I am in love...

Lately most of the sewing I have done has not been working out well. It has been incredibly frustrating that nothing I have tried has turned out the way I had hoped. That has helped make my newest attempt, which I loved immediately in its own right, even more exciting. I have been working on a quilt for a  friend's newest arrival. While I have made a handful of quilts, the have been mostly basic strip quilts that I have finished either by hand tying them or simply stitching along the seams of the strips. Inspired by a pile of quilts that I need to make (that correspond with a slew of new babies born this spring) I decided it was as good a time as any to try free motion quilting.  I was anxious to try something new, but given just how much time I have spent admiring so many of the gorgeous quilts on-line that someone else had made, i.e. like this one....

it just had to be tried. The above mermaid quilt is from a quilting blog I love reading, Oh, Fransson. I poured over her tutorial on free-motion quilting several times and finally decided to give it a go. Practice makes perfect so I took a few scraps from the current quilt top and from my stash and gave it a try. Below is my practice scrap front and back. It was much easier and less intimidating than I had thought. I have already started working on the actual quilt and I just love how it is turning out. More pictures to come. I have a feeling I am hooked!

My (not helpful) sewing assistant

I didn't let this last all that long, but his intentions were good.

LPH's Art Bag

I just loved 2 little hooligans' tutorial that she posted on making a Tote Bag awhile back. It got me thinking that it could be the perfect bag for my friend LPH's new art room/studio in her house. So 1st step was to find the perfect fabric. I absolutely love Heather Ross's fabric designs. When searching for some of her out of print fabrics on Etsy I came across the Mendocino collection and knew it would be perfect.  The trick was going to be how to including as many of the prints as I could without it being too over the top. I also used this bag as an opportunity to use some new sewing gadgets I had purchased. First up was making my own bias tape. 

I cut out strips on the bias and used the above gadget and an iron and suddenly custom bias tape. This was the easiest of the "new" techniques I tried.  Next up was figuring out how to use one of my new feet, a bias binder foot. It took a bit to figure it all out, but very worth it. Not once prior to using this foot was I able to get bias trim on anything successfully sewing both sides. Using this foot you can not only get it perfect on both sides, but also only sew it once instead of the usual two passes.  I can't believe I ever sewed bias tape without this foot- it makes it SO much easier!

 

The tutorial was easy to follow, and the rest of the bag went together pretty easy. I made a simple pencil case to go with it. I was able to incorporate more prints by using different fabrics for the pocket interiors

I loved how it all turned out in the end. The perfect items to hold the first of the Roaring Lion labels.  Happy creating LPH!

Label Conscious

   It is my first "Roaring Lion" label to be put into an item!!! The reveal of what I made will have to wait, as the recipient hasn't gotten her gift yet.

Upcoming excitement

It would be no exaggeration to say that I love picking out the fabric for a project just as much, if not more, than the actual project. I have a whole collection of new fabric that has arrived this week which means a whole collection of new projects to complete. Here is just a sampling of my newest fabrics......

Coat Rehab

I have had this navy coat forever and have kept it around because I have a sentimental attachment to it. But do you notice the ridiculous velcro blocks instead of buttons? I have not worn the coat for several years for this reason. Recently I came across the coat in my closet and had an idea. I thought if I could rip off the velcro I would then be able to put buttons in their place. I could resurrect it just in time to wear it this spring. I searched on-line and in fabric stores and just could not find the buttons I had envisioned. I was looking for something that would be able to complement the yellow piping in the pockets. I finally decided I could only find what I wanted if I made them myself.  I used these to make my own fabric buttons. For the fabric I used scraps I pulled from my stash, since I would not need that much material. I followed the simple instructions included in the kit, and in about 5 minutes, with no sewing involved, the buttons came out just like I wanted.

Next step was making the button holes. The buttons, at 1 1/2" were larger than the button hole foot on my sewing machine. Not to be deterred, I thought if I could some how piece two button holes together I would have a large enough opening. The first attempt at my "solution" did not show much promise.

But, having just bought myself a titanium seam ripper, I was prepared to painstakingly rip the whole thing out and start again. The second time went much better and  produced what I had envisioned in my mind.

I repeated the "double" button holes four times, being careful that the two holes slightly overlapped. I did this so that when I opened up the button hole I could rip through the seam in the middle and maintain the integrity of entire button hole. After sewing on the buttons.. MAGIC... I have a brand new coat

with, if I must say, some really cool buttons

Argyle Invasion

When my roommate after college started planning her sister's bachelorette party, I eagerly awaited the theme. I have enjoyed many a St. Patrick's day with these sisters, and over the years we have been all decked out in various costumes (think ridiculous yet awesome) , so I could not wait to find out what was in store for us to honor the upcoming nuptials. The theme was announced as a bar crawl, in the spirit of 9 holes of golf, and we were assigned to wear as much argyle as possible. Instantly I thought of some fabric I had being admiring for awhile and I had idea. I would make matching clutches for everyone, and in argyle no less, for the perfect addition to everyones' outfits! So I set about making 14 clutches using Noodlehead's gathered clutch tutorial. I even scored a pink golf cart ribbon on-line and the design all started coming together.
The first gathered front panel sewn....

And then one panel became 14 panels...

The maid of honor suggested I add a wrist strap; so everyone has less chance to lose the clutch during a night of drinking.  

Sewing that many purses was great practice for straight seams and adding zippers to an item. A bad habit I have is that of procrastination, and I waited way too long to finish the project. This meant I had to skimp on the interior purse lining by sewing an unfinished seam. Not something too noticeable, and it allowed me to make it to the party on time (I finished sewing at 5pm the day of the event, just enough time to shower and arrive 15 min late to the party). Here are a couple of shots of the final product in action, during what was an extremely fun night!

ps- The magic of the Internet allowed me to find thigh-high argyle socks, helping secure my win of "best dressed" for the evening :)