My new book, The Home Sewer’s Reference: Fabric and Notions, is all about the materials used in home sewing. It answers the questions of how fabric is made and what raw materials are used in these processes. It also explains how to select, prepare, and store fabrics. Most importantly, it demystifies the terms used to describe fabric and notions – terms which are often more confusing than helpful.

Even as experienced sewers we still have questions. Should I be using all cotton thread when I’m working with quilter’s cotton, or is it ok to use cotton wrapped polyester? And, what is the difference between cotton flannel and brushed cotton anyway?

Envisioned as a series of books, the first is planned to be available this summer. It addresses fabric (both natural and synthetics), and notions (things like thread, fasteners and elastic). Additional books in the series will cover equipment and tools, patterns and alterations, sewing techniques, and specialty needlework.

I’ve been having a great time researching the book and for the past couple of weeks have been focused on fabric finishing techniques. Fabric is treated after manufacture for many purposes. In general, these can be divided into finishing techniques to apply color, change texture, increase durability or easy of care, and to add decoration.

Though it may not be necessary for the home sewer to have a deep understanding of all these techniques, the terminology is often attached to fabric descriptions, so it is useful to have this background when purchasing material. These finishing processes can be wet or dry and often involve the addition of different chemicals and coatings. These coatings can include resin, wax, oil, varnish or lacquer, etc. Application methods include dipping, spraying, brushing, calendaring (the use of heavy rollers or plates to compress the fabric), etc.

For example, fabric may be treated with a type of resin, which creates a film on the fabric. This can be done to make the fabric firmer, more stable or to add wrinkle resistance. It may also be done to reduce shrinkage, or to prepare the fabric for embossing or other texture treatments. Since these treatments can significantly change the properties of the fabric, it is not enough to only know fabric by the fiber and weave. Some of these treatments are temporary, so for instance if a fabric is used for a garment that will be washed often, it is also important to know if it will retain the properties exhibited at the time of purchase.

Keeping watching this space for examples of some of the more unusual things I’m learning in my research. For example…

Kalamkari [kuh-lahm-kahr-eee], also spelled Qalamkari, is a hand-painted or block-printing technique in which fabric is treated and then dyes are used to draw a design on the fabric. After the addition of each color, the fabric is washed. Quite complex designs can be created. The original term is derived from Persia and the word for pen and craftsmanship (drawing with a pen). This craft is still practiced in India, and Kalamkari fabrics can be purchased at specialty shops.

See some examples from Bhavna Bhatnagar’s fabulous blog, An Indian Summer. Learn more about the production process of kalamkari textiles at URVI Weaves & Crafts.

Where Have You Been?

Ok. I realize that I’m the one that went missing, but hey. I’m a bit amazed that more two months have passed without a single post. The truth is that I’ve been caught up in the beginning of spring here in Georgia, and writing articles about spring ephemerals on one of my other blogs – Native in the City. I’ve also been busy with new projects including lots of felting, and new adventures in filet crochet and chenille. Setting up a web store on Etsy – check it out at http://www.soubretteart.com/ – to sell some pieces have rounded out the time.

Here are a few of the crocheted and felted bowls, all based around the same basic techniques described in the chair pad project.
The only real difference is that when you feel the base of the bowl is large enough and you want to start building the sides, you simply stop increasing. To create the ruffled edge on a few of the bowls shown here, start increasing again, but double or triple it up. The more you increase, the more exaggerated the ruffle.

Creating the multicolored designs was really fun. This method is sometimes called tapestry crochet, and you just carry the second color along as you crochet and switch colors whenever the mood strikes. There are many good tutorials online that show how to work with two colors. A few include Tapestry Crochet, Chrochet N More, Art of Tangle, and the crochet pages at About.com. As for the flower that adorns the top of the felted bowl cover, I found the pattern on Meilynne’s Yarngear blog.

Unlike the chair pad, which had to dry flat, bowls need to be dried around something that helps them to retain their shape. I used everything from an empty mayonnaise jar to wadded up grocery bags. The whole point here is to be creative and have fun. Some projects will turn out better than others and in the beginning nothing will turn out just the way you expected, but that can be a good thing!

A Project in Crochet and Felting

All of the projects I been crocheting and felting involve crochet in the round. Even if you have never tried it, with understanding of a few basic stitches, this technique is pretty easy to master.

There are several websites with directions for how to crochet in the round; however, I initially had problems with the ones I tried. First, it seemed that I always ended up with too noticeable a hole in the center of the fabric. And second, it seemed like I ended up with a distinct hexagon rather than a circle. As a result, I have modified these other methods to achieve something that met my needs.

Learn the technique with this simple practice exercise.

ch 3, sl st in first ch to close ring. Draw up tightly.
Row 1: sc eight times in first ch (total of 8 sc). Sl st to first stich in previous round. Ch 1.
Row 2: sc twice in each sc around (total of 16 sc). Sl st to first stich in previous round. Ch 1.
Row 3: sc in first sc, sc twice in next sc around (total of 24 sc). Sl st to first stich in previous round. Ch 1.
Row 4: sc in first 2 sc, sc twice in next sc around (total of 32 sc). Sl st to first stich in previous round. Ch 1.

Note: most crochet in the round directions will tell you to continue in the manner increasing 8 stitches in every round (i.e. row 5 would direct you to sc in first 3 sc then sc twice in the 4th and so on). However, with this method of increases you always increase in the same place resulting in the hexagonal rather than rounder shape. Also, I found that for the yarn and hook I used and the tension I maintain on the yarn, the increases were too extreme resulting in what my husband laughingly called the sundial rather than a round shape that will lie flat. Instead, I recommend the following.

Row 5: sc in first 7 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 8), sc in next 4 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 13), sc in next 3 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 18), sc in next 7 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 27), sc in next 3 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 32), sc in next 3 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 37). (total of 38) sl st to first stitch in previous round. Ch 1.
Row 6: sc in first 3 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 4), sc in next 9 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 15). Sc in next 4 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 21), sc in first 4 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 26), sc in next 9 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 37), sc in next 4 sc, sc twice in next sc (stitch 43). (total of 44 sc). sl st to first stitch in previous round. Ch 1.
Row 7 and following: Continue to add six stitches per round and to shift the location of the increase around the circle so that the shape does not become too regular.

If it helps, you can imagine the circle divided into eight pieces of the pie. In each round, six slices of the pie will receive an increase, and two will not. In order to ensure that the increases are distributed evenly but without creating a distinct pattern, the increase should come in pie slice 1 and 5 in the first round, 2 and 6 in the second, 3 and 7 in the third, and so on. Also, the location of the increase within the pie can be varied.

Continue to add rounds until the desired diameter is reached. Also the use of a stitch marker to indicate the beginning/ending of a round may be helpful.

Note: I have worked these directions with single crochet and half double crochet and it works well for either. I have not worked it with longer stitches such as double or triple crochet, but anticipate that it would work much the same. You may need to play with the increases and decreases to achieve exactly the effect you want for your project.

Chair Pad

Description: a chair pad consisting of two round layers of crocheted and felted fabric. This one is made in two colors and reversible, but you could work it with any pattern or colors you prefer.

Skill level: beginner (with knowledge of basic crochet stitches and help for felting) or intermediate.

Dimensions: Finished 15 inch diameter – before felting approximately 18 inch diameter. Talk with felting experts at your local yarn shop to determine how much shrinkage you can expect from the wool you have chosen.

Materials:

• 
  The yarn used is from the Queensland Collection at Nova, a Canadian yarn company. Specifically I used 4 skeins (50 g. or 1 ¾ oz balls at 104 yards each) Kathmandu Aran, which is a wonderful combination of merino wool (85%), silk (10%), and cashmere (5%), that felts beautifully. Here is a link to the online shade card where you can see what a fabulous array of tweedy colors is available. I used two each of colors 143 and 144.
  

This yarn is also available in a DK weight, and I have used it for making some of the felted bowls and flowers I mentioned. Of course, I’m lucky to have Knitch in the neighborhood, but if you don’t live close by, check out their online store.

• I used a Boye Size K / 10 ½ - 6.40mm aluminum crochet hook – generally you want to use a hook that is one size larger than the hook that is recommended by the yarn manufacturer or pattern when crocheting fabric for felting.
  
• G /6 4 ¼ mm aluminum hook for weaving in ends.
  
• I used a bit of quilt batting between the two layers for a bit of extra padding, but in retrospect, I don’t believe this was necessary.
  
• Yarn darner (a big darning needle with an eye large enough to accept yarn) for stitching the two rounds together. If you don’t use the batting, you could also use a tapestry needle, but with the batting you need a needle with a sharp point to pierce the bat.
  
• If you are lucky – you can use the felting studio at your local yarn shop. Otherwise, a washing machine with a hot water setting and laundry soap, or a large pot, some water and a stove can be used. I even know of people who have felted by hand with water from the tap at the hottest temperature they could stand, but this is a tedious and time consuming way to felt.

Note, I completed the entire project using the single crochet stitch, but I have since decided that a half double crochet stitch would be a better choice. It is a looser stitch and therefore felts a bit better. Notice that the stitches on this pad are still quite distinct.

Instructions:
Follow the instructions for crocheting in the round above and make a total of 30 rounds. If you are using more than one color of yarn, try to change colors at the beginning of a new row.
Save the little bits of leftover yarn for stitching the two pieces together. Once you have achieved the desired diameter of both rounds, simply whip stitch them together around the edges.

Because I used cotton batting to fill between the layers, I also used the left over yarn and a yarn darner to “quilt” through the center of the rounds so that the batting would not sift while being washed.

Next, I placed the finished pad in my washing machine on the normal hot water cycle along with a small load of towels and a small amount of laundry soap. At the completion of the cycle, I measured the diameter of the pad and found that it had not yet shrunk up to the size I wanted, so I ran it through again.

After the spin cycle, a good bit of the water had already been extracted from the pad. Next, I placed the pad between layers of plastic wrap and weighted it with a heavy book to ensure it dried flat. After 24 hours, I removed the weight and plastic wrap and allowed it to dry flat way from sun and heat for an additional 24 hours. At the end of this time, it was ready to use.

It is up to you to decide how much of a felted (or fulled) effect you want for your project. In some cases you may just want to it be a bit fuzzy. In others, you may want to obliterate all evidence of the yarn and stitch pattern leaving a solid smooth fabric. Many factors affect your results. These include the yarn selected, the openness of the stitch (a more open stitch causes more friction during the felting process). Also, the temperature of the water, amount of agitation and length of time in the machine all contribute to the outcome.

If this is your first felting project, I recommend experimenting with a small 4 x 4 square (or round) of the yarn and stitch you plan to use. Try felting this test piece and then adjust your process accordingly.

Next time I’ll give the instructions for the felted bowls and the flowers.

A New Year a New Project, But First…

Seriously, the holidays are a wonderful time, but I’m itching to get back to sewing and writing. It seems I have been consumed with decorating the house, cooking, shopping & wrapping, attending gatherings with family and friends, and then the sad part of breaking it all down and packing it away for another year.

Somewhere in there between Thanksgiving and New Years, I did manage to complete a few projects though, and I need to tell you about them. What have I been up to? Well, mostly tatting, felting, and quilting.

Back in November, I showed you the tatted wreaths that I intended to give away as party favors at our annual holiday party. Well I ended up making wreaths, snowflakes, and icicles (a basic josephine knot with beads). These are exceptionally bad photos because you can’t see any of the detail in the tatting – I’m going to have to figure out how to do better close-ups with my digital camera soon – but they might give you an idea of what is possible for a novice tatter (me).

The felting projects include a chair pad for my office chair, some decorative bowls, and flowers (haven’t decided what to do with those yet). Tomorrow I’ll give you detailed instructions on the felted projects.

As for the quilting, the big project was the wall hanging I turned into a table topper. This dining room table is always piled high with food for our annual holiday party, and I wanted to do something special to decorate the room. As you can see, I have a glass top for this table, and normally I just place a cream colored tablecloth under the glass for the party. This year it occurred to me to us a quilt instead.

I would give you the directions for this but frankly, the design was very closely inspired by a photo on a flyer I received in the mail. I did work out the quilting math on my own to fit my table top, but still feel that I should give credit to the original designer. Unfortunately I can’t find the flyer anywhere, so have no idea who to credit. If anyone recognizes the design, please post a comment, and if you are the designer and want me to provide a link to your pattern, I will be happy to do so.

Anyway, now you know why I was making all of those placemats to practice machine quilting. The star and tree on this quilt are quilted in-the-ditch, and the light colored background is stippled.

I also made a holiday camel ornament for a friend’s party. The theme of the party was “how dry I am” since Georgia has experienced record drought in 2007. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture before I gave it to her. Imagine this guy made out of Sculpey® polymer clay (the stuff you shape and then bake in the oven) and painted gold. He's about three inches across (in your imagination silly). Then imagine a little red and green tatted blanket on his back made out of metallic thread, and a halter made of the same thread. The whole thing was then affixed inside a copper wire hoop (had to learn how to solder for that one), and hung by another hank of metallic thread looped at the top of the copper hoop.

Well that’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to. How about you? Post a comment and let us hear from you. I’m happy to answer questions, or point readers to your own website if you have something to share.

Quilting Practice: Placemats with a Difference

These placemats are a great practice project for machine quilting. The idea is to make several placemats with the same fabric layout, then quilt each with a different technique or pattern.

I made a set of twelve so that I could practice all of the techniques I will use on a large wall hanging. I wanted to perfect the techniques (ok, maybe not perfect, but at least improve) before I started working on the wall hanging, which is likely to get a bit more scrutiny than every day placemats only noticed by family.

Skills you will use

• Rotary cutting
• Basic machine piecing
• Machine quilting techniques: stippling, in-the-ditch, border patterns
• Quilt binding techniques: making straight binding, mitered corners

There are many excellent books that teach quilting techniques as well as several good sources on the internet. Quilt.com is a good source of information and links. And the library at Victoriana Quilt Designs.com is another good source.


Project Specifications
Description: A set of 6 quilted placemats demonstrating different machine quilting designs.

Each placemat top is made up of 7 horizontal rows. Each row consists of eight 2 inch blocks and each block is made of 2 triangles. Therefore, each placemat requires 56 blocks or 112 triangles.

Skill Level: beginner

Finished dimensions: each placemat 16 inches wide by 14 inches tall

MaterialsNote: All fabrics are assumed to be 44 inches wide unless stated otherwise. However, assume that an inch or more in width will be lost due to the selvedge edge. The same applies to the fabric yardage. I usually assume that fabric will not be cut perfectly straight and plan to loose 2 inches on either end of a cut piece. Also, I recommend that all fabric be washed prior to use. If it is going to shrink substantially, you want to know this before you cut.

Select quilter’s cottons for the top, backing, and binding that coordinate well. I used over 20 different fabrics because I was using up bits and pieces from another project. However, if you are purchasing new fabric for this project, I would recommend that you select at least 8 different but coordinating fabrics, and look for small prints and patterns since the pieces are quite small and a large motif will be lost.

Based on the assumptions above, one yard of fabric will yield eleven (11) 2⅞ inch WOF strips and each strip will yield 13 squares and 26 triangles. So one yard of fabric will yield 278 triangles. 672 triangles are needed to complete the project.

Top: Depending on the number of fabrics selected, you will need to purchase
Single fabric: 2⅓ yards
Two fabrics: 1¼ yards each
...
Eight fabrics: ⅓ yard each
If using all fat quarters, you will need a total of 11 pieces to make 6 placemat tops.

Backing: 1½ yards

Binding: 2¼ yards

Batting: 36 inch wide craft batting – 1 ¾ yards; 90 or 96 inch wide quilt batting – ½ yard; 40 inch by 60 inch crib batting – 1 piece; or any combination that will yield 6 pieces that are each 18 x 16. I recommend all cotton batting. These placemats will be washed frequently, and you want something with low loft so that it will lie flat enough for stemware to stay upright.

Thread: to machine piece the top, for machine quilting of tops and to attach and finish binding. Specialty machine quilting threads are available, but not required. I generally use cotton all purpose thread. Try to select colors that will blend with all of your fabric choices so that you do not need to change thread frequently throughout the project.


ToolsSewing machine equipped with ¼ inch patchwork foot; even feed/walking foot; and free motion/darning foot.

Rotary cutter and self healing mat

Quilting ruler

Stencils, marking pens and/or tracing paper from transferring designs for free motion quilting.

Cutting Instructions
Note: WOF stands for Width of Fabric. Cutting instructions refer to standard width fabric. Refer to directions that accompany your rotary cutter and mat for instruction on their use, or look here online. Here are a couple of sites with good instructions Rotary Cutting or Rotary Cut Strips

Top: cut 26 strips each 2 ⅞ inches wide by WOF; sub-cut each strip into 13 squares; cut each square in half on one diagonal to make 26 triangles.

Backing: 18 x 16 – cut 6

Batting: 18 x 16 – cut 6

Binding: Cut 52 strips 1 ½ wide x WOF

Piecing triangles

Match the triangles in any manner that is pleasing to you. I tried to get the widest variation possible and to ensure there was as much contrast within each block as possible. That is, matching lighter to darker fabrics rather than creating monotone blocks.
With wrong sides together, sew a ¼ inch seam along the long edge.
Finger press seams toward the darker color (or steam press, but be careful not to distort the shape of the square).

Piecing rows

Now layout the squares for each placemat in a grid eight squares across and seven down. Try to alternate light with dark and not have too many of the same squares right next to each other. I tried to have all of the diagonals going in the same direction, and always put the darker half of the square on the bottom, but this was a personal choice.
Sew each row of eight together with ¼ inch seams. Press seams in rows 1, 3, 5 and 7 all to the left and in rows 2, 4 and 6 all to the right. This ensures smoother seams when the rows are joined together.

Assembling placemat top
Match the bottom of row 1 to the top of row 2 matching up seams and alternating seam allowances (that is one pointing left and one pointing right). Sew a ¼ inch seam. Continue in this manner matching the bottom of row 2 to the top of row 3, etc. until all rows have been joined. Press the entire placemat top ensuring not to distort the overall shape.

Machine quilting

Place a piece of backing material wrong side up on a smooth work surface. Center a layer of batting over the back. Add the placemat top over the batting with the right side up. Now pin or baste the layers together to hold them in place. I like to use quilter’s bent safety pins because they are quick and easy to insert and remove.

Now you are ready to quilt. Using your walking foot, try quilting “in-the-ditch” (which means sewing a line of stitches right on top of the seam).

Once you are comfortable with that, try your darning foot. You can trace a design onto the placemat top such as would be used for border rows or some other design repeating design like this flower.

Finally try some stippling. Here is a close-up picture of my stippled mat.




Again, there are many sources to learn about machine quilting. Quilter's Review is a great place to have questions answered by experts and many of your questions have already been answered and saved in easy to navigate folders.

Part of the fun of this pattern is that you end up with half a dozen placemats that at a glance all look alike, but up close each is different because of the quilting design.

Finishing placemat
Finally, you are ready to finish the placemats. Take the strips you cut for binding and sew them together end to end to make one long piece of binding tape. You can press the binding with a fold down the middle if you prefer, but this is really not necessary. Note that I have not recommended making bias tape for this binding. Because there are no curved edges and the pieces are small, it really isn’t necessary either.

Trim each placemat to remove excess backing and batting, and to achieve a nice straight edge on all four sides of the mat. Take the end of the binding tape you have made and fold the end back by ¼ to ½ inch (folding wrong sides together.

Now starting at the bottom edge, match the right side of the binding to the top of the mat. Start sewing together with a ¼ inch seam. Miter the corners as you go. Craft and Fabric Links has a good description with photos to explain how to miter corners. When you come back around to your starting point, overlap the beginning by an inch or so, then backstitch and remove from machine. Cut excess binding.

Turn binding to wrong side of placemat, folding under ¼ inch to make a smooth edge and whipstitch to the back. That’s it. Wash the placemats before the first use.

You now have learned several useful machine quilting techniques you can apply to larger projects, and you have some perfectly serviceable placemats that are uniquely your own.