Crinkle, crinkle, little flower

This has got to be one of my favourite things...

Cut two circles, one twice as big across as the other (these are 5 and 10 inches) Oakshott cotton again

Cut a small slit in the centre of the smaller one, and crease to mark the quarters on both

Using a doubled thread, gather the quarters so that the larger circle matches the smaller, (use a matching thread, I have used a contrast for the sample)

All the way round... Pin between the quarters and distribute the gathers evenly

Sew all around by machine

Like so... (matchy, matchy, please...)

Turn out through the hole like so... Now go downstairs/to your armchair and sit in front of the fire, with a cup of tea and some chocolate (this is a very important part of the process)

With your doubled thread as before, start in the middle with a back-stitch or two to secure the start..

Turn the piece over and push the top fabric with your thumb to make a small pleat. Stitch up from the back, through the top layer and back down.

Turn a little and repeat..
And again..
And so on

Keep working round in a spiral, pushing the fabric inwards and working out towards the edge as you go. Make the top match the back for size

Back will look like this

Front... More stitches will mean a flatter result

Make 12 of these

Trim, turn out and press. Sew into a ring, then add the centre

Add beads if desired (do this last, or they disappear under the folds)

Nicely 3D

One in cream, also with beads

Rusted linen, silk, quilted ground...
Sleep well...

More Technology, Part the Second..., or Ruffle Kerfuffles

When, in the early 70s, I bought my 1928 Singer 15 class treadle machine (from an advert in the Post Office window, for £3) I went out almost at once and bought a Ruffler.. it cost more than 4 times what the machine had, and paid for itself in ruffled layered 1970s skirts at once..
Here's one just like it

From various angles, as fitted on the said (still used every day) machine.. Note that the little fork goes around the needle-clamp - this is what drives the ruffling action.
You may also note that the settings (first photo) are 1, 6, 12 and *
That is, every stitch, every sixth, every twelfth, and off.. I'm holding a bit of card behind the foot for clarity, but this is not part of the attachment.  Note also that I have used up all the paint from the bed of the machine..

I cut long strips to demonstrate this jolly toy. Here it is set on "every stitch" and ruffling along..

Make sure your foot is firmly attached, and that the needle-clamp is also firm - this action is a bit inclined to throw things around, and I did break a needle doing these...
The amount of ruffling is affected by the stitch-length set on the machine, and also by an adjuster on the foot..

Small image, sorry, but this shows the relative reductions in length. All these started out the same as the bottom piece.  The middle one has 6- and 12-stitch ruffling..
As with yesterday's slotted feet, the ruffler can add a straight piece underneath

Looks like this when finished

Or between 2 layers of fabric.  This (as the middle layer vanishes and the top and bottom do not) is Very Bad For The Brain...


Purple on top, light green underneath, dark green is ruffled...  If you plan to make the ruffles with hemmed edges, do this first.. You can also ruffle a folded piece, so that there is no hem visible - if you want to do this, press well and machine-baste close to the raw edges to hold these together first...

And so to bed.. I've been teaching Trees today, so now I'm for fire and chocolate, then sleep...

More Technology...

...my old sewing machines work so much better than the interwebs, which have been letting me down for two days.. I hope this one will post, if not I am going to shoot the Apple from the head of the www...

So, here are some interesting little gadgets - starting with Shirring feet

This is a typical Shirring foot, and it's very simple
Attach so

in place of your normal presser foot
And sew (note, straight-stitches only with this foot, but that's just what I have here)

This was a longish stitch (I am sewing one layer of fabric to start with)

And a shorter one. It takes practice to get a particular reduction

Rinse, and repeat

Crinkles!
(Hint, this is interesting if pressed, too) And on silk. And try it on jerseyish stuff...
Here we have a variation - a Slotted Foot


and here the result of using this "plain" - very similar to the shirring foot, if a little tighter

Now, the Slotted foot has a party-trick - it can sew a wrinkle to a plain piece - I've used a narrow purple bit for clarity. the narrow bit sits in the slot, and the green underneath the foot against the feed dogs

Result...

Sew another on the other side... Maybe it could be tidier..

Tomorrow, ruffling...

Pleats, Pleats, Me

A few more notions, in particularly purple Oakshott Fabric

I've been a bit more organised here, with markings at each end of the fabric to make even pleats.. These are roughly 1/4 inch deep and 1-1/4 inches apart.. Sew, press

Actually, I suspect that the unpressed pleats are just as interesting

Then crossed

Pressed again.. Oh, boy, fabric reduction by degrees...

And the back - also interesting..

A variation on yesterday's stripes-with-pleats, from my Summer Landscapes piece again.  I really like the way the pleats distort the patchwork

And here, even though this piece has batting and backing, you can see the light is altered by the layers and crossings.. Plain muslin/calico in the block - the sides of this piece are an odd brocaded furnishing fabric

Here I have made blocks - 5-inch squares were pleated in 2 directions, then trimmed (to 4 inches) and joined.  I tried to ensure that the pleats did not meet on the joins - this makes for easier pressing if nothing else

Working on the bias is interesting, too - here I have returned to the silk striped squares




Sewn, close together

Pressed

Snipped - I think this needs a wash...