I was given this Madiba Shweshwe fabric almost a year ago and I really wanted to make something special out of it.
After a few measurements and plans, I decided to create 2 cushion covers. To make the most use of the fabric, I cut 1 length of fabric for each cushion -50cm x 100cm. Added an invisible zip on the 50cm length side and then stitched together the 2 side seams. Total sewing time less than 1 hour.
The zip will be either at the top or bottom of the cushion, depending of how the cushion is placed on sofa. Front and back of cushion are the same print (but one is upside down)
Ta da! Don’t these look great!
Madiba cushion covers
Finished dimensions of cushion cover 48cm x 48cm – suitable for 50cm x 50cm cushion.
My boy calls me a hoarder, but I don’t think I am. I’m happy to depart with items of no use, clothing that is too small but when it comes to my fabric. Well that’s a different story! I find it very difficult to throw away any remnants and smalls pieces left over after cutting out a pattern, as I know I will find a good use for them, no matter how small. so here are a few things I have been constructing to make use of those fabric scraps.
I drafted a pattern for a luggage tag to use up some of the “bigger” scraps of fabric.
I used the instructions from Stitch and Hem Blog – but the size pattern sizes were too big. Below are my pattern sizes for making a tag for standard business cards.
You will need fabric, interfacing, plastic/vinyl, elastic or ribbon
pattern for fabric luggage tagsluggage tags
New key fob for my house keys
Cut 2 pieces of fabric – 3 inches x 2 inches. Add interfacing, length of ribbon and keyring
Fabric ribbon
2 inches wide fabric, join widths to make desired length. Fold in the sides, and fold in half (to hide the raw edges), top stitch. Ta da!
As I have a few more hours “free time” during the day, I’ve been planning sewing and craft projects. I’ve had a couple of busy weeks sewing items for my Etsy shop, and I still feel like there isn’t enough hours in the day. So many plans…. never enough time to get them finished!
So my plans for the next 2 weeks are:
– create a couple of interesting purses using this fabulous South African Shwe Shwe fabric to sell on Etsy – MadeByNomes.Etsy.com
Red Shwe-Shwe fabric
– Design and plan the construction of my first ever patchwork quilt using this beautiful Liberty fabric, which I bought in London before I moved to Prague. It looks as though I will have enough fabric for a single bed cover … so hopefully it wont take me months to complete!
liberty print bundle for patchwork quilt
– Buy some modge podge (or is it mod podge? somewhere in Prague …Any ideas??!) and cover these boards with some interesting tribal or geometric fabric. Yellow doesn’t really work in my apartment 🙂
Wooden boards to be covered in fabric
– Create a wrap around skirt pattern (or something similar) for a reversible skirt. I have doubled sided Shwe-Shwe fabric that I think would look great if both sides could be seen and worn.
green, blue black double sided shweshwe
– Sew a cushion cover using this Shwe-shwe Madiba fabric. I’d like to find a complementary fabric to use on the back, and have Madiba’s face just on the front.
Madiba shwe-shwe fabric from SA
And here is something I finished today –
Appliquéd hippo on a cushion cover. It’s so cute. I think I’ll give this cushion cover away as a birthday gift next month 🙂
I’ve also started taking pictures of fabric and products I like and putting them on Instrgram. Made By Nomes
Goodbye London … Hello Prague.
I’ve been living in Prague now for almost 2 weeks. The time has flown by! I’ve spend my time exploring the city and trying to get to know the place from the perspective of someone who lives here, rather than a tourist visiting.
Our furniture and boxes are still in storage, and wont arrive for another 2 weeks. It’s strange to be without some many loved items. I’m missing my sewing machine and sewing paraphernalia, especially as I have free time when I could be doing lots of sewing! So if I can’t sew, I should start investigating where I can buy fabric and other sewing items.
Step one – English to Czech translation of fabric, sewing machine, haberdashery, textiles
Step two – Research and translate websites from Czech to English
Step three – handful of metro tickets, iPhone with Google Maps and comfy shoes for a day of walking around the city.
TIP: I love taking photos with my iPhone as the photo stores GPS location, so I can always find my way back to the shop!
Here are some of the shops I found so far.
These next 2 are opposite sides of the road on Moravska.
Latky Galanterie – corner of Budescka and Moravska – Vinohrady. Prague 2Látky Červený a spol – Budečská 1026/14 120 00 Prague 2-Vinohrady. http://www.latky-cerveny.cz/
inside Látky Červený a spolŠicí Centrum Haišman – Na Poříčí 1758/14 New Town, 110 00 Prague sicicentrum.czBytovy Textil inside Kotva Dept Store – Náměstí Republiky
I’m looking to purchase an Overlocker but I’m having great difficulty finding a dealer in Prague. Any suggestions?
Do you know of a fabric shop I haven’t found … please let me know.
Check out my online shop for handmade clothing and gifts Made By Nomes Etsy
Thanks, Nomes. x
***Amendment: ***
Here are a list of a few more fabric and craft shops. Thanks to everyone who got in touch. 🙂
Happy Easter Monday and hello April 2013 – oh how the the time is flying this year! It’s that time of the year when one feels they need to have a spring clean and de-clutter the sewing studio space. Whilst trying to do a tidy up, I found plenty of small pieces of wonderful African print fabric that I couldn’t quite bring myself to part with.
Handmade swing tags: With a bottle of glue in one hand, fabric pieces and luggage tags in the other hand, I created these new swing tags for my Etsy items. I think they look pretty interesting, and a nice new ending place for the small scraps of fabric 🙂
MadeByNomes swing tagsAfrican Print swing tags for finished items
I think is was only a matter of time before I started using my African Print fabric to make covers for phones, iPads and accessories. I did some research on the internet to get some ideas for size, shape and closure styles. Liberty Blog has a simple tutorial for an unlined accessories cover – http://www.liberty.co.uk/blog/12177/sewing-project-liberty-print-ipad-case/
So here are a few pictures of my iPad cover.
safety pins ipad cover – Christmas present for my cousin
