"Thanks for the Memories"

About 4 years ago my best friend Christine Dougherty, watercolor artist, sent me a large box of old clothing. This box is a treasure trove of great usuable items, silk shirts; silk suits; a tapersty jacket; a few over-sized linen shirts and much more. The thing about this box is it travelled with me for 4 years before I could get an opportunity to be creative with the contents. In the last three months, the box of goodies has been, my main source for new wardrobe items----I've been cutting and building virgin yardage from suits, tops and skirts. Below is two dresses I've made using brushed silk suits in lovely jewel tones. The first is a deep purple silk pieced from jacket and pant, with some salvage yardage as the center panel. Dress number two is a lovely teal color, also made from a pantsuit, with the additional yardage created by reconstructing a short sleeve top to be the dress yoke.

Everything has been cut apart and ready for reassembly into usable yardage.

Its not finish for me, until I add my label.

"Happiness consists not in having much, but in being content with little."

                        -Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington 

My New Tablet Cover

This is the quick project I worked on today. I have a Trio 10.1 tablet, that has a really good camera, and my original case is only a sleeve style cover. The sleeve cover meant I always had to remove the tablet completely to use it. So after watching the TV show Sewing with Nancy,  on public tevevision this pass Saturday, where Nancy demostrated how to stitch circles to embelish your sewing projects, I decided I wanted to try circles. The circles would be useful to create an opening in a custom tablet cover for the fan, and camera lense located on the backside of the tablet. I repurposed an old cotton skirt, with a mock African print, and a random dark blue t-shirt from my stash. The following are the photos of the final project. Enjoy!

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.      Hebrews 11:1

A Place for Everything

I’ve been meeting needs again, and this time its for my new phone. Just a little case to keep it clean and easy to grasp when in my handbag. Love it!

 

Going Slow

I love hand stitching, it gives me great pleasure to hand stitch a hem on a skirt, or the binding on a neckline. My quilt projects of the past were mainly done in the traditional manner with plenty of hand piecing followed by lots of hand quilting, and of course a hand-stitched binding. But over time somewhere along the way, the act of hand sewing got to slow, my sewing machine became the quick facilitator of project finishing. Today I began a new project, because one of my favorite clothing items, a 10 year old hand-stitched slip could go no further as a wardrobe staple, a new one must be made. Just looking at the workmanship I put into the original slip made me nostalgic for that same quality in my new slip. I'm going slow, hand finishing my little project for beauty and utility.

Bias binding finishing on neckline

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.     Psalm 33:21

Sewing is FUN

There is a small group of young ladies at my church I teach sewing to once a week, and they are having a ball. Here are a few pictures of first projects.

First project a stuffed pincushion embellished with buttons

Hannah modeling the first skirt she made (she's made a second skirt on her own).


"Be consistent and do everything with love."