Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 4

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - May- Week 4.

I finished my Books square in the coverlet slow stitching project.   

I added the tiny fabric book that hold my favorite authors.  You can find the details in this post.

I added more vine along the top of the book case from the blue pot. 

I added texture stitching - tiny seed stitching around the book to hold together the tea dyed top fabric to the foundation layer. 

I chose neutral tones used in the piece itself. 

I love it!

Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 3

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - March - Week 3.

I continue to add elements to my books square. 

I have added standing books to the top shelf of the bookcase with a variety of colors. Again, the stitch is the outline stitch with 2 strands of thread.

Then, a set of books laying on the second shelf featuring nice colored covers.

I added a red vase with flowers on the bottom shelf. 

Slow Stitching - May 2025 - Week 2

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - May - Week 2.

I continued with my books theme this week. 

Added green leaves with vines in single thread to the vine along the left hand edge. I used a variety of green colored thread. 

I added a book to the top shelf featuring a green edge, gold oval and green star in the center. It's cover facing out.

Then, a clock to the middle shelf in gold thread with black hands. 

Then, glasses to the bottom one.  I need those to read. Very important.

The embroidery is all done with the outline stitch. 

Sewing Project - Bread Bags

I decided to make myself some bread bags to bring home my Country Grain loaves from COBS because the plastic bags are stacking up.

I chose 100% cotton fabric in yellows, greys and white. This was a large piece of fabric that I have used for many projects.

I used the COBS plastic bag as a template - 18.5 inches tall x 11.5 inches W.

I wanted the seams finished on the inside and a generous gusset at the top so the measures were generous.

The first one I did was put together with out too much attention to measures of the beginning piece of fabric.

The second one was too large and had to be reduced to match the first one.  

The measurements of the fabric would be 26.00 wide to be folded in half and 20.00 inches tall with 1.5 inches for the gusset at the top.

I chose cotton twill tape for the string in the gusset.  

I added a buttonhole on the front of the gusset on the front of the back before I sewed down the gusset. 

A large safety pin to pull the twill tape through.

I added a tab of yellow cotton to the ends of the tape to give me purchase to pull the bag closed.

I then boiled them in tea for about 10 minutes to even out  the colors.   Once rinsed they were dried.

I added a "My Bag" tag to these bags and they are included in on my "My Bag Line" page.

I then chose to add some slow stitching to the front of the bags onto the light square.  There are 5 circles in different colors where the top was outline stitch and the bottom was the running stitch.

I don't know what the staff at COBS will think of the idea but we shall see.

For information on the line. 

Slow Stitching 2025 - March - Week 1

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - March - Week 1.

This month I have chosen as my theme - "My Favorite Colors". Pink, Navy, Yellow and Turquoise. Pink for flowers, Turquoise for our blue skies, Yellow for Sunshine and Navy for jeans.

I picked some fabric from my stash and placed bands of these colors diagonally on my foundation piece. I sewed them on in a Quilt as You Go fashion. Starting in the center and moving out.

I left a 1" margin around the edge unattached. 

I invisible basted the colors layer to the cotton foundation piece along the outside border at about 1 inch.

Slow Stitching - No. 048 - Cloth Gathering

Next piece of  K3N Cloth Tales Slow Stitching Challenge 2024.

Week 48 - Cloth Gathering.

I chose this soft yellow cotton fabric. I cut a piece 3 times the length of my anticipated final piece (5.5 x 3 =16.5 inches). 

I used pieces of embroidery floss longer than the cloth by a few inches.  I chose them from my ORTS tin. I think I did 9 rows of running stitch.  Make sure your knot is secure - a back stitch would be helpful.

I then pulled the threads to scrunch up the fabric. It feels really nice.

I really liked the stem stitch along the top edge which was just stitched to the top of each fold in green thread. I put crosses in blue on the left.  I did not find adding stitches to this piece easy except the stem stitch.

Slow Stitching - Zokin

I needed to do some slow stitching so I dug some cloth from the stash and started.

This is 100% cotton dishtowel well used with holes.  I ripped it down and folded in half.  I added a few felt patches over the holes. This little heart is one.

I stitched with some thread from ORTS tin which give me a bunch of different colors.  I stitched in both directions.

A long sashiko needle came in handy with project.

It measures 2.5 inches and I could put a lot of stitches at one time and just pull that thread through.

Added this cleaning cloth in the bin in the laundry closet.  Ready to clean up messes and then washed and used again.

Another piece of cloth to be useful again.

 

Stitching - Exercise Mat

With the floor being installed I decided that I would need a mat to do exercises in the living room.  The floor is hard and provides no cushioning.

I researched options and found a large rug at IKEA which was 100% cotton and a color I could live with.  I had bought a yoga mat from my sister who had purchased it for a class and never used it again.  That provides the non slipping base for the rug.  I only do walking videos so there is not much impact exercises.

It is about 5 x 7 feet in size so doubling it up with the yoga mat would provide 3 layers of cushion.  That should be good.

I did try it for a few days until I was convinced that the idea would work.

It would really need to be solidified into a single piece now that it was folded because there were open edges which presented tripping hazards.

The blue yoga mat is just a bit smaller than the mat which is okay.

It really sticks to the floor so keeps the mat in place very well.

It is big enough to do my floor exercises and the cushion makes those comfortable.

I clipped the folded edge first for stitching.  That way any adjustment can be made on the open edges if needed.

I laid the hemmed edges opposite the fold next to each other instead of over each other to make that edge smoother.

I chose some heavy 100% cotton crochet cotton for the stitching. It is Clark's Anchor Cronita size 10 in Turquoise to add a bit of color to the mat.

I am so grateful for what I have learned on my slow stitching journey this year.  These experiences gave me confidence to know I could do this.  I found a heavy needle in my stash. 

I used a back stitch which doubled up the stitching on the back.  Hopefully that will wear better than single stitch.

Now there were a lot of inches to go about 250 of them so it was going to take a while.

The weaving of the thread was quite open considering the size of needle I was using.  The weaving was very even so I could just follow the edge of a row.

I made crosses at the corners to really tied down those thick corners.

I am very happy with my even stitching.

The turquoise color is great.

It took about 8 hours of stitching to go all the way around.

It feels and looks great!

I found a piece of webbing and a clasp to make a strap to keep it closed when I roll it up every day when I am done.

This clasp just traps the webbing in a clip on both sides so no sewing was required.

I am amazed sometimes at what I have in my stash.

It was exactly what I needed.

Everything needs a home at my house so I placed a basket on the bottom shelf of my IVAR shelving unit to hold the mat and my indoor exercise running shoes. 

That works very well tucked away in the corner of the living room.

A two week project but bodes well for regular exercise with  my walking videos now that fall is here and the temps will be cooler.

 

Sewing Project - Chair Pads

 
The wood table chairs are now more comfortable.  I made chair pads for the dining table chairs this morning.

I used some blue mustard fabric I picked up for free a while back.  Nice floral pattern.  The back side of the pads are the mustard linen fabric I had in my stash.

The seats measure 15.25" across at the front and 13" at the back so there is plenty of each fabric.

I had checked out foam rolls at a fabric store at the beginning of the month and the price was $39 but not enough to make all of the pads.

I continued my research.  

I purchased a 1.5" memory top mattress topper for the foam in the pad. They were on sale recently for $50 which is more than enough to make them all with leftovers.  

The triangular shape of the seats will allow me to make good use of the foam and fabric by rotating the pattern.  The funky textures will be put to the underside which will work out alright.

There were some decisions to be made:

1. Zipper closure so I can wash them?  Where does it go? How long does it have to be? Do I have 4 in the right color and length?  Don't have what I need to proceed this morning. Next!

2. Fold over flap at the back.  This makes them not reversible and I would need to velcro the flap to keep it closed.  The math is a bit more complicated. Next!

3. Sew the foam in and see how it goes.  This is the fastest and easiest option. Yes!

The foam was thin enough to cut with scissors but not my fabric ones.  I just traced the shape with a marker.  I rotated the shape so that I could use the cut side for the next one.  Very efficient use of the material.

I cut 4 of these one for each chair.

I placed the printed fabric over the solid fabric and pinned the pattern in place.  I had to add a 1/2 inch seam allowance then a full inch for the foam pad.

I started sewing along the back towards the corner, back stitched the corners and ended just after the last corner leaving most of the back open so I could insert the foam.

The foam is very sticky so it was a bit of a challenge to get it in place but it should help it stay in the envelope.

The twill tape ties were about 15 inches folded in half.  I placed them so they would be aligned with the inside corner of the chair back.  Using twill tape meant I did not have to make ties which made the project move along.  

I pinned the back opening closed and as I went along I placed the folded tie aligned along the pinned seams edge.  

Then, I just sewed the closure seam which also tacked down the ties.  Did some back stitching  where the ties were for added strength. 

It took about 3 hours to make four pads so I am happy with that.

Here's is one on the chair and it looks great.

I have managed to keep my plants on the balcony alive so a small pansy bouquet on the table and I am set to host company!

Slow Stitching - No. 027 - Stitching a Leaf

Week 27 of the slow stitching challenge on K3N Cloth Tales.

Prompt: Stitching on a real leaf (pressing and waxing leaves)

It was designed to help us be mixed media artist and have the experience of stitching on material which is not fabric.  

I did not create a hole in mine though I could have but after putting the time I decided against it.

Kelly green felt one layer.  I chose matching thread for the veins, darker for the central rib and blanket stitch in the same kelly green around the edge.  The French Knots the same color.

I stitched my patterned cotton fabric strips onto a navy square with navy thread. The leaf was stitched with leaf green thread so they would be more visible.

K3N had posted on Instagram last week that she would be using a pressed real leaf in her piece this week. She recommended we press one if we did not have one at hand.

I knew that a real leaf was not going to work for my end project so I decided to create myself a felt one. It was designed with no idea what the final challenge would be.

I regret not having a hole in it but I did not want to cut the thread for my knots.

It is supposed to be an Aspen Leaf.

Sewing Project - Creating Blocks from Slow Stitching Pieces

Today, I worked on getting the slow stitching pieces sewn to squares.

I wanted to get caught up before the renovations start.

I continued with the decorative stitch in navy thread on the navy seam binding folded in half.

I am mitering the corners and that is working well.

 I cut the rest of the grey squares from the grey cotton fabric to ensure that I have what I need to finish this project at the end of the year.

I have cut enough to have 55 squares which is more than I need for the slow stitching square I will create with the K3N challenge.

It is better to have too many because I really don't know what the end product will be.

This way the rest of the fabric can be put into the cotton pile.

Update: June 24 2024 - I did the QAYG Hexagon and put it in the plastic bag with the others.  I hope to be able to continue with the challenges but with everything put away for at least a couple of weeks who knows.

Slow Stitching - No. 21 - Boro and Sashiko Stitching

This piece is for the K3N Cloth Tales slow stitching challenge.  

This is Week 21 and the prompt is Mending is healing. Japanese Boro and Sashiko stitching. The stitching was to keep garments in wearable order for peasants. They made use of every usable scrap.

I chose the light blue fabric in the center which had holes in it. I stitched around to stabilize those. I then continued to stitch pieces around. I used white, red, and blue thread.  

I added several patches in the form of the white square, navy ribbon and the red heart.  In some places I stitched in both directions. 

Sewing Project - Book Sleeve

I decided to make a book sleeve today.

It about the same dimensions as the book bag but it has no handles or closure.

I chose these yellow cotton fabric because I have a bit of it and could afford to lose a bit if it was a bust.

I chose a deep brown very polyester fabric which was stiff and slidy.

Making this took a lot of brain power to translate the process I developed for the wine bags to this one.  

The differences were no box corners, a fold on the bottom instead of a seam, and a portrait orientation vs the landscape one on the book bag.

It does hold the largest novel book I own which I have been using as my guide.

The tab originally was to going to keep it closed but that did not work out so it became a decorative tab instead.  The closure would need to be elastic to accommodate the various thicknesses of books.

I added a button to match the yellow fabric on a brown tab.

There is an opening in the lining where I could turn it inside out.

I did zigzag all the seams as the brown lining fabric was thin and may give it put under too much stress,

It should be nice for this purpose.

I used my wavy decorative stitch again to to top stitch the top edge.

I used fleece for the batting in between the outer and lining fabrics.

I used straight lines of stitching to quilt the outer fabric to the batting.

I prefer to have handles but based on my research many of these sleeves are being made and sold so I thought I would give it a try.

I added my "My Bag" tag to the top edge.

 

Sewing Project - Creating Blocks

I worked on creating squares from my slow stitch challenge projects.

Today, I did 11 to get caught up with the 19 pieces I have made so far.

The grey cotton squares measure 7 inches. 

I am using a navy seam binding to cover the raw edges of the pieces and stitching it would a decorative stitch which covers the width of the ribbon.

This time I used navy thread which looks much better.

Sewing Project - Wine Bottle Bag - Celery and Red

I cleaned up this morning after this frenzy of sewing.

I found this celery textured fabric that I had set aside a while back and forgot about.  It had all its elements so I just decided to make it up. 

I will be keeping a few of these for the Christmas Market and the others will go to Grandma Africa merchandise sale in June.

I found this scrap of red patterned fabric which worked well.  There was just enough for 2 stripes so I just crossed them.

This fabric is not cotton and a bit tricksy.  It is heavier than the cotton I have been using so I skipped the flannel but added a thin layer of poly cotton to stabilize it and keep it square. 

The lining is a pale yellow polycotton fabric. The thread was a pretty good match to the celery color.

I did add a small square of flannel in the very bottom which I sewed between the layers and sewed to the lining bottom.  Just some cushion for a glass bottle as it is placed on a hard surface.

The button was a great match.  I am very grateful for things to be falling into place for all of these sewing projects.

For information on the "My Bag" Line

Sewing Project - Wine Bottle Bag - Japanese 1

 I found a couple small pieces of this Japanese print fabric by Schwartz Liebmen Textiles Inc. in my stash. I believe it to be 100% cotton.

I chose to make the front of the bag be a panel of the gorgeous fabric.  I found some red that my sister gave to supplement to the size I needed. I sewed a piece to the one side but that made it tricky to figure out where to place the the handles.

I placed a row of brown twill tape along the top edge aligned so it would be centered for the purple accent. That was stitched with the wavy decorative stitch then several lines down vertically to quilt the flannel to the outer layer.

Now I would not have a back seam. I did manage the handles correctly but totally forgot about it for the box corners.  I did have to undo the box corners on the outer and lining pieces and then iron the piece well so I would know what was the front.  It had to be done.

With the bottom seams and the box corners now in the right place I could do my 2 rows top stitching at the top of the bag.  

I hand stitched the purple crochet element at the top of panel on twill then added a red button in the center.

I chose red thread and an off white polycotton lining.

Information on "My Bag" Line 

Sewing Project - Wine Bottle Bag - Updated

When I visited my sister a while back we worked on a wine bottle bag design.

I brought the pieces to make one as we ran out of time to finish one for me.

We had decided to add some height to the bag so we could have 1.5 inches in the top band where we were top stitching. This would add strength and a bit of stifness.

The one on the left was the one I brought home so I cut the outer fabric and added the 1.5 inch blue strip.  That meant I had to add some to the lining as well.  We decided to leave the flannel so it would only reach the top of the bag with out being folded over in the seam.

Learning is challenging. I did add the pieces I needed but failed to remember to put the flannel in and to make the top seam 1.25 inches so there would be extra fabric in the top edge. You can see that it is higher than the other one. Made on Sunday.

The one on the left is the one I made on today which incorporated all the things we planned.  A cotton outer fabric, a flannel layer shorter than the cotton, and a poly-cotton lining the same size as the outer fabric.  The fabric measures 15.5" tall by 12.5" wide. Flannel is 14" T x 12.5" wide.

I quilted the flannel to the diagonal patterned fabric along those lines in black thread. Then I made the box corners on the outer and lining fabrics.  Then made the strap.  Pinned the strap first to ensure it was right with the same side facing the outer, that they were on the sides with the seam at the back, and that they were aligned with the edge of the fabric. I then added the lining ensuring that the box corners were sitting opposite the ones on the outer fabric.  I sewed the seam 1.25 inches wide along the top leaving a opening to turn everything inside out. 

Once the lining is pushed into the bag and aligned, then pressing the top edge flat I sewed the 2 top stitching seams. One really close to the edge to close the opening.  The other to capture the handles a second time to ensure strength.

Note: Maybe a bit of trimming of the flannel in the box corners would help balance out the bottom. They stand on their own without a bottle inside.

Updated:  I redid the one on the right to include flannel, the 1.5 inch top stitched edge and an accent on the blue strip.

I have added the accent for number 2 so this set is finally completed.

Slow Stitching - No. 012 - Bundle Book

This is my first piece for week 12 of the slow stitching challenge with K3N Cloth Tales.  

This challenge was to stitch one piece which will stay with me and one which will be exposed to nature for 3 months.

The poem Kathryn shared is the one where if you love something let it go if it comes back its yours if not it never was.  That was too much letter stitching for me so I just Free for my word on the the piece which will stay with me.

I put down the blue circle then the yellow word then the purple butterfly and then the seed stitching all the way around in green.  A final frame of yellow invisible stitch. I chose white cotton on a blue and white gingham fabric.

I chose Came Back for the piece which will be put outside for 3 months.  Mine has not gone far so I know I will be able to retrieve it. 

Those with more nature available in the form of yard, garden and or woods will have many nooks and crannys to place their bundle.

I made a book with four pages.  I ripped my 2 pieces of cotton and stitched down the center. I stitched in white cotton thread the circle and the words.

I had gathered a pinecone, some pine needles, a leaf from unknown bush, some green cedar leaves on my walk yesterday which was glorious.  I was able to wear my spring jacket.  I added a bit of rusty wire as well.

Here are my ingredients for the bundle. 

On the left handside the pages were not stitched together so I put pine needles in between the cloths.

The rusty wire was stood up so I could roll it.  

I found some jute to tie the bundle.

There is a pine cone as well but forgot to include it in the photo.

I did investigate nooks and crannys on my walk yesterday and decided that with the number of people and dogs around I may lose my bundle so I chose my balcony instead.

Today, we are back to the snow.

I will water my bundle regularly so the rust and decomposition can take place.

We will retrieve our bundles in 3 months time for the solstice in June.