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Archive for the 'fabric' Category
I’ve always been fascinated with quilts. Not only do I love the patterns, textures, pieces, colors but I love that they are meant to be cozy and keep you warm and even tell a story. I’m fascinated by the master quilters who can slice and dice fabric and stitch it into amazing shapes with color placement that makes me swoon, literally.
I think you know that at I offer classes to HomeSchoolers. Well, I’ve declared April to be Quilt month, and we are going to be making quilts! Let me tell you that I am no master quilter, by any means. I can’t stand cutting (but my rotary blade has certainly helped with that). I have made a quilt before, and I loved it! I still love it. Iz loves it too. They make for wonderful keepsakes. They also tell stories. I’ll be sharing resources with the kids so they can understand the history, passion and art in quilts too.
For this class, however, we won’t be going to the fabric store to make our quilt tops, we are going to be looking in the closet. Using clothes, linens, towels, blankets, anything made of fabric or fabric scraps. We’ll be making the ultimate in scrap quilts, turning something that doesn’t’ seem to have a use anymore (pants that don’t fit) into something eternally useful (a quilt!). For years I’ve used old sheets, blankets, towels and clothes and made them into something new, preventing the “old” item from going to waste or ending up in a landfill (did you know that the dyes used in coloring fabric are mostly toxic? You can read more or ). Hopefully, by making these quilts, we can also raise awareness of our use of textiles, how they are made, thrown away or even better – re-used.
Here’s our tentative schedule if you want to participate or follow along:
Week 1 – Cutting. We’ll be cutting our found items into 3″ strips. We’re going to be holding on to all our scraps and perhaps use them along the way or figure out something new to do with them.
Week 2 and 3 – Sewing. We’ll be sewing our strips together. End to end then strip to strip. We’re just going to keep sewing until we have enough for a quilt that’s about 50×50 ish.
Week 4 – Quilting. We’ll be safety pin basting our quilts together, using batting if necessary and attaching a back. Then we’ll quilt it all together either machine quilting or tying.
Week 5 – Binding. Maybe using scraps or linings or something left over, we’ll stitch together strips for a binding and sew it on.
I’ll be posting inspiration, photos and stories along the way.
**Remember, I can sew, but I’m not a super duper quilter. I’ll be showing the kids some super basic techniques. Hopefully, this will give them the foundation they need to go and either take another quilt class or start on another quilt or even make their own pattern. Whatever the outcome, they will have made something that is eco conscious as well as get more practice sewing, and have it for the rest of their lives (as long as mom doesn’t clean up their rooms and throw everything out that’s on the floor…not that these will end up in a pile somewhere…).
I hope you’ll follow along. Even better if there are kids in your life who can follow along too! And if you do decide to participate, please let me know.
oooooh – look what arrived today!
starts tomorrow. Pattern is from the wonderful () and arrived in the mail today. Dots are from , which we visited this morning. Even though they have a bucket of toys, I was rushed, but I like the dots.
PS – This isn’t for me. It’s a gift.
, originally uploaded by .
Wool is good. Felt is good. Blankets are good. Lists are good. This is going on my project list. I found this picture of a felted wool blanket in progress by . I can’t tell you how much I LOVE it.
I love it for many reasons. Using found materials is high on my list and finding things at thrift stores is not only fun, it’s good for our environment.
I love that wool is such an amazing medium. I learn more and more about wool all the time. Needle felting is something that’s on my list of things to learn this year.
And I love blankets. Maybe it’s the drafty and sometimes chilly house we live in, or maybe it’s the comfort of being wrapped in a warm blanket.
It could be a big project. But nice and warm. Maybe I’ll start with a small one, one for Iz to keep in the car.
Lots of fun and exploring today while I got the group started on making their own slippers. We traced our feet and soles to start our pattern. We talked about smoothing the lines to make pattern pieces that will sew together well and give each person the shape slipper they are looking for. Then…we made a muslin.
The feet dresses! Next – sew on the sole.
Probably the toughest part is fitting the sole onto the body of the slipper. Hard because we are making up our patterns from tracing our feet, and not measuring. So, lots of pins and slow and smooth sewing.
Then, once the muslin fits, moving on to the actual slippers.
Pictures next week of finished slippers, and hopefully pics too of our next project – Scrap Scarves!
Yes, these are magical. These LuckyStitchers made these really amazing and wonderful and so-well-made messenger bags for I had so much fun, I think they really had fun too. The bags are each so special and spectacular. Great fabrics, fun appliqués and pockets, one even with a zipper! I really enjoy teaching people to sew. For me, it’s like a sew along, but I get to share what I’ve learned, and it’s even more wonderful to see the amazement on faces when they turn something right side out and realized that they made a bag! MAGIC! (not really, just patience, practice and direction…). There were some other photos, but this is my favorite. These three kindly humored me as I asked them to give me a “LuckyStitches” pose. The bags look better this way – don’t you think?
I made this little cape today for oldest, she’s going to be for Halloween. How cool is that?
The doll quilts started this past weekend at , here’s one getting “stripped” up! Jen has an amazing amount of fat quarters. I think this one might make it to crib size…stay tuned.
Here’s mine, all pieced together. I used scraps from my first quilt.
In case you haven’t seen it the lovely and Kristin from ! have featured little old me and my on the . It’s a wonderful article. Thank you!
Oh Buttercream, I love you so. Not too sweet, but oh so rich and fluffy, creamy, smooth, buttery, creamy, heavenly, LOVELY! Ok, more about the buttercream in a minute.
11 fantastic fabric bags made from scraps of fabric, curtains, stashes, a throw and a nightie. That’s what we made Wednesday night. These little loverlies will get donated to the Bag Share, a . A local shop will get a basket of reusable bags, mostly made from fabric like what you see above, that will sit next to the cash register. Customers can borrow the bags, instead of using paper or plastic, then return them to the store (or another in active in the Bag Share program), for the next person. Extra special thanks to Tracy, Marie, Jen and Julie who stitched it up!
This one is made from a throw. It’s groovy bag – check out that fringe!
This is made from really cool old green curtains. (This is Marie. Hi Marie! She and I are sharing the space, she’s holding art workshops – )
Labels get sewn onto the bags as they are finished.
It was a really fun Sew-cail. We’ll be doing it again, more regularly after the holiday season. While we were able to finish 11 bags, we still got in a few good stories (note the arms in the air) We had coffee, tea and lovely, lovey cake, baked by and partially donated by (Thanks – it was awesome!)
LuckyStitches!! xxoo
I ordered these from the other day.
After reading on , I decided I must try this coat. Looks like it is pretty versatile, good for spring, good for fall and winter. I’m thinking a in a hot color (umm, like GARNET!) with a contrast lining. And, because I live in New England, I want to use .
Then for , I thought I’d try the from . I’ve read many a blog on stitchers working with Jalie patterns, and I’m pretty excited to try it. I have a favorite t-shirt, I love the neck drop and length, so I’ll be adjusting the pattern to match that T. I do love that the pattern is all sizes, so I’ll be tracing my pattern to pattern paper, so I can use the pattern again for my daughter (when she’s a bit older). Plus it’s a nice heavy paper, much less delicate than the normal tissue paper. I’ve got a few lightweight jerseys to try for this pattern, but I really want to find a cozy wool jersey. Can anybody share a good place on-line for light weight wool jersey? . .
T-shirt Class info at :
Skill Level – Advanced Beginner (must know how to sew)
$125Saturday Oct 13, 20 2PM-5PM
Working from a commercial pattern, we’ll fit and stitch up your best fitting t-shirt yet! All of this while learning / practicing how to sew a knit! FUN! Seriously, you’ll be surprised at how simple it is to work with knits. For fun – since it’s winter, pick a wool jersey to make your t-shirt, nice an cozy!)
Supplies Needed: Your Sewing Machine, Your Sewing Kit, a commercial pattern, fabric and notions as noted on your pattern envelope. Pattern Paper will be available during class.
Twirly Skirt!!! I made this is about 30 mins right before leaving for a birthday party. I used the bias tape from my first quilt, I have a few yards left over, and I’m trying to work through my stash and clean it out. I wanted a pic before the party, and was a little nervous about having Iz model for me, knowing she would be watching her friend open it in just an hour. But she played along beautifully!
The recipient of our little gift was quite pleased:
You can see more pics of our little fashion shoot .
As I go through my stash there will be more of these. I think I am addicted.
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