Stitching

It's restful.

Mindful Stitches

I've been very inspired by the work of Jude Hill (http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/) and others who work with cloth and hand stitching. 

Sitting with fabric and thread and piecing broken and torn things into something new (or newer), giving a longer life to some much used pieces of fabric... This is confirming and comforting. 

I've been working on a Big Stitch piece made with natural dyed fabric from a fun adventure weekend my friend and neighbour hosted this summer :

It's layered on old flannel from a thrift store sheet and backed with two layers of beautifully soft cotton sheeting. The stitches are crochet cotton, just long running stitches in no particular order or arrangement. It makes a really lovely rippled texture that feels wonderful. 

Today I decided to invest some time I'm an old (old) quilt. This was my dad's when he was a boy, and it saw lots of use on my bed as a child, and on my son's bed when he was little. The fabric is wearing through in many places, but the quilt as a whole is still reasonably intact... Certainly sufficient as a base for some creative stitching repair. 

I am finding pieces in my fabric bin and making new patches to appliqué over the worn places. 

The binding is going to take some thinking, but it's a lovely, unhurried sort of project, perfect for these weary days. 

Upcycled bucket bag

I found myself in a sewing mood. 

I pulled out my bin of reusable fabrics (cut from old clothing and prepared for use then rolled and stored in an under bed container) and found some denim and parts of two old sheets. 

Here's what I ended up with :

Construction is simple. 

Trace a plate on your fabric for the base. Then mark a "starting point" on the edge of the plate and roll it along a straight edge of fabric to measure the length of  the side - add enough for your seam allowance then cut a rectangle that long and as tall as you want the bucket side to be.

Make another set the same from lining fabric. 

For outside pockets, cut another rectangle only shorter, I used flannel folded in half with the fold as the top edge. Stitch it to the right side of the side piece, top stitching at intervals to make multiple pockets. You could do the same on the lining for interior pockets, though I didn't on this one. 

Sew the side seam to make a big tube, then stitch the bottom to the sides, right sides together - just go slowly and ease around the curves. 

Make the lining the same, then slide it into the outer bucket. My lining was a little taller than the outside piece so I folded it over and stitched it down like a hem - if they are equal height, just fold both in and press then stitch together -  blanket stitch with embroidery floss makes a great edge. 

After that, decorate!

I appliquéd hearts, and made a little bag for my thimble (which I really don't want to lose, it was my Gram's)...

And I made a needle book with two layers of fabric machine stitched together then a slim roll of tshirt fabric basted along the middle for stabbing through:

The strap is a piece of heavy binding of had, with thrift store ribbon stitched along the centre, then hand basted to the side of the bucket. 

The finished bucket holds a stash of thrift store ribbon, thread, and embroidery floss, there's a pocket for scissors and one for a pencil or two... It should serve to contain my stitching mess a little bit better. 

And it was so much fun in expect to make several more - perhaps with quilted sides next time. :)