Tag: pojagi

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Pojagi Tutorial with bonus ironing

 I can’t be forever dyeing!  Sometimes I like to dig into old news.  A nice big pile of linen can be seriously inspiring.
So are these gorgeous pojagi.  Not really quilts, though pieced like one, a pojagi is a Korean wrapping cloth.  I was suddenly struck with how ugly the curtain on the door to the garage was. It’s been there as long as we’ve owned the house and has always escaped my notice.  It’s a perfect storm!  Drop everything and MAKE STUFF!!
Notice the aluminum square to the left of the pile.  I cut it up with scissors every now and then to sharpen the blades.  It worked for a short time and was helpful because my scissors are overdue for a sharpening.  But I digress – Check out those orange pants.
 They were at my local thrift shop and I had to have them.  They were 100% linen, Ralph Lauren and PINK.  I thought I could dye them brown but stupidly picked up the terra cotta dye (WHY?) and they went horribly orange and – even if I had grabbed brown – fatally splotchy.   I put them into storage for years.
This is one of the first dye jobs I ever did.  Now I know how to pre-treat fabric so it dyes evenly.  But – AND THIS IS IMPORTANT – you have to do stuff wrong first before you do it right to really learn…climbing off soap box… Also, easy come, easy go.  I can always cut things up and make them into something else.
 So, I cut up several linen pieces (5 pairs pants, 1 red dress, 1 white shirt, 1 orange top) and ironed the bejeebers out of them…so satisfying to get rid of those bejeebers.  I then cut them into smaller squares without giving it too much thought.  I wanted random sizes for a crazy quilt look.
Here’s a quick tute on how to make an enclosed seam:
One of the many cool things about pojagi‘s is that they have no wrong side.  I think this kind of seam is called  a flat felled seam but feel free to correct me.  I layered the square on top about 1/2 inch lower than the edge of the bottom square.
 I sewed the seam down at about 1/4 down from the edge of the top square.
 There is a whole lot of ironing involved with this process but linen is happy to be ironed.  I ironed the overlap from the bottom square into the seam allowance.
 Like so.
 Then I sewed along the ironed under edge and voila!  A completely enclosed seam.  For consistency’s sake, I call this the wrong side
 Here’s the right side.  Time to iron it again to give it a clean look.  I’m not gonna lie, I get a lot of satisfaction from ironing linen…I love you, linen.  Sorry, that should have been private. Anyhoo, I actually messed that up once or twice so I have some wrong side seams on my right side and vice versa but it’s a very forgiving process.  I made several panels and then sewed all those together using the same seam.  It was time consuming but I love the result:
 
Tada!  The Final Curtain.  I rushed the end – it was dinner time – so the top is messy.  I should, and one day may, redo it but I’m just going to leave it for now.  It makes me happy.
 
 Here’s one of the other cool things about pojagi, because they are not quilted – they don’t have to be because the seams are totally enclosed – they are as sheer as the fabric used and look amazing with the light behind them.  Perfect for curtains in a place where privacy isn’t important.  I have the best view from inside my garage.
Backside
Since that view just isn’t observed by everyone, I plan on making another for the kitchen window that looks out to the yard.
I feel like the colors have a fun ’70’s vibe. I like being able to follow my nose and make things in an intuitive way. It’s a great project for people who don’t need a plan to follow.  But, I’m sure planners could make a nice tidy pojagi, if that’s what they’re into.
Have fun with it.  I plan on making a totally indigo dyed version after November, when my month of craft sales is over.  Happy sewing…and linen ironing…mmmm..happy…
Find my adventures and lots of fun pictures at Facebook.com/jenniferdyes.  Thanks for stopping
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You know what I need?

You know what I need?  A sewing machine with an attached laptop.  So I can blog, look at Pinterest, check Ravelry and listen to Podcasts while I sew – one action smoothly transitioning to the next without having to interrupt my flow.
But my flow is temporarily interrupted for the best reason.  I have wanted indigo dyed linen to play with since the first time I saw boro quilts and fell in love with them.  Now I have some and I can think of too many things to do and I want to do each one equally as much as the others.
I want to make a traditional quilt.
I want to make a small “art quilt” to hang.
I want to make some pogaji with enclosed seams.
Also, napkins and a small bag and a journal cover.
I want to embroider on it.
These things aren’t all mutually exclusive.  
I could embroider a napkin or make a quilted journal cover.
Gratuitous close up
I want to make it all all at once.  Kind of like how I want to surf the internet, sew and listen to stuff all at once.  It’s like this weird energy I’m stuck in right now.  In the pause between paragraphs, I’ve been threading my sewing machine, gathering supplies, answering emails and making my plans. 
To do everything at once.  
What the hell, flow?
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Process Post

Before
After
It doesn’t look that different, does it?  But I did spend a fair amount of my yesterday making this second curtain panel the right size for my window.  I expanded it along two sides so that it would fit my kitchen window.  Now I just need to figure out how to mount it.  I need to be able to open it.  I have a pretty good idea, I’ve done this before.  I need to buy some dowel rods and rings so I’m at a stopping point for now.
There is something so satisfying about freshly ironed linen.  It can really stand up to a super hot, super steamy iron.  That kind of ironing brings out the best in linen – though when I wear linen clothes, I just embrace the wrinkles.  It’s one of my favorite fabrics.
I sewed the two squares together in a long chain to preserve thread but also to be more efficient with my time.  It still took me hours and hours.  
Fun hours but still…hours.
Before and After
 That’s right.  My before on this quilt is the exact same as my after.  I still can’t commit to the background fabric for this quilt.  I did lay them out a couple of times to see that they may end up looking like.  I sometimes think that I’d like a quilt made only of the corduroy.   PS – Check out the stuffed animal on the couch.  I made her out of an old wool coat about a year ago.
I did steal away one square to patch a worn spot on the sofa.  
Apparently, denim wears out whether the ass is inside or outside of the pants. 
 I picked the patch I did because it just had a few lines of embroidery.  That way I could add some more while attaching it to the cushion.  I extended some lines beyond the edge of the patch just for fun.  
I also used some thread made just for sewing denim – it ends up being relatively invisible – around the edges in the hopes that it stays on well.  I’m tempted to add some fray check around the edges just to be safe.  
We do get a lot of asses on this spot.
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Scenic Route

 Almost every morning I take an hour or so to drink my coffee and look at my favorite blogs to get some inspiration and catch up with the virtual world.  I follow friends’ blogs about their lives and families, a scientific illustration blog, and way too many craft blogs.  And then there’s pinterest, which I just started using and am really enjoying. 
I had planned a day of working on my denim square quilt when I ran across a picture of pojagi.  Not really a quilt, though pieced like one, a pojagi is a Korean wrapping cloth.  I was suddenly struck with how ugly the curtain on the door to the garage was. It’s been there as long as we’ve owned the house and has always escaped my notice.  So scrapping everything else I had planned for that day,  I made a pile of old linen clothes that I had thrifted. 
Notice the aluminum square to the left of the pile.  I cut it up with scissors every now and then to sharpen the blades.  It worked for a short time and was helpful because my scissors are overdue for a sharpening.  But I digress – Check out those orange pants.
 They were at my local thrift shop and I had to have them.  They were 100% linen, Ralph Lauren and PINK.  I thought I could dye them brown but stupidly picked up the terra cotta dye (WHY?) and they went horribly orange and – even if I had grabbed brown – fatally splotchy.   Easy come, easy go.  I can always cut things up and make them into something else.
 So, I cut up several linen pieces (5 pairs pants, 1 red dress, 1 white shirt, 1 orange top) and ironed the bejeebers out of them.  I then cut them into smaller squares without giving it too much thought.  I wanted random sizes for a crazy quilt look.
Here’s my attempt at a tutorial of how to make a thing I’ve only made once:
 One of the cool things about pojagi‘s is that they have no wrong side.  I think this kind of seam is called  a flat felled seam but feel free to correct me.  I layered the square on top about 1/2 inch lower than the edge of the bottom square.
 I sewed the seam down at about 1/4 down from the edge of the top square.
 There is a whole lot of ironing involved with this process but linen is happy to be ironed.  I ironed the overlap from the bottom square into the seam allowance.
 Like so.
 Then I sewed along the ironed under edge and voila!  A completely enclosed seam.  For consistency’s sake, I call this the wrong side
 Here’s the right side.  Time to iron it again to give it a clean look.  I actually messed that up once or twice so I have some wrong side seams on my right side and vice versa but it’s a very forgiving process.  I made several panels and then sewed all those together using the same seam.  It was time consuming but I love the result:
Tada!  Curtain.  I rushed the end – it was dinner time – so the top is messy.  I should, and one day will, redo it but I’m just going to leave it for now.  It makes me happy.
 Here’s one of the other cool things about pojagi, because they are not quilted – they don’t have to be because the seams are totally enclosed – they are as sheer as the fabric used and look amazing with the light behind them.  Perfect for curtains in a place where privacy isn’t important.  I have the best view from inside my garage.  Since that view just isn’t observed by everyone, I plan on making another for the kitchen window that looks out to the yard.
I feel like the colors have a similar ’70’s vibe as the denim squares quilt will have when I get back on track with that.  I like being able to follow my nose and make things in an intuitive way. They tend to relate to each other without me even noticing right away.  I try to give myself a creating day every week or so so should get back to the other quilt soon…unless something else catches my eye…