Beginning Sewing July 2017

     I had four more girls take beginning sewing with me this week.   The first day they learned the basics of the sewing machine and earned their  'Sewing Machine Driver's License'.

                                                    

     Natalie had taken a pillowcase class that her mom won at an auction , but we did not really cover the basics of the machine.  She took this beginning class so in another week she could take the pillow camp with her friend Kara.

Andromeda and her skirt and 2nd bag

     Andromeda was the first to finish her skirt and she was able to make another bag with some shortcuts I showed her.  She found scraps of a jersey knit fabric to make the ties.

Caitlin and her skirt

     Caitlin finished up next.  She opted to sew her four hole buttons with an X pattern on the back of her skirt.  She then spent the rest of the class sewing a pillowcase that had already been pinned by another student.

Kayla and her skirt

     Next up was Kayla.  Look at the cool pattern that happened on the back of her skirt.  She worked on choosing some fabrics for another pillowcase and started with some pinning.

Natalie and her skirt

     Last but not least was Natalie.  She had a fun mini heart print denim for her skirt which she jazzed up with some bright flower buttons.

     The girls all sewed their buttons on the machine and were pretty amazed to be able to do so.  Three days and they each finished 2 projects with big smiles.  Next up is vacation and then one last camp, four days to sew four different pillows.  Just one spot left if anyone is interested

Shirt Pillows

Black striped shirt pillow

     I had a client bring me 6 shirts and many ties from her dad that had passed away.  She was looking to have something made from them.  I suggested pillows from the shirts.  I had done this with a plaid flannel shirt of my dad's and I love it.  She liked the idea when I showed her my pillow.

Black striped shirt pillow detail

     For each pillow I chose one shirt for the main part and a coordinating one for the cording on the edge.  I was going to make all three pillows the same size but this black one was smaller and I had to go down to a 16" square pillow.  The other ones are 18" square.

Red plaid shirt pillow

     For the red plaid shirt I had to interface the fabric as it was a quite thin material.  All of the pillows have lining and a zipper.  Because of the limited amount of fabric available when using articles of clothing, I was not able to match the plaids front to back as I would normally do.

Red plaid shirt detail

      I first cut the shirts apart at the seams and removed the sleeves.  I sewed the placket closed on the fronts and then cut my pieces.  I used the backs of the coordinating shirts to get my bias strips for the cording.  Again because of the limited size of the piece of fabric, the bias strip was several pieces sewn together.

Blue striped shirt pillow

     I then cut lining pieces and serged them to the front and back pieces.  I put a zipper in the back piece and the cording onto the front piece.  I sewed them together around all four sides and turned right side out through the zipper opening.

Blue striped shirt pillow detail

     I have seen these done using the button front as the closure.  I did that on one project but I didn't like how it gapped when buttoned over the pillow form.  I think this looks much neater and will hold up better in the long run.

     The client and I still need to discuss what I am going to do with her dad's ties.

Purse-onality Fun 6 Afternoon Camp

Folded Fat Quarter purses

     My purse camp was in great demand this summer.  To accommodate everyone I had an afternoon camp also.

Showing off their Square Affair purses

     In the camp were four friends, Mallory, Sienna, Ava and Grace.  The first day they completed their folded fat quarter bags.  Some sewing and origami type folding made a cute drawstring purse.

Enjoying snack and fresh cherries in the backyard

     The second day they were close to finishing their Square Affair purses.  Mallory had some difficulties with the cord she had chosen but on the third day we fixed it and called it a 'design opportunity'.

Sienna

Sienna's projects

    The third day they started on their appliquéd accessory bag.  They all quickly got the hang of satin stitching.  We got the zipper application started before the end of camp.

Ava

Ava's projects

     The fourth day of camp, poor Mallory was not able to attend as she had hurt her foot.  As I was instructing the other girls how to finish their accessory bags, I was writing up directions so that Mallory's grandmother could help her finish her project.

Grace

Grace's projects

     The girls all finished those three purses and had time to make two-fabric drawstring bags. Ava and Sienna chose to make a larger size while Grace opted for a small one.  I had them do the math with me and they all turned out the size they wanted except for Ava's.  I cut the bottom fabric 1 inch too small so her bag turned out to be a 1/2 inch shorter than she wanted.  They still all turned out really cute.

     I love to see what fabrics the girls choose and how even though they make the same thing they all look so different.