Assembly: Coptic Sampler Book

A very long time ago i showed a sampler book I made I made this tutorial and put it in draft form and forgot it was here.  Looked at all the drafts I had for my blog that I did long ago and realized this one was complete and never poster for the last 5 years.  Not sure how that happened but enjoy this new but old post.


Bookbinding
Supplies for link stitch book (aka coptic book)

• Finished covers: 
• wood :plained, sanded smooth, with holes drilled in them
• davey board :covered in decorative paper
• fabric : sewn
• signatures :Pressed and punched pages (pages in a group are known as signatures)
• Curved or straight needle
• Bone folder or iron (if it is paper, use a bone folder; if  it is fabric, you can use either a bone folder or iron)
• Scissors
• thread for sewing ( has to be strong can be waxed)
• Teasing needle (or awl)

Picture 1

• Shows how the first signature is sewn to the cover.
• To tighten stitches use your needle to pull at the stitches.
• Always make sure you have enough thread to sew on covers.
• Never add thread when sewing on the covers, only add on the inside of a signature.

Picture 2

• If you have been careful not to get your threads twisted, your book should look similar to picture 2.
• If you have been sewing right to left, instead of left to right, all of the instructions are mirror-opposite.

Picture 3

• Hold the loop from the kettle stitch hole to keep it from pulling through, and pull on the first stitch (out of the fabric hole) to snug up the slack inside of the signature.
• See picture 3

Picture 4

• Then pull on the left side of the loop stitch so that the first stitch pulls up snug.
• See picture 4

Picture 5 A and 5 B

• Pull the loop stitch snug by pulling the second stitch up out of the cover hole as in picture 5A or 5B

Picture 6

• Pull the rest of the stitches snug in the same manner.
• The loop from the kettle stitch should still be there.

Picture 7

• When the first gather and the cover have been sewn together, it should look like picture 7.

Picture 8

• Check between the cover and the first gather .
• The thread should look like picture 8 and the outside should look like picture 7 with the first stitch and the second stitch lying next to each other.
• If the stitches are twisted over each other, you should undue them and re-sew.

Picture 9

• Press the thread into the fabric with the board folder after you sew on each signature.
• The link stitch is used to sew the signatures together.
• The basic pattern is shown in picture 9.
• The links are sewn in the opposite direction of the sewing direction

Picture 10

• Picture 10 shows how to sew the second signature onto the first one.
• The link stitches go between the fist signature and the cover.
• The thread comes out the kettle stitch hole of the second gather and sews through the loop in the kettle stitch hole in the first signature.
• The tail end of the thread can then be pulled snug, to pull the loop snug, as shown at the left of picture 10.

Picture 11

• Check again between the cover and the first signature.
• The link stitch should be only around the bottom of the first and second stitch as shown in picture 11.
  
• It should not be sewn through the loop stitch, or any of the threads.
• When sewing onto cover, it is a good idea to part-way open the cover as you sew the links onto it to avoid sewing through any previous cover attachment stitches.
• There are fewer problems sewing the rest of the link stitches.

Picture 12

• Sew on the third signature as shown in picture 12.
• The link stitches are sewn only around the previous gather.

Picture 13A

• In picture 13 A it shows the kettle stitch, sewn from either end of the book.
• After the third signature, a kettle stitch is sewn, and after every signature for the rest of the book.
• To sew the kettle stitch, pull the thread toward the cover center (A on figure 13 A)

Picture 13B

• Point the needle between the two previous signatures for example, if you have just finished sewing on the third signature, your needle goes between the first signature and second signature (see right hand side of figure 13A) or, if you have gone on and finished the fourth signature, the needle goes between signature 2 and 3 as in picture 13 B.
• The needle always points into the book.
• The needle goes under the previous loop joining the previous signatures and over the thread that is pulled toward the base of the book.
• Pull your needle straight up.
• Do not go back under any thread.
• You should have a loop that is sewn through

Picture 14

• 
  

Picture 15

• 
  

Picture 16

• tie off and cut thread

Jack o' lantern RPLAL free pattern for october

 You can download the pdf above use orange cord for the pumpkins and green cord in between.  Or do in all one color for a neutral look

Here is a few photos of what it looks like in progress.  This was the last piece of lace that my grandmother saw me working on right before she died.  So it has been set aside for several months now as I have had a hard time working on it becasue it reminds me of her for that reason and October was her birth month so double reminders here. download now

Romanian Point Lace centerpiece

This pattern was featured in Piecework magazine March / April 1998.  So it is out of print but if you are interested in making one the old magazine can still be had on line if you look around a bit.  The author of the pattern is Sylvia Murari.

Update: funny when I posted the above link this morning there was 10 of these mags on ebay  there is 2 left is that my fault they disappeared so fast wow.  If so my blog does more than I think it did.  I will leave the link as others may post more in the future there and this will still find them.
In the original size 20 thread was used through the piece.  But I used size 10 thread for the cording and size 30 thread for the filling stitches.  The other modification I made was that the original was all one piece I wanted color in my work.  I started this yesterday and finished this morning it was a pretty quick work up finished piece measures 7 1/2 by 7 1/2 at its widest side to side.  It would have taken longer but I had 4 hours of sitting in a auto shop garage which is when  I did most of the work on it.

Wheat Stitched Cord Bolero vest revisited

A few years back (about 6 years) I was working on bolero vest and it got set a side I worked on it some a recently while on my trip in Mexico and this is the progress I made on it.  It is using the Wheat stitch cord I posted a few days ago about but this cord was made about 7 years ago.  I hope to get this done at some point in my life sometimes I just have no deadlines on things I make just for fun so they happen when they happen. I hope it will fit me then if it doesn't well I have 3 daughters who are always happy to claim anything I have made as their own to wear.  So it will not go to waist when ever it is finished.  this is Antique thread I am using here both for the cord and the filling stitches.  Which is a lot heavier than I usually use  so this vest has a more textured feel to it which I like.

  If you notice the macramé bracelets in the photo some I made for my brother in law over 17 years ago that he just gave back to me he kept them all these years so cool, some my children made for me and some my children bought for me.  But all represent special people in my life and has a little story to go with them.

I have several projects I am working on for other people at the moment  4 different afghan repairs and one cross stitch sampler for a baby.  i will show some of those in the near future at the moment the 3 of the afghans I am cleaning so it will be a while before I can work on them as they are pretty bad and I have to have a clean them before I can match threads and start the repair process.

Wreath RPLAL July on paper

If you are doing this months project you should be basting down the cord.  here is the progress I have made 14.5 yards of cord a little extra is always good.  Plus since I still need to go back and do most of the previous months I can use the extra on pansy ones.  Also if you noticed I have this on paper this time around it is faster for me than tracing so I am doing it this way but it means I can not use the pattern as many times as I would usually.  It is covered with clear contact paper to give it added strength plus it is also like having a hoop on the pattern when you do this.  If you look real close you can tell I just printed out 4 copies of the pattern cut them close to the edge and taped them in place on top of each other then laid the contact paper over them to hold it all together well.  You may have also noticed there is no paper in the center of this that is to make it easier to manipulate the patter while stitching.
wreath pattern
how to make the cord

This pattern can be used as a doily edging or as a collar I have not yet decided which way I will go with it.

Here is the cord right after we measured it and after we straightened it back up for basting.  I have my hand in the photos to give you an idea just how much 14 yards is when making it.

Usually I have it wrapped around a cord when I finish basting for the day I will wrap what is left around a cord until I sit down again so it doesn't get knots in it.  Just like the cord you can see in the box in one of the above photos.

Little gingham dress done but not done

I finished sewing the gingham dress on Sunday but I as most know can not leave something plain Jane or the way a pattern tells me to do.  I have to add something to make it a little more special or a little more me.

 

I was given some Irish crochet lace (2 small pieces) and some very wide crochet lace by my Vavo a few years back it was a gift to her from our family friend Dorthy Avila. I have been saving both pieces of lace for a special occasion as they are over 100 years old and I wanted to do them justice.  I have decided to use them on here plus some tatting I did too made from antique thread.  I do not have all the laces sewn on as of yet so I will save that for another post.

I did want to let you know how the dress came out on its own as pictured in the pattern.  I must say the sleeves were the most confusing part of the pattern.  If I ever make this pattern again I have reworked the sleeves in my head to a way that will be easier and faster and not so difficult.  It almost seams like the person who made the pattern wanted it to be hard to do the sleeves and make them look well.  I also added seam binding to the hem the pattern had you just roll the hem.  I think this will look better especially once all the antique handmade laces are added to the dress.
I also sewed on the button with pink embroidery thread and bullion knots just for a small surprise of color.  Sorry for the lack of ironing before I took the photos.  I think this would be the perfect St. Patrick's day dress especially after I get done with the lace.  Can I possibly hope for a little red headed granddaughter someday to just make it perfect.  Probably not since redheads do not run in my family  but my husband has one sort of redheaded brother so just maybe the girls have that gene in them somewhere.