I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to show you my new homemade underwear. I have been collecting pretty elastic trims from Mokuba in anticipation of creating a new collection of cute undies for myself. These two pairs were made using the same patterns we use in the Underwear class. They are the most comfortable underwear I own. Not only because the fit is amazing but because this organic knit bamboo is so soft and lovely.
Making these two pairs hardly depleted my trim stash, so next up I want to knock off some undies I already own and create my own patterns. Next Monday I hope to schedule in a whole day just devoted to this project.
Amy of Angry Chicken is all about making her own underwear too, so I’m not the only one!
More and more I love doing hand work. There is something so peaceful and thoughtful about it. The first Intro to Hand Work class started on Saturday. I was eager to finish my homework, so I completed my sawtooth block by Sunday night. Since I didn’t need my machine, I did most of the work sitting in bed watching tv online and listening to podcasts. It feels so luxurious to sew this way!
Over time, I’m sure my stitching may become more even, perhaps more tiny but I think I’m doing okay to start.
I decided to feature the pink vintage feedsack fabric that I bought at Quilt Market in October. The dark grey contrasting fabric is a Japanese import that we just received. I’m hoping to throw in some aqua Tula Pink hexagons, but I don’t feel ready to commit to my border fabrics just yet.
I bought a small vintage tin on ebay today to hold my hand quilting ‘kit’. I want everything to be kept together and portable, so I can work ‘on-the-go’. Our teacher, Carolanne, has two tins that sit one in the other on her lap while she rides the streetcar and does her hand piecing.
BTW. My favourite pins right now are these slim white glass head pins. (last photo) They are nice to handle and easily slide through all fabrics, especially finer ones like Liberty Tana Lawns.
365 : folksy flannel pjs
My first completed project of this year was a mandatory pair of Folksy Flannel pajama pants. I definitely need more flannel in my life. I used the Amy Butler lounge pant pattern for the third time, taking the original wide leg in by just over an inch. I’m not ashamed to say that over my mini break I wore them all day long.
I’d been planning to remake Dress ‘V’, from Stylish Dress Book 2 as a shorter tunic for some time. My first version was my shibori dress, which is a very summer-inspired dress. This black and white tunic reminds me of snowy winter.
The main fabric is by Anna Griffin and shows a delicately stippled print. I love how different the print reads from close up and from far away. The contrasting black placket fabric is from the My Folklore collection, which I have used over and over and over again in my projects. The fabric covered buttons are made from the same black My Folklore fabric. I actually find it incredibly hard to pair two different printed fabrics together. I like things to be quite ‘plain’, but I have been working to challenge myself to overcome this. Doing patchwork has definitely helped me to accept (& love!) seeing two prints side by side.
p.s. I really love the sleeve on this dress – perfect length and amount of gathering around the cuff.
p.s.s. I’ve been updating My Crafty List of Things to Do, as I daydream about all the things I wish I had time to make right now!
p.s.s.s. I’ve got FOUR giveaways planned before Christmas, starting tomorrow!
I was tagged by Constança to show my desk, which also happens to be my dining room table. At the end of each night (or so) I clear the table off until my next sewing session. This is probably best, because I would have one of those desks that was full of piles and overly messy.
I took these photos over the course of a weekend, so you can see me jump from project to project.
Photo 1 : Working on a plaid cotton quilt top for a Christmas gift, eating Coconut Liberte Yogourt and drinking hot chocolate
Photo 2 : Drafting a shoo-fly block for another new quilt using my French General jelly roll
Photo 3 : Adding the Mokuba trim to my new blue tunic
Photo 4 : Checking out flickr with my new Shinzi Katoh agenda and drinking hot chocolate (drinking hot chocolate seems to be mandatory when working, I am drinking some right now)
I’m usually the worst person to tag for these things, but I was determined to get my act together for this one. The three people whose desks I’d like to see are – Lauren, Ayalah & Rosalyn. You are meant to show your desk/working space as it is, without any editing or styling and then tag three more people. If anyone else out there wants to play along, just post a link here to a photo of your desk. (the messier the better!)
I hope you have a lovely weekend, friends. I’m making great progress with my holiday gift making. I won’t be able to tell you about a lot of it until after Christmas, but I’ve got a few projects that should be ’safe’ to share with you.
I’ve been wanting to show you this quilt for a few weeks, but wanted to make sure that it got shipped off to baby Chloe in Vancouver before posting the photos here. This is just the second quilt that I’ve ever finished. Can you believe it? I feel like I’ve got about a dozen quilts in progress and I keep starting more!
This quilt has undergone a quite a few changes since I started it a year and a half ago. When I took the Presto Nine Patch class, I thought the technique was so fun that I should make a queen-sized quilt. I think this is a particular ’syndrome’ of new quilters. You want to make every quilt a bed-sized quilt. It’s incredible how much the more work, exponentially, it is to make a huge bed sized quilt. I am now quite happy to make large lap-sized quilts. Baby quilts are a breeze in comparison. I had discovered my abandoned quilt blocks and thought I would motivate myself for the Crafty Slacker’s contest that Toronto Craft Alert had, but I didn’t do much more than post about my abandoned project at the time.
Little Chloe was born a few months ago and I was inspired to give her a baby quilt in the colours of my childhood – pink & green. My first bedroom as a child was decorated in homemade decor all coordinating in pink and green. I loved the colour scheme and still have a soft spot for those colours.
I made the nine patch blocks smaller than what we did in class and then framed them with matching strips. I used a Kona solid in soft pink as sashing between the blocks. For the back, I used some scrappy bits. I especially love the green camouflage which contrasts the sweet girlie-ness in a nice way. I was able to put the front and back of the quilt rather quickly. I machine quilted by stitching in the ditch around and in the blocks using a variegated thread.
Then, I stalled when it came to doing a label – for a couple months. I was not too happy with the label I did on my first quilt. I had used embroidery thread and tried to free hand the embroidery, both were mistakes. I finally got up the courage to try doing this new label. I pre-drew the writing on my piece fabric and used the same variegated sewing thread that I had for my quilting lines. I’m happy with how it turned out. Variegated thread makes everything better.
For the binding I was inspired after seeing a scrappy binding the Karen W. was working on at a recent Quilt Sunday. It’s such a cute detail.
Before I packaged it up to mail it to the west coast, I washed and dried it to get the lovely puckered look. It is so satisfying to finish a quilt and then wash it! It is also extremely satisfying to hear that Chloe is enjoying the quilt as both a blanket and play mat and hopefully it will become infused with all her memories of growing up.
I know, I JUST posted this dress pattern. I warned you that I was going to make it again. (and again) It’s a really easy top to wear, since it’s almost like a t-shirt. It’s also really easy to sew and I didn’t want to trace out a new pattern. (lazy!) Also, I find that almost all of my real t-shirts are too short and I prefer a longer tunic length. I cleared out my drawers the other day and bagged up an entire drawer’s worth of clothing, mostly t-shirts that I never wear anymore. (FYI – new class alert for the new year = t-shirts!)
I was given some lovely soft woven cottons from India. This fabric is incredible. It is so lightweight and lovely with just the slightest sheen to it. I had just enough to make a shorter tunic version of this dress. Keeping with my resolution to use more trim, I made a special trip to Mokuba to pick up the grey blue lacey trim. Hemming with trim is actually a time-saver.
With all the unfinished projects I’ve got piled up right now, it felt great to whip up this little shirt and wear it the same week. I’m going to make another, but I promise to try out a new pattern first.
Sheridan Textile Studio Sale
Friday November 20, 2009
5-9pm
at the workroom
the workroom has a certain fondness for the Sheridan Textile Studio program. Students in this program spend three years exploring printing, dyeing, felt making, surface embellishment, mixed media and digital design. So much fun! Both Debbie and Rosalyn are enrolled in this fantastic program, so I’ve seen first hand all the incredible work that goes on there.
Every year the students have a fundraising sale to make money for the graduating class’ final exhibition. I’m delighted to be able to host this year’s winter sale at the workroom. I hope you’ll drop by after work on Friday to browse the lovely wares and support Sheridan’s third year Textile Studio class. I got a sneak peek at a sampling of the goodies for sale and they include hand-printed pincushions, lavender sachets and aprons. I can’t wait to see what else they’ve made and to pick up some early holiday gifts.
nani IRO – Colourful Fabric Dress Book
ISBN 9784579111831
Naomi Ito is the designer behind the inspirational nani IRO fabrics line. Her fabric designs are like paintings that flow across the bolt, often in beautiful double gauze cotton or linen blends. This book not only showcases all her fabric from 2008 but many of her simple designs and patterns. Everything about this book is inspirational.
I’ve had this book for ages and can’t believe that I haven’t made anything from it yet. The cover image is probably the most popular pattern in the book. The dress is very simple, very Japanese and I’ve seen several lovely versions of it made. I’m officially putting it on my Crafty List of Things to Do. There are lots of different types of projects to try including mother/daughter clothing patterns (so cute!), bags, coin purses and a simple apron.
I’m hoping you will pitch in with your comments and thoughts about these books and patterns as I post them to the Japanese Dress Books section. If you own any of these books or have had luck or even difficulty with some of the projects, it would be great to hear from you!
I’m so glad you like the new section on the blog! I’m excited to fill it up with lots of Japanese dress books and creations.
I’ve been holding on to this metallic linen for ages. It’s from our trip to New York last year. Sometimes I tend to spend a lot of time waiting for things to be absolutely perfect before making a decision. That sure makes for some slow crafting.
This special fabric needed a super simple pattern that would allow it to shine. It finally dawned on me that Dress “B’ was just that. It was one of the patterns in the book that I’ve overlooked a hundred times because it was so plain.
This t-shirt style tunic called for a bit of trim, which I picked out at Mokuba. The wide linen-coloured eyelet trim has a nice soft contrast to the shiny blue. I chose to simply trim the sleeves and hem, but not the neck. I really love the neckline on this dress, it is so wide and open.
The dress was very easy to sew. You’ll notice that my version is much shorter than the book’s and I did not make the slip that they show with it. As is usually the case, there is no zipper or closure of any kind. The neckline does have a facing, which I understitched to give it a clean finish. I also trimmed a bit off the sides to give it a slimmer silhouette.
I like this dress a lot. I made it for my birthday this year, nothing like a little sparkly linen to celebrate a special occasion. I would definitely like to make this pattern again in another variation, perhaps a nice wool for winter?
