Sew It Up

The Wool Mouse House

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:26:00 +0000

The Mouse House: There is more to wool than just for clothing!

About a year ago I was asked by my son if I could make him something to put his wireless mouse in that would protect it as he carried it from one place to another. He is a Senior now at Texas Tech University!

So I proceeded to see what I could come up with. I looked around my sewing room and spotted a piece of wool coating. I had used it to make blankets for a guest bedroom. It was a beautiful black and white herring bone pattern ~ very masculine. After cutting up several pieces of paper, I came up with a very simple design. Do you ever wonder why the simpler the design the more difficult it is to figure how to execute it? Soooo true! So, I made two houses, one for my son and one for Dad. Then his friends wanted their own. And, then came a request for a wireless keyboard house! See, what I got myself into . . .

This fall we got in some beautiful wools at the shop that are heavy enough to replicate my "mouse house". No, I did not order them specifically for this project, but one day I was "feeling" one of them and decided that it was time to make my own "mouse house". Luckily, I had taken pictures of my first effort with my iPhone to have as a reference and my son happened to be home to allow me to see it live. Mine needed to be a little more feminine. See, how cute it is!

So, how do you make one? Well, here is my pattern for all to try.

From your felted wool, cut 2 pieces 4“ wide X 8“ long; and 1 piece 4“ wide X 5 1/5“ long.

You will need 1 piece of velcro approximately 1 1/4” in length.

1. Fold down the top edge 1/4" - of your smaller piece; pin & sew.

2. Mark the center of this piece and measure down 1” from the hemmed top edge. Pin on one side of your velcro. I usually use the softer velcro side here.

3. Repeat step #2 with just one of your longer pieces of wool. I use the scratchy velcro side here. This
piece will be the inside of your mouse house. It is entirely your choice if you want the right side of the fabric to show or the “wrong” side.

4. Layer the two longer pieces of wool one on top of the other. The piece with the velcro must face out; not in between the two. You will probably not need to pin these together as the wool wants to stick to itself.

5. Now place the shorter piece of wool on top of these two; lining up the unsewn edge with the bottom of the two longer pieces of wool. Both velcro pieces must be on the same side in order for the “flap” to fold down and close with the velcro.

6. Topstitch 1/4” from the edge completely around. You will be stitching through 3 layers on the bottom half and only 2 layers on the top half. Try rounding your corners for added interest.

7. “Pink” the edges with pinking shears or pull out a few threads all around to lightly fringe.

Fold down the top of the longer piece over the shorter bottom section so that your velcro pieces touch thus closing your mouse house.

After my "mouse house" was done and I invited my own mouse to check out its new abode My son looked over at it and said, "I bet that your phone would fit." So, I tried it and yes! ~ it fits perfectly!
So, my "mouse house" can double as a iPhone case!

Ruby Star Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Ruby Star was one of the two quilts that we debuted at the Quilt Festival in Houston. Linda Davis, is one of the "Sew It Up Sisters". She designed the quilt using a charm pack from Moda's Ruby collection. So, here's the pattern!

Ruby Star
by Linda Davis

Finished size 50” x 50”

Materials needed:
1 Ruby charm pack
1 ¼ yd white background fabric – I used Moda Bella bleached white

1 yd red tone on tone for inner border and binding

1 yd floral for outer border

Batting 51” x 51”

Backing 3 yds

I like having leftovers so my yardage requirements are on the generous side.

Cut (16) 5” squares from white fabric

Cut (16) 4 ½” squares from white fabric

Choose 16 charms for the star points

Draw a diagonal line on the back of each of the 16 charms then put them right sides together with a white 5” square and sew ¼” on each side of the line.

Cut on the line and press one toward the print and one toward the white. Each of these half square triangles will need to be trimmed to 4 ½”.

Sew each pair together along the white edge with the prints forming a “V”

Choose 16 charms for the centers and trim each of these blocks to 4 ½”

Sew these squares into a 4 patch, this will be the center of the star.

Lay out your centers and your star points in a way that pleases you then sew a 4 ½”square to each end of the upper and lower star points

and sew the remaining star points to the sides of the four patch. You can then sew each row together; you will have 4 stars that are 16 ½” on each side.

Cut (5) 2 ½” strips of white and then cut 16 ½” strips, you need 10 and should be able to get two from each strip.

You need (9) 2 ½” squares for the cornerstones, so cut your remaining charms into 2 ½” squares and decide which you want to use.

Sew the sashing between each block to connect them and then sew a horizontal row with the cornerstones between and sew this to connect two rows of stars and then one on the top and one on the bottom.

Cut (5) 2 ½” strips of the red and join these end to end to make your inner border. Measure across the quilt and cut 2 pieces that length and sew them on and then measure across the other way and cut two borders that length and sew them on.

Cut (6) 3 ½” strips of the floral fabric, sew them end to end and measure and cut as for the inner borders and sew on the outer borders.
Your quilt is now ready to be layered with batting and backing and quilted. Use the remaining red tone on tone for the binding.

This makes a nice small quilt to layer on a table or cover the end of a bed or the back of a chair. If you want a bigger one just use more charm packs.

'Tis the Season!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 00:38:00 +0000

Poinsettia by La Todera Patterns

Its definitely time for making Xmas crafts!

I love to "play" in the evening by stitching up something pretty such as these Poinsettias as well as the Cream Puff Christmas Trees. Both of these are patterns by La Todera. I met the designer last spring at a sewing venue ~ she was great and I fell in love with all of her patterns for flowers! Before we went to the Houston Quilt Festival I made up several of the Poinsettias and three sets of the Christmas trees for our booth as samples of the patterns. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined how many of these patterns we sold! We ran out twice and then took orders. You just never know . . . .

I found some pictures on my phone that I took while making a poinsettia and thought that I would share these on my blog. Perhaps if you are making one or would like to get a pattern of your own and try one out, my notes will help your flower turn out . . . Perfect! However, I must say that, Julie Creus, the designer of La Todera patterns, has clearly written step by step directions that include a black and white photo of each segment.

So, here goes . . . after I cut out my petals and fold them into the proper shape, I put a couple of pins along the center folds so that they do not have the opportunity to shift AT ALL! You will want the "points" of your flower to be very pointed ~ naturally!

You could trim off the bottoms to make them more even than mine are shown here, but I do not think that it is critical.

Julie's directions are quite clear about where to begin your first stitch and where to end your last, but I am very much a "type A". I want a map! She tells you that you will have a specific number of stitches per petal - it varies with the size of the petal. So, I did a little math and will the help of a ruler and my trusty Frixion pen ~ which is a new erasable gel pen from Pilot (you can order them from our website as well as locate them at your local office supply) ~ I marked "dots" on my petal. Voila, my map!

This was my attempt to make the flower impossible to mess up!
See my dots!!!

Another helpful hint is that I used heavy duty quilting cotton thread to stitch up my petals. I honestly cannot remember if Julie's pattern suggested to use this or something else. I gathered each petal as tightly as I could pull it and then knotted each petal off before I added the next one. After all of the petals were stitched - one immediately following the previous one, I then tied a couple of really secure knots at the end of the circle of petals. Before I cut this thread, I then pulled my needle through the very first pleat of the first petal, pulled tightly to draw them all into one circlet and tied another couple of knots.

Here is the final flower before I added the centers.

I followed the directions to add the centers for this flower. Look at my very first picture above to see the little green puffy centers. Cute! But, of course, I always have to add my own creative touch. If you look closely at the other two flowers you will see that I glued beaded balls to the centers!

Of course, all poinsettias are not white! So, I made one up in a white and silver taffeta rather than a red tone on tone quilting cotton. Isn't this elegant!

After I made several Poinsettias in different sizes which by the way make great centerpieces, tree ornaments or brooches, I decided to try making the Cream Puff Christmas Trees and got hooked.

Here is my first set in Christmas print in soft blue and lime.

Next, I tried an eclectic mix of hot pink, gold and red!

Notice that I got a little more adventurous with my decorations.

But, then . . . I decided to really go out on a limb (pardon the pun! - ah, there are no visible branches!) and chose a black and white snowflake print and really went crazy with tree decorations!

Maybe I am having a little too much fun!

Nah!

So, after all the Turkey and trimmings have been devoured, escape to your own bubble of creativity and whip up some gorgeous flowers and trees! Happy Stitching!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 00:27:00 +0000

The Houston International Quilt Festival

~ it was fantastic!

Its always a great show to BE at! Here are a few pictures of our booths at the Festival. You can see that we chose a Holiday theme ~ All red, green and sparkly!!!

We introduced several new items for women. You can see a couple of different jackets from Kay Whitt of Serendipity Studios. Her jackets are the first three to the left: Savannah Swing Jacket, The Catherine Coat (in a silvery grey silk/wool blend) and then another Swing jacket. Beneath the first jacket (pink/grey paisley) on your left is her Gore Skirt (in soft grey linen look rayon), taken from the Formula II Skirt booklet. Hanging below the Catherine Coat is the ever popular Priscilla Tunic. Kay's new Pouf skirt is under my purple Swing Jacket. Its made out of an incredible cotton & silk burnout. We had so many new goodies! Most of these will appear on our website this week - promise!

We had lots and lots of kits for children ~ as always! You might recognize some of the kits in the first picture. From left to right: Frosty, Snowflake (with a doll version), Candy Cane, Christmas Magic (also with a doll version), Christmas Candy and a white furry baby jacket (all sold out!) A couple of these kits will be posted to our site early this week as they did not get photographed before we left.

We debuted several new kits for kids that were not Holiday themed. Here, from left to right, are Sugarplum, Violette, Kyoko and at the end Tea Party (not new). Behind Tea Party was a new kit that did sell out: Tatiana. I'll just have to design another new skirt kit!

We did have ~ for the first time ever ~ two quilts!!! This is new for Sew It Up, but I promise that you will be seeing more in the quilting arena from us. More modern than traditional and very colorful - of course! That seems to be my trademark.

The one of the left was made (by of very own Linda, who works in the shop) using a new collection from Moda Fabrics by the name of Flora. Unfortunately my photo just does not do it justice. The fabrics and charm packs are on our site. You can see the colors much better there. Flora

The quilt on the right used fabrics from the Ruby collection; also from Moda Fabrics. This one was made by Janice (who also works in the shop) and designed by Linda. Ruby Linda has told me that she will post this pattern here on the blog later this week!

I would like to share with everyone which patterns were the most popular this year for Festival, but that will be in my next blog!

THE ESSENTIAL SUMMER SHRUG

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 03:18:00 +0000

MY FIRST SHRUG!

Martha’s Sewing Market takes place each May or June in Arlington, Texas. For thirteen years now we have been one of her vendors. We are known to locals as “The Grapevine Collection of Fabrics” but more recently we are thought of as Sew It Up. Each of the three days of the sewing show there are 4-5 free seminars offered to the attendees. This year one of the seminars that I choose to present was “The Essential Summer Wardrobe”. I poured over cataloques and fashion magazines and frequented many many shops all in the name of research. I was looking for something special to add to my wardrobe and hence the seminar. One particular item that caught my eye in a catalogue; I studied it closely. There was no back view (not even on the company’s website!), but that did not deter me. It was made out of a sweater knit, but that did not discourage me either. The description stated that is was 30” long in the back - that was sufficient information for me to commence experimenting. Hmm . . . I measured from the nape of my neck to my waist. This would be the length of my “finished” shrug. Not nearly 30”, but then I am a mere 5’2”. Then I measured from wrist to wrist across my upper back. This would be the width of my “finished” shrug.

Closeup: The Hemband

See, it really is a rectangle!

I chose a black wool gauze for my experimental shrug. My vision of this new shawl-like addition to my wardrobe required a wide hemband around its entirity. The “cuffs” of the “sleeves” needed to be even wider in my opinion. I decided that a 1 ½” hemband along both lengthwise edges would be pretty while the hemband at each end, for the cuffs, needed to be 4”. I added another ½” to each edge to have ample fabric to be able to turn under. Then I proceeded to cut out my rectangle.

width = measurement across upper back over your shoulders to the whatever length you desire your “sleeves” to be + 9” (4” x 2), for the hemband, + 1” ( ½” x 2) for the seam allowances.
Length=measurement from the nape of your neck to your waist + 3” (1 ½” x 2), for the hemband, + 1” ( ½” x 2) for the seam allowances, + another 3” for ease so that your shrug “blouses” a little in the back.
Next step was to fold under all of the edges by ½”; press well.
Fold up all of the edges again for the hembands as given above; press well & pin.
Topstitch in place and press again to make it “pretty”.
Now fold your rectangle in half lengthwise overlapping one of the lengthwise hembands over the other. Start pinning each end in place for about 5” on each side. These will become your sleeves.
Carefully (remember the pins!) try on your shrug to determine if the sleeves are pinned up enough. They should fit comfortably close to, but not necessarily touching your armpit.
You could finish the sleeves by merely topstiching the two hembands together, BUT this is a perfect opportunity to add a design element. In other words, embellish! I sewed four novelty buttons on each side to close up my sleeves by sewing the buttons through both layers of the hembands. I spaced mine evenly apart by about 3”. So, this shrug, my first, is a long-sleeved shrug. It required eight buttons.

Since this first shrug, I have made another, but a short sleeved one. I love it! The widthwise measurement of the shrug is considerable shorter. I made this one out of a silvery blue/gray embroidered rayon chiffon. I space my buttons, which were smaller than for my black shrug, much closer together and only used a total of 6 buttons. You certainly could make traditional button holes for your sleeve buttons, but frankly why?

I am now ready to make a third shrug. This time with ¾ length sleeves and out of a double faced plaid cotton gauze. Truly a one of a kind fabric! My intention is to wear this one with a white cami and jeans – a more casual look than the first two. Appropriate for our Texas heat while covering up adequately for the chill of air conditioning.

So, go make a shrug!

They couldn’t be easier and they are pretty quick to make. Most of your time will be spent just ironing the hembands and then it is just one row of stitching around its perimeter. Since I did not bring my sewing machine with me this year to the cabin, I will sew up this third shrug by hand.

Send me a picture of your first shrug! I'll post a pictures of this new one later in the week!

The 4th in Rico, Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:03:00 +0000

Rico has a great small town 4th of July Parade!

Naturally I was playing, visiting and cooking up a storm on the 4^th so I did not have an opportunity to share my pictures as I had hoped. Every summer my husband and I make a pilgrimage to southwest Colorado to rest and find ourselves again. In 1975 my father-in-law built a log cabin in Rico, Colorado for all of the family. He is longer with us and as of a couple of weeks ago, neither is the mother of his children. We feel their love in this cabin. We spent our honeymoon here in 1976 and subsequently brought our children and their friends here. Indeed I always feel like I have “come home” when we vacation here. Someday, in the not too distant future, we will retire in this same area.

A REAL vintage fire truck!

The old mining town of Rico is very very small. The Delores River, as well as highway 145, run through the town with homes on both sides. There is no grocery here; just a gas station, a small post office, an elementary school, the old town hall and a liquor store. A couple of years ago a drive-thru coffee hut opened (surprisingly, and fortunately, it is still open) and this summer a small bistro/laundromat has opened for business, its called "Dew South". Yes, it is a small town, but on the 4^th of July it is like Christmas here – except no snow! ~ They had snow this year through May!

There are antique cars too! . . . and town divas!

People come from miles aroud to celebrate the 4^th here. They gather for the parade. It is quaint, but I would hate to miss it. The volunteer fire department is out in full force “passing the boot” and selling Duck Race tickets to fund their spectacular fireworks show. Immediately following the parade, the highway is opened back up for traffic. Yes, all thru traffic must patiently wait the mere 20 minutes it takes for nearly half the town to parade down Main Street! Immediately following, the “crowd” ambles down to the elementary school for the combination Arts & Crafts Sale, Library Book Sale & Quilt Show! From here you go down to the fire station for breakfast. A local Indian tribe prepares some kind of mouth watering breakfast taco – if you want one, be prepared to stand in a long long line. But, fear not, the local community band seranades you while you wait.

Of course, all of the neighboring Boy Scouts got to march in the parade!

Check out this wonderful float!

Before going to the Fire House to serenade the hungry folks, they get to be in the parade too - naturally!

I think that this may be the local princess!!!!

Even tiny town divas - in their own cars!

There is a picnic in the park later in the afternoon, but not until after the Duck Race! I wouldn’t want to miss this event either! At about 1:30 approximately 500 yellow rubber ducks are “released” off the highway bridge. Each has a black number on their belly. About a quarter of a mile downstream everyone gathers at a small bridge to watch them be scooped up in nets by the local firemen and their wives. The men stand barefoot with their pants rolled up. Their wives sport stylish wet suits . . . the temperature of the water is about 40. As they catch the cute little yellow duckies they yell out the numbers of the first 25 or so as the winners of the race. Yes, there are prizes! Everyone, including the entire dog population, either stands on the bridge or on the banks cheering wildly. I know the race seems really lame, but it is a custom here & the childish simplicity of the event has been come dear to me.

Catching those speedy Rubber Duckies!

One of the locals taking in the Duck Race!

At dusk the locals and visiting campers commence shooting off their personal arsenal of fireworks. We sit out on the front porch of the cabin, slightly above town, snuggled in wool blankets (it is in the 50’s by now) in anticipation of the highlight of the 4^th of July festivities. Soon we spot several truck headlights heading up a mountain across the valley on an old mining road. We know that these are the same talented Duck catching volunteer fire and rescue men that will now conduct “the show”. I never pay any attention to how long this takes them to set up as there is so much other fireworks going off all over town. One year someone lit a bar of magnesium down by the river. We all thought that some camper was attempting to burn up the town. It was just a little added excitement for the evening! As darkness envelops us, a million stars magically appear. They seem brighter on the 4^thsomehow. Finally the show commences with a thunderous introduction of the BIG fireworks. Obviously, this is not more of the same from the townfolk! If you have ever experienced the sounds and brightness of fireworks in the mountains, then you know what I mean by the resounding echos that reverberate throughout the valley. It is awesome and we enjoy the spectacle for nearly an hour. We are mesmerized. Then we scramble back inside to warmth and fresh peach pie and vanilla icecream. Can it get any better? I hope that all of you had as much fun as we did!
Happy 4^th . . . belatedly! . . . here are some the awesome fireworks pictures that I took!

Here's a Super Cute Skirt!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Tue, 24 May 2011 02:05:00 +0000

The Super Cute Skirt!

Several weeks ago I was out "window shopping" for ideas. I am always on the lookout for anything that I might want to "figure out how they did that"! I was at a local discount clothing boutique and was totally unenthused as I could find nothing new, clever or stylish . . . until I spied a cute skirt hanging on the back wall. I almost bought it as was under $30, but the sewer in me said, "No, you can make that for probably less and definitely in a much cuter and better quality fabric." It wasn't that it was sooo different, but the fact that it was made out of a knit intrigued me. I have never made a tiered skirt out of a soft drapey knit. Can you believe it? Something I have not done? The fabric really was boring and the quality was just not up to my standards. So, off I went to my favorite fabric shop - lol! Naturally, I already had a a really cool fabric in mind. A wonderful super fine rayon jersey!!! ~ in my favorite color; purple!

See how full it is!

So, where to start? How did they make it? It was a three-tiered skirt: the top tier was the main part of the skirt with two tiers below being of equal width; each approximately 5" or 6". I made a few mental notes. I took a picture with my phone and a took a cursory measurement. (I nearly always carry a tape measure in my purse - what sewer doesn't?, but did I have one that day? No!) So, I proceeded to measure it "the old fashioned way": I held it up to my arm and "measured" the top tier. I pinched the elastic band between the fingers of my left hand while stretching it out to be flat with my right hand. It came just to my arm pit which gave me a measurement of 24". Multiply that by two (front & back) and maybe add in a little bit for a seam allowance ~ Nah, I was going to make this on my serger; no need. As for the length, it should be "finger tip" length: 16" for me. Yes, I am not overly tall! Okay, so add another 1" for the elastic casing at the waist + 1/4" for a seam allowance. Okay, my top panel needed to be 48" X 17 1/4". As I said earlier the bottom two tiers were each 5-6" in length. I decided to go with 5" due to my height. I wanted the skirt to hit me just below the knee. This cute little skirt was very very full as I recalled. So, I decided that the second or middle tier should be 2 1/2 times the width of the top tier and the bottom tier should be only 2 times the width of the middle tier. After a little calculating with my phone - what would we do without these "telephones"! Now I was ready to cut.

The fabric needs to be "drapey"!

Top tier: 48" X 17 1/4"
Middle tier: 5" X 120" (the fabric is 60" wide, so 2 strips)
Bottom tier: 5" X 240" (4 strips)

   If you would like to make one of these super cute skirts for yourself:
(A) measure your hips and add 8" for ease.
(B) measure what your "finger tip" length is for the length of the top tier
(C) multiply (A) by 2.5 for the length of the middle tier
(D) multiply (C) by 2 for the length of the bottom tier.

   Now, you are ready to sew!
(1) Sew/serge the top tier together at the side seam & serge the top edge.
(2) Iron down the top edge by 1"; pin and stitch leaving an opening for the elastic. I used 3/4" elastic.
(3) Sew the middle tiers all together into a big circle.
(4) Serge one of the edges while running a gathering stitch along the other. Mark your circle by quarters to aid you in even gathering.
(5) Gather to fit the bottom of the top tier; pin and serge together.
(6)  Sew the bottom tiers all together into a big circle.
(7) On both edges of the bottom tier serge a three thread rolled hem and stretch it as you sew to cause it to "lettuce" prettily!
(8) Mark your bottom tier circle by quarters to aid you in even gathering. Run a gathering stitch along one edge. Pin this last tier on top of the middle tier overlapping each by about 1/2" or less. Topstitch in place.
(9) Remove all of your gathering threads.
(10) Insert elastic into casing; adjust to fit you; then cinch it in by 2-3" . Stitch elastic together. Close opening. Now, topstitch down the center of the elastic on top of your waistband. This will stretch it out nicely to fit comfortably.

Have fun Sewing It Up!

Time for Summer Sewing! Here is a FREE pattern!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:18:00 +0000

Its time to start sewing for Summer! Here is a precious little sundress that you can make in no time at all for some lucky little girl. Its so easy! One of my dear sweet customers made this for the shop several months ago. She had seen a dress similar in a catalog for way too much money and knew that she could make one on her own ~ no pattern is really necessary. She used a cute little printed knit (Pink Mod Floral on our website - we still have a little). The fabric hangs perfectly and requires no slip. This little sundress would be a perfect bathing suit cover-up! Okay, so how do you make one?

1.) Measure the child ~ or adult, as this works for anyone ~ from just under the arm to the proposed finished length. Now measure around the chest and then double this measurement. Cut out a rectangle to these measurements. This will be the entire dress!

Depending on the total width, you might need one width of fabric or more. If you need more then divide the number in half and cut two panels; one for the front and one for the back.

Ruffle ~ This needs to be about twice the width of the skirt. The width of the ruffle is totally up to you. This little sundress has a 4 1/2" wide ruffle. If you are making this for yourself as a "Maxi" dress, the ruffle needs to be probably about 6" wide.

Straps ~ Cut (2) two strips of fabric from 2"-3" wide by around 18" for a little girl or 3"-4" wide by 28" long for an adult. When you attach the straps to the dress, try it on to adjust to a comfortable length. If they are too long, just cut off whatever is unnecessary.

2.) Preparation ~ First finish the following edges of your pieces with a rolled hem* in a contrasting thread rather than hemming them: the dress at the top, both sides of the ruffle and both sides of the straps. This is much faster and is prettier by far!

*For perfectly smooth rolled hems, use wooly nylon thread in the upper looper of your serger.

3.) Sewing ~ Sew the dress together into a tube shape. Attach all of the ruffle sections together.

Close-up of bodice shirring.

4.) Shirring ~ about 1/2" down from one edge of the ruffle, shirr 3 rows about 1/4" apart with elastic thread in the bobbin of your sewing machine.

For the dress do the same, but rather than 3 rows, shirr as many rows as you want for the bodice section.

For the straps, shirr 4 - 10 rows ~ this depends on the width of your straps.

How to Shirr: To wind the elastic thread onto the bobbin, you can start it on the sewing machine as you fill any other bobbin. Then you need to "slow it down" to fill it up the rest of the way. I just hook my finger around the elastic as it goes into the bobbin. This slows it down just enough - like a brake. To shirr, set your machine's stitch length at 4 and sew! Do not cut your threads at the end of each row. Just turn around and go back the other direction until you get enough rows shirred. After you are done at the machine, steam the shirred sections with your iron and watch the magic! It will shrink up beautifully. Do not touch the iron to the elastic thread ~ hold the iron a couple of inches above the fabric.

5.) Finishing ~ Attach the ruffle to the bottom of the dress by pinning it on top of the dress about 1/2" above the very bottom. (The top edge will look a little like a "lettuce" edge. Cute!)

Try the dress on and pin on the straps where they are most comfortable. Stitch to attach to the sundress and you are done!!!

Post pictures of your little sundresses!

A Quick Trip to Tucson!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 21:39:00 +0000

I just made a super quick trip to Tucson and back with my husband to collect a "toy" ~ for him! It was really quite nice to be "trapped" in the car with plenty of time to visit without the interruptions of daily life. I knitted, browsed magazines, help drive and laughed a lot. We stayed the first night in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It was so pretty! Desert and mountains everywhere you looked . . . and cactus, of course! I loved the flowers that were getting ready to bloom on this cactus to your left. We had clear skies with cool crisp temperatures. Naturally after we checked in to our hotel, we ventured out to see what was in town.

Did I locate a local fabric store? Why, of course. I did not even look it up, my "fabric nose" just led us to it!

Did we find a great Mexican restaurant? Is there sand in the desert!

We only stayed one night and then it was on to Tucson to pick up the new/old little motorcycle. This time a '69 Honda 90. I believe that this is #4. Gotta love a man with a hobby!

Here are a few more cactus pictures. There are really interesting to look at.

I wanted to share with everyone a few more pictures of last weekend's sewing retreat. We had so much fun that I keep thinking about the next one and what we can do!


Mollie & Bettie and their completed projects!


Cathy, one of our novices and 3 completed garments!


Denise was super productive!

Elizabeth with just a couple of her garments!

Our Dessert on Saturday Night

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:46:00 +0000

This is what we all had for our dessert Saturday night at the sewing retreat! Its German Pecan Pie and it was delicious. Just looking at it makes me want another piece! I still have more pictures to share of our fun projects, but it is late and I am packing to go on a little trip with my husband tomorrow ~ Yeah!

Here is the recipe for all of you to try:

German Pecan Pie

4 egg whites beaten                                  1 t. vanilla
1 C sugar                                                       24 Ritz crackers
1 C. pecans chopped
Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Squares

Put crackers in a zip locked bag and roll with rolling pin until you have an even fine grind. Beat egg whites until stiff then slowly add sugar and beat until blended. Stir in crackers, vanilla and pecans. Pour into greased 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 ½ to 2 hours. Cover with Cool Whip and shred chocolate on top. Refrigerate.
YUM!!!!!

Spring Sewing Retreat!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:51:00 +0000

My annual Spring Sewing Retreat was this past weekend and I think that it was the best one ever! Our projects included making Easter dresses, the ever popular Twirl skirt, a fabric flower, a sewing notions bag (or several!) and a knit yoga skirt and/or leggings! As always, the menu was decadant and memorable ~ I do not think that I will eat now for at least a week!

Friday Evening's Dessert

And, the accomodations . . . pure elegance and homey~comfy! I hold our sewing retreats at the Southern Comfort Retreat House in Mineola, Texas. See how pretty it is!

Here are some photos of just a few of the completed projects:

This is Miss Lily by Samantha Caffe of The Handmade Dress ~ of course it was not handmade! ~ made on the sewing machine! I do not know why her patterns bear that name.

And below is a little suit made using a pattern by Jackie Clark, the Baby Overalls. Isn't this a classic! And, monogrammed too!

Here is another cutie: this is a pattern by ModKid Designs, Isabel.

Many of the participants made themselves a Notions Bag:

And some people made more than one!

I’ll post more pictures tomorrow of all of our fun as well as a one of my favorite recipes from our retreat hostess!

Back Home Again!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:25:00 +0000

SEWING EXPO Puyallup, WA
Janice manning the booth!

One market and three sewing expos and we are finally back home in Texas! A month is way too long to be gone from home and hubby! It is hard to believe that I left home a month ago today ~ first I flew to Seattle to attend the Northwest Fabric Show as well as THE Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, Washington. If you have never been to this show, I think that all sewers should plan to go at least once! It is so awesome! This is one of the biggest sewing shows in our entire country. Its main emphasis is on sewing clothing as opposed to quilting; although there are a fair number of quilting vendors & classes. I was privileged to be asked to teach again this year. I had two seminars; one on ruffles and the other one on shirring. The classrooms hold one hundred in each and all four of my sessions were full. People come from all over the Northwest US as well as Canada to attend this venue. Lots of wonderful sewing sisters! It was so much fun ~ And, of course, our booth was super busy! I think that we are going to need more booth space next year and additional help. Janice, from the shop in Texas, joined me in Seattle for this Big show. It was critical to have someone who knew everything about our products other than me. Each year we get busier and busier in Washington.

A little over a week later, we both flew to Atlanta, Georgia for The Original Sewing and Quilt Expo. My dear sweet husband drove our truck - a twelve hour trek - full of goodies from Texas to Atlanta and even picked us up at the airport. Wow, the timing was incredibly perfect. We could not have accidentally "not planned" it any better! He even helped us set up the following day. It was wonderful to have an extra set of arms and legs to make the unloading easier. Then he returned home to rest and go to "work"! He says that my job in physically exhausting and the hours are too long! This was our second year to be in Atlanta, but this year I was contracted to teach two classes each day and do one stage presentation a day. Just like in Washington, we met so many wonderful people. The weather was better than Seattle as we went from snow, sleet and rain to Spring like temperatures! The flowers were blooming everywhere and it was so green.

Savannah's Cane River

On Sunday, after the Atlanta show, Janice and I drove down to Savannah for a couple of days of rest and "playing tourist". Oh, my gosh, it was so beautiful!!! We walked and walked around town enjoying the gardens of flowers, the wonderful architecture, the ships, we did a little shopping and ate very well! We even got to eat at Paul Dean's restaurant! Every bite was incredible. We definitely went off the healthy eating plan that night!

Paula's 3 story restaurant!

Downtown Savanah

Then it was on down to Lakeland, Florida for our final and third show in just three weeks! By now, I had to go find some sandals as none of my shoes were going to work for temperatures in the eighties! Oh, I think that I failed to mention that I broke my baby toe three days before I left for this adventure. I only had one pair of loosely fitting boots that were semi comfortable. Or, should I say, bearable! And, suede boots in Florida would have looked ridiculous!

Shopping in Savannah!

We have never done this particular show in Florida, so all was new to us. I had the same teaching arrangement, so we were plenty busy. There were naturally a lot more women who were retired that attended this show. They all seemed to be having soooo much fun! I guess not having to work anymore and living "on vacation" all the time will do that to you! Lucky ladies! Of course, not everyone who came to the show were in this group! We met so many wonderful sewing sisters in each city. We all have such a bond. Perhaps we should be called "Sisters of the Cloth"!

Wow, was that a very full month! Will I do it again? Hmm . . . perhaps with a few adjustments! I really missed my hubby!

I'm here in Seattle!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:29:00 +0000

I made it to Seattle on Friday morning! Everything was shipped out this week to our storage unit in Puyallup. This is where the Sewing and Stitchery Expo is held every year. Just at the base of Mt Rainier! It is always a huge relief when everything is packed and shipped. Of course, this year, we've packed for 2 other shows at the same time. But I don't want to think about that right now!

After I collected my bags and rental car (which almost did not happen!), I headed to Tacoma ~ see the Tacoma Dome?! I have always wanted to go to the Museum of Glass there, but never had any time, at least when they were open. It was fabulous! And, here is a picture of the famous Bridge of Glass at the Museum of Glass. These are all pieces by Dale Chihuly ~ ah!!! I'd go to any museum to see his work and I've gone to quite a few. Truly an amazing artist! His work is breathtaking.

So, why did I almost not get my rental car? Because my Driver's license had expired! Can you believe it! I guess that I never did get the reminder letter and these days, hardly anyone ever asks to look at it. Of course, you cannot rent a car without a valid license. Luckily my husband was at home and fortunately I had renewed my license in person the last time. So, I was eligible to renew on line. Yeah! We subsequently emailed the document to the front desk of the car rental company. They accepted that as my renewal and then they finally rented me my little economy car! By then, I felt worn out! So, I headed off to have some fun! You might want to check your license!

On Saturday I attended the Northwest Fabric & Notions Show in Renton, just outside of Seattle. I saw lots of wonderful new lines from Alexander Henry, Robert Kaufman, Riley Blake & Michael Miller to mention a few. Most of these are not even on their sites ~ they are that new! I did order lots of goodies and they should start to arrive within 3 to 4 weeks. You would think that after so much sewing getting ready for these three big sewing expos, that I would not feel like looking at more fabric. Wait, what I am saying? I always want to look at fabric, buy it and then play with it! I found some incredible new fashion fabrics too. Stretch denim for jeggings, cotton burnouts, stretch sateen shirtings, silk voile, more european lawn cottons, some fabulous jersey knits and some wonderful rayons! Ah, I can hardly wait to have them in the shop and start designing!

On Sunday, I treated myself and went to my favorite knitting shop in all of Seattle ~ Weaving Works. I love it. I spent over two hours there and looked at everything! I did come away with three small and easy projects and I even started one that evening.

Today was all work though. I have been on my computer nearly the entire day. I only stopped to eat. And, tomorrow I will be going into Puyallup to check on our shipments and drop my class handouts off at Office Depot for printing. I will be going back to the airport in the late afternoon to get my dear friend and helper, Janice. We are going to have so much fun ~ yeah and a lot of work!

And, here is one last piece of glass that I fell in love with!

If it snows, I'll sew!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 02:53:00 +0000

Yes, we have snow in the forecast AGAIN! I can't believe that we are actually experiencing a real "winter" here in Texas. Last week the shop was closed until Saturday due to ice and snow. That's not good for business. But, boy did I get a lot of sewing done!

Everyone at Sew It Up has been working on lots of new kits for Spring. We try to post the new photos on the website every few days. I'll be leaving in three weeks to go to three different sewing expos, so, naturally we need new goodies. It makes my head spin how much we have going on right now. But, here is one interesting observation. The more I design, the more I sew and the more ideas that come to me. I have a notebook that I carry with me everywhere. In this notebook, I write down my ideas, sketch up my "visions", and jot down "to do" lists each day. The only problem is that each item that I cross off this list, I add two more! So, I feel that I'll never get everything done. It's a delicate balance of knowing when to stop and when you have enough . . . . and knowing when to rest. That last one is the hardest one for me. But, maybe it will snow again tomorrow and I will "rest" in my sewing room!

10 Miles of RUFFLES!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:27:00 +0000

Ever since my kids left to go back to school and the house was de-decorated, I have been locked up in my sewing room creating! It's getting pretty messy in here, but boy have I been productive. All of us at Sew It Up have been sewing like crazy! Naturally, we are getting a whole bunch of new stuff ready for all of the shows this Spring not to mention the shop. It seems that the more I design, sew and create, the more I want to keep going. I keep thinking that I am almost done for a while and then, pow, more ideas pop into my head - maybe I am afflicted! Perhaps its like an obsessive compulsive thing. Well, even if "I am" or if "it is", I am having a lot of fun!

The other day I was focusing on making ruffles for a new skirt kits. I had to really psych myself up though because I wanted to hem them all with a rolled hem, BUT I have a new serger that I will have to teach myself to use first. I bought this last Spring, in April. I had trouble with one of my other sergers, so I thought that I could just take this one out of the box and zoom. Ha! I ended up in tears! You do not take a more complicated serger "out of the box" and intuitively know what to do. Sewing may be in my blood, but . . . Since then, I have sold my other two sergers so I was forced to learn and use this new one.

First, I read the book - twice! I got a good night's sleep, woke to a good cup of coffee, dressed (minimally, I was not planning on going anywhere!) and went upstairs to my sewing room. I sat down, opened the book, turned the machine on, and started going through the book page by page making up my own little samples. By lunchtime, I felt like I was ready. I felt pretty good about it. So, I started my fist project. A four tiered ruffled skirt ("Stella" by Lila Tueller) - perfect! I moved on to three more projects - all good. Then, I plunged into making a new Nie Nie skirt by Pink Fig. This is a 6 tiered skirt for little girls and it honestly takes about 10 miles of fabric that you turn into ruffles. I sewed, serged rolled hems, etc. It was fantastic!

BUT, for the next project, my serger started messing up. So, what do you do? You go to the trouble shooting section of your manual and well, nothing fit the description of what my machine was doing ~ or rather failing to do. It did not matter if I wanted to do a flatlock or an overlock stitch, the tension was all off and each time I stopped to look at it, the needle was unthreaded. So, I stopped! I fixed dinner, watched show and then told my husband that I was going to figure this out. Lol - no way. An hour and a half later, no solution! So, what do you do then? Well, my advise to my students is always: stop, go get a good night's sleep. Then, come back and clean and rethread the whole machine - carefully. Hmm. . . Something was missing . . .

I talked to several of my sewing friends; no ideas, no answer. So, I called my dealer. Of course, they want me to bring it in to be serviced. Don't they know that will cost me a half of a day! We talked for a little while and suddenly my Bernina "genius" says, "Did you say that you have just made like 10 miles of ruffles?" (I failed to mention all of the other projects that I had completed.) "Yes", I replied. "Have you changed your needle?" she respectfully submitted. BINGO, that was the something missing!

So, I changed the needle and it worked perfectly!!! Such a pity that I am such a dummy and did not think of that! I wasted so much time! I still cannot believe that I did not even think of that. Needles do wear out you know. The tip, but also the eye of the needle loosing its integrity.

Boy, was that stupid!

Brrr . . . its actually been snowing here in Texas!

The camisole!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:05:00 +0000

I did get to wear my fabulous new "recycled" frock on Friday night to an awards banquet. Boy did I look good! ~ it was the shoes, of course! As I had mentioned previously, the jacket was just a jacket, so therefore it required something to be worn underneath. I really did not have time to make one "from scratch" and, after all, I did have some some of the silk velvet left over from the jacket. I was lucky enough to have a camisole in my arsenal of undergarments that actually fit. Unfortunately it was the right color, but was silk charmeuse print. This would clash with my skirt. Soooooo . . . I cut out a piece of velvet from the back of my skirt ~ on the bias. I pinned this onto my ready made cami at t he top edge. Then I cut out a back piece. I could not cut this on the bias as there was not enough fabric. I was worried that this might be a problem and I was right. I went ahead and pinned it to the back top edge of the cami. I basted up the side seam on one side and then sewed it on the machine; I pinked the edges. Yes, this was being sewn right on top of the original fabric. I left it in place as though a lining. Next I had picked in the invisible zipper. Beautiful! I went ahead and hand stitched the top of the cami in place all the way around, BUT I added a little pizzaz! With each stitch I sewn on one tiny seed bead (left over from the beaded jacket). If you look closely at my photo you can see the beads. So, what did I do about the cami being cut on the straight of grain on the back. Well, it was a little tight. I measured to the center back and bravely cut straight up through the velvet to about 4" from the top edge. Then I added a godet from the left over netting from the lining of the beaded jacket. Voila! It looked so cool, fit the mood of the garment and it fit. Can you ask for anything more?! Well, I am going to get to wear my new ensemble again this Friday night for my birthday!

Day Two & Three: "A Date with Killer Shoes"

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 19:28:00 +0000

Wow!

I have been busy sewing and cutting and sewing and beading! I must really have my head examined ~ I could have made something from "scratch" I think in less time. But, it is really all about the "Journey", right?

I have finished the skirt - or so I thought. I tried it on and the length was correct, but the waist was now way too big! I really did not want to rip it out and start over. You know that feeling! So, I had to get creative in "fixing" the problem. I finally decided that I would sew a pretty ribbon on top of the waistband as embellishment. Then I threaded a narrow strip of elastic through the ribbon, but only on the back of the skirt's waistband. Voila, it worked ~ & I even added a little bow!

Now for the top of the outfit, I have two jackets, shown below:

The beaded one on the left is a gorgeous color and has incredible beading. The entire jacket is lining in a stretch netting (remember this!) The jacket on the right is a silk velvet which also have a matching tea length a-line skirt. My first daring act was to measure down the back of the jacket to where my waist is, measure up 2" and mark this point in the center back. On the side seams I measured down from the underarm 3". I drew a curve from one of the side points to the center point and then back to the other side. I ripped out the side seams up to each of the side points. Then on a flat surface, I carefully cut along this curved line and removed this portion of the back of the jacket. From the matching velvet skirt I cut out a flounce ~ near the hemline. The resulting flounce was a little wider than my curved cut off piece and about 8" long. I sewed a stabilizing row of long stitches along the top of the flounce. I pinned this to the back of the jacket. The sides matched the sides of my jacket. The flounce, being wider, I gently gathered it in the center back for a little extra fluff! The only tricky part was getting the side seams and the flounce to miter into each other without a bump. Ah, it worked!~ just as I had envisioned it.

My second daring act was to cut into the beaded jacket. I cut along the straight beaded sections in the center front up about half way up and then started rough cutting around some of the heavier beaded motifs. I pinned this section to the front of my new jacket and sat through several inane police dramas as I hand stitched all of this beading to my jacket. It was very labor intensive and required really good lighting and very sharp embroidery scissors to trim between the motifs but so worth it. It looks great.

Now for a hem . . . I was stumped. I did not want a regular hem. It had to be soft and elegant. So, I started cutting long strips from the stretch netting left over from the lining of the beaded jacket. They were about 3-4" wide. I folded them in half lengthwise and finger pressed them. I ran a gathering stitch along each near the cut edges. I ended up with four of them. I gathered them softly and pinned these to the bottom edge of the jacket ~ overlapping the raw edges when I needed to add another strip. Wow, it was looking good. I sewed my ruffle to the jacket, but, of course it still needed something!

I told you that I should have my head examined. Whenever I design for myself it always becomes far more complicated and time consuming than first estimated. This is why I am so conscious of ease of design and simplicity of construction when I choose to design a kit for the store. Ah, why can I not keep this in mind ALL the time! So . . . I decided to do some beading all along the hem right above the ruffle.

So, the jacket is done. The skirt is done. But what am I going to wear underneath the jacket??? Hmmm . . . I have a couple of ideas and this requires a trip to my closet

and another adventure in my sewing room!

I have to have this ready to wear in about 6 hours, so I will post tomorrow what the "camisole" will be.

The Sexiest Shoes on the Planet!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Oh My! I was out holiday shopping when I spied these incredible heels. I really needed to find some kind of a top to wear with a pretty black lace skirt hidden in the back of my closet, but I did not find a single one that appealed to me. BUT ~ these shoes just spoke to me! Naturally I had to try them on. Now, you must know that I am not in my twenties anymore and have not worn anything like these in quite a long while. I could not believe that I could actually walk in them! And, you will not believe it, but they were actually comfy! Nearly too good to be true. So, I bought them and they came home with me. Yippee! I have had them "on display" in my bathroom for a few days now as I have been pondering what to wear with them. I could make something. After all, I do have a dinner party to go to this Friday ~ plenty of time!

I remembered that I had an outfit in my armoire - purchased over 10 years ago - size 4! Ha, we all know that will never work! I studied the skirt. It is floor length and concluded that I could remake it, sorry, I mean "recycle" it. It will need to fit my now size 10 waistline which will change the overall length of the garment. Perhaps a tea-length. The skirt is a gorgeous Dana B, a printed silk organza with a velvet ribbon at the hem and it looks fabulous with my killer shoes! I studied the price tag ~ of over 10 years ago! ~ $179 Of course, I only paid $16 at a warehouse sale.

Last night, I unpicked the zipper ~ I'll reuse it! I cut the waistband off ~ after pinning the organza to its slippery silk lining. Then, using a yoke pattern from of a skirt pattern that I like, I cut off the top of the skirt to match the top of the skirt pattern piece. Today I will baste the two layers of the skirt together, reinsert the zipper and test fit the waist. I have not decided on a waist treatment yet. I like to design as I go. I'll let you know how it turns out. Then, its off to design the jacket/top! I have a silk velvet skirt, a matching silk jacket and a beaded lace jacket that I am going to cut up and put all into one stunning garment! Stay tuned and send good thoughts as I need to wear this Friday evening!

Ruffled Tee-Shirt Embellishing!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:53:00 +0000

I know, I know . . . I promised that I would have this posted by Thursday evening, but, well, best laid plans! Between unpacking from the Houston Quilt Festival (which was fabulous! - have you been on Sew It Up to see how many kits are Sold Out!) and then packing up for my last sewing retreat for the year . . . hmmm, I am only human! I wish that I could learn this fact!

At the Houston Quilt Festival, I had several tee-shirts on display at one corner of the booth that I had decorated with a crinkled metallic silk fabric. I got the idea from a woman's wear catalog last Spring ~ see the picture at left. I did not order any as they started at $69 each. So, I said, "I can do that" & for a lot less! We sold little "burrito" rolls of the fabric in several colors at the quilt show. Lots of people stopped, bought the fabric and wanted instructions for "how I did it". So here goes:

First, I sketched some ideas out from different catalogs. I cut samples of the metallic silks and went shopping for tee-shirts. I did not really want the Walmart/Target quality so I went to Ann Taylor, Talbots, TJ Max and Ann Taylor Loft. Ann Taylor had them on sale so I bought several! I did find one at TJ Max as well.

I used my rotary cutter, the mat and a clear ruler to "slice" off 1" strips of the silk. This is what I used for most of the shirts. It would depend on my chosen design as to how many strips to cut. Then I ran a gathering stitch, on my sewing machine, in a matching color of thread down the center of each strip lengthwise. See below:

Gently gather the strips and pin to the front of the tee-shirt. On some of my shirts I stitched them on by machine with either a straight stitch or a small zigzag on others I stitched them by hand. It really does not matter which way you do it ~ its personal preference. As you come to the end of a strip, simply overlap a new strip and continue. I did not sew the strips together.

Its fun to put them on in a squiggly design or follow the neckline of the tee-shirt. Let your creativity come forth and just have fun. Pin the strips down in different positions until you come up with the design you like most. Once you stitch them down, it is very difficult to "rip out" of the silk as it will leave stitch marks in the fabric. On some of my tees I added beads, sequins, rhinestones, etc in the folds of the gathered strips. You know that I love bling!

Here is a close-up of my design for the peachy tee-shirt. I really went crazy here. I must have been watching TV and just kept pinning and stitching. I do like it a lot though. After I finished the stitching, I wanted the "ruffly" look to be a little more subtle, so I pressed them down with a medium hot iron, with steam. I did use a pressing cloth as the silk is delicate. This compressed the ruffles and I really like the effect.

Here is the completed tee-shirt!

Below are several other tees that I did. On the soft pink one, I sewed the 1" strips to the inside of the neckline. Then I cut 2" strips, gathered them down the center and stitched them to the outside of the neckline.

For the Blue tee-shirt, I cut 4" strips, folded them in half lengthwise and ran a gathering stitch at the cut edge. I gathered them in and twisted them several times as I was pinning them down to the front of the tee-shirt ~ in the shape of "S's". You can see the raw edge at times at the neck edge. I then added a beautiful ribbon trim on top of the silk along the neckline. On both of these tees I pressed then down after I finished stitching to "tame" their fluffiness.

One of my favorite of all of the shirts that I have decorated is my white one. I used the silver metallic silk, some ribbon, a left-over piece of "drippy" rayon lace and a section of sequined trim. (see where there are on the tee shirt below). I cut my strips 2" wide for the left side of the neckline. As you can see, I added a trim in the center. On the right side of the tee, I cut my strips wider: 3". For the larger "rose", I used approximately 12", folded my strip in half and ran a gathering stitch along the cut edges. I gathered it in gently and then spiraled it into a "cinnamon bun" shape. Then I tacked it down as my corsage. Above my rose, I made a smaller one using a scrap of my 1" strips. I gathered it in tightly and spiraled it as well. Since it was a 1" strip, the edges are the raw edges. Cute, huh? I sewed a little round piece of lace to the center of the flower.

But, my favorite tee-shirt is my gray one!

I cut out a large heart shape from the silver metallic silk ~ approximately 12" long X 10" wide which I then cut in half. I ran a gathering stitch down the two long cut edges (the center of the heart). I gathered them in very gently, layered them one on top of the other which the points of the heart pointing to the left shoulder and stitched them down. This tee shirt happened to already have a gray cotton ruffle on the right hand side of the neckline ~ but anyone could add this to a tee-shirt on their own. Next, I added a gray taffeta picot edged ribbon to the neckline on top of the silk heart halves. I folded the ribbon back and forth like a "z" shape and tacked it down. I added gray pearl beads every 3" or so. Where the two decorative fabrics met, I added a small section of gray beaded trim to dangle!

Here is my newest. I love the teal/turquoise color and the silk matched it perfectly! For this one, I did not press down my ruffly rosettes. For this one I cut 2" strips, ran the gathering stitch down the middle and then folded the strip along the gathering line. I spiraled the strips into rosettes and then twisted the strip and then spiraled it in the opposite direction. I added beads and sew-on sequins between the folds.

So, for all of you who purchased little bundles of the metallic silk at the quilt festival, have fun and send us pictures of your creations!

We will add these silks to our website sometime this coming week for everyone else to play with!

Crinkled Silks

NEW Fall Kits!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:09:00 +0000

We are finally done getting ready for the big Houston International Quilt Festival! Hooray! Tomorrow we pack the truck and one SUV. On Thursday, I will be driving down to Houston. I will be staying with my Mom and she is like a kid at Christmas - so excited that she will be having company! I can't wait to see her. Its been too many months since our last visit. My how time flies! My summer was a little too eventful to fit anything else into as you may remember. Anyway, she asked me this morning if I could make a short stop over in Corsicana at the Russell Stover factory outlet. She loves chocolate and says that candy bars are getting too expensive - she's precious!

I was counting up all of the new kits that we will be taking to Houston this morning and came up with nine! "Holly" (pictured at left) is new for the holidays ~ a super quick and easy to sew project. In addition to "Holly", I also listed "Candy Cane", "Lala" and "Billie Jean". They are all precious. I love the Olive Anne pattern that we used for "Candy Cane". It is the same pattern that we recently used for another kit, "Hopscotch". This time we eliminated the pockets and decorated the front of the jumper with a Christmas stocking ~ we found that if you leave the top of the stocking open, you can slide a real candy cane in as a treat! Here it is below . . . isn't it cute?!

I sewed up the skirt, "Holly" and decorated the tee-shirt. Janice, my "manager", right arm and dear friend, sewed up "Candy Cane". I love it! I don't do all of the sewing for our kits. I know that you are probably shocked to hear this, but I really am not a "wonder woman". I do try to be, but I fear that my age . . . or could it be my level of "system overload" . . . prevents this. Janice and Linda, who also works in the shop at least two days a week, both help with the sewing. I do however design nearly all of the kits and have veto power over all! Yeah, I know, I am such a control freak! But, I try to be nice about it.

Not all of our new kits are just for the holidays. "Lala" and "Billie Jean" are not. Check them out if you get a chance on our website. So, what are the other kits? Didn't I say that there are 9 new kits?! Yes, but you'll have to come to Houston to see them! Like always, we make up kits that we should label as "limited editions". That really means that we do not have very many of them - less than 20. If they do not all sell at the Houston Quilt Festival, we will list them on Sew It Up. And, if I have time between now and next week, I will list them all on our site.

So, we load the trucks tomorrow. On Monday, November 1st, I will go to the Houston Market to see all of the new designer cottons for 2011. I'll be ordering for the shop as well as for new kits. Then, Tuesday, is check in and set up day at the George R Brown Convention Center for the Festival. I'll keep you posted!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:29:00 +0000


The Original Sewing & Quilting Expo Chantilly, VA

We are back from Chantilly now, unpacked & inventoried. It was a great show! We sold out of many of our new kits and met lots of very friendly people. All of the pictures here are from our booth. The classes that I taught were wonderful ~ it always such a pleasure to share with others my passion for sewing and design! I had a most pleasurable visit with my daughter, Anna, in Charlottesville before the show and after ~ which I extended. It was not exactly by choice as I came down with a cold right after the show :( So, naturally, I had to rest up for the long drive back to Texas. How convenient!

It usually takes about a week to get the shop back in order and this time has been no exception. It looks really good again, but not for long - lol! The Houston International Quilt Festival is just around the corner. So, we are busy getting a few more new kits made. All of these will be for the holidays. We'll have a new baby jacket, two new skirts, a velvet dress and a peasant dress for children, a fun new lady's apron and more!

As soon as we get the new kits ready, we will "preview" them for you here on the blog. So, I will throw it into high gear in order to have time to leave early to make it to the Houston Quilt Market which is always right before the Festival. My Mom lives in Houston, so I will be spending extra time there for a good visit!

On a final note, having driven from Bristol (Virginia) up to Charlottesville and on up to Chantilly, I believe that the entire state is beautiful! I am looking forward to my next visit!

Virginia

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 22:43:00 +0000

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Home

I made it to Virginia a couple of days ago, but not quite up to Chantilly! I have stopped in Charlottesville to visit my daughter who is a graduate student here at the University of Virginia. We are having a great visit! Saturday, we drove out to Monticello. As you can see in the picture above the weather was perfect. It was a little warmer than I had expected. They say that they are having a heat wave right now that is not typical. Gee, I hope that I did not bring this hot air with me from Texas! We toured the home as well as the gardens and the family graveyard. I have always wanted to see this and it did not disappoint me in the least. It is remarkable that every aspect of the house and gardens are so well maintained. The most surprising thing that I learned was that when Jefferson died, he was bankrupt. His family had to sell all of his belongings as well as the family home to pay off the debts he incurred while serving our country. Since then, curators have been working to return the house to its original state by locating and purchasing back the original furniture, art, books, etc. Simply amazing!

Above is a shot of the beautiful terraced gardens of Monticello and below are the vineyards. All of the vegetable grown here are what was originally grown in Jefferson's day and they are all labelled. The produce is shared among the staff that run Monticello. Wonderful, isn't it!

Here is a picture of my daughter looking out over the mountain, Monticello, from one of the porticos. We had a memorable time. Time spent with family is always so special, but when you get "one one one" time with one of your children it is extra special! We have shopped, gone out to eat, stayed up late laughing and crying ~ it's been wonderful.

Today, she and I have spent the day studying together. Yes, that is what I said! Of course, she is doing her course work while I am readying for all of my classes that I will teach while at the Original Sewing & Quilting Expo. I will be driving up to Chantilly tomorrow. That is to the Dulles Convention Center near the airport. Janice, from the shop, will be joining me later in the day. My daughter Anna will join us by Friday to help out at the sewing convention on Saturday. Then, she and I will head back to Charlottesville for a little more time together before I drive all the way back home to Texas!

After our visit to Monticello on Saturday, we wandered up the highway a little until we came upon the exit for the Blue Ridge Parkway, a very well known scenic drive. The views were breathtaking. I certainly understand where they got their name ~ see how blue they appear!

So, I will keep you all posted on the Originally Sewing & Quilt Expo that starts this week on Thursday!

Retreat Weekend!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:09:00 +0000

I spent this past weekend in Mineola, Texas hosting our Fall Sewing Retreat at the Southern Comfort Retreat House. It is always a blast and an absolute sewing extravaganza! This retreat's focus was on the construction of children's clothing; specifically knits. However, our first project for this retreat with a little fall twirly skirt. It was not made out of knits ~ after all, we had to have the evening to prewash the knits for Saturday! The project that I chose for our first garment was "Boo" which is one of our newest kits! It is also pictured in the upper left of this blog.

Hey, Mona . . . looking good!

Mollie & Bettie, "real" sewing sisters!

Are you having fun yet, Denise!

Yes, Tracy, this is Heaven!

Below are some of the "Boos" that the attendees made on Friday night.

I love the addition of multi-colored tulle under the lower ruffle!

Nancy's favorite colors!

This ain't no "prairie chicken" look"!

Some chose to use different fabrics (same pattern as "Boo").

And, then others, chose to test out a new pattern. On the right is the Girly Gore Skirt by Indygo Junction.

Of course, we do eat well at these retreats. Here are the dining rooms (see Linda in the kitchen! ~ she is our hostess extraordinaire ~the chef!) and part of our Friday night feast.

On Saturday, we sewed with knits! Many of the ladies had never "touched" a knit before. Well, you know what I mean. They had never dared sew with them. We had lots of beautiful garments by the end of the day!

Here is Tracy with her first knit project finished!

I do not know where everyone gets so much energy, but no one went to bed before midnight. For several it was much much later! By Sunday afternoon everyone had sewn up several little outfits and proud of their accomplishments as well as just a little tired. Memories were made, new sewing buddies were found and I think that many of us put a pound or two over the weekend! Ugh, that means back to the daily diet plan ~ eating healthy can be a little boring!

Just a little Hippie Chick!

Great fabric combination!

A new twist on "Maya"!

A cute little "Bubble" skirt.

Above are a just a few more pictures of the incredible little outfits that were sewn at our retreat this past weekend. Wow, what a bunch of creative women! I am so blessed to be able to share with them!

How I spent my Summer Vacation!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:48:00 +0000

I first titled this blog entry to be "Is summer really over?" It must be because my "kids" are back in school! But it is still so hot here in Texas ~ I could ask, "When will summer be over?!" Ah, it has been a very busy summer to be sure. I have not blogged in forever!!! And, well, there is a reason . . . or several actually. So, as I reread this blog, I decided on a more appropriate heading; reminiscent of our first writing assignment upon returning to school after an eventful summer vacation!

At my Sit 'n Sew Class
Martha's Sewing Market

May was devoted to getting ready for and exhibiting at Martha's Sewing Market after which, in June, I made two very important trips. One to visit my dear sweet Mom in Houston for a long weekend (returned home for only one day) and then I flew to London for a week to see my daughter, Anna. She is, or rather was, studying there for a year ~ she is back now in the U.S.!

Here she is in front of Liberty's of London!

The Montecute House, Somerset, England
where my daughter curated an exhibit of portraits!

The start of an incredible adventure!

Once back home I helped my 20 year old son pack for the adventure of his life: a 500 mile solo hike through the Colorado Rockies; specifically The Colorado Trail. It is not easy packing everything that you will need for over 7 weeks in one backpack! He even dehydrated his own food! Well, of course, there were 5 mail drops to different cities ~ mostly food!

At the Trail Head ~ John & me (not smiling)

Castle Rock, Colorado

My husband and I go to our cabin in Colorado every summer for about a month, hence ~ more packing! AND, we decided to have our floors refinished in three rooms of our home and have the kitchen painted while we were going to be gone. Not such a brilliant idea in retrospect! SO, I had to pack up my entire kitchen and dining room. Wow, I did not realize that I had so much "stuff"! I let my husband pack up his study. By the time we left for the mountains, I was so worn out that I just stared out the car window for three straight days. I normally knit, read and make my extensive grocery list from all of my great magazines (that I never have time to read!), but not this year! On day 2 of our vacation, we dropped off our son in Castle Rock, Colorado. This is where the Colorado Trail begins. It was so hard to say "Good bye". I knew that we would not be seeing him for at least six weeks. We would be lucky to get to talk to him once every ten days or so. So, it was a tearful farewell. Boy, it is so hard being a Mom!

Engineer's Pass, The San Juan Mountains

The first half of the month of July was spent playing hostess to friends that we had invited up to the cabin. Boy, we should have had our heads examined! That is not the way to start off a vacation. It would have been better to schedule that towards the end of the vacation! By the middle of the month we were so talked out that we hardly even spoke to each other! Well, not really. By then, I was so blessed to get sick. I had to heal quickly though because my husband had planned a little adventure trip out to Lake Powell in Page, Arizona and then the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Horseshoe Bend - Paige, Arizona

By the time we returned to the cabin, we only had a few days more days of quiet before our vacation was to be over. It always so sad when we have to return to the Texas heat. This year our return home was quite memorable. A bear attacked our car in the middle of the night before we were to depart and caused considerable damage to the back end of our Jeep and all our things that were packed within. Yes, I did say a bear! There were muddy paw prints all over the truck and trailer. Long brownish fur on the seats & plenty of bear spit - yuck! And, distinctive claw marks evident made through boxes - scary! So, after we cleaned up the awful mess, we did actually hit the road. About an hour and a half down the road, we had two flat tires! Yes, not one, but two. Those bear claws are VERY sharp! So, you might be wondering by now if we just turned back, but no, we resumed the 16 hour journey home. And, . . . I know this seems trivial now, but we had no internet at our cabin this year - wow, can you even imagine! So, that is the reason my emails and blog entries were so scarce.

So, was that enough excitement for one summer! Hardly. Although I would not describe the events that followed as excitement ~ more like a nightmare. We arrived at our home at about 2am - remember we had several delays! After only 2 hours of sleep, our phone rang with bad news. My daughter had taken quite ill. We presumed that she was getting adequate medical care, but after just a few hours and several more phone calls, it became apparent that this was not the case. My husband decided that one of us needed to go to her, so that would be me. I had 20 minutes to pack a bag and get to the DFW airport for an overnight flight to London. Believe me when I say this, you do not want to get sick in Great Britain! Free health care? No thank you! After a week, I got our baby back home. And, with our wonderful doctors and medicines here in the U.S., she mended.

The San Juan Mountains, Colorado

So, whatever became of our son's adventure? He sent us "I'm OK" via his SPOT daily and he was able to call us about every ten days. He did hike the entire Colorado Trail . . . solo. He left the Denver area on the 26th of June and arrived in Durango on August 14th! Did I mention that he also climbed fourteen Fourteeners? Those are mountains that are over 14,000' in height ~ So amazing! But I was just happy to lay my eyes on him and my arms around his skinny little body! He lost about thirty pounds! And, for those of you who know him, you are probably asking how he could have lost that much when he is already a "stick". I guess that when you are hiking that far and climbing that many mountains, you simply burn far more calories than you are consuming. That's quite a diet plan!

The Appalachian Mountains, Virginia

Last Wednesday, my husband and I drove our daughter out to Charlottesville, Virginia to start her doctoral graduate program at the University of Virginia. She was working on her masters in Bristol, England for a year. She is better now, but I wish that she could have been home a little longer. Today my son leaves for Lubbock to return to Texas Tech as a junior and resume his studies. I wish that I could have a little more time with him too. We Moms are crazy I think. We can't wait for them to grow up and then we can't wait for them to come home! Boy, it is going to be really quiet around here ~ maybe too quiet!

So, now it is time to get ready for
all the fun fall events!

I have a SOLD-OUT "Sewing in Southern Comfort" retreat in mid-September ~ sewing clothing for children. Then, at the end of September, we will be traveling to and exhibiting at the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Chantilly, VA. I have been invited to teach there as well as emcee two stage presentations. In November, we have the huge Houston International Quilt Festival where will be once again exhibitors. Lastly, I have one more retreat to lead in mid November ~ Sewing for Yourself. I believe that there are only two spots still open for that one. After that, I will be done for the year! BUT, I have so many ideas right now swimming around in my head, so I will mostly be busy creating in my studio for now! I'll keep you posted on new creations!!!

Texture Magic!

noreply@blogger.com (Lorene) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:24:00 +0000

Recently, at Martha's Sewing Market, I taught a class on how to use a new product called "Texture Magic". It is made by Superior Threads and is truly a remarkable new notion that makes fabric three dimensional! Yes, you read that right. So, what is it? Well, it is made of 100% polyester (chemically treated with some form of "magic"!); not an acetate fiber as I thought. It is machine washable and dry able. What does it do? When you sew it to a fabric and steam it, it will shrink 30% in all directions ~ permanently! Once it "shrinks", it does not continue to do so. And, one last fact, it does not require the use of any other stabilizers. As you can see from the pillow above, the result if quite pretty.

So, lets look at some examples of how cool this stuff is and what kind of things you can do with it. Here are a few other examples: first a beautiful quilt above where the Texture Magic has been utilized on certain blocks. See, here is a close up:

Here is a picture of a gorgeous table runner.

A close up view shows how it changes any fabric to be three dimensional!

Using texture magic on a beautiful black moire satin results in a spectacular little evening bag. A wonderful customer of mine presented me with this little bag before the sewing expo to inspire others. I love it!

Thank you, Diane!

And, another dear customer, Rachel, made this awesome jacket out of an embroidered & sequined fine wale corduroy. She wanted to make the garment to really pop with personality. The pattern that she chose had these wonderful inserted panels that just begged for embellishment. So, . . . using a gorgeous silk with texture magic applied, achieved this result. Isn't it incredibly beautiful!

By the way, she is 82 and sews every single day! She is a very happy lady!

So, what king of fabrics can you use? Just about anything! Above you have seen cottons (the pillow, the quilt & the table runner), acetate moire (the little evening bag) and silk (the jacket). I frequently use it for children's fashions. Like our little girl's dress kit, "Blush" (which is now sold out) and two NEW kits, "Dixie Chick" and "Miss Priss" (both are little girl's skirt kits with embellished tee's that are available on our website).

Okay, you say, so how do you use the stuff?

Cut out a piece of fabric & TM the same size. Bear in mind that it will “shrink up” 30% in all directions. (A chart is included with each package)
Spray an adhesive such as 505 to baste the fabric to the TM OR pin baste the two together.

Stitch the two together: use a free form stitching, stitch in a grid pattern, plain straight lines (maybe squiggle lines) or use some of your decorative stitches.

Set your iron at its hottest setting & push to steam.
With the TM facing up, steam it all over. DO NOT TOUCH THE IRON TO THE TEXTURE MAGIC as it will stiffen (melt).

If you are making a texture section of fabric, then proceed with your project. If you are using this for an applique, now trace the applique pieces to the back (on the TM side).
Stitch along this traced line.
Cut just outside the traced & stitched line. This will prevent your “texure” from releasng along the shape’s perimeter.

Pin your applique pieces to your project (or use fabric glue). Stitch to secure: an open zig zag, a satin stitch . . . maybe some trim like rick rack!

If you are using wonder under to attach other compoments to your applique, then use a teflon pressing sheet so that you will not “crush” the area with TM.

So, go forth and have fun with a little Texture Magic!

Oh, and by the way, you can order it from Sew It Up.com in our Crafts department!

Next blog, more ideas of what you can do with Texture Magic!