Repairing Robin 2021

Please note that this was written before Boris ordered the Pandemic to be over by the other Monday. Being a mere muggle I am still wearing my mask.

 Repairing Robin 2021

Maintenance is something that never stops.

Not Holding

The more complex a project is the more likely it is to go wrong or need maintaining. For some reason I found my Christmas Robin kept getting flattened by Pumpkin Patch.

Velcro Undone

 

At first I thought it might be something due to the constant washing. However I found that some of the Stitching had come away and in parts the Velcro was Undone.

Sew from Inside

 

Normally this would be a simple fix. However because I didn’t want to accidentally Sew the two Pictures together I had to Sew from the Inside.

Melted Eye

 

Another thing I spotted was the Eye. Obviously whilst not thinking I had Ironed over the Eye by mistake and Melted it. I now know what was on my Iron. I could clean it so had to buy a new one.

Repaired Robin

I Stuck a New Eye on the Robin and after washing I made sure I pressed everything around it this time. Voila one Repaired Robin.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 8

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 8

I have now Hemmed the Bottom of the Bag.

Carpet Thread

 

As this Bag needs to take Weight I have decided to Blanket Stitch along the Bottom using a strong Carpet Thread.

Hem Top of Bag

 

With the Bag still inside out I do a quick Hem cross the Top of the Bag all the way around.

Place Cord

 

This is where I had a bit of luck. Instead of using an ordinary piece of Cord I found that I had an old Toggle and Cord that I had taken off the Bottom of a Coat. I placed it along the Length of the Hem.

Pin Cord

 

So it didn’t move whilst I was trying to Sew I Pinned it Section by Section.

Back Stitch over Cord

 

To make it both Stronger and Neater I used a Back Stitch over the Cord.

Laundry Bag

 

Here we have it one nice new Laundry Bag

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 7

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 7 

We are now on to the last Legs of this project if you will forgive the pun.

Leg Material

 

I have a great deal of Material left from the Legs.

Leg Material Inverted

 

The above photograph shows the other Leg. I felt that it was easier to do this Upside Down hence the inverted look. (Please note that sometimes I reverse the order to make it more intelligible so photographs may show some discrepancies).

Pin Sides

 

To make life easier Pin the Sides of the Material together along the Length. Then you can get a more accurate cut across the Bottom.

This saves you from mucking about with part Sewing like I did.

Secure Fold

 

I turned the Material back to back and Secured the Fold at the Top of the Hem. Remember that I have inverted this so we are in fact working from the Bottom Hem of the Cooper Jeans.

Blanket Stitch

 

Once the Fold is Secured I can Blanket Stitch nearly to the Bottom on both sides. I left a couple of Inches Unsewn.

Pin Bottom Hem

I can now Pin the Bottom Hem ready for Sewing.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 6

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 6

This is a quick blog due to photographs disappearing.

Pocket Outline

 

If you remember I unpicked the Pockets from the Original material

Pocket Stitched

 

This time I didn’t bother Hemming the material. I just placed it back to back (I know it shows the material the right way around in the above picture but as I said I lost some photographs) and Blanket Stitched up the Sides.

Pocket Poppers

 

I decided to use Poppers or Press Studs on the Pocket to Fasten it. This was partly due to the back of the Button being in the way.

I Sewed the Poppers on one Side taking care not to go through the material. Then (making sure I had them the right way around) I Sewed the other halves on the opposite Side.

Pocket Finished

All I had to do then was put the Poppers together and there we have it a Small Bag that can slip inside the others.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 5

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 5

Carrying on with this Concoction

Hem to Rip

 

After finishing the Bottom I can start on the sides. Not a task I am looking forward to. One side was reasonably easy to Hem. However I was slightly careless on the other side when cutting.

I have taken a piece out which I will need to sort. For the mean time I am just going to Hem up to that point.

Blanket Stitch to Rip

 

I have decided the best thing to do is to put the material back to back and Hem up to the Rip.

Pin Diagonally

 

I folded the Ripped side Diagonally and Hemmed. Once that was done I Pinned the other side to match. Then I could carry on Blanket Stitching to the Top

Glue Velcro

 

This time I have decided to have Velcro to Open and Close the Bag. I am sticking it on with Fabric Glue. I have Glued one side and stuck it down.

I am now going to Glue it on the Top of the Velcro then place the material firmly down on it.

Weigh Down

In order to hold it in place I have Weighed it down using my Iron until the Glue sets.

Secure Velcro

The final part is to Secure the Velcro. I do this by Stitching all the way around both parts of the Velcro. 

Finished Bag Front

 

Finished Bag Back

There we have it another finished bag.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 4

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 4

A New item. I am starting using material from the Back of the Cooper Jeans. 

Unpick Pocket

 

I Unpicked the Pocket when I did all the unpicking.

Unpicked but Pinned

 

I Pinned the two Pieces together Back to Back. Now I could cut the excess material off and get the shape that I wanted.

Double Pinned

 

I placed two Pins in the material. One either side of the Pocket Point.

Pocket Point Hemmed

 

I Hemmed all along the Bottom of the material. I repeated all this procedure with the opposite Pocket.

Pocket Point Back to Back

 

In order to make sure I Blanket Stitched the two parts together properly I Pinned along the Pockets Double Seam. That way if I had been slightly off with my Hemming it would still match up.

With the thickness of the material my fingers needed a break ready for the really tough part.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 3

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 3

Continuing with my Concoction

Trimming

 

Before I can do anything else I have to trim the Edges. Ideally I would prefer to do this with my Pinking Scissors but they have decided to go for a walk.

That is something that often happens. I have so much Craft stuff it is impossible to keep it all in one area. So things get moved around.

Start to Sew

 

I began to Start Sewing at the Waistband towards the Bottom. I put the material back to back and began to Blanket Stitch. This was very hard work due to the Thickness of the material.

I came to the conclusion that the best thing was to do the Sewing in sections. The part where the two metal circles were back to back was a nightmare. I had to stretch the material so they were slightly off centre to make it work.

Careful with Tear

 

Even though I had been careful to pull the material when hemming the part with the Tear was a problem and I had to Sew this section more than once.

Leaving Room

 

After I had finally got the Side Edge finished I could begin on the Waistband itself. I began at the furthest end from the Buttons. This again was hard work due to the thickness of the material. If I had chosen a thinner needle I think it would definitely have snapped.

When I got close to the end I stopped Sewing as I needed to be able to undo the Buttons and turn the Bag back the right way.

Cooper Bag Pocket

 

I now had my Cooper Bag. It isn’t quite square but I think that is part of the charm of hand-made items.

Cooper Button Back

 

In the above photograph you can see the Button Side. I had toyed with the idea of Sewing right up to the Button at the Top.

However I decided against the idea not only because of the difficulty of Sewing (this would be three layers of material because of the fold) but also it would be harder to put larger items into the bag if I did so.

Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 2

 Cooper Concoctions 2021 Part 2

I have now Unpicked all the Seams and can start working on making something out of the Material

Cooper Rebutton

 

I was outside whilst I was making this and the wind was picking up. I decided to Rebutton the material so one half didn’t blow away.

Resew Below Buttons

 

Next I decided to Sew Below the Buttons but not quite to the Bottom. You might wonder why I bothered to Unpick it in the first place if I was only going to Resew.

The reason is simple. Until I have Unpicked the Material I cannot always tell what pieces are real and what are false. I also needed to know how they joined together.

Cooper Bottom Pinned

 I have now Pinned the section I want to Hem at the Bottom of the material. I have also trimmed the loose material on the Pocket. The Pocket itself had to be removed as there was a hole in it that wasn’t worth trying to mend.

Pin and Hem

 

I Hemmed the Bottom of the Material then Pinned the Sides.

Hemmed Edge

 

I had to mend the Tear in the material that I made whilst Unpicking. So I had to make sure that I included that in the Hem.

Secure Pocket

 

Continuing Hemming up the side I came to the Pocket. I had to Secure the Opening by Sewing along the Curve. 

Hem Side

I am not quite sure how I have done this but I seemed to have reversed the photograph. In this one I have Hemmed the Side and Secured the Pocket.

However because of the way it was originally made this gives a very small Pocket that is still usable.