News From The Sewing Room

For the last couple of months, I have been really busy in my sewing room, replacing sold items and running up custom orders, as well as finally finding time to stitch some of the ideas in my head. Having got lots of ideas out of my head though, lots more have flooded in to take their place and my "to sew" list is now even longer!

I have been on a couple of fabric buying sprees too. Going to fabric shops is always a risky business with me. I go in with my shopping list of sewing machine needles, different colour threads and interfacing and can't help browsing the rolls of fabric. I end up muttering aloud over the rolls, checking the fabric for weight and feel, assessing the pattern and thinking what I can make from it. I really don't stand a chance, I can't help but buy a new fabric or five.

Six new handbags have been added to my online stores. I like them all (I only make stuff I like!) but a few I really, really like. I am keeping them out of my sight to save the temptation of keeping them.

















As well as the new handbags, there are some new home ware items too, including a new peg bag fabric and five new door stop fabrics. Door stops are also now available in the pyramid style or a more upright style with a top handle. Hopefully the new style will prove to be just as popular as the pyramid ones.

Treasure Not Trash

Last weekend I had some garden waste and a few other items to take to the local dump, or the Household Waste Recovery Centre as it is now termed!

I have to admit, if you say dump it conjours up images of piles of rotting waste with sea gulls scavenging on it. In reality, our local dump is clean, tidy and very well managed. There are marked recycling skips for metal, wood, cardboard, garden waste (which is composted), household batteries, aluminium foil, mobile phones, car batteries, gas bottles, glass, textiles and even a charity bra bank! There is also a general skip for everything else but even that gets sifted through by the staff for anything worth saving.

To one side is the "shop" which is very popular. You can buy all sorts of salvaged items from books, DVDs and CDs to china, furniture, garden tools and bicycles. I have to admit, I do quite like a poke about when I am there to see what I can find. I've found jewellery which I have broken up for the beads, a brand new lampshade still in its wrapping and various other odds and ends which have found their way onto ebay.

Whenever I go anywhere, I have my fabric radar on full alert and last weekend was no exception. I spotted a corner of some very interesting fabric sticking out of a large bin full of old curtains in the dump shop, so started to pull it out for a quick look. I found that it was a curtain pelmet which, judging by the length, was for patio doors. There was no sign of the curtains to match, so someone had obviously beaten me to them. The pelmet was in really good condition with no fading, so I decided to buy it for the princely sum of £2.50. A bargain!

Once at home, I very quickly ripped off the header tape and lining and broke up the pelmet in fabric widths. Once it was flat, I found I had 5 sections measuring 120cm (46") wide and 40cm (16") long. Best of all, one piece had a name and date stamped on the selvedge. It was a 1989 Laura Ashley print. So even better than I thought. After a quick wash to freshen it up and iron, the fabric has already been put to good use on the latest edition to my door stops. It just goes to show that you can find useful treasure pretty much anywhere if you keep an your mind and eyes open.

Custom Made iPad Stand

I had an interesting question a week or so ago from a chap in the USA. He was looking for a stand for his new Apple iPad to use when he was watching films. He had found me on Etsy and was interested to know if I could custom make him a stand, based on my door stops.

My first response was"Yes!". Then I had to google iPad as I didn't actually have a clue what they looked like! Having found them, I noticed that the iPad's do come with their own case which can be folded so that the iPad is stood on its side for viewing films. I contacted the man in the USA to check if he knew this or not, as it seemd fair. As it turned out he had seen them but wanted a simple bean bag design which could be used anywhere.

Having already said that I could make a stand, I then had to think about the best way forward. As I was basing the stand on my existing door stop designs, I felt the easiest option was to sew a strip of elastic along the bottom to form a lip which would stop the iPad slipping downwards. When I looked at my door stops, I realised that if I orientated the seams into the correct position, the zipper which is usually underneath would end up on the side. At first I thought that would be unacceptable as you wouldn't want the zipper on show. Then I realised that if it was underneath, you would run the risk of scratching surfaces with it - not the best idea if you placed the stand on your polished dining room table!

I didn't think the zipper should be on the side either though, so I relocated it to the back seam of the stand instead. I chose a wide strip of black elastic and a navy furnishing fabric to make the stand in. The furnishing fabric would be durable for constant use and the dark colours would hide grubby fingermarks. The overall size of the door stop design had to be increased to accomodate the iPad but otherwise it was quite straightforward.

The finished product really seems to do the trick. I don't have an iPad, so I had to experiment with a book which was about the same size. As you can see from the photos, the stand holds the book at a good angle, as well as quite securely at the base. The chap in the USA was happy with the photos, so the stand is somewhere mid Atlantic as we speak. Hopefully I will get some positive feedback shortly.