Stenciling mastered...

I look at the pictures I posted in February this year showing my first attempts at stenciling onto fabric and I cringe! Lots of research and practice later, and most importantly, the right tools, and this is my first top I made with this method.

This is a repeat of several paisley patterns I bought from The Stencil Company at the HobbyX craft exhibition in Johannesburg in March this year. The paint is a charcoal grey, not sure if you can see the color clearly.

I added an African pattern to the sleeves. Cute. Really love this top. I have a few others that are in progress, hanging on the walls of my sewing room...

Like this natural color knit top with the cutest African dance scene stencilled on. This stencil is just one of the extensive range available on www.theafricanstencilcompany.com based in Cape Town.

A closer picture of the dance scene...stenciling with a sponge makes all the difference!

And this is a skirt I am working on. I plan to do lots more of these.

How to: Make your own Stencils

I have been experimenting with fabric painting, using stencils. And I discovered the wonderful world of Lotta Jansdotter http://www.jansdotter.com. I just love her simple, almost child-like, drawings. I have been really disappointed with stencils available locally, so I decided to make my own stencils.

First I had to decide on patterns. I went back to my old Scrapbooking albums when I started playing around with texture in my layouts. All my favorite flower shapes were there. None of them conventional shapes. I drew the shapes freehand on some tracing paper.

Then I traced the shapes onto a plastic sheet with a permanent marker. It takes a minute or two to dry and then does not smudge at all!

Now comes the difficult part. Cutting out the shapes is NOT easy and needs a very steady hand and patience. It took a few tries before I got the hang of it. Use a self-healing cutting mat, tape the plastic sheet to the mat with masking tape and using your X-Acto knife, cut the shapes out. That's it! Your stencil is ready to use.

My first try at making a stencil (based on many online tutorials) was to trace the shape on very thick cardboard and cutting it out with my craft knife. Needless to say this was time-consuming and not the best way!

For my first stencil painting effort I used a stencil brush. This may be good if used on other surfaces, such as walls, but on fabric it did not work so well!

The paint was tick and the edges fuzzy...

I made the paint thinner, but it was still not a good result. I decided to try a foam sponge. All I had in the house was the pot scourers and I cut one in half. What a great result! I have subsequently purchased some paint sponges from the art shop. They are inexpensive and work great!

These are bunny shapes printed on skirt panels. The skirt is a gift for a friend. It is best to first cut out your skirt or top panels, then print your shapes on the fabric and then sew your project. It takes several hours for the paint to dry properly and then you need to iron the paint to set it. You either iron with a piece of cloth over the motif, or you iron the back of the fabric with the motif on, but not directly on the paint.

The plastic sheets are from Showbiz but are still not the thickness I want for my stencils. The plastic stencils work so well. Easy to clean and store, can be re-used a million times and the printed image is clear and precise. I will soon share some of my projects! Have a great week!

Hope Dress

I don't believe I have the tension quite right yet on my new serger, but at least the thread does not snap off anymore. What a beautiful and neat finish it gives clothing. Why have I never used one before? Here is my completed version of the Hope Dress.

It does not look like the Hope Dress at all! This is a shorter version that started out as a top, but now looks more like a cardigan/jacket to me. Here it is without a belt...

And here it is with a belt...I realize that I will have to wear this top with slim-fit pants or skirt to avoid looking big. I also spent some time shortening the hems of a few new pairs of linen pants last night.

Then I made this lovely and simple knit top. I used a top I bought as a template for making my own pattern. It has a seam in the middle of the front and all seams are serged instead of being sewn. It has these cute little cap sleaves. Really nice top, very quick to make and looks stunning.

And then, when I was serging the neckline, my hand slipped and I pulled the fabric and the serger took a huge bite out of the neckline! Can you see it on the pic above? Look at the scew neckline to the left. I was so MAD at myself! It happened with the one sleeve too, but I could fix that easily. The neckline, nor so easy to fix. I tried to cut the right side to match, but it looks funny now. Tonight I will serge it again and make the neckline more round to even it out. I obviously still need to get more driving experience on the serger....

Serge ahead!

I am delighted to report that I have solved my serger problems. Last night I ripped out a serger book I bought a while ago and also googled my problem and continued to thread, and re-thread and I fiddled and...finally it worked! I don't care why. So, I finally did some sewing! And this is what I started making...

I LOVE it! I used some of the new knit fabric I bought at Tasha's Habby Shoppe at the Mosselbay Mall on holiday. Tasha has the most amazing fabric shop, so pay her a visit if you are in the area. This fabric is stunning. I used the Hope Wrap Dress pattern you can find FREE here http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/hope-wrap-dress.

The creator claims the dress pattern is a size 34, which is my size, but it soon became clear that this is a very small size 34! I think she used fabric that has quite a lot of stretch in it. Fortunately I cut mine a bit bigger as I could see the waist was very tiny. It was however still small, so I came up with the idea of making the neck trimming wider.

Not the greatest picture, but you can still see my stunning serging in the neckline. I picked green and pink from the colours on the fabric and made a wider neckline band. I did not even finish off the green fabric, just sewed it on the pink closer to the edge. I am really pleased with the result so far.

I still need to sew on the sleeves, finish the hem and the sash. Very nice indeed!

Here is a pic of some of the fabric I bought from Tasha's Habby Shoppe. The black fabric with the white daisies is my next project! I hope to finish my top tonight and will share pics soon!

Stretch Knit Jacket

Today I want to share my STRETCH KNIT JACKET with you. After several days of searching on the Internet to find a pattern, I finally looked through all my Burdastyle magazines. I found several that I really liked, but then decided to make a pattern from a store-bought jacket I already own and adore. In fact, I own two of these jackets.

This is my favorite. It has a huge blue owl stitched onto the back. The stitching is done in a unique way, making the seams look unfinished and using contrasting colour thread.

This is the second jacket, in a dark creme colour with black flower pattern. This one has a large flower stitched on the back. Both jackets are from a local designer OLKAPOLKA and can be bought at Big Blue or YDE.

I layed the jacket on my sewing table and copied the panel pieces to make my own pattern. Using stretch knit fabric I just ordered from Hobby Lobby in the US, this is my first attempt:

I added white stretch knit fabric for lining. I just love the white contrast detail on the sleeves! The button holes were a REAL challenge! Even after adding some iron-on support, it was still a challenge. I did most of the buttonholes by hand in the end.

I love the almost "unfinished" look of the sewing detail. The original jacket is sewn by putting the lining and outer jacket parts wrong sides together, leaving the seams looking unfinished. Very cool effect! I am planning several more of this jacket with a few small changes such as more firm support in the front panels and collar.

Gorgeous Crochet Shrugs!

This post is a few days later than promised, but worth waiting for I can promise you! I was browsing on Ravelry a few weeks ago and happened upon the 9 -to-5 Shrug pattern. Wow! I love quick, simple, easy projects and this one fits the bill. Imagine making a little jersey in just a few hours, all in one piece - no seperate pattern pieces...


This is my first attempt at this cute and easy little Shrug, although it is based on another tutorial, whilst I was waiting for the 9-to-5 Shrug pattern to be published in Crochet World magazine.


And this is my first 9-to-5 Shrug. Gorgeous isn't it? I have no less than another 6 planned, of which 3 are already in progress. Yes, all at the same time. I get bored easily, so each day I can pick which one I want to continue with. I know, progress is slow, but I will get there!

This pattern is in the August 2011 issue of Crochet World magazine, which can be purchased in an e-book format from their website.

Right now, I am looking for the perfect tutorial to sew a Drape Cardigan. I think I have finally found it today. Will share soon!

Off-the-shoulder tops

I am still here. Still sewing, creating, just not blogging. A new bug bit me. Actually a few. I was sick for 5 weeks can you believe! Flu and then a very nasty stomach virus. I am finally better now. The other bug is Facebook. After many years I finally joined the social networking craze and found a whole lot of old schoolfriends. Really awesome!

Anyway, I missed my blog. And my sewing friends! So I took some pics and decided not to bore you with the almost 20 (!) peasant style tops I made since my last blogpost. I will instead share the other sewing craze I have been busy with. It was literally a crazy quest. I saw a picture of an awesome top on a romance novel cover. And I wanted to make one. Here is the cover pic.

Isn't this a gorgeous top? I searched the Internet for a pattern. No luck. I did find one very good tutorial here http://girlispoison.blogspot.com/.../tutorial-off-shoulder-crop-top-w-sewing.html. This lady had a really awesome picture tutorial and a free pattern! Go check it out.

Sadly, this pattern did not work for me. I had some issues with my underarms bunching up, no matter which parts I sewed first. If any of you do try this lady's pattern and get it right, please drop me a line and tell me where I went wrong. So I started looking at my own patterns and started modifying them. This is my first attempt...

What I did was to take standard bodice and sleeve pattern pieces from other patterns I have.

All I did then was to fold down the top parts of the two pattern pieces, as shown in the picture above. I also shortened the sleeve length. The armholes must fit perfectly.

I forgot to mention that I used a back bodice pattern piece. Here are the cut out pieces, ready to sew. I added a band for the top that will fit your shoulders. I sewed the sides of the bodice pieces together and also the sleeves. Then I fitted the sleeve pieces inside the bodice piece, right sides together, and sewed that together.

This is what it looks like all sewn together. All that needs to be done now is sewing the neckband on - not a strong point of mine - and the hems. Pretty simple, hey?

Here it is on! Getting closer to my quest for the perfect off-the-shoulder top. Close enough that I tried another one...

This one a bit longer to wear with skinny jeans or leggings. Pretty nice. But I was still not happy. I then had a brainwave. I often see sewists use store-bought tops they like as a basis for a pattern to make more of a top that fits well. So I went hunting in my closet...

And found this top. Love it! Fits very well and almost exactly what I am looking for. It will need some modifications, but it's close.

So here is the pattern I drafted from the top. The sleeve was drawn using the same principle as used in the peasant top tutorial I mentioned a while back. You draft the sleeve using the armhole part of the bodice as a basis so you have a perfect fit. Can you see the similarities between the sleeve pattern piece and the bodice piece? The armhole and neck part is exactly the same.

And here is the grand finale! The top I wanted from the start. In my favorite fabric too. I still need to work on making the neckband on my next top a bit tighter, but I am very pleased with the result. Hope it inspires you to make your own off-the-shoulder top too!

I have a few more cut out and ready for sewing on my cutting table. Thank you for all the lovely comments about my peasant tops post in February! Here is the link for the peasant top I used as a basis for my pattern: http://www.thingsofcloth.com/.../Adult-size_Peasant_Blouse_Tutorial.pdf This pattern's bodice is not shaped. I modified mine a lot, so play around until you get the result you want. Happy sewing!

More peasant tops...

If you visit my blog often, you will know that once I find a good clothing pattern, I make hundreds of the same item...At the moment, I am all hung up on the peasant-style tops, using two patterns I made myself using a pattern from the Bernina magazine as a basis for one, and a store-bought top for the other.

Last week, before a severe sinus infection hit me, I made a plain black top and this top. The above top is made from a lovely mint green jersey knit with black polka dots. This pattern has several pieces, sleeves, top front, top back and then lower front and lower back. It is based on a store bought top that I love wearing.

I finally started feeling human again last night and decided to draft my own cap sleeve top pattern. This is after I searched through my own (one million!) patterns and then went online and bought more patterns from http://www.sewingpatterns.com. Needless to say, the patterns I bought were not what I was looking for! But they are very nice...

Once again, I used bits and pieces of other patterns and the rest I did by hand. Think this will work. As soon as I have time, I plan to try this pattern out.

Hope you all have a great week!

2011 so far...

(Love this sign, from Hobby Lobby.)

Hard to believe it is already February! A (very) late Happy New Year to all my blog friends! Life has been hectic the last 2 months. A lovely holiday at a Game Farm in Limpopo Province where we spent Xmas, followed by New Year at home and on 6 January 2011 off to a very cold, and snowy, Chicago.

As always, the shopping was fabulous in Chicago. I braved the snow and wind with my only-used-once-before duck down coat, gloves and the most adorable earmuffs, my friend Juanita and I did a marathon shopping expedition for 12 hours straight!

We visited old favorites such as Knitche, Hobby Lobby and Jo-Ann's. Here are some stretch knit fabrics I bought from Jo-Ann and Hobby Lobby.

I have already made a few things with these fabrics and will share pics soon. I also bought some stunning yarn. I bought so much that I had to fill a seperate bag, send some home with Fedex and stash some in a colleagues bag! I found some awesome super bulky yarn, the burnt orange felting yarn I have always wanted and some super Red Heart Super Savers at only $2,79 for over 300m!

I found this stunning cerise pink cover for my Kindle on Amazon.com.

What makes this cover awesome is the built-in light. Now I can read in bed every night!

At Barnes & Noble I found Amy's new book (and had hot chocolate at the Starbucks inside). Some stunning bag designs a la Amy inside, just waiting to be tried. More about the shopping I did in Chicago in my next blog post.

I have a few store-bought tops in my closet based on this pattern. Despite searching the Internet for weeks, I am unable to find this pattern. So I made my own. I used pieces of other patterns and improvised, tested, until I had a winner. This is the first top from my own pattern that meets my full approval. Fits like a dream.

What's on my sewing table right now? Crappy pic but this is a skirt I cut from stretch knit fabric in lime green with black polka dots. I bought it this morning from a local fabric shop. I also have several tops cut out and ready to sew.

I joined Facebook a week ago. Very addictive! Have a awesome week!

Weekend sewing

The weather has been pretty gloomy here in Joburg this past weekend. Rain, rain and more rain. Perfect for reading (on my kindle) and sewing, of course. I decided to play around a bit more with sewing some shirred tops. I have been struggling to find the right tension on my sewing machine, but it seems I finally found it!

The pictures are not great because of the gloomy weather. This stretch knit fabric is a lovely bright yellow. I copied a pattern from one of my favorite store-bought tops. Really simple. I have been dying to try making a top with two different colour fabrics for a while, so here is my first attempt in yellow and black.

A close-up picture of the sleeve detail. I used a very fine zig-zag stitch, called an embroidery stitch on my machine, to finish the sleeve and neck edges. I decided to go for contrast detail and did it in yellow on the black fabric. Looks very nice. The original top had cropped sleeves that were shirred, but I made it longer and decided to rather go for a flair sleeve. I quite like it.

You might remember me making this bag a while back? All it needed was for me to sew in the lining. Shocking that I had cut and sewn the lining months ago, I just needed to sew it into the bag! Well, all done now. Love this bag!

My HTC cellphone decided to die on me just 3 months before my contract and free upgrade is due! I did not want to spend a fortune on a phone for just a few months and was delighted to find this cool Vodaphone for only R549! It has all the features I want and a camera too. Not that I ever use the camera on my cellphone...Best of all, it is simple to use and within hours I had my e-mail set-up on it, all my contacts in and my music saved on it.

I am officially on my summer holiday from today! 3 weeks of rest, I hope. So far, not much of a "summer" with all the rain, and not much "holiday" either as I have a few more deadlines to make this week. Lots of Xmas shopping to still do and of course, plenty of time for sewing and crocheting.