TUTORIALS Archives - Page 26 of 26

I made a circus themed quilt for a showcase earlier this year and decided that I would take some photos so I could show you how I pin my quilts!!!

What do I mean “pin my quilts”?
When making a quilt I need to sandwich together the completed quilt top, the wadding of choice and the quilt backing. I use pins to hold these layers steady as I quilt (sew) them together.

What I need:

1. Poppy! My wonderful husband fetches my fold up tables (these are stored behind the storage shelves in my craft room) and then lifts them onto very tasteful paint tins! If you ‘know’ me you know that I have chronic back pain, and without Poppy doing this for me, I would not be able to do my pinning! Poppy now knows how to pin as well!

2. Tape – this is packaging tape but have used masking tape as well.

3. Pins – not straight pins but quilting pins(like a safety pin) – you can purchase at any craft store

You will notice that I store them open – they are ready to insert in the quilt and when I remove them, I leave them open,ready for the next quilt – saves time and fingers!

4 Pin closer – this is a purpose built tool – mine is actually made from Australian Red Cedar (gift made by a friend from some of my dad’s stash). You can buy these as well but before I had this I used a spoon!

5. The quilt top, the wadding and the backing fabric.

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Let’s start Pinning!

1. Spread your backing fabric, right side down onto your table (or floor) and using the tape, tape it down. Take care to spread the fabric well, leaving no puckers – taut but not stretched.

2. Spread the wadding over the backing fabric.

3. Add the quilt top – right side up!

4. Starting at the centre, smoothing quilt top as you go, pin to the edge down and across. Then I usually work one corner at a time , smoothing, pinning about 15cms apart and leaving the pins open….

5. When the whole quilt has been pinned, it is time to close the pins. Using the tool or the spoon, close the pins.

It is then time to remove the tape – your quilt is pinned and ready to take to the machine!!

Now, I am not saying that this is the only way, or the correct way to pin a quilt but this is how Nanny does it – works for me …

Until next time
Nanny xxPinning a Quilt

OK Who would like to come along on a Nanny creative tour?

I had to make something for the TSL Birthday Showcase – if you remember I came up with the idea to make a little girl’s bag using the red ‘party’ fabric for the bag and the zigzag fabric as the handle and top band.

But I didn’t have a pattern!!!!!

I’ve seen so many new sewers on-line worry about patterns – remember they are just another tool!!

So, I thought I would invite you to come along with me and I will show you how I went about making the bag – without a pattern.

Take a piece of A4 paper (cut out a piece of newspaper or junk mail catalogue if you have to!!) Fold it in half long ways and then short ways :/

Cut along the long crease and taking one of those pieces ,a breakfast bowl and a pencil, curve the end.

Fold along the crease and cut both corners and you now have the basic shape of our bag!

Choose your fabric , press it.

Now is your fabric ‘directional’ – does it have a design that has a right way up? If so, you need to take care that you have the design the right way up on the bag!! Mine wasn’t – just a tangle of balloons and streamers.

It was at this stage that I thought “Let’s make it reversible” so back to the stash and find another piece that will ‘go with’ the handle fabric – I chose the butterflies.

So now we have to cut 2 of the butterfly fabric.

Once again take care with the direction – on mine I tried to have as many butterflies flying up as I could – I don’t know why, cause they obviously fly down as well but I like it that way….

Now we are ready to sew!!

Taking the 2 outside fabrics (the streamers) , right side to right side, start at the top and sew down around the curve, along the bottom and up the other side .

Don’t forget to do a couple of backstitches at the start and finish (use the reverse button)

Now do the same with the inside fabric (butterflies)

Now we need to trim our curves!! (and no exercise or diet required!!!)

When you sew a curved seam you need to do one of the following to ensure that your seam ‘sits right’.

For an outer curve like we have just done, you need to snip little triangles from the seam allowance . I have done it on the paper so you can see what I mean. Be careful not to snip through the stitching but don’t worry if you do – just go and sew again in a little more.

If, on the other hand, you sew an inner curve, you snip into the stitching as I have shown on the paper.

OK lesson over – lets clip our curves!!

Turn the outer bag to the right side and ‘roll’ the seam between your fingers and thumbs to get the nice round shape.

Oh my goodness!! where is the moisturiser?????? :/

I then pressed the seams ‘open’ (just to make it easier to join)

Then we simply slide the inner bag (wrong side out) into the outer bag (right side out)

Then, taking care to match the side seams, pin the two together

Put that aside now while we cut the top border and the handle.

Take the other half of the A4 sheet of paper and fold it in half lengthways so you have a long strip. Cut along the crease. Take one piece and fold it in half, then in half again, and again. Open it up and you have 8 segments. Cut it off at 5 – so you have a piece 5 long and one 3 long. Screw the 3 one up and trash it! Keep the other long piece till later.

With the 5 piece you are going to use it to cut 2 pieces for the band. Fold your fabric so that the short end of the paper is on the fold and cut – do this 2 times. If you only have a short piece of fabric, of course you can cut 4 pieces – just remember to leave a seam allowance on both ends. See how understanding and forgiving this sewing stuff is!!!!

Take a strip and, with right sides together, stitch to join so that it now forms a circle. Now do the same with the other strip. Press the seams open.

(If you have 4 pieces you are going to join 2, right sides together at both ends!!)

Using the seam as one side seam, press your band to crease the other end. Now put the crease and the seam together and press both ends to crease. You have now divided it into 4. You can mark the edge of the creases with a pencil or cut a small slit to mark it.

Do the same with your bag.

We do this so that when we gather the bag to fit the band, we will have an even spread of gathers!

So let’s keep working…..

Take your bag that you have pinned together and use a gathering stitch (the largest stitch), sew around the bag – be careful of the pins (you can sew right over them if you pin them like I have – just go carefully till you see how it goes) and stop short of where you started – don’t oversew. Don’t start or end with a double stitch and don’t cut the threads off short.

Now do another row the same about 3mm away from the first (no-one’s watching so you don’t have to measure!!).

Take a thread from each row at the starting point and tie them together – you don’t need to remember your Girl Guide knots – just so they are secured.

From the end of both rows,take a thread (make sure you get both top threads OR both bobbin threads or they will lock) and pull them while sliding the fabric to form gathers with your other hand – carefully!
(If you don’t know your own strength and happen to break a thread, don’t panic! Just pull it out – it’s easy with such a big stitch. Then resew and tie off)

Take one of your border pieces and starting with matching the side seams, right side to right side, pin at each side and at the halfway slits/marks. Now ease the gathers to fit.

Sew around the top – careful with the pins ( but now you know to just sew on over them 😉 Press the border up away from the bag.

Looking good!!!!

Now with your last piece of paper, cut a piece of fabric at about 3 times that length (no-one is watching so it doesn’t matter if its a bit shorter or longer!!)- if you have to join, take care to match the design, especially if you have used stripes!!

Take a piece of string/cord and lay it along the strip on the right side. Fold the strip in half , and with the cord in the middle, stitch along the short end and then down the long end, making sure that you catch the cord in the short end.

Now pull the string through to turn the strip right side out. Snip the cord off. Roll between your fingers and press.

Cut a piece of plastic tubing the length of your strip of paper. Thread it into the tube and gather it on. Stitch across each end to secure it to the plastic – do this carefully!!!!

Now pin the handle to each of the side seams and take the other border piece and pin, matching the slits/marks and seams. Sew carefully over the plastic and right around the bag.

Turn the border to the inside, roll seam between your fingers and press. Pin the edge and top stitch around.(top stitch is where we stitch fairly close to the edge about 2 or 3 mm)

Turn the bag inside out so we now see the inner fabric (butterflies) and turn the edge and pin. You might like to tack (sew big stitch by hand) to hold the border in place. Then sew right around about the same distance from the edge as the top stitch.

TA DAAA!

You have completed one Nanny adventure – gorgeous!

I hope you enjoyed making this little bag with me and that it encourages you to ‘have a go’ more with your own sewing. It is meant to be fun so enjoy!!!

I would love your comments and if you make a bag, please send a photo to share! You might even like to tell me what you would like to do next………

Until next time
Nanny xx

Nanny gets pinned!

Nanny Adventure! Little Girls bag

© Nannycraft4u

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© Nannycraft4u