Tag Archives: fabric

Sewing clothes and having doubts.

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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.

IMG_0305 IMG_0306My 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.

IMG_0307 IMG_0308I 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?

Finally: Sewing Summit, a gift, & a quilt

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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!

Weekend of insanity!

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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.

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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.

LMP+QG May: Summer Breeze picnic quilt.

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Once again, I am late posting this month’s project but better late than never, right?

My friend Cait and I are making a project every month from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts.  You can see past projects here.

Summer has definitely arrived in North Carolina and this quilt will be perfect for naps in the grass and afternoon meals with friends.  I knew I wanted to use this particular vintage sheet for the backing so I kind of haphazardly pulled fabrics from my stash and ended up really loving the combination.  There are a lot of different shades of dark blue going on but I still think it works.

I used a fake linen from my stash as the solid, the vintage sheet I thrifted a few months ago, Pearl Bracelet in green from Lizzy House (not pictured), a blue flower print that I’ve had for years from a Beatrix Potter collection (thanks Abby!), Opal dandelion from Joel Dewberry, large green mums from Valori Wells, grass Chinese lantern from Amy Butler, and just like Caitlin, gingham nut from Denyse Schmidt.I wanted to use a whole cloth backing (something I don’t think I’ve done in years) but the sheet has some yellow discoloration so I might have to cut it up.  I’m also stuck on what to do with the quilting.  As long as I’ve wanted to make a picnic quilt, I’ve wanted to use a particular pantograph of ants that Lindsey has but she is on maternity leave from quilting!I do know that I will bind it in the solid blue and add ties so the quilt can be rolled up and carried.  Hopefully I’ll get it all completed before too long so I can enjoy this season.

Be sure to check out Caitlin’s beautiful quilt!  Next month: pinwheel duvet cover (which will be the perfect excuse for me to buy a down comforter!).

Recent happenings.

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I had a really long post written up, catching you up on all the latest happenings.

And then it felt like a chore, getting it done and getting everything in there.

So I deleted everything I wrote and will just say this: Instagram is on Android and I couldn’t be happier (except that it doesn’t upload to Flickr quite yet).  So, at least you can see what happened recently.  It includes a music festival in town put on by my friend Philip, fabric, beautiful weather, beer, and friends.  It was the best weekend ever.

I feel an amazing summer coming on.

A fun little challenge.

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I got a little something in the mail this week all the way from Australia.

Caitlin told me a few weeks ago about a challenge being put forth by Umbrella Prints that I’m excited to take on.  Umbrella Prints is a textile house in South Australia that make hand printed organic fabrics and the challenge is that you buy a random pack of their trimmings (hemp/cotton fabric screen printed with eco-friendly inks) and then you have until May 31st to make something beautiful with them which you photograph and submit to them to win either Judge’s Choice or People’s Choice.It’s a pretty interesting mix of fabrics, mostly blues with some neon red-ish orange thrown in.  I think I know what I want to do, based off a quilt I pinned a few months back.  I’ll be sure to give more details when I get started and let you know when you can vote for my piece!

Speedy fabrics.

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I received a lovely stack of fabrics in the mail while I was gone over the weekend and it was a nice surprise!I ordered these from Marmalade Fabrics because I’d had such a nice experience with when I ordered some Jay McCarroll from her.  I ordered them Thursday afternoon, they shipped Friday morning, and I received them Saturday.  Speedy!  I will definitely be ordering from Tammy again.

I’m not exactly sure of the order but these are Kona cotton in Berry, Chocolate, Asparagus, Cyan, Jade Green, Sky, Lagoon, Lake, Pacific, Marine, Charcoal, Cross Weaves in Aqua and Storm, and Outfoxed Pearl Bracelet in Red.  All the blues are for a commission based on this quilt due in about a month, the berry, chocolate, and pearl bracelet are for the stash, and the charcoal is to finally finish the boy version of this quilt.

On Monday I also received two and a half yards of this lovely Bryant Park poppy print by Khristian Howell that I intend to make a dress out of.  I’m excited about that!

Christmas weekend.

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This Christmas was pretty nice.  It’s wasn’t as snowy and awesome as last year but it was a weekend filled with sleep and cooking and a couple new things.

Saturday night I made pretzel rolls

and used them for sandwiches with sauteed sausage and onions and they were delicious!  The pretzel bread was so easy, I want to make them all the time.

Having started them the night before, I baked  no-knead pumpkin rolls on Sunday morning that were so good.  The recipe made 17 rolls; so what if I ate two for breakfast yesterday and today and one for dessert?  There’s no time like the holidays to be a fat kid :)

For Christmas dinner I made garlic schmeared rosemary chicken, butternut squash risotto with sage and bacon, crispy parmesan asparagus sticks, Martha’s trusty baked macaroni & cheese, and garlic pull apart bread (based on this recipe).

The risotto didn’t really work, I think it just lacked seasoning and I wish the squash had been more finely cut.  The asparagus wasn’t very good either.  I didn’t get pre-seasoned Panko breadcrumbs, which might have made the difference.  But all in all, the deliciousness of the chicken, bread, and pasta made up for it!  And I was pretty proud of myself for making three yeast breads in 24 hours!

One of my goals for Christmas day was to learn how to crochet granny shapes (hexagons in this case).  I pinned this photo on Pinterest months ago so following the tutorial, I made a couple and I love them!

I’m just using some Bamboo Ewe yarn I got with coupons at JoAnn’s and I thought I would stick with these same four colors the entire time but I might throw in a couple more along the way, keeping the grey outer ring a constant.  Three down, only 78 more to go!

Remember the photo I posted of the wrapped books I received and were saving for Christmas morning?  Well I eagerly opened them and spent a couple hours just flipping through the pages.

My dad so kindly got me The Break Baker’s Apprentice, Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, and The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt so I can join in on the quilt along next month!  I’m so excited about all these things.  I was really inspired by a sentiment Amanda talked about when we met at the Sewing Summit.  She talked of her desire to live a handmade life and I absolutely want to do the same thing.  Any small thing I can quilt to use around the house, making more of my own food, using my hands to knead bread and mend things; that sounds like such a rewarding life.

Oh and of course, how can I forget that I finally joined Instagram!  I love seeing everyone’s photos from there but hate that you have to have particular Apple products to use it.  I have a Mac but nothing else that would work, until Friday when Marcus brought home an iPad, a year end gift from his boss!  I won’t be carrying it around with me so I’ll only be posting things around the house but I still get to “like” and comment on other people’s things.  My name is @kaitcetera and you should follow me!

With new toys comes the creation of new things to use with them.  I noticed the hunching problem when using it while sitting down so following Betty Crocker Ass’ tutorial, I made a handy iPad rest!

The fabric was one of the only home dec fabrics I have in my stash (Amy Butler Imperial Fans in forest from Nigella), and definitely the least “girly” one.  Marcus and I have a bit of an argument about what’s manly :) I bought 5 or so yards of a wood grain fabric I fell in love with a few years ago and used it heavily in his quilt (and lots of other projects) but he insists it’s not actually manly at all. I want to make an iPad case but he said he wanted it to be black and purely functional.   What’s the fun in that?

So instead, I finally made a lined drawstring bag from Jeni’s wonderful tutorial!  It really was so simple and the fabric combinations are endless so I’m sure there are many more in my future.  I used fabric from my stash: an unknown floral print, the aforementioned wood grain, a yellow DS Quilts print, and an off-white twill tape for the pulls.

Post Sewing Summit Swap: the receiving.

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While I was away in Kentucky, my wonderful swap package arrived. It was such a great thing to come back to!

Heather of Fiberosity made me a gorgeous mini quilt with paper pieced stars from Carol Doak’s 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars (she blogged about it here).  It’s a book Amanda talked about in her class at the Sewing Summit, after which I put it in my Barnes & Noble shopping cart where it sat, until I received this quilt.  Now I can’t wait to make lots of amazing stars!

Heather made four different ones and I love them all!  The quilt is just perfect.  But then not only that, she also sent along some out of print Heather Ross fabrics!!

I can’t wait to fussy cut them and make something lovely.  Those matryoshka dolls make me squeal :) Thank you so much, Heather for your wonderful gift!