Black and Blue Boucle

I was really hoping to post a springtime garment this week but the weather just isn’t cooperating.  So instead, I’m going for warmth and comfort.  I drafted the pattern for this jacket using Pattern Master Boutique software.  It has shoulder princess seams and closes with a button and loop.  The fabric is wool boucle lined with Bemburg rayon.  I tried several different contrasting fabrics for the trim before I settled on stretch velvet.  I like the soft, slightly shiny finish of the velvet against the nubby texture of the boucle.  This is a very comfortable jacket and I wear it more than any other in my closet.

What I Like in March: Cherry Blossoms

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now. . . .

I am very lucky to live in one of the most beautiful big cities in the world.  Our nation’s capital, with its many parks, green spaces, historic buildings and monuments is truly hard to beat.  Especially in the springtime.  The National Cherry Blossom Festival is currently underway and the blooms are at their peak this week.  Several years ago my husband ran in the Cherry Blossom 10K, and while he was racing I was snapping pictures (when I wasn’t huddled in the public restrooms to elude the sub-freezing temps and blustery winds). 

Recently, I have been working with a designer who is creating a logo and brand for me that I am planning to use in my Etsy shop in the future.  In order to give her an idea of what I like and my sense of style, I sat down and created a document that I entitled “What I Like”.  I listed all sorts of personal preferences (colors, textures, finishes, materials) as well as things that I find visually appealing.  This was a very useful exercise as it helped me to understand why I am drawn to certain things over and over.  One of the flowers I listed amongst my favorites was the cherry blossom.  Here is a pictorial look at a few of the blossom-themed items from my sewing studio and around my house.

This linen sheath dress is from Talbots.  A simple design with a lovely print.  A short time after I bought this dress I came across the same fabric yardage at one of the fabric stores in Langley Park, MD.  I bought some but so far it has just been aging in my stash.

I “inherited” this piece from an unknown sewing sister.  Someone at my church approached me with the story that an elderly friend had recently moved into a nursing home.  My church friend, knowing my passion for sewing, asked if I would be willing to help the family by taking all of the things from the sewing room.  I discovered a treasure trove of vintage fabrics and sewing supplies.  In one of the boxes I came across an unfinished sheath dress from this beautiful silk print (it appears to be screen printed) along with some remaining yardage.  I don’t know what I will do with this fabric but its beauty has impressed me since I first laid eyes on it.  I’m saving it for something very special.

A sneak peak of a pillow I created for my Etsy store using several different machine embroidery designs on silk with hand beading.

Remember that list I talked about earlier in my post?  I am hoping to use that list as inspiration for some blog posts in the future.  I’d like to share with you, in a pictorial capacity, some of the things that inspire my work.  I’ve just completed an online blogging course, Blogging Your Way, and am hoping to incorporate some of the ideas I gathered in that class into some different types of posts for my blog in order to keep it fresh and inspiring.  Please come along for the journey and consider creating your own list of things that inspire you and your work.

Purses, Bags & More Blog Tour

Hello to everyone today, and a special greeting to those who are joining me for the Purses, Bags & More Blog Tour sponsored by Clotilde.    When I was approached a couple of weeks ago about participating in this event I jumped at the chance.  The opportunity to make and review a bag would have fit right in with last year’s recurring post on my blog, “Bag of the Week”. 

Purses, Bags and More is a fantastic new book, with designs by Pearl Louise Krush and published by House of White Birches for Clotilde.  I was sent an advance copy of the book, asked to look it over and write a review of the book as well as one of the included ten projects which was assigned to me.  Pearl Louise, whose motto is “Happiness is homemade” is the owner of The Thimble Cottage Quilt Shop in Rapid City, SD.  She has come up with ten beautiful and unique bag designs using cotton quilting fabrics.  The 48-page book is filled with bright, full-color photos and clear, well written and illustrated instructions.   

I was assigned the Ragtime Blues bag to evaluate.  I read over all of the instructions which were very clear and easy to understand.  I decided the best way for me to truly test the pattern was to make it up.  Here’s a picture of my own version of the bag:

Instead of the quilting cotton called for by the pattern, I substituted some denim left over from a previous project.  This worked well and created luscious, fluffy fringing with the exception of the light blue piece which, it turns out, contains some lycra which prevented the fabric from fraying.  So stick with 100% cotton fabrics as instructed.

The pattern calls for pairing two squares of fabric, sandwiching a piece of cotton batting between, and free-motion quilting them together.  I am a self-proclaimed lousy free-motion quilter so instead I used a simple machine embroidery design to quilt the pieces together.  I absolutely love the technique described for cording the top edge of the bag for stability and can’t wait to try in on another bag.  But, given the extra weight of the fabric I used I chose to skip the cording on my version.  Lastly, I confess I am not a fan of braided handles so I substituted a corded tube (love my FasTurn!)

I found the bag very simple to construct and a fun project to complete.  This is a very forgiving pattern;  because of the way that it is constructed, precision is not critical (any uneven seam allowances are hidden in the rag fringe layers) which makes this a good choice for either a beginner or for experienced sewers who want to take a break from the demands of garment sewing or quilting. 

An additional project in the book is for a removable organizer that fits this purse.  You can fill the many pockets and change purses by simply removing the insert and placing it in a different bag.

I am already eyeing several other projects in this book for the future.  If you would like to see more projects from this book you can read the other participants on the blog tour who have each reviewed a different bag.  Here is a list of links to those posts:

Monday, March 21 -- Tara of Tinkerfrog
Tuesday, March 22 -- Cindy of Sew Blessed
Wednesday, March 23 -- Stephanie of Unfinished Project Party
Thursday, March 24 -- Ruth of Sew Chic 

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book for your very own, please use this link to connect with the Clotilde website where it is available in print or as an electronic download (both for $9.95, a steal!).  I think you will be happy to add this book to your sewing library.  Please feel free to browse the rest of my blog while you are visiting.  I’ve just posted a new tutorial for an Accordion-Fold Photo Album that will appeal to quilters, machine embroiderers, crafters and just about everybody else.  Happy sewing, everyone!

Accordion-Fold Photo Albums

Today I am sharing a tutorial (over in my Tutorials section) detailing how to make a small, accordion-fold photo album.  These are really fun to make and the creative possibilities are endless.  I think these make great gifts for just about anyone.   I am going to share some photos of albums I have made as gifts and show you several possibilities for the cover designs.

This is the cover I created for the tutorial album.  The inspiration for this piece came from an article in Fons and Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine, November/December 2007 by Angela R. McIntyre.  Angela created a stunning photo album cover using pieced fabric, embellished with free motion quilting, couched fibers, beads and silk flowers.  Angela has a pattern for this lovely album cover and you can purchase it from her if you want detailed instructions about making your own.  Or use this as inspiration and come up with your own unique, mini-quilt with your own style.

Here are two pictures of albums I made one year as Christmas gifts for family and special friends.  Earlier that year my little family had had a photo shoot done, and I filled these albums with pictures I had printed from that event.  Since I needed multiple covers for this project I created a large quilted and embellished piece and then cut it into the 6” x 8” rectangles I needed.  I waited to add the silk flowers and beads until after the cutting was complete.   These were a big hit (I included a note that said that once the recipient was tired of looking at our pictures they should remove and save them and use the book to house their own pictures).

Another popular gift idea is to make one of these albums for an expectant (or new) mom or grandmother.  These make great little brag books.  They hold about 10 photos and are small enough to carry in most purses. 

In these examples I used a machine embroidery design by Evy Hawkins of A Bit of Stitch and a built-in font to create a baby photo album.  You could easily add the baby’s name or use any number of embroidery designs that would suit the recipient of this gift.

This is an album I made for my husband a number of years ago.  I used rubber stamps to emboss acetate/rayon velvet and used that fabric to cover the front and back covers.  You can find details about embossing velvet, along with all of the supplies, at Hot Potatoes.  The sheer ribbon goes well with the embossed velvet.  My husband fills this album with pictures of our kids and me and takes it with him when he travels.  He can set it up in his hotel room as a little reminder of home.  Do you know someone who travels a lot?   They would probably appreciate an easily-packed gift like this.

Lastly, you don’t have to do anything fancy at all to make a lovely album.  This one is simply a piece of 100% cotton quilting fabric that I used to cover the front (I used a solid black for the back cover).  With the variety of fabrics available you can customize your albums for any possible situation.  Wouldn’t this make a great gift for a graduate or for dad on Father’s Day?  The possibilities are endless.

I hope you will hop on over to my tutorial and take a look.  I think you will have a lot of fun making one or more of these albums for yourself.

Contemporary Sashiko Jacket

Nancy Shriber is one of those teachers with the unique capacity to inspire, nurture and instruct in a way that always leaves her students wanting more.  I had the good fortune to take one of Nancy’s Contemporary Sashiko classes a number of years ago.  In this weekend-long workshop I learned to paint silk, and then transform that fabric, through hand stitching, into a unique work of art.  The weekend began on Friday night when all of us gathered with our wet silk and applied textile paint and just a sprinkling of salt to create the canvas for our project.  Almost immediately I learned a “Nancy-style” lesson:  when the fabric I had intended for the lining turned out to be the more beautiful of the two pieces I painted,  I changed tack and used it, instead, for the outer fashion fabric.  

The rest of the weekend was spent designing our garment, cutting our fabric, layering it on flannel and finally, stitching by hand our chosen design with lovely hand dyed threads.  Nancy also encouraged us to make the interior of our garment as beautiful as the outside.  Out came more paints, stencils, stamps and lots of creative ideas.  At the time I was taking this class, my husband and I were (somewhat desperately) trying to have a baby.  I decided I would use this jacket as a positive affirmation project.  When I created the lining (the inner life of my garment, as Nancy would say) I stamped Asian characters with a positive message and hand painted the words they represented (hope, believe, change, dream, transformation).  At Nancy’s suggestion I also added a little treasure pocket made from organza.

I chose Loes Hinse’s lovely Kimono Jacket as my pattern.  I carefully marked the sashiko design that I wanted to stitch on the flannel side of my project, matching the patterns across seam lines.   I created a sort of landscape effect, with water along the bottom topped by rocks and grass and finally a geometric pattern for the sky above. 

For the next several months I carried my jacket pieces with me and stitched at every opportunity.   I added metallic thread and beads to portions of the stitching.  When I was finished I constructed the garment, adding velvet lapel bands in a matching blue color.

Here’s my confession:  I’ve never worn this jacket (in fact, there are still pins holding the lining hem in place).  This is a great example of making a garment that is the wrong style for me.  I will probably finish it one day and wear it – it is the sort of garment that you can’t get away with wearing too many times as it is pretty memorable.  I put many, many hours of work into this jacket but I don’t feel at all sad that I have not worn it.  I view it as a piece of artwork that I made with my own two hands.  I loved every single minute I spent creating it and every single stitch I put into it.  It was the process, not the result, that was truly the prize.

Sharing today over at Today's Creative Blog's Get Your Craft On Tuesday.  Come check out all of the great inspiration.