Try, Try Again

Well, I had good intentions for my Bag of the Week post but it’s not going to happen.  The creative part is all finished and it is super cute.  In fact, I told a friend two days ago, that this has been my FAVORITE project in a long time.  I loved how it was turning out.  That all came to a screeching halt today when it came time to construct the bag.  Don’t you hate when that happens?  A project is going along wonderfully and then, somewhere between steps 12 and 13, it goes from being a favorite to being a wadder.  This bag’s fate isn’t quite that dire but it will take some unstitching, redesigning and reworking to make this a success.  And it has to be, because the details on it are just too cute to trash.

So, instead of posting a Bag of the Week today I will defer and post two next week.

My hope is always to provide inspiration to my readers but today’s post should also remind you that, as a sewing blogger, I show you only the projects I want you to see.  All of us have projects that are just not worthy of show and tell.

Choosing Colors

Sometimes I have a hard time choosing colors.  I know that a lot of quilters instinctively know which colors to combine for maximum effect but I have to exert a bit more effort.  Here’s an example of my typical thought process:  I want to pick a complementary fabric for a red piece.  The complement to red is green.  This red leans toward orange and the complement of orange is blue so I want a blue green fabric to offset my red fabric.  I can usually get this far.  But my current project was giving me more trouble.  First, I needed several colors, not just one complement.  The color of the fabric is a dusty aqua and, frankly, I was having a lot of trouble finding colors I liked with this piece.  I tried my usual method (blue green should have complement of red orange) but I didn’t like this combination.  So I turned to a really useful tool I have used in the past for help.

The Color Wizard on colors on the web is a handy tool for picking out color schemes for all sorts of purposes.  I used it initially when designing my blog.  Here’s how it works.  Each of the 216 web-based colors has a six-digit alphanumeric number assigned to it which is its unique identifier.   You enter this code into the Color Wizard and the program displays various color combinations that work with that color.

I took my light aqua piece of linen to my scanner and scanned in an image.  I then took that picture into Photoshop and determined what the color was (you can do this by picking up a sample of the color with the eyedropper tool).  I opened the screen for selecting colors and, because my scanned photo was much lighter than the actual fabric, moved my selection around until I found a similar but deeper color that approximated the true fabric color. 

This gave me the hex code I needed which I popped into the Color Wizard and came up with a complementary set of colors for my project.   I was surprised to see that my estimated “red orange” color was nowhere to be found in the selections (so much for my usual method). 

(If you think this tool is as useful and cool as I do, do not over look that little button in the lower right hand corner of the Color Wizard screen that says Donate Now.  If this is a tool you will use often please consider making a small donation to the creator of the technology.)

I then went to my thread collection and found some spools that approximated the colors suggested to me by the Wizard and played around until I found a combination that I liked.  I find thread useful when determining colors as I have a pretty wide selection and they are small and easy to hold against other objects to test their effects.

I am very excited about the project I’m working on and can’t wait to share it with you.  I’m hoping to have it finished to feature as my bag of the week later on this week.  Stay tuned!

Bag of the Week 41

Asian Coin Purse

The other night I went out to a workshop.  I wanted to take a smaller purse than my usual big, clunky one so I transfered some necessities from the latter to the former.  Each time I do this I think:  I sure wish I had a little coin purse to put these things in.  It seems very haphazard to stick a credit card, drivers license and some bills randomly into a bag.  So, needing a bag to post this week, I headed to my studio to make myself something that would suit the bill. 

I recently took a class where I started a beautiful Asian style portfolio (hopefully I will finish it this year and post it as a BOTW) and I had some scraps left from the piecing I did for that project.  I added some extra strips, cut the resulting piece into two rectangles (about 6" x 5.25") and free-motion quilted them onto a foundation of muslin.  I have always admitted I am a pretty lousy free-motion stitcher but I persevere, believing that the only way I will get better is with some practice (I'm not there yet).  The coin purse has a zipper at the top and is lined with more cotton fabric.

Now I have the perfect little coin purse to keep my loose items neatly organized in my purse.  This took very little time (certainly less than an hour) and I used up some leftovers in the meantime -- bonus!

More Handmade Fabric Flowers

Many of you know how much I love fabric flowers (I’ve blogged about Kanzashi flowers several times in the past).  I have been trying my hand at another style of flower recently.  I am combining machine embroidered designs with handmade fabric flowers to create “wearable bouquets”.  My latest creation is something that I made to wear to a workshop I am attending tomorrow night , Inside the Creative Business.  This gathering is aimed at women–owned creative businesses in the wedding industry.  I am hoping to begin marketing some of my creations, particularly wedding accessories combining hand sewn items with handmade fabric flowers.  I currently have someone working on a logo and brand for me, and am working on a portfolio of items.

The large, blue rose in this pin was created using vintage millinery techniques as were the small rose buds dangling below.  The leaf and hydrangea were both made from machine embroidered designs. 

Most of the materials I use are natural fibers (silk, wool, cotton, linen, rayon) and many are hand-dyed (by me).  I also incorporate beads and other decorative  elements into my pieces.  This piece uses silk velvet, silk dupioni, silk chiffon, hand-dyed silk cording, vintage stamens and glass beads.

I felt like I should wear an example of my work to this workshop since it is the detail and texture of such pieces that really make them stand out (and, hopefully, will make them memorable).  Now, here’s a question for you:  what do you think I should call this piece?  Post your suggestions in the comments section.

Bag of the Week 40

Gettin’ Hitched

Did you know that this weekend in October is the most popular wedding weekend of the year?  More people get married on the Columbus Day weekend than any other in the year, or so I am told by my wedding industry friends.  The weather is often ideal and the three-day weekend makes a Sunday wedding more feasible since guests can return home the following day.  This year will be no exception, and perhaps will be even more popular, as Sunday’s date of 10-10-10 is sure to be memorable enough for even the most forgetful groom (or bride) to remember.

A number of years ago I was asked to create a purse for a bride-to-be.  Her friends wanted her to have something memorable as a gift and I think they got their wish.  The bride was a big fan of dachshunds, owning several as pets, and her friends wanted her to have a bridal purse that honored that passion.  I began by looking for a pattern for a stuffed dachshund but there were none in the current pattern catalogs.  This was in the very early days of Ebay so I ventured on there and found a vintage pattern for several stuffed animals including the dog I was looking for.  (This elated me at the time.  I had no idea how easy it was to become to find obscure items with the touch of a key).

I sewed the pattern according to the instructions, using bridal satin for the body and inserted an invisible zipper in the seam that ran along the dog’s backbone.  I attached a pocket-like lining along this zipper so the purse contents could be contained inside the dog’s body.  I used light pink silk for the inner ears.  The nose and eyes were purchased from a craft store along with the fake eyelashes.  I created a pouffy veil from tulle and fastened it to the top of the head with a vintage pin as well as a "pearl" necklace with rhinestone dogtag.  The purse's strap mimicked a dog’s chain leash. 

This project was different for me; I had never created anything so whimsical before but I found that I was inspired to create something unique for this bride.  The project taught me how to think outside of the box and come up with a solution to a puzzle.  I understand the bride thought it was perfect.

Enjoy your holiday weekend.