Seeing Hexagons

After much cutting, gluing, sewing, photography, scribbling and testing, I have finally produced my Hexagonal Sewing Box Tutorial.

My two trusty testers, Kate and Lucie,  have given me their feedback and have made lovely sewing boxes for themselves.  I’ve made (most) of the changes they suggested and now it’s ready.

I’ve been making these for years – I love them – but I know lots of crafty people would rather have a go at making their own so I took photos of of all the steps as I was making this one

and wrote down notes with sticky fingers as I was making this one

When you’ve been making something for a long time you forget the steps that need more careful explanation which is why testers are so helpful because they can remind you that things that might seem obvious to you after umpteen years of doing them aren’t necessarily obvious to the first timer.  So, after some tester cursing and unsticking – I’ve now made it clearer that those sides have a short and a long edge and won’t work if you try to put them up the other way – sorry ladies 😉

Also, don’t use wadding that is too thick otherwise you will have a bit of trouble making things fit instead of just ending up having softly padded, lightly luxurious feeling lids and inners – sorry again!  My lovely testers made those mistakes so nobody else has to 😉

Anyway, if you like assembling things, getting a bit gluey and sticky, can do a passable teeny whipstitch and fancy having a go at making your own sewing box, my tutorial is now ready in my Etsy shop here.

and, in case you decide to give it a try, put this code in for $2 off the price BOXCLEVER.  It’s an instant download so you can get started straight away.

If you do make one, please send photos and I’ll make a little gallery.

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Back Into Boxes and Another New Girl

It must be that time of year

I love making these but there are lots of bits and pieces and it really is a labour of love.  It’s just from time to time I am inexplicably drawn to making another one

– or in this case, two.

 

The last big vide grenier of the year took place recently and this was on the first stand I came to so I wrestled Mr. T to the ground   persuaded Mr. T we needed yet another antique mannequin in the house and a deal was done.

The covering is more like silk than linen and surely shaped for a corset so probably late 19th century.

She is what I call ‘headmistress shaped’ because my fearsome headmistress at school was engineered by vicious undergarments  to look rather like this – she used to remind me of a figurehead at the prow of an old ship.  So ‘Miss Viner’ has joined my other girls but I will never refer to her as ‘cheap and nasty’ as she used to do to us if we committed any misdemeanour, even one as small as talking in class (as I did – often)

I am doing quite well with my dog bandanas in aid of the local rescue.  There will be a stand at a big Christmas Fair this weekend and I am going to send some along for sale there.  Somebody told me about soaking them in an essential oil mixture which makes the dog smell nice and also repels fleas and other nasties so I am waiting for the recipe and might give it a try.  In the meantime, the patient Stan has posed for more photos.  Just wait until he sees what Mlle. Tialys the elder forced  persuaded me to buy for him when I was over in the U.K.  Even he might draw the line at it – watch this space!

Speaking of my U.K. visit, as well as the obligatory fish and chips, Indian meal and high street shopping, I also indulged in a bit of culture.  I  bribed Mlle. T. the elder to accompany me to see ‘Mr. Turner’, the film about the genius painter which was very good and set me up for my visit to Tate Britain to see the Late Turner Exhibition the next day.

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Snow Storm – Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth

This is one of my favourite paintings which was on display at the exhibition.

I have to say Mr Turner  is not really her sort of film and I did have to keep glancing sideways at her to make sure she was still awake but, afterward, she pronounced it ‘interesting’ which is all a mother can hope for.  By way of compensation I took out a second mortgage and we went to see the West End show ‘Sunny Afternoon’ which is a sort of biopic about The Kinks  and it was excellent and here is a reminder of the songwriting skills of Ray Davies and the band’s very distinctive sound.

Tialys’ Red and White Period

Like Picasso, I am going through a ‘period’ where I favour certain colours.  Unlike Picasso, mine is red not blue.  Also, unlike Picasso  I’m not an incredibly talented, world famous artist but, let’s not quibble – I’m not Spanish either.

Last October, when I went to visit my friend who was housesitting, I found this slubbly spotted linen and immediately thought it would lend itself to one of my hexagonal work boxes.  Finally, I have got around to making it.  I used, on the inside, a linen blend fabric I found at a craft fair which is a finer weave and more suited to the interior.

Meanwhile, my little sewing group has been working on this pattern we found in a French crafts magazine from back in 2000 and, although I am quite pleased with the result, it was a pain in the derrière to make.  The instructions were really bad – and don’t blame my French, as my two fellow group members are French so it wasn’t my fault.

It’s quite sweet though and when I have figured out exactly where to insert the piece of wooden dowelling – no suggestions please! – it can be hung from a hook and, when you want your needles, threads, etc. you unhook the ribbons and – voila!

What I love the most though is this gorgeous teapot which I made from my blogging friend RicRac‘s awesome pattern.  I just love it.  I will have a go at the cup and saucer next .

And, finally, my plan to do a patchwork block a week with my group commenced with the ‘Tumbling Blocks’ pattern as it came first in the sampler book I have and is fairly straightforward.  Also, I am determined to stop being a slave to my machine and I am only going to do the hand pieced blocks which is much more sensible – and sociable – when you are round somebody else’s house.  Everybody will be needing different coloured thread and constantly rethreading the sewing machine then trundling away at 90 mph is not conducive to socialising and, in my case, learning French.  So, I’m getting out the Sharps no. 8s (and needle threader) for these blocks.  I don’t know what I am making yet but if I keep the colour scheme similar, if I want to and have made enough blocks, it could become a quilt.

Did you guess it was going to be red?  (obviously not the finished item – 4 more tumbling blocks to go and, even though my hand quilting isn’t brilliant, it won’t be as large as these tacking stitches  –  just saying…)

Anyway, apart from the blocks which I am going to do at the weekly group, all my current projects are finished.  SO!  Does this mean I can go back to Madamoiselle Tialys’ 18th birthday quilt which should have been finished last August but is still languishing in the cupboard?  Yes.  Well, hopefully.  By the time she either has her 19th birthday or, failing that, leaves for University, I will have that quilt finished and wrapped up to present to her.  And, this time, I won’t be asking for it back in order to finish it.  That’s the plan anyway.  By the way, if you have forgotten or didn’t see my earlier posts on the subject – her quilt is predominantly red.  I’m spotting a theme.

Happy Jubilee long weekend to everybody back in the ‘old country’ – I’ll definitely be putting up some bunting and coming over all ‘monarchist’ on Sunday – I’ve even got my souvenir issue of the Radio Times with the new portrait on the front – can’t quite decide about that portrait but let’s just say I’m glad it’s not of me.

Flower Fairy Box

The latest box to be finished in my Patchwork group is Doreen’s which she made in a gorgeous flower fairy fabric for her little girl Enola. 

Actually, Doreen wasn’t there when I showed the others in the group how to make the sewing boxes and she was shown by one of the other women who had learnt from me but I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the box and the lovely Enola.

I love that everybody is so chuffed with their boxes and nearly all of them want to make a second one.

Proud Teacher

At the Patchwork Group yesterday, two of my ‘pupils’ had finished their hexagonal boxes.  Andrée has made hers in a marine blue colour with floral interior and now shows newcomers how it’s done in much better french than mine – but, as she is French, I’m not too ashamed.  Sandra has made hers in a lovely ditsy floral pattern with gold highlights and, inside, a marbled pink.  Apologies for the photo quality but I forgot my kick ass one and only had my casio.   When they have all finished I am going to take a lovely one of a pile of all the finished boxes.

This is the one I made as the instructional model – is that even a proper term?

A bit of a Japanese touch going on here with this striking fabric from Kokka.

Read All About It!

This is the first of my two latest  hexagonal sewing boxes to be finished.  I really like this linen fabric with the vintage newsprint design and I’ve  teamed it with some more muted  linens so it has a very luxurious feel to it.  I like to cater for all tastes and this one is very different from the recent Kawaii style one I made and the next one will be a more floral design but still lovely linen.  I hope you like it.

 

            more lovely linen inside –

Rainy Bank Holiday

I used to think it was just in England that it always seemed to rain on a bank holiday but, today anyway, it  is a very rainy day in the South of France.  It stopped me going vintage hunting this morning so I’m a bit fed up about that.  Still, every cloud…… and I thought I’d get started on another hexagonal box as I sold my Moda Scissors one last week.  I bought these two fabrics with a sewing box in mind and, obviously, they will both be very different styles but which one to make first?

Vintage Newspaper or Cute Forest Friends?

I’ve Put All the Pieces Together

Tadaaaa….here’s my latest Hexagonal Etui Box, shown in an earlier post in pieces – I don’t mess around you know!  It might make a good first sewing box for a young crafter because of the ‘cute’ kawaii red riding hood theme.

 

I love the way Anna’s illustrated tape goes so well in the interior

Hexagonal Etui – Kawaii Style

 

Kawaii Red Riding Hood

I sold my favourite hexagonal sewing box a couple of weeks ago and have been waiting for the cardstock I use to come into the local shop so I could start on a new one. I was sifting through my (vast) fabric stash thinking I might go for a slightly different feel this time, a bit more ‘fun’ and young – maybe for somebody’s first sewing box or just somebody who’s into kawaii or fairy tales!

At the Start

I just need to put it all together now!

My New Hexagonal Etui Box

 

Today I finished my newest Hexagonal étui box.  This one has a very French feel to it as I’ve used some locally bought toile de jouy fabric and used some vintage French haberdashery to stage the photographs.  I find it hard to photograph a 3D hexagonal shape and do justice to both the shape and the fabric.  Any tips would be most welcome.

Chocolate and Cream Toile de Jouy Sewing Box

 

Inside the Box