Handprinted fabric

My fat quarters have been printed and sent for Handprinted: a fabric swap III.  I tried block printing this time, and, in the end, was happy with how it turned out.  This was a new technique for me, though, and the design truly evolved through the process from my original intention.  I'll post soon about the printing and design process.

The photo above shows the colors best.  I selected Kona solids in a soft blue, soft green and chartreuse, then printed with white screenprinting ink.

Here are the fabrics all folded before I mailed them out.  Hope my swap partners like them!

Quilt plans... and a pouch received!

I did not go to QuiltCon, but my mother-in-law did.  She just happened to be visiting a friend in Austin (who happens to be a quilter) and happened to plan the trip for the week of Quilt Con.  True story.  I'm not being sarcastic here.  She told me she was going to Austin and that there was some sort of quilt show going on then that her friend was planning to take her to.  I'm not (yet) a quilter, but I am completely inspired by the modern quilt movement (see my modern quilt inspiration board on Pinterest) and I would have loved to take some of the amazing classes that were offered at QuiltCon, as well as see the fabulous quilts on display.  I wasn't able to go with my mother-in-law, though, so, of course, I sent her on a mission for fabric!

I specifically asked for a couple of fabric lines that had not yet been released in stores.  In particular, I was interested in this line:  Comma, by Zen Chic (aka Brigitte Heitland) for Moda.  I love the bold graphics and the color palette.  Happily (for me!), she was able to bring me a charm pack.  (Yay for nice mother-in-law's!)  As soon as I had the chance, I started laying out the squares to see what I could do with them.

Since then, I've come up with a design for a very simple cross quilt (inspired by this quilt top) which uses the charm squares themselves (no cutting!) as the pieces.  This will be a new throw quilt (54" x 72") to keep on/near our sofa (along with the beautiful house quilt my mom made for us years ago).  My goal is to keep this simple so I can piece it quickly, then get to the quilting of the thing and actually finish it!  It will be my first real quilt (as opposed to a quilted project), and I want to be able to get it done, rather than leave it sitting around, half finished, or barely started... not that I ever do anything like that!  Ha!

I sketched it all out, and then ordered six more charm packs and the extra fabric I need for the backing and border.  The additional fabric came in the mail yesterday, and I plan to get started as soon as I finish up my projects for the Covert Robin and Handprinted Fabric swaps.

Another package came in the mail last week.  (I love packages in the mail!!)  This one came all the way from Malaysia!  I actually danced around the house, I was so excited.  I knew it was my pouch from the sweet pouch swap, but I had no idea it would be coming all the way from Malaysia (since the swap senders were meant to be secret!).

Suziana made this cute pouch for me, owls and all!  She must have been peeking at my blog, because she also got the color palette just right.  And there was yummy chocolate.  Mmmmm.  Thank you so much, Suziana!!

I think the back is as cute as the front with the fun patchwork and quilting.

What new (or not so new) fabric lines are inspiring you today?

Roly-Poly Pinafore: pattern test

When Rachael from Imagine Gnats asked me to test this new pattern she's developing -- called the Roly-Poly Pinafore -- I happily agreed.  I'd never tested a pattern before, but last year I made Rachael's madeleine bag (from the free tutorial on her blog).  I found the instructions to be well written and easy to follow; plus, I love the bag and use it daily!  I've also now written more than half a dozen patterns myself for Stitch magazine and Martingale Press, and, although none are garments, I thought I might, possibly, be able to offer feedback from that angle.

I was so happy with how this turned out!  I'm also grateful to have a willing model who's not the least bit camera-shy.  Ellie chose the outer fabric from my stash, then she and I went fabric-shopping for a lining fabric to match.  After choosing the lining fabric pretty quickly, Ellie spent at least 20 minutes at the wall 'o fat quarters, desperately trying to choose one print to take home for herself.  In the end, I put her out of her decision-making-misery, and let her pick two!

The Roly-Poly pinafore has a wonderfully wide size range (sizes 1 through 8), which I think is fabulous.  I made a size 6 for Ellie and it fits her well.  She adores it and, after convincing her (it didn't take much!) to do a photo shoot this morning, she asked if she could please wear it to school, which she did.  Other pluses to the pattern are that it's reversible, it has an adorable box pleat at the neckline, and -- my favorite feature -- it can be made with pockets!

The pattern provides instruction to make it with integral pockets (cut as part of the main pattern pieces), with separately cut pockets, or with no pockets at all.  I chose the variation with the separately cut pockets so I could add the surprise element of a third fabric print.  See the cute little pink grid fabric peeking out?!  Honestly, I think just about every garment should have pockets -- especially ones made for little girls (or boys!) who find treasures everywhere.  Where else will they put that feather, or bottle cap, or precious penny?

Rachael has a call out for more pattern testers; go here to see the details if you're interested.  And, if you're not already following Rachael's blog, Imagine Gnats, you should be!  If you're more the facebook type, you can find Imagine Gnats there, too.  You may also want to check out her craftsy pattern shop and this shop (where she sells her embroidery kits).

In other news, I'm auditioning for Family Ever After's Sew-vivor sewing competition.  You may have noticed the button in my sidebar.  The rules are that you can enter only one project for the initial audition, so I chose this appliqued messenger bag from the past.  I thought it showed technical and design skill more obviously than some of my other projects.  It seems a far stretch to actually be selected, but if it does happen, the challenges need to be done quickly!  So I've been sketching an idea for an Easter dress for Ellie to meet the first challenge requirements.  And if I'm not selected... Ellie might still end up with a kick-ass dress!

Emerson tunic

I finished up Ellie's new tunic last week and I'm happy to say, she loves it!  I followed the Emerson tunic dress tutorial, but re-drafted the pattern for about a size 6, kept it short-ish (so it's more of a top than a dress), and divided the back into two sections like the front, so I could use this awesome Essex yarn dyed linen/cotton in denim for the yoke.  The patterned fabric is something I bought at Hobby Lobby years ago.

I  didn't add the decorative buttons, bird applique, or the strip in the back that the tutorial calls for.  I didn't think it needed those extras, plus Ellie and I thought the buttons down the back might make it uncomfortable for sitting.  The sleeve/shoulder/side seam construction is a bit unusual:  you turn under and hem the sleeves and side seams first, then stitch the side seams together.  I would never have thought of constructing a garment this way, but it ends up making a pretty nice silhouette.

I really like how it turned out overall, but I'm most proud of the inside.  Every single seam is finished!  I repeat:  there are no raw edges anywhere on this garment.  I used a flat-felled seam to join the yoke to the patterned fabric, and french seams at the top of the sleeves.  The side seam construction called for in the tutorial results in a finished side seam, and the extra fabric strip at the inside of the neck line hides the raw edges there.  Can you tell I'm feeling kinda accomplished here?

Here's a happy girl (with her silly you're-taking-a-photo-of-me smile) in her finished top.  It works well for fort playing, too!  Although Ellie and I both like the shape of the shoulders/sleeves, big brother wasn't so convinced.  His comment:  "Mom, you're like that guy on Project Runway who always made the shoulders too big."  I think he was referring to Elena Slivnyak from Season 10...

A few things

First: what's on my cutting table (otherwise know as my dining room table):

Newly received fabric ordered from SewMamaSew!  Isn't it lovely?  I have purposes for some of these, but not all -- for now, I'm just gazing at them.

Making Ellie this Emerson tunic.  Tutorial and pattern from luvinthemommyhood.  It was fun picking out the fabric from my stash with Ellie.

Making the cover dress/tunic (Style E) from the Stylish Dress Book for myself.  I'm thinking of using the text fabric for the neckline facing, and maybe the pocket lining.  What do you think?

And this is an in-progress secret project for a book.

Next: a couple of swaps.  I've really been enjoying swaps!

There's still time to sign up for Handprinted: a fabric swap, hosted by Leslie of maze & vale.  If you've ever wanted to experiment with any kind of printing onto fabric, plus get some amazing handprinted fabrics in return, then this is for you.  I participated last year and am very much looking forward to doing it again this year.

Sign ups are also open for the Covert Robin mystery gift exchange.  This swap has multiple hosts, including Rachael of imagine gnats. Make a gift, get a gift, and blog about the gift you made or received for a chance to win fun prizes.  I didn't participate last year, but wish I had.  So I'm excited about taking part this time!

Finally:  here's a sneak peek at two projects I recently sent off to Stitch magazine for their Fall 2013 issue.  I also have a project in their soon to be released Summer issue.  More on that soon.

What's on your cutting table today?

Happy Valentine's Day

It's true.

Love,
Amy

DIY: 10 minute heart appliqué

With Valentine's Day just two days away, I thought I'd post this quick and easy idea for embellishing a t-shirt with a delightful raw-edge appliquéd heart.

You really can do this in about 10 minutes.  In fact, I embellished the shirt above for my son one Valentine's Day morning when he requested a heart shirt about 20 minutes before he needed to be at school.  In that case, I only had about five minutes to spare, so I ironed the heart to the shirt and waited until later to stitch it on.

This is one I made for him a few years prior.  I think we realized that it no longer fit that frantic morning when I quickly made a new one!  My daughter now wears this brown one.

Yesterday, I decided that I needed one, too!  Here's the result.  And I can honestly say that once I chose a t-shirt and the fabric, it really did only take 10 minutes -- maybe less.

What you need:

One t-shirt
A fabric scrap
Card stock or plain copy paper
Paper-backed fusible web (I like Pellon's Wonder Under)

What you do:

1.  Fold the card stock or paper in half and cut out half of a heart shape along the fold.  Unfold for a perfectly symmetrical heart shaped template.

2.  Using a pencil or permanent marker, trace your template onto the paper side of the fusible web.  Cut the shape out of the fusible web, leaving roughly a 1/4" border on all sides.

3.  Following the manufacturer's instructions, iron the fusible web to the wrong side of the fabric scrap.  Allow to cool for a minute.

4.  Cut out the heart, following the lines you drew on the paper backing, then peel off the backing.

5.  Place the heart on your t-shirt and (again following the manufacturer's instructions) iron it to the shirt.

6.  Finally, stitch close to the edge of the heart to securely attach it to your shirt.  Use a straight stitch, a zigzag, or another fancy stitch you like.  Or hand stitch with colorful embroidery floss.  Or simply forget this step if you're not concerned with the heart eventually coming detached in the wash -- it'll probably hold up through several washings, although I can't guarantee that!

Here I am in my new shirt.  Look, I even managed to match my lipstick to the color of the heart!  How did that happen?!

I'd love to hear about it if you make your own heart shirt.  Post in the comments, or email a photo or photo link to me!

Happy Hearts Day!