An experiment, a photo by Sew Festive on Flickr.
I had originally sewed this up one evening because I was in a slump. I wasn't feeling like sewing anything, but I wanted to sew everything.
My thought was that I would embroidery lazy daisies in the blank square to make up a 4th tear drop shape. Now I'm not sure. I did enjoy sewing some precision curves and matching them up to my HSTs though!
Ps, all I see is snowcones when I look at this!
Victoria Blazer - in progress, a photo by Sew Festive on Flickr
I have had a stressful work week -- I'm in week 7 of a training class for my new job, and I have to take a state certification exam tomorrow. So of course I put aside everything else I was working on and started something new.
Enter the Victoria Blazer from By Hand London. I bought the pattern last month and then waited (most impatiently I might add) two weeks for it to arrive. And oh man is the pattern packaging awesome. I will make sure to take a picture for the post with my completed jacket.
I'm using this unknown fabric that I picked up at my local fabric shop for a glorious $5/yard. Its an off-white with a golden metallic sheen. I wish I knew what type of fabric it was though...its got a pretty open waffleish weave that my stitches just sink into. And I thought it was going to be scratchy, but its not at all. It is very clingy though.
The bottom left portion of the photo shows the black polka dot lining that I was going to use until I realized that it would show through the shell. So I'm using a yellow and white striped silk instead. The pattern only calls for lining in the body of the jacket, but I plan to line the sleeves too, since the shell fabric is so clingy.
There has only been one difficult part so far and that was just due to a vague piece of instructions, so if you want a jacket pattern then I would absolutely recommend this. I'll explain more about the difficult part when I get some pictures of that step so it will hopefully clear some things up for others!
I can't wait to finish and wear the jacket. And then make like 17 more in fun, funky prints!
Pillow top progress, a photo by Sew Festive on Flickr.
I've been working on some pillows for my new couch, starting with this fabulous Echino Decoro rhino fabric that I had.to.buy. I'm loving the pieced circles and graphic look and my attempt at whimsy.
Happy Wednesday!
*linked with WIP Wednesday
I have a backlog of some projects that I thought I'd share here. First up, my first foray into sewing with velveteen and metallic thread! It was a smidge bright out when I took the pictures, so please bear with me.
I used some AMH Field Study velveteen and some Robert Kaufman Toscana velveteen to make this pillow cover. The designs are just fleur de lis raw-edge appliqued to the top with metallic gold thread. I'm looking forward to when it frays more and gets even more snuggly.
It was originally going to be a project in Stitch Fall 2013, but when I sent it in they ended up not using it because they thought the color choices were a little dated. That may be true, but I liked it? Maybe I'm dated? I think that the AMH velveteen would also look delicious on a charcoal gray background, but the selection of quality solid-colored velveteen needs a little expansion...
In any case, since I made up a template and wrote instructions, I figured I might as well share them with you all in case anyone else wants to make a beautiful fall Renaissance pillow :)
You can find the template HERE and instructions HERE. Make sure to print the template full scale.
Happy Friday!
**Linked up with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
Having your sewing ideas accepted for publication is super exciting. Knowing that your design/construction is unique and appreciated, and getting paid for that work, is amazing.
The downside is when you're only working on things that can't be shown and it feels like you're never making progress that you can share. And the sharing is one of my favorite parts of this whole bloggy business!
So there you have a snippet of the quilt that I made last weekend. An entire quilt, after weeks of not much sewing, and yet I can't tell you about it. Very sad.
I've still been working on my Irish Chain bed quilt, and I've been plugging away on a Colette Laurel and Hawthorn, a Wiksten Tank, and a By Hand London Victoria Blazer [I get a little bit crazy with cutting out clothing patterns].
Here's to hoping I'm at a sharing point soon!
This is what new baby kitty thinks of Mondays. Me too, Loki, me too.
But since I can't sit around sewing today and instead must get up and go to work, I'll just think fondly about all the crafty things I was able to accomplish this weekend instead. Seriously, I cleaned my house, did the laundry, AND got to sew. BAM. I mean, so I had a Fluffernutter sandwich for dinner one night, but that's just between you and me.
I made some pompoms Saturday night while watching Band of Brothers [a favorite in my household]. I have teal, white, mustard, gray, and navy. They all have to be trimmed, but it's a pretty mindless task for a good movie. I'm making a garland for my cubicle at work because its the very first cubicle every single employee sees when they walk through the door...I think that makes it my job to bring a smile to their face!
I printed, trimmed, and taped together my Colette Hawthorn pattern. Does anyone else think that Hawthorn should have an "e" on the end of it?
And then I promptly cut out a size 6 -- the verdict is still out on whether this pattern runs enormous, like the Laurel. I'm making Version 1, a top, in a very lightweight white Swiss dot, perfect for summer!
I worked all week on taking this haphazard stack o' 30+ fabrics...
...and cutting it down to this. I hate cutting. Seriously. I wish it would curl up and die and that I had magical fairy properties that would allow me to just think of the shape that I wanted my fabric to be and then voila it would be that shape. Until then, I'll continue giving myself carpel tunnel.
But hey! I sewed 2 blocks. Only 19 left! And I love it!
I'm going to chain piece the rest, but I wanted to double check the process of sewing it all together first. I hope to have the remaining 19 blocks done by the end of the week...if I do some chain piecing every night it shouldn't be too bad :)
Happy Monday everyone!
I got out of my work training class really early yesterday.
Picked up my mail at 3:30. I NEEDED yardage of that Urban Mod print and then I threw in a cute little mini charm pack of The Boo Crew by Sweetwater.
I haven't had a chance to sew lately, so I threw off any responsibilities I might have had today and got to work. I added in some extra fabric and was cutting by 3:45.
My trusty helpers were by my side the entire time for moral support.
By 5 I had a completed pillow top! Those little monsters are so darn cute.
It's going to get some spiderweb quilting later tonight and then I'll be all set for Halloween!
I'm making simple patchwork pillows because I think they go with everything, so it will join my newest neutral patchwork pillow that was finished to be the constant pillow on the couch. Then I can just trade out smaller pillows for the holidays/season.
It felt so so good to just piece some squares. And by golly if that isn't the fastest I've ever used a fabric after receiving it :)
*linked with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced
