Handmade Cards - Mothers Day

I have been busy putting together some Mothers Day cards as well as sending one to my own Mum.

I made and sold quite a few Valentines cards last month so decided to make a few for this occasion as well.

I only make one of each kind so they really are unique.  The materials that I use vary a lot depending on what i have or buy to make them.

This one is made in felt and I embossed the card itself using a plate and my Bigshot.  There is also some hand stitching on it as well.

Sunflowers are always a nice choice if Daffodils are not your thing and I liked this velum, which came as part of a mini book.  Putting it on the white background makes it really show up.

Layering images such as this one if fun to make but you just need to make sure that you  are not going to fall foul of having it put through the dreaded plastic size gauge at the post office, because if it does not fit through you will end up paying more for postage!  This is why I do not go in for all these over the top cards.

Perhaps roses?  Again, a layered design.

Some Lillies added to this version.

This is Sophie's favourite card.  I hand punched out all of the flowers and added the stems etc.

I developed the above idea to create this version next.

Finally, another rose offering.

I really enjoyed making these and several are now on their way to new owners.  Looking in the shops today at the cost of the cards and the sorts of images on the front, I much prefer mine and I hope that my Mum does too.  Can you  guess which one I sent her?  It was a joint decision by us all.

Next year I think I shall list some on my website, to include the postage, and I still reckon they will be better than supermarket versions.   

Have a lovely day tomorrow, both Mums and families and I hope the weather is as good as it has been today.  Spring is in the air and it did not get dark until about 6.30pm today.

The clocks turn soon!
Take care and have a good weekend.

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Sewing Lessons in the 1950's

Quite a while ago I used to go to a ceramics painting class in the evening with a local ceramist.  We would pay for some bisque ware and paint it using different techniques and glaze.  Between sessions the teacher would fire them for us.  I painted quite a bit over a year but sadly had to stop going due to work commitments.

Anyway......there were 5 of us in total and one of the other ladies came to one session with an old school exercise book that she thought I might be interested in looking at.  In fact we all spent a long time look at it, passing it round and swapping stories of sewing at school.

You can see the book above and written in pencil on the front is the title Dressmaking 1954.

There is a school name but I can not read it.  I remember buying exercise books like these in red with all of these rules of measurements on the front, should have it on all school books now, I think.

Every page is filled with an intricately hand stitched sample covering a massive range of skills.  My eyes could not believe what they were seeing.  The opposite page in this case had details on how to create the sample shown above which are the French seam and Run and Fell seam.

Each sample is made on a light grey cotton fabric with red thread, which I think is ordinary cotton sewing thread which did use to be much thicker than the thread we have now.  I have a few vintage cotton reels upstairs which my sewing machine does not like.

Different ways to neaten a hem including binding my hand.  Sooooooo neat you can barely see the stitches.

There are many other seams but I thought that we would move on to the more pretty skills such as these Rouleau loops which are quite small and, again, very neatly stitched by hand.

A lovely sample in cream fabric, which made it quite hard to get a good picture, is Shell Edging on silk.  I have not seen this edging before and it is really very pretty, but some patience might be required!

This sample has so much in it.  Three variations of Froggart stitch, it says in the book, plus feather stitch but some close up pictures shows just how much skill has gone into this sample.

Very neatly created.

I think this is a lovely way to attach  separate pieces of fabric together, very delicate and I am not sure that I could create stitching as tiny as this.

Initials stitched in satin stitch.  I am ashamed to say that I have forgotten her last name.

Pockets in mini scale such as this side pocket sample.

Or this square patch pocket.

 I think I have left the most stunning sample last.

As a left hander and being taught how to do smocking by a right hander, I did find this technique a little tricky to master.  This sample however is soooooo detailed I really can not believe what I am looking at and I wonder how long it took to make.  Such tiny tiny pleats.
On the opposite page in the book  is a set if hand written instruction, which unfortunately did not show up clearly on my photograph so I decided not to put it here.

Close up of the middle section.  Sorry about the blur but my normal camera has broken so I am using another which is not set up for macro.

Another smocking sample in red gingham with a golden yellow thread, so neatly stitched on each row.
Well there you have it.........I left out many many other pages with more pockets, hems, pleats and gathers.  I know for a fact that my students would not want to learn any of this and I think others would feel that I had lost the plot if I asked them to.  A real pity as I feel that some traditional sewing is being lost and the skills shown in the lovely exercise book may not need to be done on a day to day basis but if I was ever asked to make a christening gown or decorate a bridesmaid dress many of these stitches would not look out of place or old fashioned at all.
Perhaps I should dig out my City and Guilds smocking samples and see if I can pick it up again or at least show my Textiles Club as I think they might wonder how it was done.
Are there any traditional skills that you were taught at school that you still do now or feel still has its place today?
Been a lovely sunny day today.  Enjoy the Bank Holiday in the UK and a lovely weekend to to all.
xx

Venetian Mask - Completed

Regular readers will know that over the past few weeks I have been making a Venetian mask along with my Year 8 group.  Some have elected to make different types of masks but to show encouragement I decided to make one too.  The Venetian mask appealed due to the potential glitz that could be used.

Yesterday I managed to finish it.

I wanted to mount the mask on a stand so that I could put it on my classroom for next year.  So a block of pine was painted blue with glitter mixed in and then some 3D paint and sequins added.  A hole was drilled for a painted dowel rod to fix in.

I then glued gun the dowel, feathers and wire that was covered in glitter and sequins to the top right and corner of the mask.  The glitter wire is in fact some Christmas bits that I bought from Lakeland Plastics years ago and forgot all about it until rummaging in the garage.

Glue guns are great for this sort of thing and I have a mini one so a reduced chance of burning any fingers.

I did add some braid around the edge to neaten it up.

Dowel with mask on is added to the base block and.......

The final outcome has turned out much better than I thought it would!  I love blue anyway and the gold added to it just makes it.  The mask could be used still and there are ribbon ties hiding around the back.  However, it has turned out heavier than I expected so using the dowel stick would be a better option.

So....what do you think?  I made a mask years ago as part of may degree but it was nothing like this.  I do think it helped the students who were not sure where to start to give this their best but some feedback from all of you would be great.  I am going to do this project differently and with an older age group in September.

One of the reasons why I started this blog was to have comments about what I had made, was it successful, does it look right etc, but comments have been very small over the past few months. perhaps blogger has made it too difficult to leave comments, especially for those who are not familiar with it.  Sometimes I can not read the anti spam words that you have to type in!

Any comments would be gratefully appreciated and there are loads of templates and tutorials on the net and Youtube if you fancy having a go yourself, they are ideal doe New Years parties.

xx

Spring/Summer Bag

I am going to look towards Spring and Summer even if the weather isn't. More snow forecast this week, but we are still keeping our fingers crossed for flying on Saturday! Anyway, my next bag instalment is this...I had the beige fabric for a while, left over from another project. The gorgeous flower fabric I found in a shop in Truro which sells Cath Kidston fabric but I am fairly sure that this is NOT Cath Kidston fabric. Still very attractive. It is a lovely soft cotton, cotton and flowers will get me every time. A timeless combination.

This is my own design and I have been playing around with details on it. Such as the ring so that the length of the strap can be altered but still look good.

An adjustable buckle could have been used but I find that on pale fabric it can leave a mark and I find them a bit annoying.

Where the two bands of colour change I put a zip and pocket as it is useful to have a section to maybe put your keys or mobile. When zipped up you can hardly see it. I have not put a zip in the top but I might put a magnetic fastening in the next version. i am trying to keep costs down and I do like the freedom of just popping things in rather than fighting too often with fastenings. the zippered pocket serves as some security.

The same beige fabric has been used as the lining as it will be strong and easy to find things as the bag will not be so dark! Indigo Blue label is also added. There will also be some matching coin purse to go with this bag. there is another in the pipe line where the flower fabric is used as the accent colour. these are fun to make. I usually spend an evening cutting out several of them and then stitch a bag at a time. It is the cutting out that takes the time I am going to France with the school in June so I am going to take many of the ideas of have had for my bags and make myself The bag of all bags! quite a challenge but I have plenty of time.

This will be listed in my Etsy shop and I will probably put the other one in Folksy when it is finished.

Off to do some marking and check out the weather reports. Many thanks for the lovely comments, especially from some new visitors, do please keep coming back as I do like to add to my blog list, which I can not do if I do not know you are there.

Take care

xx

XX

New Bag added

This bag has just been added to my Esty shop. I am never sure whether to put items into Etsy or Folksy. If you see anything in Etsy but prefer to deal via Folksy then let me know which item it is and I will swap the item over. Which shop do you prefer? Which do you think is better, easier to use etc?

You may remember that I used the same material to make a bag for a friends 40th birthday. I still have some of this fabric left so one more bag will be made. This time I will use one of my own patterns which I have been working on during these dark evenings when sewing is not always easy. I want to develop more of my own ideas and I do have to honest in that I temd to design shapes that I would like to buy and use. Not sure if that is the right way to go about it, but unless it is a commission, you can really only go on your gut instinct can't you? Even daylight bulbs can make your eyes ache after a while. I really like the subtle rose design on this fabric and when you turn the fabric over the colour way is the opposite way round.

I have another bag to show you tomorrow if the pictures come out ok and then I have to decide Etsy or Folksy? Perhaps you should decide for me. Off to get back to my knitting. I have finished two more squares since the last post.

Take care

xx