Friday 10 July 2020

The Organizer Pack Sew Along

The Organizer Pack Sew Along

Hey Everyone hope your all well?

So in this blog is all the cutting out for the Nest Facebook Live within the Normal Sewing Group
(Not the Elite Patreon Group)

The Sew along will come in 2 parts starting Friday 17th July and the next session will be 20th July

The live session will be 1.30pm on both days
Here is the Facebook Group details
click this link yo group my Normal Facebook group

Follow down this post for what you will need and the cutting out measurements.
Everything else ie how to make etc will come along as the Live sessions which then will go live on my YouTube channel (RjAf Makes Channel) later that week after the 2nd live session.







What you Will Need

1/4 metre Main outer fabric ( Quilters cotton, Cork or canvas)
1/2 Metre Contrast outer fabric (Quilters cotton only as this will make the binding Too)
1/4 metre of lining fabric (quilters cotton)
1/4 metre of Fusible Fleece
1/2 metre Woven or non woven medium iron on interfacing
1x No3 7inch zip
1/4 inch wide elastic 8 inches
Either
2 Snap buttons size 10mm or 15mm
or Velcro 1 inch wide 2 1/2 inches long


Cutting out

Outer Top Flap of main body 7 inches by 10 3/4 inches
1x main outer fabric
1x Lining fabric
Fleece (DO NOT fuse the fleece until i tell you do so in the video)
2x Interfacing

Outer Bottom Half of Body 7 inches by 5 3/4 inches
1x main outer fabric
1x Lining fabric
Fleece (DO NOT fuse the fleece until i tell you do so in the video)
2x Interfacing

Wrap Top 4 inches by 10 1/2 inches
2x Contrast outer fabric
2x interfacing

Wrap Bottom 4 inches by 4 1/2 inches
2x Contrast outer fabric
2x interfacing

Binding for inside zip pocket 2 inches by 8 inches
1x Contrast outer fabric

The Inside Zip pocket 7 inches by 4 1/4 inches
1x Contrast outer fabric
1x Lining fabric
1x interfacing ( fuse the interfacing to the contrast outer fabric)

The Elastic Slip Pocket 11inches by 4 3/4 inches
1x Contrast outer  Fabric
1 x Lining fabric
1x interfacing ( fuse to contrast outer fabric)

Bias Binding
Taking the left over Contrast outer fabric cut on the 45 degree angle of the fabric. cut strips measuring 2 1/4 inches wide and enough strips to make 44 inches long strip once I've shown you have to sew to together.

Ireally hope you can join in the fun of this latest sew along

b
x









Thursday 4 June 2020

Learn to Make this Cushion



Learn to Make This cushion Facebook Live sessions







Hey Everyone!
So Tomorrow the 5th June 2020 is the start of a new sew along.

We will be learning the how to make this cushion, with the added bonus of how to do basic free motion quilting.

I will explain everything as i go and how i quilt ( I'm no expert in quilting but i have been free motion quilting for  about 15 years and learnt a bit as I've gone along with my 20 years quilting adventure)

Trust me its really easy with practice.
How ever if your not wanting to do the free motion quilting that's OK, i will hit a little on straight line quilting to.

There will be 2 sessions for this sew along, one starting the 5th June and then another on the 8th June.

To join in the fun why not join my Facebook group

The cushion filler I'm making this cushion cover for is 15.5 inches by 15.5 inches and i will be using the NHS rainbow bird charity panel

So here is the cutting out for this size cushion filler.

Cutting out for the main outer front

(Using Quilting Cotton Fabric)

Cut down The NHS charity Panel to 12 inches high by 12 1/2 inches wide

Cut 2 pieces 12 inches by 3 1/2 inches (these are for 1st two outer front boarders)

Cut 2 pieces 18 1/2 inches by 3 1/12 inches (these are for the 2nd outer front boarders)


For the Quilt Sandwich


Cut 1 piece of 80/20 cotton Mix Batting 20 inches by 21 inches

 Cut 1 piece of Quilting cotton fabric inner backing layer 21 inches by 22 inches


For the Outer back of the cushion

(Using quilting Cotton fabric)

Cut 1 piece 16 inches by 12 inches

Cut 1 piece 16 inches by 10 inches


Finishing off the Cushion

(Using Quilting Cotton Fabric)

Cut 2 pieces Salvage to Salvage 2 1/2 inches by 44 inches for the binding


So that's all you need as in cutting out
both video will be uploaded to YouTube over on my Channel after the 8th June

happy Sewing
B
x








Saturday 30 May 2020

Making It More Me

Making It More Me


Making it more me was the key to doing up my IKEA bookcase.
Deep down I'm a girly girl, i love my pastels pink and Teals, these are my go to colours normally.

Before i did this bookcase up, this bookcase was boring and just a mess, no organization what so ever. So with a image in mind i set to doing up my Bookcase.

I wish i took some before photos but i was that set in changing it, i just got right to it.

So after deciding what are my go to craft things, i then ordered 4 storage 12 x 12 inches organization boxes, from Creations by Rod . Which i found over on Facebook.

I needed to organize my colour pencils/ art basic's things and my sewing things.

So i ordered the 5 draws box, the pencil 10 draw box, the 10 draw box and the bobbin thread spool box.

Then to add to my colourway, i went a head and order from Amazon 4 pastel pink fabric boxes and 4 plastic baskets.


When the Creations by Rob boxes turned up, they where MDF brown i needed to give then a light white colour lick of paint to blend into the colour of the bookcase, which ive had to do it stages as business picked.

I also knew i didn't need all the draws in the bobbin spool box to have all the dividers in, so i took the dividers out of 3 draws to make then just normal draws.

Over all i'm more happy now with how this bookcase looks, its what I've been meaning to do for a while but just didn't have the time with running R.j.A.f.MAKES my business. But with Lock down i knew that it was the time to do it.



If you get a chance why not pop over to Creations by Rods page over on Facebook.

B
x

Sunday 5 April 2020

My Therapy Quilt

My Therapy Quilt


Hey Everyone, I Hope your all Well and staying safe?

I want to show you what I’ve called My Therapy Quilt and how this quilt has helped me out.
The story behind the quilt and why it’s called My Therapy Quilt is because making this quilt has either helped me or is helping me get through some horrible times of my life.

Where the quilt began.
Back in late August 2018 my mom wasn’t herself she was sleeping loads and wasn’t 100%. She wasn’t eating much and what I called at the time “That’s not my mom” (even though she was my mom, it was just her character wasn’t there)
In Late September while we were in our local supermarket, I was looking at my mom and the lights are brighter in the supermarkets than what we have in our homes. I remember looking at my mom as saying your eyes and skin are going yellow. My Mom said I know I’m having tests at the moment via the doctors to see what is happening.
Early October 2018 my mom was in and out of hospital having tests. We found out she had cancer of the liver and it was that big they didn’t know how to operate, because normally the tumors grow on the outside of the liver and not very often in what they call the bio tube. However, and like mom always says She must be different lol.
By late October 2018 mom was admitted into hospital RSH Royal Shrewsbury Hospital as her levels were dropping and they needed to get drains into her to help take away the bad stuff the liver was producing. They said chemo wasn’t going to help at this stage as they needed to operate fast. Unfortunately, no one in that hospital Knew what they needed to do as the tube leading to the liver was the major thing for the body. So, and we thank them as a family for admitting to this because this was out of their depth for that field. However, they kept mom in as they knew they couldn’t send her home in the state she was in. They were trying to get a bed at the leading hospital Queen Elizabeth (QE) in Birmingham which has a Liver ward and the leading specialist in the country for the type of cancer mom had. However, waiting for a bed was a long wait the longest wait ever.
Mid November mom came very ill while still in hospital at RSH and as a family was told to expect the worst. That’s when me and my father asked if it was ok to be with her through the whole day and can someone stay with her at night so she would always have someone with her. My Mom didn’t know what was happening bless her and still to this day can’t remember these few months in this one hospital. So, as we were waiting for my sister from Australia to fly in, we came up with a plan. So, I slept most nights at the hospital and my father stayed during the day. The hospital at the time thanked us as they come attached to mom and knew they couldn’t always be there for her because they had a lot of other patients to look after as well. So, between me, my dad and my older sister we stayed with mom. My middle sister who worked full time did her bit by helping dad with keeping him and my older sister feed. We pulled together as a family and this went on for around 3 weeks. Which like I have said to my mom and dad I will do it all over again if needed family means everything to me.  In the space of 3 weeks we were prepared by the hospital twice that my mom may not make it.
The 2nd week of December my mom started picking up again and then out of nowhere a bed came available at QE Birmingham. We were so happy as we knew something could be done. Mom got transferred to the new hospital and we followed too. However, they are a Military Hospital where leading Army, Navy and RAF personnel train up so the staying overnight wasn’t allowed. There was one good thing though that their visiting hours during the day were a lot longer because they had a vision of family helps you heal etc. So, my dad travelled every day bless him to Birmingham to be with my mom, I went 3 times a week and my sisters did too. However mid-December my older sister needed to travel back home as she had family herself to get back to.
A couple of days before Christmas day mom was told there is no possible chance, they could operate this side of Christmas. The hospital did say though that my mom’s levels were ok, and she could go home if you take care of the drains that are coming out of your body. Mom was all for coming home for a few weeks as she had enough of the hospitals. They did promise her by the 2nd week of January 2019 we will have you back in for the operation.
I bet you’re wondering where the quilt comes in, so in October I was still on Sewing Quarter TV channel and doing my demos on the latest bag pattern I designed. However, in late October I wasn’t feeling anything and needed something new to take my mind off everything. I used to find quilting a therapy, So I finally decided to get out the Liberty of London Fabric I had been saving up from all the visits to the Liberty of London Shop over the years with hubby. So, I didn’t know what design I was going to make but I decided to just cut 2 ½ inch wide strips and see what I come up with. After cutting them out I found a triangle 12-inch rule which I had never used in my tools. A plan was formed, I was to sew all the strips together in sets of four strips, then cut out all the triangles. That’s as far as I got in October and the 1st week in November 2018. Then mom got worse and that’s where we decided to be with her 24hours a day. I stopped working on the quilt after that for a while as my thoughts were all over the place and all I wanted to do was make my mom better.
So, In January 2019 my mom’s operation came around. I went back to the TV and started back on the Sewing Quarter because mom made me promise to go back. The day I went back on the TV in January was the day before her Operation. The next day was her operation and it took 11 hours; my mom and dad didn’t want us girls there. So, I remember this day I picked up the quilt blocks and started sewing them together. I remember checking my phone every 5 to 10 mins waiting to see if there was any news. By the 2nd row of sewing all the triangles together, I had enough I was melting down and so worried I had to stop. By the 11th hour I had heard from dad and mom was out. We were told mom has just over 80% of her liver removed and some new tubes put into her body. The most common amount of liver removed is normally around 65%, so this was one of the biggest amounts the hospital said they had ever done.
My dad said its best you don’t come in for a few days after the operation as she won’t be awake, she will be on a support machine. I stayed home another day, but what followed was a phone call from my dad that day saying my mom had a stroke over night. So, the next few days my mom was having tests to see the extent of the damage that was caused by the stroke. I still don’t understand half the things dad was telling me as I was mentally preparing for a life a change for mom. However, my mom woke up, she knew who my dad was and knew she had 3 girls and a lot of grandbabies as she calls them. She knew her age and she knew most of everyone’s names in the family.
The next few weeks I carried on working on the quilt but after sewing a few triangles each time my heart wasn’t in it. So, I put it away in a posh poker dot box for another day as I needed to write some new patterns for the Sewing Quarter as it was back then.
My mom surprised the hospital, we were told that mom wouldn’t make a full recovery and it would be around 14 months before mom would take her 1st steps. I laugh at this every time, they don’t know my mom (she thinks she is Supergirl or wonder women) She was taking her 1st steps in Mid-February with help with the hospital and my dad. By the start of March my mom was being transferred to a GP hospital Local to us in Bridgnorth and they were helping us get the house ready for my mom to come home.
Mom has surprised us all and the hospital, she can walk without help OK steps and stairs are still a NO go, but she can walk for ages until she gets tired and needs her walking frame aid or wheel chair.
Her memory is about 95% back, she is our Rockstar. She proved she needed less than 14 months. She is now back to 95% of herself, but still gets sleepy and tired. But every day I see my mom getting back to her usual self.
So, the quilt got put to one side after this event as work picked up and time flew by until recently well let’s just say the last few weeks.






 
Present time year 2020
As you know the whole world is going through a bad time now. At this present moment we are on lockdown (I’m writing this 4th April 2020). There is ¾ of the world on lockdown due to a deadly virus (Called COVID 19) which is killing thousands upon thousands of people worldwide. In the UK alone we have lost 4313 and this is still rising. When lock down started on March 23rd 2020 my anxiety went out the roof as I wasn’t understanding what was going on and how the hell to come to terms with a lockdown life. We have been ordered by the Government to Keep 2 metres apart outside our houses and not to mix with family outside our own household. To only go out for essentials such as shopping (that of basic food) and only to exercise once a day. If you have a cough or high fever plus other symptoms you are advised to not leave your house and to self-isolate away from others. That’s what me and my hubby have been doing since the 24th March as we developed a cough, a sting in the eyes, my Temperature went up and I was finding at one point hard to breath these are classed as mild symptoms so the government have ruled that if you have any of these to self-isolate away from others for at least 14 days until it clears up. So, guess what I picked up my Quilt from back when mom was in hospital and now it’s finished. It’s helped me out loads while we are getting over whatever this flu like thing. This has not helped my anxiety at all and its right what they say sewing is a therapy, my quilt is proof of that.












So, if you are feeling down pick up that needle and thread and sew. Turn on your machine and sew, get those thoughts out of your head and create something new for you.
We are still in lockdown, but I have faith in the world to make this right and we will get through this. Just remember we are one day closer to this all being over, so our life’s can go back to normal.

Stay home and stay safe everyone
B
X

Monday 30 March 2020

Shoulder Pad Sew Along




OK! Who admits you over fill your bag? I know I do! And most of the bags I use are crossbody ones, which means they dig into my shoulder.
So I’m doing this mini tutorial to help you out with how to make a padded cushion for your strap.
What you will need.
1x Fat Quarter or ¼ metre (Main Fabric)
1x Fat Quarter of the Medium Weight Interfacing iron on.
1x 4 inch by 10 inch of Sew In Foam
1x piece of ½ inch wide x 26 inch long double fold Bias Binding tape (or make your own by cutting a 26 inch by 2 inch strip on the bias, making sure you cut your strips on the 45 degree angle.
Making your own Paper Template.
I’m making a 3 inch wide by 7 inch long pad (this is ideal for a 1 inch to 1 ½ inch wide strap).
Now, you can make yours as wide or as long as you want. You will need to work out your own measurements to make a different size one.
Step 1
Take an A4 piece of paper and fold it in half horizontally and crease the fold. Then open and repeat the half fold vertically and crease. So you have now quartered the piece of paper into 4.





 Step 2
On the creases, draw each line so you can visually see them. Then on either side of the vertical centre crease, measure 3 ½ inches on the right-hand side and draw a line, and then measure 3 ½ inches on the left hand side and draw a line.





 Step 3
From the horizontal centre crease, measure up 1 ½ inches and draw a line, then measure down 1 ½ inches and draw a line.


Step 4
From the 3 ½ inches marks, measure 1 inch on the outer edges and draw lines. By now you should have 8 drawn lines.


Step 5
Now, starting at the 1 ½ inch horizontal line, draw a curved line from one 3 ½ inch vertical line to the outer 1 inch vertical line, all the way up to the centre crease (see photo). This will become the master curve for all the other curves.


Step 6
Fold your paper vertically on the centre crease, with your marks on the outer side.

Step 7
Starting on the curve, cut around the curve to the 1 ½ inch marked line.




Step 8
Now cut along the 1 ½ inch marked line to the vertical centre crease. Then cut down the centre crease to the bottom of your paper.

Step 9
Open up the paper and now fold it on the horizontal line with the cut out on top. Draw around the curved shape onto the other half of the paper then open it out.


Step 10
Now cut around the new curved lines.


Step 11
This will be your cutting out template.





This template can also be used for an 1 inch wide strap too.


Cutting out
So your template is now effectively 2 templates.
The first template is the over all piece which we will call the Main Body.
The second part of the template is the rectangular shape you will get by folding in both 1-inch lines. This we will call the Tube.


Cut out from your Main Fabric the following pieces:
The Main Body - cut 2 pieces.
The Tube - cut 2 pieces.


Cut out of the Medium Weight Interfacing the following pieces:
The Main Body - cut 2 pieces.
The Tube - cut 2 pieces.


Preparing your fabric
Fuse the iron on Medium Weight Interfacing to the wrong side of all the corresponding pieces.


Making the Shoulder Pad
WS = Wrong Side
RS = Right Side


Step 1
Take one of the Main Body pieces and pop it WS facing down on the Sew In Foam. Pin it into place and baste stitch ¼ inch away from the edge, all the way around.

Step 2
Trim back the excess Sew In Foam to the Main Body piece.


Step 3
Flip the now attached Main Body piece over so the foam side is facing up. Pin/clip the other Main Body piece WS facing the foam.

Step 4
Baste stitch ¼ inch away from the edge, so the foam is now sandwiched between the 2 Main Body pieces.

Step 5
Take both the Tube pieces and pop them RS together. Then pin the 2 short edges together. Sew both together using a ¼ inch seam allowance.


Step 6
Turn the Tube RS facing out and press well. Then top stitch 1/8 inch away from the 2 short edges.

Step 7
Take the Main Body piece and find the centre top and bottom of the 2 long edges. Then find the centre top and bottom of the 2 long edges on the Tube.


Step 8
Matching up the centres on the Tube and Main Body piece, pop the tube onto the Main Body and then pin the Tube into place down the 2 long edges. Baste stitch the Tube within the seam allowance down those 2 edges.

Step 9
Open out the Bias Binding and down one long edge, using clips attach the raw edge of the binding to the edge of the pad. You will need to leave a large amount of Bias Binding over hanging and use a clip to hold it into place.


Step 10
At your machine sew the Bias Binding on to the pad. You will be sewing on the crease nearest the edge. Start sewing just after the halfway mark on one long edge.


Step 11
Sew all the way around but stop after you’ve sewn the last curve of the main pad.

Step 12
Trim the start of the Bias Binding back so you have an inch overhang.

Step 13
Now, get the end of the Bias Binding strip (which is the side you finished sewing at), and lay that on top of the start of the binding. Trim it where its 1 inch over the start of the Bias Binding.


Step 14
Take the now trimmed back end Bias Binding piece and fold the edge to the WS by ½ inch and press.


Step 15
Place the start of the Bias Binding piece on top of the fold of the end binding piece, and clip the rest of the binding to the raw edge of the shoulder pad.


Step 16
Carry on sewing the rest of the Bias Binding onto the main pad.

Step 17
Peel back the Bias Binding closest to the raw edge and now trim back the Main Body by at least 1/8 inch but no more than ¼ inch. Do not touch the Bias Binding.


Step 18
Now bring the Bias Binding over to the back of the pad and clip the binding into place.


Step 19
You can hand sew the binding or machine the binding, to finish off the pad.



You are done!!

The Organizer Pack Sew Along

The Organizer Pack Sew Along Hey Everyone hope your all well? So in this blog is all the cutting out for the Nest Facebook Live within the N...