Archive for the 'textiles' Category

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MY SCRAP BIN

Published on March 16, 2011 in scraps and textiles. 15 Comments Tags: scrap bin, scraps.

I’m trying to tackle my spring cleaning bit by bit. In this case, it’s keeping all my bits of fabric organized! A few months ago, I spent an entire night going through the mess of my scrap bin at home. I ironed, sorted everything by colour and then tied them up in bundles. Having an organized scrap bin has been the key to all the improv piecing I’ve been doing. I almost exclusively use scraps for my improv work. Now that my scraps are organized, I can grab the bundles of colours I want to work with and away I go!

My scraps are pieces I’ve collected from my clothing, quilting and other projects. Lucky for me, my scrap bin is also filled with scraps I’ve collected from many of YOU! If you’ve left behind a little bit of fabric at the workroom after a class that I didn’t have, I may have snatched it for my collection. Some of the smallest pieces are just two inches long and I have to say, I totally feel justified in keeping tiny pieces of very ‘rare’ or coveted fabrics.

Do you guys keep a scrap bin at home? Do you obsessively save every little bit?

The other part of my spring cleaning is my actual fabric stash. I’m partway through organizing, ironing and folding that. Once I’m done, I’ll take some photos to share with you. Fabric photography is one of my favourite things to do! (Can you tell?)

STAR-Y LOG CABIN CENTRES

Published on February 23, 2011 in patchwork and textiles. 10 Comments Tags: city limits, Liberty of London, mauvey, mrsmcporkchop, sawtooth star, star, star-y log cabin.

I had a chance to start working on my sawtooth star centres for the Star-y Log Cabin e-course I’m taking on Sunday. I couldn’t be more excited with how these blocks turned out!

I’m in love with the contrasting and bold (for me) colour palette that I’ve chosen. Plus, I’m getting to use some of my favourite fabrics. The addition of the Liberty of London Mauvey print (leftovers from this dress) for the star points really brings together all the colours. I’ve been slipping Liberty of London into my patchwork recently and there’s something about it that really shines. The prints and colours are always just so perfect and striking and lovely. (hmm… time to order more Liberty for the shop!)

As I was working away, fussy cutting those cute buildings from City Limits, I kept thinking that this is a brilliant design for a quilt! The concept is so simple and classic, but Amanda‘s unique approach and execution are what totally makes it. Amanda has been encouraging all her students to tell their own story with their patchwork and I’m really feeling a little story of my own coming together. Her weekly pdfs have been so energetic and full of great information that I can’t wait for them to arrive in my inbox each Thursday.

This week I’ll be starting to add my logs!!

STYLISH DRESS BOOK : DRESS S

Published on February 20, 2011 in japanese dress/craft, stitchery and textiles. 27 Comments Tags: Japanese dress book, Liberty of London, Stylish Dress Book.

Stylish Dress Book (available at the workroom)
Dress ‘S’ : Navy Metal Blend Fabric with Liberty of London ‘Mirabelle’ detail

Finally! I’ve been wanting to share this dress with you for a while. When I first made it last year, I did something silly and made the scalloped hem detail with just 2″ of Liberty of London Mirabelle as the lining. This meant when I sat down or really even just walked, you could see past the lining. I finally re-did the hem with about 10″ of lining and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t just line the entire skirt. I’m not redoing it again, but next time I would make that modification. I had been wanting to try a scalloped hem for a while and it’s really not that hard at all. I used Liesl’s tutorial to guide me through. I like how she did the scallop detail on just the back of her skirt.

This pattern is from Stylish Dress Book. What’s unusual about this pattern is that it actually has a zipper in the back! Most Japanese Dress Book dresses just slip over your head. What’s great about having a zipper is that the pattern is actually more fitted than most of the loose tunics I usually make. The main fabric of the dress is a navy metal blend fabric that I got at the Liday Baday Designer Fabric Showroom. This is the second metal blend fabric that I’ve sewn with and it’s interesting to see the different properties that metal brings to fabric. What attracts me is the shimmer, but the fabric also has more memory and hold creases quite tightly, similar to the look of linen. I’d like to try this pattern again in a softer fabric, perhaps even a Liberty of London print.

I added side seam pockets, of course. I used the same Mirabelle print for the pockets that I used on the hem detail.

Without a doubt, Stylish Dress Book has been my favourite book to sew from. Taking a look through the pages, I’m thinking that Tunic G is going to be next!

QUILTED PURSELETE

Published on January 7, 2011 in textiles and the workroom. 2 Comments Tags: Fig Tree Quilts, Joanne Figuerora, Leather & Sewing Supply Depot, purselete, zipper.

With the pressure of a deadline past, I’m still sewing away at some of my holiday gifts. This is actually one of the few gifts that was done on time. I’ve had my eye on Fig Tree Quilt’s ‘Purselete‘ pattern for ages now, so I was pretty happy when I got Andrew’s mom for Kris Kringle. I thought this would make a really cute clutch or make-up bag for her.

I made a point of visiting Leather & Sewing Supply Depot to stock up on zippers just before the holidays. I have some ideas for future zipper projects, so I wanted to make sure I had a good arsenal ready for when inspiration struck. The rows and rows of boxes of zippers in every size and colour are pretty fun to browse. I left with a large handful of metal zippers in various colours and lengths. This project calls for a 9″ zipper and I found a beautiful cream zipper with brass teeth. It has a rounded brass zipper pull which is especially cute. (and unusual)

The pattern suggests either quilting your outer pieces to batting or just basting in some interfacing. I wanted to try out some quilting since the pieces are fairly small and I felt it would be manageable. I was not confident enough to try doing free motion quilting, but opted instead to do large curvy circular lines that echo the pattern on the fabric. I do like the texture it gave to the finished purselete.

After the quilting, the construction of the pattern was fairly straight forward. If you’ve made a zippered pouch before, this pattern will be familiar with some great new tricks and details to add. I especially like that the side has an inverted pleat. The finished purselete is larger than I expected (visually), but is a great size to carry the essentials. I’d love to try to make a smaller version of this pattern as well, perhaps with a 7″ zipper (or even smaller). I’ll be making more purseletes in the future, I think it’s perfect as a gift.

STYLISH DRESS BOOK : ‘B’ LIBERTY DRESS

Published on November 1, 2010 in japanese dress/craft, stitchery and textiles. 19 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, mauvey, Stylish Dress Book.

Stylish Dress Book (available at the workroom)
Dress ‘B’ : Liberty of London ‘Mauvey’

I wanted to try making Top ‘B’ from Stylish Dress Book as a dress since I loved the pattern so much. I’ve already made this pattern twice (version 1 & 2). The pattern modifications were pretty simple. I extended the pattern pieces for the front and back and added side seam pockets.

This darker version of the ‘Mauvey’ Liberty of London print seemed so perfect for this fall. I’ve been adding purple tones to my standard grey wardrobe recently. Every time I wear one of my Liberty dresses, I always want to make more. They are so easy to wear and feel really great!

Similar to Dress ‘S’, I knew that I would be adding shirring to get the dress to fit better. This time I started my lines lower, closer to my waist and did seven lines. It is amazing what a difference this simple technique makes and now the dress fits like a glove.

I have never put pockets in a Liberty dress before, so I wasn’t sure what to use. I ended up cutting into a piece of fabric that I bought in Paris. I almost feel like a Liberty dress should be lined with more Liberty. Mostly because there really isn’t anything like the weight and feel of the Tana Lawn cotton.

As soon as the weather turns cold, I get the urge to dress only in jeans and sweaters. I’m trying to resist the urge this season and make more dresses and skirts that are suitable for colder weather with tights. So far, so good.

NOTE : Please note there is a tricky part to making the gathered sleeve on this pattern when you are tracing out the pattern. See my comments here.

DRAWSTRING CAMERA POUCH

Published on October 22, 2010 in stitchery, textiles and the workroom. 15 Comments Tags: drawstring camera pouch, Far Far Away II, Heather Ross.

This particular project is LONG overdue. I’ve been carrying my camera around in a ratty shoe bag for way to long. I was really inspired by this amazing knitting bag that Amanda made. It made me realize that my camera bag could be a simple drawstring pouch.

After making my Far Far Away II Birdie Sling, I was totally psyched to make my camera pouch out of the same collection. I’ve never made a lined drawstring pouch before, so I worked out a little mock up in muslin fabric and figured out the perfect way to make it all come together.

I used the blue Owl and the Pussy Cat fabric for the outside with some scraps of the grey Roses for the contrast top. I quilted circles with orange thread around the suns with batting underneath the fabric to add a little padding. I love how this looks! For the inside of the bag, I used the orange Man in the Moon print and did some more circle quilting around the moons. I put another layer of batting beneath the lining fabric too.

The drawstrings are actually a grey shoelace that Andrew had that he never used. My favourite detail is the little hexagon tabs I added to the end of the drawstring. eek! Too cute.

I’m so excited by how this turned out! I love it so much and can’t believe I waited so long to make this for my camera. I can finally check this off ‘My List of Crafty Things to Do‘!

p.s. i wanted to show my camera with the bag, but couldn’t since I was using it to take the photos!!

FAR FAR AWAY II

Published on October 1, 2010 in textiles and the workroom. 6 Comments Tags: Far Far Away II, Heather Ross, Kokka.

One of my many happy tasks at the workroom is photographing new bolts as they arrive. I LOVE photographing fabric. We finally received our shipment of Heather Ross’ Far Far Away II collection. It’s flying out the door pretty fast, so I’m happy I was able to get in these little beauty shots. Sigh.

Also, we are finally selling Japanese Pattern Books at the workroom. Yep. You asked for it!

COLOURFUL FABRIC DRESS BOOK : POCHO TANK TOP

Published on September 1, 2010 in japanese dress/craft, stitchery and textiles. 13 Comments Tags: Colourful Fabric Dress Book, double gauze cotton, nani IRO, tank top.

Colourful Fabric Dress Book (available at the workroom)
Tank Top : nani IRO ‘Pocho’

After I finished making Dress ‘W’ with the Pocho nani IRO, I looked at my leftover fabric and thought I could squeeze out a simple tank top. I remembered that there was a tank dress in the Colourful Fabric Dress Book. I just traced out the two top pieces for the dress.

I don’t know why I don’t make more tank tops! It is the perfect thing to do with leftover fabric. I think you’re going to see a lot more of them from me. I wanted to try a couple finishing details with this. I made facing pieces for the armholes, rather than do bias binding. Sometimes I just prefer a more elegant invisible finish. I also tried doing a silk bias binding on the neckline, with the raw edges facing out. I have a box full of beautiful shades of vintage silk charmeuse. A bit fancy for everyday, but so incredibly beautiful. I’ve been wanting to use them, so this is a good start. It’s a simple way to add a little bling to a basic piece.

I also made a matching silk tank top to wear underneath. I wanted this to also have raw edges, so I sewed the seams on the outside to emphasize this. I need to perfect this pattern a bit more before I show it to you, but it’s a good start for a layering piece.

The day I took these photos it was WAY too hot to be wearing jeans. Even today, the first day of September is going to be a scorcher. I’m a bit confused about what I should make next – a sleeveless summery dress or something more autumn appropriate.

STYLISH DRESS BOOK 3 : DRESS ‘W’, NANI IRO

Published on August 31, 2010 in japanese dress/craft, stitchery and textiles. 9 Comments Tags: double gauze cotton, nani IRO, Stylish Dress Book.

Stylish Dress Book 3 (available at the workroom)
Dress ‘W’ : nani IRO ‘Pocho’

This nani IRO double gauze fabric was one of those bolts that arrived at the shop one morning and by the time the shop closed that night, it was all gone. I’ve ordered more, of course. These huge polka dots are just too cute!

I envisioned a dress made from this fabric with a little gathered sleeve, so I went back and pulled out my pattern for Dress ‘W’ from Stylish Dress book 3. Instead of cutting out a yoke, I just put the two front pattern pieces together and cut a single front bodice piece. The rest of the dress is pretty simple. For the pockets, I used a lovely tiny stars prints. I think it goes perfectly.

One detail that I’m really happy with is that if you look at the sleeves, the polka dot colours match on each side. Love!

This is the first dress that I’ve made of the double gauze, I’ve mostly made tops. The one thing I’ve noticed is that with the fabric being so soft, if I have anything heavy in my pocket (ie. my iPhone) then the side seams pulls down a bit. Nothing major, just something I’ll keep in mind for the future.

I had cut two metres of this fabric and after making the dress, there was a little bit left. I didn’t want any of it to go unused, so I was able to make something else with the leftovers. I’ll share that project with you tomorrow!

THE NIGHT BEFORE LIBERTY

Published on August 24, 2010 in textiles and the workroom. 17 Comments Tags: Liberty of London, Tana Lawn.

There’s a shipment of Liberty of London fabrics in transit to the workroom. So, of course, I am up late looking at each of these six prints and wondering just what fun things they will become.

Mauvey, Kate Ada, Kitty Grace, Ebs, Douglas Stripe and Clemmie – we’re going to have so much fun together!