Enamel Coffee Pot

When I first heard that Penny and Kerry had teamed up and formed Sew-Ichigo I got very excited. I just knew great things would come from them!
I had the pleasure of testing the Enamel Coffee Pot pattern from their first set of kitchen related paper piecing patterns.

The pattern instructions are very clear and helpful, and I just love this delightful vintage looking coffee pot!  I know many of you are scared by paper piecing, I was too at first, but really with Penny and Kerry's tips and advice you could not be in better hands. So if you are on the fence just go for it, I promise it is fiddly at times but not as difficult as it may seem.

As the block finishes 6" square it will be a lovely addition to my sampler quilt but you could also use the blocks in one of the tutorials on the Sew-Ichigo blog for a tote or a kitchen aid cover. 
You can buy the patterns here

x Leila

Need your help!

I have this beautiful voile that I would love to turn into another Tova top. My voile is prewashed and pressed and ready to go, and I can not wait to wear it. But here's the thing...whichever way I twist and turn I can not match up the pattern with the grain, aaaahhhhh!

 I tried both lengthwise and crosswise grain, I cut the other end of the selvedge off to see if it would make a difference, it didn't.  I measured, shifted, eased, petted, stroked, twisted and turned all to no avail!

As you can see the black stripes line up but the blue lines fall somewhere in the middle, is the print supposed to be like this?  I know prints don't always run true to grain and in quilting I can fudge a little and make it all work. But with my limited knowledge of dressmaking I have always understood grain matters!

 Pulling the fabric so that all lines match distorts the grain far too much, I don't think the garment will drape as it is supposed if I did that. I could not even cut the pattern out this way because I can't get the fabric to lay flat off grain like that!
 I could line up the black horizontal and ignore the blue but then I will have a semi diagonal blue line running somewhere through the center front. Or vice verse if I line up the black lines vertical.

I don't know what to do! I am not sure if I can make a Tova top with this fabric, will it look too odd if the blue lines don't match up? Am I doing this all wrong? What would you do?

 If any of you clever people out there has some advice for me I would greatly appreciate it!

x Leila

Sew Out Loud Quilt Along - Press On!

Today it is my turn to share my block design for Sew Out Loud!!
My block is called 'Press on!' and is all about the trusty old iron. I quite enjoy ironing as part of the sewing process but when it comes to ironing the laundry it is one of my least favourite chores. Funny how that works, I wonder if I had an iron like this it would change the way I feel ;)


 I have included templates for freezer paper piecing or foundation paper piecing. You can download the pattern here

I really enjoy being part of this sew along and seeing all the wonderful blocks you all have been making! You can add your blocks to our Flickr group here
And don't forget there will be a block design contest soon with some fab prizes, so get those thinking caps on ladies.
I am excited to see what you all will come up with!!

x Leila

Fresh Sewing Day April and a winner

Did you play any good pranks yesterday? I completely forgot it was April Fools day, typical!
So it was the first of the month; Fresh Sewing Day, time to have a look back at March.

 

I also get to announce the winner of Nova's Nesting Fabric Bowls pattern. Mr. Random Number Generator declared the winner to be:

Which is Ayumi who said:

Congratulations Ayumi!! I will let Nova know and she will get in touch with you soon :)

Hop on over to Lynne's to see what everyone else has been up to in March.

x Leila

Nesting Fabric Bowls

A little while back Nova and I agreed to test each others patterns. She made some beautiful scrappy leaves and now it is my turn, yay!

Nova's latest pattern is Nesting Fabric Bowls. I don't know about you but I can always use more storage around the house, and these bowls are so versatile the possibilities are pretty much endless!

photo courtsey of Nova - a cuppa and a catch up

I can honestly say I love this pattern! It has clear instructions and covers each step of creating your own set of nesting baskets in a way that I am confident even the novice sewer will have no trouble at all whipping these up. But Nova provides so many options for customizing your baskets that if you have made these type of fabric containers before, this pattern still will come in handy!

I made two individual baskets rather then a set because I wanted to experiment with the pattern a bit.
With Easter just around the corner I wanted something cute for egg hunting.
This is the 6" basket embellished with a raw edge applique bunny. I added one long handle so it can be hung from one arm when searching for all the Easter eggs in the garden.

What I found especially helpful was the formula Nova provides for calculating the measurements of your own custom sized container. I am pretty lazy when it comes to maths so any help I can get in that department I'll gladly take :)

My next bowl is made with custom measurements. I used some small patchwork blocks I made with Ayumi's Scrappy Hour Glass tutorial for this one.

The pattern suggests using interfacing which I didn't have on hand. So rather than wait and order some I used fusible batting instead. This makes for a little less firm bowl but mine still hold shape and stand up on their own.

I still want to make an actual nesting set and a teeny tiny small basket ooooh the possibilities! They'd make great gifts don't you think?

Nova has kindly offered to give away a copy of her pattern! Just leave a comment on this post for a chance to win :) I will leave comments open till midnight Sunday and announce the winner Monday morning. Make sure there is a way for us to contact you should you win!!

You can by the nesting fabric bowls pattern here

Thanks Nova!

x Leila