At last, my hussif is finished!

I cut off some of the excess navy needlecord on the left hand side, and folded the pocket section on to the lining (it needed a bit of fiddling to mitre the corner). The rest was ironed in half, then folded over to make the binding. It was quite bulky and, after trying to pleat / fold the excess on the pocket, I decided the easiest way would be to do a long machine stitch and gather it up like a sleeve head. This would make it even on both sides, and leave the pocket big enough for my glasses or phone.

Before it could be stitched down, I made some elasticated loops to go round the navy toggles found in my button box. I used this old round cord, threaded through bias binding stitched in half .

I used a mattress needle to thread it through, in the end cutting the bias into two and half inch lengths before threading the elastic.

I pinned them in place and machine stitched them all down……

……..before folding over the binding and stitching it in place. Then another piece of binding was put across the top, the right hand side of the pocket was turned in and hand stitched in place.

I then put things inside……

……. so that I could see where the toggles needed to be stiched. I’ve decided not to wash it for the moment in case the navy cord does run. (Alison suggested putting white or pale work in a plastic bag just to make sure it doesn’t pick up any colour.)

When they’ve seen it, several folk have said it’s bigger than they’d realised from my blog posts. When it’s opened out, it measures 34cm high (13 1/2 inches) by 61cm (24 inches) across the three “pages” and closed 23cm (9 inches). Yes, it is fairly hefty, but I should be able to take out with me all that I might need at various groups and classes I go to. Things will no doubt get tweaked and added to, but it’s finally finished and ready for use.

Hussif, nearly there

What a frustrating week on my hussif! It’s very much been one stitch forward, two stitches back, with lots of unpicking!

It started with the bottom left pocket (above) which was very messy and lopsided, as I said last week. It’s now much better, as the photo shows, with just ends to tidy up.

Then I started on the binding, strips of 2 1/2 inch wide fine navy needlecord, ironed in half, then both edges folded in to the middle (fold line) on the wrong side. I tried pinning, but it was so thick in places that the pins wouldn’t go through easily. I gave up on that idea and, placing the fold against the edge of the hussif and wrapping around the binding to the front and back, started machine stitching with the longest stitch on the machine, manipulating it as I stitched. The side I could see worked really well, but the other side was frankly a mess, because the inside fold had moved unevenly. I’d only done the bottom (three pages) so unpicked it all. Being more careful, I started again. It was awkward to stitch over the thicker areas, but this time I kept checking the back as I went until I’d got to the thinner bits….. only to find the bobbin had run out, just after I’d stopped checking.

Third time lucky, it all looked better.

I then did the top. It looked fine, the only problem was that the width of the fabric was about an inch short to meet up on the long side with the strip from the bottom. I’d mitred the corners pretty well, so just a little piece to cut, iron and attach.

While trying to attach this piece I realised that the binding wasn’t tight up to the edge in places. More unpicking, and in the end of the whole lot. By which time the ends of my fingers were blue, colour coming off the cord. I’m hoping that a colour catcher will work in the washing machine once it’s all finished, as I didn’t fancy unpicking the extra page, the pockets and the zip on the cord.

I decided that I was going to have to pin and tack the binding before re-machining. The pins were really hard to put through, and the tacking became a tiny stitch into the cord and, travelling diagonally with my needle to do another tiny stitch on the other side, totally invisible. By the time I’d done three pages, my fingers and thumb felt very sore and bruised.

The second edge I pinned through one side of the binding and some of the layers, and then pinned the other side the same. Then I stitched through in the same way, much easier on the fingers, especially as I used a thimble (which I don’t really get on with normally).

It’s now ready to machine stitch. I could just leave the hand stitching, but feel it will wear better if it’s machined.

It’s getting there slowly. I just need to be patient….. and keep at it……

Hussif / housewife sewing kit

As is usual for my New Year “not” resolution, I try to finish off a few things before starting anything new….. it doesn’t normally last very long. I cheated slightly this year, as on 31 December I started a new piece for a Grasby Exhibition in May. It’s making progress and will be revealed in due course.

In an attempt to be more organised with my basic sewing kit way back in January 2019, I started making a hussif to take to the various groups and classes I go to, but it soon got abandoned part done. I have a lovely hexagonal box, but it’s a bit cumbersome to take out with me. I’ve used an A5 plastic wallet, but it tends to get over stuffed with bits and pieces, requirement lists, programmes and dates of groups, and since then two have burst so far.

So rather than use another plastic wallet, I’ve decided to finish the hussif. First I had to find it, which took a bit of a search. It was started before putting Projects in A4 plastic wallets, and storing them in a big wicker basket with all the relevant fabric, threads so I can just pick one up, and everything I need for it is together (unless something has been “borrowed” for another piece of work).

I remembered seeing it when I was tidying up before Christmas, but where?

Eventually I found it in a large blanket box that is full of bigger projects, bags of wool etc., that has two large cushions on top to make an extra seat in the lounge. It had been moved into the hall so the Christmas tree could go in its place…. which is where it still is.

I couldn’t remember how far I had got with it, but it was all together in one bag, along with some green felt that I couldn’t find a few weeks ago! So far the outside has a mixture of machine and hand stitching, sandwiching wadding and a calico / sheeting lining following the vertical stripes. It’s quite bulky, which will cushion and protect what’s put inside it.

The inside (the stripes running horizontally) has some felt stitched on, and a loose pocket ready to be attached on a single layer of fabric.

The top photo shows the extra outer sandwich with the hand stitching on – potentially a needle-case or a smaller detachable hussif for a smaller pocket-size kit maybe.

I haven’t made any further progress on it, as I need to decide where it is going, how much and what I want to put in it, maybe put a zipped pocket or two into it, decide how it is going to be folded, and how it is going to fasten.