A Slipcover to beat all.

This tired tattered chair has been given a new life by my student Lisa.

Lisa is fairly new to sewing and quite honestly when she brought me this project I was frightened for her.  Sewing was a new skill for her when she learned how to take a pattern off of this existing slipcover.  She made a number of pillows, and two roman shades while her sister shopped for a fabric she liked for the new slipcover.

More fear ensued when I saw the chosen fabric.  A heavy upholstery weight which I knew her borrowed domestic kenmore would struggle to sew.  Not to mention my fears that Lisa would lose patience and get discouraged....after all this is a large chair, with a lot of cording....

I had no need to fear though.  Lisa has excellent fine motor skills and a great deal of patience especially for such a young woman.  She perservered with nary a complaint or tear.  Allthough she did buy herself a beautiful new Viking machine which handled the bulk quite well.  I understand though that she did end up having to hand sew the skirt to the body of the slipcover because the bulk would not allow her to stitch close enough to the cording.  Yes you heard me right...she hand sewed the two together through the bulk...her little fingers must be pretty blistered.

I am so impressed and excited for her.  Check out her sisters newly slipcovered chair

Amazing!! 

Please let Lisa know your impressions by commenting below.

The Final Friday of 2010

It was shockingly quiet during class today.  To begin with we had a quiet morning with Liz, Candy and I sewing along to movies. Then after lunch we failed to get the usual influx of sewing enthusiasts.  I guess the Holidays have people pretty tied up with other commitments. So you know ladies you were missed.  Lisa join us around 3pm to cut some bias for the 30 yards of cording she needs to slipcover her sister's giant chair.

She has a lot of bias to cut and then a lot of cording to sew.  She had to leave early though to look at a used Bernina machine that her local shop had just gotten in.  So maybe the next time we see her she will be using a "new" machine.  Always exciting!

Our first movie of the day was Young Victoria a beautiful costume extravaganza and while gazing longingly at jewel toned silk taffeta's Liz worked diligently on some warm winter gifts for her family. 

Liz made these from old wool sweaters, which she felted and  then cut apart.   The red mittens have needle felted polka dots applied prior to sewing them into mittens.

Fantastic Right?  If those aren't warm and toasty enough check out the cap.  Just love the pom pom on the top which is also made from a recycled wool sweater.

Our next film of the day was a Roy Rogers film from 1951 "Down Dakota Way".  I wonder if young boys would still enjoy these films? we certainly did.  Light hearted fun indeed.

Candy made wonderful progress on her coat. She is using McCall's 5717, now out of print.  The pattern she had purchased was one size to small for her so pattern adjustments were expected.  She began by making a muslin using craft felt to mimic the drape and weight of a coat. This is a trick I learned while working as a pattern maker for a furrier.  We tried her muslin on over a heavy sweater and determined that the fit through the neck and shoulder were ideal, but she needed a little more room through the body and sleeve to be comfortable over the bulky layers.  Adding 1" to the side seams and sleeve was the determined alteration.  By the end of Friday having previously cut the wool pieces out, she had completed two lovely pockets with flaps on her coat fronts. 

Nice yes?  Well done Candy. I think you are going to get a lot of use out of this coat, and no fear of the weather warming up before you get a chance to finish it.