A stack of vinyl pouches

You’ll know that I did a bag making course earlier in the year, and I even completed the pouch that I hadn’t quite finished before our holiday. I wanted to get more confident with zips, and since then have gone a bit zip crazy, what with those garden cushions I’ve shared recently, and now this stack of little pouches.

It started with a kit I picked up a while back after seeing them online and deciding I couldn’t live without them. Before the bag making course I sat down to tackle it but got stuck at the first tip, which was to put the interfacing on the whole fat quarter before cutting out - but there was more fat quarter than I needed for the little pouch, and much more than the amount of interfacing included. The other tips for sewing the vinyl put me off too - it recommended using tissue paper, which makes a lot of sense - and a zipper foot. Neither of which I used making these - so the course has been a success as it’s given me the knowledge and confidence to follow what I’ve learnt in practice.

But anyway, they are rather cute - I made the small and mini versions from some of the materials provided in the pack, which are probably ones I wouldn’t have chosen myself, but I like nonetheless.

Following the instructions, and using the materials provided in the kit I ended up with a small vinyl pouch which I’m very pleased with - and definitely benefited from having the experience of a tutor-led session previously, even though it wasn’t for this exact item as there was lots that could be applied to this pouch.

I realised after I’d finished that while I’d used the fleece lining on the pocket’s lining (the insect fabric) I hadn’t used the thinner interfacing anywhere, and it probably would have benefited from it, at least on the strip below the zip.

I decided to have another go and make a mini version - that one didn’t go quite so well, but it does have the interfacing below the zip. I added some ribbon embellishments to the sides as afterwards I worked out that I’d attached the backing piece the wrong way round - doh! I was pleased to find the zigzag strip in my stash as it covers a stitching mishap - but you wouldn’t have known that if I hadn’t told you.

Even at this stage I could see how useful they would be, both for crafts and elsewhere. But I didn’t want to leave it there on my ‘embellished’ version, as I was sure I could master this little pouch, and I’d also been saving some red-checked vinyl which had (strangely) come as packing, all scrunched up between bottles, and I was keen to see if that would work.

Turns out it did, and I’ve now made ten of these pouches, learning and adapting as I’ve gone along - and I’ve got a stack of pretty pouches too!

Navy cross stitch material with red checked vinyl

One of the last mini pouches I made - getting the hang of it now!

A Kaffe Fasset scrap with red-checked vinyl

My tester with the red checked vinyl - I needed a double layer as I didn't like the texture of the rear of it. This one had issues with the zip, in that it doesn't always catch so I'll use this one in my sewing room for things I need to access regularly.

The first mini with embellishments

I added some ribbon on the sides and below the zip to make this one work after a schoolboy error attaching the back.

A blue and books mini

The colours on this one didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but it's a perfectly functioning pouch.

Checked, tiles and pink and yellow

Love this one, and love this fabric - it matches my sunglasses case, so I can see this one having a life outside of my craft room.

Flamingo love!

How cute is this one - the flamingo fabric totally makes it.

Notions and pretty flowers

A good use for this dressmakers fabric, which if I'm honest is likely to be in my B list of fabrics, but it really works for this.

The first and OG

It all started here!

The last of my French Lady fabric

These fabrics first made an appearance in the pouches I made on the bag course - it's the last of the beige fabric and this one's a slightly different size as I didn't want to chop off her head (on the back - not shown).

Zesty velvet and lace

zesty lemon and limes edged with velvet and lace inside the pocket to finish off the edge.

The Magic Moments Border aiming to spark a love for gardening

* I was invited to the press preview of Gardeners’ World Live and provided with a pair of tickets to visit the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

I’m not sure how we’re already mostly through August and how this is the first in my regular series of showing the gardens from this year’s Gardeners’ World Live show since my highlights post. It’s the same every year, though this year does feel slightly busier, perhaps because both of us are no longer working and while our days have some structure, they are much less structured than when we were working full time (obviously). And there’s so much still that we want to do, and go and see and of course everyday life still needs to happen, I just need to get myself more organised to make room for as much as possible in every aspect of our lives, while making sure we don’t wear ourselves out in the process!

Anyway, back to the gardens - this one is one of the showcase gardens, where the show’s blurb promises that we will ‘discover creative and clever design ideas’ which can be adapted for our own home garden.

I think this one caught my eye, not just because of the teddy bear’s picnic, but because at the show I was intent on looking at greenhouses and small sheds in all their guises, and this one has both of those, so it’s an ideal place to start.

The garden designed by Stef Haydon tells ‘the story of many generations, where simple magic moments in backyards and parks have sparked a love for gardening’ - and isn’t that true. I imagine each of us have a happy memory from childhood which when we’re gardening we’re reminded of, for me it could be the trailing lobelia plants tumbling out of small brick wall, or looking in awe at dad’s greenhouse - from the outside of course!

The plants in this garden tell stories of cherished memories, hunting for frog-spawn, making rose perfume (yeap, I think I probably tried that one!) and tasting sun-ripened tomatoes - and doesn’t it just look wonderful?

For my own garden I was keen to explore greenhouses and a small storage ‘thing’ (a thing as I was open to ideas - it’s purpose is to store/hide opened, and not yet opened bags of compost keeping them out of sight, but still secure. And in true goldilocks fashion, the ones in this garden are probably a bit too small for what I had in mind, though I do like the compactness of the greenhouse, but I’m after one I can get into and continue gardening if/when it rains. You’ll hear more on my search for the perfect sized greenhouse and storage I’m sure in future posts!

And one of the best bits about this garden - alongside the calming pebble pond, and the memories I’m sure it has evoked - is that it will be relocated to a Women’s Aid domestic abuse refuge after the show, so it can continue to give and inspire future gardeners.

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was just as good as I expected! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to the show - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Finishing my new hexi sewing machine mat

It’s been a while since I shared how I’d fallen for some of Tula Pink’s bright designs, but since then there’s been a fair bit of activity and I’ve even finished both of my intended makes; one fully, and the other the sewing element is complete, but I’ve still to find the right kind of day to get my paintbrush out.

Today I’m sharing the fully completed project, which wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye back at the start. I enjoyed the whole English Paper Piecing process so much that once I’d finished the top for my sewing box, I wanted to carry on.

And so I did, and the result is a gorgeously bright mat to go under my sewing machine. Not that I really need a mat, but it will prevent any marking on the surface and I’ve got used to having my sewing machine on a mat. I’d been using an old and worn out cutting mat, and that helps me move the sewing machine back and forth on the desk when it’s not in use.

But it wasn’t very pretty. The finished mat is way prettier, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

An organic plan

I didn’t have an exact plan when I started, other than to create a mat for my sewing machine. I knew I wanted it roughly the same size as the old and worn cutting mat I’d been using, but I hadn’t really worked out - at the start anyway - how I was going to finish it, if I was going to quilt it (or how), and what the backing would be.

I knew I probably had some batting somewhere, so that was covered and I knew I wasn’t keen on having the hexagonal shapes on the edges, so I was always going to square those off somehow.

But when I started, finishing this mostly hand sewn project seemed a long way off.

Yes mostly hand sewn.

All of the piecing and quilting on the colourful front is done by hand. The binding was added with two rows of machine stitching on the front, and attached to the back by hand sewing slip stitches all the way round.

The back though is mostly machine sewn, the strips pieced by machine and also quilted by machine. And you know what, that’s perfectly ok.

Starting out

Back in January I needed to crack on with assembling enough hexies, and deciding on a layout - and the layout was probably the hardest part!

In my head I thought I’d create a colour graduating design, which would look both slick and chic. But try as I might, it didn’t feel right - and so I abandoned the layout above, and adopted a more random placement design. Switching individual pieces around to get a layout that I was happy with - don’t get me wrong, there was lots of switching, trying to get the different patterns evenly spaced.

Once I’d decided on my layout - and taking a picture so I didn’t forget it, I did the clever design trick of looking at the photo in grayscale to ensure that the lights and darks were also relatively evenly spaced.

And then I numbered every single hexi with its row and position so that sewing them together could be relatively mindless. With rows for each stack dotted around my craft room, at times it felt like I’d never reach the end.

Front assembled, now for the back

But gradually the individual hexagons were attached into rows, and the rows sewn together in order to create the front of my mat. I decided to fill in the gaps on the top and the bottom, but to leave the smaller gaps on the sides.

And I settled on the backing fabric too. I wanted something equally colourful, but something that would come together much more quickly, and nor did it need to be quite so labour intensive.

In the end I settled on some of the less Christmassy fabrics that I’d picked up at the Newark Quilt Show at the start of the year. All of the fabrics were part of a ‘grab bag’ and a lucky dip. Part of their attraction for me was their selvedges, so I was keen to keep these on show.

I’d slightly misjudged the size making it longer than it needed to be, but not as wide - so with my organic plan and solutions brain mode, I added part of what I’d cut off the bottom onto the side - which you can see on the left above - and that makes me smile.

Hand quilting the front

With the back complete - sewn together, and machine quilted - I could no longer procrastinate about how to finish off the front. At one local sewing group evening one of the ladies asked me if I was going to hand quilt my piece - I laughingly said no, I’m not a glutton for punishment.

However, it turned out that I am - as it needed some kind of quilting, and I thought machine quilting this side would lose some of its charm. I started out with a plan to chain stitch individual hexies to form an oblong shape, and I completed the inner oblong. But realistically, it took way longer than I wanted it to take and it didn’t look as good as I thought it would. I wasn’t unpicking it though.

So instead I changed tack, and added a small running stitch around the remaining hexies using the same embroidery thread.

Adding the binding and elastic

As I neared the end of the hand quilting I was thinking of how to finish this project - by chance I saw a haberdashery company online showcasing their widest bias bindings, and I was hooked. I did a rough calculation of how much I’d need, then added a bit more for good measure and waited for it to arrive.

I hadn’t thought about thread, but thought I’d probably have something. Turned out that I did, and in exactly the same colour - what are the chances? I’d picked up a bag of part-used overlocker threads in a recent WI sale in Newark - attracted by some of the colours, thinking I’d use them at some point without knowing that would be quite soon!

By now both the back and front were pinned together and so I pinned and re-pinned the binding to the front of my mat, mitring the corners as neatly as I could, adding extra pins to keep them in place before I slowly (at times) whizzed round with a couple of rounds of machine stitching.

With a stroke of luck the mitred corners behaved and stayed in place on both the front and the back. For the back I added some glitzy pink elastic (left over from mask making during the pandemic) across the corners and then pinned the back in place before slip stitching it and completing my mat. The elastic means I can slip the corners of the old and worn out cutting mat through these and get the benefit of its solidity, but the prettiness of my new mat. Not something I originally planned for, but a useful addition.

Definitely a project to take on the go

For now my English Paper Piecing (EPP) projects have come to an end, but it’s something I’ve really enjoyed - and it’s something that is easily portable. The mini oblong pouch below - which is no more than 15cm long - carried everything I needed easily, that includes needle and thread, small scissors, a thimble, a thread catcher and approximately four rows of my hexi top. That’s where the row and positional numbering came in handy too - that’s definitely a top tip, write these on the back of the cardboard - mine took the format 6.1, 6.2 etc for row 6 position 1, position 2 and so on. Absolutely invaluable, unless of course you are creating a truly random design.

So my new sewing mat looks good, is functional and is in place in my craft room. Now I need a day to paint my sewing box charcoal - I have the paint already. I need a day that’s not too hot, not too cold and one where I haven’t already committed to other things! Then I’ll share the other half of my EPP Tula Pink creation - don’t hold your breath!!