Archive for the 'the workroom' Category

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SUNDAY PATCHWORK #11

Published on November 9, 2011 in patchwork, scraps and the workroom. 9 Comments Tags: improv patchwork, sunday patchwork.

I was thinking about herringbone the other day and wanted to see what it would look like in patchwork. I’m going to try some more, but I’m liking this idea a lot! This version is very random, but perhaps more organized and with high contrast fabrics, next time? This block is still a work in progress. We’ll see where it goes next.

I very rarely plan much when I sew improv patchwork. I know that some people will draw sketches beforehand. But I really like to just see what happens. Sometimes when I set out to create something specific, something totally different will happen. Like the last block, for instance. That was not even close to what I was trying to do, but sometimes you just have to listen to what the fabric tells you to do. There are so many happy surprises with improv.

p.s. Look for my improv patchwork class coming in January. (!!!!!)

FARMER’S WIFE SAMPLER QUILT

Published on November 3, 2011 in patchwork and the workroom. 31 Comments Tags: Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, quilt along.

I can’t stop thinking about the Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt. Several months ago, Angela & Amanda started a quilt-a-long for it and it seems like everybody has joined it. I have been trying to resist since I have so many projects on the go already and was feeling intimidated by it.

But everyday, I have been seeing blocks like this and this and this and especially this. Now I’m so jealous and I’ve decided that I’m going to start this project in January. New year, new project! In the meantime, I’m going to finish up some lingering quilting projects. It’s a win-win situation.

Any friends out there thinking of joining in? There’s lots of great info and support in the existing group on Flickr. Toronto peeps, we could meet up at Quilt Sunday every month to compare notes and cheer each other on. If you’re somewhere else, let’s share photos and blog posts with each other. All you need is a copy of the book to get going. (We have LOTS of copies of the book at the workroom!)

There are 111 blocks in this quilt. It’s a big commitment, but you certainly don’t need to do all of the blocks. There are versions of the quilt with as little as 50 blocks. The online quilt along is aiming for 2 blocks every week, but I’m just using this is a guideline. Life is busy and some weeks I might not make any blocks and other weeks, I might make four.

Can we do this together? Wanna join the Farmer’s Wife movement with me?

p.s. I’m already obsessing about fabric choices. (Best!)

SEWING SUMMIT DISCOUNT

Published on September 22, 2011 in the workroom and traveling. 6 Comments Tags: sewing summit.

I’m pretty excited that in less than two weeks I’ll be in Salt Lake City for Sewing Summit. I’m heading down with Katherine, my sewing retreat partner. We’re rooming with Amanda and hanging out with Lizzy, so now matter what we’re going to have a blast.

Sewing Summit is a 2 day sewing and blogging retreat where we’ll be taking all kinds of fun classes, like Improv Piecing, Marvelous Minis and Free Motion Quilting. I’m really looking forward to meeting so many internet friends in real life. Finally!!!

For those of you heading to the Sewing Summit, I wanted to offer you a discount in our online shop. If you place your order by October 3rd and use the code SEWINGSUMMIT, I will bring your order to the Sewing Summit and hand deliver it to you, so there will be no shipping charge.

If you’ve been thinking of treating yourself to a Cosmo floss palette, Japanese Dress book or Sparkle floss, now is the time.

Can’t wait to meet you in Salt Lake City!

NANI IRO SCARF

Published on September 20, 2011 in DIY, stitchery, textiles and the workroom. 10 Comments Tags: nani IRO, scarf.

Here’s a quick project that totally made my day on Friday. The inspiration came from this awesome nani IRO scarf.

I have some bits and pieces of nani IRO double gauze, some are too small to make clothing with but I can’t resist collecting this gorgeous fabric. I had one metre of the green Fuwari print that I knew would be just right for a scarf. I made a special trip to Mokuba in search of some pom pom trim, which is clearly an essential feature of this scarf. They didn’t have true pom pom trim, but I found this golden glittery pom-like trim that seemed kinda perfect for me.

Here’s a quick run down of how the scarf comes together. Square up the ends of your fabric and then cut the metre piece down the centre fold. You will now have two pieces that are about 22″ x 1 metre long. Sew those two pieces together. You will now have a piece that is 22″ x 2 metres long. Fold the fabric in half with good sides together, it will now be 11″ x 2 metres. If you’re planning on adding trim, cut an 11″ piece for either side and baste it in place on the inside of your folded fabric. The trim will be placed good side to the front side of your scarf. All the trim should be laying on the inside of your scarf ‘sandwich’, so that it will end up on the outside of your scarf, not the inside! Sew around the 3 open sides of your fabric, leaving a space of a few inches along the longer side so that you can turn the scarf inside out. You will need to hand or machine stitch this closed after. That’s it! Think of how many of these you can whip up in a night?!

It’s been cold here in Toronto, so I’ve been wearing my scarf inside, since I refuse to turn on the furnace just yet. The little glitter pom trim makes me incredibly happy and reminds me that a little bit of trim is always a good idea.

p.s. I hope you’re thinking the same thing…. This is a great (& simple) handmade gift idea!!

ZIPPERED POUCHES

Published on September 18, 2011 in stitchery and the workroom. 8 Comments Tags: Far Far Away III, zippered pouch.

Sometimes the best projects are ones that you can start and finish in just one sitting. When I make zippered pouches, I’ll often make two or three or even four. It feels like it takes just about the same time. We needed a couple pouches for the shop for receipts and petty cash. I couldn’t resist making myself a pouch with some of my Far Far Away III fabric and some horseshoe fabric I had. It doesn’t have a use just yet but it usually doesn’t take very long for a cute pouch like this to find a purpose.

COLOUR THEORY + MINI QUILTS

Published on September 17, 2011 in colour, patchwork and the workroom. 3 Comments Tags: colour theory, Lizzy House, mini quilt.

Somehow I was catapulted out of August into the middle of September, (WTH?) so don’t mind me while I reminisce about the last bits of summer.

Colour Theory + Mini Quilts with Lizzy House was a phenomenal class. The first class was spent mixing paints and learning about colour theory. It felt like being back in art class, but it truly drove the lesson home. Right away we were putting together dynamic colour palettes that surprised us. I saved mine and I’m making a mini quilt out of it this weekend.

For the mini quilt portion of the class we had to design something from scratch. I’ve done lots of improv quilting, but never really planned a design, so this was a challenge. We were also supposed to try to only use solids. Another challenge for me since I rarely use solids.

I added one more personal challenge on top of all that. I wanted to try to convey transparency with my design where parts were overlapping. Let me tell you, I was frustrated by the whole thing. But for me, I know that this means that I’m actually learning something!

My mini turned out to look just like my sketch and I can’t tell you what a thrill it was the first time I pieced together a component with the transparency layers.

It was really special watching each individual mini quilt come together from a sketch to a little mini work of art. It was even more special to see everyone achieve little milestones of personal challenge and achievement. I’m not going to lie, there were some joyful tears at the end of this class. Yep. That’s the kind of teacher Lizzy House is.

CHAMPION RIBBONS

Published on August 31, 2011 in scraps and the workroom. 1 Comment Tags: champion ribbons, Lizzy House.

Oh boy. What an awesome week we had with Lizzy House last week! I can’t believe that it’s over already. I took a crazy amount of photos so I’ll be posting those over the next few days in batches, starting from the end and working back to the beginning.

We ended the week at the workroom with Lizzy’s Champion Ribbons class. What a perfect and fun Saturday morning we had. This project is pure genius, using bits of felt, ribbon, buttons and any other craft materials you’ve got lying around. Plus, I’ll take any excuse I can get to make a trip to Mokuba to buy fancy trims. What’s great about this project is that it is so playful and relaxing. We sat around the huge table together, making a mess, cutting felt, turning ribbon and chatting away.

To add to the festive mood, Andrea made a delicious spice cake that she decorated with mini bunting made from Lizzy’s fabric. So sweet! It was so pretty but we didn’t seem to have any problems gobbling it right up.

I ended up making six Champion Ribbons. My favourite part was going through my scrap bin and finding the perfect bit of fabric to cover a button with for the centres of my ribbons. I made a few for myself and a few for gifts. I think these make a special gift and I can’t wait to award some special people in my life with a Champion Ribbon. I already know I’ll be making more ribbons very soon, I spent the other night organizing all my trims into mason jars so I’ll be ready for another ribbon making session.

1001 PEEPS : ENCHANTED BOW SKIRT

Published on August 12, 2011 in clothing, DIY, stitchery and the workroom. 26 Comments Tags: 1001 Peeps, Enchanted Bow Skirt, Lizzy House, shirring.

I’m so excited to share my 1001 Peeps Summer Camp project with you today! Have you been following along with the other great camp projects every Friday?

Since I love making clothes so much, I thought I would create a skirt pattern that is very easy to sew. You will start and finish this skirt in a few hours! Also, I show you how to do elastic shirring with this pattern. If you’ve never tried it, this is a magical technique to learn. It’s also very addictive. You may have seen it in this dress, this dress or this dress. Since I know how much Lizzy loves bows, I had to make sure it had a big bow on it too! My Enchanted Bow Skirt features a ruffled paper bag waist, an elastic shirred waistband and an adorable contrasting bow.

It was pretty hard to choose just two fabrics from the 1001 Peeps fabric collection for the skirt, but I’m having a love affair with purple right now, so I chose the Purple Pearl Bracelet for the bow and the Scheherazade for the skirt.

You can download a pdf of the instructions to make this pattern here. I’ve added the elastic thread that I use to our online shop, in case you don’t have a place near you that sells it. Please let me know if you make one, I’d love to see it!

the workroom will FINALLY be receiving our shipment of 1001 Peeps next week. Just in time for Lizzy’s arrival. There will be sets of all 24 prints for sure! Fat quarter, half metre and full metre. If you need one, (I definitely need one), let me know and you can pre-order.

There are just two more weeks left of the 1001 Peeps Summer Camp. Be sure to visit Whipstitch next Friday and Happy Zombie on August 26th!

p.s. The bow on this skirt is totally enchanted. Take a look at the last photo where the magical bow is trying to fly away!

Finish Enchanted Bow Skirts :
- Jeni finished her skirt within a day of posting the pattern! It’s amazing with the Royal City print in orange.
- Lizzy House made TWO enchanted bow skirts while she was in Toronto. Here’s her first one made with Heather Ross’ Far Far Away 3 fabric.

MANNISH STYLE : DRESS 12

Published on August 7, 2011 in colour, japanese dress/craft, natural dyeing, stitchery and the workroom. 21 Comments Tags: Japanese dress book, logwood, mannish style, natural dyeing, shibori, silk.

Mannish Style – available at the workroom
Dress 12 : silk shibori dyed in logwood

Oh boy, was I ever excited last week when I remembered that I had this piece of silk from my Advanced Natural Dyeing class. This pattern from Mannish Style is exactly what I had hoped to find to make a dress from this shibori fabric that I dyed in logwood. I love the drapey folds.

This pattern was also very easy! There are just 2 pieces (front & back), with the front being cut on the bias to give it that nice drape. The neck and arms are finished with bias trim. The pattern was intended for a knit fabric which you can see would have even more drape. Because of that, the dress is a bit snug around the hips and I would adjust the pattern next time to be a bit looser. I would also love to make this in a fun knit fabric.

This silk is my most favourite piece of fabric that I have dyed myself. The super dark, inky purple colour we got from this logwood bath is so amazing and so much deeper than any other colour I’ve done in the past. There is still some of this silk leftover and I want to try to use every bit of it. I’m trying to figure out what else I can make with it, perhaps a tank top or camisole?