Embroidery Classes

I am so very excited to bring Embroidery Classes back for the children’s school holidays, in Perth this April.

I was hand stitching from a very young age. I have recollections of me sitting at mums feet picking up scraps of fabric, which I can still see now…it was black with yellow and orange flowers on it. (Yep I’m a child from the 70’s). I would sew pieces together to create little pouches.

I then moved onto cross stitch and embroidery. Cross stitch was great to learn how to read a pattern. Embroidery I just did my own thing.

Last week I gifted to my partner some embroidery. He is addicted to Twisties and has been eating them for 49 years! So, I thought I would embroider his very own packet of Twisties to look at everyday. I’m not sure I’m helping his situation, it would possibly be torture for him!

I often feel uneasy giving a hand made gift, especially when they have never made anything before. I’m happy to say he was absolutely thrilled.

Best Tools for Every Dressmaker

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Having sewn for years, I feel I have found the BEST tools for your sewing kit.

  1.  A great pair of Scissors is essential!  I personally need mine to be light weight, as I often get arthritic in my hands.  Of course they need to be super sharp and not blunt easily.
  2. Thread Snips that are solid and super sharp.  I bet you know what I’m talking about when you have to try and cut the thread several times, or the blades split from each other…frustrating!
  3. Pins are essential in sewing and having a selection of them makes sense.  We sew with different weights of fabric so we really should use pins to suit the fabric.  I use long, strong pins for heavy weight fabrics.  I have fine pins for using silk, these slide through the fabric without creating pulls.   Long fine pins for when I’m sewing long straight seams.  Short pins for when I’m sewing curves, for example sleeves.  Throw your rusty, bent, blunt pins out and start with a fresh set.
  4. I can’t tell you the number of times I have dropped a stack of pins!  Even when carefully placing them in my pin cushion, it’s guaranteed a few will end up on the floor.  A Magnetic Wand is perfect to quickly clear up any pins.
  5. Chalk Pens are a great marking tool for the sewing box.  Unlike the traditional tailors chalk, the chalk pens create fine lines on your fabric, so you can be more precise and accurate with your markings.

All items here can be found over here Miss Mary Shop

Oilcloth Lunch Bags

I made these oilcloth lunch bags back in 2010!  I look at them and still love them.  I had made one as an Easter gift for one of the kids teachers, they used to tell me everyday that they saw the teacher carrying it to the staff room.

These make gorgeous gifts and are easy to make.

They are made with Oilcloth.  This particular oilcloth I used is Mexican Oilcloth, it is quite thick.  I bought it from www.fabrictraders.com.au you can also try www.metooplease.com.au

TIPS FOR SEWING WITH OILCLOTH

With the hundreds of students through my doors and the hundreds of machines I have worked with, I have found that it really depends on the machine you are working with.  I use and highly recommend Bernina machines http://www.bernina.com

You may only use one or none of these tips, or many.

Use a teflon foot if you have one.

Use a size 10 needle.  Larger needles tend to punch larger holes in the oilcloth.

Use a polyester thread.

Lengthen your stitch to 3.

Adjust the tension if needed.

If the oilcloth is sticking to the machine you can place masking tape on the machine to provide grip.

What You Need

50cm Main Fabric for the front & back 

50cm Contrast Fabric for the side panels & base

Sticky Velcro dots

(You will be able to make a few bags with 50cm)

 

Lets Begin
Cut 2 of Main Fabric (cherries)  19cm wide x 33cm long
Cut 2 of Side Panel (gingham) 12cm wide x 33cm long
Cut 1 of Base (gingham) 12cm wide x 19cm long

Layout a Side Panel with the wrong side facing you.
At the short end of the panel, mark a point at the corners, 1cm from the edges.
These marks indicate where your seam will begin and end.

Join the Base to a Side Panel (joining at the shortest end) and pin.  Repeat for the other side.  It should look like this pic below….Side Panel, Bottom Panel, Side Panel.

Now stitch with a 1cm seam allowance between the dots you marked.
It is important to be accurate with this step.  Be sure to do your backstitch at the beginning and end of each seam.

Pin the Base to the bottom edge of one of your Main Fabric pieces, right sides facing each other.
It should be centred perfectly.  Be sure to split your seam allowance as pictured.  You now need to stitch with a 1cm seam allowance between seam splits.  Again, please be accurate with this.

  

Open out the seams at the corner by turning your Side Panel to match the edge of your Main Fabric.  Your oilcloth should be standing up at this stage.  The raw edges should be matching perfectly.  Pin and stitch with a 1cm seam allowance.  See the following pictures to see what it looks like.

Now pin and stitch the remaining Main Fabric to the Base and Side Panels following the same steps as above.

Inside out, this is what your Lunch Bag should look like.

Turn through to the right side and point out your corners.  Please don’t be tempted to use your scissors as you may very well pierce a hole!

So the Lunch Bag can stand up without collapsing and to get rid of the ’roundness’ to the seams, you will need to make a few more stitch lines to the side seams.
Take one edge of the side of the bag and pin.  The right sides of the fabric should be facing you now.  You only need to stitch about 3-4mm from the edge.  Get as close as you can to the bottom corner of the bag, and stitch all the way to the top of the bag.
Now just to finish off with the Velcro.  
Layout your bag in front of you.  Evenly space out three (or more if you wish) soft velcro pieces.
Do a double fold and position the scratchy velcro pieces on the bag.

Mens PJ Shorts

This is my eldest!  He’ll often walk in through the studio during a lesson.  The ladies look at him and say oh my goodness, he is a giant!  Yes he is!  He is a 6ft 8″ gentle giant and turns 18 in two weeks.  I can’t believe he agreed to model for me!

Make PJ Shorts for the men in your life.  The perfect project for an Absolute Beginner.  The perfect gift to give this Christmas.

You will need 1.5 metres of fabric and some 25mm or 30mm wide non roll elastic.  Elastic is available in the Studio.IMG_5334

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Best Scissors – Dressmaking Shears

 

For years I have been searching for the best scissors at an affordable price.  I believe I have found the perfect pair!  These are designed in Toronto, Canada & handcrafted in Shenzhen.

They come in a range of sizes

8″ – $52

9″ – $55

10″ – $60

11″ – $65

Thread Snips includes protective cap $20

I was surprised at how light weight they are.  The 8″ are perfect for children!

They come beautifully boxed with a Miss Mary note on how to care for your scissors.

The thread snips are super tough, you won’t be disappointed with these!

I look forward to showing you the PINKING SHEARS which are on their way!

Please email me to reserve your pair kelly@missmary.com.au