Life's a stitch!

After being bought my very first sewing machine at 21, it only took me 3 years later to actually start sewing as a hobby.  Around the time I started, my very close friend Lynsey already had the sewing bug and tempted me along to an afternoon of sewing and cake at our fellow sewer's house Cath.  From this day forward I've been hooked!  So really I owe a lot of my passion for creating handmade pieces to you both, and I thought I'd take a look back over the past year and share some of my projects.  I have chosen my favourite to detail 'how' it was made.  So many a trial and error later here is my story so far... 

Knitted scarf

Cushion covers

 Toy bags

Dribble bibs for baby Leighton

Lavender cushions

Skirts

(Modelled by the lovely Lynsey)

Dresses

Patchwork quilts

So here's my favourite project so far - patchwork!  Patchwork is a project you start knowing it's going to be ongoing for a few weeks, but for me it's so satisfying to reach the finished product.  I do always feel a bit empty when a patchwork project is finished though, I need to find my next one pronto!  My hand-stitched hexagon patchwork quilt took me a couple of months, mainly because I kept putting it down for other ideas, but it now sits merrily on the end of our bed and I enjoy it every time I see it. 

I'm still new to patchwork and experimenting with different techniques and finishing methods, but for this one I chose to hand sew it.  Patchwork can be much quicker by machine stitching, but it's all preference really.  Hand sewing was quite therapeutic, but after this first pattern I have made quilts by machine, I find it's much quicker and can be a little more forgiving if your patches aren't quite as presicely shaped.

Step 1 - I ordered hexagon templates over the internet from www.patchworktemplates.com.  I did try drawing and cutting my templates by hand first of all, but this didn't work so well.  When I tried fit the pieces together I had different sizes, so as you can imagine I swiftly rejected that idea.  Paper templates are great and ensured sizing was equal (hurray!). The service Jackie provided was also fantastic, and came with a template planner and step by step insturctions.  I ordered the largest hexagon shape possible, I think this was 10cm x 10cm.

Step 2 - Choose your fabric and cut square pieces of fabric a few millimeteres larger than your hexagon.  Then wrap your fabric around your template and hand sew it in place.

 Step 3 - Keep making pieces until you have the desired size of blanket you want.  Find a large space and arrange your pieces in the pattern you like.

Step 4 - With right sides together hand stitch each hexagon togther.  Avoid the temptation to remove papers until your work is complete, then cut your wadding and bind the edge of your quilt.

This was a more of a whistle stop tour of patchwork, so I will write a complete blog for my next quilt soon.