Recent Sewing/Other Makes - November

After going away at the beginning of November, it took me until mid month before I got my sewing mojo back proper. I did manage to continue work on a second gilet, which involved a lot of hand sewing and by the middle of the month I had finished this.  

This gilet is reversible, but I will probably wear the gingham side for the most part. I'm happy with the outcome, but I did find the cotton wadding harder to work with than synthetic wadding. It felt stiffer and a lot tougher to sew through.

I forgot when I used the gingham check fabric to make this item, that the fabric had previously been very lightly used as a table cloth and had a very small pea sized stain on it. I didn't notice the stain until after I'd cut all the pieces out and I didn't have enough fabric to re-cut the piece. As a consequence, I sewed a small bee patch over the stain to hide it, which looks fine to me, it adds a little bit of interest. I was going to put a pocket over it, but decided that I didn't want pockets on the front. I sewed one to the inside instead.

Here's a couple of pictures of the finished item:

I did complete a new small project this month. It was something that came to mind when I saw how scruffy my small hot water bottle covers had got. I use them very regularly in the colder months, so they've seen some life. Here's a couple of pictures to illustrate:

I decided to make a pattern for some new covers. I used an envelope design, similar to the one used for the cream cover. I had some fairisle wool fabric in my stash, that I'd cut from some felted sweaters years ago and hadn't found a use for, so I decided to use them for this project. I think they turned out quite cute:

I didn't attach velcro for closure, but I may do at some point. I've now used the blue one a few times and it's fine without the velcro. I'm just hoping that no moths get to them. They should be super cosy to use this winter and are a definite upgrade. The old covers were chopped up to make stuffing for a new project I'm working on this month.

The main new sewing project I have worked on this month, was a patchwork denim pouffe for LB, as a gift for Xmas. Here's a picture of how it's coming along:

I'm hoping to have it finished in time. I'm trying to clear the deck of other projects, so that I can focus on this one and get it finished.

As part of clearing the decks, I completed this non-sewing make, although part of it did involve sewing to bind it and make the strips of fabric yarn.

This small mat was my first attempt at weaving with fabric yarn, that I made from unused fabric scraps. It was woven on my small children's loom. This mat was the biggest thing I could make on the loom, it only being small. It's a very simple design, as I wanted to keep it simple on my first attempt. I bound the edges with some fabric that I cut off a blouse I shortened.

I'm going to use it to put under my sewing machine when I'm sewing at the kitchen table, as the noise can be quite loud, so hopefully this will soften it. I was pretty happy with the result. I would like to make a larger loom and make a larger sized floor mat or rug, but I need to find the right sized frame to create a loom. It's a possible project for the future.

My focus for the remainder of November and December will now be to finish the pouffe for LB and maybe make some Xmas fabric chain garlands and fabric wraps. I'm keeping my list short, so that I make sure to focus on priorities and not get too distracted, but I probably will anyway.