The Handmade Shop is where I will offer small works for sale from time to time.
My background in design and painting merge here in the selection of colours as a painter and patternmaking, custom cutting, and sewing techniques that include hand-sewing techniques from my years as a designer.
I use quality fabrics from companies that include Andover, Art Gallery Fabrics, Cloud 9 Fabrics, Cranston Print Works, Dear Stella Design, Figo Fabrics, Makower U.K., Moda, Regent Street Lawn, Rifle Paper Company (screen printed in Japan), Robert Kaufman Kona Solid Colour Cottons and Whistler Studios.
As I add more works you will see that the fabrics chosen are to reflect my observations from many years of travelling with my husband.
Please read Retro Tea Cosy from 2020/07/09 for background information and more about sizes.
English Paper Piecing is a method of attaching and stabilizing pieces of fabric together. The practice’s name comes from the fact that it was, and still is, popular in Britain. The technique used to paper piece involves wrapping paper shapes in fabric and then stitching the fabric together. Once a shape, block, rosette, or finished piece has been made, the papers are removed, leaving the fabric as the remaining item.
The design on the front is called Grandmother’s Flower Garden. The cosy (12″ wide x 8 ″ high) covers a range of teapot sizes from three-cups to 5 ½-cups
English Paper Piecing is a method of attaching and stabilizing pieces of fabric together. The practice’s name comes from the fact that it was, and still is, popular in Britain. The technique used to paper piece involves wrapping paper shapes in fabric and then stitching the fabric together. Once a shape, block, rosette, or finished piece has been made, the papers are removed, leaving the fabric as the remaining item.
Crafting the tea cosy is an exercise very similar to making a painting.
I see the background fabric that makes up the front and back of the tea cosy like a blank canvas on which to place the rosette. The frill is the frame that finishes the piece.
The rosette is a design that can only be sewn together by hand; it just won’t work to use a sewing machine. There are tiny whipstitches that are sewn with a needle and thread that hold each seam together. The paper is pulled out once the rosette is completed.
RETRO TEA COSY 1, $60.00 CAD includes tax and shipping in Canada.
Sometimes the rosette has a contrasting centre fabric that is called a ‘fussy cut.’ This is when the fabric is cut to highlight a specific motif in the fabric. Examples are Scandinavian Winter where one highlights an ivy bough tied with ribbon, another has three cardinals cut from a fabric that is not seen anywhere else in the cosy, and the third one has an even placement for the apple fabric to show it in its best light.
The frill is gathered by hand before it is stitched in place between the front and back seam.
RETRO TEA COSY 2, $60.00 CAD includes tax and shipping in Canada.
The lining for the cosy is custom-quilted cotton that either repeats one of the fabrics on the outside or it could be a complimentary fabric print. The batting is polyester fiberfill. I like to use it because it keeps the cosy lightweight, the loft is not too thick, and it is washable.
RETRO TEA COSY 3, $60.00 CAD includes tax and shipping in Canada.