Machine embroidery fun!

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

A few posts back I showed you the card that I made for my Mum for Mothers day, I have been playing around with machine embroidered cards for a year or two, they are fun to make and never fail to impress people so I thought I’d attempt to show you how it is done.

First of all choose some fabric and cut it out, I like doing stars and hearts and I like to put a plain piece of fabric against a patterend background. So I cut out my shapes

I have a machine embroidery foot for my sewing machine which is great because it allows you to move the fabric smoothly around and it is not gripped in place. Before I had the special foot I used to just take the foot off my machine and work without one. (if you do this remember to still put the foot down so that the machine works properly)

I like to use a bright contrasting thread, you can use different coloured main thread and bobbin thread for a bit of interesting contrast.

You just move the fabric backwards and forwards as you sew, some times it can be a bit wobbly but I think that adds to the design, also you can go over the stitches several times to make them really stand out. I use an air erasable marker pen to write the name before I embroider it on

Once I have done all the work on the fabric piece I sew it straight onto the card blank, you could glue it on, but I am usually about to post my card so haven’t got time to wait for glue to dry!

This one I made for my gorgeous nephew’s first birthday

And this one I made for his lovely Mummy, whose birthday it is today!

I hope this inspires you to have a go, Its such fun!

My Wonderful Mum’s actual Mothers day present!

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

Well here in the UK it is Mothers day today, thank you to my gorgeous daughter for breakfast in bed and a lovely new silky night dress! Now I can reveal what I actually made for my Wonderful Mum for her Mothers day present! A fabric photograph album which has pictures of all her lovely grand-children. I got the idea from the Moda Bake Shop a fantastic quilting web site, full of great tutorials and idea’s.

To make this lovely gift I used a Mama said sew charm pack from Trixie Lixie and a pack of Ink jet Iron on fabric transfers, when you print your images onto the transfers remember to flip them so that they are facing the right way when you iron them onto the fabric, I forgot to do this so all my images are the exact mirror opposite to the actual photographs! which is ok, but not good if your photographs feature text!

I ironed my images onto white cotton fabric then I sandwiched a piece of wadding between the photo and the charm square to puff it up.I stitched the photo’s on and then joined 2 charm squares together, back to back (wrong sides together) to make a page for my album, I was intending to do about 8 pages but I used quite thick wadding so 3 pages was my maximum, as I had loads of photos I made 4 albums, one for my Mum and one each for all my lovely sisters.

I used red thread to contrast with my fabrics.

When I had made all the pages I added eyelets to the top of each and then used some pretty string to tie the pages together.

The wadding made the pages quite stiff so it actually stands up by itself so you can use it as a frame, changing the image in the front when ever you fancy.

I also machine embroidered a card for my Mum

I will post a tutorial on machine embroidered cards later this week, it’s very easy and never fails to impress people.

Quick Tote bag, make it for Mothers day

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

This is a quick and easy to make tote bag with a gusset so that it will stand up, I have used an oilcloth fabric from Trixie Lixie

I didn’t bother to line this bag as the oilcloth fabric is nice and thick, I cut out 2 rectangles for the front and the back and 2 long strips for the handles;

Next I joined the front to the back, right sides together along each side and the bottom;

To make the gusset turn the bottom corner in and sew across it;

Then trim away the excess, do this on both bottom corners;

To make the straps I just folded them over and seamed them as its much easier if you are using oilcloth fabric than making tubes and turning them the right way around!

The final step is to neaten the top of the bag and attach the straps;

Oilcloth fabric is easy to neaten as it doesn’t fray so you only need to fold it over once.

When I attached the handles I stitched a box and a cross to hold them securely in place.

The gusset on the bottom means that the bag will stand up, great for shopping!

The funky oilcloth fabric is called Field study and is a Freespirit fabric, you can buy it here.

Quick Bookmark for Mothers day

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

Here is a quick make for Mothers Day, I got the idea from another blog but now I can’t remember which one so if it is you please comment and I will add a link!

The fabric is Kaffe Fassett but you can use any piece of left over material. I cut 3 pieces of fabric one of the main colour, a piece for the back and then a piece of wadding to go in the middle.

I then sandwiched them all together and did a bit of free style quilting to hold them in place.

So simple! It will go nicely with a good book and make an excellent Mother’s day gift.

Mothers Day gift idea’s

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

I have got these wonderful Sarah Young fabric kits on my website they are silkscreen printed tea towels that you can cut up and make into a toy or a cushion or a doorstop, or just use it as a tea towel.

I think that these would make a great Mothers day gift, either in the kit form if your Mum is a keen sewer (or washer upper!) or you could make one up for her. I decided to make up Felix the fox into a cushion for my Mum.

The instructions are quite clearly printed on the tea towel, so I cut the pieces out

I followed the sewing instructions and then I just stuffed it with soft toy stuffing.

I chose Felix the Fox, but there are 3 others to choose from Oswald the Owl, Marmaduke the Cat, and beautiful Bertha. Here is Felix nestled in amongst some of my other cushions

Mothers Day makes – Corsage brooch

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Trixie Lixie

Here is a nice easy make for Mothers day that you can do with small bits of fabric from your stash.

To make this lovely corsage all you need to do is cut out 5 or 6 circles of fabric, in various sizes, using a variety of thicknesses and textures, I used a bit of netting to add variety. I also used pinking shears for some to give added interest around the edge.