Showing posts with label Great British Sewing Bee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great British Sewing Bee. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Making a Hand Stitched Button Loop


Tonight I shall be watching the third instalment of The Great British Sewing Bee.  Amongst other things, the contestants will be tackling the horrors of stretchy fabrics and making a pair of leggings. Not my cup of tea at all.

More to my taste is making a button loop, which was one of the tasks set in the first programme a fortnight ago.  This endearingly tatty little item is the sample button and loop I sewed in about 1969 or 70 for needlework at school.  It has been lurking in the button tin ever since.


On close inspection, the loop looks rather like a miniature bag handle.


To make sure I could still do it - I can't remember making another one in between times - I made another last week and have posted a video on Youtube.  This time, instead of using about six strands of ordinary machine cotton, I decided to use stranded embroidery thread.  I wanted to see the finished effect when using a variegated thread.  It would look nice with a pretty cotton print so the colours would match.  It doesn't look too bad with the ghastly shade of brown of the sample in the video.  I have to use up that dreadful brown somehow.  The dye runs, so samples are all it is fit for.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

The Great British Sewing Bee has Started!


My favourite programme has started.  For the next couple of months Tuesday nights are special, spaghetti bolognese in front of the telly to watch the Great British Sewing Bee!  This year there is a great bunch of contestants all working in a beautiful sewing room in a converted warehouse beside the Thames.

So what has the close-up of the scrappy cot quilt got to do with the Great British Sewing Bee? Well, it's all about Cliff, the first contestant to leave - not because he was eliminated, but because he wasn't well.  Such a shame, because he clearly has talent, just look at his shirt!  I recognised those strawberries instantly.  The pink of the strawberries stands out beautifully against the navy background, and the little blueberries in the design add a splash of blue. Colourful, in a sober sort of way.  It is a lovely smooth cotton poplin, so Cliff knew it was not only striking, but comfortable, nice to wear, and easy to wash and iron.  Top marks to Cliff.

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