Sydney Frocktails 2026

Each year the venue of Sydney Frocktails changes. This year it was held at Cabana Bar, a little bar in the centre of Sydney. I hadn’t realised that 2026 marked the 10th anniversary of Sydney Frocktails. I haven’t been to all 10 but I have been to the majority of them.

Full confession even though I had been planning my Frocktails outfit since earlier in the year and had our accommodation for the weekend booked by the time Frocktails came around I didn’t actually feel like going. Truth be if it wasn’t for a dinner Womble and I had booked for the night before I probably would have tried to sell my ticket and forgone the event. I mentioned in an earlier post that I wasn’t going to be able to make my planned outfit. The top I did actually make I wasn’t entirely happy with. Leading up to it I wasn’t in a really Frocktailly mood. Work was busy, life was busy and I just wasn’t in the mood. I knew once I got there I would enjoy it, it was just getting myself there that I was struggling with. Even the morning of it I was sitting at the hotel relaxing thinking I could just stay in this room all day. The event was scheduled to last 4 hours and I didn’t know how long of that I would last.

My outfit ended up being a drapey top which I made late September with a matching handbag, a crushed velvet skirt which I made in I would say late 2019 early 2020, my black jacket which I made for last year’s Frocktails and a knitted necklace which I finished the weekend prior to the event. Thinking back now the fabrics for the top and skirt were purchased during Sydney Spoolette shopping days/trips.

After a chaotic taxi ride from the hotel to the venue. It was only a 10min trip but the driver took me to the wrong venue and I had to walk a couple of blocks to the bar, luckily I know that part of the city. I arrive and the extrovert in me switched on. I chatted to old friends and met new people. I believe it was a sold out event with 220 guests so there was always someone to talk to. It didn’t matter if you had never chatted to a person before, you both had the common connection of the love of sewing. The level we were on was a mixture of a semi enclosed area and 2 covered outdoor seating areas. For most of the event most people congregated in the enclosed area as it was close to the bar and that just where people ended up. With over 200 people plus venue staff in one area it was a little crowded and noisy. I spent the event drifting in and out of the crowd. I would go in for a bit and mingle with different people and then go back to the outer area, pull up a seat for a while and people watch which I like doing. After an hour I was kind of ready to go. The event sponsors donated prizes. The organisers were doing random prize drawers every hour which was kind of my incentive to stay another hour each time. After the last prize drawer for the day I surprised myself for not automatically wanting to leave.

At Sydney Frocktails all attendees are very lucky to receive a virtual goodie bag full of online discounts and specials from the event sponsors. This year our goodie bag was sent prior to the event when your ticket was purchased. It was really fun to receive the goodie bag and look at the different offerings from the various online shops. This year some of discount codes given expired prior to Frocktails but it gave you a chance to purchase patterns and fabrics to make your outfit if you wanted. I don’t need anymore patterns and fabrics so before the event the only item I purchased using one of the discount codes was special fabric to make a peg bag. One shop has given attendees a code to receive 2 free patterns which I will use but I have until Dec 31st to decide on the patterns (I haven’t made my mind up yet) At the event we were allowed to take home two patterns by one designer and the day after the event we were sent another goodie bag. The pants pattern is in a style that I was telling Womble the day before is the latest trend but I don’t have any patterns in it… well now I do!

Prior to Frocktails I wasn’t sure if I would go again next year. At the event I remember how much I actually do enjoy them. Even if I have to take myself away from the main crowd in parts to get through the event I’m still enjoying myself. I love that you can just randomly go up and talk to anyone about what they are wearing. You don’t even have to introduce yourself you just walk up and start chatting. It is fantastic to see all the different patterns and fabrics people have to chosen to make and wear. You might not wear that particular style or colour but you can admire how it looks on someone else. I was chatting to some friends I had met at the 2025 event. They were talking about going to Goldcoast Frocktails in 2027. As I was leaving I told them I would see them next year and I wanted to hear all about the Goldcoast. It wasn’t a flippant comment, I meant it. I want to go to Frocktails next year and I want to catch up with these people.

I had a little smile to myself. I was at an event with people wearing these beautiful outfits yet people were commenting on how much they liked my necklace. It was an item I knit mindlessly in front of the tv. I wasn’t even certain if I would wear it or not until it was finished and even then I was skeptical it would look ok with my outfit. You never realise what is simple to you isn’t always simple to others.

This is where I originally ended my Frocktails 2026 tale. Whilst chatting at Frocktails I mentioned I’ve always wanted to go to the Blue Mountains Frocktails. The Blue Mountains are a mountain range a couple hours to the west of the Sydney region. People often go for day trips up the mountains or weekend’s away. It is a beautiful area. The team from Minerva’s Bower host a Frocktails event. The mountains are too hard for Womble & I to get to together as Womble is in his wheelchair. When Blue Mountain’s Frocktails first started Womble was too sick for me to leave on his own overnight. In recent years I have left him overnight for a girl’s night away with my bestie B which got me thinking… The day after Sydney Frocktails I looked to see when the 2027 Blue Mountains event was. It is always held at the same hotel which has accommodation at it if you wanted to stay there. The date has been announced for August and there is a special event code to book rooms at the hotel but tickets to the event don’t go on sale until next year. Less talk, more action. I rang the hotel and booked a room. I didn’t have to pay for the room upfront so if by chance I don’t get a ticket or plans change I’m not out of pocket. I’ve already got ideas for my outfit…

Cassiy

Bag M6338 2026 Version

Last year after we delivered our charity bags Womble wrote a lovely post on Facebook to our family and friends mentioning how each year I design and sew the bags we fill. The word design really jumped out at me. Each year I use the same pattern but I make a variation of it based on fabrics in my stash. I just say I make the bags as I’m a bag maker but I never really thought of it as designing the bags each year. Prior to Womble’s lovely post I already had an idea in mind and had sketched out a rough diagram for dimensions of the basic shape and fabrics but once I had the word design in my head I went from just making the bags to designing them so thought was really put into them.

Now here is where I get to use my favourite line from the cheesy 90’s tv drama Diagnosis Murder “I just modified a McCalls” The pattern I use each year is McCalls M6338. This time I just used the shape of it for the outer bag, lining and gusset closure. I changed the size around so it was 3″ wider and 1″ taller than the size I normally make. I also needed to adjust the gusset and handle sizes to match to match the wider taller bag.

I always say I want to sew in a more sustainable way. This year I decided to put action into words. For the outside of the bag and straps instead raiding my stash for new fabrics and washing / shrinking them I decided I would try to use only scraps, offcuts and leftover fabrics from other projects. I have so many what I call utility fabric scraps, things like canvas and denim which are hard to use in a lot of projects. Time to get in and use them.

Back in 2021 I made Womble a heap of aprons using denim from my stash. The aprons are still going strong, however, the offcuts and leftovers from making them have just lingered in my stash ever since. The aprons are curved so I had these random curved offcuts I had no idea what to do with. These were the first fabrics that came to mind when I decided I wanted to use my scraps up.

I pulled out all the apron leftovers to see what I had. It was a mess of different size pieces and shapes. There was a lot fabric but just not in large uniform pieces. I thought why not chop it all up into squares and make it into a patchwork piece. I measured the pattern piece I normally use then did a rough sketch to work out what size block to cut and how many blocks I would need.

I started making the bags the weekend after we donated the 2025 bags which is the earliest I have ever started making them. I had an idea in my head I just wanted to go with it. As I was cutting my blocks it became apparent that I wouldn’t have enough squares to make the size I wanted. This is when the word design popped back into my head. Instead of just adding other random fabrics to make it the size I wanted, I would instead really stop, think and plan it out.

I had enough denim to piece together the fronts of the bags but not enough for the base. Once they were pieced together they were just the width I had made previously but then I remembered I often add in a bit extra to the sides to make them a bit wider than the pattern. I decided to add strips of canvas to either side of the patch work and to the bottom for the base. The canvas was leftover from making the 2023 charity bags. I like it when I can tie similar projects together in some way. No one else will ever know but I will.

The fronts of the bags were now sorted but I still needed handles and a front pocket which I always add. In my stash I came across some denim scraps from when I made a heap of tablecloths I think in 2022, I don’t think I did a post about them. I was able to cut the handles using a length of the leftover fabric. I was able to piece together (continuing the patchwork theme) 2 offcuts and cut the 3 outside pockets I needed.

Normally I use interfacing inside the handles. This time I used the blue canvas as it was just sitting idle. The handles are cut 4″ wide and folded in to make 1″ straps. I cut the canvas 2″ wide as it only needed to be folded in half within the handle. When I top stitched them together I added in a woven label. I’m not one who sews labels onto things I make but I was sent a couple of packets of labels for free from Ruby Jam Fabrics so I thought I may as well use them up. Before sewing them I had to really think about the handle placement and then figure how far along to place the label so it would sit nicely once the handle was sewn on to the front of the bag. Another way of how I was designing the look of these bags.

For the inside of the pocket I used more of the canvas. I changed over to a denim needle instead of a universal needle when it came to attaching the pocket to the fronts of the bag. Normally when I attach the handles to the bags I overlap them so half is on the bag and half on the pocket. This time I fully placed them over the pocket. As it was going to be so thick I thought having them half and half would make it harder to sew as the presser foot would be at a slight angle on the higher side. I changed the stitch length to 3.3 and slowed the machine down just a fraction. Thankfully the machine was able to handle of all the layers of the bag, pocket and folded strap.

For the ties this year I opted just to use cotton cord. Years ago at the hardware store we brought a big spool of cotton cord. We keep in an outdoor cupboard so I cut lengths from that and wash them to use in the bags. For the lining and the top closure I used a textured cotton I found in my stash. My crafting fabrics stash as I call them (mostly quilting cottons) is a mixture of fabrics my mum had brought years ago which I got when she died and stuff I have purchased in the last 15 years. I know this fabric came from mum’s stash as it isn’t something I would have brought. I like using light coloured fabric for bag linings so this was a useful way to use up this fabric.

As I make this pattern yearly a couple of years ago I purchased a table top ironing board. I will be honest I think I purchased one years before we moved in 2020. I never used it so got rid of it well prior to the move. That was before I was making this pattern regularly. I decided to purchase another one as you need to top stitch around the top of the bag just below the top closure section. The bags are narrower than the end my regular ironing board when I press the seam flat so I wanted a smaller board to iron them on. I think the first year I purchased the board I used nylon in the bags so couldn’t iron them and then for whatever reason I never used the smaller ironing board. Recently I was actually thinking of getting rid of it again but decided to try it out this year. The ironing board was super quick to set up, I just placed it on top of my regular ironing board. It worked really well as I was able to move and press the bags all the way around much easier than on the end of the regular board. I will be keeping the smaller board now using it again on future bags and perhaps other makes.

Would I sew a patchwork denim bag again?
If I was to make another patchwork bag with pockets I would think a bit more about the size of the blocks and placement of the pockets. The patchwork seams were all folded to one side. Unfortunately the seams of the pocket were on the patchwork seams which created more bulk in some areas. I like the look of it all lining up but with the denim fabric it was a little harder to sew. I had finished the bag fronts/backs of the bags earlier in the year. Since then I had switched back to using Janome blue tip needles in my sewing machine. When assembling the two sides of the bag sewing the bottom of the bags meant going over very bulky fabrics as you had the pocket and a double layer of the handles. I made the mistake of not only using a blue tip needle instead of a denim needle but also sewing too fast… Yep I broke a needle. Luckily, I was able to retrieve all parts of the broken needle so they weren’t lost within the machine. I replaced the needle and then slowed down the speed of the machine and continued on. The finished bags are heavier than normal so although they are sturdy I don’t know if I would use the combination of denim and canvas for bags which I like to be light weight as you don’t know if the person who is receiving them needs to carry them around a lot.

I had the chance to play in my craft cave looking for fabrics to use in the 2027 bags. I tried to find scraps and offcuts to use up again but in the end decided on 2 new fabrics which were both brought this year to make garments out of but I have changed my mind. The fabrics are the same composition (cotton sateen) and the colours go together so I can use them for the entire bag. I would rather use them up in a project than have them both lingering in my stash for years before I use them or give them away.

Cassiy

Cottage Jumper

Back in October 2024 I purchased the Cottage Tee and the Silvermist patterns from Stitch Upon A Time (SUAT) just before they closed down, looking now you can still purchase some SUAT patterns on Etsy but the Cottage Tee and Silvermist aren’t one of them. In July when I decided I wanted to make jumpers (sweaters) for the house I decided to finally make both patterns. The fabrics used were lengths of polar fleece I purchased months before buying the patterns, I know this as I spotted the fabrics on my shelf in a photo from a blog post in July 2024. I used the scraps from the jumpers to make the Pet Pillows. The pillows were made before I started sewing this project, not so much an issue with this jumper but I will explain more when I share my Silvermist as today is the Cottage Tee.

SUAT patterns are more basic in both their instructions but also pattern pieces. Instead of having a separate front and back pattern piece they have one piece with both the back neckline and front neckline drawn onto it. If you are taping together pdf pages it is less pages that you need to stick together so it better for the environment. As there weren’t a lot pages to tape I assembled both patterns and traced them out at once. Confession… I didn’t take any measurements or really look at the sizings I just traced out the largest size in each one which was 6X. Both were designed for fabrics with more stretch than what I was using. My fabrics had a bit of stretch but you wouldn’t call them a stretch fabric. Too much information but my intention was to make a large roomy jumper that I would wear at home over a t-shirt without underwear on. I thought if it ended up being too big it would be just like an Oodie, if you’re not familiar with Oodie’s they are a cross between a blanket and an oversized hooded jumper which first started in Australia in 2018 but are now worldwide. Had I not been into sewing I’d be an Oodie owner.

When cutting the pieces out I didn’t have enough room to cut the sleeves on the fold so I need to cut them in two pieces and seam them down the top of the sleeve. I decided to add an extra 2″ to the length of each sleeve.

I stitched this jumper only on the sewing machine. As polar fleece doesn’t fray there was no need to sew it on the overlocker. The cottage tee is a very boxy shape pattern. I didn’t follow the pattern instructions as I have made lots of tops/t-shirts before. Assemble it at the shoulders, attach the sleeves in flat and then stitch from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the top. I didn’t think about the hem or neckline until I got up to that bit. I tried it on and folded the sleeves back by about 1.5″ so perhaps I didn’t need to add the 2″ to the sleeves. For the bottom hem I folded it back about the same. To stitch the hems I did a 3 step zig zag at 5mm long and 6mm wide. I started doing a narrower 3 step zig zag but the fabric was too bulky so I unpicked it and started again with the longer setting. For the hem it worked well.

The neckline was a little too big but not too bad. To me it needed something on it. I measured the neckline and found it was about 31″ in total. I raided my stash and came across fabric leftover from my Besties Tee. I cut off an odd shape section and noticed that along the selvage I had a strip that was about 3″-4″ wide that I could use as a neckband and still use the remainder of the offcut to maybe cut out a pair of undies. This next bit is how not to do a neckline. I trimmed off the strip, joined the ends to form a tube and ironed it in half without checking it against the neckline of the garment to see if the strip was going to be too long. When I came to pinning it on the neckline I folded over the excess neckband in two places so I had these weird tuck things at the back. I knew it was soft fabric and it wouldn’t annoy me at the back. It is what Esme Young would call on the Sewing Bee a “bodge” but I didn’t care. I stitched it on using a 3 step zig zag but this time did it at a more regular stitch length. I then top stitched it down using a regular straight stitch at 5mm which is the longest length my machine does. By adding the neckband I lot about ½” around the neckline and suddenly the neckline felt more open and exposed. I wanted a winter jumper to keep warm and now all my neck and shoulders were open.

The making of the jumpers was a multi day process:

• Day 1 – Both patterns traced up and cut out
• Day 2 – Both assembled to the point of hemming
• Day 3 – Finish off the Cottage and then address the issues with the Silvermist

I worked on these during my week at home when I needed to take time off to get the bathroom repaired. On day 3 I needed to leave the house for a medical appointment. Before we left I got some sewing in doing all the hems and finished off the neckline, well so I thought until I tried the finished piece on again. I don’t think the issue was because I made the size 6X. If you ignore the folding over the excess fabric of the neckband the back neckline wasn’t too bad, the issue was all at the front neckline. Perhaps I could have widened the shoulders a little to bring in the back neckline a bit or traced up a higher neckline. I had too much fabric in the neckline. I played around in the mirror clipping out the excess fabric which brought up the neckline higher. I thought about doing one fold over pleat in the centre but in the end decided that two smaller pleats towards the sides would be better. My intention was to sew them in place when I got home but when I got home I just didn’t even want to look at my sewing machine. Sew because you want to not because you have to, if I’m not having fun than it is time to stop.

My first preference of just sewing the pleats in place was just the lazy way out. It would mean yes I could tick off that I had completed the project and finished another item in July (it was the 31st) but I would have just been finishing it for finishing sake which is pointless. As much as it was going to be annoying to unpick all those stitches in black on polar fleece I knew that is what I needed to do to fix the neckline issue. Later that afternoon I picked it up and started unpicking. After dinner I put it away for the night and was going to scroll on my phone like I normally do at that time but I then picked it back up and worked on in it until bed getting about ⅔ of it done. The next morning I finished removing the neckband.

This has now been put aside in the craft cave until I get the rest of the sewing finished for this year, I do want to get it finished by next winter.

Cassiy

QAYG Hexie Update 2026

Oh wow it has actually been a couple of years since I last did an update about this project with my last update in June 2024. Reading back it turns out it my previous update before that was another 2 years earlier with my original plan 2 years before that so I guess I’m on form then for posting updates.

I have always had a love for hexagons. I’m a geometric person and I love the shape of them. Hexagon quilts are very popular in the quilting world. I have always wanted to make one. Back in 2020 I learnt about Quilt As You Go (QAYG) hexie blocks. With QAYG you are quilting as you make the block up by sandwiching the backing fabric, front focal fabric and batting fabric all together at once to form the complete block. Once all your blocks are completed you join all the individual complete blocks together to form your quilt. You can assemble the blocks by hand or machine. I came across offcuts of polar fleece in my stash and I thought why not use the fleece as the batting inside QAYG hexie blocks. As a bower bird drawn to all things blue I decided for the backing fabrics I would use all the monotone blues I had in my stash. For the focal front fabrics I chose a mix of fabric scraps and fabric collections I had been saving to use up in a project someday.

Once all the 3 elements (backing, batting and focal fabrics) were cut out I spent months hand sewing the individual blocks. They were an easy tv project to do. It was just simple slip stitching the folded backing fabric to the front. Once they were all done I sorted them by focal fabrics and randomly made bundles of 6 to be pieced together to form mini rows.

To join the blocks you can do it on the machine or by hand. If you are hand sewing them together you can either use a whip stitch or ladder stitch to join the blocks. I decided I would do join them by hand and do a ladder stitch. I started forming the rows from the 6 block bundles. Reading back in was probably around June 2024 I put this project aside to work on something else and I never got back to it.

Recently after finishing the crumb quilting on this year’s charity toiletry bags I pulled the project out and started work on it again. When it comes to crafting at times I can be like a frenetic toddler, I just want to work on something there and then. I didn’t pull out every piece of the project just parts of it that I could work on so I could get in and start sewing. I had 2 focal areas that I wanted to work out from so I started on those and moved out from there. What I was discovering was that some of the joins that I had sewn were coming undone, one was even sewn the day before. It was random what joins would come undone and what wouldn’t. Over the weeks that I was working on it more and more were coming and undone.

I have made the heartbreaking decision (which sound dramatic as it is only a blanket) to not continue joining the blocks by hand. I’m going to unpick all that I have joined and instead do them on the machine. I have a cone of variegated blue thread that I will use to join the blocks with a zig zag stitch. It will be a lot of work but I know in the long run I’ll end up with a more durable blanket that hopefully won’t fall apart so easily.

I don’t how long it will take me to unpick it all. I’ve done a post before on how I actually enjoy unpicking items but that isn’t in the reason why I’m going to do it. I wasn’t happy with how I original colour order of the blocks. When I started joining completed bundles to others I found the colour placement of the backing fabrics was often in the same area so I want the layout to be different. I want to count how many blocks I do have again so I can replan out how I want the blanket to look as I don’t know if I will be able to find my original notes about it all.

I really enjoyed working on these in recent times. I love hand sewing and it was relaxing hand sewing to do. I’m disappointed that it hasn’t worked out as I had planned. I really want an easy hand sewing project so I might switch back to just doing crumb quilting of toiletry bags until I can come up with something else.

I was hoping to get this project finished or near finished to get back some room in my craft cave but sadly not. Hopefully once all the blocks are sorted it will be more organised and that will give me back a little room or space.

Cassiy

Bucket Bag Part 1

This post was going to be the big reveal of the bag I was making for this year’s Sydney Frocktails. After a change of outfit plan I didn’t need to make the bag in time for the event so this is Part 1 of the bag. I started writing this post earlier in the year before my plans had changed.

In this year’s edition of the Better Homes & Gardens Knit & Crochet magazine I took a liking to the Bucket Bag pattern. It was knitted drawstring bag that had a purchased premade fabric strap. The bag had texture to it as it was done in a combination of moss stitch, stockinette and fishermans rib with an i-cord through eyelets as the closure. I had previously knitted all the techniques used in the past so it wasn’t outside my ability. Instead of purchasing a fabric strap I had all the supplies needed to make one in my stash. I knew I wanted to make this bag at some point.

Once I decided I wanted to go to this year’s Sydney Frocktails in October and I started planning what I wanted to make for the event my first thought was I don’t need to make a bag as I already have the bag I made for last year’s event that I could use. It didn’t match my outfit but that didn’t matter. I then thought why not knit the Bucket Bag using the Bubble Gum blue cotton yarn in my stash. I had been holding onto this yarn to make the perfect project for me as I like the bright blue colour.

The pattern calls for 10ply yarn but unfortunately the cotton yarn I had was 8ply. I already had knit an bag in cotton 8ply before and it was little thin so I decided to go instead knit the bag holding 2 strands together to make 16ply chunky yarn. I wasn’t sure how 2 yarns together would effect the look of the textured pattern but considering I could always remove it from my needles without wasting yarn if I wasn’t happy I opted to cast on the bag and see how it went. I started this in May so I was giving myself plenty of time to get it finished. The pattern instructs you to use smaller needles than you would normally use for that weight yarn. I didn’t look what size needles to use for 16ply so I roughly guessed 5.5mm (UK5, US9) Looking online it says for that weight yarn you should use 8mm but I think for this project it worked ok. I cast on using the 2 strands of yarn and knitted 2 full pattern repeats. I wasn’t happy with the fabric the knitted piece was creating. It just looked bulky and wrong.

I really wanted to knit the bag… That was when I had the idea to unravel my poncho and use the reclaimed yarn in this project. The yarn was acrylic but as it was a bag that had a fabric strap that wouldn’t matter. I ended up with various size balls of yarn once the poncho was unraveled. For the body of bag I opted to use the larger balls so that it would have minimal joins. This was the other project I took away with me in June when I was worried I would run out of yarn as I had only taken one ball with me & forgot to pack my sock knitting so I went and purchased an emergency knitting project. I needn’t had worried as you will see in a photo lower down that one ball actually went very far (more than I would have gotten knit in a weekend) but as the yarn was acrylic it would have been too hot & sticky to knit sitting in the heat of the sun so really I did need a cotton project to knit that weekend.

The body of the bag is a 12 row pattern repeat. The instructions are minimal. I opted to write out the 12 rows in full so that I could see it at a glance what I needed to do each row. It is only simple knit and purl stitches but you do it differently in the various rows but there are no pattern repeats within a row so it is kind of mindless knitting.

I’m up the last pattern repeat of the body but this has been set aside now as I don’t need to finish it by October. I will get it finished as I do still want to make this pattern as it is a cute little bag.

Cassiy

2026 Charity Toiletry Bags

I sound like a record on repeat. Each year I make a set of toiletry bags which I include in our yearly charity bags. For the last few years I’ve been crumb quilting the outside of the bags. Crumb quilting is where you join lots of smaller pieces to make or cover a larger piece of fabric. As soon as I finish hand piecing the front of these I immediately go into withdrawal mode as they are a relaxing project to sit and sew. I might go a couple of weeks without working on them but once they are done I immediately start wanting to work on the next year’s lot.

I hand sew and flip my crumbs onto a base fabric. Sometimes I iron on pelon to the back of the base depending on how thick the base is. For the base I normally use offcuts of sturdy fabric or fabrics which might a bit stained or discoloured. This year I couldn’t immediately find any fabrics like that so instead I looked in my stash for fabrics I was very unlikely to use elsewhere due to the colours or print. I have my quilting cottons boxed up by colour. I went to my white box and found 2 fat quarters and a length of fabric which I knew I wouldn’t use for anything other than wildlife rescue pouches (I have plenty of other fabric for) As long as I’m using up fabric from my stash I don’t care what project it is in.

The size and shape of a fabric crumb is purely up to the maker. This year I used some of my tiniest ever with many less than 1″ wide or tall. Once other pieces were attached around the edges some you only just saw a slither of the fabric. I kept all my tiny crumbs aside from the main container of scraps so I could find them easily when I had a small gap to fill. On the other end of the spectrum at times I used larger scraps to fill a small area and the cut the excess fabric off once it was sewn on if I couldn’t find a small scrap to fit. My first option was always looking for the smallest scrap I could find to fill an area but cutting down larger pieces which were still offcuts and scraps themselves gave me another option. Cutting down larger pieces also meant the fabric didn’t dominate an area.

In past years I always tried to avoid using the same fabric multiple times on a piece. This year I didn’t mind repeating fabrics. Sometimes I overlapped the same fabric in different directions other times I used it in different parts. As I was only trying to use smaller pieces using the same fabric just added to the patchwork feel of the pieces. The aim was to use up scraps, it didn’t matter if it was the same print, it was getting used up. As the year progressed and new scraps got added to my crumb quilting box I started using in them a little more as I had more of them to use up. When you cut things out in bulk such as wildlife rescue pouches you end up a bulk amount of offcuts, I tried to spread them out within each piece. This year there are lot of rectangle pieces. A lot of what I make results in rectangular offcuts once I finish cutting them out. Sometimes the offcuts are from when I true up fabric before I cut out a project. This year probably more than any other year I had to slip stitch a lot of the pieces in place once I had pieced them onto the fabric and flipped them over. Normally you would hand stitch a piece of fabric on and once it was flipped over and ironed you would then just add the next piece straight onto that. This year I was sewing them more frequently next to a piece that had already been sewn on so as I was sewing it on along one edge I was having to fold over a seam that once it was stitched on and flipped over I could slip stitch it down onto the fabric at the side and leave no raw edges. On each front (there are 6 in total) I don’t work from the centre out, I work on multiple areas at once which is how you end up with adjacent pieces which need to be worked together so there are no raw edges.

When it came to installing the zippers I had trouble this year. You know how some say “Don’t sew after midnight” well I might have the rule “Don’t sew after midday” My first time at my machine in weeks I started after midday and wasn’t really thinking properly. I had a sewing sandwich of quilted front, zipper and nylon lining. Using my zipper foot I had the nylon piece on top when I should have had the nylon piece on the bottom. The pieces didn’t feed smoothly through my machine, particularly the pieces which had pieced seams along the top of where the zipper was inserted. I missed parts of the zipper and had to redo my stitching lines. When it came to top stitching along the edge of the zipper I wasn’t paying attention fully and didn’t have the nylon lining held taut so it got caught in the top stitching. I had to unpick and redo it just to make the item functional. Once the pieces were complete I did have to dab on a little bit of fabric glue as I had two tiny slivers of raw edges that were missed in my seams. The glue dries clear and is washable.

Part of me thinks next year I won’t do crumb quilting as they do take months and months of work to make the 3 bag fronts. I will still make toiletry bags to include in the bags but maybe just simple ones. I want to get back to my QAYG hexi quilt which is taking a up a big chunk of my craft cave (craft storage room) My quilt gets put aside each year to work on these, I usually only have a few months between finishing these and starting the next lot. These also take up my ironing board as I have my wool mat and small iron out as I iron each seam of these as I flip them over. Part of me is also thinking yes but you could start next year’s ones in the coming weeks and maybe even make more of them to include as extras for other people’s charity bags. These are a great project to work on in hotter weather (unlike blankets) as they aren’t hot and heavy in your lap so I’m undecided yet as to what I will do.

Cassiy

Giant Laundry Bag Repair

Back in 2017 I made myself a giant laundry bag. Originally I made it to wash our mattress and pillow protectors in but it is also great for washing prewashing fabrics and reusable cloth pads. When I made it I just used a dress zipper as that was the longest I could find in the shop when buying supplies for it. I can’t remember why but I chose a white zipper. It turned out to be a good choice as when I prewash fabrics I don’t want any colour to run on them in the hot water. The amount of times this has been used over the years the excess colour wouldn’t run anyway.

I can’t remember how long ago the zipper pull broke on it. The zipper still functioned as you could just pull it along with your fingers. I had been meaning replace the zipper but never got around to it as it was still functional. One morning I used it for one load of washing but when I put the next load and tried to zip it up I couldn’t pull the zipper head along anymore no matter how much I tried so it was time to replace the zipper.

My first thought was to use a length of zipper tape which I had about 5m of in my stash and cut it to the size, easy simple it was ready to go. I then remembered that the zipper tape was black and I liked a white zipper for prewashing fabric. I went online to the place where I purchased the black zipper tape and saw I could get it in white but then had a thought to actually look at the zippers in my stash. From memory I didn’t remember having any dress or regular zippers as I think of them as that length in my stash. I sorted all my zips early this year so had a recent vague idea of what I had. Pulling out my zipper box stash I found a 56cm open end chunky in white. I held it up to the bag and it looked like it would fit so I thought why not try it first. I had enough time that if I found it didn’t fit I could order another one, have it delivered and install it before I needed to use the bag again.

Over a couple of days I unpicked the old zipper during the week ready for Saturday to sew in the zip. When I made the bag originally I didn’t have any of the seams sewn when installing the zipper so I was able to lay the zipper opening flat and place the zipper on to and sew around. I was too lazy to try and unpick the seams so I had to attach it through the open zipper gap. As I was using an open ended the zip in hindsight I think the smartest way would have been to separate it and sew each side down the opening of the bag and then close it up but no that isn’t what I did. Keeping the zip together I placed the end which separates a little further back then the bag opening and hand basted it in place. I then opened up the zipper to the and stitched down either side of the zipper with the zipper facing down onto the bag. Chunky zips have a section at the bottom which is hard, I didn’t want to break a needle so I veered off the side a little to avoid that plastic hard bit. Once the zipper was sewn I then flipped it over and top stitched down each side of the zip from the front side of the bag.

If you get up close the top stitching is a mess, I should have used a long stitch length. Do I care? Not in the slightest. I needed to replace the zipper on an item I use regularly and I did. I was able to use up an item from my stash that I would otherwise unlikely use. Thinking about it now I think it was one the zips my friend gave me when I told her I sorted my zipper stash, she never uses zips so gave me a heap she had. Practical sewing and using a stash item I’m happy with that.

Cassiy

Pet Pillows

This was a project that I hadn’t originally planned on making but I’m pleased that I did.

Polar fleece isn’t a fabric I normally make garments from but I brought some to make 2 jumpers with. After cutting out the jumpers I was left with heap of offcuts and scraps. Originally I was going to put the scraps in my Binny Bolsters and had actually one of the bolsters out placing the scraps in as I cut them. Once I had all the jumper pieces cut I was left with some usable scraps. The fabric was so soft and squishy I decided I would make a medium size pet pillow for my bestie Miss B that her animals could use. I set the offcuts aside to be my sewing project the next day.

The next day I gathered all my offcuts and scraps (removing the ones I placed in the bolster) I realised I had enough for 2 smaller pillows instead of one larger one. I figured 2 pillows would also mean less fighting between animals of who got to sit on it. It would mean less stuffing inside the pillows but the fabrics themselves were thickish so I could get away with it, one fabric was polar fleece and the other fabric was a sherpa fleece. Each pillow is one side polar fleece, one side sherpa fleece. For each side I first pieced together two pieces of fabric and then pinned them together to form a rectangle. Each one of the seams is sewn twice to make it extra sturdy. On the first pillow I flipped around where I seamed the fabrics so both seams wouldn’t be in the same spot when I joined the front and back together. On the second pillow I realised the seams weren’t in the same spot so I kept them the same direction as a result the second pillow is slightly larger than the first pillow. They are similar in size the animals aren’t going to be able to tell who has the larger pillow. After stuffing them I top stitched along where I left the opening gap twice to make sure I secured the opening, normally I hand sew opening gaps shut but the fabric was too thick to be able to see where I was hand sewing and I wanted the seam to be robust.

This was a very quick project to make only taking about an hour of sewing. This was a practical project to use up fabric offcuts and scraps. Yes I could have used the scraps to fill my bolsters but I like making things people or animals can use. I like the idea of a little animal snuggling up to these pillows. As a former dog owner I know this is something a little animal would love to snuggle up on.

Cassiy

Book: Table For Eight

Last year I read my first Tricia Stringer novel Back On Track. I stumbled across Tricia’s work as I was looking for new Australian authors who had multiple books. From picking up a couple of Tricia’s books it didn’t look like they needed to be read in any particular order as they were all standalone novels so I chose Back on Track as it was about bunch of dressmakers embarking on a long distance rail journey so combined two of my interests (I quietly have a thing for trains) to see if I liked Tricia’s writing style. My post on the book showed I really enjoyed the book. Later on when I went to seek out Tricia’s other books I discovered that Back On Track was a sequel to an earlier book Table For Eight.

Ketty Clift (Sydney couture dressmaker) embarks on the last voyage of her beloved cruise ship the Diamond Duchess, a ship she has cruised on many times over the years. Each voyage she travels alone asking her favourite maître d’ Carlos to seat her at dinner with interesting strangers so can meet new people and create new friendships. Once again Carlos did not fail in his duties bringing together a range of people to come dine together to start as strangers and end as friends. Not only are sailing through the pacific in this book but you are also sailing through a series of different relationships and emotions (love, loss, jealousy, heartache) By chance Ketty runs into and old friend who is on the cruise with her brother who happens to be Ketty’s long lost love.

What I really enjoy about Tricia’s writing style is that she can make what is seemingly mundane interesting. Her books don’t feel like fiction they feel like real life. She describes the settings and scenes so accurately that is feels real. In this book she talks about Sydney Harbour. The way she describes is what it is actually like. Even at the end of the book as she describes the cruise ship sailing early morning under the Sydney Harbour Bridge without fuss is exactly how the smaller ships come in and dock at the passenger terminal she mentions. The relationships and conversations her characters in the book have are very relatable. You can imagine having similar conversations or relationships yourself.

If you happen to read the two books out of order like I did Table For Eight just feels like a prequal, you get more of an insight into the history that is referred to in Back On Track however it isn’t essential to follow the plot line of Back On Track. This book was one of Tricia’s longer novels but it is a very light refreshing read that anyone no matter which country they are from would enjoy. It was my work break reading so I think it took me a couple of months to read as I wasn’t dipping into each day but I was able to easily pick up where I had left off from.

Cassiy

Poolside Bag

I’ve mentioned before that apartment complex has a communal pool that residents can use. In 2023 I made a dress to wear down to it which I still wear. I was using the pool occasionally but not as much as I could have. Last year I was thinking about what was stopping me from going for a swim and as embarrassing as it is I realised it was because I couldn’t get my own swimming costume on by myself. The ones I had either clipped up at the back, I had to pull them really tight to do the clip which I couldn’t manage or they had cross over straps at the back which would tangle as I put them on and again I couldn’t untangle them. Womble would have to help me get into my cozzie (costume) each time I wanted to go for a swim. If he was asleep or too unwell I couldn’t go in the pool because he couldn’t help me get dressed. It sounds crazy but it was the honest reason. To overcome the problem I decided to get a different style of cozzie, one that has a solid back section and zips up at the front. Best decision ever! Since last September any morning I can I use the opportunity to do a pool session and get some exercise in. Womble will still be in bed but I will be in that pool for between 45 – 90 minutes walking, swimming laps and doing aquatic exercises. I have osteoporosis and arthritis, aqua exercises are great as there is no stress on my joints and I can do things more freely in the water than I can on land. I love running but nowadays I’m scared to do it on land in case I trip and break something but I can run in the water without a care.

A zip front cozzie is brilliant!

Our pool is outdoor and around it are benches to sit and put your things on. I go in the pool first thing in the morning as it is less busy at that time and often I have it all to myself, if I do have to share it the other person is there swimming laps. You have the space to exercise at the time. If it has rained the night before the benches at that time are still wet. You have nowhere dry to put your towel, clothing and phone (which I always take down) If the weather is cloudy and happens to start raining whilst you’re in the water again your things get wet. If I thought the benches would be wet or the weather cloudy I was taking down a plastic shopping bag to put my things in. The bag still had 2 problems
1 – It was small and would barely fit my smallish towel, dress and phone in
2 – The top of the bag was open so things still got wet if it rained.

Our pool is open year round. Since I am enjoying using the pool I’m planning on continuing to use it in the cooler months. The pool will be heated but I wanted a bigger towel for after my swim and I’m planning on wearing something a little warmer to and from the pool than my terry toweling pool dress. In the cooler months we often get dew on things overnight so even without rain surfaces are wet or damp. I decided I needed a waterproof bag for my things poolside, as I can sew and love bag making I would make the bag I needed.

In terms of patterns I decided to go with a pattern I’d already made before so chose the Takeoff Tote by Dog Under My Desk. We use this bag as Womble’s standby hospital bag so I knew it is a good zippered tote bag. If you make it at the regular 100% size it is a little bit small, it fits all we need for the hospital for an emergency admission but as a regular tote bag it needs to be larger. The pattern includes pockets on both the inside and outside as well as a luggage sleeve so you can slide it over a suitcase handle. I didn’t need anything like that, I just needed a basic bag but larger. I thought I might have to slash the pattern piece I’d already traced out from the PDF to make it larger but luckily at the time I’d printed the pieces out in several sizes so I found one which I’m assuming was printed at 125% as it was slightly bigger.

When gathering fabrics for projects I shop my stash first. I had a piece of nylon which I knew was water resistant as such as I used it on the inside of my insulated lunch bag. The nylon was suitable for the inside of the bag but for the outside I wanted a fabric that was designed to be waterproof so I wanted something like a vinyl. I didn’t have anything suitable in my stash so I splurged out on 3m of pvc from The Remnant Warehouse. I was only going to buy 2m but when I mentioned it to Womble I was thinking of 3m he convinced me to get 3 as it was something I would likely use so I did.

I’d never worked with pvc before. When it arrived the first thing I noticed was it smelt. I unfolded the fabric and had it airing in the study and then outside on our clothes airer for about a week. The smell wasn’t too bad after that. I didn’t know but you can get different weights of pvc and this was a light weight. It did rip slightly as I was airing it which did worry me as I thought oh no it is just going to fall apart as I sew it but the description on the website said it was suitable for bags or even tablecloths so I decided it couldn’t be that bad.

The pattern instructs you to place interfacing behind the layers of the bag to give it stability. I didn’t need a very structured bag however because the pvc had already ripped once I thought it needed something so I decided to cut all my pvc pieces including the handles as a double layer as I had enough fabric (glad I brought the 3m) Using fabric as an interfacing is something I’ve done in the past so I knew the idea worked. For the inside of the bag the nylon was more stable than the pvc so I only cut the base piece as a double layer of fabric. For the zipper I just went to my stash and found a zipper slightly longer than the top of the pattern piece, I didn’t bother shortening it like the pattern instructs. With the shorter zip installing it was a little more tricker as you had less wiggle room when you needed to move the end out of the way in some parts but it wasn’t too difficult.

I was thinking back to all that I have learnt from watching The Great British Sewing Bee. Working with pvc I knew you couldn’t iron it or use pins. I used my seam roller to flatten the handles so I could fold them in and clips to hold the layers in place whilst I constructed them. When it came to attaching the handles to the bag fronts I didn’t know how to hold them in place without pins. I was going to use scotch tape which I have used to hold zippers in place but I thought on pvc it might be too tacky. I decided to use washi tape and I thought it was meant to be less tacky. Just as I was about to take my pieces to the machine to sew I tried to remove the washi to adjust one of the handles. The tape wouldn’t come away easily. It was a struggle to remove it and when I did it left a sticky residue. I hate the feeling of stickiness. With a bit of work I pulled off all the tape without ripping the vinyl but I had sticky fabric. As I had cut everything double I decided to switch the layers so the tacky fabric was on the inside of the bag behind my new outer layer. I went back to my original plan of using scotch tape which was a much better solution. In hindsight I probably should have brought a washaway tape that you don’t need to iron on to the fabric or perhaps painter’s tape. To be honest when planning this bag I hadn’t even thought of the handles. I was expecting pvc to be really bothersome to cut and sew but it was actually good. It went through the machine smoothly. When trimming threads and my zip ends I was careful not to cut holes in it like I did on last year’s charity toiletry bags. I was dreading the top stitching around the outside of the bag as I always seem mess that up on regular woven fabrics and not something trickly like pvc. Normally I use a stitch length of between 3mm – 3.5mm but this time I opted for 5mm and it was perfect. It went smoothly and there were no puckers.

I’m super happy with how this turned out. I’ve purchased larger towels and the bag is big enough to hold them as well as more bulky clothing. I can even fit my kickboard in the bag if I wish to free up hand. I love that I came across a problem and was able to come with a solution for it, bonus if it involves doing something I enjoy such as bag making.

Cassiy