Tag Archives: Sewing

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Old Inspiring New

When I made my first gingerbread doll, I used fabric from an old vest. Later I used hand-dyed wool to make the larger doll, and cream muslin for my tree topper. My first pattern was derived from a coloring page I had, then with time, it was modified a bit. Simple shapes like these are great places to begin ornament crafting. They can be sewn so that the raw edges are hidden inside the doll, or they could also be made using felt so that the raw edges could stay on the outside. Cookie cutters are a wonderful way to create the shapes for a whole host of ornaments similar to my little Ginger Doll.

The idea to create a tiny kitchen towel came as I prepared for this week’s video. Christmas and baking go hand-in-hand, and I thought I could make more cookie cutter shapes. However since I have been making towel toppers this year to bring more festive fun into my kitchen, it seemed only natural that I should see if a miniature was possible. With a bit of experimentation, I was able to make my newest ornament. Yes, I will admit, I made my prototypes with my embroidery machine. It stitches so much more accurately than I do, but when I put the pattern together I found the traditional method of paper pattern and sewing machine easy and quick.

So this week, in addition to the English Paper Piecing block, I will share two more patterns with you.

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Download Patterns For All Three Projects
EPP Block 15 – Merry StarDownload
Gingerbread Doll in Multiple SizesDownload
Mini Kitchen Towel OrnamentDownload

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The North Star – EPP Block 09

A block that benefits from the use of light, medium, and dark contrasting fabrics for greatest impact. It is also stunning when made with a low contrast collection of fabrics.

Pattern for this block can be downloaded here.
09-north-starDownload

Still using 4 different fabrics, the blues are low contrasting for a subtle effect. Another option is to make it using one star fabric and one background fabric.

When the background fabric is changed to a dark contrast, the effect is dramatic.

This quilt layout uses 4 of the North Star blocks and a thin 1 inch border. Its finished size is 22 inches square.

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This week’s vlog shares my finished Halloween Quilt and some handy zippered bags. I include resource link in the vlog description for those wanting to try the zippered bag either with machine embroidery or with traditional sewing methods.

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Scrappy, Spooky, So Much Fun

English Paper Piecing dominates my days, especially since there are so many seasonal inspirations simply begging to become EPP projects. This week I am sharing two blocks for my ongoing EPP quilt project, plus a quilt pattern I’ve named Ghosts & Lanterns.

In addition to these EPP projects, I share more seasonal projects in this week’s podcast. With autumn breezes finally cooling the air, I have returned to my sewing room with excitement. In fact, that is were I am off to now.

Happy Unwinding with Fiber and Fabric💜

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Patterns for this week’s blocks can be downloaded here.

04-scrappy-16-patchDownload
05-wonky-16-patchDownload

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Pattern for Ghosts and Lanterns can be downloaded here.

00-ghosts-lanternsDownload

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Important Note: This is an untested set of basic schematics for this quilt rather than instructions.

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Harvest Berries – An English Paper Piecing Project

Inspired by an younger generation of quilters and an ever-growing scrap fabric stash, I decided to give English Paper Piecing (EPP) a try. I quickly fell in love with the rhythmic quality of sewing small pieces of fabric together. The secret to my success has been to use thick cardboard rather than paper for my template pieces. Since I am glue basting the fabric to the templates, the thickness is not a problem but instead provides me with something more substantial on which to hold. I will admit, having the ability to laser cut out all my templates is a huge help. While I certainly could have just purchased pre-cut shapes and worked on patterns from those shapes, I decided to give myself the challenge of designing blocks in computer software so that I could share what I was doing with others.

Harvest Berries is the first of the EPP blocks I plan to share over the next year. I chose it to be first because it is built on one of the most beloved EPP shapes – the hexagon. I chose to applique this block onto a solid background rather than to combine it with many others to make a hexagon quilt. While I used 1.5″ (side measurement) hexagons although any size hexagon could work for this pattern. I have provided a pdf with the templates, but precut hexagons can be purchased from many sites.

Harvest Berries was a fun block to make, and it is a great pattern to introduce a beginner to the world of EPP.

Here is the pattern link or you can download it.Download

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This Week’s Podcast

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Vintage Sewing: Festive Placemats

This week I travel down memory lane and reflect back on how much I have learned since making my first holiday placemats.

My sewing and quilting skills have certainly improved, although my hands won’t hold quite as tiny of needles as they did a quarter of a century ago.

Life has taught me many lessons during these 25 years. There was a time when I thought I would lose my ability to hand quilt. Perseverance, medical advancement, and a better understanding of how vital balance-in-life is to one’s health have all played a role in my continued ability to use a quilting needle.

Quilting delightful and useful items for my family fills me with joy. I learned the skills of a quilter before I could afford the gadgets and gizmos of the modern quilter. Even after accumulating stacks of rulers, and cutting mats of various sizes, I still occasionally like to return to the simplicity of the old ways of piecing a block.

It is with simplicity and the budget-minded quilter that I have put together some basic blocks. I have also included instructions to turn the basic block used in my placemats into a rectangular placemat for those who wish for that shape.

Basic No-Gizmo PlacematsDownload

I hope you enjoy my latest video and project. If you do, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel so that you won’t miss a single one.

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Just Playing Around

Who needs to leave home for Halloween Fancy Dress when the party can happen inside your own home? Planning to let the dolls do the partying while I curl up with a cozy mystery and bowl full of candy.

My mask is ready.
Do you have one yet?

Masquerade MasksDownload

Templates for the masks and some suggestions for materials to use.

Make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss a single video.

Pioneerlady at PithyPonderings

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJevZGzUi8SlbzicJeFynLw

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Getting Organized

Even with the crazy world causing life to seem like it is dragging by, I still find myself wondering where all the time has gone. October is now just days away and my crafting to-do list is characteristically not completed.

To-do lists, shopping lists, event lists (although I suspect most holiday events will be only online this year), and gift-giving lists – with so many lists, I needed a way to keep things organized and tidy. So this led me to making notebook covers. Now at least my various lists look pretty as they clutter up my workspace.

I have created a video highlighting the notebook covers I have made this week, and I am providing a template for one of them There are links and information in the description box of the video containing more information on the designs I used.

Now I am back to my list making and my crafting. Top of my list – get more organized with my video/tech/recording. Boy, oh boy, did I ever have tech issues this week.

Flip-top Notebook CoverDownload

Happy Crafting

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Milestones – Big and Small

For many years, I have wanted to set aside time, and more importantly energy, for making doll clothing. Since 2020 seems to be a year of change, I thought I would add positive change to the sea of crazy changes this year has brought.

Inspired by a group of costumers on YouTube and Instagram (#historicalhalloween2020) but not wanting to make a costume for myself, I decided to use this inspiration to make a doll costume.

All of this was well and good, but then I decided to take the big plunge and actually talk on video.

Anyone who understands how anxiety complicates regular daily life will understand what a huge challenge I undertook. A keyboard is my friend, but a camera causes all kinds of stress.

Years ago, actually two decades ago this year, I began to understand why I shied away from the idea of being photographed. I had not had issues with the process while in my youth, but things began to change for me as I neared my 30th birthday. Aging was not what concerned me – pain, or more to the point, the photographic record of my pain, concerned me. Despite reassurances from my family, by the time I reached my 40th birthday, I really struggled with sharing any photographs taken of me.

Now as I move past the mid-century mark of my life, I want to do more than just hide the pain. I want to push back against what pain can steal away. I have been doing much better managing life and pain these last 10 years. Management is the important concept since I can manage my health, but I cannot regain the health of my youth (a youth where I was unaware that my pain was not a common thing).

So with my goal of regaining what can be regained, I took the plunge and made a video with me speaking to the camera.

Anxiety was a thick cloud as I filmed myself and then worked with the footage. Even as I regained steady ground, the underlying energy that anxiety causes me would not dissipate. Fortunately the learning curve of video editing with voice-over commentary was steep and I had many, many, hours of work to keep my mind busy. When I was able to finally take to my bed, I was able to sleep.

With fresh eyes, and a bit of rest, I have now uploaded my first “talkie”*

As I was reviewing this before posting it, I was rendered speechless when I comprehended that September is now upon us. In just a few days time, I will pass the 20 year mark on the spine injury that derailed me from the life I thought I would have, and set me on the course to the life I would come to appreciate as being the better one. I did not set out to mark this milestone with a video about making doll clothing, but as I reflect on the last 20 years, it seems rather fitting.

Life gives us challenges, it is up to use to make them into milestones rather than barriers.

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*In the days when silent films reigned supreme, the first talking films were known as talkies.