Printing fabric

I actually did this project back in May, but didn't have any good photos of it til I remembered to take some on the washing line last week.

I bought 2 sheets from Savers, cut the green one & sewed a panel to either end of the grey sheet. A larger grey sheet - king sized? provides the backing.

I cut a shape from some thin craft foam, glued it to a timber block, and made a print pad from some  fabric foam on an icecream container lid.

After printing a hot iron set the paint ( black acrylic with J Sonja fabric paint addative mixed in).

Veey happy with the result- a new  unique bed cover!

Darth tee version 2

Last year I made a freezer paper stencilled Darth Vader tee shirt, in time to wear it to see "Rogue One".

I had always wanted to try the Vader image with a floral print fabric, but was wondering how to do it, while looking for the right small print.

A lucky op shop find with a card of sample fabrics yielded a suitable print. Next step was to slightly enlarge and modify the design a little, then trace it on to the paper backing of some double sided interfacing - all using my handy kmart light box!
I ironed the fabric onto the interfacing and carefully cut it out.
After a lot of measuring and re arranging, I figured out the best placement of the image. I marked some guidemarks with fabric chalk, and ironed the 3 pieces on very carefully!

The final step was just as fiddly- applique stitch ( fine zig zag) on the sewing machine around all the edges, to make sure it stays put!  Very happy with the results!  ( and found the perfect spot to pose for a photo today too, outside Imax!)

Sewing adventures January 2018

You know I don't just sew clothes, right? That I also tend to try out all sorts of crafty ideas...I know my work buddies have seen some of my more unusual makes, and repairs! This is another one for work-

I had a clean up of my toy cupboard at the end of the year, and decided I didn't really need this toy caterpillar, it is not a useful toy, or something I can add to a story or game.  But... It is nice and long, and could maybe work as a weighted lap toy...

So I bought some cheap sinkers from kmart (after doing the math to figure out whether smaller but more in the pack vs larger but less in the pack would be better value and more weight. Uh huh- not a calculation that would usually happen in the fishing section of kmart! Anyway I ended up with 6 long heavy sinkers, about 300/350g from memory. I sewed a calico insert to hold them in place, unstitched each end of the caterpillar, inserted the weight and rearranged the stuffing around it.

A quick bit of hand sewing to put it back together, and its done!   Now I really must finish some more "finished" bags for work too.

Happy New Year - happy new knitting project!

Happy New Year! Here is my lattest knitting project - started in November but I haven't really spent a huge amount of time on it. I have seen those giant " cake" balls of yarn at various stores & craft shows, but none of the colour combinations particularly appealed to me- until I saw this lovely grey one at a bargain store! (one of the type I like to call an " upmarket $2 shop!

I cast on 100 stitches instead of the usual 150 for a blanket, and most of the way through the 200g ball, the blanket measures approx 45cm by 100cm. I think I will add a 100g ball of plain grey in the middle, then start the 2nd " cake" ball, so the finished blanket should be about 120 long. 

Then I have another colourway to start for the next blanket- my sister picked this one out for me to make for my neice. So I need to get a move on and finish the grey one now!