Competition time!

Are you an avid crocheter or knitter? Can you regularly be seen looking at wool porn? If so, this is the competition for you!

I am giving away 21 balls of wool on a competition on my Facebook page, so if you are a UK resident hop over and enter :-)

www.facebook.com/seamslikefuntome 

The making of a boxy pouch!

When I set up this blog I intended it to be a sewing blog but so far it has mainly been about crochet. Let me rectify this!

For a few months now (on and off) I have been making a boxy pouch from a tutorial by Melanie Ham's Iheartstitching on Youtube, so I thought today I could walk you through the process of making one.

For information purposes, the materials I have used are:

2x outer fabric

2x inner lining fabric

2x fleece interfacing

2x medium interfacing

These are all 9.5 x 14 inches

I also used a zip, which should be 14 inches but in my case I used a 16 inch one so that I was not concerning myself with moving the pull tap during production.

Pieces of equipment I used are:

A cutting board

A rotary blade and scissors

A sewing machine

An iron

Firstly, I had to cut all my pieces to the specified size. The first time I made this pouch I thought it would be massive, but it works out at just a nice size.

Once my fabric is ready to go I press the interfacing (fleece to the outside fabric, paper to the lining) using a hot iron with no steam (best to use your interfacing manufacturers instructions).

Then back to the sewing table, I lay an outer piece face up (so you are looking at the pattern), then lay the zip down so the right side is facing the fabric, with the pull tab on the left, and then I grabbed a lining piece and placed that on top of the outer fabric and zip, so right sides of the fabric are facing one another.

The first tutorial I ever watched on how to sew a zip said to use glue and all sorts of weird ideas but normally I use little clips. You can get clover clips for fabric but I already had some metal clips which work just the same. I find this makes the process of sewing a zip sooooo much easier and hassle free.

If you havent sewn a zip before they do take some practice but my advice is not to avoid it. It was one of the first sewing skills I learned and I am so glad I did.

However, for some reason unknown to me (probably what I had in grabbing distance) I used pretty pins. If you do use pins make sure they are fairly long ones; I find these are much less fiddly than the shorter, less robust ones.

So the next stage is to pin the pieces in place with the zip sandwiched between them and then take them over to the sewing machine (or in my case, shift the sewing machine over to me). Using a zipper foot,sew down the length of the zip making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end to ensure the thread won't go arunning.

In my experience (especially if you are new at sewing zips) it is wise to use tacking first (very light tension and large stitch) and then when happy you can re-sew a tighter stitch.

I sometimes find that my first line of zip stitching isnt completely straight but the beauty is you can re-do the parts that need work without anyone being any the wiser on the outside, sewers secret I call it :-)

Once this is done, you then need to do the same with the other two pieces of material. So, again, lay the outer piece down face up, then grab your sewn piece and push the fabric away from the other side of the zip. Place the zip down (unzipped side) facing the material, with the pull on the right. Then place your lining on top, right sides together, pin and sew.

Pins!

Now it is time to take your work over to the iron and press your sewing. This is very important for a professional finish because it evens out the stitches and secures them into place.

(At this stage I left the iron on the fabric too long and ended up with a stain, so avoid being as careless as me or risk ruining your project).

Now it is time to topstitch your work. This will further secure the stitching you have already done and make the top of the pouch look neat and professional. Topstitching can be another area that is hard to combat (at least with anything resembling a straight line) and my best advice is to use a fairly loose tension (in case you need to unpick) and go really slowly lining up the edge of the fabric with the edge of the zipper foot. Don't forget your backstitching!

Then back to the iron to press again!

Now it is time to make your pull tab. Using your piece of fabric 7 x 2.25 inches you can fold and press long ways on the wrong side, sew then turn inside out. I like to do it another way though.

I had some double sided tape to hand so I placed two pieces adjacent to one another and folded over the edges. Then I folded the fabric in half and made sure it stuck well together. Then I sewed a line down each length et voila!

If you wanted a pull tab on either end, as in Melanie's tutorial, then you would now cut this tab in half. I prefer to just have one tab though (totally your own preferance) so mine was good to go.

Now you will need to grab your pouch main body again. Make sure it is all laying flat, pin it and sew along the bottom length. You would normally do this with the lining showing and then trim and zig zag or overlock however I wasnt thinking and sewed it with the outer fabric showing. I was about to rip the stitches when I realised this may be beneficial as I was able to then do a french seam and leave a neater lining. (Check Youtube on how to do a french seam)

When you pull open your pouch, it should be in a cylinder shape, this is right. You need to fold it in the opposite way to how you sewed it, so the zip should line up with the seam you have just finished (at the bottom). Here is where you insert your pull tabs at each end (if you have two) or one end (if you have one). Fold your pull tab in half and sandwich between each end between zip and lining, ensuring the tab is between the fabric (not outside of it), pin into place.

When you are sewing a tab in place it is important to make sure you have it exactly in the middle of the zip/seam and to ensure it stays there as sometimes when sewing material can shift and your tab will sew left or right of centre.

Sew down one width of the pouch with pull tab in place.

Sewn edges before trimming

Now trim the excess and zig zag down the length of the seam.

Now sans loose threads and excess fabric

IMPORTANT: For the next step make sure that your zip is undone half to three quarters of the way, otherwise you won't be able to get inside of it!

Now put the other tab (if you have one) and pin into place, then sew and zig zag as you did with the other side.

The main body of your pouch is done. At this stage you may like to put some bias tape on the seam lines to make it look neater, but the zig zag is fine.

Bias binding attached gives a neater finish

The neat seam running down the middle is a french seam, so much nicer

Turn it into the right way and check that it is all sewn okay. Once you are happy with it, turn it back into the wrong way.

You would have seen while it was in the right way that it looks like a pencil case, if you want that you can finish here. However, if you want a boxy pouch then you need to box off each corner.

To do this, you will need an temporary fabric pen and a ruler. Measure down the side of each corner 2 inches and mark with a line.

Adding a line down the edge of the corner

Then you will need to pull the fabric apart in each corner and fold it in the opposite direction, lining up the line with the seam on the other part of the fabric. Lay flat and ensure the line is 2 inches down the centre of the corner, and four inches across, mark accordingly.

I have drawn lines with a air soluable pen to cut off the corners

Sewing the corner  along the 4" line

Once you are happy with your markings, pin and take to the machine. Sew a line along the 4" line, being sure to secure with backstitching at each end. You can now cut off the corner and zig zag the seam to secure in place. Do this for all four corners.

Zig Zaged boxy corner

Now turn your pouch in the right way and poke out all of the corners. I hope you are happy with you pouch.

Here is mine!

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Crochet Wool Review

Today I want to give a review of some wool I have been using to crochet and places where I buy that.

I want to say straight up that I am not being asked to write this review or to mention any product, and I am not getting any money or stock for doing so, this is purely because I want to write about something that is close to my heart at the moment.

Poundland wool

For anyone who likes to crochet (or knit) they are going to need to buy quite a lot of wool (yarn) and hopefully build up a stash so that they have go to colours, thickness etc. I suspect it is for this reason that Poundland wool is a big hit.

Poundland, for those not in the UK, is a store in the high street that sells everything for £1 or less. You might be forgiven for thinking that wool from Poundland won't be up to much. After all, it is cheap as chips and with wool you do generally get what you pay for.

However, the Poundland wool is not too bad at all. I have been making a lazy wave blanket with it and its been working up quite nicely. It does sometimes squeak when using, which I really don't like, but you can get that with any wool. It is made 100% acrylic and the wool snob in me turns her nose up at this, but if you want a cheap piece of whatever you are making, then this is a really good option. At 3 balls for £2 (roughly 66p a ball) you really cannot go wrong (though stay away from the sparkly option as this is very rough!).

Wool Warehouse wool

Being a member of the 'Crochet UK' group on Facebook it was quickly bought to my attention that shopping at Wool Warehouse online is the way forward. It is a very popular option for crocheters everywhere (in the UK) and having purchased from them myself I can see why.

They sell brand that you can buy elsewhere but at very competitive prices. A week or two ago they announced a 25% off sale on some of their more popular brands, so I jumped at the chance to order some.

The delivery is speedy (sent out the same day before a certain time), and they are packaged well. Not only are they inside the plastic bag that the package arrives, but the wool itself also comes in a lovely see-through netting bag, which is actually very useful for keeping your WIPS in. I love this about Wool Warehouse and is one of the main reasons I will shop with them over other online wool shops.

I have a little stash from Wool Warehouse now so havent used every brand I have bought as of yet. The two brands I have used though have been extremely high quality.

Drops Nepal

This was a brand that was reduced (I believe it is still reduced at the point of posting this) so I picked some of this up in white, blue (forget-me-not) and pink (cerise). I am currently making a blanket with this in a zig zaggy pattern. The wool is made with 65% wool and 35% alpaca which I much much much prefer to acrylic. The wool is so thick without being chunky that its probably my favourite of all brands I have ever used. I will definitely be working with this again in the future.

Drops Lima

This brand was also reduced so I picked up some of this not really knowing what to expect. It isnt quite as thick as the Nepal so felt a little weird when I started working with it but it works up lovely. Both Drops brands are super soft and this one is also 65% wool, 35% alpaca. I have started a baby blanket with this but its still early in its development as I am trying to get the Nepal blanket finished. I ordered this wool in off-white, pink, blue, purple. I just love with both of these brands there are so many colours to chose from and you can create your own colour scheme.

It is also worth noting that on the DROPS website they have lots of free patterns for you to use.

So that is my review today. What wool do you use? What do you like/don't like? Please leave a comment and let me know.

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