See how my Sister Spoils me!

As promised, here are the lovely, lovely presents my older sister gave me for Saint Catherine's Day:

Embroidery, fine fabric, and lace: you can see she knows very very well how to make me happy! My sis doesn't create anything by hand herself, but we're both as crazy about trying to find the "perfect" gift... We're very much alike in our tastes (as well as physically ? sometimes people confuse us, even friends! ).

Both embroidered items were bought in Heidelberg in Germany, where she spends a few months a year for her research. The blue pot-pourri sachet is from the "musée caudrésien des dentelles et broderies", i.e. the lace and embroidery museum in Caudry ? Caudry is a small town in the North. This kind of lace is called "spider lace". The lace produced in this town is used by designers from all over the world! They have a small website where you can see some of their creations. It's in French but you can still drool over their pictures! Here's the direct link to the current exhibition.

I put the small pillow and the sachet on a wall in my bedroom...

As you can see, they're surrounding Crafty Cat that I stitched a few months ago! This also gives me the perfect "pretext" to show you the wooden embroidery hoop I framed him with. Doesn't Crafty look happy with his new friends!

OK, that's all for tonight... I'm gonna try to make a table runner for my parents, but as their table is 2.40 metres long, it won't be an easy matter.

At long last...

At long, long last I am posting a picture of a finish! Granted, it's a small one... But I actually have several larger projects going on, on which I work little by little, and soon you'll get pics of them too. :)

So, here's the lavender-filled sachet I embroidered and sewed up this week-end for my little sister's Saint Catherine's Day. We only make very small presents on this day.

My parents got me the best gift ever: fabric! We went to Ikea on Saturday (I can't go to Ikea in Paris cause it's outside the city and I don't have a car), I knew there was some nice, cheap cottons there. I made my little choice, also found some lovely sleek polyester fabric (could be nice for lining), and at the very last minute my mother said they would pay for it as my Saint Catherine Day's present! I was thrilled!
To top it all, Ikea had some large fleece blankies at 6,95 euros, you can see them here. Perfect size for... ponchos! So I took two! Looks like my older sister will also get a fleece poncho after all...

Oh, and I really need to take pics of the lovely presents my older sister gave me: embroidery and lace, made in the North of France which specializes in that (like Belgium)... She does not embroiders herself, but loves handcrafted items (my gifts to her are always very much appreciated!) and of course she knows my passion for "fiber arts"...

So next time you'll get photos of that. And the time after, I promise, photos of other finishes I did

Stitching Bloggers' Q of the Wk: Stitching and learning

Thanks to Terri for this week's question. :)
Do you know it all or is there something out in the stitching world you still want to know how to do?

Oh dear, I'm sure there are still plenty of things I want to learn. Stitching with beads is one of them. But my big, big shame is that I can't master French knots. I've tried and tried, Angelsan even explained it to me but... everything seems fine until I draw the thread into the hole. But then, the knot goes off into the hole, on the other side of the fabric... and there's no knot!

How to make a Poncho (3): Adding a Hood!

Hello everyone!
Well at long last I managed to dig into my "sewing folder" and to photograph my hood pattern for you!
I know some of you have been asking and waiting for this for quite a while... But lately there was absolutely no time for me to do that...

OK, I must confess I'm quite proud I managed to "digitize" my pattern with paint from a photograph that was necesary blurry (my pattern was pencilled onto sulfurize paper)... Then, thanks to Sébastien's help I could even get the lines stand out on plain white. So you can thank him for the clearness of the pattern!

So here's my little "bilingual" pattern:

(click on pic to see it bigger)

Unfortunately there was no way I could put it to scale, as I didn't scan it (don't have a scanner) but took a digital photo. Well, the size will all depend on your taste and on your neck opening anyway! So I suggest you enlarge the pattern to your liking and print it out (this will require several sheets of paper) twice, then tape the sheets together and try it out.
Please do make sure the size of the hood will be to your liking... make sure the sides will meet on the front of your poncho if you don't want a gap between them. Mine has a gap on the front middle but not everyone may like it...

Here are the sewing instructions for all the sewing newbies out there (well I can tell you I am a newbie!):
- Cut two hood pieces, adding a 1,5 cm seam allowance all around.
- Layer the two pieces, right sides together, and baste the middle seam. Stitch the middle seam.
- Press down seam allowances to one side; cut the seam allowance that is under the other (but don't cut the other seam allowance!) down to 5 mm. Fold over the other side allowance, 1 cm from the seam, baste and stitch very close to fold. This will give ou a very nice finish on the outside of your hood.
- Hem the sides of your hood (not the bottom). I did a rolled hem for a neat finish
- Mark the back middle of your poncho opening.
- Baste the hood onto the poncho opening, right sides together, making sure the seam line on the middle of your hood matches the mark on the back middle of the poncho. The hood should be over the poncho, bottom up. Baste carefully all around the opening. Don't forget the 1,5 cm seam allowance!
- Sew hood and poncho together.
- Press down both seams . Overcast the seam allowances together.
- If you opted for a gap at the front middle (which is what I did), turn the seam allowance under and topstitch.

Well that's it! Here you are with a poncho that has this special, comfy something that no ready-made poncho has!

I do hope this how-to is clear enough. Please don't hesitate to comment on this and to ask questions if necessary... I would love hearing some feedback, good or bad it shall be very much appreciated...

Happy Sewing! Just think what a nice present this could make for those end-of-year celebrations...

Poncho - Instructions for the hood coming next week

Hi everyone,

I'm sorry I haven't been able to post the instructions for the poncho hood yet. I've been so busy at work lately...

I promise I'll take a pic of the pattern next week and add the instructions... Right now I'm at my parents' in the North for the week-end, so I don't have the pattern with me.

Basically what I did was to trace a hood from the pattern of a hooded top I had already, and adapt it to fit the poncho opening.

Please be patient... the last few weeks have been hectic for me. Hopefully things will be a little better next week.

Hope everyone has a great week-end!

Stitching Bloggers' Q of the Wk: Hand-dyed fabric

Hand-dyed fabrics - love 'em or hate 'em? If you love them, what kind/colours do you have?

I love hand-dyed fabrics - for instance I love those that Kim creates, in pastel colors. I drool over them!

Trouble is, since my flat is very small and covered with carpet (and I rent it!) I can't possibly make that at home... So I just keep drooling.

How to make a Poncho (2)

Hello Everyone! Ready for the step-by-step instructions for the poncho?
You'll laugh when you'll see how simple this is... no sewing except if you want a hood!
N.B.: instructions are for a fleece poncho. If you use fleece, it won't need hemming as it won't ravel. If you use another kind of fabric, then add an inch to your measurements so that you can make a hem in the end.

~ How much fabric will you need?
If you don't want to make a hood, you'll need a square whose diagonal will be equal to the length between your two hands. So, measure the length (keeping your arms to your sides) from one hand to the neck to the other hand. See orange arrow on the drawing. I added a little to this measurement, to make sure my hands would be well covered.

To calculate the sides of your squares: divide your measurement by the square root of 2.
E.g.: my measurement was 65", so the sides of my square had to be 46".

~ Cutting the square of fabric:
If you use fleece, do be careful that is in on grain, as it is strechy. The best option to do that is to have yourself helped by someone else: each one holds a corner in one hand, and... pull! Don't be afraid to pull hard...
Then, take the time to measure carefully all around.

If you've managed to cut out your square acurately, then the hardest is done really!
Now let the fun begin...

~ Cutting the opening:
- Draw a 6" circle on a piece of paper. (note: 6" may be too small a circle in the end. But it doesn't matter: you can cut out more later... this is much better than cutting out too wide a circle - then there's not much you can do to make the circle smaller ). Then cut around it... to make your circle. Then fold it in half and then in half again.
- Fold your square of fabric in half, then in half again. Pin the folded circle onto the folded point of the square. Ready, steady... cut!
- Now you may want to round the bottom corners of your poncho. Use the folded paper circle again and pin it to the edges. See drawing:

Unfold your square and... voilà! Here is a cute, warm, comfy poncho!

Now, would you like to add a hood, or do you like your poncho as it is? Please tell me, so that I know if I need to make the how-to and draw the pattern for this...
And, please do feel free to make any comment about the instructions: are they clear enough? Do you need other information? Just tell me!

How to make a Poncho (1)

OK, some of you asked how I made my poncho, so here you are!

First I'd like to give you an "overview" of various ways to make a poncho... There are plenty of options, and I tested some with templates I made out of newspaper, to decide which one would suit me best. Here goes:

~ This one is the "classic" one, it requires two rectangles. The template turned out way too bulky for a petite! You really need to be quite tall for this one to be "flattering".

~ This one is the trendiest type, I think it's really the one the Holywood stars wear... But it's better suited for light fabrics like mesh, which you would wear in summer over a tank top. Again, not for me, as my aim was to make a warm poncho out of fleece!

~ Another option is to cut your poncho out of a square, and simply cut an opening in the center. Then you've got the choice between 1. having the corners falling onto your wrists and the middle of your back and front, or 2. (this requires more fabric) having two corner fall to each side, like patttern 4783 in the middle of this page (but without the ruffles). This is quite comfy, but - again - turned out quite bulky. Not very practical as it may tend to hinder your movements...

I finally decided to make one out of a square (1.), but to add some softness to it, I also rounded the corners...

***

Coming up next, step-by-step directions.

I'm still There...

I do wish I could manage to post more often... but I haven't touched a needle in a while. Too much to do, too little time!

Thank you all for your appreciative comments on the poncho. To answer Penny's question, I didn't use a pattern - you don't really need one. I promise I'll post directions soon. Maybe next time I make one (for my little sister) I'll even take step-by-step pics. I should do that over the weekend, would it be still okay for you Penny? Or would it be too late?

Otherwise if you need help, do feel free to email me (just scroll down to "credits" in the right-hand column and click on "Isabelle", you'll get to my email address) .

Stitching Bloggers' Question of the Wk : Oldest/Longest

Thank you to Faith Ann for this week's question:
What project has been a WIP/UFO the longest? Or what project took
you the longest to complete?

Oh, this has triggered a memory... My longest UFO was in fact a very small project - one of my very first attempts at xstitch, when I was in my early teens. It was a small mouse holding a piece of cheese between its paws. I started it, then probably got bored and set it aside, and forgot all about it until I found it again when I sorted out all my things in 2000 (before leaving home to go and study in Paris). Then I stitched it up in no time and really wondered how I could have got bored with it ten years before! I remember I gave it to my little sister. Her room burned completely down a few years ago, though, so it doesn't exist anymore - as do most of my earlier embroidery projects. 90 percent of them were made for my sister.

A bit of Fun...

I try usually not to go "off topic" on my blog, but I saw that quiz on Mindy's blog, and I'm so fond of cats I just couldn't resist taking it...

You are a Maine Coon! You are larger than life, a

gentle giant. You are independent, but very

affectionate with your friends and family.

What breed of cat are you?

Now, the funny thing is, my cat (I mean, the one at my parents', but I've always been dotty about her) looks a lot like this one! Except that she's much smaller - and I do wonder how they managed to infer from my answers that I was possibly a "giant". Throughout my life, I've been the smallest girl wherever I went.

Ponchos in the Forest

...Hmm, now that could make a fun title for a story couldn't it? OK, not. ;)

November 1st is a holiday in France (All Saints' Day), and since we had a long weekend ahead of us, my brother, Seb and I (who all live in Paris) decided to take the train together and pay a visit to my parents who were spending some holidays in the countryside. We had such good luck with the weather! It's usually quite wet and chilly over there at this time of year, but we actually had a gorgeous and incredibly mild weather. There were still poppies in the fields! This is my haven on earth - my favourite place in the world.

I finished my poncho just in time for the weekend. I finally added a hood and I'm a little proud with it, as I totally improvised and created the pattern piece.
So, here's me posing in the forest, with our little dog (who seems to have seen something way more interesting)

(of course I don't normally pose like this, we were just having fun! )

If you've read my blog for a while, you may have guessed by now that I do like what I call "happy colours"... I find it so sad, nearly everyone in the streets and the underground wear dark (most often black) coats! I don't say I'm not for black, I do like it and wear it, but why wear always and only dark?

OK, here are two more photos for a better view of the poncho: First one for a view of the overall swing:

And then a close-up on the hood!

Oh, and my older sis came on Sunday too... and she hinted that she would really, really like a poncho for Xmas! Trouble is... I already made her a nightie. Oh dear.