December 2016

Coasters, again

The earlier post on coasters was my test run. Here are the ones I actually made,

It was a bit cool the other day, and I had not turned up the heat yet, so the cats got a bit cold. Charrie covered up Tiger, and Tiger looks nice and toasty. Tiger stayed like this for quite some time.

Charrie’s Messenger Bag

And here is Charrie’s Messenger Bag:

Front

Front, open

Back

Back, open

Inside

Closer picture of the pockets and inside print

Charrie, modeling her new bag

View of the strap

Front, again

Front, open

Place-mats

Charrie and I made place-mats, learning how to use a 3-hole foot and pigtail to add the yarn border. The front is a cotton fabric, with the back a flannel to be nice to wood tables. The original materials list called for a fleece or a felt, but I could not find any that went with the fabric chosen. No, they are not made for Christmas, just happened to be two different colors of common fabric that we liked. Our instructor, Karrie, was gracious to embroider the Celtic cat’s paw for us. Charrie did the red, I did the green.

With gusto!

Still trying to post an image?

Again, with feeling!

We’ll see…

JRSM

Test again

Did this one do better? No image, expected.

Test

Did this make it to facebook?

Coaster!

We were working on our place-mats, in class tonight, but we only had one pigtail to run the yarn through for the border. Since I had some time, I decided to try making a coaster that I originally saw at my Mom’s house. Hers are circular or square, but you can make any number of shapes. Regular shapes are probably the best. The only site I can find with instructions are at: http://thecraftymummy.com/2013/11/simple-coasters-tutorial/

The ones my Mom made are a little different. Starting at the bottom:

One layer of fabric, face down.
Layer of batting (optional)
Layer of fabric, face up
the 4 folder, over lapped pieces.

Sew a 1/4 inch seam around the outside. Trim the corners a bit to reduce the bulk, allowing it to lay flatter. Turn inside out and press.

All pieces are the same size. Mine are 6″, giving a 5.5″ coaster. This one was my practice, now to make the ones I promised Charrie. If you have it, I would use a walking foot, since there are so many layers. Sorry for the glare, the surface I was using was a bit shiny.

Top

Bottom, showing the overlap

Inverted, showing the layers, after sewing and trimming.

Close up of the end, showing the various layers.

My First Sewing Project: Messenger Bag

Charrie and I are taking some sewing classes. She wants to learn quilting, but thought starting with some basic sewing would not be a bad idea. I have a little sewing experiance, but could use quite a bit if instruction, myself.

Our first project is a messenger bag (See & Sew Pattern B4583). I just finished mine tonight. Charrie will be done in our next class on Tuesday. I’ll post some pictures of her’s when its done.