Embroidered Pillow Case

My Ex Mother-In-Law said she had seen one of her friends with a pillowcase that had her name sewn on it and asked if I could have a look and see if I could find out about them.  I am still not quite sure what she meant but thought I would try to do her something along those lines for her birthday this year.

She uses a pillow on her settee as a cushion so it woudn't matter about embroidering over it all (not like as if she was going to lay her face on it and get a pattern on her face).

I found a nice white cotton pillowcase in my local charity shop that looked brand new, the tag inside doesn't look like it had been washed.  I had a look on the internet for some ideas as I haven't done any proper embroidery for years, just labels for my quilts.  I used a couple of designs I found for some pretty flowers and then found a lovely poem that had a couple of lines about a pillow in it which was very appropriate so I wrote this out on the pillowcase and embroidered over the top of the words.  I also put her name on the top.

Here are a couple of pics of how it turned out.  It looks very big to me but I think that might be because it has a bit around the edge outside where the pillow goes sort of like how a frill would be but not frilly.

Here is a close up of the poem.

I think the writing could have been a bit straighter but all in all I am happy with the outcome.

Another Quilt

I have finished the quilt for my other Sister.  This one is a smaller quilt which drapes over the end of the bed which I think is called a scarf.

The colours don't exactly go with my duvet cover but should go with her brown, cream and white bedroom.

I bought the centre piece first and measured it as being 15 inches across then worked out that I would need 3 x 5" finished squares to fit across one side, adding on 1/2" for seams gave me 5 1/2 inch squares to cut out.

I had to have 7 squares each side of the centre so I made six strips with 7 squares in each strip alternating them from dark to light.  Then I sewed three sets of strips together for each end giving me two large rectangular blocks.  Next I sewed one block onto each side of the centre piece so I had one longer rectangle.  Then I sewed 2 strips with 17 squares in each strip and sewed these strips one on each side to finish it off.  It was quite easy to keep the seams together as I stitched, I just had to be careful when going past the centre piece to make sure the next seam would come in the right place.

I hand quilted the top piece together with the wadding and backing fabric by sewing diagonally through each small square both ways making a cross in the centre of each.  I missed out the centre piece until I had quilted everything else then I hand stitched around all the lines of the squares on the centre and the circle in the middle.

For a finishing touch I sewed some small pearl beads onto the centre piece but you can't see them in the photos.

Hoody No 2

Here is the hoody I made for my middle Grandson's birthday.  I used about 1 1/2 metres of fleece and the same in lining material.  The jacket is lined throughout.  I reckon its cost me about £15 to make including some toggles which I bought from my local sewing shop to put on the cords at hem and hood to stop them pulling through.

There is one thing I am not happy about and that is that I forgot to match up the checks on the pockets.  I had matched everything else like down the front either side of the zip but didnt even think about the pockets until after I had sewn them on and then it was too late as I had double sewn the corners to reinforce them.  Still, I am sure he won't moan about it.

Craft Desk

I have just about finished decorating my spare room which I use for my craft room and this is my desk where I do all my sewing. 

I made the desk myself by building a frame into the corner of the room where we have an alcove.  The alcove is 6 feet wide so it is quite a big desk.  Once I had the frame built I used some slats of wood I had from an old set of shelves we were going to throw out.  The drawers underneath were from an old dressing table which I took the top off and then slid them under the new desk at each end.  I painted everything to match my room and I am very pleased with it all.

Hoody

My son bought me some Laura Ashley fabric for Christmas, there were two pieces each one metre in length and both co-ordinating fabric.  I couldn't think what to make out of them but then the other day I bought myself a hoody top from New Look and thought I could try to make myself one out of the fabrics if there was enough.

One piece of fabric was a looser weave than the other and looks like it would be used for curtains, this fabric is white with a pale green flower on it.  I used this piece to cut out the front and back of the hoody.  The other piece of fabric is pale green with white spots on and is more like the cotton you would use to make a bed cover out of or something similar.  I used this to cut out the sleeves and hood.

I had to buy a 24 inch open end zip.  I didn't put a rib around the cuffs or bottom but just did a hem.

Napkin Holders, Christmas Favor Boxes and Centre Piece

This morning I made some napkin holders and favor boxes.

The holders are just a piece of card which I tried to roll up but it didn't go very well, so once I stuck the embellishment on the front I flattened the whole thing and think it looks better like this now.

The idea for the boxes were from  this site  and was passed on to me by Julie (elysia2003).  I have put three chocolate mint squares inside which I placed in a small bag first as they were not wrapped.  Should be fine as we are having our special dinner on Saturday.  I found that the sides of the boxes wouldn't quite go together where they met at the point and left a bit of a gap.  This was probably due to there being three mints in each but I thought two was a bit stingy.  I punched holes in the top and threaded the red ribbon to tie them up so that they are not glued together, it is just the red ribbon holding them together.  On the front I glued a triangle of some patterned glitter card I found in my craft box that I have had for years and then I stuck two small pieces of curling ribbon and a small gift bow on as well.

I made a centre piece for the table by placing a candle in the centre then putting one of those rings you can buy with the holly and pine cones on it around the outside, it is gold coloured.  Then I bought some small LED lights which are run buy two AA batteries, they come from 99p shop and are shaped like stars.  I twisted thenm around the outside of the cones etc and then placed a piece of thick gold tinsel around the outside so I could hide the wires and the pack for the batteries under it.  Here is a picture of what it looks like with and without the lights on.

Fourth Shirt

Well, here is the fourth shirt finished at last.  The buttons took an age to come because of the snow but they came yesterday so I managed to make the buttonholes and sew on the buttons.

The shirt is made out of a small gingham check which only cost me £1 a metre so including buttons and interfacing the whole shirt cost less than £4 to make.