Making a Roll-up Picnic Blanket from an old Quilt Cover

If you look back through my blog I am sure that you would soon realise that I like to reuse and recycle and never like to waste fabric. This holiday picnic rug was made from a child's single quilt cover with some extra fabric from my stash for the patchwork.

I was given a 101 Dalmatians quilt set. It didn't co-ordinate with my son's bedroom but it was so nice that I wanted to find a use for it. The top of the quilt cover had a large picture of the Disney Dalmatian characters while the underside was white and covered with puppy motifs.

To make my picnic blanket I kept the large design in-tact to use it for the back of the quilt. Then I cut out 15 large squares from three contrasting cotton fabrics. This quilt is not my own design. It was designed by Vick Guthrie and I found the pattern in Sewing World, June 2014. I am so glad that I keep these old magazines. I have searched on line to see if I can find the instructions but I think 2014 may just be too long ago. Please leave a comment for me if you can find them.

The pillowcase had a picture of two sleeping puppies which was so cute. I cut one square from the pillowcase to use in the bottom corner of the patchwork and I do like this feature.

Once the patchwork squares were joined I edged them with strips of dark blue fabric and then puppy fabric until the patchwork side was roughly the same size as the single quilt.

With right sides together, I joined the back and front of my quilt, clipped the corners and turned it right sides out. I came across a bit of a problem here because I had been tearing my cotton fabric along the straight grain rather than using scissors. The quilt cover hadn't been made on the straight grain originally and I didn't anticipate this. After bit of remedial work I did manage to salvage a big enough piece to back the whole quilt but it is a little bit twisted in places.

This would have been the time to add wadding to make the quilt thicker and softer and perhaps to have made a bed quilt but I wanted a beach mat so I did not add any wadding between the cotton layers. As a result it very easy to dry the picnic rug if it gets damp.

At the open end of the quilt I added a flap with ribbon ties and a handle so that the rug can be rolled up and carried easily. Then I closed up the seam with a single row of top stitching. Again I used the instructions from the pattern by Vick Guthrie.

I have quilted the two layers together in a square pattern which holds everything in place nicely. The whole quilt folds into 4 and rolls up neatly for carrying.

I was very pleased with this redesign of an unused quilt cover. It keeps the sand off of children's hands during picnics on the beach. If we need to sit on damp grass we put a tarpaulin down underneath. However, you can trust your family to bring you back down to earth and stop you from getting too big headed can't you? My sons refer to this picnic rug as "The Dog Blanket". It doesn't sound very attractive does it?

Eureka, I found it - The Perfect Sleeveless Shell Top!

Well, I have been away from writing posts for a while on holiday but now the holidays are over and I have a quite a collection of things that I would like to put on my blog.

I made a sleeveless top in July and wanted to make two more to take away on holiday, so I was looking for the perfect pattern. The one I made here was nice but I was annoyed every time I wore it by the neck and the armhole facings. I caught them down at the seams but they still kept poking out and gave the top an untidy feel. While I was searching though my pattern collection and reading other people's blogs I came across a post on Handmade Jane here. She had also been looking for the perfect summer top and was recommending the Sleeveless Shell Top in GBSB book, Fashion with Fabric and.... I have this book!!

Jane's version covered with red roses was beautiful, inspiring, and what was more, she posted it on my birthday! It was obviously meant for me.

I decided to start with a wearable toile because my holiday was coming up and time was short as always. I had a small remnant of pink floral cotton in my stash with a flaw in the printing. I traced the pattern and after a bit of careful manoeuvring I managed to fit all of the pattern pieces on to the fabric. The facing had to be cut from the piece with the flaw in it but since it would be inside the blouse no-one will know unless they read this blog.

I made the blouse in a straight size 12 which is my usual RTW size. Like all GBSB patterns the instructions are very good with clear pictures and written instructions. Lots of basic sewing skills are included in the first part of the book in cased you have never sewed before or need a reminder. The pattern is rated beginner plus. All of the pieces came together easily and I would describe it as a really satisfying pattern to make. The way that the facing is sewn in is very clever. Leaving the centre back seam open, both sides turn out through the shoulders. There are no fiddly bits that need hand sewing and the finish around the neck and armholes is so neat. I chose a fine, iron on interfacing which added just a bit of body and I am very pleased with the all in one facing. It is exactly what I was looking for. I hope these pictures will show just how well the blouse is designed and how nicely all of the pieces fitted together.

Another feature of this blouse that I really like is the shaped centre back seam that adds a bit of extra shape at the waist. The top pulls on easily over my head without needing to undo the button but I like the button and loop detail so have decided to keep this in my second version.

I also really like the up/down hemline. Most of my short summer tops ride up in wrinkles at the front and soon look as though they need an iron. The raised front on this top comes up high enough that it does not wrinkle when I sit down. I wore my blouses for whole days of sight seeing in Paris and they were still fresh looking when I struggled, weary but happy, back to the camp site in the evening.

The pink flowered cotton was a small, bargain remnant that I didn't really like all that much when I bought it. It just seemed too good a bargain to leave behind. I am very pleased to say that now I have made this top I love the fabric. It has turned out so much better than I expected.

This blouse made its debut on a visit to Eurodisney on the first day of our holiday.

After making a successful toile that I will wear again and again I was ready to use the fabric I bought especially to make a new summer top. The moped design seemed very suitable for a holiday in France. The second shell top has turned out as well as the first and has had just as much wear while I have been away. I had 1.5 metres of this fabric so cutting out was easy this time. The fit seemed good without any alterations so I made the size 12 again.

I like the way that the mopeds line up across the blouse and then run in diagonal lines from corner to corner. It feels really summery. I was pleased to have matched up the lines across the back but with a curved seam it wasn't possible to match up the mopeds exactly and in the end I didn't have quite enough fabric to attempt this.

This top climbed the Eiffel tower the long way, up the stairs! The photo was taken on the way down when I wasn't so out of breath.

I would highly recommend this pattern and will definitely make more of these simple tops. I am tempted to try the pattern hack with buttons all the way down the back and have a piece of broidery englaise waiting but there are several other projects in the queue before I start that.

We had a really amazing holiday and now that I am home I am bursting with ideas for new projects. That is always the danger when I have some time away from home to relax! Does anyone else find that?

Seaside Roller Blind and Philip the Seagull

Now that the weather is warmer and the schools have broken up for the summer we are using our new caravan to get away. The new caravan is great but lacks the personal touch that the old one had after many years of family holidays. This presents the perfect opportunity, however, for me to sew something.

I have already made a small pair of curtains to cover a cupboard opening here. My next project has been a blind to brighten up the shower room. The original blind was made from a grey, satin fabric which, although it was functional, wasn't very attractive to look at. I save most of my sewing magazines and found instructions for a roll-up blind in the October 2015 issue of Sew, Style & Home.

This is a very simple pattern which rolls up and is held in place with two ribbons. I wanted a seaside theme for the shower room and had two pieces of contrasting fabric left over from previous projects. I measured the window and cut a rectangle from each of the contrasting fabrics adding 1.5cm seam allowance on each side and 6.5 cm to the drop. Then I stitched the rectangles right sides together along the sides and bottom edge, trimmed the corners and turned the blind right sides out. My striped fabric is quite firm so I didn't need any interfacing to stiffen my blind but I would have added this layer if I had used two soft cotton fabrics. 

The original blind was held in place above the window with Velcro. I saved this before I threw the old blind away. I folded over a 5cm hem at the top edge, positioned long grossgrain ribbons to hang down the same length at the front and back and then sewed the Velcro strip to the top of the blind sewing over the top of the ribbons to hold them in place. 

The blind drops down when you untie the ribbons.

Being a small blind it is easy to roll up again. It gives the shower room a real holiday feel. 

Just for a bit of fun I knitted a woolly seagull. On holiday in St Davids one year my middle son, who was about 7 at the time, was mesmerised watching the seagulls wheeling overhead. This started a fascination with sea birds for him. He picked out a favourite on that day and named him "Philip". At each summer holiday he would look out for "Philip" and this remarkable bird followed us around the coast, always turning up at the beach we were visiting. Sometimes Philip was a Herring Gull, on other occasions he was a Kittiwake or a Black-Backed Gull, but he was always there for us. When my son was 11 he had to imagine he was an animal for an English essay and he was Philip the Albatross circling the globe, riding the thermals. Now I have my own little "Philip the Seagull" to bring back these happy memories.

I doubt that we will ever use the shower in the caravan for its intended purpose, but it is a very useful storage space and somewhere to get dressed in comfort. I like a site with a purpose-built toilet and shower block, with central heating if possible! The effort of carrying all of the water for a shower to the caravan and taking all of the waste water away afterwards removes the pleasure from a long, hot shower. But the shower room is now much brighter, more cheerful and a very useful space. 

Happy holidays....