Caught Crafting

Fabric Design Classics

Although I realize I still owe you a Christmas decoration (ahem) it's probably better to ignore that one at this stage as the world has moved on. So let's start afresh with a small new series on fabric design classics.

Prints or weaves that have developed into evergreens might not seem an overly exciting subject at first, but still can hold a couple of suprises, as I found when I did some research on my first classic: Gingham, or Vichy as they like to call this fabric on the European continent.

Originally gingham was a cotton made of two colours forming striped fabric, which was brought to Europe from Asia in 17th century. Later english and french mills developed a checkered pattern, which eventually took over the original striped version (That's where the name Vichy comes from. Of course the French will say they started the checkered thing. And the english will say the Frenchies just copied it from the Manchester mills.. ;). Whatever happened: Suddenly it was there and hasn't left since.

The fresh country style charm of gingham is undeniable. Like with everything else: Too much is definitely possible. However, the ease of cutting and sewing this geometrical pattern, the fact that it can be combined with so many other patterned and solid fabrics, and that it can be used as a canvas for many embellishments, makes gingham a must have in each fabric stash.

Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Baby Blue and Black are colours often used for gingham, but there are also different variations.

 
 
For instance Robert Kaufman's Carolina Series (first row) or the danish Stof A/S (who also still offer the striped gingham) available in Germany through Quiltmaus (second row). I also like the diagonal ginghams to add some pattern variation. Especially for accessories like belts, headbands and bags.

Then there is embroidery on gingham fabric, known as "chicken scratch" in the US or "Broderie Suisse" (I don't know the German name for this embroidery style). Quieter Moments is doing magic with this technique as you can see below. I've got to try this out as the variations and colour combinations are endless.

 
For small daily doses of gingham these are two nice products: Avie Art offers whimsical stickers with a gingham background that can be personalized to your needs, and The Papered Crown has sets of cheerful clothes pins in her etsy shop.

 
By the way: Who says gingham is for country style interiors only? Add a bit of drama to your living room and get inspired by this utterly fabulous slimline sofa seen at Angelucci.

It's the size of the checkers and the quality of the material that determines the best use of each gingham fabric and with the smallest checks starting at 2 to 3 mms there is really not much around that is Gingham proof!

A promised tutorial

After the overwhealming amount of reactions and answers I got from the sew-mama-sew give away in May, it was clear that most of you love tutorials, and even more so when it involves re- or upcycling.

As I know that there are so many fantastic blogs out there with bloggers doing a great job on collecting the most creative tutorials across the web, its not my goal to reproduce all this information here on Caught Crafting. I actually added some links to a couple of great europen tutorial sites in my left side bar for you to check out.  However, a small tutorial now and then, with a focus on recycling and practical use is irresistible. So here we go, with a quick and easy how-to for a set of festive summer bangles like the ones below.

 

Look in your box with "forgotten jewellery", dig up your left over felt and ribbon stash and get going with the following steps:

1. Pick an old plastic, wooden or metal bangle. Scratched, out-of-fashion colour, wrong pattern: It's all good, as long as its not broken and not too narrow (I'd say minimum 1 cm). Measure the circumferences with a tape measure. Take this number and add 3 cms for seam allowance. Also measure the width of the bangles with a measuringe tape, multiply with 2 (you want to cover the bangle from the outside and the inside) and add 1 cm seam allowance.

2. Now the fun part starts. Mix and match your felt (not too thick: 1mm wool felt is ideal) and ribbon until you like what you see. Cut a felt rectangle based on the measurements you found under step 1. Cut a piece/the pieces of ribbon you want to use in the same length as the felt rectangle. While choosing your ribbons, note that they should not be wider than the bangles you are going to cover!

3. Put the ribbon centered and in a straight line on the felt rectangle, secure with some pins, and sew it on.

4. Wrap the felt around the bangle to check the length and mark where the two ends of the felt strip should be sewn together. Then stitch them together right on right. This leaves you with a ring of felt. Turn the ring inside out, so the right side is facing out and pull it over the bangle. It should sit tight but not too tight. When the fit is right cut off the excess felt at the seam allowance leaving a couple of mms.

5. Make sure the ribbon sits centered on the bangle, then wrap the excess felt inside, over the edge of the bangle. Cut a bit off the width when the two sides of felt overlap each other too much inside the bangle. A couple of mms overlap will do.

6. Hand stitch the two sides of the felt together on the inside of the bangle (there is no other way! If there is: Please let me know ;)). Make sure that the felt follows the round form without casting too many wrinkles - this is the trickiest bit.

7. Stitch on some more decoration if you like: Buttons, beads, sequins - use your imagination and your craft supplies!

I'd love to see what you made of it when you decide to try it out for yourself. Just leave a comment here with a link to your blog or Flickr stream if you want to share!

Diana.

5. Make sure the ribbon sits centered on the bangle, then wrap the excess felt inside, over the edge of the bangle. Cut a bit off the width when the two sides of felt overlap each other too much inside the bangle. A couple of mms overlap will do.

6. Hand stitch the two sides of the felt together on the inside of the bangle (there is no other way! If there is: Please let me know ;)). Make sure that the felt follows the round form without casting too many wrinkles - this is the trickiest bit.

7. Stitch on some more decoration if you like: Buttons, beads, sequins - use your imagination and your craft supplies!

I'd love to see what you made of it when you decide to try it out for yourself. Just leave a comment here with a link to your blog or Flickr stream if you want to share!

Diana.

Prints Charming Panels

Once in a while I drop by Prints Charming to check out what's new. Their latest product is just up my alley: An embroidery panel with a modern, fresh design, leaving a ton of creative possibilites,instead of prescribing every stitch.

 

The pattern is pre-printed on cotton or a cotton/linen mix, but unlike the classic, preprinted embroidery kits with just a shallow marking telling you where to stitch, the prints in these panels play a much bigger part! They are hand printed and designed to be embellished to your own liking.

You can stitch over (parts) of it but you certainly don't need to cover all the lines up. This way, every panel will turn out a unique piece depending on the colours,stitches and other bits and beads you choose to use.

 

All photos come from the Prints Charming website and blog.

The pieces are 30x30 cms and also come in a white background with coloured prints. You can find them here. Some more examples are shown on Kath and Kirsten's inspiring Flickr Photostream. I will boldly state here that I can imagine myself making a quilted blanket out of these. It will take ages but it will look very, very pretty!

Mix and make

Sometimes I wonder why African fabrics are not more widely used in Europe. Maybe it is because it's difficult for us to incorporate the bold colours and exotic patterns into our sewing. Often, African fabric is presented as one single style, and not as something that can be naturally mixed with patterns and designs of European or North American origin.

Personally, I'm always inspired by these beautiful prints and weaves. I am definitely ready for some cross culture sewing and would love to play around and find new combinations! See my favorites below...

1. Vlisco. This old Dutch fabric mill has gone through difficult times, but always managed to reinvent itself. You can buy directly from their shop (starting from 6 yards/5,5 metres).

2. Shwe-Shwe prints from South-Africa. Actually these are an African interpretation of the old european "Blaudruck" technique. African Fabric in the UK has a nice collection (This is also where the product pictures I used below are coming from).

A small, but fine address for african fabric (and not only for that!) is Rosa Pomar's shop Retrosaria.

And finally: Ogekko from Australia is showing how pretty these fabrics work for children's clothes. You can find her Dawanda shop here.

If you worked with african fabrics before show us what you made with them. I'm curious!

Maison Sajou

About a year and a half ago I stumbled on the website of Maison Sajou. I was looking for a nice way to package my ribbon orders, and although I didn't find what I looked for, I spent a long time on their site enjoying the beauty of their products.

 
Maison Sajou was founded in 1830. After being very succesfull for a long time, the brand with all its beautiful embroidery patterns, nostalgic packaging and a big collection of specialized thread led a dormant life since the 1950-ies. Then Madame Crestin-Billet turns up, and out of her own passion for embroidery and needlework, breathes new life into this traditional french "mercerie" company. With a fine balance between preserving the old, typical Sajou-style, and at the same time adding new, modern elements, she looks to make Maison Sajou a part of modern days crafting.

I definitely hope to be able to see their inspiring products around for a while. I noticed that, until the end of this month, you can order their 2010 catalogue full of eye candy for free on their site, which also has a shop. In Germany you can find a selection of their delicate cotton ribbon at Volksfaden.