chris seams creative

New Blue Dress

2011-12-07T17:26:00.002-05:00

On my dress form is a lovely new blue dress for darling daughter! It is a halter style in royal blue, with sheer ruched overlay at the waist, and sheer diagonal overlay skirts on the slim skirt. The length will be a few inches above the knee, about where the second tier hits the right thigh.
No special occasion as yet to wear it, but she loves pretty dresses and I promised her one months ago!

Street Fighter official photos

2011-11-04T22:01:00.003-04:00

Here are photos from the Halloween Parties that sweet daughter and her (the Count) husband attended. The spikes on the bracelet are fabric and soft but look pretty wicked!

At the club she ran into a fellow Street Fighter and posed for photos... cool

This one is at the final fitting, showing the footwear. Another successful Halloween!

Chunli Costume Done!

2011-10-18T12:48:00.003-04:00

puff sleeves, padded full, boots, wristbands with spikes, hair piece bun covers with ribbons, matching blue panties (for those high kicks!)

More Chunli Photos

2011-10-16T14:48:00.006-04:00

The sneaker boots are made by adding fabric spats that are laced up with the canvas shoes.
The dress has a white sash, and will have further gold stripes added, after we do the fitting and get the length exactly where we want it. There are high slits at the side seam and back seam. A zipper will finish the back neckline.
The wrist bands are leather with fabric spikes, painted silver. Aspen is the quality control expert. She approves.

New Halloween Costume

2011-10-15T16:18:00.006-04:00

this year, it's Chunli, from Street fighter....
These are the cute little bun holders with the big ribbons...
Above is the first sleeve, and below shows some poly-filling, puffing it up a bit.

Tomorrow I will be making the China inspired dress, (that requires these sleeves) and sash. There are white boot type runners too. The wrist bands have spikes, and I have already made those from fabric, and need to spray paint them silver and attach them to black leather wrist bands.
More photos tomorrow!

Suit Number Three

2011-10-04T10:43:00.005-04:00

The last suit if from Vogue 2987 (Anne Klein), and features cool seaming on the jacket. The simple stand up collar and black buttons are classic. The pants are my favourite design with a wide fitted waistband, and I have switched the zipper from the front and put it in the back for a smooth flat front (in my opinion, more flattering).

I can't wait for my sister to try them all on. I still have lots of work to finish the pieces, but need her in person to do that.

Suit Number Two

2011-09-29T12:29:00.003-04:00

This one features an amazing silk/linen fabric in royal blue. Since it is quite bright, we decided to mix a black accent fabric (silk taffeta) and black buttons, and pair it with black pants.

I used Burda pattern 7284, and lined it with a blue and black checked taffeta.

It has only to be fitted and hemmed (sleeves and jacket and lining).

Suit Number One

2011-09-26T11:07:00.003-04:00

I am making some new suits for my lucky sister.... (she also has a cape ready to be delivered!). The first is from Butterick 5428, and is made from a black-gray wool tweed, from my incredible stash of fabric. The pants are done and ready to be custom fit - that means the side seams are not yet finished and will be pinned and sewn to fit perfectly, then the waistband attached and the back zipper installed. I find this style of pants fits best and has such a smooth front, it looks slim on any figure. The jacket is finished except the hems, and the lining is not yet attached to the bottom. This allows access to all seams for a custom fit when I get there. (she lives in Winnipeg and I am flying in for fittings and giggles in less than two weeks!)

The fastener is yet to be determined, but I photographed it here with a metal embelishment that can hide a large hook and eye underneath - one option, another is a decorative frog clasp or more simple large button.... this will be determined in Winnipeg over a glass of merlot!

Visit again for suit number two....

McCalls 6408

2011-08-01T09:12:00.004-04:00

I love this pattern. I love the idea of a self belt tied in the front OR in the back. The handkerchief hem with the stripes add to the interest of the cut, when using this crinkle cotton knit as the fabric. I will probably do this one again in a more stable solid colour knit for winter.

The pattern shows two hemlines and versions with and without the tie belt.

Vogue 8088 with short sleeves

2011-07-26T09:40:00.009-04:00

I had a large piece of linen-blend fabric in a citron colour in my stash, waiting for inspiration. I decided that Vogue 8088 with short sleeves and interesting embellishments would be great. I took the two piece sleeve pattern and pinned the back of sleeve seam, then cut it in one piece to a 6 inch underarm seam length.

The embellishment is two ribbons, and fabric stitched in place, and then bronze hot-fx squares attached in random pattern. The result is light and artsy. I love it.

Simply Cute Skirt

2011-07-11T16:30:00.002-04:00

Sweet little birdy, loves to pull fibre from my knitting! Just like a baby, everything goes into her mouth! Seems she likes mohair, the current yarn on my needles.

This is a cute new skirt. A wrap skirt pattern, fastened with button on the inside of the waistband, and decorative metal clips on the hip. The clips allow the wrap to stay closed, even when sitting. I find sometimes the wrap style skirt can gape when sitting. This is a good solution! The clips are sold in the button section of the fabric store.

Shorts and Cool Dress

2011-07-04T16:44:00.010-04:00

I have spent the day in the sewing room. I finished three pairs of shorts! The shorts are very simple at the top, no pockets, no waistband, no belt loops, and a back zipper... designed to lie flat and smooth under hip length tops.

The only thing to make them different is the hemline detail, so I did some fun things with plackets and buttons...

and with a cargo style patch pocket cut on the opposite grain.

I also made a loose fitting tee shirt dress, from a two way stretch cotton, lycra navy-white pin stripe. The pattern is a really cool Vogue (1234) that has a seriously interesting construction that shows off the stripes in lots of different directions. The instructions are well thought out, and easy to follow, although this is NOT a beginner pattern!
I decided to make a matching belt that is just 2 inch strips, braided and sewn to a snap buckle. The fabric is so stretchy it fits perfectly. Very pleased with this dress!

What a great sewing day it has been... :)

Nova Scotia Raincoat

2011-06-03T08:35:00.004-04:00

I have a trip coming up, to visit my Dad in Nova Scotia. I found last time that I was missing an all weather jacket, something for the mist and drizzle that often bookends lovely sunny days. This is a McCalls trench coat pattern, and I used a water resistant fabric with a silky lining. I made the shortest length, perfect for in and out of cars. There are 12 buttons and button holes!

Ruth may recognise the top and skirts under the coat... yes they are almost done!

Here's me with the trendy cotton scarf... ready to travel!

yarn bombing and KIP day

2011-05-20T07:29:00.005-04:00

I have been perusing the net for images about yarn bombing... for those who have yet to discover this growing trend, it is yarn graffiti, random acts of yarning, yarn vandalism created in under the cloak of night by rebellious stitchers....

I further discovered that the yearly KIP (knit in public) day is June 11, 2011 and this year it is also Yarn Bombing Day. I have not yet decided how I will celebrate KIP and YBD, but rest assured there will be photos, because photos are what it's all about!

Although illegal (littering or vandalism), from what I have read the yarners who have been caught have just caused the officers to chuckle. Only one knitter reported that the cop said "step away from the knitting" when he asked her to cease and desist!

I have a few photos of inspirational bombings (street art as some would prefer to call them). I will show you more as I snag them from the infinite sources on the net.... (just try to google yarn bombing!)

The Story of the Convertible Wedding Dress

2011-05-16T16:26:00.010-04:00

Last fall, I accompanied a friend to the bridal salon, to inspect a dress that she loved and wanted my help to make even better. The dress had three layers in a mermaid style full lower skirt, and she wanted to know if I could make it that the lowest two layers could be unzipped after the ceremony part of the wedding and become a cocktail length dress for dancing! I checked the construction, and gave her the go-ahead to order the dress, knowing it could become the convertible wedding dress she really wanted.

I found some long separating zippers on ebay. I plan to use three 42 inch zippers, one for the lowest layer, containing the lining and the crinoline. The second would be for the upper layer, containing, the two bottom tiers of gathered lace and tulle. The third zipper will be half used, to attach to a mini lining to zip back in under the remaining lace layer, as it becomes quite see-through without the other layers underneath.

Thus with the zippers in hand and the plan in place, and my amazingly trusting friend.... I cut the lining and crinoline out... then I basted the layers together, then cut the lace layers off (including a nice little train). What is left is this cute little lace and beaded dress!

OK, now don't panic, but I now need to reassemble the dress with zippers so that it gets back to the original condition!! I finished all the cut edges with an overlock stitch to make sure it would be stable and not fray. I then attached one half of the separating zipper to each cut edge. I used the left hip as the start and stop place, so that it would be easy to find and operate the zippers. (the bride will likely need an assistant to help her zip out, but should be able to do this without taking the gown off).

This photo is with the outer layers off, and the crinoline layer still on...

And here is the dress, with zippers attached and dress reassembled... can't see any zippers from the outside. Now it is ready for the big reveal halfway through the evening!

This was one of the most exciting alterations I have attempted. I think it is a great idea to have a dress that transforms throughout the day (she also has a matching shoulder wrap that attaches to the top of the dress for the church service part of the day)

Wedding Photo - Mom of Groom

2011-05-06T21:14:00.005-04:00

Doesn't she look lovely with the nuno-felted shawl and the one of a kind dress! (Father of the Groom looks pretty cool too!) I love seeing the finished dress with the jewelry and pretty shoes and hairstyle.... everything together makes the dress even better!

And here is the whole family (my friend's side only) missing just the new bride.

Thanks for the great photo!

Ruffled Edges

2011-03-31T15:16:00.005-04:00

The Mom-of-Groom decided to finish the top and bottom edges with a small ruffle on the diagonal, in the shiny side of the same fabric. (the satin side is used in the flower and stem detail too). This will draw attention to the two parallel diagonal lines and create even more movement in the hemline.

One more fitting and installing the zipper, this one will be done!

Dresses and more sewing

2011-03-28T12:37:00.008-04:00

The next dress is from a great Vogue pattern 1205. I am using a stretch knit in royal blue. The beauty of this pattern is the stabalizing ribbons used in the seams around the neckline, armholes and under the diagonal bodice line. The whole thing is lined, a sign of a good dress design. A simple looking dress that has all the details of couture. Nice.

I also made a great new style jacket, Vogue 8028, a Marcy Tilton design. This one allows for hand embellishments, and I used a couple of different textured fabrics in similar tones. I used Wonder Under to fuse the shapes to the jacket and used the machine to zigzag stitch over all the edges. I really like the results, and the fabric used for the jacket is a stable knit (not TOO stretchy) that has enough weight to drape perfectly.

Not much to show in a photo, but I spent a couple of hours finishing the fitting alterations for the plum mom-of-groom gown, and making the lining, and attaching it to the dress. The last fitting will be to set the zipper, and to mark the hemline. The first fitting last week was great, the gown only needed tweeking for fit, slimming the hip made the gathers fall in the perfect spots. The flower detail was approved by my friend and all of my knitting posse (we did the fitting at our weekly knitting get together).

Now that summer fabrics have started to arrive at my local Fabricland, I was able to find some cotton gauze fabrics and cotton-silk blend gauze, both will be great for nuno-felting. It has been difficult to find local fabrics this winter, and I have had to order from the internet (I have some lovely printed silk chiffon coming from an ebay deal...) Spring is the best time to sew!

Felters Workshop

2011-03-23T14:24:00.010-04:00

Last night was the premiere event... a felters workshop for the Niagara Felters. The first meeting was a short evening affair (in my basement) and we had 11 in attendance. We launched all the new felters into the hot water, and they all learned to make a sweet merino ball (bead) using hot soapy water and rubbing and rolling into shape. As they discovered it is trickier than it sounds and takes just the right amount of pressure. But all succeeded! Look!

The more experienced felters, tried to tackle a slightly bigger project, one doing a purse using wet felting and bubble wrap rolling, and another making a flower necklace (stems and leaves and petals using the wet hand rolling method).

We had lots of fun, and wine (yes, we are THAT type of felters). Here is one of the purses, still wet, waiting to dry and add a button or clasp, and stitch-finish the handles.

I also showed the final stage of fulling (shrinking) and already felted (fully rolled and firmly joined together) silk and merino shawl. Picture below, it's still wet.

We had a blast, and will follow up with a future workshop with everyone doing purses and scarves!

Spring Dresses

2011-03-21T16:35:00.006-04:00

I have five dresses to make in the next three weeks... so off we go. The first is a plum coloured gown, very glamorous, and detailed. I love it so far, and still have the first fitting and the lining to work out. The second is a summer dress, bright and cheerful and simple. This one is for me, and I will be making a wrap of black chiffon, nuno-felted with black and purple merino and flags of the dress fabric. Stay tuned to see the combination of these two garments. The third is a simple black stretch knit sleeveless wrap. It's almost done and needs a final fitting with the future owner. I have also had some wonderful comments out in the town about my coat. Strangers have asked me about the fabric and the origin of the coat. I am enjoying wearing this one of a kind coat. I have already made plans for a shorter spring jacket.

New Dress, first step... sketch...

2011-03-01T15:22:00.002-05:00

The dress begins with an idea, and a sketch. Crossed bodice, perhaps with embellishment of ruffle or crystal details... to be decided later.

There will be a lovely hip drape, attached with a fabric flower or crystal detail.

Then an asymmetric hemline, again perhaps with ruffle detail at hem.

(yes, I know, I cannot draw feet or faces... oh well!)

Summer Tee Dress

2011-01-22T21:44:00.002-05:00

I have been inspired to make a quick, fun summer knit dress. This one is from a Butterick pattern 5456. I used black stretch knit fabric for the top and bottom band, and a print knit for the skirt. The changes in the pattern were... no lining, turned and top stitched edges for the arm and neck openings, and the skirt was pleated and stitched down for four inches instead of gathered at the princess waistline. (this makes a smoother waistline) The back has a cute fabric tied keyhole opening.

I think this would be a great bathing suit cover up for pool or beach. The inspiration is a trip to a tropical destination that we have booked later in February! Canadian winters can feel too long without an escape!

New Quilt....

2011-01-09T19:46:00.005-05:00

I have finally decided the next quilt design, and started the first few squares. I am making this one in my old familiar way... small squares, quilted as I go, then huge job of banding the squares together to make the whole.

The design is log cabin, but with the twist of ignoring the typical light/dark or one colour/other colour organization of the "logs". Instead it will be black square in the center, random green and aqua pattern cottons for all the rest. The backing is black and white cottons, cut to 11 inches. I layer the batting over the backing square, then center the small black center square. Pin in place. Then I work the logs around the square, building out to the edges. Each seam is 1/4 inch and flipped and ironed before the next log is laid out. The seams effectively quilt the layers together and no further quilting is necessary, but as you will see I wanted to add detail....

When I am done, I measure and trim the whole block to 10.5 inches square, and set aside for further quilting. The top quilting is done by hand (old-school) and I use a black quilting thread to spiral a running stitch from the center out to the edge. The spirals are about one inch apart, and when I run out of room (near the outer edge) I finish with a small star detail! Cute.

I need lots and lots of these, so will plug away at them when the spirit moves me.

Plain to Fancy Tee

2011-01-05T21:25:00.007-05:00

I made a long sleeve Tee a while ago, and found it a bit bland. Cool print but otherwise yawn. The new trend of embellishing tee shirts (in every store you find a range of somewhat embellished to extremely embellished) had me thinking, I could do that too.

I started with fabric scraps, one of the same fabric, and two of contrasting sparkly fabrics.

I cut rough flower shapes out of each one, getting just a bit smaller each time. This I repeated for three flowers.

I stacked them and using a needle and thread, pinched the back of the flower and tacked the pinch in place (gathers the middle just a bit). Then I tacked the whole flower onto the tee, using just enough stitches from the back to hold it in place. I arranged three of these from the shoulder towards the middle close to the neck ribbing.

no more yawning.

New Coat and More Felting

2010-12-30T07:53:00.010-05:00

In the boxing day sale at my local fabric shop, I found this lovely double sided fake fur fabric. It was temptingly on sale and I wandered about the shop thinking of possible coat patterns that could transform it into a great find. I settled on my favourite scarfed swing coat, a good choice because the "wrong side" of the fabric plays a part in the design. The coat is McCalls 5987, an easy pattern that fits really well. The edges were just turned once and top stitched near the edge. (the plain fur side turned out to the outside to make a simple brown fur binding!) This coat pattern has no lining and the inside shows on the underside of the scarf, and when the coat is hanging open. I chose the make the brown underside fur as the top of the scarf to show as a contrast to the patterned fur on the outside of the coat. I also made a new felted scarf in a grid design. Very cute! The art of felting seems to have endless possibilities and everything I make is different and unusual. I will be trying lots more and posting here, so follow along! Also see my new blingy glasses. Marilyn 5046 in brown with meandering crystals on the temples.

Christmas Dress, Finale

2010-12-03T10:37:00.004-05:00

The Christmas Dress is done except for final fitting and hems.

It will look even better on my friend, than it does on my grey model! Magical.

Nuno-Felting Scarves

2010-12-02T20:35:00.013-05:00

My knitting posse ventured outside our safe yarn medium, into roving and water and agitation. (Wet felting on fabric backing = Nuno-felting). We made a quick trip to The Fibre Garden in Jordan, where John helped us find the perfect Merino rovings and other yummy fibres. Susan hosted the project in her water-proof basement. We started with scarf sized fabrics. Mine was a synthetic netting in black with silver shimmer on one side. Ruth, Fiona and Lois used silk chiffon in black. Susan supervised and assisted, as she was the "expert" having felted like this once before! (learn then teach... it's the craft version of pass it forward). My fabric is not a natural fibre and will not shrink with heat, nor will it adhere to wool, so I had to layer some merino roving to both sides and rub them to stick it to the netting. First the layering of merino roving in plum... then wetting with warm water and soap, to allow the fibres to lock into each other. Then roll up around a pool noodle and a bubble wrap (pool solar blanket) and tie securely. Then roll and rub and roll and rub..... for a long time (with feet or hands), then eat lunch and roll some more... You can see me knitting while rolling with my feet. Then unwrap and check and roll up again and repeat! The final fabric after rolling, then washing in hot with agitation, is a soft and light weight scarf, with (intentional) holes in the wool where the silver mesh shows through. I had to leave Susan's before the other gals had theirs done, and can't wait to see the finished fabrics. Here are Ruth and Fiona's scarves ready to roll... (and Lois starting to plan hers) Fiona and Ruth's are in a double roll, so they joined forces and did a four foot rolling... they got a good rhythm going! Here, Susan and I show off the final scarf... Thanks for being such a good coach, Susan! The final photo has me wearing the scarf and it is still cold and WET, but I don't care because I made the fabric with my own hands (and feet!).

Christmas Dress

2010-11-29T15:56:00.005-05:00

I am honoured to be making a special Christmas Dress for a good friend. She fell in love with this Vogue pattern...

and she chose a raw silk in Christmas red, with sheer shiny organza for the flower ruffles.... Very stuning.

I started (because I could not wait until I needed to add the sleeves) with the flower detail on the sleeves. It is a clever use of organza strips, folded in half and hand stitched in a swirly pattern to the sleeve.

The body has some serious pleating on the left side.... nice.

Work continues..

Coats, Coats, Coats

2010-11-23T11:32:00.009-05:00

I picked up this McCalls pattern 5987 a couple of weeks ago along with a lovely boiled wool blend fabric in Plum with sparkles. When I made the coat and wore it to my knitting group night, I got so many oooo's and aaaah's that I ended up with orders for three more coats. It is the kind of coat that fits any body type and has a cool self scarf that can hang straight or throw over one shoulder. The only change to the pattern that I made was a button fastener just under the scarf.

Above is open with the scarves hanging straight down, the front hem is curved and has a nice drape. A bit of a cape look to it, but more coat.

Button closed and one scarf thrown over shoulder, the other hanging down.

The pattern is really simple (you need to know set-in sleeve) but the rest is simple seams and turned edges and no lining. You would need a fabric sturdy enough for single layer coat, and that has a nice reverse side, as it sometimes shows when the scarf is tossed.

Easy to make and to wear. Oh, and it has good pockets too!

Cool Vest

2010-11-13T21:42:00.009-05:00

I found a great fabric at Fabricland last week. It has three layers, quilted together with netting on top, a woven textured multicoloured fabric in the middle and a black light cotton on the backing, all held together with a squiggle quilt stitch. It called out to be something dramatic.

I have a Burda pattern (7499) that has a cool lapel. The experience of embelishing the Warrior Princess dress got me thinking that it would be fun to totally cover a lapel in many, many hot fix metal pieces....

So off I went to get some silver rivetts, round and square, and cut the vest from the great fabric. I sewed a lining to the lapels, then before attaching to the vest, I spent an hour designing and hot fixing the doodads in place! The rest was sewn together as the pattern says. I used facings instead of a full lining (the fabric is thick enough already)....

The final perfection is the swaroski crystal encrusted fastener. I have had this in my sewing stash for two years, waiting for the perfect garment to call for it.

all together fabulous!

New Pants from Old

2010-11-11T09:56:00.006-05:00

I have been on the lookout for new slimmer leg pants (without going "skinny jeans" thin - I don't need leggings).... I have a lot of trouble finding ones that fit right (who doesn't?)

I already have a wardrobe full of nice dress pants that fit at the waist and hip and are long enough (often my biggest fitting problem with off the rack pants). Most of these pants are that wide leg style, hanging straight down from the hip and about 20 inches around the bottom (or more).

I decided to update the look by narrowing my existing pants. This is easy to do if they have regular side seams (no folded overstitched seams like jeans have).

First you unpick the hem and iron flat. Then try them on INSIDE OUT. Most of the pinning will be done on the outside seam, tapering from the hip, evenly down the leg. I also pinned a small decrease on the inside leg from the knee down. Pin about 1.5 inches from the outside edge near the bottom, and about 1 inch from the inside edge (this will reduce the bottom width by 2.5 or 5 inches in total hem circumference! I like about 8 inches across the bottom (lying flat on the ironing board. Make the new seam really gradually tapered from there to the hipline on the outside and to the knee on the inside.... and make left and right leg the same!!!

Hard to see but the photo shows the larger allowance on the top (pinned) and the smaller on the bottom. These pants have fine lines in the fabric, and I used them for guidelines for pinning.

Finish the seams with zig zag stitch and cut the excess. Re-hem the bottom hem and press really well!

Done

Cold and Quilting

2010-11-06T18:44:00.005-04:00

The November air is COLD and it feels just fine to quilt. I have returned to the bargello small quilt and have started to quilt the layers together. I used a temporary spray adhesive to fuse the top to the batt to the backing. I like to do this before I add the framing. It keeps it small enough to use my regular sewing machine.

It is hard to photo the stitches, because I use coordinating threads, but in the really close up you can see the meandering machine stitch that traces the lines of the various colours. The lines of quilting are about 1.5 inches apart. The final detail will be to stitch around the squares of white, and pale yellow-rose. These squares represent the centers of the lines and contrasts the darker tones.

The framing will consist of 1.5inches of white, and about 4 inches of navy outer border.

Remember to turn your clocks back tonight and enjoy a little extra ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T18:46:00.009-04:00

All the details worked out... all the challenges met, and after many weeks (and many glue-gun-burned fingers) the finished costume fits and works and looks pretty fabulous on the fabulous girl....

She added a black wig, and even blue contact lenses (because she easily can!) Her boots were purchased and matched the leather exactly, so that the knee pads look part of the boot.

We had a great time with the photo shoot, she had the moves down....

and we even tried an "action" shot that left us both giggling!

and after a long, hard day of fighting the bad guys, a Warrior princess likes to unwind at her favourite Martini Bar....Cheers darling Daughter (my own warrior princess!)

Warrior Princess Finished!

2010-10-28T09:54:00.008-04:00

The last things to make were the wrist and upper arm bands. These were both made with leather (turned hems) and leather cut-outs that were sprayed gold and glued in place. For anyone trying to do this technique I will pace on a valuable tip (learned the hard way!)... If you lay cut bits of leather on paper, then use a spray can of paint, the air forcing the paint also blows the leather bits all over the place! Holding them down results in gold finger nails (a look some may find fashionable - but not MY style). Solution: use the fabulous, amazing temporary basting fabric spray. I use this spray - found in fabric stores - to apply fabric to other fabric and hold it in place while I top stitch it or quilt it. It works well to spray the paper, then lay the leather cut-outs flat in place. Then the spray paint will not move them. After drying the pieces lift off with little effort and very little residual glue. It is then easy to lay them in place and hot glue them down.

The pieces were finished with Velcro fasteners to allow a snug fit to the arm.

Here is the whole set on display.... I will be doing the final fitting tomorrow, just in time for the Halloween Weekend!

Estimated time working on this costume... 16 hours. Not including shopping for supplies and fittings. This took longer than the wedding dress!! but how cool is it? I am very pleased.

Warrior Princess part three

2010-10-27T15:57:00.009-04:00

A plastic sward, the wrong colour, was sprayed silver (blade) and gold (handle), then leather was wrapped around the handle and glued in place.

I used a separating zipper to close the back of the dress....

and added a layer of skirting (matching fabric) under the panels. It is shorter than the layers, so just finishes it off without being seen much. I also (cleverly) added a pocket into that skirt that can be accessed by the right hand beneath the panels, for such important things as booze money and house keys! Warrior Princesses must be prepared, but must also NOT carry a purse!?!

The knee pads were made by layering leather with quilt batt sandwiched, top stitch quilting and pieces of cut leather sprayed gold, glued in place and quilted around the designs! A few hotfix gold "rivetts" made the look and some elastic and ties attach them to the top of the fabulous purchased boots.

Photo through a mirror of me in the boot with the pad attached... not very clear but you get the idea...

The sward holder is cardboard, covered in leather and decorated like the knee pads, then attached to a mid back panel, that has corresponding hooks and ties to connect to the side fronts and to the back of the shoulder pads. She should be able to reach the sword from over the right shoulder.... handy (and deadly if it weren't plastic!). A round thingy weapon is cut from plastic and sprayed with silver paint, then attached with Velcro to the right front of the outfit.

The outfit on my model.... starting to look almost finished!!!

Only wrist and arm bands to work on. Good thing, as there is only two days left to finish.

Warrior Princess Armour

2010-10-25T16:35:00.010-04:00

The tricky part of the armour is to give the appearance of metallic embellishments. I decided that foam sheets, sprayed with gold may be easy to cut and apply to the leather shoulder pads. Hot glue gave it a bit more definition. I drew the curly-cue pattern and cut the foam with scissors, then applied hot glue lines, then sprayed with gold paint. After it dried, I glued the detailing to the shoulder pads.

The pads were made by cutting two layers of leather, sandwiched some quilt batting in between, and sewing around the edges. In the photo you can see how I added some D-rings to allow the pads to be attached to the front breast plate and the back piece (that will also hold the sward scabbard).

close up...

The other detail is the small metal embellishment at the lower front of the leather dress. This is made by drawing the pattern on paper, tracing it with the glue gun, twice. Then I sprayed it with gold paint. I peeled it off the paper, and glued it to the dress. I think I will also have to further secure it with some gold thread stitching. The glue may not be secure enough. Next, mounting the armour together, wrist and knee pads, and sward scabbard, and roundy thingy weapon....

Warrior Princess part two...

2010-10-18T15:35:00.009-04:00

This is probably the most challenging part of the costume... the breastplate armour.

Here is where ALL the crafting skills come out... paper mache, glue gun, painting skills.

The challenge... to make an antiqued gold metal breastplate with no gold, no metal and new (not antique) materials... hmmm

First a couple of paper mache bowls. I used shallow soup bowls and lined them with clear wrap, then coated with a few layers of paper mache.

After they were dry, I trimmed them and glued them to a cardboard cutout of the rest of the shape needed.

Attached rings (to mount to the other parts of the armour (with duct tape) and cover the whole lot again with a few layers of paper mache.

When that was dry, I drew the lines where the embossed lines stand up on the breastplate. I used piping cord (from the fabric store) and the hot glue gun (crafter's best friend) to attach in the curly pattern I had drawn.

Of course there were the mandatory finger burns... ouch.
Cover all of this with fine strips of paper mache.
Dry, then spray with gold paint. Then accent the lower areas with gold paint mixed with black to "antique" the whole thing.

Looks like metal! Yeah!

Halloween Costume

2010-10-05T20:22:00.010-04:00

Darling Daughter has asked for a Xena, Warrior Princess costume this year. She has wanted this for a few years, but has lived away (at the University of Waterloo) and has been too far away for fittings. This is the year. Here is the photo that we will copy....

Here is the bodice work. I used a McCalls pattern 4109 for a corset type bodice. The fabric is a distressed dark brown fake leather. The bodice has many seams, all top stitched .25 inches from the seam, and piped at the bottom edge.

The "skirt" is made of many strips of leather, rounded at the end. I made these by bonding two layers together (right sides out) and top stitching around the edges.

There is a second layer of "riveted" half circles. I sewed these together just out of view under the next layer and the "rivets" are actually hot-fix metallic studs.

I am working out the kinks of making the metallic overlays for the wrist, knee, arm-bands. The shoulder-pads are leather with metal overlays, and the breast and back plates are more difficult and will likely need paper mache, painted metal... not sure yet. Stay tuned!

Quilt Top Finished

2010-10-03T13:22:00.003-04:00

The bargello design quilt top is done. I still need to frame it with two bands and quilt and bind, before finding a suitable wall to hang and display...

but I think it looks pretty cool already.

Sock Monkey Golf Club Cover- Instructions

2010-09-26T08:28:00.018-04:00

Ok, It's true... I love sock monkeys, and I have been working out how to make one into a cover for my fairway wood! The first one was converted from an existing sock monkey... not bad, but had a few flaws in the lining. Second was good, but a bit thin. Third is the charm, and here is the step by step details so you can make one too!

PLEASE NOTE: this design is for fairway woods or hybrids only.... BE KIND TO YOUR MONKEY... a driver is TOO BIG for your monkey to handle!! He is slim and cool and would look distressed and bloated with such a big club in his belly! 'nuff said.

Materials:

Pair of traditional men's wool work socks. (ladies could be used for hybrids)

Soft lofty stuffing

Small bit of quilt batting

Single black ladies sock (for lining)

Buttons for eyes.

Strong thread - light gray, and red embroidery thread.

Instructions:

As in photo, turn one sock inside out and sew leg inseam. Leave a gap at the top and stop about an inch from the heal. Cut between these seams and a bit into the space above the legs. we need an opening just big enough to pass your club head through. You can test this.

Turn the legs and body right side out. Stuff the legs fully but not too stiff. Stuff the head area, but leave the body for now.

Cut the other sock as in the photo.

Attach the muzzle by hand stitching with enough stuffing to make it stand firm.
Take the black sock and on the outside sew a seam just above the heel (see photo)

Using the small batting, wrap it around the black sock, and with your hand inside slide the wrapped sock in place inside the monkey. You should feel your hand push the black sock just under the head stuffing. Push it up until the top is right behind the mouth. Carefully pull out your hand without pulling out the lining.
Use some loose stuffing to lightly pad the belly and more to pad his small rump.

Hand sew the opening to the bottom of the black sock, leaving the cuff of the black sock outside the monkey's butt. *** careful to sew it in a stretched state. Too tightly sewn, means it will NOT stretch over the golf club!

Sew his ears, wrong side facing, make half circles about 1.5 inches across. Sew the arms and tail, right side facing, turn and stuff the arms only. Have ready...

Anchor the lining... this is important so that the lining does not turn out when you pull your club out! With your left hand inside the monkey, push the top left edge up and towards the left side of his mouth.... just where you will attach his ear, you will put several large anchoring stitches through the outside, picking up some of the black sock lining and back out. Do this about four times, until that side of the lining is well attached to the ear spot. Now sew the ear right over these stitches. Do the same for the right side of the monkey head, attaching the lining there and then the ear.

Position the arms at the sides of the body, hand sew in place. Sew the tail on the backside.

Sew button eyes, and embroidery mouth. I like the hat, just cut the other toe about 2 inches below the white toe, and roll the bottom edge, tack into place on his head.

Cute!

Give him a name, and go out and hit the links!

New Quilt

2010-09-21T09:21:00.001-04:00

Over one third done of the top panel....

Kokopeli Done

2010-09-11T21:44:00.003-04:00

The inspiration was this cotton fabric....

The finished quilt looks like this!

Arizona Cool....

Bridesmaid Dress Alteration - 1

2010-08-31T08:59:00.005-04:00

How do you turn an off the rack bridesmaid dress into a 9 month Maternity Dress???

I was asked to do this for a friend. The dresses were purchased last Christmas when all the girls were in town together and could go to the shop. Now, almost 9 months later, with the wedding in September, the bride's sister is almost 9 months pregnant! I am fortunate that the design of the dress includes a very full pleated skirt, and the girls wanted about 6 inches chopped off the bottom of all the dresses, to take them from mid-calf to just above the knee.

One of the other bridesmaids dresses, shortened to knee length. (the black ribbon is only to hold the dress on the hanger, it should have been tucked in for the photo - sorry)

This gives me plenty of fabric to cover the bump and plenty of extra fabric to add panels as needed. First I cut the zipper out of the back and opened the back seam of the dress and the lining. Then I cut the snug wide waistband to one inch and re-attached the skirt so that it sits right below the bodice.

On the lining I had to also cut the boning to only the length of the bodice (it went all the way down to the waist) and remount the underlining higher to match the skirt.

We are now ready for the first fitting, where I will determine how much extra fabric needs to be along the back seam, and it I need more fabric for the top of the bodice (maybe even shoulder straps if required to hold the dress up).... stay tuned.

New Quilt, New Class

2010-08-27T20:37:00.009-04:00

I have enrolled in a quilting class at Kindred Spirits. I have not taken a sewing class since High School! It is not that I feel I could not do this pattern on my own, but I wanted the experience of a group project. My knitting friends encouraged this project and attended the class with me.

The new quilt is called Mirage ......

and involves cutting 32 different fabrics into 1.5 inch strips, then sewing in colour panels, then cross cutting in more thin strips. The end result is a quilt made up of one inch squares (or smaller) in a rolling bargello design.

The first day was sewing the panels in the colour combinations that set up the second cuts. My homework before the class was to cut the 1.5 inch strips and stack them in the colour panels. I discovered that my kitchen island was the perfect height for cutting the strips with the rotary blade and cutting matt. Since I rarely actually use it for cooking, it is good to know that it has a practical purpose other than the place to throw the mail and keys....!

My Janome 6600 popped out of the table and was easy (if a bit heavy) to take to the shop and set up with the portable table tray. Next class in two weeks.

Cushions and Piping

2010-08-20T21:45:00.003-04:00

A lovely antique golf theme print, and burgundy piping, with antique buttons....

makes pretty cool cushions!

Another Golf Club Cover

2010-08-16T10:02:00.009-04:00

I have been using my Monkey Cover for a few weeks, and I love him... He sits on my four wood, the one I use in the fairway, and his arms and legs bob along as I walk. The only drawback to the first design is the white sock lining gets pretty dirty as I slide it on my club (hmmm - monkey has a dirty bum?).. so my newest version has a bit more of a collar and is done in black... should be even better. I have made him an optional blue knit cap that matches his eyes.

He can also still sit on the desk, and watch me type away, like a good sock monkey will do!

ps.... instructions HERE

The Beautiful Dress on the Beautiful Friend!

2010-08-10T21:37:00.002-04:00

and Roy looks quite dapper too! Congrats on the lovely wedding... a perfect day.

Beautiful Dress

2010-07-31T16:39:00.007-04:00

I have just finished the dress and jacket for my friend. It is for her son's wedding and this is truly a custom design. Every step of the design was done with Linda, including the fabric shopping, the cut, the details, the jacket shape. I love the results and hope she feels just perfect on the wedding day.
The short sleeve un-lined jacket is the fourth tier in the layers of hemlines. The fabric is so light it moves when she moves, and the jacket floats with the skirt.

The bodice has small tucks diagonally across, and the nature of the fabric (sheer and not-so-sheer parts) creates a natural wave to the tucks and to the hems.

I even added a purse to go with the set....

Outdoor Drapery

2010-07-17T20:38:00.005-04:00

I love our deck in the summertime. The morning has a cool shady spot to have breakfast that is so private I can do so in my pyjamas. Late afternoon, however, the sun shines directly on the deck and it can be SO hot, I can't sit there. I would love to BBQ, then sit at the small table and eat dinner there.

Then comes the idea of a shade curtain. Fabricland had their outdoor fabric (fade, mildew resistant) on sale, so off I went. Basically I need two rectangles, mounted with rings at the top, and hung from a curtain rod inside my deck overhang! A room outdoors!

New Dressform, New Dress and New Cushion

2010-07-15T15:15:00.011-04:00

I finally bought my own Dress Form... She was on sale at Fabricland and is easy to adjust to lots of sizes. Her name is Shish, named after me (the name my sister uses for me!).

This beautiful fabric is for a special dress. It is for a wedding and my friend is the mother of the groom. We found this in Hamilton on Ottawa Street, and is a silk with a hand painted look pattern in so many colours you can't really say what colour it is! The weight is light and flows easily. Photos as it develops!

The last photos are of a new cushion for our front porch brick wall. Hubby and I like to sit in chairs and put our feet up on the wall. We have tried cushions from inside, but if we leave them out they get rained on, and blow around. This is custom fit and made of outdoor fabric (dries easily and no mildew. I covered the foam with plastic before sliding inside the cover.

Our feet are very happy!

Sock Monkey Golf Club Cover!

2010-07-11T20:06:00.002-04:00

A while ago I dabbled in sock monkey sewing. I made a few and had some fun, but how many do we really need? This week I lost the cover for my fairway wood (fell off my cart at a course we were visiting) and I decided to create something new and fun for my heroic four wood (it rescues me from a lot of trouble). I grabbed a sock monkey (previously made in the traditional manner) and cut him across the butt (sorry buddy!). I took out the stuffing of the body, and left the stuffing in the top of the head. I cut an opening on the inside under the muzzle (to allow for the head of the club to nestle in the mouth space). I then took another sock (for lining the cover, and wrapped it in quilt batting. This allows the body to be a bit sturdy, while still remaining hollow. I inserted this sock into the body and right up to the eye level. I secured a few stitches around the ears right through to the lining sock so that it would not pull out when the club is removed. The last step was making the butt opening smooth, but under-turning the outside sock and the lining sock and loosely stitching the pieces together. You still need an opening that can stretch over the golf club, so not too tight.
This works really well for the fairway wood, in the cotton work sock that the original monkey was made. I think a Driver may need a men's size wool work sock, and a bit more stuffing and stretching. But it could be done too.
He looks really cute riding along with my other clubs in my bag. Try one yourselves!

Cutouts

2010-07-08T21:27:00.005-04:00

Continuing the work on the applique for the quilt, I drew the rest of the cutout lines and stitched the lines by machine. Then carefully cutting close to the stitches, the resulting applique is very cool and finished! The large design will lie in the center of the queen size bed.

I have not yet purchased the backing fabric and will do so this weekend. Next will be to sandwich the layers, baste in place, then start machine quilting of the 52" by 60" piece.

Close up photos of the cutout design....

New Quilt, top well underway....

2010-07-01T21:15:00.004-04:00

Canada Day for us, means one day off (thursday) and back to work for Friday. Nice morning for golf, cool and sunny. Left the afternoon for sewing, and I spent a few hours working on the center panel of the quilt top. I finished the 54" x 60" pieced blocks, using green rows alternating with turquoise rows, and the Kokopelli batik squares randomly placed in both rows.
Then I sketched a rough Kokopelli in the beige batik, and machine stitched on the outlines. I carefully trimmed close to the stitching, leaving a quarter inch rough edge that will fray a bit on washing and leave a bit of a fuzzy edge to the mystical creature.

There will be further cut-outs throughout the body, similar to the small batik images on the quilt cotton.
I will layer this with batting and background and quilt at this size, then add a border, then more green, turquoise squares, to complete a Queen Size quilt! I will use the sewing machine to free motion quilt stitch around the center motif.

Golf Club Cover... Robin

2010-06-23T21:40:00.008-04:00

My daughter is looking for a Driver Cover that is a Robin. We searched the internet, every site possible and the only Robin we found was of the "Batman and" variety.

So off to Len's Mills in Hamilton for some fun fur, and after a few sketches and pattern drawings...

cut and assembled these...

I managed to create this....

I just need to decide on the eyes... buttons... or beads?

Kokopelli - New Quilt

2010-06-13T19:07:00.003-04:00

I have a vision of a colourful quilt, with a whimsical Kokopelli appliqued at the center. I started making the background of the quilt with blue and green batiks cut in 5 inch squares. The question is how to applique my image, and I saw a quilt last week with topstitched, raw edged pieces, and it looked cool. I thought this could add to the mystical alure of the Kokopelli but decided to try a smaller image on a pillow top, just to see if I liked it.
I stitched it and machine quilted the piece and washed it to see how it would look.

I may also do one with a traditional turned edge applique to compare. This quilt will be queen size, so I want to make sure it is exactly like my imagination says it should be!

Curtains, Drapes and Benches

2010-06-06T17:28:00.008-04:00

The newlyweds are in their new home, and the first thing they notice is that the sun is up shortly after 5:30 AM! The bedroom has a cool glass block window over the bed (with NO window cover) and walk out doors that are all glass, with only horizontal blinds. These offer enough privacy, but very poor light control. So off we went to the fabric store and picked up some fabulous drapery fabric and black-out lining. Add to that some pewter rods and hardware in a not-too-skimpy sizing, and you have the makings for some great light blocking. They are on matching tabs, so they can be pushed aside to let lots of light in WHEN THEY WANT!

It is even hard to take a phot of the window/doors, since the light is so bright!
I really love the glass block window above the bed....
Very cool, but needs to be able to draw the curtain to control the light....
Ta-da!

Sleep well my favourite young couple!

I also made a quick renovation to an old end table from our house. This is not technically a sewing project, but a staple gun project. I used new ultra-suede, and foam to cover the top of the table, and it now sits in the hallway, ready to sit and tie up shoes and has a shelf to catch shoes or other front door stuff....

Peasant dress

2010-06-02T21:59:00.006-04:00

My friend asked me to make a white under-dress for her daughter's highland dance costume. It is basically a raglan peasant dress, gathered elastic neckline, sleeves, and waistband with a 6 inch hem, to allow for growth. I used the instructions in this online file. It gave me the technique and I used an older version of the dress as a guideline.

Here is the old dress....

Here is the paper pattern I developed....

and here is the finished new dress.

Mostly it won't be very visible when wearing the costume, just a bit of white peaking out at the sleeve, hem and neck.

More Wedding Photos

2010-05-07T20:19:00.012-04:00

no particular order....

Hair style by me... orchids in Robin's hair and hybiscus (stolen from the gardens) for the girls.

Here is my lovely little family...

so sweet!

Back with Photos!

2010-05-06T22:39:00.003-04:00

First photo of the wedding... Robin and Jamie being presented as man and wife... the girls in their cute dresses off to the side.

Just got back from Jamaica and need to unpack and sleep... more photos over the next few days.

Final Photos... Ready to travel!

2010-04-25T12:02:00.006-04:00

The last task was to get the right hanger, and attach some ribbon loops to enable the dress to stay on the hanger. Here it is hanging fully attached, and ready to pack in the travel bag....Close up of the back showing the small train....

The back loops ready to be laced tight....

The flower completely attached with feathers and beads in place....

And the final photo is the dress in the carry on bag, ready to travel to the beach!

Three Ocean Dresses

2010-04-22T20:07:00.004-04:00

Here are the finished bridesmaid dresses. Cocktail length, three styles, three colours of the ocean.

They look sweet together and should look really fresh and bright on the beach just before sunset. The wedding is coming up soon, and I will post the photos of all the girls in the dresses at the wedding in a few weeks. Note the little matching purses.

Such a relief to have everything done, and ready to pack and fly to the tropical destination.

Hems and hooks and finishing touches.

2010-04-17T16:31:00.003-04:00

I have spent the last 3.5 hours working the rest of the dresses for the bridesmaids. There are two hems for each dress, one on the chiffon, and another on the lining satin. Then there are hooks and eyes to close the zipper top, and finishing touches to tidy up all the details.

I also decided that small purses in the fabrics would be a nice touch. So here they are...

I fused interfacing to the back of the chiffon, sewed the lining fabric in a rectangle with right sides facing, leaving a gap on one seam. Turn right side and press. Then I slipped some quilt batting in making sure the corners matched up, and top stitched in about an inch to hold it all together. Folding like an envelope, I marked the top flap and topstitched again in a rectangle, then stitched a starfish into the center of that flap. Last I topstitched the side seams closed. I only need to add a big snap to keep it closed and some kind on should strap (not determined just yet)....

Pursuit of Purse

2010-04-15T19:45:00.005-04:00

I received some really cool scraps of fabric from a friend, as payment for some minor sewing alterations. The pieces were an intersting taupe crinkle fabric that were from a designer outlet, left over from lightweight coat designs. She picked them up for a song, but did not know what to do with them... I was intrigued. Originally I thought a coat from them, but there was not enough for a whole coat. Then the body of the coat with knitted sleeves, hmmmm. But in the end I have so many coats, knitted or otherwise.

Then it hit me last week. A big Hobo purse. The idea of binding this fabric (wonder-under) to a sturdy canvas (also from my stash of fabrics) could make a purse fabric sturdy enough to stand up without being mushy. I used pattern Simplicity 3828, model G, and added a contrasting fabric for the handle and my own design of outer pocket. The contrast was actually from the alteration for my friend, about 6 inches cut from the bottom of a long coat, then the edge rehemmed. Again, the scrap was too small to do much with, but the pocket and handle were perfect. The colour is similar, and the fabric smooth and sturdy, and complimentary to the crinkle fabric! I lined it in a sweet batik cotton (left over from a previous quilt) and the zipper is from a purchased sweater that I did not like (except for the crystal encrusted zipper!).

The whole thing was from fabric in my stock and about 3 hours of time.

Cool

Quilting Continues

2010-04-08T11:32:00.006-04:00

I have not had much sewing time for a week, with lots of visitors and activities over the long weekend. Back to normal, I managed to finish the border of the Savanah Quilt on two sides (half done!).

I have also churned out a quick quilt project. It is a book cover for my eBook. It has a grey vinyl cover, so I used that as a pattern for a slip cover. The front and back are a quilted rectangle, and the inside is a non-quilted piece to hold the front and back covers. I machine appliqued my name on the front cover, just for fun.

Nothing but Borders Left

2010-03-30T17:12:00.006-04:00

I have finished the center of the Savanah Flair Quilt, and have quited all the pieces, and also the bands that join the blocks.
I have the borders to add, there are two different fabrics that frame the center panels and complete the look. It will be a sofa size quilt, nice to throw over the back of the sofa, or pull over you on a chilly winter night. I may even figure out how to hang it on the wall for the warmer seasons.... not sure yet.

I really like this one.

Mask and Animal Quilt

2010-03-24T21:37:00.005-04:00

I have finished all the bands of the quilt and have machine quilted each band. I like to do this when the pieces are small, as I can manage the pieces through my machine without too much difficulty. This is the first time I have tried free motion squiggle quilting, and I really like it.

I have started joining the bands with 2.5 inch strips. I attach the front and back strip to one side, and the front only to the next band adjoining. Then I pad with batting and hand stitch the back strip closed. Then I carefully squiggle stitch along the length of the joining strip.

Close up shows a loopy stitch pattern running the length of the 2 inch strip. It is a bit hard to see over the feathery print of the strip, but the stitches tie in nicely with the quilting in the bands of masks and animals right next to it.

I will continue with 2.5 inch strips between all five bands of critters and masks. Then wider strips frame the whole center bit, and it is easy enough to top quilt these as they are on the outside edges only.... This quilt has been lots of fun, and I can't help starting to plan my next one.... hmmmmm.

Quilt, Purse and Dress

2010-03-16T15:20:00.006-04:00

After a busy, crafty weekend, I have several things done. The first is a small quilted purse to match my dress for the wedding. I need a bag big enough for my camera and room key and lipstick... this one is made from the dress fabric, quilted with the lining as the backing, and thin batting in the middle. I used machine quilting in feed-dog-down free-style stitches that follow the pattern of the fabric. It is a simple envelope style. The straps and accent detail is one inch wide strips of the silver lining, crocheted along with some silver eyelash yarn. I used two snap fasteners under the flap to keep the bag closed until I snap it open. This is a style of bag I have made many times to match a special dress.

The second is the almost final alterations of the green bridesmaid dress. I finished the neckline, attached the gathered sash and attached the starfish. Only the zipper and hemline to go on this one.

The third is the quilting of the mask rows for my quilt. The blocks were attached in groups of four, and sandwiched with batting and the batik backing, then freestyle stitches were used to trace around the masks. I topstitched outside the nose of each to add further stability to the center of the masks. Then I squiggle stitched the whole background of the blocks.

Still lots to do, but the quilt is coming along really well and I love it!

Machine Quilting

2010-03-11T21:27:00.006-05:00

I joined six of the animal blocks together, then sandwiched them with batting and backing. I find it easier to quilt smaller pieces rather than the whole quilt. I used free-form stitching and traced around the animals at about a quarter inch away from the applique. Then I did a flowing squiggle stitch all over the background. You can sort of see it around the giraffe.

Flipping it over, you can see the animal outlines and the squiggle lines on the cool random dyed background fabric. The thread on the back is a multicolour light to dark brown thread. The top thread is a match to the fabric (black for the animal blocks, then tan for the mask blocks).

One of the three animal block rows, took about an hour to quilt on my machine. I have 2 more of those, then 2 mask block rows. More photos will follow...

2010-03-09T15:35:00.003-05:00

I have been obsessed with this quilt top... I just can't step away from it. And look how cool it is so far. I have finished all the applique blocks. The masks are based on the original pattern, but I hand sketched them, as I could not bring myself to wait for the next month to get two more patterns. I have purchased the fabric for the bands and framing of the front and for the backing.
Just love it!

New Quilt

2010-03-05T21:09:00.008-05:00

I found this block of the month pattern on the net... Savanna Flair and it totally captured my interest. I went to gather a few yards of fabric, and added it to my bits of cotton stash, and started the first three animals. I luckily found it the last week of February(the first month of the pattern postings) and made the first three times three (nine blocks total) from the first month blocks ... in three days. I used wonder-under to applique the pieces and used my fabulous quilting stitches to "blanket stitch" on the machine around all the edges.

Then came the next month on March 1, and I got the next patterns from the site. That took me one afternoon to cut and applique and machine topstitch the nine squares.

So now comes the dilema... can I possibly wait another month for a couple of mask square patterns?

I was dreaming about the quilt. I was picturing it done and draped over my sofa, looking all cool and african and great next to my carved chest and masks on the wall.

No. I can't wait a month.

I drew my own masks on the wonder under paper and started making my own mask squares....

So the Block of the Month experiment is over... clearly it does not work for me!

(maybe Block of the Day) Block-du-Jour?

Dress Almost Done!

2010-02-24T21:06:00.002-05:00

Here is a photo of the wedding dress with all the beading and tucks and details intact. The flower is a bit bigger, and the tucks in the skirt have three pearls sewn in place to hold the tuck. They are mostly not visible, but with movement, they peak out!

The hem has not been finished, but that's all that is left. I post this on the blog for you to enjoy, but photos of the bride wearing this will only be posted after the wedding in May.... Please be patient, all the photos will tell the tale of a lovely beach-front wedding.

Close up view of the pearl and crystal details on the bodice....

Last Bridesmaid Dress

2010-02-16T20:51:00.005-05:00

This one is a blue that starts light like the sky and becomes deeper the further down the dress it goes. It is chiffon, and gathered at the shoulder and crossed at the front.

The details are a gathered sash with tails and a starfish embelishment that is tacked down at the points and the ties flow from the bottom points.

The chiffon is not attached to the blue satin underskirt, so they each move independently and will look great in the tropical breezes on the beach of Jamaica. The starfish can be removed for further wearings, as this makes them especially beach-worthy.

Need your help - VOTE!

2010-02-11T19:54:00.007-05:00

Here are a few versions of the one shoulder dress. You can help me, by voting your choice in the box to the right of this blog. Thanks for your thoughts!!!

Version #1:

Version #2:

Version #3:

Version #4

Version #5:
Please leave comments if you want a combination I have not presented....

Another Dress

2010-02-09T16:25:00.006-05:00

This one is an off the shoulder cutie. It is a true teal colour, with the subtle diagonal striping. Sheer chiffon over shiny light blue.

Just the plain version...

With the tacked on draping...

Here is the first dress on the dress form.....

Now I am off to Fabricland to find a bit of trim as plan B for detailing. (instead of the sheer draping)

Close up views of a possible ribbon and braid and sequin trim. On only one or all of the dresses? So many choices.

Further Details...Mom's Dress

2010-02-07T18:04:00.005-05:00

Here we see a flower applique detail on the back anchoring the new drape addition on the left side of the dress...

Close up of the front applique with the swarovski crystals. The drape starts on the right front and folds loosely to the left back.

There are also appliques on the shouders connecting the straps.... It fits me better than Missy Blue (the dress form). I really like this dress and it is one of the most original dresses I have ever made. Perfect for a beach wedding at sunset!

I just need to find the perfect sandals.... :)

More Dresses

2010-02-07T08:37:00.009-05:00

Saturday was a sewing day! I made my dress in the afternoon...

It is a sheer abstract floral silver-green fabric over a shiny silver satin fabric. The satin glows through the sheer bits between the leaves. The design is very simple, and I will likely find a decorative detail for the empire waist (sash, beading, decorative belt???).

The second one is one of the girl's dresses. There are three dresses. None are the same in colour OR in cut, but they will all be of the same styling. Three sheer, flowing shades of the ocean, blue, green, teal. Each one has some interest in the dying. The first is a halter design with green dyed in diagonal stripes (very subtle, but you can see it).

The lining for all three is the same, a lovely soft ocean blue. This will shine through the sheer and make the dresses glow a bit. Hard to capture on camera.

Also hard to photograph without the model. More photos later.... Here is the draping option pinned in place to see if the girls like that. We could also do a jewelry element at the center or a whole beaded belt instead of the drape.

Pearls and Crystals

2010-02-04T20:17:00.004-05:00

The real beauty of the custom made gown, is the details (well, after the unique, perfect custom fit... it is definately the details) Here is a really close up photo of the beginnings of the lace details. I have sewn on mini pearls inside the outline of the lace flower, and the center holds larger pearls and swarovski crystals.Clearly this is a long process of sewing, where each bead is stitched into place by hand. I really like this part, and just follow my instincts as to how much and where the beads are placed. The overall effect will be textural and a bit shiny, and from a distance you won't see the beads too much (white on white), but it adds a richness that is very wedding worthy.... :)

Almost Finished!

2010-01-31T19:16:00.004-05:00

Darling daughter came to visit and I was able to do a full fitting. The ties were tightened and the dress fit perfectly! The variety of bodice options were pinned and analysed, and in the end the lace overlay with pearls sewn in place was the choice. We finished the empire waistline with a tidy satin ribbon, and reworked the gathers in the skirt to the design in the last photo. So far they are safety pinned in place, but I will stitch them in place with some pearl beads to hide the stitches. I was able to finish the seams and stitch down the facings, so everything is in place and there are no more pins in the dress! Next step is the pearl (and sequins if I can find some) added to the lace bodice, then stitch the gathers, then sew the bottom hem!

Pause.

2010-01-28T19:45:00.012-05:00

I am not working on the wedding dress tonight. I will see my daughter tomorrow and we will do a fitting and get the go ahead for the next step, the final details...

As an interlude, I was browsing through OLD photos. (pre-digital camera days, before computers, but a bit after dinosaurs). My sweet hubby has been amusing himself in these long golf-drought days, by scanning all my photos from years ago (years and years) and I have found a few sewing examples that may amuse you while you wait for more wedding dress photos!
This is a bean bag chicken! It was back in the days when all the cool dudes had bean bag chairs and mellowed out to the Eagles and Supertramp. I made our blue beanbag chair into a big chicken and Tim thought it was great.

This photo is my sister's wedding in 1984. I made her dress (the first of many wedding dresses I made in the 80's) and the three bridesmaid gowns (that's me at the back). I was 5 months pregnant and made my dress the week before the wedding. It fit that day, and when I tried it on the week after, I could not do it up! Such a fitted design! You could see the puff sleeve and teal colours were the style of the day!
This is a rare photo of the soft sculpture critters that I made for sale at several retail gift shops around Ontario. It was part of my cottage industry job (that included wedding gowns) that allowed me to work from home and raise my two small children, until they were in school. All the things you see in the photo were designed, and sewn solely by me. I made thousands of these over 4 years, but rarely arranged and snapped a shot!
Of course, I made lots of Halloween costumes, but here are a few... the whole away team from star trek... 6 costumes custom fit to me and 5 friends.... along with wicked makeup!

Kids costumes... Batman, and a princess on her own horse!
And my best makeup masterpiece! Sweet daughter with psycho yellow eyes and white skull!

And by the way, I have enabled the comment link, so feel free to leave your thoughts, you need not have an account to leave a message! Love to get feedback!

New Bodice Designs.... Lace and Lacing....

2010-01-26T21:55:00.001-05:00

I attached the lacing loops to the dress as so...
then secured a facing and flipped it inside, still pinned, I laced the lacing and tacked in an inset fabric (so as not to show the bare back through the lacing). This will be sewn to one side and hook and eye to the other side.

Still trying to work out the perfect bodice decoration. Here are two thoughts, both just pinned to try each one on.

The first is a version of the original, without the sweetheart shaping. Not sure if it is smooth and fitting enough (too bulky?) and not sure how to define the shape enough with this, but maybe tacking it down everywhere, hmmmm.

The second is a lace version, with perhaps some overlaid leaves (like the flower detail) and some sewn on beads (swarovski and pearls). This look is form fitting with texture, but not bulk. I have added some lace under the corset lacing on the back too. We will see which she likes at the fitting this weekend. Then attach while she is here and start the beading details.

Details, details....

2010-01-23T16:38:00.000-05:00

I spent an hour making tubes. These are for the loops attached to the back opening and the ties that hold the back closed... think old fashioned corset lacing...

The secret to making this easy is a tube - turner. This is a long plastic stick that has a way to attach the fabric to make turning the tube easy. I made two sets of these, one about 1 cm wide and one 1.5 cm wide and both very long.

Next I started pining the over drape to the bodice. Two pieces that cross at the front with some gathering for shape, and two more gathered pieces for the back of the bodice. Right now they are just pinned in place, but will be hand stitched to hold them where we want them, and force the folds to lie where they look best.

In the photo you can also see the bottom of the skirt, where I have lifted and pinned lots of little tucks in the over skirt to the under skirt. This gives the skirt more body and draping.

Dress Form

2010-01-21T11:38:00.000-05:00

I was luck enough to borrow a dress form from a friend, and after making it the bride's exact size, I put on the gown. Here is the photo of the dress in progress. The flower is pinned to the hip, the bodice is still plain (without the rouched details) and it is without the underlining crinolin. Still, I think it looks nice... :)

Garment Bag

2010-01-20T21:50:00.000-05:00

Since we will be travelling to Jamaica for the wedding, and I will be taking it to Waterloo for fittings, I thought I would make a garment bag to transport it safely around. I had a length of purple taffeta left over from bridesmaid gowns years ago, and bought a long zipper. I cut it to 5.5 feet, and sewed the zipper up the long outer edges (to join the length into a tube). I then folded it flat with the zipper up the center (right sides together) and stitched the bottom seam across, and the top seam angled a bit like a hanger with 3 inches open at the center top to allow for the hanger.

Flip it right side out, and press the seams.

The Dress Begins

2010-01-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

With all the necessary ingredients at hand, and a few hours free... I begin. The wonderful silky fabric is laid out across the pool table (makes a perfect cutting table)

and all the pieces are marked and cut. I used a basic empire waist pattern with some drape at the waistline, and cut it 20 inches longer to allow for the lifting and tacking of the skirt in the design that we want, and further cut the back another 20 inches more, to leave the option of a small train and bustle. This is not absolutely the plan but we will try it for style and cut it off if we don't want that look. It's great to have lots of flexibility with the design.

Here the tucks are made on the front some on the right but most on the left hip...

The bodice has boning in several spots and grosgrain ribbon to stabalize the under-bust. The fabric is a little stretchy, but there are some spots that you don't want too much stretch. I also added a small pocket (yes, I have a thing for pockets) and it will be in the folds under the left side gathers, just under where the decorative flower will be. Good for hotel key and a lippy!

So the main part of the dress is assembled, mostly in basting stitch to allow for changes. I still need to assemble the lining and tack it into place before the first big fitting (this weekend I hope!)

The Sketch

2010-01-10T19:06:00.000-05:00

The wedding dress starts with the sketch....

It is based on several trips to bridal salons, and browses through wedding magazines. The top like this, the waistline like that, the hem like this, and the details like that....

The details may change along the way as we do fittings together, but you really need the basic cut to be perfect!

Next step will be cutting and basting the bodice and cutting and sewing the skirt (too long so we can rouch it up later).... They won't be pinned together until I have the bride to work the pinning on in person. (She is away for a couple of weeks).

Stay tuned.....

Sewing Machine is Overheating!

2010-01-10T16:55:00.000-05:00

Not really overheating, but I have used two 250m thread spools and I am halfway through two more, in my race to finish my quilt... I want it done and cleared up before starting with the same focus on the wedding dress. I don't want dark cotton threads caught up in the white silk seams!

I stopped in at "Gone to Pieces", my local quilt s shop to pick up the batting and backing fabric required to finish the quilt. (The front side was made from quilt squares aquired during my Lancaster, Pennsylvania trip in the summer.) Nancy at the shop was helpful and chatty and even had a sale lingering from the post-Christmas clearances! Good deals.

I have the front in nine 20 inch squares, so the plan was to cut the batting and backing to 20 inches, sandwich together and machine stitch in a couple of cool pattern stitches along the blocks in the squares. The size is easy to handle on my machine and I have 8 of the 9 done as I write this (taking a break after four straight hours over the machine this afternoon!). The next step after I finish the last square is to cut 2.5 inch strips of front fabric and back fabric, attach the strips between the 20 inch squares, and place 2 inch batting in the chanel, then top quilt stitch along the strip to hold all the layers together. These will be only 22 inches in from an edge, so a bit of roll of the quilt should allow it to fit on my regular sewing machine. Last step is binding the edge.

I have always made my quilts with a machine for the pieces, but hand-quilted the layers together. I love that look, but it is very time consuming, and my new Janome makes the machine quilting fun and cool.

Sewing Tuesdays

2010-01-06T07:39:00.000-05:00

Now that golf is done and the long winter looms, and the Christmas duties are over, I can finally use my one afternoon off a week to really hit the sewing machine and put a dent in my pile of sewing projects....

I finished the batik jelly roll placemats, and ended up with seven of them (one was sacrificed for the cute notebook cover from last week!). Here are a couple of photos. I used the interesting quilting stitches that my machine is capable of Janome (mode 2 - 29 and 33).

I also spent an hour designing the simple bodice pattern for my daughter's WEDDING DRESS. I cut it from scrap fabric first and made two before I liked the shape and it fit the measurements....

Soon I will cut the beautiful white silk and begin. :)

I also hemmed five pants for a friend (a short one), and arranged the 73 quilt blocks into the order I like best, labeled for sewing (to keep them in the order I want while sewing together).

All in all it was a good sewing day, and I rewarded myself with some knitting and watching The Devil Wears Prada on DVR in the evening!

Love Tuesdays.

Bridal Fabric Flower - Instructions

2009-12-27T21:12:00.000-05:00

I am beginning to think and plan the wedding dress... My daughter will be married in May in Jamaica, and our goal is to make a simple, elegant, tropical weight gown, with all the details that she loves.

Last week we took a trip to Ottawa Street in Hamilton (Ontario), the famous fabric district of Hamilton. There are several shops on one block that have bridal fabrics of great selection and amazing prices. We were looking for a medium weight, silk look, with a glow that is not as much as satin. There were a few that would have been fine, but one seemed just right and we brought it home.

With Christmas, I put it aside until today. One of the details she was wondering about is a large fabric flower with pearls and crystals as an attachment to her left hip, where the draped fabric appears gathered to the side. I thought I may have fun trying my hand at creating this piece as inspiration.

Requires: Fabric scraps, "wonder under" (iron on fusing interfacing), floral wire, beads and pearl accents. Hot glue gun.

I started with two scraps of fabric. On the wrong side of one, I lay 8 4-inch peices of floral wire, as in the photo. I then fused one side of wonder-under to the back of the second piece and peeled the paper off, then ironed it over the wire to the wrong side of the first (sandwiching the wire between the layers.).

Then I sketched petal shapes on the outside and topstitched with tight, satin zig zag stitch around the shapes, leaving the wire sticking out the narrow end of the petal.
Carefully cut close to the stitching to release each petal.

Gather the ends together and use hot glue to secure in a bunch (you can wrap a bit more wire there too).

String some crystals onto some wire and secure in a little loop with 5 or 6 beads in the loop. Twist the ends to secure the beads. I made three of these.

I also found some pearl strings already on nylon wire, but you could string your own pearls too.

Then glue the pearls strands under the petals and fasten the crystal loops under a small circle of fabric glued to the center of the flower. Bend and shape the petals to make even and pretty.

This flower is about 6 inches across, and may be further embelished (more petals, more beads, and maybe feathers) when we actually come to attach it to the dress (near the end of the dressmaking process). At least we have something pretty to look at for now.... :)

New Laptop - New Quilted Cover!

2009-12-25T09:04:00.001-05:00

Look at the beauty that Santa brought me!

It is a ten inch notebook, for travelling... email and blogging on the road (I hope that the road trips increase in frequency to allow many, many uses of this cute thing!)

So off I went to make a quick quilted cover for the new baby. As previously posted, I had made a layer of pieced fabric, ready for placemats, but I knew I would have lots, and was suddenly willing to sacrifice a mat or two for my new laptop. I cut the rectangle twice as large as the computer, adding about 1.5 inches all around to allow for seams and shrinking due to quilting. Then I cut a double thick batting to match and backing about 1.5 inches bigger than that.

Next I quilted across the stripes in a spacing that produced squares. I used a fancy quilting stitch (Janome 6600, mode 2, #61) to make these parallel lines, but a plain straight stitch or hand quilting would work.

Then I used a straight stitch to quilt on the seam lines of the stripes.

Straight stitch around the outside of the whole piece, then fold the lining over to finish the edges and topstitch.

Zipper:

I attached a chunky separating zipper to the wide open side, using a decorative stitch, then used the same stitch to topstitch down both sides of the case. Nice.

Two New Projects

2009-12-20T17:08:00.000-05:00

I have had some time with the sewing machine, and have started two things....

First, pretty "jelly roll" of 2.5 inch quilt fabric I brought home from Lancaster, Pennsylvania this summer.

I have assembled the strips into a large, almost 2 yard long piece of fabric. The intention of this is to make new placemats. I will cut across the strips and reassemble into 2 inch squares.

The second is a really creative project. It starts with some fabric pieces given to me by a knitting friend. The fabric is a slightly shiny crinkle taupe fabric, that is a bit stiff. There is enough for a front and back of a coat, but not enough for sleeves. My friend and I discussed the option of making the coat with knitted sleeves and collar, so she went into her knitting stash and found some chunky chenille that matches.

I brought it all home and knit a swatch out of the yarn, and with some experiment, decided to quilt the crinkle fabric to make it as thick as the chunky yarn. I purchased this co-ordinating fabric that will be used to back the quilting.

Chenille knitted swatch, on 6mm needles, gauge 14 sts = 4 inches.

The crinkle fabric without quilting.

The different quilting stitches I was fooling around with.

You can see the basic coat pattern (in red) I will use, adding a pair of pockets and a belt and loops (think trench coat)....

Stay tuned to see this step by step coat production.

Quilting Progress

2009-12-12T21:38:00.002-05:00

Just spent a few hours chugging away at the center panel of the quilt. It is a turtle motif, and I used a Hawaii quilt pattern, which is done by folding the fabric into eight triangles (think eight slice pizza) and cutting half a turtle (like the old paper doll chains or snowflakes from grade school!).

I then topstitched in zig zag around the shell pattern, and then cut the spaces in between.

Eventually quilting between the shell shapes will have the whole shell pop, and should look pretty cool.

Here it is lying on top of some of the squares that will surround the center panel.

I still am undecided as to which way to assemble all the pieces. So far I am just enjoying the small random square assembly. I love the black, tan, burgundy and beige colour way.

Quick Sew Top

2009-12-07T07:22:00.000-05:00

The slinky bronze colour fabric picked up in the remnant rack last month, has turned into this....

It is from an old Simplicity pattern, with three pieces, the front and back with slight dolman sleeves, and only top of arm seams and side seams. The sloppy turtleneck is single thickness, with topstitched hem. I used a narrow, close spaced zig zag stitch throughout so that the fabric remains stretchy even along the seams. Nice, non-fray knit, made it easy to start and finish in less than one hour!

Arizona Turquoise

2009-11-29T14:15:00.000-05:00

I spent a half hour stringing this....

Love it!

Arizona Beads

2009-11-28T17:13:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a week away in Phoenix, Arizona, and was captivated by the turquoise beaded necklaces. I love the multi-stranded ones, and after a few times seeing them, checked out the prices. Shock was the result, when I found them to be $200 for ONE strand. I thought turquoise was common stone, especially in Arizona. Luckily it is common in the craft shops and I snagged all these beads of real turquoise for a grand total of $21.

I will follow with a photo of the lovely finished necklace in a day to two.... :)

Quilt Squares

2009-11-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

I have been working on some quilt squares, using a method called shuffle the deck. The book explains a simple technique where you have 8 squares, and using the rotary cutter, cut irregular lines and shuffle the top colour down one or two layers to mix the patterns. The squares are layered dark then light then dark then light.... so the patterns show contrasting tones.

I am enjoying the squares and the one of a kind results. Each square is 7 inches, and the colours I chose are tan, black and burgundy.

There is a photo of the basic cutting and assembly technique for the squares.

It seams a huge project if you look to do it all at once, but I have been able to sit down to the sewing machine for an hour or two and churn out a few blocks, then work on some other sewing project. Eventually I will get enough done to have to consider assembling and finishing the quiting part.

Knit Dress and Jacket

2009-11-03T17:25:00.000-05:00

Burda 7580, turned out great in this abstract print. I used a stretch decorative topstitch to finish the necklines and hems quickly and still allowing stretching if needed. The facing for the jacket was lined with fusible interfacing, then the seam trimmed really close and ironed to back before the topstitching.

A very easy pattern, I will use it again. The two pieces took about 2 hours to complete. Nice.

Coat Finished!

2009-11-01T15:23:00.001-05:00

The hems and the buttons are now done, and the photos show the nice results...

Now I just have to wait for the weather to get a bit colder (no rush - really!). The big shawl collar is a bit wide and open, but a great scarf will work well, and of course I have LOTS of those!

Fabric Shopping!

2009-10-29T10:22:00.000-04:00

I was at Fabricland last evening, sourcing out my next projects... The coat is almost done, just hems and buttons and hand stitching left. The fabric I found is amazing. They had a great sale of buy one, get two free, and I snagged a lovely brown poly blend suiting, 3 meters for $17, and some knit fabric, 3 meters for $15! The knit is a funky abstract print in taupy brown and mauve, and the pants fabric is a similar taupy brown. I also found 2 meters of remnant in a shimmery stretch knit, also a brown to match.

The suit fabric will be Anne Klein Vogue 2987 pants. Not sure if there will be enough for the Jacket too, if there is I will do that, otherwise a vest pattern to match will be found.

The print will be a dress and jacket combo from Burda 7580.

The slinky knit will be a drapey top.

I just love the planning of the projects. The fabric is wonderful and everything is mix and match, so the pants should work well with the knit jacket!

Chapter One - the Machine

2009-10-26T22:14:00.000-04:00

The inspiration for this new blog is my new machine. It is a Janome 6600. A lovely sewing/quilting machine that is loaded with features and designed to make sewing quick and easy. The computerized stitches and the press button on and off, and the needle up or down, and the knee triggered presser foot, all intrigued me. I have never had a machine that did not need a foot peddle. It comes with one, but I have not opted to hook it up.

I wanted to try some complicated pattern, and some challenging fabric, so my first project is a lined winter coat. The fabric is thick melton in charcoal and the lining a batik in blue and grey and cream. The pattern is a Vogue coat, # 8307, the middle length. The adjustments I made (and I usually customize the patterns in some way) is to add side pockets with a placket to define the pocket, and add a back placket trim to define the waistline. Also I have added a pocket inside on the lining, for keys or wallet if I don't want to carry a purse. My theory is you can never have too many pockets!

The coat with lining installed and topstitched around big collar...
The side pocket, top-stitched placket and cool lining....

Still to finish: hems and final top-stitching and big buttons on front. This new machine can sew through four layers of thick melton with no hesitation! What a delight.

Prologue: the early years.

2009-10-22T11:26:00.000-04:00

Although many of you know me as a knitter (blogging here), my earliest creations were all sewing! I first held a needle and thread at age 6, at a neighbour's house. I was playing with a friend (forget her name!) and her mom was doing some hand sewing (remember that!). I asked what she was doing and she offered some fabric scraps, and a threaded needle for me to try. I remember asking her to re-thread the needle several times as I worked a hand stitched seam around three sides of a small square. It was messy and the stitches too far apart (I was in a rush to finish) but I finished a small pouch, that I put my best treasures in (pennies, marbles, etc).

From that age, I begged my mother for scraps of fabric, and confiscated any old clothing to cut into something else. I made clothes for dolls and bears and once had a camp of hammocks and sleeping bags for ALL my dolls and animals. Fabric was fantastic! It could be anything!

I wanted my Mother to let me use her sewing machine, but she insisted it was for adults only. I mastered a good sturdy straight stitch, and chain stitch and a few decorative stitches by hand, and by the age of 9 had finally worn Mom out. She bought me a kid's sewing machine for Christmas. It did a chain stitch that often did not catch fully, and unraveled. It was operated with a hand crank, and I had to hold back the speed I would have liked to crank it, because it slipped the chain too easily at a higher speed. With this I made lots of things, rag dolls and puppets and more accessories for the toys. I even took it on vacation, I could not bear to be away from it for three weeks!

I only had it for a year when I successfullly explained the limitations of such a toy, and convinced Mom that I could take lessons in sewing, and could use her machine like the mature 10 year old that I had become! The lessons were with a neighbour, Bonnie, and I worked through a simple mini-skirt pattern, with waistband and zipper! We did this over several evenings, learning to follow a pattern and all the different skills involved in completing the project! I then made a button up shirt and a pair of pants with her, before I graduated (with honours) from her course.

After that, I made a lot of my own clothes, and Mom did less sewing, opting for my expertise in alterations and hemming. She was more than supportive of my sewing habit.

Mom also tried to teach me knitting, and I got it just fine, but seriously, why would I want to knit a sweater for one month when I could sew a top in one day!??? I took up knitting again at University, when I had learned patience, and wanted to avoid doing Physics homework for hours (and days)!

When I was 13, I sewed puppets (very like the Sesame Street Muppets) and sold them door to door at Christmas time (I think I charged $2.00, but the fabrics were from recycled clothing! I was green before the trend was even invented!). The only item I have kept is a favourite rag doll , made from old clothes and weird colours, sewn with felt mouth and eyes and of course a big pink heart. This one was made when I was 12, and I am sure it was stuffed with bits of fabric and foam chips and maybe even ripped pantyhose (I am too afraid to disect him to find out!)

I learned to quilt at the age of 17, taking a class with the same neighbour, Bonnie. She was also a knitter, and in later years we got together to share knitting ideas and sources and to compare finished garments (early stitch and bitch tea parties). When I was home with my young children, I made wedding dresses and did other sewing for friends, then referrals, and had a nice little business going from my home. It allowed me to stay home with my little ones until they were ready for school, and I was ready to work outside the home.

Now, years later, when semi-retirement looms, I anticipate picking up the sewing business again. I really enjoyed that time and would love to get back to what I really love to do. Life comes full circle....