Selvedge Magazine | Jane Makes

We were busy at the weekend and the result of this was no sewing time. I did manage to make another zipped purse on Monday night as a present for my sister because I can’t stay away from the sewing machine for too long.

I think this might be my favourite one so far, but it is in the post so too late to keep it for myself. Now the lined and zipped purse is on my list of achievements I’m thinking of making a large one for carrying round my new notebook/tablet on which I write this blog. I will incorporate some wadding for added protection.

Last night after sustaining a kitchen related injury which I blamed entirely on W at the time – although it wasn’t really all his fault – I decided to flounce upstairs and launch into a tidying-up operation in my sewing room!

I know I am really lucky to have my own room in which to create. The room used to belong to one of W’s girls but now they are grown up they no longer need their own rooms at our house and so I claimed this one for myself. It is fairly small but I also have the big table in the conservatory to use for cutting out, subject to the limitations previous referred to (extreme temperatures, bright sunlight in the middle of the day and piles of dead and toasted insects during the summer). I also have a pile of Selvedge magazines in another room. I’m beginning to understand why W thinks sewing is taking over the house!

I am quite an organised person but sewing and craft stuff can very quickly get out of hand and I am inclined to keep all sorts of bits and pieces, including tiny scraps of fabric, just in case they might come in handy. Yesterday evening anything that really wasn’t ever going to prove useful in the future was cleared away and I emerged with three large bagfuls of rubbish. Everything is now where it should be and easy to find. The very tidy pile of fabric on the shelf consists solely of large recently purchased and pristine pieces of fabric which have not yet been turned into garments. There is a LOT more hidden away in baskets under the table and elsewhere. The table is from IKEA and is just a top supported by two trestles which are great for providing extra storage. It doesn’t usually look this clear on top!

Also under the table is a large basket containing knitting and crochet needles and a half-finished cardigan which I am fairly sure I don’t have enough yarn to complete (this was started YEARS ago and the yarn is no longer available).

The weather was quite gloomy first thing this morning so the pictures aren’t great but they give the general idea.

When it comes to yarn-related activities, I love crocheting squares and I have knitted quite a few bags in the past. This strawberry one was my own design and when I look at it now I have absolutely no idea how I managed to do it! However, larger knitting projects are really beyond my abilities and having adapted one of the cardigan sleeves to make it shorter I now have no recollection of what I did to it to enable me to repeat the process on the second sleeve. I did spend some time last night untangling everything so perhaps I’ll have another look at it on a quiet evening.

Knitted Strawberries

Doris insisted on wearing her favourite skirt for her photo (have I mentioned my tendency to anthropomorphise?). My Janome sewing machine is a relatively recent addition which I’m really pleased with and the storage baskets, tins and boxes have been accumulated over the years and are great for keeping things organised – and I’m determined to keep it this way.

Sewing Space

I’ve still not finished the hem on the starfish skirt, although the lining is hemmed. I’m having trouble getting it straight and turning it up the same amount all the way round leaves it dipping at the front. W has agreed to help pin it up. If that doesn’t work I’ll take it round to my mum at the weekend and stand on the coffee table!

I don’t usually buy magazines, sewing or otherwise, although I am lucky enough to get a subscription to Selvedge as a birthday present every year.

However, I am occasionally tempted by a nice cover or a free pattern and I recently spotted a sew along opportunity for a Lisa Comfort (from Sew Over It) skirt in Issue 5 of Simply Sewing magazine. I really liked the shape of this tulip skirt and as there was also a free kit to make a zipped purse I decided to give it a try.

I will almost certainly make the skirt, although I’m not sure my usual sewing impatience will allow me to wait until Issue 7 of the magazine to finish it off! The instructions look really clear and detailed so the project would be ideal for a beginner. The fabric used for the version in the magazine bears a strong resemblance to something I used for one of my Morsbags. I’m pleased to see that nautical fabrics are popular given a recent addition to my wardrobe, previously blogged about here.

Tulip Skirt

Unfinished Morsbag

Nautical Skirt

Onto the free purse kit. This included fabric, zip, bias binding (for the zip pull and optional decoration) and embroidery thread (also optional). I’ve never made a zipped purse with a lining before and the instructions were really easy to follow. There was no mention of using a zipper foot but I used mine anyway. I didn’t time myself but it can’t have taken much more than half an hour to make. I traced off the pattern using my fancy new tracing paper which is really nice and crisp and will definitely be useful for non-sewing projects as well.

I’m not a great one for embellishments so I didn’t bother with the suggested embroidery and bias binding flowers.

I realised I had several zips of a similar length which will never get used for dressmaking so I thought I’d make a few more bags. The second one took a bit longer because I decided to use two different fabrics for each bag piece but it was still a quick make, despite sewing the final seam without realising there was no thread on the bobbin for about 50% of the way round! I have three more zips and plenty of fabric scraps to use up.

Having singed my fingers a couple of times ironing the pleats in these bags I’ve decided I will be investing in some of those silicone finger guards I mentioned in my last post despite their odd appearance!

The magazine has several other useful projects including some lovely stripy beach-inspired items – deckchair, windbreak and duffel bag, instructions on how to make your own bias binding and articles by Tilly Walnes and Claire-Louise Hardie of The Thrifty Stitcher (and resident expert behind the scenes at The Great British Sewing Bee). There is also a rather cute toy monkey to make which would make a nice gift. If I do make the skirt then Simply Sewing will probably have been a good investment and I’ll be recycling it by passing it on to my mother when I’ve finished with it. NB : These views are entirely my own and I’ve not been commissioned by Simply Sewing to review the magazine!

For a final weekend project I re-covered my vintage sleeve board. I can’t believe I’ve not been using this more regularly as it really does make ironing sleeves a doddle. No more creases where you don’t want them. I used this tutorial from Tilly and the Buttons which was really helpful. I left the original heat reflecting cover in place because it was very well secured and was holding the padding in place. I stuck with the instruction to make the cover fabric 5 cms larger than the board itself even though I was working on a smaller scale because the sleeve board is actually pretty much the same depth as my large board. I used some stripy fabric that I’ve had for a while and seems to be never ending. It has already been used to make several bags, an apron and re-cover my mother’s wheat bag.

The application of the bias binding was slightly tricky round the curves on the reverse of the fabric and I was worried that the channel would be restricted but the cord I used was quite fine and it went through without any trouble.

I think the outcome was pretty successful and a great improvement on the rather stained original. I’m not sure I want to tackle a full size board for now although a lovely fabric might make ironing more pleasurable.