My Sewing Space

S asked me to make some owl pillows for her shop. She gave me some suggestion pictures and I did a bit of looking online, but didn't feel very inspired until I saw this scrap of fabric in my stash. The larger owl is about 1" tall and I basically just enlarged it, keeping the proportions the same, up to 12" for the pillows. I like how the feet are perched on a branch in the printed fabric, and I really wanted to make some sort of feet that dangled from the bottom of the owl. But, after three different attempts, I was still unsatisfied with how they looked and I didn't have any more ideas. Instead, the feet look like this: The wings have a pleat in the middle so that they sit away from the owl body a bit. The underside of the wing matches the owl belly. I was quite determined to make these using only materials that I already had and I was successful. I think I would prefer the look of regular button (as opposed to these covered button) eyes, but I didn...

Just like last year at this time , I was asked to donate something for a charity auction at the school my children attend. I used this pattern to make a set of placemats. The background fabric is a sand-colored linen. I bought five yards of it a few years ago when I happened upon a fabric store that was going out of business while on vacation. I've been using pieces of it here and there - never really a big chunk at a time - and now I've got about a half of a yard left. I'll be sad when it's all gone. The backside is a clamshell printed quilting cotton. The binding is finished by hand (took a long time, but looks really nice) and the vertical quilting lines are about  3/8" apart - pretty dense. These two factors multiplied over six placemats meant that they weren't finished as quickly as the "so simple and easy" endorsement on the pattern had me expecting. But, I'm really happy with how they turned out. The extra effort was worth it. I...

Lately I find myself in a bit of a philosophical quandary regarding my daughters and their clothing. Who should decide what they wear - me or them? If it's them, should anything they choose be okay (within the bounds of modesty, safety, etc)? Do they need to be taught some guidelines about matching or should they go with whatever they think is beautiful? If they need guidelines, how do I teach that without squashing their own style? And how do I know if my guidelines are the best for them? My definitions of matching or coordinating are different from others. Maybe they resonate with someone else's personal style much more than mine. It seems pointless to try to instill "rules" about what to wear based on social norms now and then try to encourage dressing for self without regard for what others think later in life. Hmmm. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, clothing choice isn't a huge issue, but all these questions were on my mind while making these East...

After the buttonholes were finished, I spent the rest of the day in the trim, button and notions shops. I also went to the more expensive fabric shops (where I would be broadening my fabric horizons more than acquiring). On the second day, I would return and do the rest of the fabric stores. My reasoning for this plan was that I was meeting the Preacher for a play on Broadway that evening and didn't want to be loaded down with bulky bags of fabric. Buttons and trim are easier to stash away. So, let's get to the good stuff... Clockwise from top left: striped ribbons in two different colorways, likely will become hairbows for my girls; flower printed webbing for a tote bag for older daughter; D-rings and latches for tote bags, wristlets, or purses; brown ribbon, likely for me but I have no specific intention for it right now (it looks like denim up close). Picot-edged and fold-over elastics I find the elastic selection at my local fabric store very bleak. I was tempted to...

My time in New York City was fantastic. Just incredible. The Preacher and I had a day together to do some sight-seeing and then I had two days to myself in the garment district while he was at a conference. On the first of my "just me" days, my top priority was finding buttons for my coat and getting the buttonholes done at Jonathan Embroidery . I chose buttons from Pacific Trimming . I had a hard time deciding between two different buttons, so I bought enough of each for the coat. There wasn't space to spread out the coat and get a good feel for the overall look with the buttons, but I didn't want to regret a choice when I got home. Option #1: And lined up on the coat front: Option #2: And lined up on the coat front: Neither are what I would consider novelty buttons, but there are a lot of other details on the coat and I didn't want to overdo it. I like both of them and haven't decided which to use. Now, about the buttonholes. If the only r...