The Year of Bunting Challenge 1

February 3, 2019 · Leave a Comment

The Year of Bunting Challenge 1

I announced at the beginning of January that 2019 would be The Year of Bunting.

It’s not a national thing (or an international thing!). It’s not been endorsed by the sewing community. It is just me in my little corner of internet land. I’m hoping it will catch on though, as I can imagine dozens of people happily making bunting at home and thinking about how much they’ll enjoy it.

I published the first bunting themed tutorial earlier in the week. If you missed it, it’s here. It’s for some appliqued bunting cushion covers.

To make it more fun that just a lot of sewing tutorials (not that those aren’t fun!), and so that everybody can be involved, there are going to be challenges too.

This is the first one. Are you ready?

Challenge 1 is to decorate a piece of furniture with some bunting.

How you do this is entirely up to you.

It can be sewn, knitted or crocheted. You could even paint it if you like!

The piece of furniture is also to you. I have bunting on the dresser and the fireplace. Bookcases and shelves are easy places to attach bunting to, but you can put your bunting on whatever you like.

This is the bunting I’ve made for my dresser to replace the Christmas bunting that was hanging there until a few days ago! It didn’t take very much fabric to make the little flags so I was able to use stuff I already had. The bakers’ twine was in with the Christmas stuff, and the wool was left over from another project.

When you’ve made it, you can either post it on the Tea and a Sewing Machine Facebook page, or Twitter, or Instagram with the hashtag #yearofbunting. That way I’ll find it!

If you don’t do social media, you can email me a picture instead at teaandasewingmachine@gmail.com.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you make!

Easy Fleece Bunting Cushions

January 28, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Easy Fleece Bunting Cushions

These easy fleece bunting cushions are the first of hopefully several tutorials, challenges, competitions and giveaways to mark The Year of Bunting.

If you hadn’t realised that 2019 was The Year of Bunting, don’t worry, lots of other people won’t have either!

This is mainly because it’s only me who’s decided that it’s a thing!

You can find out a little bit more about why I have declared 2019 to be The Year of Bunting in this post here.

After the Christmas decorations have come down, the house can feel a bit empty.

One way to compensate for this is to make some changes, and a nice, simple thing to do is to make some new cushion covers.

I love jazzing things up with some new cushions and I do this at other times of the year as well, not just after Christmas!

Unless you want to, there’s no need to even buy new cushion pads. You can just whip the old covers off and pop the new ones on. Or even put the new covers over the existing covers if you’re feeling lazy!

A tired cushion pad can be brought back to life by being thrown into the washing machine. Alternatively you can pull the stuffing apart with your hands for a few minutes.

If you want extra cushions and therefore don’t have any spare pads, you can make square cushion pads from old synthetic pillows. There’s a tutorial showing how to do this here.

These cushions, like most of the cushions I make, have envelope backs. The reasons for this is because it’s easier and because I don’t like to have a zip poking into me when I’m sitting on the sofa.

I made them from fleece because I found I had quite a lot left over from another project while I was having a rummage. For the bunting I used the remains of a fat quarter I used for something but I can’t remember what! The string of the bunting is bias binding. This has the advantage that it stretches a bit, so it’s easy to sew it into a curve.

While making these bunting cushions, I didn’t measure a thing! I used the cushion pad as a guide for the cover. For the bunting, I experimented with paper triangles of different sizes until I found a size that I liked.

So grab a cushion pad, some paper and a pencil and your sewing stuff and let’s get sewing!

How To Sew a Bunting Cushion

You Will Need

A cushion pad
Fabric for the cushion cover (I used half a metre of fleece, but you can use whatever you have. It needs to be enough to go right round the cushion pad, plus a bit extra, and enough at the sides for the seams).
Scraps of fabric for the bunting
Bias binding or ribbon for the string of the bunting
Pencil and paper
Ruler (anything with a straight edge will do)

Cutting Out

For the cushion cover, you can use the pad as a guide.

Cut a piece of fabric big enough to wrap around the cushion, plus a bit extra so that the ends overlap by about 10 cm (4 inches). Make sure you allow enough for the side seams.

To cut out the bunting, it’s easiest if you make a paper template first. Take a piece of paper and fold it in half. Draw a straight line from the folded edge to a point along the top. Cut along the line, open it out and you’ll have a perfect triangle! If it’s not the right size, just try again until you get one you like.

Using the template as a guide, cut some triangles from scraps of fabric. I used 4 triangles on one cushion and 8 on the other, but it will depend on the size of you triangles, the size of your cushion and how much bunting you want on your cushion!

If the fabric you are using looks like it might fray, you might like to iron some fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric before cutting out.

And if you want a tip for cutting triangles out quickly, you might like to have a look at this post here.

Sewing the Cushion

As I used fleece fabric for my bunting cushions, I didn’t bother hemming them as they won’t fray. If you are using different fabric or if you prefer a neater look, you’ll need to hem the two short edges first.

Fold the cushion cover piece in half widthways and gently crease it with your finger or mark with a pin.

Arrange your bunting on the right side of the cushion fabric. If you’re planning on having more than one row of bunting on your cushion, just pin the bottom row.

Applique the flags to the cushion cover. I didn’t bother with the top edges, just the sides.

https://www.awilson.co.uk/easiest-bunting-tutorial-ever/

Pin the bias binding or ribbon along the top of the flags. Sew it in place.

If your cushions are having more than one row of bunting, add the extra rows in the same way, one row at a time.

Once you’ve finished the bunting, you’re ready to turn it into a cushion cover!

Fold the top edge over, then the bottom edge. The wrong side should be on the outside, and the short edges should overlap in the middle. Using the cushion pad as a guide, check that it is more or less square.

Pin the side seams and sew.

Trim the seams and turn the cushion the correct way out. Pop your cushion pad inside its new cover!

Spring Knitting and Stitching Show Tickets Giveaway 2019

January 21, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Spring Knitting and Stitching Show Tickets Giveaway 2019

The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show is returning to Olympia, London from 28th February to the 3rd March 2019, and you could win one of 5 pairs of tickets in a tickets giveaway!

It’s the UK’s biggest textile craft event with workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions and specialist retailers.

This year there’s a special focus on dressmaking. Included is a dressmaking competition and the Spring Sewing School with top tutors hosting full and half-day dressmaking technique and upcycling workshops.

There will be live dressmaking competitions too and a show theatre featuring handmade fashion.

There’s also going to be a taster of a forthcoming exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum celebrating Zandra Rhode’s 50th anniversary.

The show will also be offering an extensive programme of workshops and demonstrations, gallery exhibitions by leading textile artists and drop-in knitting and crochet lessons.

There will be a display of the latest sewing and knitting equipment, a Bag4Life competition and an display entitled The Enchanted Wood which is entirely knitted!

If you’re thirsty while you’re there, there will be a prosecco bar (I’m hoping they’ll be serving tea as well!), and over 150 specialist retailers.

For the second year running, the show will be hosting the National Needlecraft Awards with Sew and So.

More information about the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show 2019 can be found here on their website.

If you fancy going along too, I have 5 pairs of tickets to give away! The tickets giveaway will run from today (20th January 2019) until 11.59 pm on Sunday 10th February 2019. The winners will be notified by email.

***Please note that the tickets are only redeemable on the 28th February and the 1st and 3rd March 2019. You won’t be able to use them on Saturday 2nd March, so you would need to be free to go on one of those days.***

The tickets usually cost £14 for advance bookings and £13 for concessions plus £1.75 booking fee.

If you don’t win the giveaway, or if you want to go on the Saturday, you can get £2 off the full adult price and £1 off concessions by using the code TEAANDSEW19 at the checkout.

If you’d like to enter the Spring Knitting and Stitching Show 2019 tickets giveaway, please enter your email address in the form below. If you can’t see the form, please click here.

Please be aware that by doing this, you will be added to the Tea and a Sewing Machine email list. This means that you will receive emails from me, usually on a Saturday. These contain links to things I think you might like, updates and the occasional freebie. Your email address will not be shared with anyone else.

30 Minute Storage Basket

January 11, 2019 · 2 Comments

30 Minute Storage Basket

One of the things I’ve discovered since I began home educating my 3 younger boys a few months ago is just how much more stuff there is!

A while ago I posted this photo in a home ed Facebook group.

Obviously the boys had been very busy, but unfortunately we also use that table for eating! Quite aside from the fact that I don’t especially want to eat my dinner with Barnabas’ eyeball for company, the stuff takes up so much space, there was hardly any room for the plates!

In December I cleared all the stuff off the sideboard and rehomed things. This was so that I had a decent space to put out the Lego Christmas village.

Since Christmas, the Lego has gone away but I haven’t got round to collecting up all the stuff that used to live there and putting it back.

So I decided to make some storage baskets that can live on the sideboard. Hopefully they will help to keep the table clear enough so that we can eat there without eyeballs and science projects.

Whatever stage of life you are at, a storage basket is always useful. There’s always stuff that needs a home, especially after Christmas!

About The Storage Basket

Size. The baskets can be made whatever size you like. I cut the outer sections of the 2 larger baskets so that they were about the same size as a tea towel. I made the third storage basket smaller because the piece of fabric was smaller.

Fabric. I used ticking and a cotton/ linen blend that I had left over from another project. Medium weight fabrics will work well. Cotton or polycotton is fine too as long as you use interfacing.

Storage baskets are a great way of using up bits and pieces from your fabric hoard, so just see what you have. You could even use actual tea towels!

Interfacing. I made one basket with fusible synthetic buckram, and 2 with firm interfacing. Both worked, but I think on balance that the interfacing was better.

The fusible buckram was great, nice and stiff, and the basket holds its shape well. The problem was that synthetic buckram has no give at all. If your lining is not exactly the right size, you can’t stretch it to make it fit. It was also difficult to press the seams properly.

The interfacing made a storage basket that was less rigid but it was much easier to sew.

Lining. Cotton or polycotton is fine for lining the baskets. Just see what you have already!

To cut the lining, use the outer piece as a template. Find the longer edge and add about 8-10 cm (3-4 inches). You need enough to fold it over the edge of the outer then tuck the raw edge underneath.

Timing. I’ve called this a 30 minute storage basket. To be honest, I didn’t time myself making them. I usually do a bit, then sort kids out/ make dinner/ drink tea etc, so I don’t actually know how long it took me.

The point is that they didn’t take me very long! It might even have been less than half an hour. I have made storage baskets like this before, and things often take a bit longer the first time you do them. Once you’ve made a couple, you’ll be knocking them out like nobody’s business!

How To Make 30 Minute Storage Baskets

You Will Need

Fabric for the outer (cotton, polycotton, canvas, ticking, oilcloth will all work well).
Fabric for the lining (Cotton, polycotton or something else lightish, although medium weight fabrics might work too. Try it and see!).
Firm interfacing, fusible buckram or similar.
A teatowel for measurements.
Usual sewing supplies.

Cutting Out

Using the teatowel as a guide, cut a piece the same size from the outer and the interfacing.

For the lining, use the teatowel as a guide again. Find one of the longer edges and instead of cutting along the edge of the teatowel, move 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) away, then cut it. You should end up with a piece that is as long as the tea towel, but a little bit wider.

Sewing the Storage Boxes

If you are using fusible interfacing, fuse it to the wrong side of the outer.

Fold the outer in half lengthways with the right sides together. Pin the short edges together, then sew. Trim the seams and press them open.

Take one of the corners. Open the box out then squish the corner flat so that the side seam is next to the fold at the bottom.

Measure about 8 cm (3 inches) up from the corner. Pin so that the pins are at right angles to the side seam. Pin the other corner in the same way.

Sew across where you have pinned. Cut the corner off. Do the same with the other corner.

Repeat steps 1-5 with the lining.

Turn the basket outer the right way out. Pop the lining inside the outer so that the wrong sides are together. You might find it helpful to pin the corners.

Fold the lining over the outer. Tuck the raw edge of the lining underneath. Pin, then sew around the outside of the basket, keeping close to the folded edge.

Tips For Making Several Storage Baskets At The Same Time

Choose fabrics that go well together. Try stripes or spots for the outer with a neutral lining, or quilting cottons from the same collection.

Batch the jobs. Do all your cutting out, then all your interfacing fusing, then all the side seams. As well as being more efficient than making each basket separately, it also means that if you have to move your sewing machine so that people can eat dinner, you’re more likely to get a whole stage done. This also works better for those of us with short attention spans!

Use a rotary cutter and pattern weights for cutting out. There’s a tutorial for pattern weights here if you need one! Doing it this way is much quicker because you don’t have to faff about pinning everything and you can cut out several bits at once.

If you make some I’d love to see! Please share them on social media, or you can email me :). And let me know how long they took you!

DIY Embroidered Christmas Star

December 19, 2018 · 2 Comments

DIY Embroidered Christmas Star

When I was younger, I did a lot of Christmas crafting. I used to make cards and decorations and bake stuff.

Then I had kids and everything changed! I’d plan to make lots of things, then feel frustrated and annoyed that I hadn’t managed to get them done.

One year I tried to get round the fact that I had several tiny children by starting early. I was making stuff from August onwards. But because I’d been thinking about Christmas for so long, by the time it eventually came round I was sick of it!

So a couple of years ago, I made the decision to not worry too much. I’d do a bit if I had time and if I felt like it, and not attempt anything too ambitious. There is a limit to how many decorations I can hang off the tree anyway and I don’t send that many Christmas cards.

This year has been different again. Home educating my younger three means that I have boys at home in the day again. As they were showing signs of needing a break from the academic stuff, we spent most of last week doing Christmas crafts while listening to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. It was lovely!

One “grown up” thing that I’ve been working on recently is an diy embroidered Christmas star.

It’s made from felt with a snowflake design embroidered in the centre. The stars are sewn together using blanket stitch.

It’s a perfect project for a busy person who’s left things a bit late! It doesn’t take long to make. You can do a bit when you have a minute. You can make one, or a few and string them together. And to make things easier, you can download a template with the snowflake design at the bottom of the post.

How To Make a DIY Embroidered Star

You Will Need

Felt
Embroidery thread
Ribbon for hanging
Star shape
Snowflake design

Making the Star

1.Cut 2 stars from felt.

2. Embroider the snowflake design onto one of the stars.

3. Sew the 2 stars together. I used blanket stitch, but you could use back stitch or running stitch if you prefer.

4. Attach some ribbon or twine for hanging.

If you would like the template I used, please enter your email address in the form below. Please note that by doing this, you will be added to the Tea and a Sewing Machine email list. I never send spam, only a weekly email containing updates, links, and other things that you might like. You can unsubscribe from these emails at any time. For more information about why I do this, please click here.

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