Developing the Love of Sewing - Trolls

What is it about sewing that is so engaging?  What were your first sewing projects?  Why do some of us remember sewing with such great pleasure while others found it to be horribly frustrating?

For me, those first projects were dolls and small stuffed animals.  We used to draw figures onto old sheets, cut around them, sew around them, stuff them with....old pantyhose(waste not want not) and Voila a new friend to play with was born.  

learning to sew with fun simple projects

My dear mother is the treasure keeper.  She has managed to preserve objects from my childhood which are only passed on to me when she deems that I will care enough to continue to care for them.  One of my motto's in life is..." Have I used this in the last 2 years? No! Than I can get rid of it"  You might not know that I have an abhorrence of clutter when you visit my studio, but I dislike cluttered, closets, drawers and cupboards.  This causes my Mother to act with due discretion when passing on objects that she has kept safely tucked away until she feels I would deem it important enough to continue to treasure it as well.

A number of years ago she presented me with some of the clothes I had made for myself as a child along with dolls and their wardrobes.  Whenever you received a doll from my mother it came with a complete wardrobe and of course a case to store it all in.  What a Gift!!

Here I am in midlife and these items have become very dear to me.  In fact I find myself, like many others stalking ebay and etsy to find my lost treasures.  Those items that were simply so abused by use they just didn't survive my childhood.  

Needless to say some of those items were sewing patterns.  

This pattern, recently found on ebay is one of those treasured patterns.  The trolls name is Melodie and we had many adventures together, most of them in am orange Jeep actually, but all of them in garments made from this pattern, McCalls 7589 Felt Togs for Trolls.  My sisters and I made so many of these garments over the years that the patterns were transferred to cardboard(discarded cereal boxes) several times.  

They are simple, clever and oh so flippn cute!!!

Believe it or not you used to be able to find lovely wool felt at your local fabric store, alas no more, but rest assured I will  be ordering felt shortly so that Melodie can model some new togs.

I am curious, Did you sew from patterns as a child or like to make your own?

Do you know a child who enjoys sewing small things?

Did you develop a love of sewing as a child or later in life?

Sewing Cafe-Retirement Pillow Project

 Judy A(student of sewing cafe) came up with this brilliant gift idea.

A Pillow made from men's ties.

Her brother retired recently after 40 years of teaching.  What was the first thing on his retirement agenda but to get rid of all of his ties.  Judy scooped them up to make this memorable gift.  

She opened them all up and then crazy quilted them on to a muslin backing.

Once she had the front complete I went through my fabric stash to find these complimentary cording and backing pieces. So masculine right?

Easy project, Great gift!

Beach Quilt Completed

Perhaps you have forgotten about my quilting/home decor project?

There were certainly times this winter when I had, but I am determined to finish some of my current projects, before adding any more to the list.  

Like most projects it started with a dream, a dream to have a summer quilt that reflected  the coastlines from which Chuck and I hail from....Florida and California respectively.

It began with this pattern.

I am a sucker for stars, diamonds, and lots and lots, of small pieces

I collected fabrics for over a year.  Batiks that reflected the sea and sand.

It all finally culminated in this....

It reminds me of beach glass

I did the top quilting myself with a simple orange peel pattern.
The large overlapping circles reminds me of drops on water.
I marked the pattern with a frixion pen and stitched it using my walking foot on my Bernina

I love the backing, a warm cream with swirls of sand on it.

What inspires your quilting?
A place?
A pattern?
A fabric?
A friends quilt? 

Summer Fun and the sewing is easy

Much to my complete delight my daughter has returned from her travels to Australia, New Zealand and Bali
Hooray!!
She came bearing gifts.....like having her home isn't enough - lol

These 3 beautiful batiks came from Bali

This incredibly delicious cocktail from New Zealand

recipe to follow I promise

But seeing her sewing......tops it for me.

It's nice to know you have been able to pass on some of your skills to the next generation and although Sule'

was not particularly interested in sewing as a child when a project came up that she could help on she jumped right in:)

In the North woods of Wisconsin Water skiing shows and clubs are a standard part of the summer fun.  When one of our local clubs  The ChainSkimmers needed help with the show Sule' offered her services designing some quick and easy western can can girl costumes for the "jazz line"

She created these from some pre-existing cami's that the girls had used in previous years adding the ribbon to  create a corset look .  

Throw on a sparkly red skirt over some black tights and you are ready to water ski.

or in my case go to bed because......with her busy schedule we did not start sewing until 9pm, not that I was doing the sewing...well creating an easy skirt pattern and providing some basic instructions maybe....but the machine time was all her!

Cute right?

If you live in the area I highly recommend you see the show this year.  It's especially fun for the kids.

and if not......enjoy the cocktail:)

St. Germain Aromatic Elixir Recipe:

Muddle 5 Red seedless grapes in a glass 

Add crushed ice

Add 1 shot of fresh lemon juice

1 shot of gin

1 shot of St Germain Elderflower Liqueur

Fill the glass with sparkling water

Throw in a splash of cranberry or grape juice - this is optional as it just adds the pretty color

Place a small mint sprig between your hands and clap them together - this releases the minty aroma - now garnish the glass with it.

Let me know your thoughts on this cocktail friends

Have you ever participated in a water-ski show....local theater perhaps?

Denim Floor Mats

Today I made a bra for my mother....which I cannot share with you....because that just seems a little weird, but once that was done I completed a project that has been kicking around in the back of my head for years....literally.  

Do you have projects like that?  

This one began with an article in Martha Stewart Living magazine.  Before the regular use of the internet I would clip articles out of magazines and file them...yes I know...file them under subject.  

This article went into my home dec. file and was for making a rug using strips of denim from old jeans and was described like this :

 "This fluffy rug, so welcoming to bare feet, is made from hundreds of strips of denim. The frayed edges in shades of blue, gray and white create subtle modulations in color"

Denim Fringe Floor Mat from recycled jeans

Not being sure if I would like it enough to sew "hundreds" of denim strips to make an entire floor rug, I opted to try it out on a few floor mats for the back of our jeep.

My floor mats measure 18 x 20 and required 3 pant legs each. 

Torn denim strips

These are so easy to make and so worth the mindless sewing.  Put some good music on, invite a friend over or watch an old movie while you stitch denim strips...for that matter do all three.  

Denim floor mat in situ:)

We are in total rug love here in the studio.....seriously Chuck wants them in our bathroom because it is "welcoming to bare feet"  Peg is ripping jeans as I type( no doubt) to make some as gifts for the kids, and I am mesmerized by the " subtle color modulation" 

Do you "file" projects or "pin" ?

Have you completed any stalled projects lately? 

Craftsy BOM - April

This is me playing blogging catch up....my bad:)

Don't be surprised if you see a flurry of posts, all things I wanted to share with you in April but just couldn't get my blogging mojo going. 

This post features my Block of the Month for April....yes April...and here we are mid May!!

and no I have not even started my May blocks.....but I have started my beach quilt...:D but more on that a little later.

This first block for April is called " Hexi Stripe Block" and it used paper templates.

After printing the template up I made copies out of freezer paper which I than ironed onto my fabric scraps.

I enjoy doing this kind of hand work in the evening don't you?

It's so relaxing.

The 2nd block for this month, was a bit of a free for all using the hexagon.

I did not care for the pattern that our instructor Amy had chosen, so after playing with the templates for a bit I settled on this.  I think it will work better with the rest of the blocks, but time will tell.  In fact it just may be time to attempt a picture of the completed blocks together.  

For those of you taking this free class, are  you keeping up each month, or have you become sidetracked with some other fabulous project? 

March Madness means...Lorax?

 I am sure by now we are all familiar with Lorax.  

The adorable Dr. Suess character and some of us may actually be familiar with the story.  

But I have my own Lorax story to relate...

It begin's with a sweet friend of mine, Cherie. 

Cherie's school is having some "March Madness" days at her school

One of these days involves dressing up as her favorite character....enter the Lorax.

This is where I come into the tale as well....who better to help with a Lorax costume than a friend who sews..and has been known to sew costumes, at that!

Has Cherie sewn before I ask.....

No!

When is this dress up day......I ask with a slight tremor in my voice ( I will admit to this)

Next Week is the reply.....

Oh......is my reply......let's go talk with Mom to talk schedule......

The gist of that discussion is Cherie and I have one afternoon to explore our creativity and teach Cherie how to sew....seriously no problem ( with a little more tremor this time)

The challenge...it must be inexpensive to downright cheap.  It must be a beginning sewing project and it must be accomplished in one afternoon.....

A run to the dreaded Wal-mart  yields an exciting piece of orange flannel at a cut rate price and the drive home solidifies the plan.

I do some of my best problem solving while driving....anyone else?

First thing was first, I had to teach Cherie how to use a sewing machine, my Singer 401 to be exact.

While she practiced sewing on paper and than graduated to seams, I cut out the body of the costume. 

I thought I had a hood pattern, but alas it was not the case,  so while Cherie started sewing the long front and back seams of her costume I drafted a hood pattern.

While I sewed the hood on Cherie cut the yarn for her mustache.

This was the part of the costume Cherie was looking forward to the most....apparently she has a bit of a thing for mustaches....who knew?

Our original plan was to put the eyebrows on the hood...well my original plan was to maybe skip the eyebrows altogether...but "we" decided it must have them, and on the hood simply would not do.

I created a buckrum form using Cherie's glasses for a template, which we then hot glued the yarn to and trimmed in a funky manner.  They are held onto her glasses by 2 clear elastic loops at the outside edges and a tab in the center which wraps around to the back and closes with a small bit of Velcro.

We had so much fun.  Cherie is a quick study and didn't she do a great job?  

This entire costume took us a little over 4 hrs to make and cost $15.00 in materials

It's quick and dirty...no seam finishes...oh my, 

but I think/hope it will be a big hit for her at school.

Cherie tells me her mom is still laughing and so are we:)

Projects like this are a challenge for me because I like to take the long thoughtful approach to my sewing.  I contemplate ways to add a new technique, expand a skill...in general try to create a Haute Couture garment from even the "simplist" project.  It was so much fun though to step out of my routine.

How about you all, do you like these types of fast and furious projects?

Men's Casual shirts - A Student Accomplishment

 This month in the studio a student of mine .....dear Elizabeth, made these shirts for her beau.  He has an upcoming trip to Hawaii and she thought he should have appropriate attire for the occasion.

The skills learned during this project were:

1.  Crisp and proper pockets ( Elizabeth's pride and joy)

2. Buttonholes

3. Collars

4. Top stitching with doubled thread

5. How to cut and mark difficult fabrics ( the blue bamboo)

6. Cutting out a garment with a rotary cutter instead of scissors.

7. Altering the pattern based on a shirt we knew fit him well.

8. Using a serger/over lock machine.  Blade engaged and not engaged, convex and concave curves.

Here they are neatly folded and ready to be gifted:)

These are not her first shirts mind you....I believe her 2nd or 3rd if memory serves.  Her first were more difficult dress shirts and although accomplished successfully, she desired, as do we all, to improve on her first results.  In particular the quality of her pocket .  Additionally she wanted to try her hand at a slightly more difficult fabric.  This pattern was a wise choice for these goals because the simplicity of the shirt allows you to focus on the new skills, while not becoming overwhelmed by the whole project.

Both were made from the same pattern.  Repeating the same task is very helpful in learning new skills, conquering them and imprinting them into your new skill sets.

This shirt is made from Bamboo, it was the 2nd to be made due the higher difficulty level.  The fabric behaves like a rayon challis and is quite a bit more squirreley(so not a word apparently imagine that ..) then previous projects Elizabeth worked on.

This first version is hemp and you can see has quite a bit more body then the bamboo.  It was the perfect training ground. The fabric was easy to work to sew and press.

The shirt has a minimal amount of top stitching but Elizabeth chose to add this small touch at the shoulder line.  She learned how to use 2 threads through her needle to achieve a bolder line.  

Inside each shirt pocket she placed a small hand embroidered initial.

How romantic.

Less romantic was learning how to use the serger.  

This is one of the advantages to learning in my studio, important equipment, like the serger to try out. Multiple machines, various notions and tools are all ready at hand.

This button and button hole are one of the many new things that Elizabeth conquered on this project.  

She used a new tool for these as well, my singer buttonhole attachment which provides a beautiful rounded on both ends proper shirt/dress buttonhole.  This was accomplished on my Singer 401.

  Another hurdle conquered as she learned how to thread and operate yet another machine.

This beautifully pink machine is Elva Mae and belongs to Elizabeth...of course.  

This is the machine she primarily used for this project.

Here it is threaded for that double thread top stitching.  

This machine has such a beautiful even feed, a lovely stitch and the smoothest pedal action.  No delay at all and it can sew incredibly slowly.  It does a rather wide zig zag and the the feed dogs can be dropped.  The only downside is that the needle position is to the far left.....which takes some getting used to and limits the types of feet you can use with it.  It is as heavy as the dickens and will be awesome no doubt for free motion quilting.

Craftsy Block of the Month - February

My Craftsy.com blocks for February are certainly bright and beautiful thanks to a very recent fabric purchase at Marmalade.
This block was made using  Lou Lou Thi by Anna Marie Horner ( the aqua bits) and Tonal Kaleidoscope by Michael Miller ( the orange bits)

I learned a new technique for sewing half square triangles on this Balken Puzzle Block.  It is quick but leaves you with bias edges on all your squares!  Not something I would recommend to beginners as they are more apt to stretch those edges while pressing and sewing.  If you have a lot of experience handling difficult fabrics though I would recommend you try this technique.

My Chunky Chevron Block, which I do love  has 2 prints from my January blocks and the chunky chevron bit also from Marmalade is Lark from Amy Butler.

This block also used half square triangles but a different technique for sewing them up and one I had used before.  Amy Gibson ( our instructor) has you cut the squares 1/2" larger then necessary which gives you plenty of room for squaring them up.  I rather liked that actually.  

These classes do assume that you know how to rotary cut squares and strips, as well as know how to sew an accurate 1/4" seam.  But outside of that I think Amy does a fine job of showing you the steps.  Like most experienced sewers, she makes it look quick and easy....you might want to slow down a bit so you are careful about your accuracy in cutting and sewing.  Several of the 40,000 participants were having difficulty with their finished  Balken Puzzle block size..this relates to that accurate cutting and sewing, it being more difficult to accomplish on all those bias edges.

Craftsy Block of the Month for January

I like to keep abreast with the big wide world of quilting.  Many of my students are quilters and I like to use quilting as a means of teaching accuracy in cutting and sewing.  Oh yeah and its fun.

So when I learned about the Craftsy.com Block of the Month class by Amy Gibson and learned that it was free...Well  what an opportunity to learn some new techniques and learn about Craftsy.com as well.

Each month, on the first of the month you learn by video tutorial and printable instructions how to make 2- 12 " blocks.  Once you are registered you can access the class at any time , as many times as you want and for as long as you want!  Such a Deal right?

Yesterday,  I sewed up my blocks for January.  

Presenting the Asterisk block - Lesson one in strip quilting....

and the Wonky # block.  Fun right?

I have been wanting to play with some bright and fresh colors and this project will provide the perfect opportunity.  

This is one of the aspects I enjoy about quilting it allows me to explore some fun and new color combinations.

This is a combination of some newly purchased fat quarters that I have mixed in with some stash fabrics.

I love the ric rack print:) Think I will need more of that:)

Then I found some awesome prints at Whipstitch that I want to add..but there are so many cool choices it will be fun deciding.

Quilting classes are not the only thing offered at Craftsy...in fact Susan Khalje is offering a dress course which I would highly recommend if you want to improve your garment sewing skills.  She is a knowledgeable instructor and for those of us in remote locations this is a great opportunity to take a class from her.

And have I mentioned that I have wanted to learn how to crochet....can you believe I don't know this already?

Have you taken any classes over at Craftsy yet?  

Which one?  

Do you quilt or are you a garment purist?

Are you a quilter, who we needs to be encouraged to sew garments?  Cuz  I love to help others broaden their skills and interests :)

Jasmine Blouse Review

The Jasmine blouse felt like a long journey, but I am pleased with the changes I made and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the project.
 It is my final Fall Palette Challenge piece, outside of a sweater I am still knitting.
 It's a good thing I am bringing my fall sewing to a close seeing as how we received our first snowfall this week....6" or more!  Most Alarming!

Jasmine blouse by Lynne Williams with revisions

 The fabric had a border pattern running across the grain about every 30" which required some planning. 

 I drew up a few sketches placing the border at various locations and ended up with this plan. 

 Placing it along the top of the pattern framed the neckline in front, and reminded me of a midi blouse.

Jasmine blouse by Lynne Williams with revisions

On the back you can see I placed the border just over the hem which I think accentuates the curves in my figure.

As mentioned in a prior post, the pattern is accurately made and the instructions are very easy to follow.  I can certainly recommend this pattern especially if you want to learn how to sew a bias cut garment.  

You will  learn  about working on the bias while keeping the project simple and not get yourself  overwhelmed.

I changed the length of the sleeve to fall below my elbow.  

A simple change - lengthen the sleeve pattern by the desired amount. 

Then I ran a gathering stitch around the hem edge and created a narrow 1/2" band to finish it.  

I used a strip from the border print to set it off.

My hem band was cut 2" x 9" and of course I cut 2.

I also brought the neckline in 1-1/2" towards my neck on each side.  I love the width of the original pattern, but it just was not flattering for my narrow little skull-lol, or maybe it is my lack of jaw....probably the combination.  If you can wear it wide by all means do so...its so lovely like that.

I also changed how the collar was made and assembled.  

The collar pattern has 2 parts a collar back and the collar front which lengthens into the tie. 

 You are instructed to cut 4 front collars and 2 back collars, like a standard collar.  Additionally it has a interfaced facing...front and back. 

 I am not a huge fan of facings, they tend to be difficult to control, additionally I did not think the collar laid particularly well, it wants to ripple along the outside edge.

Instead I chose to make the collar a sash cut on the bias and folded in half lengthwise. 

This causes the gentle roll, which lifts it upwards from the neckline and the outer edge lays nice with no rippling.

I then replaced the facing with a strip of self bias like you see on many knit necklines.

I plan on making another one of these blouses from one of my silks.  I just hope I have enough of this lovely periwinkle charmeuse I have had in my stash for about 20 years!!  It is one of those fabrics you love so much, you are afraid of doing the wrong thing with it. 

Do you have fabrics in your stash like that?.

My apologies for not having pictures of me wearing the blouse, its so much easier to slip it on my form and snap a picture and get blogging then setting up for a photo shoot.  I understand this is breaking a cardinal rule of good blogging...but it's so time consuming....plus it leaves me room for improvement-lol

Maybe one day I will have my act together enough to take wonderful fashion /location pictures like some of my favorite blogs....girls I think you know who you are.  I do so appreciate their efforts....one day.....one day.

Let's Dress up....in Costumes that is.

Now I am not a fan of Halloween as I like to avoid making light of death, demons, the devil and zombies.  But I do enjoy a good costume and dressing up is so much fun.  As attested to by these photos.

1966 Batman Mini me

 Todd Mello made this amazing mini replica costume for his son.  How cute is this?  

Tom did an amazing job and I am told that he used our Caped Crime Fighter Pattern  as reference,  

with the belt pattern being reduced down proportionally.

I was also informed that Todd had plans of a costume of his own, but ran out of time creating this super suit for his son.  

Having a husband who is a huge bat fan..I can appreciate the sacrifice that was made, but no doubt we can look forward to seeing the dynamic duo appear next year.

Really well done Todd, my cowl is off to you sir!

Paige Garrison as Marilyn Monroe

 Paige is a new student of mine and we have so enjoyed having her in our sewing group at Sewing Cafe.

Her mother taught her to use her machine, but she considers herself to be a beginner. 

She is fearless.  

This is not a project I would recommend to a beginner, but did she learn a lot...you bet!

 She had a party to attend with friends in Minnesota....friends who did not even recognize her I am told.

Paige Garrison as Marilyn Monroe

Well Done Paige!!

Looking forward to our next sewing adventure.

If you have any questions you would like me to ask our costume makers, please comment below and I will be sure to follow up.

My thanks to Todd Mello and Paige Garrison for sharing these photos with us.