Category Archives: sewing

Magpie moments 2: Tea cosies

Posted on by
1

I am a big fan of all things tea, and many of my veritable collections relate to tea. So my next magpie moment post is about the ever-expanding collection of tea cosies. With vintage revival in full swing, these linen embroidered types are re-emerging all over the place.

The one on the right was the inspiration that begun the collection, a tea cosy belonging to the original salvager, our lovely mama. These ones are actually a bit too small to be of any actual use…Moving on to some more modern examples, the pink was a recent christmas present, and i made the coffee cosy for my husband last year (now obsolete as he has now transitioned to a Nespresso man from a cafetiere kinda guy).

The floral & tweed one was a gift from a fellow sewing guru. I loved the embroidery scene on the other one – the most recent addition to the collection via the usual route (charity shop).
Some other embroidered examples from the large cosy end of the spectrum.

This little beauty came from an antique shop in New Zealand; we were in need of some warmer conditions for out little teapot in the camper van (not to mention our little selves but that’s another matter). I was delighted to come back and find that it fitted snugly onto my favourite but completely impractical enamel tea pot (3rd degree finger burns after each contact).

And here they all are, nice and cosy together and basking in display glory…

Road trip, Coffee, Salvage..

Posted on by
7

The treaty of blogging elevates you to the official position of ‘go-to’ person on your chosen topic!

I got a call from my good friend Vicki lately who needed some Salvaging done, I was her woman!

Her late Grandmother, a prolific seamstress, had an insatiable addiction to haberdashery in all its forms. I have never in my life seen a stash like it, with every description of wool, fabric and fibre imaginable, and for that matter unimaginable! I believe she made almost everything she wore. I would love to see some photos of her in her finery. This lady had an eye for quality, and she makes my hoarding won a minimalists award.

My trustee day tripper Fionna and I set off through the vales of Ards along Strangford Lough, through Balloo to Killinchy. This was to me an uncovered patch in our quilt of scenery here in NI. A grand day out, with beautiful coffee shops along the way, and sheer views over the water here and there.. it feels like you’re driving to the edge of the world.

Fill er up Fi!

We came upon our destination, where Alan, Vicki’s dad was clearing out. After the salvager’s excitement of seeing a few remnants and juicy tit bits, we were baffled as roll upon roll of beautiful material, and balls and balls of the finest wool kept appearing.

roll up

chair makeover sorted

life supply

 

Angora

As many an unconverted salvager would, the builders who were there at the time, were more highly amused and baffled at our delight in filling our car literally to the roof with our ‘treasure’. Much the same as Vicki’s husbands response! Luckily Ivan has given up on noticing my stock-piling.. almost. He uses this skill for the house work too! Hee Hee.

Tweed

Leather! any ideas?

Crocodile Dundee

 

Now, if you have an interest in some remnants, or what to do with rolls of leather.. give me a call, or drop in, it’s looking for a home, there’s only so much my garage can hold. xx

Salvage hi five

I hope Vicki finishes this coat off!

Storage solutions?

 

Knit and Knatter

Posted on by
2

I have made a discovery.. what with our world of social networking and virtual time passing, it fits that to get anything done you need background company!

On reflection, perhaps this is a personal character flaw, I always studied best with company and over the years at school and uni came up with many study comradery adventures – in caravans, parks, cafes, sleepovers chewing actual coffee granules.. aah moment of appreciation for all you tortured students out there.

It was bliss to attend the recent Belfast council run Revamp workshops I wrote about here and here, not least because just pottering away in a room full of people doing the same thing was so comforting, social, inspiring.

So in a bid to reclaim a childhood skill I had a glorious girls night in to ‘Knit and Knatter’.

 

It really was a rare privelidge to have both a relaxing and gratifying friday night after a long week..  sipping cocktails from a teapot ((i was served lately in a bar in Belfast to this effect) and catching up, whilst patting oneself on back for new skill acquired and that comforting feeling that should you find yourself shivering or naked in the future, you could yarn your way out of that predicament!

The next event, a ‘Pic – knit’. If you’re interested let me know! Extreme knitting ideas welcome..

Rethink, Revamp, Restyle.. all after work!

Posted on by
4

Sigh – I’m high and drunk on my three blissful hours spent this evening at the first workshop in Ballynafeigh community centre by Rethink, Revamp, Restyle – an amazing collaboration by SS favourite ‘The Fashion Souk’ and Belfast Council. The ethos is on creating and ‘repurposing’ items to prevent waste and give them a new life of usefulness!

After a mad dash from work I found myself with lots of lovely ladies making cushions out of old jumpers and shirts – in a flash, whilst helping to reduce the fourteen double decker bus loads of clothes which are thrown into the waste every WEEK!

jumper cushion

shirt cushion

jumper embellishment

shirt embellishment

The fabulous team of demonstrators poked us into action and inspiration with a quick how to, and left us to wade into piles of old clothes and come out with a unique creation! No better way to spend an evening I tell you, I haven’t felt this relaxed in so long, with the added delight of new additions to my couch.. the husband probably wont share the sentiment that we needed a few more cushions though! I’m  quite pleased with how I matched them into my living room scheme..

My only problem was cushion envy, so many juicy little creations –  and the fact I forgot my camera, photos of the next one to come. Oh but BBC newsline did turn up, so keep them peeled on the regional news!!

Jealous? Check out the Rethink, Revamp, Restyle group on facebook to see what slots are left that you could sign up for. It’s old furniture revamping next time, can’t wait!

Christmas Crafts 3

Posted on by
1

At some point in November, i started feeling adventurous. Using guidelines from a sewing book, i began making various cosies. These egg cosies, made from tweed and free Cath Kidston swatches, have been personalised for my brother’s family.

I then expanded the size to make tea cosies. Tractors are a big theme in Tullyroan, so i attempted an applique design.

The last one i made was probably my favourite. Its a coffee cosy for a 1-person Bodum, with height allowance for un-plunged coffee.

Christmas Crafts 2

Posted on by
1

Patchworking is a favourite of mine when it comes to sewing. The main reason is that its really quite easy, whilst also being very prolific (once you have all the materials.) I have been steadily building my patchworking resources over this year, almost entirely from charity shops. Old skirts and shirts, curtains, sheets, remnants – its amazing how a bunch of very discordant patterns come together once carefully arranged and coordinated. Whilst i’m all about mixing it up, i have generally found that too many different textures and types of material generally don’t work, due to the variety of tensions they create in a row of sewn squares, so i now stick mostly to cotton.

I made these single quilts as gifts for Lucia and Isla, my two cheeky little nieces. Both are backed using salvaged thermal curtain lining, making them fairly heavyweight and cosy. I have previously experimented with patterned or decorative borders, but having done so i resolutely conclude that a plain edging brings out the best of the main patchwork area.

Giving everyone a patchwork quilt wasn’t really a feasible option this Christmas, nor any other Christmas for that matter, so i made these smaller cushion projects for my sister-in-law x2 (can’t seem to work out the plural). With less expanse to work with, selecting the fabrics takes a bit more thought. I used some Sanderson prints and a bit of good old Cath Kidston to make sure they were pretty enough! And finally, to step the whole thing up a notch, i got these woven labels made up to personalise my work.

Christmas Crafts 1

Posted on by
1

This year was quite prolific for homemade Christmas presents, and as promised, i am going to do a little series on the projects and how they came together. Having always been someone who can’t understand those who start doing christmas shopping in the summer, i rather surprised myself by starting some of these projects in October. Our holiday in Skye in November also featured quite significant sewing productivity.

These little make-up bags were my first projects whilst there, which were made for salvage sis Gemma and my sister-in-law Marianne. The red cord was a charity shop remnant, and the lining a very thrifty find indeed – 3 metres of Liberty fabric for a few pounds, same source. The bunting is composed of various scraps and off-cuts.

Oh Brother

Posted on by
4

I have been pondering a new sewing machine for a few months now, since my £100 friend purchased about 8 years ago started to show signs of tiring. The thing about sewing machines is that you can a decent model quite cheaply, but the servicing will often cost 3/4 of the initial value, and if, like me, you put it through its paces, you will probably need to service it every year. So, after extensive on-line research, i took a trip to David Drummond, possibly the best sewing shop in the world, ever. This guy excels in 2 things – machine knowledge, and customer service. I had a fair idea of my requirements, which happened to match exactly this little gem:

(If you are bored already by this post, things are about to get a lot worse…)

It features 40 stitches including overlocking and 5 1 step button holes, top loading bobbin, automatic needle threader, and, my favourite part, a funky feature which stops the needle either always up or down once you stop sewing. Granted, if your not a sewer, this will seem like a fairly meek offering, but to me, its magic! It also comes with lots of fancy accoutrements, many of which i am yet to identify:

Best of all, it has an ace freehand embroidery function, something i have featured on most of my christmas presents this year (see posts in the New Year.) Buying the machine from a specialist shop got me thinking about the lost value of face-to-face trading. I got an amazing deal involving lots of freebies, including a free servicing of my old machine so i can sell it and make up some of the cost. I honestly came away wondering what the sales guy could have possibly got out of the deal, such were the numerous perks showered upon me. I went home and convinced myself that i couldn’t have found a better deal online, plus the added bonus of doing business with the most tanned, gold-clad man i have come across all winter.

My plans for a manic sewing day today have been laid to rest by an unfortunate slip down the stairs this morning, leaving me less than dexterous. Not to worry though – i have all of the Christmas holidays to put this baby to the test!

Cushion Couture

Posted on by
3

I remember my Granny commenting years ago when Gemma & I were fledgling salvagers that we were obsessed with buying cushions. This was probably true. When you are working under fairly limited budget constraints, without opportunity for upgrading things like sofas, a few scatter cushions can cover a multitude of sins. You can use them to highlight bits of your color scheme, make a style statement or instantly cosy up a bare space. This tendency to over-cushion has persisted, though a few years ago it became apparent that running them up on the sewing machine is incredibly easy. I advise any sewing beginners to start with some simple cushions. The other great thing is that you only need a small amount of fabric, so remnants are ideal.

Here are some recent additions to my growing collection. The first were made from a patchwork Accessorize scarf, simply cut in 4 with 2 pieces sewn side by side. The next 2 were made from fabric remnants picked up at charity shops. The floral one is a Sanderson print for which i paid 50p.

A few pointers on cushion making. 50 x 50cm is a standard size, and the first step is to cut your front piece slightly larger than this to allow for seams. Then cut 2 more pieces each approx. 2/3 as wide and of similar length to the front. These will overlap at the back, so you will need to hem them both. Then place all your pieces facing inwards, sew, turn inside out and hey presto! Once you have mastered that, you can get fancy with things like piping (a worthy education), buttons, zips etc, but for now, this will provide you with a basic, no-fuss cushion. Finally, it really does make a difference if you fill them with a feather liner, but to keep costs down, once again our faithful charity shops have ugly cushions permanently on display, so you can do them a favour by hiding them inside your beautiful handmade treasure!