Charlotte skirt sewalong – waistband & removable peplum

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

I am really enjoying the Charlotte skirt sewalong, it has made me slow down and take my time making a garment rather then rushing in to it and making loads of silly mistakes. I think this has probably got to be the best waistband I have ever fitted!

I am still to do the blind stitching but I have a long car journey tomorrow so I shall do it then (I am a passenger not the driver!)

As I said in an earlier post, I don’t want to attach a peplum as I think I will wear this skirt a lot without one, but I would like to occasionally wear it with one so I have made a seperate peplum, all I have done is cut out another waistband and attached it to the peplum!

I will put some hooks & eyes on as fasteners and there we are, with or without peplum!

Whoops, that photo is a bit blurred! I will post a better one when I have finished, next step Hemming!

Valentines Button Heart

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

I like to make my own Valentines gifts and this is one that I have seen in a few shops and thought, I can make that! It is in fact pretty easy, give it a go!

I used a bag of Candy Mix buttons from Trixie Lixie and some jewellery wire to make this heart, it is quite a big one, you could make a smaller one and attach it to a card blank to make a unique Valentines card.

I made a heart shape with the thick wire and then I used the thin wire to ‘sew’ the buttons onto the heart.

Just make sure that you keep twisting the thin wire around the heart shape wire to securely attach the buttons.

This one is for my daughter, Happy Valentines day Blossie xxx

Charlotte skirt sewalong – fitting the lining

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

I have managed to follow part 4 of the Charlotte Skirt sewalong and fitted my lining.

I just need to blind stitch the opening at the centre back of the lining to the zipper.

I am still working on my idea for a detachable peplum and will post some pic’s of how I have done it in the next few days.

Charlotte skirt sewalong part 2

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

I caught up with part 2 of the By Hand Charlotte skirt sewalong

I used the excellent instructions to take my skirt in at the hips and also the really clear zipper instructions, I think it may be the neatest zip I have fitted!

Here are my lovely neat darts

Smart looking zipper!

Evenly taken in on both sides to get the perfect fit! I have looked at the next stage which is attaching the peplum, I am not 100% certain that I will want a peplum so I am going to make a detachable one so that I can wear the skirt with or without it. I will keep you posted on this!

For more info on the sewalong follow this link

You can buy the pattern and the fabric that I am using here

Charlotte Skirt Sewalong

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

You may remember that I said that I was going to join in with the Charlotte Skirt sewalong in conjunction with By Hand London, any way it started on 14th Jan and I was so busy I missed the first 2 sewalongs, well I have caught up with the first one and cut out my fabric

The fabric I am using is a lovely winter weight soft wool blend in a herringbone pattern, it is lovely and soft and has glittery bits woven into it ( £11 a metre at Trixie Lixie)

I need to catch up on stage 2 so I will keep you posted!

If you want to join in or find out more follow this link

Moda Candy small basket

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

Today I thought I would have a go at one of the projects in the Moda Candy book that we are giving away FREE with every order over £30 at Trixie Lixie while stocks last (so grab one now!)

I used the Odds & Ends candy pack for my version of the small basket

You need 16 squares, which you sew together into 4 strips of 4, press the seams & then join the 4 strips to make a Square. Attach a piece of fusible fabric to the back.

Layer the squares and the lining fabric right sides together and sew around the edge leaving an opening so that it can be turned

I used Lime Green Leafy stripe from the moda range for my lining, which I made the base of my basket. Turn right way around then stitch the corner squares on the seam lines

Flatten the corners and top stitch all around the top edge to hold them in place.

Monday makes – Lap Quilt

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

Here is my first Monday make for 2013, although I actually made it before Christmas and gave it to my Mum! Anyway I haven’t had chance to blog about it until now so here it is, a very simple lap quilt made using a “Sew Mama Sew” charm pack from Moda, available from Trixie Lixie

First of all I stitched together 5 squares to form a strip, there are 40 squares in a pack so I made 8 strips, they are pre-prepared at the edges so you don’t have to worry about finishing the sides just press the seams flat.

Next I joined the strips together to make one large piece, matching the squares up, and then ironing the seams flat again.

The next step is to make a sandwich using a piece of wadding cut to size and a piece of fabric for the back of the quilt, have the quilt right side up, wadding in the middle and then the backing fabric right side facing out, I used a piece of black linen for the back of my quilt so it didn’t have a right side or a wrong side.

I used safety pins to hold it all together so that I could do the quilting, I am still learning how to quilt so I just did straight lines along all the seams so that all the squares went nice and puffy. Also I started in the middle as last time I did this I started at the edges and met in the middle and it did not work well at all! This is how it looked from the back (a little bit wobbly!) It looks a bit grey but that was just the flash on my camera.

Here I am trying to follow the seams in a straight line!

When all the quilting was done I used some red bias binding around the edge to neaten it all off.

I am really pleased with the way it turned out, think I might be getting addicted to quilting, these charm packs are so easy to use, and my last attempt at quilting with a jelly roll was quite successful too so I might try one of the new Moda candy packs for my next Monday make. They were featured in my last post and if you spend over £30 on the website you can get a free copy of the project book that I am going to use.

Thanks for reading, happy sewing!

Moda Candy

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

We have just had these gorgeous quilting packs in from Moda, they are called candy packs and they are ‘Oh Sew Sweet’ buy them here Trixie Lixie

42 delicious 2.5″ squares in every pack

We have 10 different packs for you to choose from £4.50 each

We also have a fantastic recipe book with 18 different projects, just in case you don’t know what to do with them! Its £5.00 or we are giving them away free if you spend over £30 on the website during January.