Two tutorials and and an interfacing sale.

There's been a bit of a blitz on A-Line Skirt-making around these parts.  This one is in fabric by Surface Art, and it's headed for display at GJ's Discount Fabric.

Instead of a plain skirt with a print panel, this time it was a plain panel on a print skirt.  It needed a little something to make it sing.  I went with a bit of raw-edge applique and a squiggle of stitchery.

I fused some Vliesofix (WonderUnder) fusible webbing to some scraps and then cut out parts of the fabric design.

After much aranging and rearranging, a design was finalised and the pieces were fused into place on the skirt.

On the underside of the fabric panel, I fused some Fuse-and-Tear embroidery stabiliser.

...and stitched all over the place.  The stabiliser stops the fabric from puckering as you embroider.  Because it's fused to the fabric, you don't have to put it in a hoop.  It stays nice and flat.

And then you tear it away from the back of the fabric.

I use this stabiliser a lot on bags and purses, and I don't worry too much about getting all the little bits out of the stitches, because nobody will ever see it there.  On the skirt, I had to employ the use of a tailor's awl to pick away the stabiliser between the denser areas of stitching.

But it was worth it in the end, when the stitched design was all lovely and flat. Not a pucker in sight.

 

I accidentally bought WAY too much Fuse-and-Tear stabiliser a while ago, and I've decided to clear it at wholesale price. $1.80 per metre, in store only (3/99 Helen St Northcote), until sold out.

 

If you're not into stitchery and think this isn't for you, can I just give you another use for it?  In place of tracing paper, baking paper or non-woven interfacing, this stuff is excellent if you're tracing off patterns. 

 It's super-strong, and doesn't tear with pinning.  The fusible stuff on the back is kind of rubbery, and holds the fibres together.

 But better than that, it makes the patterns FUSIBLE!  You don't actually need pins!

 And (like freezer paper) it peels off and sticks down again, at least a few times.  I've only re-used my patterns 3 times, but each time it stuck perfectly. 

I imagine small, detailed pattern pieces, or fabric with a lot of movement and drape, could be managed nicely with a fusible pattern.

To make it worth the trip in to see us for $1.80 stabiliser, this week we're also offering a 10% discount on all the interfacings and Vliesofix we have in stock.  There are also be a few other pattern and hardware bargains to be had.

A possible takeover

Well, it was just a matter of time, wasn't it...?  I have a new competitor.

The price is competitive (can you beat $1?) and the breadth of the new pattern range is staggering. 

 The instructions may be a little vague, but this new designer can pump out new designs like nothing I've ever seen before.  Prolific isn't the word.

 There's even a fancy, multi-colour logo...

 ...and catchy slogans on the display unit.

 There's even a specially-made apron for the specially-made business cards.

 After a crafty play-date with a little friend established that she now knows everything there is to know about knitting machines, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few knitting-machine patterns a-hatching soon. 



And yes.. apparently there are Cat Designs classes planned....

Thank goodness she hasn't worked out how to make a hat, so I'll still have that gig for a little while longer. 

(I thought I'd throw in this picture to remind myself of the lovely time I had at Addicted to Fabric on the weekend.) 

Today, the little designer went off to GJ's for a bit of professional development (a kid's sewing class).  She made this fabulous owl cushion.

The teacher told me that the little expert was indeed very good at keeping an even(ish) seam allowance and that she likes to go very fast.

 

There's a saying about fruit and trees and falling, isn't there?

Make it in May Skirt Sew-Along

When the lovely Ms CurlyPops announced that she was having a skirt sew-along in May, I immediately signed up, with great hopes for sewing up a skirty storm in preparation for winter.

 Since I forgot to take zips to Sewjourn (and, let's face it, was looking for any excuse to make a scrappy quilt...), the manifestation of the planned skirts has been somewhat delayed. 

The only skirts I've made this month have been samples for GJ's shop display....Ooops - in MY SIZE..... how did that happen?

The fabric is the new decor weight sateen Parson Gray (by David Butler) and IT IS A DREAM to sew and to wear.  The pattern is my A-Line Skirt pattern, which began life as a skirt I designed for myself, as a good basic wardrobe-builder. 

I love a skirt with a yoke...it sits firmly without cutting in to the waist, if you know what I mean, and kind of holds in the belly a bit. It can be made short or long, in winter or summer fabrics and it can have a feature fabric panel, or not.  I'm a bit of a long-skirt-with-panel kind of girl. 

 And since the most common feedback I get about this pattern is "THIS IS MY BEST EVER INVISIBLE ZIP!" I thought to take a photo of mine. Nice zip - shame about the badly aligned fabric print...oops.

 And I made another one in a knee-length style... and goodness me, it fits Georgia (Ms GJ's, herself).  Fancy that.

 And I took a photo of the famously well-finished invisible zip from the inside.

You can have a closer look at these at GJ's while they have Parson Gray fabric in stock.  After that, they'll probably each be put to use in someone or other's wardrobe.  Waste-not-want-not and all that.

Check out Ms Curlypops blog to see the other skirts that people have made in May HERE.

Today's accidental fabric purchase....

I dropped into GJ's Discount Fabrics today to ...ahem.... drop off a sample of the Draped T-Dress for display.  I came out with this load (already excitedly-cut-into before I remembered to photograph it....).

The new range of re-released Amy Butler Gypsy Caravan, along with David Butler's new range (the name escapes me)  had just arrived.  The girls were making room on the shelves......

You wouldn't believe what was being put on the $12 table.....
Patty Young's Andalucia, Hunky-Dory by Chez Moi for Moda, Geniveve by Henry Glass, Flower Sugar by Lycien, Oh Boy by David Walker, Giselle by Red Rooster.... and that fabulous paisley by Alexander Henry, which I bought for my cousin Jan, who can't seem to get enough of the swirly stuff.

I got a little bit excited.
I bought more fabric. 
Oops.

Le Tour de Fabric

What a huge day for fabric love....

A lovely bundle arrived from Quilt Fabric Delights.  I was a bit excited about their sale page and the fact that they still had a small piece of the Patty Young "Andalucia" print that I needed, so I put in a little order on the weekend.  (And yes - they stock my patterns, too!)

 Then there was a bit of a gathering of friends at Lara's house.  Annie, Jodie and Rachel came into town for the day and we went ON TOUR.... after the exploration of Lara's sewing room....

 ..and awestuck gazing at the VERY TIDY cupboards full of fabric stash.  (How DOES she manage it....??)

And there was a fair bit of posing against the famous wall....

 

We then went to Rathdowne Fabric & Remnants and then to GJ's.  I forgot to take the camera out in Rathdowne, but managed to snap a bit of Annie in action at GJ's.

 ...and pretty-much lost everyone amongst the rows and rows of luscious fabric....

 ...and rows of toys all over the floor.  (No idea who's wee girl that is....wearing a cat-print dress...)

 I'm not sure if it was noticable, but I loitered around the pre-cut fabric shelf a few times.  It looked a bit sweet-shoppish to me, and I was feeling a bit like a child..... but I resisted.  I have to finish my quilts-in-progress before embarking upon any new adventures in the world of patchwork.

 That small child in the cat dress took up position at the counter and talked "cats" with anyone who had a cat.  Luckily (for her), Jodie, Annie and Suzanne (behind the counter) all have cats.  As does the woman who was waiting patiently in the queue behind us.

 My purchases were quite restrained, and mostly geared towards turning my quilt blocks into quilts.  (I even managed to sew on the border of this one late this afternoon).

I also found enough spotty cotton fabric to make the back of the quilt.  (The idea was to make a cot quilt, but it's now a single bed size.)

 
The only completely-without-purpose purchasing I did were these pieces, below - a mixture from both stores.  They were too cute and too well-priced to pass up ($5.95-$8 per metre) and they'll go into the stash.

The only thing that I could have used but I DIDN'T buy, was the EXACT Patty Young fabric that I was looking for on the weekend.  Along with the QFD piece that arrived today,  I've organised Lisa to send me some from Sydney.  And here's a bolt of the stuff, in my local fabric store.....

Our shopping day ended with a short trip to my studio for lunch and a chat.   (I forgot to take out the camera again).  The kids all played beautifully together (Rachel's kids are ANGELS, I tell ya - ANGELS!)

Thanks, lovely ladies, for a grand day out.  I'm counting the days until we're sitting around the table together at Sewjourn again.

A Couple of City Chicks

I'm doing a bit of a revamp of bag samples. I want to have lots of fresh and inspirational things to take up to Addicted to Fabric next week, I want to overhaul the look of the pattern covers and... well... I keep coming up with new ways of interpreting the patterns, and want to SHOW you!

Among other things, the City Bag got a freshening up.
I made this one from a few (garment-sewing) offcuts of fairly heavy green linen and patched over a panel of a scrap left over from one of my original A-line skirts. I used 32mm flat o-rings in antique brass colour.

This one, I made from quilting fabric I bought at GJ's for a completely different project..... but I thought it might work as a City Bag. I put a tri-glide on the strap to make it adjustable. (Tutorial for an adjustable strap HERE).

And here are two I prepared earlier.... but hadn't photographed properly. You can see my original post about them HERE. This red and black one is a quilting fabric I bought at GJ's about three or four years ago. The orange one below is made from the last few scraps of orange moleskin I had left over from hat-making days. The panel is a bit of Kaffe.

As a handbag to use and carry, I really love the City Bag. I've all but completely worn out the original cover-girl one, which I made in upholstery-weight microfibre 'suede' (and machine embroidered a huge bug on it). It always gets lots of comments.

I wear my City Bag hands-free style - across my body - and the curved shape at the top sits comfortably around my body, but it can equally be worn over one shoulder. The zip at the top makes it secure and it has a zippered pocket and compartment pocket in the lining.

I'm a bit inspired to make a few more, but I have other samples to make.

Flirting (in a non-committal fashion) with Blogtoberfest

It appears that I'm blogging on a daily basis, even though I didn't sign up for Blogtoberfest (because I couldn't possibly make that sort of commitment..!?). It might be that I actually have something to say, like "I made a new version of the Day Bag...."

Or it could be, that with school holidays being what they are, I'm happy to get at least ONE work-related(ish) thing done in a day, even if that's just a late-night blog post.

So anyway, I made a new Day Bag (over the last week) and I got a blog post written today.

Who'd a thunk it?

EDITED TO ADD: Yes, I love the fabric, too. It was originally purchased at GJ's a couple of years ago for a table runner I made for a friend. In rather typical style*, when they told me it was the last two or three metres on the bolt, I bought the lot. It was also the feature panel on one of the original A-Line skirts (that became my A-line skirt pattern) and there's a teensy bit left for another project.

*A sure-fire way to make me buy twice as much fabric as I originally intended, is to say, "Oh, that's the last of it". I'm terrified of being caught without enough to finish something and will (almost without exception) say, "I'll take it all". (There's a tip for all you fabric-sellers....)

The Roses of Success

One of the things that I love about making purses, is just how little fabric is required. The scrap bag is full of treasures that can be transformed into useful, beautiful objects. I've been a bit obsessed with scraps of machine-knitted experiments and disasters. Waste-not-want-not and all that....

I'm also enjoying the challenge of working with new materials within a familiar form. It's a magical mystery tour of design decisions, based on what the fabric will and will NOT do. I moved on to felted woollen jumpers (and stayed with the purse frames).

The green boucle was particularly thick, so I had to re-think the construction process somewhat. The seams are blanket-stitched (by machine) and exposed. The lining is attached to the outer fabric in the same way. I didn't reduce the seam allowance, so the finished purse is bigger than the usual Shell Purse. I like it.

Cue: The song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Occasionally (...ahem...) I'm still inspired to buy new fabrics, because they speak to me about the potential of future projects.... I dropped into GJ's on Saturday and found lots of inspiration... Stay tuned...