Tea Cup: Third Development

I’m now on my third development teacup. the previous two I am very happy with how these set of teacups are developing.

• Firstly, I drew and cut out the top and bottom pattern pieces that create the outside of the cup. I drew and cut out five tops and five bottoms. I added a 1cm seam allowance to the top parts of the tea cups also.
• I then iron the fold for the seam allowance so when I attached all of the components together this will be sewn down as well.
• Once I had done this, I got the bottom piece and then a top piece and pinned these together so I could then sew and attach the two pieces together. I repeated this for all five pieces until they were all attached like the images below.
• Once I had attached all the top and bottom pattern pieces together I then pinned these together and began sewing them together. Once both of them had been completed and now created a circular shape of a tea cup,  I turned the tea cup the correct way to check that the stitching was okay and moved on.
• This time I changed the way I made the cup. I didn’t have any of the cord I had previously to make the teacups. I went to a local shop that I knew supplied some crafty pieces and luckily they had a section with ribbons and cords. I found some gold cord but also this lovely silver ribbon, shown with the images below, I purchased both of these.
• I used then used the silver ribbon to create the bottom of the tea cup I made a circular shape with the ribbon and stitched this together. To make it easier for me and so that my teacup looked professional I did add some hot glue to attached the bottom to the tea cup, which has worked very well. It is also more hardwearing than just trying to stitch it on.
• I then began looking at adding the lining of the teacup I have continued to use the plain white polyester fabric as it has proven to uphold all my previous attempts. I’m going to do six lining pieces again as this has worked best with my other cups rather than just using five. Once I drew them out and cut the pieces out, I began to sew these together as well.
• I then placed the lining inside of the cup to make sure that it fitted in nicely with the outer cup pattern pieces. Using pins I pinned the outside and inside of the teacup together so then I can sew them all together. I used a light green machine thread to do this.
• Next was looking at the handle. This time I also included the lovely silver ribbon. I used a little hot glue to attached the top half of the handle into the seam of the teacup, this worked very well in comparison to me sewing it on like previous attempts. I then brought the ribbon down to see where I would place the bottom part of the handle and cut the excess away and then used hot glue again to attach the bottom half of the handle to the teacup.

Here in the images below is the final outcome of this tea cup. I am not as happy with this attempt of developing my teacup. The lip of the cup doesn’t look as professional as previous attempts. I believe this is where I have not included the silver ribbon to separate the lining of the tea cup and the outside of the cup. When I have adding the lining it is less noticeable that the lining and outside of the teacup aren’t exactly lined up which is the problem here. I am going to continue developing my teacup.

 

Tea Cup: Second Development

Now that I have been experimented with my eco dye fabric and my tea cups and I am happy with how this has worked out I want to continue developing my design with this fabric. To keep the theme running with the green colours I wanted to continue using some of my fabric that I had eco dyed with using red onion skins. These fabrics have lovely shades of green in them and I think they will be perfect for this project, and have proven so with my most recent tea cup.

• Firstly, I then drew and cut out the top and bottom pattern pieces that create the outside of the cup. I drew and cut out five tops and five bottoms. I added a 1cm seam allowance to the top parts of the tea cups also.
• I then iron the fold for the seam allowance so when I attached all of the components together this will be sewn down as well.
• Once I had done this, I got the bottom piece and then a top piece and pinned these together so I could then sew and attach the two pieces together. I repeated this for all five pieces until they were all attached like the images below.
• Once I had attached all the top and bottom pattern pieces together I then pinned these together and began sewing them together. Once both of them had been completed and now created a circular shape of a tea cup,  I turned the tea cup the correct way to check that the stitching was okay and moved on.
• This time I changed the way I made the cup. I didn’t have any of the cord I had previously to make the teacups. I went to a local shop that I knew supplied some crafty pieces and luckily they had a section with ribbons and cords. I found some gold cord but also this lovely silver ribbon, shown with the images below, I purchased both of these.
• I used then used the silver ribbon to create the bottom of the tea cup I made a circular shape with the ribbon and stitched this together. To make it easier for me and so that my teacup looked professional I did add some hot glue to attached the bottom to the tea cup, which has worked very well. It is also more hardwearing than just trying to stitch it on.
• I then began looking at adding the lining of the teacup I have continued to use the plain white polyester fabric as it has proven to uphold all my previous attempts. I’m going to do six lining pieces again as this has worked best with my other cups rather than just using five. Once I drew them out and cut the pieces out, I began to sew these together as well.
• I then used the same ribbon for the rim of the cup also as before I had the cord going around the rim of the cup. I put this in place and then placed the lining inside of the cup to make sure that it fitted in nicely with the outer cup pattern pieces. Using pins I pinned the outside, inside and the ribbon together so then I can sew these all together. I used a light green machine thread to do this.
• Next was looking at the handle. This time I also included the lovely silver ribbon. I used a little hot glue to attached the top half of the handle into the seam of the teacup, this worked very well in comparison to me sewing it on like previous attempts. I then brought the ribbon down to see where I would place the bottom part of the handle and cut the excess away and then used hot glue again to attach the bottom half of the handle to the teacup.

Here in the images below is the final outcome of this tea cup. I am very happy with the colour of the fabric and the change in fabric. By using this fabric instead of the found fabric it is my own fabric that has a unique pattern on it with the different shades of green that run through the fabric. . I also believe that the silver ribbon has paid off and has refined my teacup further than previously. I also changed the colour of thread to a light green which I think has improved this tea cup from the other one. I will continue to develop this to help refine my making even further.

 

Tea Cup: First Development

Now that I have been experimenting with eco dyeing and wrapping my dye stuff into my fabric I wanted to incorporate this into my consultancy work now as well. One of the colours I had chosen to use when creating my tea cups was a green to link in with the Welsh flag colours. To keep the theme running with this I wanted to use some of my fabric that I had eco dyed with using red onion skins. These fabrics have lovely shades of green in them and I think they will be perfect for this project.

• Firstly, I did have to go back on how I had made my tea cups as it has been some time since I last made these back in November/ December time. As I knew I had a certain process how I constructed each section of the teacups.
• I then drew and cut out the top and bottom pattern pieces that create the outside of the cup. I drew and cut out five tops and five bottoms. I added a 1cm seam allowance to the top parts of the tea cups also.
• I then iron the fold for the seam allowance so when I attached all of the components together this will be sewn down as well.
• Once I had done this, I got the bottom piece and then a top piece and pinned these together so I could then sew and attach the two pieces together. I repeated this for all five pieces until they were all attached like the images below.
• Once I had attached all the top and bottom pattern pieces together I then pinned these together and began sewing them together. Once both of them had been completed and now created a circular shape of a tea cup,  I turned the tea cup the correct way to check that the stitching was okay and moved on.
• This time I changed the way I made the cup. I didn’t have any of the cord I had previously to make the teacups. I went to a local shop that I knew supplied some crafty pieces and luckily they had a section with ribbons and cords. I found some gold cord but also this lovely silver ribbon, shown with the images below, I purchased both of these.
• I used then used the silver ribbon to create the bottom of the tea cup I made a circular shape with the ribbon and stitched this together. To make it easier for me and so that my teacup looked professional I did add some hot glue to attached the bottom to the tea cup, which has worked very well. It is also more hardwearing than just trying to stitch it on.
• I then began looking at adding the lining of the teacup I have continued to use the plain white polyester fabric as it has proven to uphold all my previous attempts. I’m going to do six lining pieces again as this has worked best with my other cups rather than just using five. Once I drew them out and cut the pieces out, I began to sew these together as well.
• I then used the same ribbon for the rim of the cup also as before I had the cord going around the rim of the cup. I put this in place and then placed the lining inside of the cup to make sure that it fitted in nicely with the outer cup pattern pieces. Using pins I pinned the outside, inside and the ribbon together so then I can sew these all together. I used a white machine thread to do this.
• Next was looking at the handle. This time I also included the lovely silver ribbon. I used a little hot glue to attached the top half of the handle into the seam of the teacup, this worked very well in comparison to me sewing it on like previous attempts. I then brought the ribbon down to see where I would place the bottom part of the handle and cut the excess away and then used hot glue again to attach the bottom half of the handle to the teacup.

Here in the images below is the final outcome of this tea cup. I am very happy with the colour of the fabric and the change in fabric. I did like using the found fabrics but this way I am still being environmentally friendly by using eco dyeing but also the fabrics are now my own dyed fabrics rather than someone patterned fabric. I also believe that experimenting with this silver ribbon has paid off and has refined my teacup further than previously. I will continue to develop this to help refine my making even further.

Welsh Cake: Reflection

On reflection of my Welsh Cakes I am very happy with how these look. Especially in comparison of my other Welsh Cake. The colours look great and the amount of sultanas/ currants, I feel is the perfect amount for the shape and size of the Welsh Cakes.

Although the cakes have worked well I am a little disappointed as I wasn’t able to create many as the fabric I had ordered to be able to create them still hasn’t arrived and I have also ran low of black embroidery thread and with the current situation I am not able to wait in hope that these will arrive before the deadline and have to accept that I have only been able to make two Welsh cakes this time, and also not having access to the other Welsh cakes that I have previously made.

Welsh Cakes: Creating Welsh Cakes

Due to Covid-19 I have actually left all my consultancy work in university, otherwise I would not be creating the Welsh Cakes again as I was happy with how them Welsh Cakes looked.

I have mordanted fabric from the previous time of making the welsh cakes. I then made a dye bath ready to put my fabric into it. The colour looks great and I’m very happy with the colours that I have achieved.

The fabric I decided to look at first was the one that I have dyed recently. I used a welsh cake to determine the size I would need for the Welsh cake and they cut two circle out from this.

I then began using black embroidery thread and creating French knots to resemble the sultanas or fruit that is in the Welsh Cakes. I added a few of these some bigger and some smaller by wrapping the thread around my needle more times or less depending on the outcome I desired.

Once I had do this to both pieces of fabric I then collected some wadding and place this in the middle of the two circles ( making sure that the French knots where on the outside not the inside), and created a somewhat sandwich with the wadding as the filling.

I then used may sewing machine and left a little seam allowance and stitched a circle into the Welsh cakes to attach all three layers together. Once I had done this I used my fabric scissors and cut away at the sides so that the edge wasn’t a perfect circle.

I am happy with how the Welsh cake looks and think this looks much better than the other Welsh Cake that I have made earlier.

Welsh Cakes: Development

Due to Covid-19 I have actually left all my consultancy work in university, otherwise I would not be creating the Welsh Cakes again as I was happy with how them Welsh Cakes looked.

I have mordanted fabric from the previous time of making the welsh cakes. I then made a dye bath ready to put my fabric into it. The colour looks great and I’m very happy with the colours that I have achieved.

I did have a fabric from before that I also decided that I would use to make a Welsh Cake as it has the same feel to it as the fabrics I have in my dye bath at the moment.

The fabric I decided to look at first was the one that I hadn’t dyed recently. I used a welsh cake to determine the size I would need for the Welsh cake and they cut two circle out from this.

I then began using black embroidery thread and creating French knots to resemble the sultanas or fruit that is in the Welsh Cakes. I added a few of these some bigger and some smaller by wrapping the thread around my needle more times or less depending on the outcome I desired.

Once I had do this to both pieces of fabric I then collected some wadding and place this in the middle of the two circles ( making sure that the French knots where on the outside not the inside), and created a somewhat sandwich with the wadding as the filling.

I then used may sewing machine and left a little seam allowance and stitched a circle into the Welsh cakes to attach all three layers together. Once I had done this I used my fabric scissors and cut away at the sides so that the edge wasn’t a perfect circle.

I am happy with how the Welsh cake looks but now comparing this fabric to my recently dyed fabrics I do not think the colour is suitable for a Welsh cake. The colour is to beige and is an all over colour, whereas the fabric that I have just dyed has different shades running through it making it more believable as a welsh cake as no Welsh cake is the same colour all over.

Mini Cakes

After I was playing around with my cakes I did have a few off cuts of the wadding that was just laying around. I thought this would be a good opportunity to have a play around with these.

I have the idea to make little slices of cake, such as a little slice of Victoria sponge cake as I wanted something to break up the top plate which will also include the Welsh Cakes as well. Especially as when you look at traditional afternoon teas with scones and jam they don’t just include these but a variety of other sweet cakes to go with them.

I cut two little cakes out of the remaining wadding that I had left over from the cakes and even had some red felt fabric hanging around and cut this out to create a jam filling.

I am very happy with these little cakes and looks much more like an afternoon tea arrangement compared to my last cake stand where I had too many sandwiches and too many Welsh Cakes stacked on the top of each other also.

Sandwiches: Reflection

Now looking at the two sizes and comparing them, I can see my mistake from the previous hand in. the sandwiches were much too big especially for the cake stand. If the cake stand was a lot bigger the larger sandwiches may have worked much better but in this case they didn’t.

When considering what an afternoon tea looks like it is very elegant and most of the items on the cake stand are small and dainty and this is how I also want my own fabric afternoon tea set to look.

I have decided to stick with the smaller sandwiches which look wonderful on my cake stand now that I have added the fillings to each of the sandwiches. I have two cheese, two beef and two cheese and lettuce sandwiches on the bottom half of the cake stand.

Sandwiches: Small

I decided to look at creating the smaller sandwiches next as it is easier for me to cut the filling smaller as I wouldn’t be wasting any fabric doing it this way.

When looking at my hand in I looked at my sandwiches just being a slice of bread cut in half once. This was a good idea at first as I was still cutting the fabrics out to the right size of a loaf of bread. After looking at some research into afternoon tea and looking at images of afternoon tea some places do cut their sandwiches even smaller into fours instead of twos.

I again looked at this size of sandwich. I used a slice of bread to measure out the exact size of the sandwiches so that my afternoon tea set is as realistic as it possible can be. I then started looking at this against my cake stand these already look much better than .

Overall, the sandwiches look good and to be honest comparing them with my larger ones I do think that the smaller samples look much better.

Sandwiches: Big

I decided to look at creating the bigger sandwiches first as it is easier for me to cut the filling smaller as I wouldn’t be wasting any fabric doing it this way.

Before at the first hand in I looked at my sandwiches just being a slice of bread cut in half once. Although at the time I thought this looked good now looking back they were too big and also I included too many which just made the cake stand looked cluttered which isn’t how afternoon tea is served.

I again looked at this size of sandwich. I used a slice of bread to measure out the exact size of the sandwiches so that my afternoon tea set is as realistic as it possible can be. I then started looking at the against my cake stand which they didn’t look too bad. Learning from my previous attempt I now added less sandwiches, as the saying goes less is more. Also the amount of sandwiches was perfect for the amount for two people having afternoon tea.

Overall, the sandwiches look good although I do feel they may still be a little too big, I can judge this properly once I have made some smaller sandwiches.