Pouch For Cell Phone and Keys

This a craft from waste - sort of project from long aga.  My husband bought himself a lovely wine coloured kurta from Fab India. He wanted me to shorten the sleeves. I loved the colour and the texture of the material so much, that I did not want to throw away the 4" pieces. I put them into my scrap box and waited for something to happen.

Something did happen.  I was downloading some old tatting books from the Internet Archive (Public Domain Library) and found some lovely lace patterns. I decided to use one of them as an insertion. Here's the result.

Here's how I went about making this pouch.  Click on the picture to enlarge.

Once you are done with the sewing you can make a tatted lace and use it as an insertion. I am not done with this pouch yet. I've been going through some beading patterns I could use, to hang this pouch around my neck, and I plan to do some embroidery on what were the sleeves.

I haven't decided on a pattern yet. I want the whole thing to look elegant: with each of the design elements complementing the others rather than clamouring with each other for attention.

You'll find the instructions for the insertion in a previous post.

The idea for this motif came from the book TATTING HEARTS by Teri Dusenbury - a Dover needlework Series.



Round 1 seems to be a bit overcrowded. So I have made a few changes.


The pattern requires the use of two shuttles.


Abbreviations:

ds - double stitch
p - picots
sep - seperated
cl - close
R - ring
SR - split ring
LHK - Lark's Head Knot
SC - split chain
rep - repeat
ch - chain
prev - previous
rnd - round

WS1 - Working Shuttle 1
WS2 - Working Shuttle 2

/ - instructions before / represent the first half of the split ring and instructions after the / represent the second half of the split ring.

Instructions:

Round 1:

Wind the two shuttles using the Continuous Thread Method CTM.

R - 5 ds, 2p sep by 5 ds, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, cl ring.

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SR1 - Ring of 3 ds, p, 3 ds / 5 ds, p, 5 ds cl ring.

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SR2 - SR7 - Same as SR1

SR8 - 3 ds, p, 3 ds, join to 2nd p of the first ring, 5 ds / 5 ds close ring.
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Round 2:

SR1 - 5 ds, p, 5 ds, p, 5 ds / 5 ds, close ring.
SR2 - 3 ds, p, 3 ds / 3 ds, p, 3 ds.
SR3 - 5 ds, join to the first p of 2nd ring in Round 1, 5 ds / 5 ds, p, 5 ds.

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From here on rep SR2 and SR3 joining to the corresponding picots in the prev round.
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Last SR - Ch of 5 ds, join to p of 8th ring in prev rnd.

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R of 3 ds, p, 3 ds, join to first p of first SR in rnd 2, 3 ds, p, 3 ds, cl ring.
Now work a split chain as follows.

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Using the shuttle just dropped, work a ch of 5 ds. Drop the shuttle.

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Using the other shuttle, work 5 ds. Make a reef knot.
cut and tie

Fabric Grain and Why It Is Important

Grain is a term that pops up very frequently in sewing discussions.  What is it and why is it important to understand its significance?

When cutting fabric for sewing, grain alignment is an important step that should never be ignored; because two crucial aspects of dressmaking hinges on it.

1. The fall or drape of the garment - also defines wearing comfort.
2. The durability of the garment - when a garment does not stretch where it is supposed to, it tears. 

Check fabric carefully before buying.  

Lengthwise grain show images

Crosswise Grain - Shrinks and stretches  more  ( this is just info I picked up somewhere. Don't know what it really means) show images

Bias Grain show image

After washing

stretching

Grain in printed fabric - don't buy if the pattern and the grain are not properly aligned. Yes. It matters and don't let the salesman convince you otherwise.

Grain lines meeting at seams armholes and sleeves - An experienced tailor knows this but an amateur can become frustrated. show images.

use pins then and then sew.which side on top the one that stretches more or less.

While it is essential to understand what grain means and use it effectively, there is no need to obsess over it.