McCreamy

Coffee? Tea? Ice cream? This pallete is delicious like a Starbucks latte.

Rockin' Rayon

The great thing about thrifting is ya never know what you'll find. Yeah, I'm a hunter gatherer and judging by the amount of stuff in my basement, I'd better stop gathering real soon.

These are the sweetest cones of rayon embroidery thread, some still in the wrapper. 3 bucks a pop, woo hoo!

Then the Top

While I was working on the jacket I happened to notice this remnant carelessly tossed near my work table. I really thought it was kinda ugly when I bought it but hey, it was cheap chiffon and it has randomly placed sequins for a little sparkle. Next to the jacket, it's a perfect match! This is made from Butterick 3385, probably no longer in print. I made a version for myself a couple years ago and it didn't fit right in the boobs so I'm hoping it will fit Vale better as she's got better (and younger!) proportions than mom.

FYI: My other daughter is Nicci so my label is NicciVale. Both girls don't sew, are not into fashion like I am but every time I sew a label into a garment, it's love energy.

Dad is still hanging out in our guest room and am currently looking for an apartment for him. Of course, I love him dearly but I need my house back. A girl has to have her space.

Then the Skirt

I love this plum denim! In fact, I just bought 2 more yards to make some trousers. I might "need" more just because it sews up so nicely.

First Came the Jacket

Yes, I have a thing for jackets. I can't resist buying them for 99 cents and I can play with new techniques without having to put any work into the construction. At this price, who cares if I screw it up? This tweedy number wasn't anything special considering it was an Apt 9 brand from Kohls and originally had a detachable faux fur collar that wasn't on the jacket when I found it at thrift. The back had to be taken in as it was 18" across and my girl is 15" (including ease) so I started at the shoulders and tapered a dart into a V, creating a pleat below the waist.

Before work began I found this fantastic matching plum denim at JoAnns on clearance for $4 for the skirt and wanted to incorporate this fabric into the jacket.

I played with ways to attach it to the sleeves to make them longer (a common alteration for the long-arm people) and ended up unpicking the lining and attaching the denim to the lining so it hangs past the sleeve. It worked pretty well and added a thread chain to keep it from twisting.

I had remembered a technique from an older issue of Threads about trimming edges with narrow strips of loosely woven fabric and here I used a 1/2" bias strip and teased the edges with a brush. This worked well so I added 2 rows of strips to the sleeve edges to tie the whole thing together. Also, I added buttons to the sleeve and since they were trimmed in gold, the button on the back bow is also gold. The button on the front was a self-fabic button which I usually find attractive but in this case it was too bland so replaced it with one that provided some contrast.

Slow Vines

I decided to machine stitch the veins in the leaves simply because I'd used this method on a quilt and liked how it turned out. I was hoping that I could do the vines in the same manner but nooooo, they looked pretty wimpy. So, I'm embroidering them by hand using the split stitch. I usually do this in front of the TV but since I haven't been watching lately, not much progress has been made. Yes, Miz Scattered is working on other projects. I hope to have the Japanese inspired tote up soon.

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

You might be a certain age if you remember the Iron Butterfly. I think In-A-Gadda was their only hit, but had that familiar drug induced sound like The Doors.


This was tucked in with some other vintage stuff from an estate sale, still hooped with the thread and about 90% finished. If I had started it myself I probably would have used variegated thread and still might in those blank spots. I'm thinkin' coral.

My first embroidery piece at age 13 was a peasant top. Of course, I still have those transfers!



Little blackie here was made from a foam stamp dipped in a bleach solution and applied to black fabric.



For now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them but I like having elements as a jumping off point for new quilts or wearables. I usually start with a title and make up the rest as I go along.

Pillowcase Applique Tutorial

I frequently forget about this method even though it's pretty easy and takes just a little more time than fusible applique. I don't like the stiffness with the 2 sided fusible and this gives me a couple of options since at the onset I'm not sure whether I'll be machine or hand sewing.


Here I've used fusible lightweight interfacing. It works especially well when layering appliques and a more permanent placing is desired without having to hold it down with pins.






1. Trace the shapes on the wrong side of the fabric with an ordinary pencil. Place the right side of the fabric to the glue/fusible side of the interfacing. Sew on the pencil line (or close to it!)





2. Cut around the stitching 1/8" away and clip curves if necessary. Carefully cut an opening in the interfacing only.

3. Turn to the right side. A knitting needle is handy for the points. Resist the urge to press them. Remember there is glue on the back and you'll need to apply them to your ground fabric before you get crazy with the iron.

Story Skirt One "Leave Me Alone"

And so it begins. This is an 8 gore skirt using 2 brown fabrics that were remnants. I started buying remnants when my daughters were babies and 21 years later I'm still buying them. They also came in handy when I started quilting. This doesn't look like much, a bunch of scraps in leaf shapes stuck on a brown skirt. Well, this is only the beginning of the story! I used the pillowcase method of applique because I don't want the stiffness of double sided fusible since I'll be embroidering (by hand) though it. Next step after sewing down the leaves will be vines. Lots of 'em. Think Lord of the Rings.

The leaves are tears just welling under the surface but too angry? pent-up? to release. I rarely cry and too many times just want to be left alone.

Anniversary Card, Old School

It's amazing what can be done with some magazines and a glue stick. I sometimes tear the images so even scissors aren't necessary. I started doing collage about 5 years ago just because it's soo much fun and quick. Imagine the anticipation of the recipient when they open their mailbox. This envelope says personal and could not be mistaken for a lousy bill.

Here's the inside of the card. The mushy stuff is on the back!

Don is a sentimental kinda guy and keeps all the cards I give him. Years from now, I know he'll enjoy looking at them because they are love letters which, by the way. seems to be a lost art. Don't get me wrong, I love email as much as you do BUT there is nothing like a hand made card with big love energy that can be physically touched.

Back to the Future

Ever have those days where you don't feel quite like yourself? I've been trying to re-connect the dots for the last 3 years and after reading this woman's blog I'm inspired to tell my own story in cloth. Well, I used to do that years ago but didn't realize it!

Instead of quilts, I'm telling my story in skirts. Less surface area to cover and hey, I like the fact they allow the wearer to make a public statement. Less blanket, more fashionista.

Anyway, I dug this one up from the archives. It's an old denim skirt embellished with embroidery and traveled with the Sulky challenge some years back. It's entitled "Home of the Brave" because we all know America was home to the Native American Indian braves. Uh, we used to be "land of the free" but that doesn't seem to apply in these troubled times.

All the embroidery is done on the machine, free motion style.