Colour Wash Quilting

I have been having a bit of a clean out at home lately. My storage, fabric, doll supplies, ironing etc room is looking quite lovely, but still not stylish enough to show a picture of. At least I can walk around in the room and find things. I even got busy with the labelling machine so I could tell what was in all the boxes.  When I was cleaning out some old books and magazines, I came across this photo of a cushion worked in a style called colour wash. According to the instructions, you choose patterned fabrics, arrange them from dark to light and then sew them all up for this effect. I love it - it reminds me of watercolour painting, which is my painting medium (when I get to paint, that is). I am not mad about patchwork, but if I was going to do it, having a go at colour wash, crazy patchwork and applique.

Happy Sewing!

P.s. I still have to clean out my computer, sewing machine, storage, craft supplies etc room. Yikes!

Dolls! Rebecca, A Homeart Store Porcelain Doll

I was out op-shopping recently and came across this porcelain doll. She was very dusty and dirty and had cobwebs and a bit of light mould on the edge of her dress. You might be able to see the dust and dirt in the photo below where she is posing with my Ruby Red Galleria Bleuette doll. The little bear is sewn on to her dress and has a matching ribbon. I washed everything she is wearing in mild soapy water except for the shoes and hat. I almost didn't buy her because I thought she was a bit too expensive and maybe a bit too 'sugar and spice' sweet, so I put her back on the shelf and walked off. When I went up to the counter to buy some sewing patterns, I took another look at her and decided to buy her.

Before her clean-up

Here is a close up of her face after I washed her. I got most of the marks off.

This photo shows her body construction. She can only sit in this one position.

Homeart stores used to be called Copperart and sold a wide range of porcelain dolls which were made in China. There is a really good write up about the stores on Wikipedia. I don't think they sell the porcelain dolls anymore. They must have sold loads of them so I don't think their re-sale price is very high at all. I do think Rebecca is quite a good quality and well made example of a Homeart doll and now that I have cleaned her up, I really like her.

Mystery Fabric from Japanese Fabric Pack - "Tabigi 1960"

This is a close-up of a fabric remnant that I got in a Japanese Fabric Pack from a Made in Japan store. Who or what is Tabigi?? I looked it up on the internet, and found it is a Japanese manufacturer, a species of tree or plant and a place in America! You can see on the front of the train the date 1960. To further add to the mystery, this fabric is printed right way up on one panel, and then upside down:

The fabric from these packs is from vintage Kimonos and Obis and can include a range of fabric types and dying techniques such as Shibori, Kasuri and Yuzen. Don't expect pristine pieces of fabric all the same size from these packs. Some of them have yellowish age marks on them and most of them have been cut straight from a garment, so you will get some with original hems still intact. I actually love this because I can see some of the construction techniques. One of the pieces had gorgeous small hand stitching running along the cuff hem. These fabric packs are a fabric-aholic's dream.

This looks like a picture of Mount Fuji:

The children on this Tabigi fabric look like they are hiking. The little boy in the middle of this picture looks like he is wearing a traditional Japanese hat.

Even the bag the fabric came in is cute, with very Westernised paintings of Japanese ladies:

And here is the fabric pack in all it's packaged-up glory:

Finally, here is a picture of the whole "Tabigi" panel. I am thinking I could make a cushion from this fabric so that I preserve the whole panel, or it would be wonderful made into a vintage doll's outfit. I could just keep the fabric intact and not use it, but then I will never see it if it is shut up in a drawer, and I am not a museum so I should not feel obliged to act as a curator. What do you think I should make out of it?

I am working on my messenger style bag this weekend, and hope to have it finished soon as my current "black-hole" bag is driving me nuts.

My other news is that I have started a distance course in basic dressmaking and pattern drafting. It looks like there is a bit of work to do in the course, but I am still going to try and fit in some garments that I want to make for summer. There are some set garments that need to be made for the course, but I am not sure what they are yet as I have not received my course materials yet. I have never taken a sewing course and thought it was time to learn a bit more and get a certificate in the process.

Happy sewing everyone!

Finished - Vogue 8597 Cowl Neck Stretch Top

Here is my finished top Vogue 8597. This fabric and I fought our way through the overlocker just about every step of the way.

 I begun by trying to sew it using the cutter blade, but the cut fabric bunched up over the seam marker, so I couldn't tell what seam width I was sewing. Then the fabric jumped at the start of one of the shoulder seams, and cut a small hole in the fabric. I had to make the seam allowance a bit wider on that shoulder, but you can't really notice it because the fabric is so busy. I ditched the seam cutter and changed over to just a regular 5/8 seam allowance. This time, the three thread seam was not enough to catch both seams as they moved about when I was sewing, so I switched to a four thread seam.

Once I sorted that out, the top sewed up quite well, and I think it is a fairly good result for my third go at sewing a stretch garment and only the second one sewn up completely on an overlocker.

This is a close up of the cowl collar. I agree with all the reviews of this pattern on Patternreview.com that mentioned the cowl does not sit very well. If I made this again, I would extend the cowl facing by at least 2 inches so that you cannot see the wrong side of your fabric. To re-cap, this is the pattern cover, and I made view B, which is the red top. I also have this fabric in the blue colour-way, and I am considering making up top C in this pattern.

And here is the back of the collar. It is high at the back, so it can keep all the winter breezes away from you neck.

I don't have a cover stitch machine, so I just sewed the hems using stabilising tape and a double needle in my regular sewing machine. That worked for the lower hem, but the sleeve hems are a bit puckered. I remember reading somewhere that you should loosen the tension, and when I did that, it sewed up quite nicely on the hem. When I showed the finished top to my sewing club ladies recently, one of them asked if I had done the hems on a cover stitch machine, and then we got to talking about whether we had one and if not, would be consider buying one. I guess I would if I did a lot of stretch sewing, but at the moment I am not.

I am pleased with this project and would certainly consider sewing this pattern again, but I will be putting it away in the closet for next winter as it is starting to warm up here. Next up on the sewing list is a messenger style fabric bag, which I hope to start on today.

Vogue Stretch Fabric Top V8597

Audra over at Dolly Fever has been asking where I have been. I have been a lazy blogger as well as being away interstate for work in Brisbane. I stayed in Brisbane over the weekend to go and see the museums there. One of the exhibitions was of the Prado masterpieces from Spain. I really enjoyed this exhibition. It was well arranged with all the paintings on a topic such as religious, portraits, sketches all grouped together.

I have been working on this top, Vogue V8597 for the last 6 or so weeks. Sewing it got interrupted by some trouser hemming. This is a job that I hate, but I don't like to pay to get it done because I would rather buy fabric with that money. I will do some more work on this top tomorrow, and I hope to get it just about finished. This is the pattern cover - I am making style B which is the red cowl neck top. The pattern got good reviews on Pattern Review, except some people had trouble with arranging the cowl neck once they had it on. I won't know about that until I finish it and start wearing it. I might not be wearing it until next winter as it is starting to warm up here. The fabric was from Spotlight.

So it looks like those pesky dollies of mine will have to wait for their new summer frocks as I have a keen desire (and need) to sew up some summer tops for myself. I am even getting quite ambitious about making some bags using some of my beautiful craft fabric stash and making some pencil cases for my niece and nephew. Pencil cases are a good task for my sewing club day as it does not take too much effort, and we are usually talking a lot so my concentration levels are usually fairly low.

I have some stories coming up on a crazy googly eyed Scottish souvenir doll, and a gorgeous bag making book that has inspired me to have a go at making some bags. The bag I am using at the moment is like a black hole. There are only 2 small pockets inside, so things fall to the bottom of the bag and I can't see much because the lining is black. I know black for bag linings is practical, but there are so many pretty alternatives, I don't know why manufacturers are so keen on using black.

Happy sewing until next time.