The Cotton State

Did you know that Alabama is the “cotton state”?  Well, I didn’t.   How fitting that just a few weeks back I was fortunate enough to meet another one of my “sewing celebrities”, Natalie Chanin from the lovely state of Alabama.  Not only is she from Alabama, but she makes her living by selling goods made from organic cotton, some grown, right there in Alabama!

Natalie Chanin is the owner and creator of Alabama Chanin.  She is amazing.  Let’s face it though, every single “sewing celebrity” that I have met, is AMAZING!  I know you have heard it from me time and time again- but it is so true.  Miss Natalie grew her business, by using a cottage industry style of production in which she employs members from her community that she refers to as “stitchers”.

My “kit” for the Bloomers Swing Skirt was all ready for me to get started.

I am always so amazed at how accessible these artisans are to people such as myself.  Miss Natalie, held a one day workshop in Berkelely, California at the Edible Schoolyard.  Natalie is a lovely silver-haired lady and a little on the shy side (she even told us this).  She is witty, sharp and has the most hilarious stories to tell regarding a certain unnamed friend of hers (sworn to secrecy).  I was able to take a few pictures of her, but she asked us so nicely to not post any of them because she says, she always “looks awful in them”.

This is a picture that I did not take. Click on the photo to see its source. This is a great photo of Natalie!

Before any of us at this particular workshop even started stitching, Natalie told us the importance of thread.  I never really sat back and thought about thread, I mean, I know that it holds our garments and quilts together, but beyond that I have always found it a nuisance.  My dogs enjoy eating it, it tangles and it attaches itself to me to be found at a later more embarrassing moment.  I track it all over the house from my sewing room.  My whole family from time to time is even covered in it!

The tables were set with sweet peas and sewing supplies! Yes it was heaven!

Natalie’s perspective on thread, is a whole lot different and nicer than mine!  She told us that we need to only take an arm’s length of the thread, thread the needle and gently stroke the thread, smoothing it out and talking nicely to it.  YES!  I did say talk to your thread.  NICELY.  This hopefully will counteract any kind of unwanted knotting during your sewing process.  You do want to double knot the end of your thread though, for this particular kind of “Natalie Chanin” sewing.  All sewing is done by hand.

Here you can see the decorative stitching with button thread and the centers of the stencils snipped away.

Here is what I have so far.  This particular “swing skirt” has 4 panels.  The kit comes with all 4 panels of the softest organic cotton jersey already cut out and stenciled.  The assembly, decorative stitching and stencil trimmed centers are for you to do!

  This is one of the “styles” she uses on some of her garments.  When you get to the end of one of your skirt panels, it looks like hair has developed all over it!  In a nifty way though!

I have 2 panels nearly completed.

As you can see there is so much texture and depth added to these garments.  Once all 4 panels are completed, I will hand sew them all together and add an elastic waist band.  Yes, it is ALL hand sewn.  I really love the fact that it is all hand sewn.  When I am finished this skirt will be priceless to me.  If you were to purchase a completed skirt such as this one or some other garment from Alabama Chanin, you could expect to pay anywhere from 300 dollars to thousands of dollars, depending on the extent of embroidery and beading.   Amazing isn’t it?

Signing off for now, the boys and I are headed to the Maker Faire over the weekend!

Have a great weekend!

My Laurel Story…

A short and sweet story about a lovely pattern “Laurel” from Sarai Mitnick, the genius behind Colette Patterns.  ”Laurel” is Sarai’s newest pattern and it also promises to be her  most versatile of all!  The pattern comes with 4 versions already included, but if you need more ideas, you can head on over to Colette Patterns for the “Laurel Extras”  and add 9 more!  Still not inspired?  Then hop like a bunny over to Flickr, where you will find Colette’s Sewing Group , with so  SEW many options it will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!!!!

Colette Patterns was/is running a contest.  I would sure HATE to be one of those judges!  There are some really lovely garments posted on the Flickr Pool, some truly stiff competition and some very hard decisions to be made by those judging folks.

This is what I entered…..

My version of the Laurel Dress.

Here is a close-up shot of the collar detail:

As you can see, I 86ed the sleeves, (those Cape Cod summers are hot and humid), I added a box pleat and a split front bodice, drawing attention to the “lines” of the fabric, I also added a decorative accent to the collar AND did an outside zipper in the back of the dress, instead of an invisible zipper…. Whew!  I packed a ton of elements into this usually simple dress to make it ALL MY OWN.  AND I have to say that of all the dresses I have sewn, I am mostly happy with this dress and I will wear it again.  The fabric is Jennifer Paganelli’s Happyland!  It is so darn comfy that it would be fitting for a huge Thanksgiving feast.  No buttons or belts to undo here- just fill ‘er up!!!

The inside is pretty also!

Before I go I would like to remind/tell you about Coletterie and Snippets.  Coletterie is Colette Patterns blog and Snippets are Colette Patterns weekly sewing tips.  You can subscribe to both of these and add even more sewing knowledge to your daily life.

I love Sarai’s Snippets, they are a quick read and truly helpful.

Something to think about!

 

It’s been a month!

The saying goes, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”.  I don’t know if this actually pertains to bloggers or to me for that matter, but I sure do know that not posting a blog for about a month makes me feel a little guilty.  If you think about it, it’s kind of silly.  Those of you out there that blog probably feel the same as me.  What does your guilt come from?  First of all, I follow many blogs, and when I haven’t seen a recent post from one of my bloggers, I start to worry about them.  I wonder if they have some sort of health issue, or maybe they have lost a loved one.  You really do create relationships with other bloggers and we (or should I say I) crave their “friendship”, even if it is over a laptop.

So……. Where the heck have I been for the last month?  Where haven’t been?  :)

Last month I was in Sedona, Arizona with my cousin Carol.  Wow!  What a stunning place!  If you haven’t been, you should.  We laughed, chatted and ATE our way in and out of Sedona!

We had a very busy 5 days in Sedona.  We shopped, relaxed, went horseback riding and did some exploring in Jerome and at Slide Rock State Park. Oh, and we ate a lot!

Carol and I decided to each choose an activity for our vacation.  Carol’s pick was the horseback riding.  I like horses, but, I don’t think my horse (that went by the name Crow), liked me too much.  I was totally giving him mixed signals as to which way to go.  Seriously he was giving me the stink eye- I could see it in his one eye!

The trail which we traveled was not for the novice rider, although all 13 of us were just that.  I was scared, very scared.  We rode those horses over a very rocky path that was said to be the original wagon trail.  Crow and I also navigated our way through 2 rivers, that reached the height of his belly!  I was SO very relieved when the ride came to an end!

Both Carol and I agreed to see what Slide Rock State Park was all about.  A stunning park that highlights a very cold waterway.  People were jumping in and “riding” its river over the “slippery rocks” to a larger pool of water at its end.  The water was so cold that it literally hurt to wade my way across to the other side.  I really don’t know how some of those people immersed themselves into that water!!!

We did some other exploring in Jerome,this was my activity pick.   Jerome is “America’s most vertical city” (5000 feet above sea level) and It’s famous for its historical copper mining.

Carol and I had lunch at the TOP of the town of Jerome in a restaurant named “The Asylum”.  A great lunch with an even greater view!

Here’s the view.

The Asylum is located in this huge building, that was once a hospital.  Now, it serves as a restaurant and an Inn, that is rumored to be haunted!  Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnn………

That was such a great trip!  Last week, my family and I were visiting family in Michigan.  I actually didn’t even take any pictures!  The boys enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Papa and I once again ate an entire apple pie that my mom baked for me!  It’s a tradition that I am willing to hang on to!  :-)

I have 2 sewing projects to show you:

The first one is a blouse I made using Simplicity 2154.  I am not completely crazy about the fit.  So I am going to call it a wearable muslin!  :-)

I will probably lose the bow when I sew this blouse again, such as Sewin’ Steady did with her very cute yellow gingham blouse rendition.  Perhaps, a few adjustments to the bows’ size would be sufficient?

My on going project is another hexagon project.  Surprise!  I know it’s shocking!  I am still having some issues letting these incredible polygons go!

This is another one of Tacha Bruecher’s patterns from her awesome book, Hexa Go Go!  This pattern is the United States flag.  This will be my rendition and interpretation of her pattern.  Here is a very rough draft that I designed on Illustrator.  (I am still trying to learn the ins and outs of this software, so please excuse, my “roughness”).

This flag is a quilt comprised of many, many hexagons all in Reds, Whites and Blues.   I got a long way to go baby!!!

Keep sewing and hug your loved ones!

I may need an Intervention!!!

It is no surprise to anyone, if you have followed my blog, that I have become a little obsessed with hexagons!  I love them in all sizes!  And I guess, that you can say I LOVE them so much that now I have started to wear them?!  You are probably thinking that yes, this woman does need an intervention!  These six-sided polygons are the perfect springtime accoutrement.

If you are looking for a way to patch-up an old pair of jeans and add a little color, I say go with a hexagon!  Add a few, add a lot!  Go for it and then wear those “patched” denims with pride!!!!

First the before!

Because of my “curvy” thighs, I wore a hole right through the left inner thigh area. (I was always the kid in middle school that wore the corduroy pants, that hummed their own tune while walking down the hall-ugh).  I tried once to patch it with a machine darning stitch, but it didn’t last very long.

I saved these “Lucky Brand” Jeans.  They have spent years in my closet, just waiting to come out and see the sun again.  Yippee!!!

In the end, I went with small-sized hexagons, in yellows, grays and pinks.

The After.

I bought a charm pack of “Mama Said Sew” (by Sweetwater) and added a couple of hexagons, made from this inspirational pattern.

How inspirational are these denims?  I may have just created my favorite pair of cropped jeans, to wear to sewing functions, and just around town!!!

I have so many more things to show you that I have been working on, but I will have to post those next week.  I haven’t had the time to take photos and I have been single parenting this week.  Hubby comes home tonight!!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Drum Roll Please! We Have A Winner!

I visited Random.Org this morning, and input numbers 1-19 and Mr. Random spit out the number 6.

Congratulations gMariesews!

Here is gMarie’s list of “Things that make her happy”:

 Cuddling up with the dogs, spending a day sewing, sunshine through the rain, and anytime the hubby cooks dinner. 

Wow!  What a great list! Go on over and visit her blog to see what else she is up to!  This gal is quite the knitter, something I wish I could do.

Thanks to everyone who commented and entered my Give-Away.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone’s “Happy” list.  It reminded me to not discount those small wonderful moments that happen everyday.

Check back later this week for some of my new “sews”.  I think you may see a couple of “sews” you will want to add to your list.

Happy Monday! Woo Hoo!

Hanging with Doris Day – A Dream Come True!

Actually It is a dream, but it didn’t come true- at least not in real life.

I entered another Burdastyle Sewing Challenge. The Burdastyle Sewing Vintage Modern Contest.  The idea of this challenge was to use the NEW burdastyle Sewing Vintage Modern book as the starting point for your actual garment entry.  I chose the Jamie Dress, which is a 60′s basic shift dress.

 I liked the clean lines, and felt that I could really jazz that “Jamie” up.  This seemed to be the most popular choice for all the contestants, so that may have been my first mistake?  I don’t know-

I traced the pattern to some brown craft paper and then added the 5/8″ seam allowance and from there I sketched many sketches.  

I chose existing fabric from my stash.  I was pretty happy about that.  Both these fabrics were purchased from Joann Fabrics weeks prior.

It probably didn’t help any that I may have added too many details (my second mistake?).  The neckline has a placard detail, I added small flap pockets on the hips, surface cording and button details were also added.

Admittedly there is a lot happening with this dress and to this dress.

Front Views

 Back Views

I was happy with how it turned out.  I haven’t decided if I will actually wear it.

The best part my garment entry was my photo shoot.  One of the requirements for the contestants, was that they were to not only sew up a great garment, but they also were supposed to make the photographs interesting.  So this is where I believed I shined!!!

Feast your eyes!  Yes!  That is me hanging out in Doris’ 1960′s kitchen.  She is also holding the Burdastyle Sewing Vintage Modern Book.  My brilliant son Kenny photoshopped this for me-  Isn’t it awesome!  It almost seems real!

There were some pretty soured people who entered the challenge.  I was surely disappointed with the admissions process, there were some glitches.  I do need to remind myself, that even though it would have been great to have won, the process of creating this dress, and the photograph that I now possess MAKE ME VERY HAPPY!!!

By now I am sure you have discerned that I didn’t make the cut from 80 contestants to the 20 that the burdastyle public then were able to choose from.  No worries!

It is a shame, that folks can’t just keep negative comments to themselves and congratulate the very deserving winners!  Here they are!

The Grand Prize goes to Community Choice Winner, with 557 votes, Elochka for her Scala Dress.  Her dress is on the above right.

AND

The BurdaStyle Community Choice Runner-Up, with 455 votes, goes to Gurda8 for her Dream Date Dress on the above left.

The BurdaStyle Favorite goes to jon994 for her Springtime Fun and Couture Dress

in the photos below.

 

Anyway that’s the skinny!  Please enter to win my give-away, because that makes me happy also!!!

Sew Done!

I should really keep better track of how much time I really put into a quilt.  I think one of the best things about quilting is the fact that you can share them.  Even with the smallest of family members.

Now that I have officially completed my third quilt, I wanted to do a little review.  I really think with each quilt I have improved and learned so much!

Here is my first quilt:

(notice my crinkled edges) I also didn’t use the highest quality batting.

My second quilt:

(This quilt was given as a gift to my folks for Christmas)

And now my completed third quilt:

This is how it all started:

I was inspired by Tacha Bruecher’s Book, Hexa go-go.

I sliced up many “strings” of oranges, reds, pinks and yellows. Amazingly, these fabrics were all found in my sewing room.

I “string pieced” 8.5″ x 8″ squares: (80 of those)

……sewed those together to create blocks. (20 of those)

I crafted a bunch of “fussy cut” hexagons, mostly using Heather Ross prints.

Those were then sewn into rosettes and sewn onto the white “negative” spaces on the quilt.

The quilt top was finished.

The quilt “sandwich” came together, and the binding was added.

She came together and I finished her!

(My 6’3″ husband is holding the quilt from behind to give you an idea of how big it is)

The back is pretty also.  I did some “free-motion quilting”, which is going to be an ongoing learning process.

A couple more things before I say bye for today…. This made me happy beyond belief….. I spotted a photo on the Creativebug instagram feed of Heather Ross at Quiltcon donning the blouse I gave her at the Asilomar workshop!!!! You will also see, my friend, Ava Herceg hanging with Heather at one of her Quiltcon workshops.

Yes, I saw this blouse in Anthropologie, and it said “Heather Ross” to me!  So I bought it and gave it to Heather, because she has given me sooooooo much!

Let me just say one more thing about Creativebug, if you haven’t joined yet do so!  It is a wonderful community of creative people, famous crafters that teach you their craft, through tutorials, you can watch over and over!  It’s really awesome!

My last thought for today is to remind you to enter my Give-Away!  There is still time!

Have a great day!

It’s a Give-Away (my second)

There are many things in this world that make me happy.  Most of the time it is something very small, like getting a key parking spot, finding a 5 dollar bill in my coat pocket from last season, sleeping in with my pugs or confirming that I am indeed right, over some silly fact that Jim and I might disagree over.  :)

Of course these are just a few of those things that make me happy.   It really goes without saying that anytime my boys and my hubby are happy I am too.

Giving also makes me happy!  I love giving presents!  So because I find February to be such a dull month I am going to do a give-away!  I discovered during one of my sewing room clean-ups that I had two of the same Amy Butler books, “Style Stitches”.  It’s a great book with lovely pictures and 20 awesome bags to construct! It’s silly for me to hang on to both, so I am giving the duplicate away in a give-away.

In the photo above you can see that I made the “Cosmo Bag”. Such a lovely bag that I injured terribly over a wine accident while Patty and I were visiting Asilomar!  So sad.  :(

  To Enter for a chance to win Amy Butler’s Book:

Just leave a comment stating what’s that something that makes you happy, it could be anything.  I would  also love for you to become a member of my blog if you aren’t already, (that would make me happy), but it isn’t required.

The winner will be drawn by “Random.Org” and will be announced 2 weeks from now on Monday March 11th at 9:00am PST on my blog Swell Sewing.  You may only comment once and I will not be accepting any more entries after 12:00 midnight PST March 10th.  So please get those comments in early!  I can’t wait to see what makes you happy, maybe I can borrow a couple of new ideas from all of you!

Have a Wonderful Week!

Your Friend,

Tracey

A Road Trip, A Workshop and My Friend Patty

I had another opportunity to attend a “Heather Ross Workshop” a couple of weekends ago.  The workshop was to take place near Monterey at Asilomar, which is pretty close to my neck of the woods (about 130 miles South) so how could I pass It up?

Well, I quickly spread the awesome news to my dear friend Patty since It was also the perfect excuse for a girls weekend, right?  I knew Patty could use a little weekend away, being a mom of 3 girls and studying to be a Nurse were just two of the many reasons she could use the respite.  Let’s face it, all of us could use a girls weekend- whether we are having a rough time or not, don’t you think?

I was thrilled when Patty accepted my invitation!  Even though she isn’t a crafter, she would use the time that I was in the workshop to study.  I can’t even tell you the last time I had enough time with Patty to really talk about everything.  She has been through some real life changes recently and I loved hearing how eloquently she is handling everything.  She is not much older than me, but two of her girls are in college, and she has so much acquired knowledge to share with me regarding those high school and middle school years.  Believe me, Jim and I could use any help we can get.  Basically she reminded me, to NOT SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!  Being reminded of this is something I really needed to hear!

Here is Patty and me.  She is cute isn’t she?  Such a great picture of Patty!  She and her girls are so photogenic, me…not so much!!!!

The Heather Ross Workshop was for sewing, which I didn’t do too much of.  I was sooooo distracted!  I am not sure why- maybe it was the new pretty color of Gretchen’s hair?

I love that Gretchen is able to express herself, and not worry about what others may think.  I told her that some of her fans are now going to start dyeing their hair pink, because she is a trend setter!  She told me that she hopes so, because maybe then, people will “stop staring”!!!!!

My plan for the weekend workshop was to sew the “Portrait Blouse” from Gretchen’s book.

What I ended up making was the “Keyhole Blouse” but I used the pattern for the “Portrait Blouse” instead and by accident.  Are you confused?  I know!  Me too!

You see, I should have used a different pattern from Gretchen’s book, the Bow-Tied Blouse.  Then, I would do a variation of that blouse called the Keyhole blouse, instead I did some kind of variation on the portrait blouse, which was a mistake.  Here is what I ended up with.  It’s still not done, It needs a zipper and a hem.  

It has shirring at the shoulders and is made from a yummy Liberty of London fabric, which while pinning the pattern to it, I  stuck myself and bled all over .  Ugh- I just cut around all the little blood spots.  Of all fabrics, why did it have to be a LIberty of London fabric?!!!!!

Gretchen, came up to me while I was in the process of cutting and noticed that I had in fact been using the wrong pattern.  She was so optimistic, telling me she would love to see the blouse when it was done, because she hadn’t seen this version/variation as of yet.  Well, not so much a version as it was a mistake, is all I could think!!!

For lunch on Saturday, Patty and I dined outside next to a fire at the Hogs Breath Inn in Carmel.  This restaurant was once owned by the actor Clint Eastwood.

Anyway, back to the workshop.  Heather Ross, is just like a girlfriend.  No airs about her, you settle right in and “hang” with her.  She had a lovely bonfire planned for us Saturday evening.  We were gonna make some S’mores!!!

Mmmmmm S’Mores for dessert!

Here are some random pictures of the “workshoppers”.  We worked away in a magnificent room called the Kiln Room.

It had a grand fireplace, don’t you think?!

And that is all for now!  I hope you are all having a nice week!

A Quickie

I wanted to post a ‘quickie’ to let you all know out there that I am still alive and working on projects.    I am still making progress (although slow) on my “dog tails quilt”.  Through it all I have sewn while watching Netflix or while watching episodes of some of my favorite series on Comcast that I may have missed, the night before.

I have even found myself watching shows such as “Pretty Little Liars” and “Switched at Birth”.  Both of these shows are not for the middle-aged, but for the teen-aged.  Funny as it may seem, I like them both.  The only criticism I have for “Switched at Birth” is that you have to actually be watching the show and not just listening… they do a lot of sign language.  :-)

I have been watching “Nashville” also.  This is pretty weird for me because I don’t even like country music!  I do find myself kind of fond of it now, though.  Strange.

I sure do miss that “Pan Am” show they took off the air last year!  Well enough TV talk for now!  :-)

Let’s talk about this quilt…..

This quilt has sure been a lot of work.  All 20 blocks are done and so far I have 8 sewn together.  Let me ask all of you out there your opinion regarding this quilt.  Should I have the fussy cut rosette centers facing all the same way?  Should all the bikes, dogs and   all pin wheels be in the same direction?

Would love to hear what you think about that!

Thanks!