making a watery blue ombré quilt

It's done!

I finally completed the quilt I've been working on since April for my new nephew, Nate, just in time for his first visit to the east coast last weekend. It's the only quilt I've completed since having my own kids. I tend to get wrapped up in some kind of intricate colorplay that needs 50 fabrics to pull off and that takes time. That was the definitely the case with the ombré effect I was going for with this water scene.

I found some great watery prints from several fabric shops on Etsy. I used the Micheal Miller fish print for the back.

But to get the ombré effect, I needed many more shades of blue than I could find in quilting cottons. I filled in the gaps with my strangely large collection of men's dress shirts. Using them also made the quilt more masculine. I also like the idea of mixing in apparel fabrics because it is the way people used to make quilts before the whole "charm pack" thing came along. My grandmother would use the good parts of worn-out clothes or scraps from making clothes for her quilts.

The quilt top spent a week in pieces on my work table as I planned out the color gradation. The diamond pattern helps the colors "feather" together because there are no straight horizontal lines. The sea creatures were appliquéd on top after I sewed the background together in diagonal strips.

I actually had never hand quilted any of my past quilts until this one. I used to send them out to an Amish lady who would get them done in a flash. This time I decided to do it myself, thinking it was a pretty small size (48" x 36"). Oh boy! You gotta hand it to those Amish ladies! It took me about a month and would have taken even longer except I was stuck on the couch anyway after having foot surgery. I couldn't remember how to do the binding either, so I watched this youtube video which was very helpful.

Oddly, the foot ordeal turned out to be positive creatively. With grocery shopping, errands, and trips to the gym off the schedule, it's amazing how much time frees up to spend on creative pursuits. Back soon with more...

fabric flower corsage tutorial

The crocuses & daffodils came up this week! Spring begins next week. Easter is around the corner. It's time for flowers! I thought I'd share with you how I make my fabric flower corsages. They are lovely as an embellishment on a dress, hat, or cardigan. Nobody else does it quite like I do...

To make this fabric flower corsage, you will need:

• 3/4 yard fabric
• paper to make pattern
• serger
• regular sewing machine
• Fray Check
• needle & thread
• Strong glue like Gutterman HT2 textile glue
• 25mm brooch saftey pin

Begin with drafting this simple pattern.

Cutting on the bias uses more fabric, but gives the flower a wavy effect. It also looks really nice if you use a plaid or check.

Using a serger set to "rolled edge" makes a lovely finish along the edge. You could also do a tiny rolled hem by hand or using a rolled hem foot on a regular sewing machine.

Fold your edged piece in half lengthwise to define the middle.

Next, set your machine to a long stitch length and run two gather stitch lines, one on each side of the fold, about 1/4" apart.

Pull the back side threads to gather the piece to about 11".

Now keeping wrong sides touching, hold in a folded position to begin the coil.

Secure the begining of the coil with a needle and thread. Continue coiling & tacking in a circle, keeping stitching plane flat.

It will start to look like this on the other side.

This is what I mean by "flat". You don't want it to turn into a cone or it will be hard to attach the pin at the end.

You could attach the pin at this point, but for a neater finish, I like to cover the stitching with a self fabric disc. Cut a 1 1/2" diameter circle out and seal the edges with fray check. Once dry, glue it to the back. I use Gutterman Ceativ HT2 textile glue, but others may work too. It's the glue that all the frame purse makers use.

 Finally, sew on the brooch pin. These are easily found at JoAnn or on Etsy. I prefer the locking kind to the kind with the safety pin action. The safety pin ones are not safe. In fact, for children, I suggest hand sewing the flower on to the item you are embellishing.

Happy Spring!

memory pillow project

A dear friend asked me to help her out with some pillows she wanted to make for her nephews for Christmas. Their grandfather had passed away and she wanted to use some of his old clothes to make mementos for them. She and I went to RISD together, so we are on the same wave-length aesthetically. She said she wanted pillows pieced in the"Gee's Bend" style.

"Blocks and Strips" by Mary Lee Bendolph (photo Tinwood Media)

If you're not familiar with Gee's Bend, the name refers to the rural town in Alabama, a mostly black community with a history of economic struggles, but a strong sense of community. The tradition of quilting carried on there through the civil war, various economic upheavals including the Great Depression, floods of the Alabama River, and on to the present day.

"Housetop" by Lillie Mae Pettway (photo by Tinwood Media)

The quilts were made with available scraps of worn-out clothes with the freedom and innocence of "outsider art" although they were created for strictly practical purposes much like Amish quilts were. A collector discovered them in the late '90's, bought up hundreds of them and began exhibiting them. When viewed out of context in museums like the Whitney, they are bold, striking modern art. The book about them is wonderful. Auburn University has a wealth of information on them as well as a nice catalog.

The pile of items my friend sent looked random at first glance, but that's what you want if you're emulating the Gee's Bend style.

Many of the Gee's Bend Quilts are variations on the "Log Cabin" quilt pattern. I find this pattern lends itself to creating a spontaneous effect, as long as you don't measure anything, that is. Starting with a squarish shape, strips can be added on the outside edges, working in succession around it until you have the size you're after. True things as you go, or not. It's better if there is some unevenness to it.

I decided to keep the shirt pockets intact, because I think boys find them fun and it is more of a reminder that this was Grandpa's shirt. I also added a few of my own scraps of chambray to help make everything hang together more. But what you definitely don't want is to get matchy-matchy with it.

I also keep the button plackets intact for the backs for the perfect way to get the insert in & out for washing.

I tried not to be as anal as I usually am and just go with it. It actually goes very quickly when you're not trying to be precise. At the end, I trued it all up to the dimension of the pillow.

I hope they like them!

salvaged denim headboard

I finished this headboard for my little boy last week! I don't often make things that are NOT for my Etsy store these days, so it took a while. The idea was percolating on my back burner for over a year. At first I thought of making a quilt, but the little guy liked the idea of the padded headboard we made for the guest room, so the idea morphed into a headbaord. I decided to make it fancier than the guest room one by boxing out the sides and adding a back so the cover is removable for washing.

I've built up quite a hoard of denim cast-offs from family & from thrifting. What's the point of hoarding if you're never going to make anything out of it, right?

To make this project I used:

-small hoard of cast-off denim
-denim yardage- about 2 yards
-1/4" plywood (I used 40" x 30" for a twin size)'
-3" foam cut to size
-quilt batting
-muslin
-piping cord
-staple gun
-sewing machine
-heavy duty sewing machine needle (size 14/90)
-pattern paper
-flush mount hangers

If you were doing a single fabric stapled on, this would basically be your only step besides adding the hangers to the back. Layer the muslin, batting, foam and plywood to form the headboard base. Be sure to cut about 12" extra in height & with of the muslin & batting, so there is enough to wrap around the edges for stapling. You can always trim off the extra later.

To make the cover, I tried different layouts before cutting. I wanted light & dark to alternate. I debated whether to mix in some pocket-free squares and decided only to do that on the bottom row where the mattress and pillow would cover it anyway.

Since my headboard is 40" x 30", I made my pieces 10" x 10" squares (with the exception on the bottom four pieces)- just perfect for keeping pockets & details intact. The actual pieces including seam allowances measure 11" x 11" before sewing. Don't forget seam allowances! For the bottom four pieces, I added on 2" or so in height, so there would be extra to wrap underneath and meet up with the back to close the bottom. A separate band gets sewn on later to box out the top & sides.

One thing I learned is denim is THICK! Be sure you are using a heavy duty needle meant for denim. Also, most finished edges are not square. To make sewing easier and keep my pieces as close to square as possible, I fudged new edges in some places. By lapping on a trim piece that would become the seam allowance I avoided having to sew though all those extra bulky layers of a waistband with belt loops..

With the layout finalized, it's ready to sew together. At the thickest points, I found myself turning the wheel of the machine by hand rather than pressing the pedal, just to be safe. An industrial machine could plow through this, no problem, but I'm limited to my trusty Babylock.

Oh, and just to be hard on myself, I decided to pipe around the edges of the headboard. I made bias strips out of the same denim I was using for the sides and back and made my own piping. Use a zipper foot to get your stitches close to the bulge of the cord. You could certainly opt to skip this step.

I basted before sewing just to keep all this heavy fabric from slipping around. Then I sewed on the sides (a strip, 4" wide to accomodate the 3" foam + seam allowances) and back (same dimensions as the front out of denim yardage) leaving excess at the bottom to safety pin shut. If I were to do this again, I'd make reduce the width of the side piece by 1/4" since it came out a bit loose. Denim has a good deal of give. I contemplated a velco closure, but I was so worn out by the piping, that I took the easy way out. and just pinned it

Even easier would be omitting the piping and back, making a deep enough side panel to wrap around to the back for stapling.

Before slipping the cover on, I had my husband attach the flush mount hangers to the plywood back and to the wall. A level and accurate measuring come in handy for this. Then I slipped on the cover and cut holes in the back to expose the hangers.

Now my boy has a place to store his flashlights and other doodads in easy reach at night!

sewing a flower girl dress

In the spirit of the new season of Project Runway, I challenged myself to make Emma's flower girl dress (for Aunt Dana's wedding) in 1 day. Well that's not including the test muslin and I didn't make the pattern from scratch, but I succeeded in sewing a layered, lined, crinolined formal dress in about 11 hours!

We got all the bridal fabrics on our trip to Fabric Row in Philly last month. I normally like to sew with cottons & linens because they don't slip & slide all over the place. I don't love using tulle and having to gather miles and miles of it. I've never even tried sewing beaded and embroidered organza, but I was willing to try it because it was so incredibly gorgeous!

One time consumer: removing beads along the seam allowances and tying off the loose threads so the remaining beads stay secure.

Another time consumer: hemming the bridal satin underlay by hand. It just wouldn't look right done by machine. The raw edges inside were finished off with the serger.

On the outer layer, french seams in the organza overlay completely hide the raw edges.  To make a french seam, sew a 1/4" seam with wrong sides together. Trim 1/8" off the raw edge, then flip inside out. Sew another 1/4" seam with right sides together next to the previous stitching, enclosing the raw edge inside.

You wouldn't think a simple sleeveless lined bodice would be tricky to sew, but if you've ever tried it, you know what I mean. I've always sewn the shoulders first, then attached the lining to the bodice at the neck. Then you have to try to do the armholes after the bodice is flipped right side out which requires strange contortions especially if the shoulder is narrow. It's almost easier to just put a sleeve on. I decided to follow the directions that came with the pattern (discontinued pattern Butterick #4117) which calls for sewing the shoulders last. It worked well but still required some hand sewing to close up the armhole at the top.

Clipping and backstitching the neck and armhole seams is crucial to keeping the lining from peeking out the edges. I go one step further and trim 1/16-1/8" off the armhole and neck edges of the lining before sewing, so the pieces are slightly smaller than the shell and more likely to roll to the inside. I do this on collars too and it works great.

Finally: the skirt. I didn't think it was that full until I did my 2 stitch lines at the top and started to gather it in. It's always a challenge to gather that much fabric and attach it neatly to a small bodice. I basted it on by hand first to keep it from shifting and bunching. The less handling the better though, because boy does that bridal satin fray!

Help me! I'm drowning in tulle!

And then as if that weren't enough ruching, there is an attached crinoline underneath that gets gathered in to the same waist seam and has it's own ruffle of tulle- a 250" ruffle to be precise! It's absolutely necessary, though, because the poufiness that results is so fabulous!

On deck next: dapper little vests and dupioni silk neck ties for the 3 little ringbearers...

vintage embroidery love

The family's been enjoying another quilt from Mom's stash of Grandma's handiwork. Someone in the family needs to do an official count of how many quilts she's made- starting with at least one for each of her 25 grandchildren.

Mom & I are a lot like Grandma in that we always like to have a project to keep the hands busy. I feel restless if I sit down to watch a movie and don't have any hand sewing to work on.

This quilt was probably made in the 1970's with Grandma's 1940's sensibility.

The charming naiveté of the motifs makes me think of the 1940's.

How busy farm women like her found time to do quilting & needlework is a mystery to me.

She also made day-of-the-week dish towels for everyone, but I'm afraid mine are in bad shape from use.

I've been snapping up embroidered dresser scarves and hobby embroidery with a similar feel whenever I see fun ones at the vintage store. I think they will make great pillows. Who uses dresser scarves anymore, right?

I was procrastinating doing the backs because I don't love doing buttonholes. Then Mom had the idea of using the plackets of dress shirts (of which I have plenty). SHAZAM! It works perfectly and adds an element of surprise.

And while I'm on this recycling kick, why not repurpose my serger scraps for pillow stuffing?

I'll get some listed in the shop soon hopefully. I think they'll go over well at my upcoming craft shows too!