Last August, I started to hand piece Lemoyne star blocks. I chose that block because I find it the most challenging, with the set-in corners and the eight seams coming to one point in the center.
I aim to make 64 of these blocks, add sashings and cornerstones, and make a king sized bed quilt. So far, I have pieced 46 blocks.
The blocks look really nice after they have been pressed.
Here is a closeup of the way I “swirl” the seams to get them to lie as flat as possible.
After completing a few small projects using English paper piecing, I wanted to go 3-D. I decided to make a soccer ball, since it is a familiar shape that would look really cool done up in colors other than black and white. I decided to use a solid coral color fabric for the pentagons and several aqua batiks for the hexagons.
The secret to productive hand sewing is to have your project ready to grab as you run out the door. I like to use boxes, rather than a tote bag, because sharp things like scissors can’t stab, and the lid gives me a small platform on which to work.
EPP, which uses a whip stitch, takes about three times longer than regular hand piecing, which uses a running stitch. This little project has kept me entertained for a long time, but it was all done during meetings, in waiting rooms, etc. when I would otherwise be trying (and failing) to concentrate on a book. The good thing about hand sewing is that I can converse or concentrate on other people while I stitch, although I really can’t follow complicated TV or movie plots very well, I admit. That requires too much looking up from my sewing.
Because this is a puzzle ball, I could not just use a ladder stitch to join the polygons. I have to use tiny whip stitches, because the puzzle ball must be stuffed until it is very stiff in order to fill out the shape completely.
Just a few more pieces to add, then I can start to stuff.
Don’t just sit there, go sew something!
I have been working on quilty projects and class samples. In the meantime, I have been uploading photos of some of my earlier projects to Flickr. I find this a handy way to “scrapbook” all my personal quilt projects. Until I link my blog and my Flickr account another way, go take a look at my collection of quilt photos!
Yes, clothing repairs are not exactly fun & sexy, but they are a way to earn major wife lady points with the hubby! I’m going to list this as a tip rather than a tutorial, because I ought to have taken photos as I was doing these repairs, not after they were all done.
Here is my advice for repairing jeans:
Here is how I repair a straight, relatively clean rip:
1. If possible, leave the fraying threads in place. They will become incorporated into your repair.
2. Use pinking shears to cut out the patch. Fraying will be minimal.
3. When you cut patches, round off the shapes. Corners tend to lift.
4. Use glue to baste the denim patch in place before you even start to sew. I use Aleene’s Fabric Fusion. I wait 24 hours before I sew. You can use the glue to hold the fraying threads down, too.
5. Drop your feed dogs and practice your free-motion quilting. As you can see in the photo, I zigzagged over the rip, capturing the raw edges of the patch in the stitching. I did the sewing with the garment right side out, so I guessed where the patch was. Actually, you can feel it through the top layer of fabric as you sew.
OK, so that’s a fresh rip. How about holes that you should have repaired a lot sooner? How about large areas that have been abraded by hard work? (See photo at top again.)
These are hubby’s tractor jeans. He does not care a lick what they look like. He wears these for doing yard work, car repairs, painting, etc. I keep the tractor jeans in somewhat good repair so that he won’t wear his nice jeans and get them yucky.
When repairing holes, keep in mind:
1. You might have to make your patches quite large. The entire front of the jeans might be worn out.
2. Before doing any glue basting, take a good look at the problem. Then lay the garment down and smooth it out carefully in a spot where it can stay for 24 hours while it dries.
3. Trim away the ragged edges of the holes.
4. Use fabric glue to baste patches to the right side of the garment (using pinking shears, making rounded patches.) I draw a thin bead of glue around the hole(s) and at the edge of the patch. Then I press down on the patch to be sure that it will adhere well to the garment.
5. Wait 24 hours for the glue to dry.
6. Pin pockets out of the way with safety pins.
7. Drop your feed dogs. Attach the patch. A lot of stitching is going to cause the fabric to shrink up. That will make it tighter for the wearer. In order to minimize shrinkage, I use two lines of stitching. The outer line keeps the pinked edge from fraying, the inner line is what actually attaches the patch to the jeans.
8. Your sewing machine must have a free arm to reach the knees of jeans. It is not going to be easy, especially if the legs of the jeans are skinny. Be patient. You’ll have to smash the garment into the corner of the sewing arm. Put the waist of the jeans toward the right. Make two big circles around each patch. Take a break now and then. As soon as you have made two complete passes all the way around the patch, you are done. I hope you think it was worth all the trouble.
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