Patterns, Patterns and More Patterns

It’s been busy this week with too much time on the computer. I’ve been documenting the patterns for several of my projects. There are many more to go, but at least I’ve established some templates and a bit of a system. In fact I’ve listed a couple of these patterns in my Etsy shop. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Over the past couple of years I’ve designed a variety of project bags – some to sell at my friend’s yarn shop, Knitch, some to give away as gifts, and many more to use myself.

This funky purple one was made for a friend and I liked it enough to make another for myself. It’s not clear why, but having half a dozen unfinished projects sitting around doesn’t bother me as much when they are organized in a pretty bag.

The same friend gave me a couple of great handmade reusable grocery bags. I love them, but two is never enough, so I decided to use up some excess muslin, and made these. May as well advertise my projects instead of some grocery store chain, right?

Now I have several more project bags in progress, combining fabric bodies with felted wool pockets and other interesting embellishments. I think one is going to be made from an assortment of black and white fat quarters and feature a piece of white cotton filet crochet on the pocket. 

There are also a whole group of felted bags – guess I’d better get busy and write up those patterns too. Before I know it I’ll have a book! That is if I can stop twittering long enough to get real work done. Follow me on Twitter

Ansel Adams Inspired

Have I mentioned the Ansel Adams Tribute project? The idea is to reproduce Ansel Adams photographs using fabric, quilting, and other fiber manipulation techniques. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could evoke the same depth and texture of the black and white photographs. For my first attempt I chose his 1948 photo From Hurricane Hill, Olympic National Park, Washington. Here is a link to the photo

And here is my attempt to reproduce it. (note: I haven't attached the rod pockets to the back yet, so those odd little shapes at the top are binder clips holding it up for the photograph.)

It’s interesting as a first attempt, but clearly does not reflect the detail and subtly of light, shadow and mist in the original. I tried using a bonding product called Mistyfuse™ to create the layers of mist on the distant mountains, and I really don’t think it worked. The bonding agent leaves a sheen to the areas where it has been applied that makes the mountains look hard instead of soft and ethereal. Again I would try an opaque fabric like organza.

The snow was made from cotton flannel, which may also have been a poor choice. In my original project plan I was going to use a furrowing technique to create the play of light and shadow on the snow. Then I planned to add highlights with white fabric paint. After working with it for awhile I found I couldn’t get enough distinction between low and high spots, and adding detail with paints or dyes was extremely difficult because the nap of the fabric defeated efforts to control application.

This is why I resorted to using two colors of fabric. I used spray adhesive to hold the small fabric pieces in place before stitching, but even so it was extremely challenging to add small detail, and more was needed. I might have had better results just using thread in shades of grey with an open toe darning foot to add more detail to the snow. A third, lighter shade of gray might also have helped.

Anyway, it was a fun project to think through, and I’m looking forward to trying some more of these. For the next project I think I’ll choose something a bit more angular and with less detail – perhaps ”Church, Taos Pueblo”, which Adams shot in 1942.

Out of the Vortex

Those of you who follow my other blogs may remember that we started renovations on our house in late winter. Many months and more gray hairs than I care to count later, we are finally about to wrap up the work we contracted – just waiting for the final inspection. We still have lots of landscaping and a few small projects left to do ourselves, but it does feel like we made it out of the vortex. Life is returning to normal, which means I’m sewing again, and ready to write about it.

The new quilt for our bedroom was finally finished this week, and though the stripes pop a bit more than I expected, the husband has given it a thumbs up. Lady, our dog, doesn’t mind it either. She was delighted to be the first to check it out. Obviously, this isn’t going to turn into an heirloom, as it will need to be washed on a regular basis. That is one more truth about living with dogs. By the way, that sweet little pillow on the bed is actually a throw that fits into its own pocket. It was made for me by Harriett (Pat) Gilliland without ever seeing the quilt. The woman must be psychic!

The design for the quilt is my own, and unlike some patterns it is square (80 x 80 inches). The sizing works out perfectly for this queen sized bed since I like to let the wooden side rails show. If you would like to make one, the pattern will be available on my etsy.com store in a week or so. I’ll post a note here when I get it listed.

I’ve also been busy with a few projects around the house. I salvaged some chairs and tables to convert our front porch into an outdoor sitting room. A neighbor left the tables in the street for the junkman. With a bit of touch up paint on the wrought iron legs, a coat of red on the top to match the front door, and a few funky flowers in shades of blue, gray, and white, we are now ready for a tray of snacks and a shaker full of cocktails.

For this sort of folk artsy project, you don’t need to worry about your artistic skills. Online clipart provided the idea for the flowers. Using paint that was intended for model cars and airplanes (an inexpensive way to get a very small amount of several colors) I took a stab. Only one thing turned out really hideous – my attempt at a lady bug. I used some mineral spirits to erase it and then repainted that section with the same base red.

The chairs have a longer history. Ten years ago, I had the sad task of closing down the Atlanta division of a software company. Somehow, I ended up with four of these office side chairs with upholstery so 80s it makes me cringe. I thought I would recover them, but before that plan could be carried out, the basement flooded with four and a half feet of water. Though the chairs were quickly hosed off and dried out, the thought of adding new fabric over the old (and possibly mildewed) padding wasn’t very appealing. So they sat. Fast forward to this summer. While looking online for inexpensive chairs to use on the front porch, I remember these gems sitting in the basement. I set to work to remove the old fabric and padding. After pulling about 500 staples, some really rough bent plywood seats and backs were revealed. The wood was none the worse for it’s dousing, so I filled the cracks with wood putty, added uncounted coats of polyurethane (plywood can really soak it up), made some cushions and voila! The fabric is intended for outdoor use, and while I was at it, I made a cushion for the glider to match.

What else? I made an outdoor bed for Lady complete with pillow, which she has not deigned to use yet. I even made a goofy pillow to match, but she’s not going for it. A project that was cut out a year ago is finally finished too. Late last summer I decided to make a project bag for a friend as a birthday gift. I had plenty of fabric, so at the same time I cut out one for myself. The bag is the same basic design as my original Lady Bags produced for Knitch. Working on that gave me some ideas for a new series of project bags and a line of crochet needle cases. But then there are the three other quilts I have planned, and the Ansel Adams quilt tribute, the felted leaf bowls, the book I’m supposed to be writing, and the garden…. We will have to see what wins out.

My new book, The Home Sewer’s Reference: Fabric and Notions, is all about the materials used in home sewing. It answers the questions of how fabric is made and what raw materials are used in these processes. It also explains how to select, prepare, and store fabrics. Most importantly, it demystifies the terms used to describe fabric and notions – terms which are often more confusing than helpful.

Even as experienced sewers we still have questions. Should I be using all cotton thread when I’m working with quilter’s cotton, or is it ok to use cotton wrapped polyester? And, what is the difference between cotton flannel and brushed cotton anyway?

Envisioned as a series of books, the first is planned to be available this summer. It addresses fabric (both natural and synthetics), and notions (things like thread, fasteners and elastic). Additional books in the series will cover equipment and tools, patterns and alterations, sewing techniques, and specialty needlework.

I’ve been having a great time researching the book and for the past couple of weeks have been focused on fabric finishing techniques. Fabric is treated after manufacture for many purposes. In general, these can be divided into finishing techniques to apply color, change texture, increase durability or easy of care, and to add decoration.

Though it may not be necessary for the home sewer to have a deep understanding of all these techniques, the terminology is often attached to fabric descriptions, so it is useful to have this background when purchasing material. These finishing processes can be wet or dry and often involve the addition of different chemicals and coatings. These coatings can include resin, wax, oil, varnish or lacquer, etc. Application methods include dipping, spraying, brushing, calendaring (the use of heavy rollers or plates to compress the fabric), etc.

For example, fabric may be treated with a type of resin, which creates a film on the fabric. This can be done to make the fabric firmer, more stable or to add wrinkle resistance. It may also be done to reduce shrinkage, or to prepare the fabric for embossing or other texture treatments. Since these treatments can significantly change the properties of the fabric, it is not enough to only know fabric by the fiber and weave. Some of these treatments are temporary, so for instance if a fabric is used for a garment that will be washed often, it is also important to know if it will retain the properties exhibited at the time of purchase.

Keeping watching this space for examples of some of the more unusual things I’m learning in my research. For example…

Kalamkari [kuh-lahm-kahr-eee], also spelled Qalamkari, is a hand-painted or block-printing technique in which fabric is treated and then dyes are used to draw a design on the fabric. After the addition of each color, the fabric is washed. Quite complex designs can be created. The original term is derived from Persia and the word for pen and craftsmanship (drawing with a pen). This craft is still practiced in India, and Kalamkari fabrics can be purchased at specialty shops.

See some examples from Bhavna Bhatnagar’s fabulous blog, An Indian Summer. Learn more about the production process of kalamkari textiles at URVI Weaves & Crafts.

Where Have You Been?

Ok. I realize that I’m the one that went missing, but hey. I’m a bit amazed that more two months have passed without a single post. The truth is that I’ve been caught up in the beginning of spring here in Georgia, and writing articles about spring ephemerals on one of my other blogs – Native in the City. I’ve also been busy with new projects including lots of felting, and new adventures in filet crochet and chenille. Setting up a web store on Etsy – check it out at http://www.soubretteart.com/ – to sell some pieces have rounded out the time.

Here are a few of the crocheted and felted bowls, all based around the same basic techniques described in the chair pad project.
The only real difference is that when you feel the base of the bowl is large enough and you want to start building the sides, you simply stop increasing. To create the ruffled edge on a few of the bowls shown here, start increasing again, but double or triple it up. The more you increase, the more exaggerated the ruffle.

Creating the multicolored designs was really fun. This method is sometimes called tapestry crochet, and you just carry the second color along as you crochet and switch colors whenever the mood strikes. There are many good tutorials online that show how to work with two colors. A few include Tapestry Crochet, Chrochet N More, Art of Tangle, and the crochet pages at About.com. As for the flower that adorns the top of the felted bowl cover, I found the pattern on Meilynne’s Yarngear blog.

Unlike the chair pad, which had to dry flat, bowls need to be dried around something that helps them to retain their shape. I used everything from an empty mayonnaise jar to wadded up grocery bags. The whole point here is to be creative and have fun. Some projects will turn out better than others and in the beginning nothing will turn out just the way you expected, but that can be a good thing!