INFO FOR ALL

It seems some folk are having problems finding these tutorials so I am putting the links here in the hope it makes it easier for you to find the way I make my Postcards.

I hope they work.

POSTCARD TUTORIAL PART TWO

POSTCARD TUTORIAL PART ONE

COMING SOON

I shall very soon have the tutorial for the soft box I made for a friend, it stores fabric postcards quite easily or anything you wish to place in it.  Almost ready.

CATHEDRAL WINDOW ALA JAN

Here at last is my tutorial for Cathedral Window, done my way by machine of course! I hope you think it has been worth the wait. It has taken ages to load the pictures on because Blogger is on a go slow as I am doing them. Be warned there are lots of photos as I wanted you to see each step clearly. Here we go then....I used 8" squares of the main fabric, you can use whatever size you like, I just wanted to use this one...

Now, what will go with that fabric, here are my scraps in two drawers,  these are the ones I am showing you anyway...

Hmm, quite like the look of these - we shall see...

Right, first fold the fabric right sides together and stitch the short ends together...

Now do a bit of a twist on the just made pocket like this... photo in wrong order damn it, it is the one under this one that shows you the twist, this one is showing you where to stitch across, but leave a gap....

this is the twist

it should lay flat like this...

this is the gap with the thread still attached...

carefully trim off those ears - can you see I have slanted them a little...

Now you have to turn it through, here I am showing you I use a thick knitting needle,  I put it along the seam line and push gently so as not to make a hole,  been there done that!!!

here is the needle along the seamline inside,  I lift the needle upwards to the seam  and the corner pops up neatly for me...

see, nice sharp corners, no holes, still got the gap, honestly, you really do not have to close this, ignore it  you will soon be covering it and no one will know there is a gap there...

Now for my neat party trick... pull one of the corners down towards the centre and...

put it under the machine and stitch a straight line,  from about an inch away  to the centre - then fold the bottom corner up and stitch straight across that for about an inch, go back to the centre...

turn the square and bring another corner to the centre, stitch as before, then the last corner and yes stitch again, cast off however you do it - I do a few back sts and that suits me fine...

here I am back at the middle...

and this is what you should have done, a neat cross smack in the middle...

also a neat cross on the back,  I did this one in yellow thread so you can see it, you use a good colour for yours unless you want everyone to see the trick!!!

you may occasionally get a corner which looks like this... do not despair...

put your finger or the knitting needle in the gap and drag to the corner...

Voila neat corners appear like magic...

Stitch a few stitches across each corner to hold them in place, you will remove these later as you go along, I use pins personally- but they do stab you... Me! Pins! Gosh!

Make as many of these as you wish,  you need two at least to get a 'Window' Now you need to find a small zigzag stitch,  not too long and as narrow as possible for it to cross two squares together... I leave the 1/4" foot on and adjust the width to just fit in the gap of the foot, fits just fine in there, any wider and BANG you broke a needle...

place two squares right sides together - aha, the right side is the side with all those gaps by the way - now do that narrow zigzag all the way down to the bottom, do not remove work - place the next two right sides together right underneath and stitch straight down to the bottom..

this is what it should look like now...

then fold RST again and stitch the other seam all the way down, non-stop girls and boys!! Well, you never know do you! Here is the result of that...

and this is the back - wow, just look at those neat little crosses...

Funtime hahaha I have placed a ruler on here so you can see where the windows will be going...

maybe this is better for you - I have blocked the rest off, a window will go here where the ruler is...

Oh yes, I always put a small piece of wadding under my windows,  I like the effect it gives, also it stops the 'window' from looking creased - if you don't wish to put the wadding, don't, I wont mind!!!

I will come back to this tomorrow as it is loading so slowly I will be here for ever and a day. I have all the pictures ready OK I am back, I reloaded all these on this morning again as overnight they had moved all over the place. Fingers crossed now, we continue our journey...  After laying the wadding on, you then need to place your windows on, You can see they are cut just slightly smaller than the actual space for the window, No I wont give a size cos everyone is different, you may have taken a bigger seam than me, so measure it, look at the picture to see just how big they are...

Yeah OK I've used pins, the reason being they hold the square nice and tight, plus they are a good marker for the fold over as you will see...

right on the point then inwards and straight...

get hold of one of those folds and gently help it over the edge of that brown piece,  I start stitching half way along the fold NOT at the point, I feel it is better this way...

stitch right on the edge or do a fancy stitch I don't mind the choice is yours, but do it by machine, this picture is showing you how you curve the edge of the bit under the curve just done, see how the pin helps you, dont go right to the top... make sure that fabric is covered underneath, no bits poking out... When you get to the corners you MUST remove the few stitches you put in,  but keep it neat...

in this picture I have stabbed a pin in the point where the curve goes under just to show you clearer - I hope...

one window done - three to go...

DON'T yank the curve over too far like this, it will distort your work... a nice gentle fold is all you need...

another curve, another one almost done...

stone me, that was quick!!

Hmm what to do about the edges?

cut more squares, yes squares of the fabric for the edges, plus a triangle of wadding...

place the square like so, and stitch just inside the edge, so a little of the background shows...

push this out of the way to place the wadding...

fold the fabric back over the wadding...

yes, both pieces...

hang on, you can do all the edges like this in one go if you like, see how I have pinned them all in their place... wadding sitting in the middle ready to get shoved placed nicely underneath...

see, like this, you only need one pin for these,  can you see them... start stitching them all down, by gently curling the fabric over as before, you can go all the way round with a continuous stitching if you are careful, take it slow, it can be done...

Finished product

Cathedral Window patchwork is very heavy when finished, you don't have to put a backing on it though so once you have done all the windows you are actually finished. I feel doing it my way with that little cross makes for a neat back. I do hope you will give this a go, do let me know how you get on and if you have any queries with the instructions. I do hope I haven't left anything out.

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SECRET GARDEN

This is done exactly the same as the above with just one extra step in the early stages. You do have to be a little careful that you don't get the rough edges peeking out though....Here we go again... You need to get to the part where you have turned through, stop there, don't do the cross bit YET

 

I cant remember if I told you to stitch across the corners above, if I did all well and good, I pin them, cos I am lazy, you can if you like but you do get stabbed quite a lot...

 

RIGHT

this is the stage where the secrect comes in to play, get yourself a piece of fabric that contrast well with what you are using, I chose a pale green, cos it was handy, blogger lost the picture I did of that so it has gone forever, so I have done a mock up with word.... where the white square is, THAT is your fabric for the secret,  can you see it is just shy of the square, DO NOT have it too big, you will see the raggedy edges later, trust me...

You then carry on and do as above with the cross thing, and joining two squares together, this is going to be a pin cushion cos I didn't want another piece of Cathedral Window, honestly I am not a lover of it - bit fiddly faffy thing if you ask me... Anyway I digress, Can you see the secret fabric, I am holding the main fabric back so you can see it...

Now it is very important to get those points TOGETHER -

and the corners sharp - bossy old trout aren't I...

there are the secret windows for you...

 

Now you just put a little square on as before and stitch round as before, go up there if you cant remember how to do it, it is exactly the same, just do the centre window for this pin cushion - obviously if you have made loads of squares and joined them all together you will be carrying on adding the windows willy-nilly...

Now its a bit tricky to explain this, but you fold this in half right sides together, and using that tiny zig zag join this into a tube, I am holding it after sewing it to show you it is a tube... whilst it is a tube, turn it to the right side and add that other window, you will see where it goes, once you have done that, turn it inside out again - sorry - and join one edge together, have the seams in the middle as I am holding it above -there is a reason for that...

OK last time, turn it back to right side, hopefully you joined it right and it looks like this, well it will once you have stuffed the living daylights out of it, use what you like, I use old bits of wadding left from trimming edges of quilts, some folk use sawdust - each to their own!!!! Once you have stuffed it, stitch up the remaining opening, Yep I do it by machine, can be done, just need to be firm.

and this is what itr should look like now - a pin cushion good grief - so it is...

There you are then, a Cathedral Window little mat and a Cathedral Window Secret Garden Pin Cushion, I do hope you have been able to follow my pictures and musings...

Please let me know if you find an error, I hope there aren't any, but you never know, I have been trying to do this for so long now, I am computer crazy!!!