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ONLINE PROJECTS
I will show you step by step photos of my existing projects, I must stress I don’t know what i am doing half the time, but I enjoy having a go. I often make mistakes and realise after a project has been completed that there could have been a easier or quicker way to achieve something, I often panic half way through and feel like giving up but then I have a overwhelming sense of realisation and think, but what the worse that can happen? Never having a go in the first place! Have a look at the photos and read my (rubbish, confusing) construction notes, but trust in your own ability to make what ever your creating your own! Thanks sew much for looking.
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Good Will Bunting
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Ever wondered what fifteen meters of bunting looks like?
This is my good sport of a house mate Will, kindly modeling this mornings creation. How else was I going to display 15 meters of bunting? This week a friend of mine asked me to make some bunting for a evening of fun and frivolity he is running. I have actually never made bunting before but thought i would give it ago and post the findings here.
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Fairly simply stuff. I have a huge amount of vintage scrap fabric, have a route around and pick a good selection of colourful prints and patterns. You need to make a template for your bunting triangles. I simply took a A4 sheet of paper and measured the center of the bottom edge. I then drew a line from the top left and right corners down to the middle of the bottom of the page where I had marked it, then cut it out. My triangle measured 20cm across at the top and 28cm in length.
Place your paper template on the fabric and draw around it with a fabric pen or chalk. If you have a large piece of one fabric you can fold it up and cut out 2 or 3 triangles at a time. For 15 meters of bunting I cut out 32 triangles.
Finally you need some decent/strongish braid, ribbon or bias binding, these can easily be picked up cheap from your local market. Measure out 15 meters. At first I pinned the triangles to the braid but in the end I gave up and just kept a pile to one side of the sewing machine. I didn’t even measure the distance between each triangle, I calculated that I needed 2.5ish triangles per meter and just measured it by eye when I had it under the sewing machine. I sewed the triangles on individually, so i back-tacked at the beginning and end of each one, cut the treads and moved onto the next.
The only thing problem I noticed was because I was using a variety of different fabrics all made of different fibers and textures the tension on the sewing machine obviously reacted differently. Sometimes it pulled to tight and other times the fabric slipped. I over came this by holding the fabric and braid firm and taught but easing it through the sewing machine slowly.
Now all you have to find is a space in desperate need of beautiful decoration or a house mate to tie up and lock in a cupboard!
Mondrian Sweater
I set about customising a existing sweater I have had for years and use for decorating. I really like strong geometric shapes and have had this idea about a inserted v-neck vintage fabric panel for a long time. This project features vintage fabrics Delight and Mondrians High with Lady Penelope vintage buttons.
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Finished Sweater
Measure the desired length of the button stand you wish to have, draw and cut a straight line down the center front of the sweater.
Decide the length and width of your button stand. You need two button stands, one for each side. If you want your button stand to be 2.5cm, it needs to be doubled and then a 1cm seam allowance added. Press the stand in half and then press the 1cm seam allowance inwards (this will be top stitched.)
I didn’t make a paper pattern, I just placed the slevedge edge of the fabric down the center front of the sweater and traced the shape of the neckline and shoulders of the sweater underneath. What I didn’t think about when I started was how to achieve a clean finished edge around the neck rib. I flipped the right fabric panel over to the left side as it is a mirror image and traced with a fabric pen the shape of the neck rib underneath.
For the fabric panel to sew around the curve of the neck rib you have to snip all the way down to the pen line every 1cm, this allows you to spread the curve open. 
Place the fabric right side facing you back onto the sweater, then flip the panel vertically upward over the neckline, pin fabric panel along the marked pen line to the curve of the neck rib underneath.
Get the sweater underneath the sewing machine, at this point and without over stretching pull the neck rib and fabric panel as straight as possible, using the presser foot of the sewing machine pushed up against the neck rib underneath as a guide, stitch around from the center front neck to the shoulder. Press the neck rib down for a clean finish.
Pull the fabric panel down and pin the center front of the panel to the cut line down the center front of the sweater.With all edges folded inwards encase the button stand over the neck rib, and center front line, stop stitch all the way around. Top stitch the remaining fabric panel around the chest and shoulders down. Press and repeat the same technique on the other side. Sew button holes and buttons through the button stand. 
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