Cottonwood Quilt Shop

On a small excursion to the Cottonwood Quilt Shop in Charlottesville, VA, I found the cutest little scissors!  They came in different types and the handles were so pretty it was hard to resist!  Very inexpensive (less than $5) and perfect to carry around to snip threads when doing hand sewing or embroidery.

Cottonwood was full of interesting fabrics and patterns...and not just quilting stuff (I have decided I don't like quilting at all....but I do love the fabrics!).  They had some of The Sewing Workshop kits with a pattern and fabric--very expensive if you have never seen these.  That was rather an anomaly in a quilting store, but very nice to have the variety.  Their other pattern selections were very interesting with some neat purse ones.  I also found their toweling fabric interesting, but the only thing I bought was the scissors.  They were having a big fabric sale, too but I resisted because I don't want to keep adding to the stash!!!

Machine Embroidered Diploma

Yes.  Really.  You can embroider your child's diploma, paint one, make it a collage, you name it...when you homeschool in the U.S.  I think virtually everyone still does paper, but hey, homeschooling is very individualized and so is this diploma that I made for dd's high school graduation.  It seemed to suit her and it's fun and different.  Well, maybe not fun since I was aiming for something rather formal looking within the confines of my embroidery machine.  I don't have the software to manipulate fonts and all that so I was limited in what I could do.  But, I think it turned out well--here it is:

As a work in progress...Hooping.  Yuck!

We didn't have to name our homeschool.  It does seem silly after all, but somehow or other it became the Academy on the Hill.   We didn't have a graduation ceremony either.  Our family went out for a special dinner at a very nice local restaurant.  Dd's younger siblings each made her a card and after all of her parents' hard work over the years (we've homeschooled since kindergarten), she got a diploma and lots of special memories over the years (I hope).  Her brother has put in a request for a diploma made from wood...Thank goodness that isn't MY challenge because I would fail that one!  I do feel sorry for dh having to come up with that in a few years!

Cord Cover

I know that making an electrical cord cover to hide all the ugly wires isn't that exciting.  But, it's something I sewed.  Best of all, it must've worked because no one has noticed it!  I made this for our freshly painted living room to hide all the wires from the speakers that my dh hung.  The old radio is really only a shell.  My dh gutted it years ago to hide all the stereo equipment.

Draperies

It seems like a long time ago now, but back in May I showed the fabric for my dining room draperies.  It was a learning experience for me since I've never made draperies before!  It involves a LOT of hand sewing.  But, I think they turned out pretty well!  They are super heavy since the fabric is really upholstery fabric and I lined and interlined them.  They should provide some good insulation during the winter for sure. 

I didn't have a pattern, but used several books for guidance and directions.  Because of the interlining, lining and all the hand sewing making draperies is really a lot like dress making even down to the final fitting!  Kinda strange to think of that!

I was really pleased with them!  Here they are:

I had someone else cover the cornice boards and while they look good on the right side, the back is really sloppy.  I think I'll attempt them myself if I ever want cornice boards again.  And, yes, the dining room is painted BLACK!  Above the chair rail has a coat of gold glaze sponged on to pick up the gold in the draperies compliments of my stepmother!  She did a great job with it.  Very hard room to photograph though because it's so dark.

I was lucky enough to find 2 coordinating fabrics for my drapery fabric and you can see 1 of them on the chair seat beside the window.  I had someone else do these, too, and like the cornice boards, I will be doing any future chair seats myself!  I think the pattern on this chair should've been rotated 90 degrees.  Oh well, no one knows but me, right?

Happy 4th of July!

Where have I been?  At home sewing a lot!  Apparently, I have an inverse relationship between writing a blog about sewing and actually sewing.  The more I sew, the less I write and the less I sew, the more I write.  Since I'm writing now, that seems to suggest that I am not sewing although that is not true.  I also haven't seemed to read or comment much on other people's blogs lately.  I'm going to work harder on that!  I know I like to get comments so I assume everyone else does, too.  Blogger does seem to behave strangely when you haven't posted a comment on other blogs in awhile.  It keeps having me log in over and over again and I still show up as anonymous!  It doesn't happen for all blogs, but it definitely is a painful problem for some. 

Sewing has been very purpose driven of late and I've sewn gifts, home dec (I seem to be very slow about this), done some machine embroidery, and made a top for me (which wasn't purpose driven).  Our lives have been a flurry of activity:  graduation, room makeover, replacement deck, and solo senior piano recital with lots of guests.  I took last week off to recover--well, aside from all the appointments that were on the calendar and not feeling well at all for a day or two.

I have been feeling a burden of guilt or conscience to update the blog so consider this the ice breaking post and look for sewing updates soon!

Dining Room Draperies

For those who don't like home dec sewing,  skip this post!  I've been working hard on lots of home dec--not just draperies, but painting and choosing furniture (which is surely the easy and fun part!).  And, no, I haven't been working on the dining room for all this, but rather some languishing fabric for the dining room.  I guess it needed to age in the stash for awhile, yes?  Home dec fabric does take up a LOT of room though!

Here's the fabric for the dining room draperies:

Rich red chenille with gold and some black highlights

The back!  Yes, it's reversible.

So there are the yards and yards of fabric I mentioned a few posts ago.  I hope to have some pictures of the finished draperies hanging up quite soon!

Last Year's Blanket Project

I wrote some posts last year about our local sewing guild's community service project.  We made blankets for the infants, children and teens at our local hospital.  I thought it was worth posting about the project again because it keeps continuing!  The sewing community has got to be one of the most generous groups of people out there.  If you read the link above, we did exceed our goal of 500 blankets several months ago and like I said, that number has continued to grow into this year--we are at 599 now!  This project didn't even begin until June 2010 so it hasn't even been a year yet.  One member brought 49 blankets to me this week (and that doesn't count all the others that she did prior to this). 

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but blankets take up a LOT of space!  I'm sure you understand that as soon as I get them, they go straight to the hospital.

Sewists are amazing!

Embellishments

I sent some blog pages of ideas from other people to dd the oldest a few months ago of t-shirt upgrades.  She took a plain t-shirt and added some embroidered stems with DMC floss, silk ribbon petals and Swarovski hot fix crystals.  It was a quick project that she did freehand and I think it really turned out very well.  I particularly like the colors, although I had a very hard time getting the whole shirt photographed (a recurring theme).  I think the pale aqua shirt did not contrast enough with the white background to allow for focusing.  The close up shot shows it much better.

Easter Dress Pictorial

Happy Easter everyone!  I didn't do Easter outfits for anyone this year, but I thought it would be fun to photograph (apparently very poorly!) some of the things I've made for past Easters.  Sorry again about the poor photography.  Anyway, this is an entirely random pull and doesn't include everything.  It does include things I've made for both dd's and only 1 thing for ds.  I assure you I made more than that for him, I just didn't see them when I was doing this!  And, after he got older, he wore his father's (very vintage!) bow ties.  Cute--no pics of that.  Here you go!

Brother/sister outfits with silk ribbon embroidery based on an old Sew Beautiful magazine.  Girl's dress is smocked (and pleated all by hand because of the gingham!) and really could've used some tatting or lace around the collar.  I didn't have any and couldn't afford to buy any either! 

Detail view of the silk ribbon embroidery insert on ds's romper.

Basic Yoke Dress with smocking, hand embroidery on collar and sleeve, with tatting around collar, sleeve, and tuck at the hem.

Detail view of the embroidery and smocking.

This really didn't photograph well at all!  It was also WAYYYY out of my comfort zone to do a loud, bold floral.  I didn't have much fabric at all and it had a flaw in it so I had to be creative, hence the eyelet around the bottom, sleeve, and neck.  The smocking about killed me as it is layered and I reduced the usual number of threads down to 2 strands (I think??).  That smocking plate was pulled rather sorta, kinda, in a way from an old issue of Sew Beautiful magazine.

Bishop dress in ivory Imperial batiste using a smocking plate from Original Designs in Smocking by Jenny Bradford  that mil gave me many years ago.  I have used that book more than any other source for smocking plates!



Bishop dress from last year.  I think this is smocked with an Ellen McCarn design.



I loved this dress!  It was featured in Sew Beautiful magazine several years ago.  I think there's was blue.  Anyway, I bought the fabric and laces while at a Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion and saw their sample dress.  It's made from silk dupioni and heavy cotton laces attached together to make the bodice.  It's hard to see the 'ribbon' along the waist here--this pic is really bad! 

Detail view of front of dress.

Back of dress.  It is closed by snaps which you then cut out motifs from the ribbon and sew on top so it covers up your stitching lines.  I thought that was a neat feature.

Basic Square Yoke Dress made in a very soft, barely pink corduroy.  Smocked in an equally pale pink with irridescent beads which was yet another plate from the Jenny Bradford book

I think you can see the beads better here!

End of pictorial!  Happy Easter!

Mini Bow Tucks Bag Questions

I thought I'd answer the questions I received about the Mini Bow Tucks Bag in my last post.  Thank you for posting comments!

First, from Homemade Pineapple Marshmallows who asked, "Did your sweet daughter ever finish up hers?" 


No, the dd has not finished hers yet.  She has mentioned finishing it.  Does that count?

Next, from kbenco, "Do the ties at each end hold the folded bag ends together? It looks to be a clever design. I hope you get lots of use from it, they look very complicated to sew. "

Here's a better picture of how the tie ends work:

Untied and unfolded.  You can see how the opposite side is folded in.

All tied!

So, yes, they do hold the folded ends together.  It wasn't very hard to sew at all.

Thanks again for the questions!

Mini Bow Tucks Purse

I've dropped out of the sewing world!  No, not really.  I have yards of fabric to show, but for now here's a small project that I completed recently:

Min Bow Tucks Pattern

Outside of completed bag, using fabrics purchased from a local quilt shop last year

Inside of bag and all the pockets!

These bags have been the 'thing' to make with our local sewing guild members.  I think I'm probably the last person in the guild to have made one!  I like having a custom handbag to carry but I this one needs some adjustments for the next time I make one.  The handles need to be longer and some of the inside pockets need either a zipper or velcro closure to prevent everything from falling out when the bag tips over!

Now, back to my other project:  painting!

Les Fabriques and Swimsuit Fabric

Would you believe (I couldn't!) that I found swimsuit fabric not long after finding the swimsuit pattern in my last post?  I was fortunate enough to travel to Charlottesville, VA, recently to Les Fabriques.  A great fabric store which specializes in fashion sewing fabrics although they do carry quite a variety, including some for kids and some quilting cottons.  There were some very nifty handbag patterns created by a local lady.  They also have a LOT of classes, even quite a few for kids.

Anyway, I found not one but two swimsuit fabrics that the girls liked (isn't sending a picture using your phone very useful?).  They were even on clearance!  I figured that I would have to wait until more spring/summer fabrics came out.  I remember that http://www.fabric.com/ had some beautiful swimsuit fabric last year, so I had been waiting to see what they would have this year.

I need to find a girl's swimsuit pattern I like and get it before I start on this.  I also need to check my supplies and make sure I have elastic for this project, but I think it will be fun and one of the few ways to save money when you sew!  Here's what I found:

The top fabric is the real fabric and I got the solid to use as an accent.  This was my favorite!

Really bright PINK!  This was youngest dd's pick because she is on a pink kick right now.  I don't think the girls realized how very bright it is based on the picture I sent to them.  Oh well!  I still think it will make a cute suit.

McCall 3566
Here's the pattern I'll probably use for oldest dd.

More on other sewing later.  I've been hard at work on a project which I'll share later.