Sewing clothes and having doubts.

Posted on 21.Mar.13 by kait

I have been a bit obsessed with the idea of sewing clothes lately. While I’ve never felt up to taking The Sew Weekly challenge or anything, I love the idea of making everything I can.

I learned to sew clothing about 6 years before I learned to quilt. I still have my first dress and although I never fully sewed on the lining and the zipper was inserted incorrectly, it’s not so bad. Currently, half of my dresses are made by me and while I’ve dabbled in tops and pants, I’d really like to expand my skills.

I completed this Cynthia Rowley dress a little while ago, made from a Khristian Howell fabric I fell in love with last year. I didn’t love the dress while I was working on it but by the time it was finished and I tried it on, I loved it.

My favorite part is the orange plaid pockets. If I make this again I will definitely shorten the bodice and maybe add an A-line skirt instead.

I am currently working on the Banksia top from Megan Nielsen and it’s needing a little altering. Hopefully though, it will be a staple piece. Then after that, I have this whole stack of fabric all washed and ready to become more dresses and tops, including my first ever voile purchase!

Stack includes, from top to bottom, Cameo voile by Amy Butler, Grey posies by Denyse Schmidt, Downtown Los Angeles by Jay McCarroll, Habitat by Michelle D’Amore, Nettie dot by Timeless Treasures, and Washi by Rashida Coleman Hale.

I have focused on clothing lately because I’m beginning to doubt my ability to do quilt commissions. I usually work well under pressure but the couple of times I’ve gone past a deadline, I’ve completely torn myself up about it. I don’t like disappointing people. I don’t like having to tell them that I’ve let them down. But is avoiding situations where that might happen the best way to deal with it?

Do you make quilts by commission? Do you have a contract of some sort you give the person? What does that entail? Is trial by error a good way to develop a business?

A lovely finish.

Posted on 18.Mar.13 by kait

This was a quilt commission that I finished last week.

Gina passed my name along to a woman and after meeting at the Little General and talking it over a bit, we settled on a log cabin quilt made from Denyse Schmidt’s Chicopee. The blocks finished at a large 27″ each and I loved working on such a large scale.

Lindsay so graciously did a rush job on this quilting and I love how it turned out. I bound it in scraps from the quilt and sent it on it’s way. I hope it gets lots of love.

For Connor.

Posted on 25.Feb.13 by kait

Remember this quilt? The guy I made it for is having a baby next month, Connor, and the first-time grandmother commissioned me to make a quilt for him.

It’s based on Oh Fransson‘s Baby Roller Rink pattern from her book “Modern Patchwork.” I pulled blue and green scraps and bordered the strips with FreeSpirit solids. It is backed in a Denyse Schmidt fabric from JoAnn’s and some scraps, quilted in a meandering square pattern with pale green thread, bound mostly in Madison from Happyland, and labeled.

I was excited to take photos of this quilt on a train up the tracks from my work. I’ve wanted to do a photo shoot there for a long time and a train was finally sided at just the right time.

I hope Connor and his parents (and his grandma) love this quilt for a long time.

Some things!

Posted on 22.Feb.13 by kait

This last week has been one of the most productive in a while. I’ve been pleasantly busy making some gifts.

My friend Sarah asked me almost a year ago to make her a Kindle case and it finally happened. She told me she loves the tiny clothes fabric by Aneela Hooey so I pulled some coordinating scraps and used this pattern with a couple minor adjustments.

This pillow is for my best friend Catherine. She accompanied me to the Little General last year and bought some fabric that she left with me. I used the Virginia star from Carol Doak’s 50 Fabulous Paper-Pieced Stars because Virginia is where we met and became friends (though I now live in NC and she in KY).

I started with the Anna Maria Horner velveteen and pulled coordinating fabrics. The velveteen was definitely a little harder to work with but it made for a really cozy pillow. I fussy cut a few sections but you can’t really tell.

It has an envelope closure and measures 18″ square.

I made another pillow as a sneak peek of a quilt for a baby shower. I didn’t have the quilt done in time but I wanted to send them something useful instead of just a picture so I made this small pillow.It’s based on the Baby Roller Rink pattern from Modern Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman using blue and green scraps. The pillow made it to California just in time (I photographed it at the post office!) and was loved. I’m hopeful they’ll love the quilt too, which I’m sending off on Monday.

It has an envelope closure and measures a very snug 12″ x 14″.

My current WIP list.

Posted on 31.Jan.13 by kait

It seems like something that’s good to start the year with, a compiling of all the projects in some stage of completion.

Swoon: I finally finished this top a few months back and I have the backing fabrics all waiting to be pieced. I’m looking forward to taking this to Lindsay and crossing it off the list!

Color wheel: this was one of the Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts projects that didn’t get completed last year. It was a frustrating project and doesn’t lay flat but I’m hoping a little long arm quilting will help mellow it out. It will make a great addition to my studio space.

T-shirt quilt for Holly: I have been working on this project for way, way too long. I MUST FINISH THIS QUILT.

Selvedge spiderwebs: I have been working on this quilt for about two years. I have all the linen cut out and glued to paper so I just need to sit down and finish it! Maybe at a sewing retreat this spring.

Single Girl: I have been hand quilting this for nearly a year and a half. While I am really wishing I had had it long arm quilted instead, I know that once I finish I’ll feel a huge sense of accomplishment and will cherish it for a long time.

It’s Blowy Out There: I made this HST quilt from scraps a couple months ago and now it’s all basted and read to be finished.

—

Before I tackle those, I have a few commissions and trades I need to get (started and) finished first!

Kindle case for Sarah: this should be a quick project but it’s taking me along time! Nothing like a deadline though, I have to finish it by tomorrow!

Baby roller rink: this is a commission for a family friend and her first grandchild. It is based on this pattern and will be made of scraps. I’m hoping to finish it by the second week of February!

Set of dinner napkins: this is a trade for an art piece with my friend Liz. She is moving away in March so I need to finish them ASAP!

Chicopee log cabin: this is my first quilt commission for a stranger! It’s a really nice woman named Sarah who is getting it for her mom, to be completed by the first week of March.

Kaleidoscope in Field Study: this is a queen sized quilt for a trade for a large painting by my good friend Laura Lashley. I’m really excited about this and while there is no actual deadline, I’m hoping to finish it by the end of February.

Finally: Sewing Summit, a gift, & a quilt

Posted on 01.Nov.12 by kait

It’s been so long since I’ve made myself sit down to write. It’s so hard to make the time sometimes! I have a lot to catch up on.

Sewing Summit this year was fun. It wasn’t as great as last year but I had a great time traveling with Caitlin and getting to wander around the city a little bit more than last year.

Class registration was a bit of a mess this year so I got 7 lectures and one hands on, a class in which I made a maxi skirt. It was taught by the lovely Leanne Barlow and the skirt was so easy and is so comfortable that I want to make many more. I loved Mena Trott‘s class on a handmade wardrobe and I’m so inspired to keep sewing clothing and to one day fill my whole closet.

Funny story: the one person I really wanted to meet at Summit was Katy from I’m A Ginger Monkey. We crossed paths a couple of times but never really introduced ourselves. A couple days after I’d returned home, she tweeted at me that she, and a girl named Laura, has a girl crush on me and that she was nervous to talk to me because she thought I was way too cool. I couldn’t believe it! I totally though she was the cool kid! It bums me out that we didn’t both put our anxiety aside and talked to each other! We could have been best friends! Oh well; we will continue on in the internet world and one day we will meet again.

I left Salt Lake City so inspired and ready to sew. It’s been hard to get myself into the studio but I’ve made a couple things. My dear friend Rose wrote to me recently saying she’s beginning to do some embroidery. She is in a band that tours a lot so I made her a travel embroidery kit with my favorite Aneela Hooey fabric and some sparkly linen.

There is a needle book with pockets for 5 embroidery thread spools and a pocket in the back, a pincushion (using the pattern from Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts), and a bag to carry it all in. I went with kind of a weird color scheme but I’m loving the green Chicopee print with the grey. I hope she likes it!One of my favorite little details is the pull tab of a book with an elephant on the cover :)

I also finished a baby quilt that I was supposed to have completed a long time ago. I really hope to make commissions a larger part of my work but I need to get better about sticking to deadlines and communicating (including saying no sometimes).

They wanted trees to be part of the design and I had a hard time coming up with a way to create that and still stick to my aesthetic. When I saw this quilt kit at a shop, I thought I had the design. I bought the Lotta Jansdotter’s Belle collection but not wanting to to be too Halloween-y, I added fabrics (including some of Denyse Schmidt’s Chicopee, Lizzy House’s pearl bracelet, and Amy Butler, to name a few) on the pattern adding a few other fabrics until I came up with this, which I love.It is 5 by 6 blocks measuring 50″ by 60″. It’s backed with an assortment of fabrics from the front, quilted with a meandering pattern in pale grey thread, bound in Belle’s scattered dot in charcoal, and simply labeled with one of my little tags. I also whipped up something I had seen on Pinterest a long time ago. I used some red vinyl I’ve had for a while and covered my Moleskine notebook I use to design quilts and make lists. I love it!

I did it!

Posted on 26.Sep.12 by kait

I finished that quilt just in time! The bulk of it was done (everything but the binding) in four days in my studio, including about 12 hours of quilting alone, and I love how it turned out!It’s based on the Ice Pops pattern from Denyse Schmidt’s Quilts. I really don’t like how she uses pattern pieces for everything so I made these log cabin, chain piecing style and then trimmed them all a little wonky. The fabric is Indie by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics purchased from Stash Modern Fabric and FreeSpirit solids in Spark Gold, Grey, and Arctic White from The Little General.

I quilted it in a khaki colored thread with a loops and leaves pattern and bound it in mustard, with a little bit of print.

Amanda received the quilt for her birthday on Sunday and I got a string of enthusiastic text messages of thanks afterwards :) Sam, her husband who commissioned me to make the quilt for her, kindly took some photographs for me.She asked how I could make it with fabric that was so perfect for her, which is a big compliment. All Sam had told me was that her favorite color was yellow (which I took to mean mustard, since that’s the yellow I love) and went with it. I’m so glad she likes it!

Weekend of insanity!

Posted on 13.Sep.12 by kait

I have to make a quilt from start to finish in the next four days! This is the lovely stack I’m working with:

The complete Indie Collection by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics from Stash Modern Fabric on Etsy and some great FreeSpirit solids from Gina at The Little General (I didn’t catch the names!). I’m making the Ice Pops quilt from Denyse Schmidt’s Quilts book with my own methods.

Be sure to check in on Tuesday to see if I did it!

I believe I can!

Progress.

Posted on 03.Sep.12 by kait

Months ago, my friend Charla asked me to make a t-shirt quilt for her husband’s birthday out of some old shirts he loved. I went for a simple rectangle in a rectangle design with some scrappy strips. I got sick right around the time I was supposed to finish it but I powered thorough and completed it just in the nick of time, even if I wasn’t able to hand deliver it. It’s backed in a olive green sheet I thrifted, I sewed it around the edges and turned it instead of using binding, and labeled it.

Charla also asked me to make her a clothespin bag for use with her clothesline in her yard. After looking around online for ideas, I came up with this pattern using the raindrops print from Somersault by Erin McMorris and an unknown print from my stash, and I love it!

When Cait and I got together to make those pincushions, I was so excited to have finished something in a day that I left her house with a bunch of motivation and inspiration, something I haven’t had in a couple months.

I pulled out my Swoon quilt from the WIP box, a project I haven’t worked on in months. I had all the pieces cut out but only three of the blocks sewn together. Now, I’m happy to say I have a completed top! And I love it!

I finally went by The Little General (what used to be Karen Gray) over the weekend to see the ever lovely Gina and see her shop. I picked up a few lovelies to add to the stash and will definitely be back there soon. I was also able to drop off some business cards with the potential of more commissions which is exciting!

From top down: Curious Nature from Parson Grey, Chicopee from Denyse Schmidt, Nightshade from Tula Pink, Fresh Cut from Heather Bailey, and another Chicopee print.

The post craft fair calm. Sort of.

Posted on 23.Jul.12 by kait

The Krankies Craft Fair on Saturday went pretty well. The spring one is never as good as Christmas, which makes sense, but I had a good time and gained a little bit of a fabric budget :)

I also bought some really neat things like a t-shirt and screen print on wood from a really nice guy named Thomas Dean from Charlottesville, VA and a couple prints from Blue Raspberry Designs who is from here. It was a really good fair as far as vendors go.

For the last printing of my business cards I got my Etsy shop address on them, a shop that I’ve never actually opened. But now, I have enough things left over that I have no reason to not finally sit down, photograph, and post everything. I’m just not sure what to do about having 30 $5 things… Do I post them all separately and pay the posting fee? Do any of you sellers have any tips?

So now that that deadline has passed, I have two quilt commissions due in three weeks and July’s Last Minute Patchwork project which actually, proudly, I have already gotten to the quilting phase and made the binding for. Hopefully everything else will go as smoothly!

kaitcetera

quilting and other sundries.

Tag Archives: commission