WIPW - What I Hate About Metal Stud Buttons

Work In Progress Wednesday. Here is my report.

Mandala

I have now completed every one of the four lines with yellow beads.

What's next, I wonder?

Hexablooms

I selected 61 more blocks, placed them and marked them with placement numbers.

Part of them will look like this:

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler

#343 Open Fishbone Stitch in light green and #344 Persian Star Filling Stitch in ochre.

SDGs for Clothing

After spending hours ripping up the factory machine-stitched waistband, I finally managed to set the elastic free from stitches. However, it was still trapped inside the waistband as it had been fixed with a metal stud button.

There I stood with the newly bought elastic... and fumed: 'This is what I hate about metal stud buttons!'

In the end, I had to cut two slits and pull out the old elastic in order to cut it off as close to the button as possible.

I will treat the slits as buttonholes and work Tailor's Buttonhole Stitch around the holes, then insert the new elastic and stitch it down by machine across the waistband. I will set the stitch length to large so the next time I need to replace the elastic, it will be easy to unpick the stitches.

WIPW - What I Hate About Elastic

 Another Wednesday and another Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Mandala

I added a handful of yellow beads. Two strips out of four are done.

Hexablooms

Ten more blocks were added.

Preparations

These are not projects but preparations for what are to become projects.

I cut some more squares to make Hexagons.

I ironed the last length of linen band to make another bookmark.

I zig-zag hemmed a square of Aida,

and then added support fabric on all four sides.

This will be the new Sunday Stitch School Aida Sampler.

SDGs for Clothing

Ever since I taught a class about the Sustainable Development Goals, I have been trying to rethink my lifestyle and consider changes where I can use the SDGs.

One of them is clothing. If something is worn, why toss it away? Why not mend it?

When I took out the winter clothes from their storage box, I found that the elastic band in a pair of trousers was slack and had lost all elasticity. I decided to change it to a new band. This was easier said than done. The elastic band was inside the waistband and stitched fast. It was necessary to unpick all the stitches, which is what I really hate about store-bought clothing. I just want to be able to remove the old rubber band and replace it with a new, flexible one.

Oh, how I wish I were a witch and knew some smart and nifty household and sewing spells. Without the help of magic it will take some time to unpick all the stitches.

WIPW - The Gift and The Return Gift

Are you ready for the Work In Progress Wednesday report?

Mandala

I added a Mountmellick Stitch line around each of the wings of the 'UFOs' (Unidentified Flying Objects).

Furthermore, I stitched a small Buttonhole Fly Stitch in these voids,

Only a few beads were added.

Hexablooms

Very little progress was made and I have no photo of the little I actually did.

Stitching While Waiting

I had to spend more time in a waiting room. With my little sewing box on my lap I made the following:

The Gift and The Return Gift

The great-grandmother of the baby I just made a quilt for was so pleased with the quilt that she made me this cute little pincushion.

I then used the hexagon block I made while waiting (see above) to add to a premade potholder/oven mitt and gave it to her as a return gift.

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler

#341 Bamboo Stitch (green)  and #342 Broken Chain (black and variegated orange/blue)

WIPW - Finally Some Lemon

This is the Work In Progress Wednesday report for this week.

Finally, some lemon hit the

Mandala!

I decided to make it simple. Beads for the tufts of Pine needles, and Mountmellick Stitch worked in the lemon yellow rayon thread around the 'wings'.

Compare the photos to see the look with and without the yellow. What do you think, is the yellow addition an improvement or not?

Baby Quilt Label

I have now finished the embroidery and added a border. It is not as crooked as it looks. The label will need a good press and then be stitched onto the back of the quilt. Naturally, the basting thread must be pulled out, too!

Hexablooms

Do you recall that the right side required an additional column of blocks to completely cover the glass wall that this tapestry is intended to conceal? 

Well, five out of six blocks are now on.

As for the lower left area of the tapestry, I had 20 blocks assembled last week. Now there are 27. They need to be fixed to the blocks above.

Furthermore, I basted 17 white pieces while sitting in a waiting room.

Despite having a busy week, I have made rather good progress.

I have even started on the Sunday Stitch School's Revision Homework, so with a bit of luck, Sunbonnet Sue will show up on Friday. Or rather, she will go in - if she is unlucky! Now, there's a clue for you!

WIPW - Shopping

Work In Progress Wednesday. It's a busy week, but I managed more than I had expected. However, 

Mandala

is slumbering. I have not done any work here.

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler

#338 Persian Border Stitch (light green with pink ribbon), #339 All-Over Stitch (silvery grey) and #340 Laced Buttonhole Stitch (electric green and ochre wool).

Hexablooms

20 blocks were joined into a long row, but they are not yet attached to the main flimsy.

The Baby Quilt

The pink baby quilt I completed in August was given to the baby. Here it is displayed next to the two quilts I made for the baby's mother and aunt when they were small.

The quilt was much appreciated, and I was asked if I could make a label for it, like I had done for the other two quilts.

So I set about 'writing' in #319 Split Back Stitch.

Shopping

One reason why I will not be able to complete the Sunbonnet Sue homework is that I have no white fabric left. So I had to go shopping. I also bought a section of toile to prepare another Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart, as the one I am using at the moment only has five empty spaces left.

WIPW - Beads or Stitching?

 It is time for the weekly Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Hexablooms

Thirteen blocks were added, mainly in the middle and on the lower left side of the quilt. 

Please compare:

Last week

This week

I also started making a pile of white hexagon blocks from that old bed sheet of my grandmother's.

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler

I'm catching up! Five stitches were added:

#332 Irregular Algerian Eyelet Star (yellow), #333 Damask Darning (mustard), #334 Pachis Work Filling Stitch (olive green), #335 Hungarian Braid Chain Stitch (greyish beige) and #336 Shadow Stitch (on the sheer fabric).

Mandala

Do you remember my dilemma with the Mandala's floral garland braid? It has yellow in it, a colour not found anywhere else in the Mandala.

I need to balance this with either beads or stitching elsewhere in the Mandala. The yellow in the garland braid is a rather sharp, lemon-yellow. I have no beads in such a yellow, but two kinds of thread, a rich, alas slightly warm, yellow Perle #5 and a thin rayon in sharp, icy yellow.

The second dilemma is the placement. I had a look at the Mandala to spot dark areas. The sections marked in yellow could do with some pizzazz.

Maybe I should use both beads and embroidery. Now, what stitch would look good?

Darning

I have a pair of summer socks that I like. One had a hole in it, and instead of tossing both away, I took to the old tradition of darning.

I feel happy to have saved my socks to be used again next summer.

WIPW - Mourning Card

 It is once again time for a Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Mourning Card

A dear friend recently lost her husband, and it felt right to send her a fabric card.

I used a remnant from one of my mother's most elegant evening gowns - a piece of rich blue silk.

On it I stitched stars with metallic thread: 

TAST #77 Woven Cross, 

and Sunday Stitch School #176 Buttonhole Cross Stitch, #208 Star Filling Stitch and #332 Irregular Algerian Eyelet Star Stitch. 

The embroidery was mounted onto a piece of card and then inserted into a window card. This card had an oval hole, but I cut it into a heart shape.

Mandala

I have completed the garland!

Up next is adding something yellow!

Hexablooms

As the sweltering summer heat has subsided a bit, I replaced a thin, airy piece of fabric that has hung across the glass wall all summer with my Morning Glory quilt. 

If you remember, it is a Log Cabin design, in lovely aqua and teal with golden hearth centres and plenty of metallic embroidery quilting.

The Morning Glory quilt was meant to be a bed cover, but I usually hang it so the morning light can play with the metallic thread quilting. 

There is a problem, though, it is too small to cover up the glass wall it is displayed against.

That is why I want the Hexabloom quilt to be larger. I needed to see if the width was OK. 

I simply hung it with pegs from the same wooden bar as the Morning Glory quilt. 

Looking at it carefully,  I think I will add one more column on the right to fully cover the glass wall behind.

 

This means making more hexagon blocks!

Well, before I do that, I will add more of the blocks that I have already prepared, and that will go downward. 

Maybe something like this:

They are now number-coded,  and five of them have been stitched together.

Bookmark

This is the front of the 'mysterious' bookmark I have been hiding from you for such a long time. 

I found the cross-stitch pattern on the internet. The birthday gal is a friend of cats.

Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler

#329 Radiation Stitch (teal),  #330 Pueblo Stitch (teal and red) and #331 Astrakhan Velvet Stitch (mustard yellow).

WIPW - One More Bookmark

 There will be a glimpse of a new bookmark in this Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Bookmarks

I stitched a new bookmark with a floral motif, but I will only show you a limited picture for now. Come October, and you can see all.

After completing it, I stretched it under a damp cloth, and arranged a fringe on the top and the bottom. The reverse is covered with a piece of green felt.

I finished the other bookmark, which I completed the stitching on earlier, if you remember,

 in the same way. It is neatly stretched and has a fringe and felt back.  The motif will be revealed next week.

Mandala

The last but one section of the garland is in place.

Next week, I will put in the final section and start experimenting with some yellow stitching or beading.

The yellow in the garland needs to be balanced somewhere inside the Mandala, I think.

Hexablooms

I have stitched what I think will be the width of the wallhanging. I still need to join some seams before I can test-hang the whole upper part of the tapestry and check if it really does fit the designated area it will be hung in. If it does, I will then proceed by working downward.

Here I have laid out the blocks on the floor.