thankyou- I'm v pleased with it. My mum, bless her, is making an alphabet quilt in toning ice-creamy colours at the moment.
I'll put up a close up later- have just collapsed on the sofa and am refusing to move for a bit

 

[Biddlybee]

The stained glass windows are pretty

 

[Greebo]

A bit of displacement activity - postcard art spares, not the one sent to the urbanite I was allocated for this round.

 

[keithy]

This is my first bash at Intarsia knitting - it's a patch for a wall-hanging gift from bridesmaids to bride

 

[RubyToogood]

Really must take better photos. The light is always going by the time I get round to it...
I haven't resolved the belt issue yet. Really can't face doing another covered one that doesn't do up properly, or forking out to get one made, but none of my existing belts quite go. Small florals aren't really the most flattering, but anyway, there it is. Any comments on improvements eg length welcome.

 

[red rose]

The doll is finished, and just in time too...

Spoiler

 

[Boudicca]

The doll is finished, and just in time too...

Ooh, his hair is so beautiful!

 

[Lord Camomile]

Spooky

Ooh, his hair is so beautiful!

Thank you

 

[moose]

Season ticket wallet

 

[Lord Camomile]

That is, to quote Kennedy, fookin' brilliant!

I fear this thread will be a source of ferocious envy for me

 

[RubyToogood]

Am having a brain freeze moment... The pattern I'm now making calls for half inch bias binding. Does anyone eg Boudicca or wayward bob know if this means it's half an inch when folded or half an inch when opened out? I'm making my own which I've never done before

 

[Boudicca]

Am having a brain freeze moment... The pattern I'm now making calls for half inch bias binding. Does anyone eg Boudicca or wayward bob know if this means it's half an inch when folded or half an inch when opened out? I'm making my own which I've never done before

I'm pretty sure that it's when folded - in fact it has to be otherwise it would be too narrow to work with!

 

[wayward bob]

i vote finished width too. do you have a bias folder rubes? i have 2 - primm and clover, the clover works like a dream but the primm is shit

eta: hmmm thinking on it it might mean a half inch when the edges are folded under but before folding in half, cos that what the folders turn out. hang on will go investigate.

eta2: my prym folder is marked 25mm and that's what it measures across, so only folding the edges under. once it's folded in half around the raw edge it would be half an inch. i guess which width you go with depends on the function - is it a trim or a seam binding or something else?

 

[RubyToogood]

Oh yeah I'd forgotten about the being folded in half as well... that's an extra complication!

And no, I have no bias related gadgets.

 

[wayward bob]

i have a shit one i could send you i'd say it's worth springing for one unless you're very strapped or in a huge hurry, i couldn't imagine having the patience to fold any length with that much accuracy, and the clover ones really do work like magic.

 

[RubyToogood]

It's for this, and actually it only calls for 2 yards, which isn't too bad. I don't mind having a go as I've never done it before, try everything once except incest and folk dancing.

Speaking of which, my resolve to do no sewing this summer in order to focus on the next album is going really, really well

I've just bought this, which probably won't suit me, but I am weak (not related to the pintuck issue):

 

[wayward bob]

for trim i'd go with 1/2" once folded, otherwise it'll barely show and could be unbearably tricky to sew. worth knowing how to cut continuous strips like so http://oliverands.com/blog/2013/02/making-continuous-bias-strips.html. tbh having tried and miserably failed to fold my own there's a reason i have several varieties of folder even the shit one is better than nothing more than happy to send on my 25mm if you find you're tearing your hair out after a while i have a hunch that starching before trying to fold, however you do it, might be helpful.

 

[RubyToogood]

for trim i'd go with 1/2" once folded, otherwise it'll barely show and could be unbearably tricky to sew. worth knowing how to cut continuous strips like so http://oliverands.com/blog/2013/02/making-continuous-bias-strips.html. tbh having tried and miserably failed to fold my own there's a reason i have several varieties of folder even the shit one is better than nothing more than happy to send on my 25mm if you find you're tearing your hair out after a while i have a hunch that starching before trying to fold, however you do it, might be helpful.

Well I've also seen someone suggest pinning a safety pin to the ironing board so I might try that first! But thanks

So I need to cut strips that are actually 2" wide then, don't I, so it'll be 1/2" after sides to middling and folding in half?

 

[wayward bob]

yup, the instructions say to cut a couple of mm under double - you don't want the foldy bits overlapping at all.

 

[Fez909]

Just been through the last couple of months of this thread having never looked before. Great work Urbz! You're all so skilled at random things. It's inspiring me to get building something...anything! I've not done anything 'crafty' since I made this fake stained glass window and that was years ago now.

Will report back with something new soon(ish)

 

[Boudicca]

Well I've also seen someone suggest pinning a safety pin to the ironing board so I might try that first! But thanks

So I need to cut strips that are actually 2" wide then, don't I, so it'll be 1/2" after sides to middling and folding in half?

I have two sizes of bias tape makers, which you are welcome to borrow, but they are the crap ones!

I reckon the pin and ironing board method is just as good.

Looking at the pattern, you wouldn't necessarily need to iron folds into it anyway. Often it is machine stitched to the front edge, wrapped over and hand stitched in place at the back.

That keyhole bit at the neck could be quite tricky...

 

[RubyToogood]

Reading the instructions it doesn't look too bad. You do the round bit, then the whole neckline.

I did wonder that about the folding. Also, re-reading the pattern it actually calls for 1/2" foldover braid. I googled this and it may have been about in 1974 when the pattern was issued, but there's not much now and what there is isn't nice. Never mind, I always envisaged it with home made bb anyway.

However the fabric I had in mind isn't going to work because the pattern is too big and it just looks messy, so that's a lesson learnt. I need to find something in a smaller print (or go and buy some of the twee floral ready made stuff).

 

[RubyToogood]

Finished the wrap dress. Boudicca was right, the keyhole bit was tricky! I might get marked down on it if this was the Great British Sewing Bee, and I'd make the bias binding 1cm rather than 1/2" next time, but it's fine. I went for gingham for the binding as you know where your diagonal is.

My sewing habit is getting a bit silly . Still, I could do with a few more things for winter...

 

[moose]

Another gorgeous frock, Ruby! If I ever get to retire, I'm so going to do a dressmaking course.

 

[Boudicca]

That's lovely Ruby and the keyhole looks pretty good in the photo.

 

[wayward bob]

moar origami spam soz but i'm moving from the flat stuff into 3d

outsides:

insides:

 

[killer b]

woah. i have no idea how the one on the left is even possible.

 

[wayward bob]

neither do i tbh my lofty ambition is to try to work out my own designs but atm it's all voodoo

 

[8115]

Just taken in a charity shop leopard print t-shirt so it fits properly by sewing up the inside of the hems. Looks good now.