Kittens & Mittens!

My entry for this week's 'Kittens in Mittens' Spoonflower contest, 

please vote for me if you like my design :-D

Mistletoe Mouse Cut'n'Sew Tutorial

Mistletoe Mouse Cut'n'Sew

Construction Tutorial coming soon!

Nordic Bird Cut'n'Sew Tutorial!

Nordic Bird Cut'n'Sew Christmas Tree Decorations

Construction Tutorial coming soon!
 .

Nordic Cat Cut'n'Sew Tutorial

All Hanging Cut'n'Sew Christmas Tree Decorations

Construction Tutorial!

 

You Will Need:

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*Small sharp scissors.
*A fine needle.
*Sewing thread.
*Embroidery threads: red, white, grey & dark brown.
*Small 10cm (4") Embroidery hoop - optional
*Seed beads red or white - optional
*Polyester stuffing.
*Red ribbon approx 3mm x 30cm
*Small 10mm bell.

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1/ First embroider the 4 cat head pieces;  2 front & 2 back, following the guides printed on the cut & sew pannel. You’ll be using: Straight, Back, Chain & Statin Stitch, French Knots & Lazy Daisies. It’s also helpful to use a 10cm (4”) embroidery hoop if you have one.

 

2/ Then Cut out all pieces with a small sharp pair of scissors, cutting outside the thick dashed line for extra seam allowance.

3/ With a fine needle, first sew the tiny darts between the ears & below the chin for both front & back pieces. 

 

4/ Now cut a10cm piece of red ribbon thread it through the bell & knot the end, then it tack it, with knot facing outwards, to the seam under the chin. In the same manner a 20cm loop of ribbon, knot the ends together & tack to the seam on the top of the head.

- as shown below.

 

 

5/ Now (right sides facing) using a tiny back stitch, sew the two HEAD pieces together, front & back, enclosing the ribbons & bell inside the two. Whip stitch around the edges to stop any fraying.

 

6/ Now sew a line of back stitch under each ear, dividing the ear from the main HEAD. This way the HEAD can be stuffed whilst leaving the ear flat & un-stuffed

 

7/ Now stuff the cat head so he looks super cute & plump,

then very neatly sew up the opening. 

Now he’s finished!!

 

Hang him somewhere special, for everyone to see!  

 Please join us online & post photos

of your creations.

www.facebook.com/WoodMouse.and.Bobbit.

Candy Cat Damask

This will be my entry for the Spoonflower 'Cat Damask' contest 
- Voting Starts on Thursday I think
Please vote for me if you like my design x x

These other two are just variations on the theme

Bobbit's Shopping Bag Photos

Here are the photo's of the fully sewn up & finished shopping bag, I'm quite proud of how it turned out & it's very comfy to carry too.

Bobbit's Shopping Bag Tutorial

(Cat'n'Sew from Spoonflower)

Visit My Spoonflower Shop

 

 

Which ever fabric you are making this bag from it is advisable to first iron on a fusable fleece to the reverse of the outer parts of the bag pattern, including the straps, to stiffen & strengthen the fabric & give it more body. I used Heat 'n' Bond fusable fleece, which I bought on Amazon - it worked very well. (Don't use it on the useful loops, or biased binding)

First cut out all the pieces & transfer any instructional markings onto the reverse of the fabric.

Next take the ‘BAG - Bottom & 3/4 side pockets’ piece & fold the striped ends behind, tack or pin them down to hold in place, then Machine top stitch into place & remove the tacking stitches or pins.

Now join the ‘BAG - Bottom & 3/4 side pockets piece’ to the two ‘BAG - Side’ pieces - as shown above. First tack stitch or pin the pieces together, then neatly machine stitch into place In total. These three pieces when joined together correctly should measure 86cm in length.

 On the right side of of the ‘BAG - Front & Back’ pieces there is Lace printed. To make this look more 3D you need to Machine Top Stitch over the edges of this lace.

With reverse sides facing, line up the middle points of the ‘BAG - Bottom & 3/4 side pockets’ piece with the two outer bag pieces: ‘BAG - Front’ & ‘BAG - Back’ as diagram above and tack together to form the main bag shape, as shown below:

Then Machine stitch neatly together & remove the tacking stitches.

Repeat steps 5 & 6 for the ‘BAG - Lining’ pieces, adding the useful loops if wanted.

Sew these useful loops into the inner side seams of the lining

Next, whip stitch together the bottom seam alowence of both the Outer bag & the Lining, as shown above. Then turn right sides out. This will secure the Bag Lining in place.

Now right sides out, tack the top of the lining to the top of the outer bag opening. Then machine zig-zag stitch the two securely together.

Next cut out the biased binding pieces & sew the two lengths together, making sure the striped pattern is continuous.You'll need to fold & press flat the whole binding length as shown below:

Now to attach the biased binding to the raw edge of the bag opening.

Starting in the middle of a side panel, enclose the raw edges in the binding, tacking it in place all the way around the bag opening edge. Making sure to keep the raw edge tight into the center fold of the binding.
The biased binding will easily curve around the larger corners but when you come to the parts of the bag where the handles will attach, you will need to slightly fold the binding to get it neatly around these smaller corners, as shown in the photo below:

When you've attached the binding all the way around and you're back to the point where you started, trim any excess binding off leaving about 1cm extra. Fold the extra 1cm, raw binding edge under it's self, so it's hidden from view and sew this join securely, as photo below:

Machine top stitch neatly the biased binding to the bag - close to the bottom edge of the binding. Then remove the tacking stitches.

Now to make and attach the straps.
First cut out the strap pieces & iron on a fusable fleece to the reverse side of the fabrice. click on the picture below to see details.

Neatly hand stitch with thick, strong, brown thread the straps to the bag. There is a faint dotted line square on both the front and back panels of the bag where the straps need to be attached.

Now your bag is finished!!

Mini Test Bag

This here is my quarter size test bag. Made to test out a new pattern design for another Spoonflower competition next week. :-D
A tutorial to make a similar bag will be posted soon!...