Winning Ikat Fabric from Mallorca

Med Style

The Balearic Islands are really special to me. 

I have been fortunate indeed to have spent many happy hours both in Mallorca and Menorca, but this is nothing compared to the 10 years plus that my beloved lived in the Balearics for. He tells me such stories of his youth there, the characters he knew and the spirit of the islands that I feel like I have also grown up there. 

Slow Fabric

One of the favourite places that I have visited is Teixits Vicens, where you can buy traditional ikat and striped cloth, and if you are lucky even see it being made behind the shop. You can also buy beautiful merchandise too, from deckchairs to handbags.

As you probably know, I am a massive fan of stripes- not to mention how keen I am on slow, traditional crafting methods, so this place is pretty heavenly for me! 

Fabric Heaven!

Winning Style

Recently, the lovely people at Vicens fabrics ran a competition on Instagram for items made from their fabrics. Well, I have a number of these, and being the fan that I am I decided to enter, with this picture:

my handmade competition entry

I drafted the skirt pattern in an easy-to-wear A-line shape, with a yoke, a front pleat, and- of course- pockets and made this skirt some time ago. It has washed and worn really well, and the fabric is a great weight for all sorts of weathers. Here I teamed it with an organic cotton stripey top from Seasalt, and my vintage Levi's denim jacket for a trip to St Michael's Mount, which is where I'm standing. 

And guess what? I won first prize in the competition! I still can't believe it. Thank you so much, Teixits Vicens, I'm so happy!

Views from a Fabric Workshop

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some snaps from my last visit to Teixits Vicens. The colours are just dreamy!

My Balearic Wardrobe

Some of my favourite outfits incorporate Teixits Vicens:

LBD: little blue dress- my wardrobe is full of them

this skirt goes with everything!

perfect for Cornish days out

June Monthly Giveaway: Fat Quarter Bundles from Fairtrade Fabric

Wow, not one but four giveaways this month! 

Free Fabric!

As you may know, I am running regular monthly giveaways, hurrah!

Each giveaway will be open for a whole calendar month, so you have the whole of June to get excited about this one, and then I will announce the winner and the next giveaway at the beginning of July (May's winner to be announced very shortly).

fat quarters by Fairtrade Fabric

This month I am thrilled to offer not just one, but four chances to win: those lovely people at Fairtrade Fabric have provided all of these amazing fat quarters from their powerloom range of designs by Susie Huson- see here. They are organic, fairtrade certified, and just adorable! 

They are perfect for quilting (amongst many other things). Keep an eye on the blog for an extra special tutorial featuring one of these prints very soon... 

To win a bundle, simply leave me a comment stating which bundle you'd prefer and what you plan to do with it- it's that easy.  

Win these FQ bundles: 

Bundle 1: 

Bundle 1

Bundle 1

Bundle 2:

Bundle 2

Bundle 2

Bundle 3: 

Bundle 3

Bundle 3

Bundle 4: 

Bundle 4

Bundle 4

What's the Catch?

No catch! There are generally no conditions attached to my giveaways, I'm just giving away either treasures from my stash, or as in this instance items kindly provided by other companies. I hope that you will stay a while and read some other posts, perhaps even leave the odd comment, but that's entirely up to you. 

This particular offer is open to everyone, wherever you are in the world. 

If you'd like to be considered please just leave me a comment below, and that's it, consider yourself entered- it really is that simple. If for some reason you can't comment then you can use the contact form instead.

If you share a link to this page on social media and let me know you have done so I will put your name down twice for an extra chance at winning.  

Tip: to be sure you never miss a giveaway, or more importantly a notification that you might have won, why not subscribe to my blog...? It's easy, and you'll find where to do it on the top right ---->

Thank you's: 

Thank you again to Fair-trade Fabric for providing such wonderful giveaway prizes, and thank you dear readers for stopping by and for entering. Good luck to you all!

Barrel Bag Sew Along Instructions: Week 5

The final step is here! Well done if you've been keeping up with the sew along, and thank you so much for taking part. I have really enjoyed seeing your bags come together. 

Don't worry if you are worried about losing your place in the instructions: I am planning to archive them all in one spot so that they are easy to find for future reference.  

barrel bag

Finishing Touches:

Seam Finishing: 

The next thing you need to do after last week is finish the inside of your round seams: I have bound mine using the 4cm bias binding. It is a professional and also pretty finish to have on the inside of your bag. If you want to request a tutorial in how to bind seams please go ahead and use the contact form. 

Or, you can overlock the raw edges together- it is quicker and also very strong. 

Making the Strap:

Cut 2 x 10cm lengths of webbing, and also 2 x 7cm lengths. Then, have a look at your remaining webbing and decide how long you would like your shoulder strap to be. 

Don't forget that the buckles themselves will contribute to the length, and you should also allow about 3cm for the loop of webbing used to attach them (see picture below)- the overall length of buckle plus webbing loop is about 7.5cm each end of the strap. 

bag strap detail

You also need to add 1cm seam allowance each end of your strap. 

Once you are satisfied that you have identified the correct length of webbing, cut the strap to length. 

Take a 10cm piece of webbing, fold in half long ways and topstitch. Thread this loop through your buckle, then sew the loop closed. 

Place this loop onto a shorter 7cm piece of webbing and sew them together near the top. Make sure the buckle has its opening side facing down as pictured. The webbing loop should overhang by about 1cm: this is to stagger the bulk of the seam and also to ensure the rivets will go through it.

Then, place the strap onto the buckle to sandwich it into place, and sew, taking a 1cm seam allowance from the strap and the 7cm webbing. 

Now, press this seam so that it lays flat, and press the raw edge of the 7cm webbing, turning 1cm over. 

Topstitch around the sides and top of this shorter piece, attaching it to the main strap. 

Repeat this process for the other end of the strap. 

Now, making small pilot holes with an awl or a sharp pair of scissors, hammer the rivets into place, arranging them as you like, but preferably add strength by holding all of these layers of webbing together. 

The last step:

One (optional) finishing touch is to sew your handles together longways for strength and ease of use: find the midpoint at the top of you handles, then measure and mark 10cm either side of this. 

Fold your webbing in half along this 20cm, and sewing close to the edges topstitch both sides together. 

love that 'Quink' linen

And you're done! 

Well done and thank you again for joining in the sew along. Don't forget to keep tagging me in your finished results on twitter and instagram!

With thanks once again to Merchant & Mills for kindly supplying the materials for this project. 

barrel bag from Merchant & Mills materials