Free Motion Mavericks Link Up - Week 6

Pour yourselves a cup of tea everyone, and celebrate the 500th blog post.

Just think, I used to worry that I would run out of things to say.

It just so happens that last week's not so brilliant experiment has ended up as a tweedy tea cosy in fetching pink.

At one point when I was sewing this curved seam it felt as though I was making one half of a rather large woolly bra.  Perhaps I should try my hand at novelty thermal underwear...

... fully insulated with thermal curtain lining.

Thank you to everyone who linked up last week!  

A special welcome to Marly, the first participant from Holland, who showed her Celtic Solstice quilt all finished; Dora had her stars and stripes quilt finished for 4th July; Linda has had her quilt "The Visit" accepted for a show: Gina has worked FMQ into tiny spaces on a gorgeous mini quilt; Hilary has had an interesting and frustrating time quilting on gold fabric; Kathy has shown a great collection of finished projects, including another set of twins' quilts: and Gwyned has done her own interpretation of a Lori Kennedy FMQ design, as well as some wonderful thread painting of autumn leaves.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany and Holland have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Linking up today with Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

The Hybrid Shuttle

Every now and again I get messages from people who need help with their vintage machines. Last week I had a message from a gentleman in Germany who has a Little Vesta minus its shuttle, and he needs to know what he should look for.

This shuttle is from my Little Vesta sewing machine.  The shuttle for my Vesta Transverse Shuttle is identical to this one, and instructions for threading are shown in the Vesta manual.

It is known as a hybrid shuttle, because it is a later development of the boat shuttle, threading in exactly the same way as a shuttle for a vibrating shuttle machine.

It is easy to recognise by its smooth flat side.

This particular shuttle is 4.8 centimetres long and about 1.1 centimetres across (or, for those like me who have a deep seated affection for imperial measurements, one and seven eighths of an inch by seven sixteenths of an inch - more or less).  It is much shorter than the hybrid shuttle for the Frister and Rossmann machines, which are much larger machines.

The first place I always look for bits and pieces for old sewing machines is Helen Howes's excellent website.  She knows more about machines than I ever will.

A Summer Top in Oakshott Cotton

Last week I finished not only the batik top, but also this rather smart version in pale blue.  It is made from one metre of Oakshott Calluna Herringbone in harebell blue.  The only differences between this top and the batik top are firstly that I cut the armholes a fraction lower for extra comfort - somehow the finished batik top felt a little tighter than the test in calico, probably because the finished armholes were bound - and secondly I had a little more fabric to use so I could take the pleats right to the centre front.

This was the first time I had used the Calluna Herringbone, so I was interested to see what it would be like to work with.  Before cutting out I washed and ironed it.  There was a tiny bit of shrinkage and no dye run to speak of.

The herringbone weave gives a real vintage look, and choosing the buttons and narrow ribbon for trimming was serious business.  I spent a ridiculous length of time in the shop, but it was time well spent.  The check ribbon is really delightful, and the way the buttons reflect the light gives them a two-tone appearance which goes well with the ribbon.

Because the herringbone is a twill weave, there is a definite right side and wrong side.  The paler blue warp threads give a slightly ridged effect, emphasising the paler colour on the right side.  The darker blue weft threads predominate on the wrong side, and the surface is flatter. 

Having a stripe in the weave gives all the same advantages as working with an obvious two colour stripe.  It saved time when finding the straight grain of the fabric for cutting, for folding the front overlap, for lining up the buttons and buttonholes, and even measuring the width of the pleats.  

Here is the inside, with not a raw edge in sight.

After putting in the darts, the first seams I did were the felled seams at the shoulders...

... followed by French seams at the sides.

To finish the neck and armhole edges I used narrow bias binding...

... and the seam attaching the pleated frill was finished in broader bias binding in the same shade of blue.

For all the machine stitching I used the 1949 Singer 15K hand machine, except for the buttonholes, where I used the 1936 Singer 201K treadle and the unidentified buttonholer.

The quality of this cotton is quite exceptional.  It is soft to the touch, and is a medium weight, so cool for the summer, but with sufficient texture to give a good insulating layer in winter.  From the feel of it before cutting out I knew that it would drape and gather well, so I decided to test how well it would hold a crease.  Nothing short of perfect, as you can see.

Finally, here is my in-house model very sportingly wearing a colour that doesn't really suit her.  It looks far better on her old mum - not that the colours on this photo are accurate anyway.  The joys of taking photos in natural light indoors in cloudy weather.  

Every time she moved the neckline went out of shape on her because the shoulder seams were adjusted at the calico stage to fit me exactly.  

Also there was a fair amount of Muv and Daught banter going on.  I pay her her modelling fees in cake, and she was angling for macaroons.  Not the cheap and cheerful English sort made of coconut with a glace cherry on top, no the posh French sort.  She has expensive tastes.  At her age I would have been more than happy with a sticky great slab of lardy cake.

Linking up today with Connie's blog Freemotion by the River for Linky Tuesday

A Pretty Picture for Sunday - Wild Poppy

Is it a natural variation of a field poppy, or is it a cross with a Shirley poppy?  It wouldn't tell me.

A Batik Top for my Birthday

No, I'm not saying how old I am today.  Quite a few years older than my daughter, so she models the top.

This is the batik that I found in a charity shop recently - a great find.  I still have enough left to make another summer top.

The pattern was made with the help of the instructions in the book The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Dressmaking.  All I needed to do was to draw a bodice pattern to fit me, cut it off at waist level, and add a pleated frill at the bottom.  The frill is a feature I tried out in the 1940s blouse that I made for the Sew for Victory Sewalong.  It is easy to do, but measuring and ironing in the pleats took a while.

Even though the colour and style really suit my daughter, and we are fairly close to each other in size, the top didn't sit quite right on her shoulders because the pattern was adjusted to fit me.
  
The great challenge in using the batik was to get the pattern to match on both sides of the front, and to make the best use of the border print.  

These buttons were the best match that I could find, very close in colour to the bright pink flower, and sufficiently bold to stand out against the intricate pattern.  

The box pleated frill from the waist didn't need hemming because it was cut from the border print along the selvedge.

Printed into the design is the phone number of the workshop where the batik was printed.  I must remember to ring up and see if they've got some more.

Linking up to Sarah's blog Confessions of a Fabric Addict for Whoop Whoop Friday

The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Dressmaking

I have to thank my husband for finding this book for me - he found it on Ebay.  It dates from 1940, and it gives great insight into the fashions of the time.  

The only colour in the book is in the endpapers, which have this great design made up of pins, needles, hooks and eyes, press studs, a dress form, and a mystery object I can't work out.

This elegant young lady is wearing a charming dinner dress in heavy wool material.  Houses were draughty and coal was rationed.  I don't think I will be rushing to make myself one of these.

This ensemble looks rather nice, though.  I could do with a couple of new skirts this summer.

The book has excellent illustrations to show how to fit garments and adjust patterns.  It also gives a method for drawing your own patterns from measurements.  The big snag is that the method they gave for drawing a pattern for a bodice didn't work - it came out a good two inches too small.  I checked and re-checked my maths, made sure I hadn't left out any stages, and came to the conclusion that the book was wrong.  Anyway, once I added the vital couple of inches, made it up in calico and adjusted the fitting, I was all set to make myself a couple of summer tops.

Hooray, I have something new to wear for my birthday tomorrow! 

Free Motion Mavericks Link Up - Week 5

This is the start of my latest project.  After having such an easy time of it when I tried out free motion quilting on tweed, today I thought I would see how it works with wadding.  It doesn't.  Too much drag with the extra thickness.

Once all this nasty mess was unpicked I started again.

Here is the quilting I have done, seen on the calico backing.  It isn't particularly neat.  

The dark pink tweed I am using has a loose weave, so it doesn't hold itself firm when it is being moved around when working the quilting.

And the thread doesn't show up particularly well either.  It seems to bury itself in the pink woolliness of it all.

So all told, a rubbish day for quilting, but I will make a little something with it.

Now that I have shown you all how not to do it, I am looking forward to seeing what other people have been up to.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post and/or grab the linky button for your blog's sidebar.
  .
3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for four days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Monday.

So far bloggers from USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada and Germany have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week!

Thank you to everyone who linked up last week: Hilary and Gwyned, who have linked up every week so far; Lauren, who posted a gorgeous picture of little baby Kai; Leanne, who made an amazing tiny quilt: Cynthia, who used wonderful colours in her wall hanging; and Kathi, who achieved a timeless look with 1930s fabrics.

Linking up with Kelly's blog My Quilt Infatuation for Needle and Thread Thursday 

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