https://youtube.com/shorts/x49Wqx_8NEE
When a student asked me to embroider her recently finished dress with Lobsters, I opened up Hatch Embroidery Software and got to work. With my Brother Sewing and Embroidery machine it was so easy
One of the things I genuinely love about sewing is making boring things. Need a new tote bag, sew it, need a new placemat, sew it or as it happens in this case, need new non paper towels, sew it!
I first made not paper towels a few years back and I’ve found them so very useful. I was cleaning up my fabrics, came across some flannel scraps and decided to sew them up straight away and get them into use. I followed the same principles as I did in this video I made showing how to make Not Paper Towels and the pattern is available here
Generally I use these for all kinds of cleaning and they’ve been handy in the winter time to wipe down the insides of our windows which are prone to collecting condensation to the point of dripping water….thanks poor Australian housing standards which never specify the use of double glazing.
If you’ve got some flannel scraps lying around I highly recommend making some up, you’ll be surprised at just how useful they are. Plus you just throw them in the wash with the towels and they come out ready to be used over and over.
Pattern – Not Paper Towels by Measure Twice Cut Once
Fabric – left over flannel scraps
The Active beanie pattern (buy the pattern here) and check out the video of how to sew it here is such a favourite of mine, not only is it a super fast make, it takes next to no fabric, is perfect for scrap busting and makes awesome gifts!
I normally make a bunch of them whenever I’ve cutting out anything merino and then they either go into the cupboard ready to grab before a run or walk or get added to the present box where I keep everything I make all year intended for gifts.
Here are some I made recently, I mixed and matched colours making sure all fabric scraps were utilised to their fullest extent.
Pattern: The Active Beanie by Measure Twice Cut Once
Fabric: merino wool jersey scraps and leftovers
Encouraged by my successful socks using the fade yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills I dove right pack in and cast on another pair!
I’m using the same basic sock pattern so I can get more practice using the magic loop method. I’m also struggling with joining in the round at the moment so it’s taking a few goes to get it right.
The orange yarn feels slightly thinner than the self striping yarn. Both are merino blends but 2 different brands and I think I got them from Maker Maker Store in Melbourne via an online order? I found the details and added them down below
After the last fade sock where the heel was the same yarn the whole way though, I found having a contrast yarn so much easier to see and deal with! Will be remembering that for future pairs.
I liked the contrast heel so much I did the same for the toe, I’m still struggling with the grafting stitch so the toes aren’t as smooth as I would like but they are better than the last ones so I think at this stage continuous improvement is a good sign.
So far I’ve been following the pattern and just using a ruler to measure when it says “make rib to 3cm” it works mostly but having to keep trying on the sock for my foot length which is slightly annoying for some reason?
At one point I was trying on one of each sock to see how my tension and fit was between 2 different yarns.
I also adore the self striping yarn! It makes me look so much fancier than I actually am in my sock knitting journey!
Pattern: The I’m so basic sock with video tutorial from Summer Lee
Yarn: Both from Maker Maker in Melbourne – Self striping yarn Chaska Sky Collection × 1
F995 Pink Sunset and Solid Orange Yarn Edelweiss Classic × 1
408 Warm Orange
Changes: made the foot shorter as per my last pair
Due to an enormous backlog of finished projects to share, I’ve decided to dive right in and not adhere to strict chronological order. Mostly because if I don’t start now I never will and also because it doesn’t matter when they were made only that they were made! So let’s get to it!
A trip to Fiji (2023) is a pretty mind blowing thing to prepare for, not only is it not the normal type of holiday for us to go on it was also preceded with a super busy time period. Having now been on the holiday it was amazing, we loved it and would do again!
Being the water lover that I am I knew I’d be in as much as I could and thought a second long sleeve rash vest would help protect me from the sun. Using Jalie Valerie I quickly whipped one up from this gorgeous pink swim lycra from the stash (originally from Pitt Trading now The Makers Society) my only changes were to make the arms longer than I normally do and make the neck band slightly wider.
and yes hats and sunglasses in the water were very necessary for anyone wanting to avoid some sun. The water is very calm so it’s not like you are going to lose everything when a wave hits you or anything like that.
Sewing wise I did the entire of the seams using my overlocker and then hemmed the sleeves and body using my coverstitch machine, super speedy nice and secure.
In some of these photos I’m wearing my previously made Jalie Valerie in a white and blue floral lycra also from The Makers Society.
At the last minute the day before we flew I decided to make one for The Englishman in whatever I had on hand which was some navy swim lycra and some athletic lycra in a sharkskin type print for the side panels.
Am so glad I did because we practically lived in these things as we explored the waters around the resort. we had an absolutely wonderful time and we didn’t get sunburnt so winning all around.
Can also highly recommend reef shoes, these are a neoprene upper with a rubber base and it made climbing through rock pools or traversing sand littered with coral a breeze. A must for anyone who wants to explore and swim.
Pattern: Valerie from Jalie – made my sleeves longer and wider neck band for me (in a previous version I have blended the sizing from my bust size out to my waist and hip. I found doing this stops it from riding up while paddleboarding, this is now my base pattern I use), no changes for The Englishman
Fabric: embroidered cotton lawn and plain cotton lawn both from the stash originally from Pitt Trading
Changes: pattern changes as noted above
I’m not a quilter, I’m most definitely a garment sewer and the few quilts I’ve made have been out of leftover scraps from my garment projects. Then one day I was mindlessly scrolling through instagram and I spot a quilt pattern for a gum blossom. It was stunning and on impulse I bought the pattern and kit for the project.
It sat for awhile till I had some time and I thought I’d better start as I wanted to give it as a gift for Christmas. The pattern was actually a hand drawn to scale drawing of the final piece and the instructions told you to trace out each individual piece and then add seam allowance around each one. You then referred to another chart to figure out what colour each piece would be. Another list would then tell you what colour code then corresponded to the fabrics included in the kit. I found this frustrating as it all could’ve been laid out in a much clearer way that reduced the amount of back and forth for the sewer and given this was not a cheap pattern or kit the lack of attention to detail was doubly frustrating.
Oh and the most frustrating drive me bonkers almost give up the entire thing was that the the images didn’t match the same orientation as the pattern. Some are mirror images, some are not. Zero consistency. So frustrating.
Eventually I got all the pieces cut out and started to assemble. At first I followed the instructions which were adamant that you were not to press any of the seams and that some panels were to be joined to the halfway mark and then left. It was looking and feeling like a big hot mess. I ditched the instructions, laid out all the pieces in formation on my desk and then picked the up one by one, attached and pressed them and suddenly it all came together much faster than trying to follow the instructions.
Once I had the one panel done it as fine but it was too big for a cushion, too small for a blanket. Other patterns were included in the booklet so I drew a square the same size as the first panel, hand drew out the designs, cut it up and added seam allowance then cut out the fabrics and sewed it all together.
I needed some extra fabric so I popped over to The Selvedge Society who were supremely helpful in matching colours, choosing a Liberty cotton backing and suggesting the most amazing spot to use for the binding. After such an enormous struggle of frustration to get some straight forward good advice was just so wonderful.
While the pattern and instructions were lesson in frustration the final quilt looks good. I need to do better with my binding corners and when I washed it one of the original fabrics from the kit bled onto the pale blue resulting in some very panicked colour removing.
Will I quilt again yes, will I use this pattern again a solid no.
Photos taken while on holidays in England in a frosty and cold -7 degrees
For Christmas 2021 The Englishman received a beautiful set of handmade gardening tools from his parents. To keep them safe he asked me to make a tool bag or tool roll for him. I made it very early in 2022 and then never got round to taking the photos to post up this blog of it all. So finally I’ve taken photos and I’m sharing it!
We decided a roll would be best as it would keep them separated from each other and protect them more.
I measured the height of the tools and decided to add a bit of a mat to them so he could kneel or just rest things on it as he works on his plants.
With that as a vague plan I basically winged it. Decided on a base size, quilted some bamboo batting to one side, made a pocket and stitched it on the other side. I really just made it entirely up as I went.
To tidy the edges of the pocket I decided to use some cotton tape and then thought I’d make loops at the top in the idea that if we ever had the space he’d be able to hang it up for easy access. I used the same tape to create the closure to the roll.
As a surprising bonus is if you fold the base behind the pocket you can use the closure tape to go through the loops and wear it like an apron. An entirely unexpected but very lucky result.
I have no idea how long this took as I did it over a day while doing other things at the same time but I’m so pleased with how functional it worked out.
Fabric: cotton duck from Spotlight purchased Dec 2021 and intended for something else but got used for this
Pattern: made it up as I went
Alterations: none so far
First up apologies for the sound, seems like a jet lagged me was a bit lax with actually connecting the microphone to the recording device so I’m sorry for that. Also sorry for my ugly feet (why are feet so ugly? Like why???) so just ignore them and focus on the pretty bath mat.
Right with that out of the way, this is Sew Japanese in January a fun challenge set out by @ bloglessanna on Instagram to encourage people to use their beautiful Japanese sewing books.
The book I’m using translates as “Goods made with simple fabrics – bags and miscellaneous” ISBN978-4-594-06361-0 I got it on my last trip to Japan so it’s many years old now but I love the simple and practical ideas.
Everything was sewn on my Brother NV180D
My nail polish is from Hanami “Tides” not an add just a huge fan.
As always thanks for watching if you have questions please leave a comment and please subscribe it’s a really easy way to help support the work I do.
Lastly thanks to Anna of @ bloglessanna for running such a fun challenge each January and July!
Hi Everyone, normally you see me doing the unboxing of The Lingerie Society subscription boxes, this time I’m sharing what I made from the March 2022 box.
You can see the earlier cutting out and planning portion in another video. You can watch that one here https://youtu.be/VpdtvkTnzB8
Patterns used Maya Bralet by Studio Costura https://www.studiocostura.com/patrones
Box from The Lingerie Society by Pitt Trading https://www.pitttrading.com.au/the-li…
See more of my sewing and shop patterns at https://www.measuretwicecutonce.com.au
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What I’m wearing Dress Pattern: Myosotis from Deer and Doe in Liberty of London Tana Lawn
Earrings: Harry and Herne
