The doily dress

The time has finally come when I can reveal the purpose of all the doily making.  Let me present....

...my wedding dress!

As soon as I saw Jillian's  beautiful creation on Pinterest I thought that it would be wonderful if I could recreate something similar for myself.  She says that she made her dress in two weeks - that girl must crochet like lightning!  As documented here, I have been slowly making doilies for over a year (just in case).  This work was also interspersed with other crochet and quilting projects.  Around six months ago my partner and I decided to finally take the plunge and get married, so the project stepped up pace. 

I was very nervous about how the dress would turn out, after all, your wedding dress is guaranteed to get a lot of scrutiny! I am so happy and relieved that it turned out like I hoped. Here are some more pictures from the big day!

The nitty gritty

For those who like to know the hows and the whys, here are all the details of how I made the dress.

First I made a base dress. This is made using Vogue 8897 in blue polyester satin.
Next I used the same pattern pieces to make a net copy of the dress. The net is to give the doilies support, so that the weight didn't drag them out of shape.

All the doilies were made individually following patterns found free on the internet. I've counted them all, and there are 116 doilies on the dress; these vary from the biggest at over three foot, to teeny tiny ones an inch across. I wanted to only use each pattern twice, but there weren't enough very small patterns, so there are about a dozen of the tiny gap-filling flowers.

Using many, many safety pins, I arranged the doilies on the dress and then sewed them by hand to the net layer. It was essential to use a dressmakers dummy for this, as I needed the doilies to take the shape of the dress.

The net and the satin layers are only joined at the back, where I sewed the two together down each side of the zip. I didn't want an obvious line to show the zip, so I used hook and eye fasteners to close the doilies over the top.

I can remove the doily layer and have a very wearable blue satin dress. I am undecided what to do with the doilies now. They are all cotton, and sewn on with cotton thread, so one possibility is dying these to a less bridey colour.  After all this work its a shame to only wear it once!

Flower fairies quilt

When I made the spring on the building plot quilt for my nephew, I had to also make something for his little sister. Since the jelly roll had been so quick and easy for his quilt, I decided to go down the pre-cut route again and chose a charm pack from the Flower Fairies range by Fabric Freedom. I kept the layout very simple, so this little quilt was very speedy.

To add a bit more interest I decided to try out some of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine. They do help to liven the quilt up, but they were very slow, and used huge amounts of thread. I think this quilt would look even better with a bit of free motion quilting, but that is a skill I need a lot more practice at.

Once again I backed this quilt with snuggly soft fleece, it's quicker, softer and more washable than batting and backing, so good news all around! 

Autumn reflections doily

Doily name. Autumn reflections doily

Pattern source http://www.crochetmemories.com/blog/autumn-reflections-doily/

Thread arderns crochet cotton size 22 (found in great aunt's workbox)

Hook 1.25mm

Finished doily diameter

Finished doily weight

Comments. This is the second version of this doily. It is much, much faster to do the same doily the second time. This one took about 4hours in total, and I only had to unravel one round because of a mistake.  The first version had at least 4 hours work unravelled in it because I struggle with the written patterns. I think I will have a go at hand drawing charted patterns for any others that I like.

I have quite a few little balls of this size 22 thread, but I'm not sure that I like it. Because it is much finer, it does have a more lacy look, but the thread itself is quite stiff and the finished doily feels scratchy.
The photo shows the doily in Aunt Lydia's cotton.

Doily project gathering pace

The doily project has been gathering steam, helped significantly by the discovery of a website choc a bloc full of charted patterns.  That, and the combination of rainy weather and long train journeys.  All the patterns  I am about to show you (and many more) are available here as charted patterns.

My brain works so much better with charted patterns, I find it so much easier to see where I am going. The only difficulty I had was printing them off in high enough quality that I could count the stitches. I need printed copies, so that I can take them on the train, but also I like to colour the rounds with a highlighter (like this) and tick them off as I go.  The text is all in Russian, so I have no idea what they're called, and the only way I've worked out to link to the individual patterns is to copy them to pinterest first.

All the doilies on this page were made using Aunt Lydia's classic 10 crochet cotton, and a 2mm hook.

This doily was very easy, it is a nice repetitive pattern, and because it is so open, it was very quick to make. It measures 40cm or 15 3/4" across. The first photo shows it after blocking, and the second photo shows it pre-blocking, with another doily from this web page.

The smaller doily is actually just the first seven rounds of a larger pattern.  It measures 14cm across.

This doily is took me from Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury on the train (about 2 hours).  It measures 71/2" or 19.5cm diameter.  Although I like the doily and it was easy to make, you have to cut and rejoin the thread twice, which I didn't like.

These four doilies took the next three hours of my train journey.  Again, they are the centres of larger patterns from the same webpage.

Seven doilies is probably enough for one blog post, but there have been, and will be more from that website.  The football has been on in our house a lot recently.  At least the football is a lot more positive than politics at the moment.

Doily project - Doily 7797

I've made another doily, (not my 7797th unfortunately) but this is the name given to it in the pattern available here.

This is a really pretty doily, which will look far prettier when I can be bother to block it.  (one day...) It’s about 16 inches across.

The pattern is nice and repetitive, so once you have deciphered the instructions it is quite easy to get into the rhythm of each round, and it comes together quite quickly.  However, it would really, really benefit from some charted instructions.  It would have been so much speedier if I hadn’t had to go backwards so many times. I struggled to follow in a few places, so have done some photo instructions and notes here to remind me next time.

General

Terms used are American crochet.

Sc = UK dc (no thread over hook)

Dc= UK tr (1 loop)

Tr= UK dtr (2 loops)

Dtr = 3 loops

Tr tr = 4 loops

Long tr = 5 loops

5^th round

These instructions are a little tricky to follow, but the tr tr should be made into the pinnacle and the space between each petal of the previous round.

9^th Round

I found these instructions particularly difficult to follow, so have done myself a step by step photo tutorial.

“Ch9, holding back on lhook the last loop of each tr tr make 4 tr tr in 6^th chain from hook, thread over and draw through all loops on hook (cluster made)”

Let’s break this down...  First ch9, then make a tr tr in the 6^th chain from hook (in the chain you just made)

When you make the Tr tr, keep the last loop on the hook.  You will see that alongside the initial chain, this looks like two tr tr.

Do this three times more, so you have five in total.

Finally, draw the hook through all loops to form a cluster. The next step in the instructions is “in 5^th chain of next loop make 5-tr tr cluster” So, you make another cluster in the centre chain of the next loop.

After completing the second cluster “ch6, make 4-tr tr cluster in 6^th chain from hook”.  This is similar to the first cluster, you need to make the cluster at the base of the chain you just made.  Once again, the chain will form the 5^th tr tr of the cluster.

The third cluster is anchored to the middle of the next loop of the previous round with a dc “dc in next loop”. 

After this, the instructions are much easier to follow.  “ch9,sc in next loop, ch9, dc in next loop, ch 6. Repeat from * around”.  This last ch6 is the beginning of your next cluster.

The other slightly confusing round is the 19^th round (the last one).  19th rnd: * Skip 3 ch, 11 tr in next ch,

 

sc in next tr, ch 7, sc in next tr, ch 7, turn;

(skip 1 tr, 2 tr tr in next tr, ch 7) 5 times; skip 1 tr, tr tr in next tr, sl st in next tr, ch 1, turn;

 (in next sp make half dc, 7 dc and half dc; sc between next 2 tr tr) 5 times; in next sp make half dc, 7 dc and half dc; sc in next sc, ch 7, sc in next tr.

Repeat from * around. Join and break off

Spring on the building plot

I know I have mentioned it before, but I am so lucky to have an excellent local sewing shop- Aberdashery.  It's not a very big shop, but it is choc-a-bloc full, and almost always has what I've been looking for.  Many a quilting emergency has been saved by the lovely Jane.

Until recently, my 2016 challenge to finish more things than I started was going quite well.  Then the fabric started calling me again!  This gorgeous little Construction strip roll by Fabric Freedom just begged to be bought. I try to resist the ubiquitous pink and blue gender stereotyping in children's products, and originally thought that the little vehicles were tractors, so planned to give it to my farming niece.  However, when I unrolled the fabric I saw that they were diggers. I forgot that machinery is also subject to the colour police - tractors are red, diggers are yellow! Fortunately my little nephew is a huge Bob the builder fan, so I didn't need to look far for a new recipient.

There are just five fabrics in the roll, each repeated four times.  I felt that another yellow fabric was needed to balance it out, so bought this gingham to co-ordinate. 

I wanted the quilt to feel fresh and modern, and toyed with the idea of solid white.  I think it would have looked gorgeous, but not very practical for a gift for a toddler.  I settled on this pale blue instead, and now I can't imagine any other choice.


I followed the Summer in the Park tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt company to make the blocks.  Having never used a pre-cut before, I was so impressed how zippy-quick it went together.  In a couple of afternoons I made 42 blocks, which are 8" squares (7 1/2" finished).

A 6x7 layout would measure 45 x 52.5", which is a generous cuddle quilt, but not quite big enough for a single bed.  As my nephew is only three, I felt that a smaller size would be better, so have two quilts - 5x6 blocks, measuring 37.5" x 45" and a 9x9 layout measuring 67.5" square. I laid the blocks out differently in the two quilt tops.

The smaller quilt top is not finished, and I might add a border.

I wanted the fabrics to be the star of the show (and also wanted it finished quickly), so I chose to stitch in the ditch with my walking foot.  I quilted all the horizontal and vertical seams as well as the main diagonals.  It isn't a lot of quilting, so I hope it's robust enough to withstand toddler use.

There wasn't a suitable green fabric in the shop for binding, so I bought bias binding off the roll.  I won't use it again.  It's too narrow for a quilt, so was a battle to get it on neatly.  I do love the colour though.

I really love the bright cheery spring colours.  I don't think adding in the extra yellow was necessary, but it wasn't a bad choice either. Perhaps because making this quilt tied in with some gorgeous sunny weather, I really love this.

Here is the total list of materials used.
1 Fabric freedom strippers roll (1.25m of fabric)
25cm of yellow gingham
2m of solid blue (there is some left over)
4.5m of pre-made bias binding
1.5m of fleece
A whole 250m reel of thread!

Unforgettable- The Welsh Quilt Centre 2016 exhibition

On Saturday, the Welsh Quilt Centre's 2016 exhibition opened.  Tied in with this was an exhibition by one of my favourite local artists - Valeriane Leblond.  I buy her calender every year, and treat myself by not peeking at it in advance so I get a beautiful surprise every month.  The pictures of hers that I love the most are the ones done in conjunction with the quilt centre.  To tie in with the annual exhibition, she has painted a series of pictures featuring the exhibited antique quilts.  Her work is very popular, and has always sold out quickly.  This year, I highlighted the date in my diary, visited on opening day... and am soon to be the proud owner of some original artwork! I'm so excited!
I didn't photograph any of the paintings, and I only had my phone to take pictures of the quilts, so they're not the greatest quality.  This quilt is the one featured in my painting.

I'm always surprised by how bold and bright the colours are in the antique quilts.  I would associate them more with the 1980s than the 1880s!

In the second gallery are a series of cot quilts had quilted by Sandie Lush.  They really do not photograph well, but are absolutely beautiful in real life.  I think these were made for exhibition, but would be an heirloom to treasure if made for a baby.  Most of the quilts are whole-cloth in plain fabric, which deservedly allows the quilting to take all the attention.  I also liked the ones with pretty borders. 

Sandie will be running a workshop at the quilt centre in September, and I have signed up straight away!  I love having something to look forward to.

Owl always love you!

My new baby niece arrived a little bit earlier than expected, and I had only bought the fabric for her quilt about a fortnight before.   I had entered Calico Kate's quilt shop in Lampeter with quite a clear picture in my head of what I wanted to make.  I only needed three fabrics- a statement print, and two complementary smaller prints - I thought it would be easy! It wasn't- even with the vast selection available in Calico Kate. 
On my many circuits of the shop a bright cheerful Owl panel kept catching my eye, so I abandoned my original plan, and decided on a simple quilt with a central panel and matching border.   I am in the camp who believe that children's items should be bright and cheerful, and this certainly is! It's all made from the "Owl in the family" line of fabrics by Desirees designs.  Owls seem to be in fashion at the moment, and my Dad (the baby's Grandpa) said that they symbolise wisdom, so we hope baby will be clever!
I really love the owl puns written around the border fabric.

The quilt top was super-easy to put together, I simply cut out the panel, and added two borders from the complementary fabric.  I used a poly-cotton wadding, and backed the quilt with another fabric from the same range. Backing the quilt at this stage was a mistake, as the next thing I did was outline quilt around many of the features on the central panel, to give the quilt a 3D effect. The pictures on the front are outlined in black, so this was the only suitable thread choice.  This gave me a dilemma.  Hand quilting stitches would show on both sides of the quilt, and I didn't like the idea of black outlines on the lovely pale green back.  I decided to machine quilt, with black on the top, and pale green bobbin thread.  There would have been two advantages to only quilting through the top fabric and wadding and adding the backing afterwards; firstly, I could have used the same black thread in bobbin and top spool, which would have solved any slight tension issues going around the intricate designs; secondly, I wouldn't have needed to bother with the most tedious task in quilting - burying all those thread-ends. I absolutely hate this task, although these easy-threading needles have really helped.  Instead of threading the needle in the usual way, you just pull the thread over the back of the needle, and it threads itself.  A real sanity-saver!

Sewing around all those intricate designs also called for the use of another tool I wish I didn't need - the seam fix!  This gadget is a really, really good seam-ripper.  The point is lovely and sharp, and the rubbery white ends help to pull all the loose threads out neatly.  The only thing that irritates me about this is that the cap which covers the pointy end for storage doesn't fit on the other end when in use.

The reason the seam-ripper had so much use, was that I tried to free-motion around the outlines.  This first picture shows my wonky attempt around this poor owl's eyes and ears.  I think it's a little bit scary-looking!

The next picture shows what I can do with my walking foot if I go very, very slowly.  Pretty neat, if I do say so myself!

Although insufficient skill is a large part of the problem, the different machine feet also contribute. I have two walking feet for my machine.  For this work I used the open-toe one, which means that I can see exactly where the needle is going in the fabric.

The free motion foot, however, is clear plastic.  Although in theory, you can see through the plastic, it actually refracts the light and distorts my view, so I can't clearly see the crucial exact point where the needle enters the fabric.  An open-toe free motion foot is definitely on my wish-list now.

Trials and tribulations aside, I love the 3D effect now that it's finished.  Although it doesn't photograph well, it really lifts the quilt in real-life.  Most important of all, the new parents liked their gift, and hopefully baby will too when she's a little older.