Last week six students attended a three day workshop in my local studio.
It was great fun! All students sewed on featherweights, a couple brought their own, the rest used mine. We learned a lot about sewing small.
I also did a little featherweight maintenance lesson.
It was lovely to have talented quilters sewing away in the studio. I hope I can host another one soon. Let me know if you and some friends are interested.
Miss P and I saw Wonder Woman two times this summer. We both loved it and enjoyed the strong female leading character. After the second trip to theater she knew she wanted to be Wonder Woman for Halloween.
We did some google searching for ideas and found Methyl Ethyl Cosplay on Facebook.
We followed her tutorial to make the corset.
The first step was to make a duct tape mold of her body.
We then cut the duct tape shape apart into flat pieces that could be used as a pattern. We used the pieces from one half and made left and right versions from them so that the design would be symmetrical.
The corset was made from craft foam. After making a base layer, P designed the second layer that was made of smaller pieces.
We followed the steps in the tutorial for shaping with a heat gun, and sealing, painting, and coating with various products. I used leather from a pair of thrifted leather pants for the base of the corset lacing in the back.
The belt and headband are also made from craft foam.
I purchased scraps of blue leather on etsy for the skirt. I cut shaped pieces and sewed them to a strip of grossgrain ribbon the leather was also painted with diluted black paint to make it look aged. The ribbon is pinned around the waist and worn over black dance pants.
For the cape, we used the Kinsale Cloak pattern by Folkwear.
The Lasso of Truth is an ordinary rope painted gold.
Miss P is THRILLED with the result and is sad that there aren't more occasions when she can wear the outfit.
I'm thoroughly enjoying working in my studio downtown. The morning light there is wonderful!
At first I was progressing on several projects each week but two weeks ago I put a quilt in the floor frame and have pretty much only been quilting on that. I'm stitching free form fans all over the quilt. I'm eager to see how it looks when I unroll it to reveal the whole quilt.
I probably should go back to working on different projects because my under fingers are quite raw/calloused. I'm eager to get this finished though. So, I keep on stitching.
I am enjoying the bustle of downtown. I've started a yoga class right around the corner and have also been sampling the bakery and coffee shop goodies.
After School Sewing Club is well under way. The students have been making a variety of projects. Here's one from this week. We learned how to machine applique! We cut up old jeans for the pennant backgrounds and solid scraps for the letters.
I've added a few quilt classes to the studio schedule.
I'm also starting to schedule some "private" workshops for groups who want to come. Group size for my workshops is limited to 5-8 participants. Let me know if you and your friends are interested and we can get something scheduled!
Attention Quilt Collectors---Gwen Marston is now represented by Northern Daughters and you can own one of Gwen's quilts!
Basket with Two Red Birds.
Basket with Two Red Birds has always been a favorite of mine.
September was busy and I'm settling into a studio rhythm. Early last month I attended the Holly Girls Quilt retreat as I do every fall. While there, I designed and prepared the last two strips of my Susan McCord inspired strip quilt.
After basting the applique for stitching later, I pulled out my Oakshott scraps and made some tiny little basket blocks.
As I go through my home sewing area and deciding what to take to the new studio, I am finding lots of treasures like this stash of leftover 2" stars from my Stardust quilt that is on the cover of my book. I am now feeling the need to put them together in another quilt.
The downtown studio has no computer or distractions of home and I am enjoying a bit of focused sewing time there each day. Look at that light!!!
After school sewing clubs on Mondays and Tuesdays are well underway. We are having a lot of fun sewing and making projects.
I'm also ready for hosting quilting workshops in the studio. Let me know if you and your friends are interested.
I've spent the last week or two moving in to the new space. I've got the machines all set up for sewing club next week.
The studio/classroom has a long wall of windows overlooking Main Street and I'm looking forward to sewing with all of that morning light!
I still have a little more settling in to do but things are starting to look good.
Check out the class schedule, I've got after schools sewing clubs on Mondays and Tuesdays. I'll be adding some more events soon. Let me know if you or your group want to schedule a workshop.
I am thrilled to announce my new sewing adventure!
I've leased a space in downtown Chelsea. I'll be doing my own work there as well as teaching classes. Read more about Old School Sewing on the new website.
I'll be leading sewing clubs for youth and young adults on Mondays and Tuesdays. On-going sewing clubs offer young people the opportunity to learn the skills for success in their world of sewing and creating, from learning to thread the machine and basic sewing skills to quilt making and garment sewing. Clubs are offered early and late afternoon to meet the needs of both home school and public-school students. The students well be sewing on vintage sewing machines and all materials for club projects are provided.
I will also be teaching workshops for quilters. Check the website for scheduled events or contact me to set something up for you and a group of friends. There is a bed and breakfast two blocks from the studio and several other lodging options within a couple of miles. I have several Featherweights and a Necchi Supernova available for those who do not wish to travel with their own machine.
Other project workshops will also be offered occasionally, and will be announced on my facebook page and the Old School Sewing website.
Come sew with me!!
Brewer Distributors sent me the new Quilters Select rotary cutting mat and some rulers by Alex Anderson to try. You guys, these tools are AMAZING!
I know what you're thinking. Can these rulers really be any different that all the others out there? Well, let me tell you, they ARE different!
The rulers are made with a finish on the bottom that grips to the fabric. They DO NOT SLIP. Even the long 24 inch ruler stays put when cutting across full yardage. The markings are easy to read and the inch numbers on all four sides of the ruler, start at BOTH ends. This means that no matter how you pick up the ruler you will be able to measure correctly. And with the numbers going in both directions it works great for both left and right hand users.
The markings are easy to read on both dark and light fabrics as seen here.
The mat is double sided with dark and light sides.
The rulers and cutting mat work together quite well. The mat has a finish that is a little bit slick which helps when squaring up blocks. As you can see in this video, the ruler sticks to the fabric and when you rotate the ruler, the fabric rotates with it. You can easily trim a block without repositioning the ruler. This makes for more accurate cutting and can save a lot of time.
Thank you Brewer for letting me try out these fabulous new tools by Alex Anderson. I am smitten and will be collecting all the sizes of these rulers!
It's fair week here in our town. This weekend, while Miss P was getting things together to enter in the fair, I helped by looking through our photos since last August. I came across photos of this cute pencil bag that she made. I found no record of having shared it with you. I couldn't find a post on the old blog or on FB. So, I'm sharing it now. Clearly, I had plans to share this because look at this photo!
She did it all herself and loosely followed this tutorial.
I love the tail!!
I hope this little cat enjoys her stay at the fair this week. Maybe she'll even come home with a ribbon.
Instagram Photos
