The Self Proclaimed Queen of Bling

That Teeny Tiny Line

2012-01-23T08:17:00.001-08:00

In my last blog posting I promised to post how I add my narrow line of fabric between the edge of the quilt and the border.
I love it when something that looks really hard is actually very easy. Separating your border from your quilt body with a thin line is one of those things. It’s a cinch to add a quarter inch, half inch or 3/4” inch separating line to your quilt creating a perfect frame.

(And yes, the line is close to perfect, the minor curves here are actually where the fabric is relaxed.)
So, what’s the secret? How do you do it?
Start with Straight Sides:
Start with a quilt where the 4 sides are straight. Your success is requires that the edges of your quilt be perfectly straight.
Cut the Fabric for your Line:
Cut the fabric for your narrow border (the cream shown here) 1/2” wider than the width you want the finished line. For a 1/4” line, cut your fabric 3/4” wide. For a half inch line, cut the fabric 1” wide, etc. The length of the fabric depends on how you plan to finish the border. For a mitered corner, make sure the length of your narrow border fabric is the length of the quilt side plus twice the width of your narrow border. For example, if your quilt is 70” long and your narrow border 1/2” wide, the fabric for that side of the quilt should be 70” + 1/2” + 1/2”. At this point you can add an extra inch or two for safety.
Stitch your Line to the Quilt:
Carefully match the edges of your narrow border fabric with the edges of your quilt, right sides together. Stitch with a 1/4” seam.

Attach the Next Border:
Next you will stitch on the next border, the wide one, (A in the drawing above). Place this border against the narrow border, right sides together, with the narrow border on top.

Use Your Presser Foot:
As you stitch the border to the narrow border, your first impulse is to make sure that your stitching is a consistent distance from the edges of the fabric. What is actually important is keeping your stitching a consistent distance from the first line of stitching (shown here as B).
To keep your next line of stitching a consistent distance from the first line of stitching, keep the left side of your presser-foot right next to the first line of stitching. Move your needle to the left or right until it is as far from the first line of stitching as you choose to make your narrow border.
Stitch:
Using this technique I can add a perfect narrow border between the border and the edge of the quilt.
Although the instructions here are for a quilt, the same technique works for adding a narrow line of fabric in a garment or any other project.

A Note of Self Promotion:
We're releasing my newest design set today, Flights of Fancy. Make sure you stop by our site to pick up the free sample.

Quilt Finishing 101

2011-12-12T14:59:00.001-08:00

Recently some unknown spirit has channeled me, a slightly overzealous garment sew-ist and turned me into a, (dramatic pause with drumroll) a quilter.
The quilt I’m working on has been long in the making. I designed and stitched the squares two years ago when I first released the overtures set.

I’ve used this set many times (there are lots of samples on the Overtures webpage) but usually in bright, colors. This quilt was designed to showcase another, more subtle side of the set.

The completed quilt-squares had a special place in my home along with seventeen other pieces awaiting the completion fairy. When I upgraded the sewing room, the quilt squares warranted their own cubby in one of the new sewing cabinets
The quilt squares came out of the closet this summer when I took them to a sewing retreat and sashed and assembled them. Then, back into hiding they went.
Yesterday, a mere 4 months later I brought the quilt top out to finish.
I spent most of the day adding the borders. It wasn’t hard. Things went smoothly. It was just time consuming.

I chose to add a 3 1/2” wine colored border separated from the outer line of sashing with a half inch cream line.
It took several hours to put in the mitered corners. By the fourth corner I had finally assimilated information I'd been gathering for a while. Several years ago, I took a finishing class from Pam Gerkovich, a local quilting guru. A year after that Suzette Heinrich, another incredible local quilter, showed me her secret for great mitered corners. A year later I shared some time with Trish McCrumb, another quilting aficionado, who showed me her system. I've taken the best of all these and made it work for me. I have 4 perfect miters now.
I think the methodology for the 1/2” line of sashing and the instructions for the mitered corners are worth a write up. Watch this blog.
Tomorrow back to the real world. I'm posting stuff on Etsy- putting together another sale and doing another newsletter. I'll get back to trying starting a Bullard Designs Facebook page - calling the local schools to talk about sew camp... and sew on and sew on.
Good night.

My Form of Procrastination

2011-11-28T17:56:00.001-08:00

I’m probably not alone in that I have a to-do list longer than the average 10 year old’s list for Santa. My to-do list starts with designing the web pages for our Colorful Monday sale (our response to black Thursday) and making samples for the children’s Sew Camp I’m hosting during this year’s winter vacation, pretty important tasks. Despite that, I started a new project. And… I’m sharing it.

To start at the beginning, my son and his significant other, the lovely Chisa, will be decorating their apartment for Christmas for the first time this year. You know what that means. I can make a present that they’ll actually use.

My first thought was to make them one of my mantle scarves using my Bell Choir designs. The scarf is easy-to-make and stunning. Unfortunately, a mantle scarf loses its charm if you don’t have a fireplace and mantle. Alex and Chisa don’t.

Mantel Scarf
The Mantel Scarf


This is what the bells look like close-up. This particular one is the free sample. Go to the Bell Choir page to download it.

Obviously I needed a plan B. Hmmm… Everyone can use a table runner.

Back to my story. It just sew happens I was rummaging around in my stitch-out hamper last week and I ran into a full set of the bells sewn out. Synchronicity!

I spent a few minutes designing this layout. The gray rectangles are for the bells. The white sections would need stippled stitched pieces so I digitized designs that would fit. It is really easy to make stippling designs in the Bernina Artista software. All you have to do is import a jpg of the required shape, trace around the shape’s outline and then click on the stipple fill stitch button. Voila, a design the shape I need filled with stippling.

Of course, I have a special knack for creating obstacles. In this case the stumbling block was the virgin red fabric I used for sashing.

My mistake was not pre-washing the fabric. To give myself credit, I’ve heard many a quilt teacher say that if you have good fabric you don’t need to pre-wash. This was good fabric, very good fabric, a laurel Burch purchased from a reputable quilt store. It might have been good, but it wasn’t good enough.

You can see where this is going. I used a water soluble pen to mark the white embroidered panels. When I spritzed the panels with water, the red sashing bled. The once pristine red and white table runner was now a white, red and pink table runner.

Luckily a little perseverance, a couple of Shout Color Catcher sheets and three times through the wash and the table runner was once again white and red.

I don’t think I’ll write the blow-by-blow about my binding adventure. Let’s just say I’m finished now.


The finished table runner

On another note, I’m giving the stipple patterns to anyone who has already purchased the Bell Choir designs or purchases them now. (E-mail me for the designs if you already own this set.) The designs fit in a variety of hoops though they are easiest to sew if you have a Jumbo Hoop for a Bernina. If you own the very large hoops for a Viking Diamond or Pfaff Creative Vision or the newest Brother or Babylock, you won’t have to do much re-hooping either.

The pdf version of the pattern is available on my Bell Choir page for anyone to download

The Sewing Room

2011-11-13T13:51:00.001-08:00

For the last nine years, from the time we moved to California, my sewing room has been a mess. It’s a matter of space. This house is smaller than our old Carolina home by more than a thousand square feet. We thought we had left enough stuff behind, but no. We sold, donated and tossed. It didn’t seem to matter. We still had too much stuff!
I admit that I have a lot of sewing supplies. And it’s not news that I’m a fabric slut. Actually, I own a generous collection of the whole sewing trifecta: fabric, gadgets and thread. I love it all, but storage has been a challenge.
So, until recently, my sewing room has been a mess. The words“Clean House” and “Bobbi’s sewing room” have become synonymous.
Well, worry no more. No longer will we have to call search parties to find small children in my sewing room. The days of making your way around mounds of unidentifiable sewing detritus to sew a seam are over. I’ve seen the light. And I’m not talking about a high intensity Ott Light!
It started when I was browsing through a local antiques/thrift/junk store in downtown Placerville.I must have mentioned that I sew to the proprietor because he forced me to the back corner of the store where, tucked behind a stack of motley street signs across from a spring sprung floral sofa was (as he said it) “U’re Going to Love this. I have right here a Gen-U-Ine Sew-Ing Cab-net.”
Despite the proprietor’s resemblance to a snake oil salesman, he was right. I loved it. I laid all of my cash on his counter and put the thing on layaway. A mere 90 days and a hundred and fifty dollars later, I drove the van home loaded with one Gen-U-Ine Sew-ing Cabnet.
As you can see, it looks like a wardrobe. It’s even kind of shabby chic looking with the white paint. If you look at the paint closely you can see it’s not its original color.

It’s a sewing wardrobe from the 50’s or 60’s, from before the days when wardrobes were a common item in a family room or living-room.
Inside the cabinet is a pull down desktop.

And do you see the little gold square? That’s the Singer label.

Pulling the desk down reveals storage, shelves and spool-racks.
There’s even a raised bed to create a flat surface behind your sewing machine. Because my sewing machine isn’t a circa 1966 Singer, the raised section doesn’t match the height of my sewing machine.
Though not exactly right for my sewing machine, it IS right for serger storage and usage. And, the bottom of my cabinet houses the machine I’m not currently using.

Though I’ve been sewing forever, I had never seen a cabinet like this one. Imagine my surprise when Tecla (a dear friend I’ve mentioned before) called me from a yard sale saying that she had found the coolest sewing machine cabinet ever.
Well, I didn’t believe her cause I had just brought home the coolest sewing machine cabinet ever, my vintage Singer cabinet.
Well, she was right. She had found the coolest sewing cabinet ever made, a twin to my cabinet. It was an identical twin, only still sporting its original pecan wood finish and typical 60’s handles. Other than that, it was the same. And this one was only $25!

I’m no fool. I snapped it up.
I use the second one for my computer and storage of a variety of sewing supplies. It’s amazing what happens when you have a place to put things. Now my sewing room looks like this:

One of these days I’ll re-finish one or both of these cabinets, but for now I’m just happy to have them.
So, Niecy Nash, be gone!
On another note, did you see the gorgeous Bernina 830 in this picture?
I’ve had it since June and other than a few hiccups during the learning curve (all operator error), it's been perfect. I'm giving it a work-out. I love this machine.
If you’re wondering at all why it’s been so long since I’ve written a blog post, it’s because my creative writing muse had been busy helping me write a book. I can’t say much more about it except that I’m done with my part. It will now take the publisher another year before it’s out the door.
I am happily back working the blog.

On Becoming a TV Star

2011-07-02T08:22:00.001-07:00

The following was written in March, when I taped two segments for the TV show "It's Sew Fun".

The show is beginning to air on PBS beginning June 30. Contact your local station and request that they pick up the show to air in your area.

In my never ending quest to become a sewing celebrity I accepted the invitation to appear on the upcoming TV show, “It’s Sew Easy.” To tape my segments, I journeyed cross-country to Cleveland, Ohio, which seems to be the Hollywood of sewing shows. As in every good journey I had to conquer a variety of obstacles, the biggest of which was the weather, which bestowed an irritating blizzard in my path.
Because of the kindness of strangers, strangers who later became friends, the weather proved to be more of a worry than an actual impediment.

During my time in Cleveland I was befriended by one of the other newly discovered TV stars, Trish, of Two Peas in a Pod and her one-woman entourage, Kristen. Kristen generously expanded her entourage work to include us all. She performed not only the expected entourage tasks, braving the snow for Starbucks for lattes, checking each of us for stray threads, lipstick coverage, and no unruly hairs, but she also rose early and attacked the snow with a snow shovel to make sure the van was available for transport.

It was lovely to have an entourage, even if I was a peripheral entourage-ee.
In addition I had the luxury of having my make-up done by Karen, the make-up artist.

She exposed the real me, the Angelina Jolie rival. I’m currently choosing which venue to attack next: America’s Top Model or Dancing with the Stars. Can’t decide which will showcase my new-found beauty most.
Most of my time in Cleveland was spent in the Green Room, the area assigned to stars awaiting their taping time. I’ve heard stars recount their time in David Letterman’s, Ellen’s and Oprah’s Green Rooms. Odd, not one of them mentioned that the green room was populated with sewing machines and sergers.

I had scheduled the time in the Green Room to finish last minute preparations for taping, and I did do that. But, thanks to the help of my my wonderful friends/helpers (you can read more about that on my previous blogs ) and my oft mentioned friend, Tecla, I finished my prep work by noon the first day. Tecla had made the step-outs I needed for the show (the multiple versions of the works in progress you see so often at sewing shows) while I was at the Sew Expo show in Puyallup.
I’m look forward to repaying that debt; a task that will be completed as soon as I learn to spin straw into gold.

Anyway, because of everyone’s help, I was able to focus on the real work taking place in the Green Room, socializing and eating.
I loved my fellow Green Room inhabitants; a wide range of sew-ists ranging from young to old, from those re-working sweatshirts to those sewing bags, from those in the home-sewing industry to a Project Runway participant. And then there was me.
The Actual Taping
Part of the fun of the Green Room is watching as each presenter tapes her segment. We gathered around a TV just a little larger than the state of Rhode Island, commenting on the important stuff, nail polish color and how many times someone said, ‘uh.’ The studio is soundproof so the ‘star’ never hears the peanut gallery’s comments, luckily for me.
HD has added an interesting dimension to television, a clear view of the presenters’ pores and facial flaws, giving me something to really look forward to; seeing my facial imperfections broadcast to all of America.
My studio time started with a director attaching a microphone to my clothes and placing an earbud in my ear. This had the potential to be strange but for me it was a good time as the director was a cutie. After a sound test and a light test, it was go time.

I taped two segments, the first on multiple hoopings in the embroidery machine, the second on re-working jean jackets.
I’m not going to write much about the actual taping. You can see the results when my segments air. They went well. I didn’t forget and pick my nose or scratch my crotch or anything. I didn’t say forbidden words. (One of the tapers said “Oh, my God” 6 minutes into her taping and had to start all over again). I know that I paused a squinch each time the producer talked into my earbud (she gave me time warnings at each minute mark) and once in a while I faced the wrong camera, but in general the taping went well.
I loved it! I loved the whole thing, from the Green Room experience to the time in front of the camera. OK Letterman, I’m ready for you.

The New Sewing Machine

2011-06-24T06:20:00.001-07:00

Today tested my will power almost to the breaking point My new sewing machine arrived and I didn’t rip open the box, tear through the packaging, and get the thing stitching. Instead, that luscious piece of perfectly engineered metal is still nestled in it’s styrofoam nest. You see, I’m heading to a retreat Sunday and I’m taking the machine with me. It doesn’t make sense to unpack the thing only to have to pack it up again 24 hours later.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m a retreat slut. I LOVE a good sewing retreat and each year I go to as many retreats as I can.The retreat Sunday is given by my ASG Chapter, one of two retreats it holds each year at Lake Tahoe.

So I’m taking the new machine to Tahoe where, surrounded by the beauty that is Lake Tahoe, I’ll experience the magnificence of a Bernina 830 for the first time. Meanwhile, the box sits teasing me in the living room. I have my fingers in my ears but I can still hear it calling. “I’m waiting. Unpack me!”

And if that isn’t enough frustration, for the last week my computer has been keeping me humble. Last Friday, as I was diligently pecking away at the keyboard, I glanced up only to find that no letters were appearing on the screen. I tapped the A key, then the S, nothing; the X key, the Z, still no results. Then, when I hit the escape key, the computer went very, very quiet. After a reboot I found that touching the keyboard gave the charming results of powering down the computer.

With a bit of experimentation I found that the computer works fine with an external keyboard but that configuration is not the most wieldy thing in the world (as in wieldy, the opposite of unwieldy).

I called Dell’s tech support and within hours I had received an email that a new keyboard heading my way. That was last Friday.

Today is the next Friday and I still don’t have the replacement keyboard.

According to the UPS log, my keyboard has had quite a tour of the Midwest.

The keyboard left Nashville on the 17th and went to Indianapolis for the day, followed by an evening jaunt to Louisville, Kentucky.

Obviously the keyboard was not satisfied with it’s brief visit to Indianapolis, so after spending the day in Louisville, it went back to Indianapolis. The next day it went back to Louisville.

I take it that a second visit to Louisville was enough for it, so it finally headed west to California.

This morning it arrived in San Pablo. Tomorrow it’s supposed to get here. We’ll see. For all I know my keyboard will lounge around the bay area for a day or two completing its leisurely trip.

Until I get the keyboard and face the fun of installing it in the laptop, I have my new sewing machine to dream about. It is here and awaiting launch. Did I mention that it’s a Bernina 830? Sweet!

I’ll write more about the sewing machine when I get to the retreat. Hopefully, I’ll be writing on a keyboard that’s actually installed in my laptop.

The Tale of the Top part 2

2011-04-21T14:59:00.001-07:00

In January I wrote the tale of a stalled out project, a pink silk top for which I had taken the dead-end path of fitting myself. Fitting yourself is like cutting your own hair. No matter how beautiful the front looks at some point you have to turn around and the back tragically shows.
The top, Vogue V7828 (now out of print) is a crossover wrap top with seams crossing the front diagonally. By fiddling with the seams, I came up with a great fit in the front. The blouse skims over my curves and highlights my best feature, a small waist. Because the eyes in the back of my head were not working correctly, the back was not as pleasing.

My choices were to throw the thing on the scrap heap or seek help. I hopped right on it, a mere 12 weeks after discovering that the back of this top was so unflattering, I met with my favorite fitter, Anita Marshall.
Before the meeting I had constructed a second muslin using my front adjustments. I donned the muslin for Anita and was rewarded with ‘oohs and ahs’. Then I turned around. That’s when I heard it, that “tsk, tsk, tsk,” sound you never want to hear from a fellow sew-ist (A sound I usually hear only when people get a glimpse of my sewing room). Anita agreed with my assessment. The back was my Titanic.

Actually, it didn’t take Anita long to figure out the fix. She took a large pinch across the back, parallel with the waist. It seems that my back from shoulders-to-waist is short. I shouldn’t be surprised at that as my front, from the shoulders-to-waist it short, too. With this pattern I had sucked up the extra fabric while fiddling with the front seams. With this pinch, the fabric smoothly skimmed the curve of my back. She redrew the arm-scythe and reduced the shoulder width (about 3/4” each shoulder) and we were done.
I am VERY happy with the finished results. Now I look good both coming and going. I’m anxious to find the right occasion to show off this piece. Maybe I need to manufacture an occasion.

The designs are from the Flowerful set (by the way).

I’m ready to resume my work on the green vest I wrote about last time. Hmm… it’s only been a month or so since I started that one. Maybe it needs to age a bit more.

That’s Why They Call it a Theory

2011-03-27T09:52:00.001-07:00

Fact: I always have to shorten my patterns two inches. Always! No matter what pattern I choose. If I make up a pattern without shortening. on donning the finished garment, I will resemble a chubby 4 year old clattering around in her mother’s heels.

Fact: I am short-waisted; very, very short-waisted. The distance between the bottom of my bust and the top of my belt is best viewed with a microscope. When they invent the belt-bra, I will be the first in line at the cash register.

Fact, unaltered V-neck patterns, expose things best left hidden forever.

Fact: Linda, Kubrik, designer of Elements, the new pattern-line Bullard Designs* is carrying, is one tall drink of water. She’s tall and slim and the distance from her belt to bust is wide, very wide, grand canyon wide.

Fact: Because independent pattern designers can relate best to their own body-types, their patterns are usually designed for bodies similar to their own. Therefore, if you know a designer’s build, you can project which body type her patterns will flatter. Apple shaped designers design garments with loose waists and exposed arms. Fashion model shaped designers should be designing garments with long waists.

Proposition: In theory, when making up one of the Linda’s patterns, Elements’ Vest 103, where the waistline is an important design element, I should shorten the upper body by a minimum of two inches.

But as I have made up patterns without testing the fit with a muslin and lived to rue the day I chose to take the extra step of making a muslin. Turns out, that was a wise choice.

So, after deciding the fabric/embroidery design combination for my next project, the Element’s Vest 103 pattern I began with a muslin.

Before starting the muslin, I did take a pre-emptive strike and shortened the bodice. The pattern has a wonderfully interesting X shaped back which made shortening a challenging task. Taking out one inch above and one inch below the middle of the back required reshaping and re-angling all of the back pieces; making sure each matched the one next to it and had the appropriate seam allowances. The front was a much simpler task, a breeze after the back.

So I made up the test muslin. Yikes! The vest was hiked up under my breasts. I was Erkel sans suspenders. My top looked shorter than usual. Is that even possible?

I experienced something I’ve never experienced before, a too short top. Two inches too short! I can’t believe it.

My original plan was to whip up the vest and post a picture of it when I posted this blog. As is the norm for my projects, the original plan has had some major additions. The vest is taking way longer than expected so its not yet ready for prime time. Here’s a picture of the back, so far. I feel another blog in the making.

* In case you didn’t know it, Bullard Designs is my company. We specialize in embroidery designs but also sell sewing patterns from a variety of sources.

On With the Show

2011-03-10T12:39:00.001-08:00

Ahh… I can’t believe it. Sew Expo is over for another year. The booths dismantled, the boxes packed and all that’s left is the memories. Now is the time for reflections, pithy sayings and a recap of the week.
So here it is, my collection of vignettes from the show. Be warned, a sewing show from a vendor’s view is very different than that of an attendee. My only views were of the booth, the people who visited my booth, and my classes. Pretty myopic.

This year I taught 5 classes and gave 2 talks on a free stage as well and I accompanied a young sew-ist down the runway in a fashion show that highlighted the future of showing.
The show had 32 time slots for classes and still managed to schedule me for the 8:30 timeslot every morning. It’s not that I mind speaking that early in the morning I love mornings. I’m one of those crazy people who greet the sunrise every day. (I know it’s unnatural but it’s the way I am.) What surprised me is that so many people came to see me that early in the morning. I’m pretty sure that at least 1 person in each class attended with eyes sealed shut and a drawing of an eyeball applied on the eyelid.

My classes were all full! In most, there wasn’t a single spare seat. In two of the classes people paid for standing room. Wow!

This year I strayed from my usual Quick Gifts Embroidery Style class to teach a new class; Machine Embroidery Virtuoso. I covered ways for machine embroiderers to make their work even better. I am writing a book and the class is some of the concepts from that book. It’s always great when you attract a lot of people into the room but that’s generally the result of a good class description. What’s better is when the attendees love the class.

I’m used to people liking my classes. I show fun things, I’m a bit of a ham and get lots of laughs, and I try to have new information each time I teach. What’s not to like? But this class was different. It was like I had brought bread to the starving. Eyes lit up, smiles appeared, heads nodded. I couldn’t have had a better reception if I had been throwing out gold coins.

I heard, “Your class was the best one I’ve ever taken!” many, many, times. The best quote was, “Your class was worth the price of the class, the price to attend the show, and the price of my plane ticket here!” (And yes I am preening as I write this). By the end of the weekend I had trouble getting out the door, my head was swelled so big.

The classes didn’t take all of my time. I also spent time in my booth, working. The best part about working the booth is that I get to see old friends, make new friends, and spend time talking about sewing.
We offer free designs to anyone who comes to our booth wearing our embroidery designs. I would have more pictures except, silly me, I didn’t think to pull out the camera until late in the show.

I only have two pictures from Naomi. She actually came by with three different outfits. The designs are from Crystal of the Month Club of which she’s a member. You can’t see it on line but these designs shine with crystals. And Naomi shines, too. The stitch-outs ain’t too bad, either.

Jeanne also came by multiple times, wearing a variety of clothes, all with our designs. Unfortunately, I only have pictures of one. Luckily it’s spectacular. The designs are from our Brilliants collection.
Talk about versatile, Rosemary used the same Brilliants designs. Look how different they are from Jean’s. Rosemary fell in love with the fabric she put in the hood. She added the embroidery to coordinate with the hood fabric. I love the finished look of designs coordinating with the jacket – without looking matchy-matchy.

Notice anything unusual about Janeen’s embroidery? It’s not exactly attached to her clothes. She really meant to sew up something for the show and didn’t get to it. she was determined to get the free designs so she stitched out this bear from Crystal Critters. and hung them on a rope. Kind of sad for the bear, hung sideways like that, but good for Janeen. She received free designs.

On another note, I was let out of the booth on Sunday to accompany my young sew-ist, Mentee down the aisle in the charity fashion show. The show was designed to showcase the talent of young people who sew. The Sew-Expo folks paired up sewing professionals with sew-ists, supposedly for us to act as mentors. My Mentee, Mia, is 12 years old and incredible. I’d like to take credit for Mia’s work, but the reality is that I did very little. She’s so talented and such a self starter that I didn’t need to do anything. Her jacket has 5 zippers and used a double needle. Everything looked perfect. My only input was to offer an embroidery design for her to stitch designs on the back.

The downside to being a vendor is that I don’t get to visit other booths. I just don’t have the time. If you’re reading this expecting to hear all the newest, coolest stuff in the sewing world, you might as well as close the browser now. Not going to happen. It can’t happen. I didn’t get to see those things.
The show was a success. I was able to purchase three small things there. Luckily I have a helpful secret shopper, Cindy, (see the last post to see Cindy’s picture). She found a few things I couldn’t live without, things I needed.

And now we’re home and on to the next adventure.

The Glamorous Life of a Sewing Star

2011-03-05T06:46:00.001-08:00

Most people who read this blog know that I’m a professional in the sewing world. I write for magazines, speak in multiple national shows, have ribbons from nationally ranked quilt shows and have been featured as a top designer.

Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it, with visions of me traveling down the street, surrounded by my entourage, with scores of gorgeous men throwing themselves at my feet. Ahh… if only that were true. Instead, my life is often filled with a manual labor and humdrum tasks.

Wednesday of this week found me in high drudge mode; I had the excitement of setting up for a sewing show, manual labor of the highest order. The show is Sew Expo, one of the largest sewing shows in the country, probably the largest that is geared for garment sew-ists. Sew Expo is held in the metropolis of Puyallup, Washington and I attend each year as a speaker and vendor, which means that Bullard Designs sets up a booth at the show.

As always, the show promoters have cleverly scheduled the show at the end of February, with predictably bleak weather. I’ve been to the show for the last nine years and only once during that time do I remember seeing even one ray of sunshine. At least I think I remember that. It’s possible it’s just something I dreamed.

Part of the joy of setting up a booth at tradeshow is that you have to bring a whole store’s worth of ‘stuff’ with you.

First you pack your van, stuffing in all kinds of exciting paraphernalia ranging from boxes of product to the very walls you’ll need to display it.

Unfortunately, packing the wares isn’t good enough. When you arrive at the show, those same items must be unpacked, and moved from the van to your booth space. As I have not yet conquered telekinesis, this involves extreme manual labor.

To ensure a maximum amount of discomfort for the vendors transporting their wares from their vehicles to their show spaces, the show organizers open all of the doors and leave them open for the duration of the setup period. This wouldn’t be a problem if these were ordinary doors, but no, the doors into this establishment are super doors, large enough to accommodate the Mongol hoards including elephants. As we’re in the booth closest to the door we get to experience all of the rain, wind and snow at close range

This year we chronicled the setup process. Here’s the space as it looked when we first arrived. We were able to capture the space during a lull in the wind.

The only way to approach this is with humor so despite the weather, we managed to keep our spirits up. And by we, I mean, Cindy S, who actually organizes my show life and keeps me on the straight and narrow, and DH, Randy, the love of my life who plays the role of mule, master technician and salesperson when we’re at tradeshows.

Contrary to the evidence shown here, Randy does not spend all of his time in a cage.

I could go into detail about the frustration of unpacking, the search for the tape gun which you knew was in the under-the-table box but in reality was found in the box for the crystal rack. Or how we must have used an alternate alphabet when boxing the design set CDs at home which impeded the arranging of said CDs on the way. You get the gist of it.

Somehow, just when chaos seems to prevail, a little order surfaces.

Eventually, good does triumph over evil, and our booth takes on a semblance of sanity and order (the illusion we work hard to maintain).

We’re now two days into the show, and things are going well. The booth still looks close to this, although the crystal rack has bare spots and there are fewer CDs on the wall. I daresay that the three of us look a little worn, but our spirits are still high.

So, hello from the show.

Getting to the Show

2011-02-25T20:08:00.001-08:00

Previously on The Self Proclaimed Queen of Bling:
When last we followed our stalwart heroine (otherwise known as the Self Proclaimed Queen of Bling) she was splayed across a grindstone, her nose shrinking at an alarming rate as it was pushed against a grindstone.

The reason:
Overwhelming deadlines rushing to the heroine (the Self Proclaimed Queen of Bling) faster than a speeding bullet. The first deadline; the extraordinarily huge sewing show, Sew Expo in Puyallup, Washington. The second deadline; the taping of a new sewing show, “It’s Sew Fun” two days after the heroine’s return from Puyallup, Washington.

And Now:
Our heroine spent an exhilarating day at the Old General Store in Drytown in the land of California. She was joined, for this day, by 10 good, no great, Samaritans, each volunteering their time and expertise to help the heroine in her time of need. Now, relieved of the pressure of the grindstone against her nose, our heroine is finally coming up for a breath of air and taking the time to chronicle her adventures in the land of the Old General Store with The Great Samaritans.

Let it be noted that the Good, no Great, Samaritans are each wondrously beautiful women with hands so gifted that everything each of these women touches turns into glorious works of art.

And so the Good, no Great, Samaritans took the lengths of fabric transformed by the heroine from beautiful pieces to extraordinary pieces by the addition of judiciously placed machine embroidery (all designed by our stalwart heroine) and created works of wearable art.
The heroine was amazed at the industry and talent of each of the Great Samaritans.

They employed marvelously advanced technology in their quest for the highest quality of fiber art.

Their machines sang with productive humming songs as they transformed the fabric into clothing.

The Samaritans used their wondrous talents to bedeck the pieces with jewels.

Even as they worked they found time to enjoy the company of others.

And as each completed her work of art, she held it up so all could enjoy the beauty.

With the help of the Great Samaritans your heroine was able to remove her nose from the grindstone and breathe most easily and return to the land of the living.

Color Wars

2011-02-17T21:00:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, in a few weeks I'll be filming a segment to be aired in a new sewing show, "It's Sew Easy."

About a week ago I opened my inbox to find an e-mail offering me, as one of the presenters on the show, a choice of fabric from Vogue Fabrics to use for samples. Swe-e-et! Charge card-less shopping! Stash building but no cash depleting.

Unfortunately, the perk came with a price. Because of an ordering snafu, the fabrics arrived Tuesday of this week, a mere two weeks before my leaving for Sew Expo; two weeks to sew 3 garments.

I started yesterday with the obligatory fabric fondling starting with a sweet pale yellow linen. After a trip to the washer and some quality time at the ironing board (this is linen, after all) I was ready to start.

I think you know by now that I think that when it comes to my sewing, I'm a compulsive planner. I believe in sewing muslins, doing trial stitch-outs of all embroidery designs and testing a variety of color combinations before embarking on a project. In my book, auditioning is the key to success. Try this and see how it looks. Try that and compare it to the first. I'm an experimenting kind of gal. One of my friends, who has the 'damn torpedoes, full speed ahead' philosophy goes in the opposite direction diving right in to seek instant gratification. Let's just say I've seen a few wadders in her house; pieces that don't fit, or items with color combinations just a little bit off.

However, feeling the pressure of time, this one time I decided to bypass the test stitch-out. The fabric was gorgeous, I've sewn these designs just short of a zillion times and and I was in a hurry, a real hurry. While my machine was busy stitching its little heart out I was packing the van to prepare to speak at a quilt guild. So sewing -wise, it was damn the torpedoes for me.

The Fabric: - an elegant pale yellow pants weight linen from Vogue Fabrics.

The Pattern: -Vogue 8654, a fun little jacket (We'll have it on our website in a few days)

The Designs: Bugged from Bullard Designs (that's me, the Bullard of Bullard Designs)

Bugged Embroidery Designs
(This photo is from the back of a jacket which
is why you see the drape of the fabric)

Colors: Lilac and purple embroidery on the creamy yellow. I have used this combination before and loved the look.


The color combination I planned to use. Design shown is from the Zelda Designs.

So take it away. I started the machine stitching. Not willing to do the easy thing I slipped in a third color- a gold. That seemed like a no-brainer. Gold looks great with purple, gold looks great on creamy yellow.

I think you know where this is going. The end product was not what I imagined.


Bugged Embroidery Designs

So here it is. I still love the lavender against the lilac. What I don't like is the greenish- gold innards.

Hmm.. So now, time to check to see if I have enough fabric to continue with this pattern. If not - big plan B - choose a pattern that takes less fabric.

Back to the drawing board for a test.

My next try was spot on. Oddly enough, it’s what I first planned- lavender and purple on the pale yellow.

I love the look. The embroidery is done, the pieces cut out and all put in a bag for my helpers to sew tomorrow. If all goes well I'll have pictures of the finished jacket by the end of next week.

Working My Nose Off

2011-02-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

In three weeks Randy (DH) and I head to Puyallup, Washington for the Sew Expo sewing show, our biggest show of the year. In Puyallup, I'm teaching two different sessions, one of which is on the free stage and is about clothing; embroidery on clothing to be exact. (It's at 8:30 in the morning if you're going to the show). A great clothing segment requires samples, lots of samples.

Because preparing for our biggest show of the year isn't enough pressure, this year I have an additional stress-point. Right after the show, I climb aboard a great silver bird and head to Ohio to tape two segments for a new sewing show that debuts this spring on PBS channels. When I say right after the show, I mean right after the show. My flight leaves the morning after our return. I'm not sure why these guys are taping in Ohio, that mecca of fine television productions. The sewing show segments also require samples. Of course, those samples have to be different than those for Puyallup.

As you can imagine, I'm in serious work mode. Every morning I wake up, check the mirror to see the size of my nose and the effect of the previous day's nose to the grindstone foray.

Don't get me wrong, I have lots of clothing samples. But... I've shown these samples before. To have new things to say, I want new samples to show. And, I certainly need new samples for the taping of the television sessions.

So, the clothing session plus making up samples for the television program has launched a spate of clothing production. To be more accurate, a spate of embroidery. I have not yet started putting the projects together. I actually have help, a lot of help. One friend, Tamera, has already spent a day and half helping me cut out patterns and assemble documentation. Another friend, Tecla, spent the day with me embroidering huge embroidery designs using her new sewing machine with the mega sized hoops. And, for the actual construction, next Friday, a batch of friends will gather to help me assemble my samples.

We've done this in the past, and it has the feel of a sewing bee. Lots of wonderfully nice people, some food and an incredible amount of sewing work finished. At this point in my life I need lots of help and I'm so honored that these wonderful people will take the time out to work with me.

So far I have 5 projects ready to go, a mere 12 more to go.

I have been looking for any short cuts I can find. My first action was to check my stitch-out hamper to see if I had anything I could use. Score! I found some rather large linen pieces covered with embroidery from my On the Table embroidery designs.

I had enough fabric for two fronts and a back, I could see the dense flowers on one side front, the sprinkled ones on the other front and the back. In the spirit of adding more work to my already full plate, I decided that the dense flower arrangement had a heavier spirit than the lighter ones and I shouldn't include it. A few hours of embroidery later and I had 3 panels of linen sprinkled with orange, pink, and deep red flowers. A little cutting (done by a friend) and I had a package with linen pieces and coordinating cottons ready for the big sew-in Friday.

And sew my life goes. Today I'm trying to put together package number 6. After that, only 11 to go.

I'll keep you informed.

Screeching to a Halt

2011-01-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

I was sure that by today I would have a blog entry with a picture of me arrayed in my newest masterpiece, the sweet little pink blouse I've been writing about in my last couple of posts. I can see it, the sueded silk shantung sveltly gliding over my body, showcasing my curves, my embroidery skill, my design style and my sewing expertise. But... as you see, it is not to be. The sweet little top has a temporary home as an empty shell with ragged armholes, the sleeves lying demurely next to the blouse, unattached.

It seems that my sloper lied to me. Or, I guess the truth is that I didn't put enough time into the muslin/fitting process.

I made up the front and back of the muslin changing the top seam a considerable amount to allow the fabric to curve over the bust. Good plan. This part of the fitting worked. From the front the blouse fits beautifully, as though I had a whole bevy of tailors swarming around my body, tape measures in hands, pins in their mouths.

It's the shoulder and back that aren't right. I swear, in the muslin, the shoulder seam lay right on top of my actual shoulder, and the blouse back smoothly cover my back. And I I took the sloper apart and used it for a pattern so in theory the shoulder on the actual blouse should lay right on top of my shoulder and the back should smoothly glide over my back.

My body must have changed considerably between the time I tried on that muslin and the time I finished the the garment. My back must have sunk in under the armholes, and my shoulders shifted forward. The garment does not fit! Let me clarify that, the back and shoulders of the garment do not fit. There's too much fabric around the shoulder area of the back, I have wrinkles where no wrinkles should exist and the shoulder seam has crept forward.

So that's my story. I'm on hold until I can get one of my favorite fitters to help me adjust the armscythe, shoulder and sleeve cap.

Dog gone! I want to finish this guy.

Sometimes My Embroidery Machine Hates Me

2010-12-23T20:22:00.000-08:00

The project I'm working on now is Vogue 7828 (see my last post for a picture). After the fitting muslin, my next step is choosing thread color for the embroidery. (Note that I didn't use the embroidery I showed in the last blog entry. I went with the Flowerful design set instead. My friend, T used the other set and I wanted to do something different).

I was happily surprised that I took only three tries to come up with a combination I liked. Usually, choosing the exact right colors is a process analogous to how I imagine Michelangelo approaching painting the Sistine Chapel. I see him pondering color samples and throwing on trial strokes of color. My usual process consists of days of sorting through threads, stitch-out after stitch-out, agony over the multitude of choices, then finally a decision, my hair noticeably sparser with clumps sprinkled around the sewing room floor from my unconscious pulling.

However, this process was quite fast for my current project with only 3 stitch-outs and one clear winner.

With the colors settled, I commenced the embroidery. In my own tart-it-up style, I chose to have lots of embroidery on the blouse. Queen Victoria would be proud of my lack of restraint when it comes to decorating my pieces. I planned a line of embroidery running next to each of the seam lines on one of the fronts, a line down one sleeve and embroidery strewn quite liberally across the back.

I have a pretty good relationship with my embroidery machine. It trusts me to use good thread, stabilize correctly and to use designs that aren't too dense for comfort. In return, I trust my embroidery machine to stitch each color of a design from start to finish without breaking thread or needles or stopping indiscriminately.

The system works most of the time. Usually I can set a design stitching and walk away to do something else. When I'm really on a roll, I have all 3 embroidery machines going at once, my own team of sewing elves working independently while I finish something different. Unfortunately, today the elves rebelled. Maybe it was commentary on my color choice or the sheer amount of embroidery for the piece, but during the last quarter of the third line, things began to go wrong.
.
The first two lines were challenging. The top line had to follow a stitching line which bends up at a 30 degree angle. (The stitching line's angle creates a dart, pulling the edges together at the armhole.) To make sure I was sufficiently challenged, the next two lines required precise placement so they would each be centered between seams.

Line 1 stitched perfectly, even the bend. Ditto line 2. It was in the middle of the third, that things headed downhill.

First - I left the room for just a few minutes to take a shower and dry my hair. When I came back the machine was stopped with a broken needle dangling on the thread. Why, Machine? Why? Of course there was an answer. The thread had twisted around the thread stand freezing up the feed. The thread pulled tight and zip - the needle broke.

Never underestimate the power of me as a disgruntled worker. Before I broke the second needle I had a major "operator error." I changed out the needle and rebooted the machine as I usually do. Unfortunately, I was particularly spacey when I fast forwarded the machine to the color I thought should sew next and I skipped color 3. It wasn't until I was totally finished with color 4 that I realized the rather major error. At first I thought I could stitch color 3 after color 4 but machine embroidery is not that simple. There are bunches of places where color 3 stitches from one part of the design to another. These stitches will be hidden under the flowers of the later colors, many of those flowers are color 4 flowers. So... if I stitched color 3 after color 4 it would stitch right over the flowers. Shoot. Time to break out more fabric and start again. Good thing I purchase fabric in leviathan amounts.

I re-threaded and started up again. I wasn't 30 seconds into this stitch-out when I heard the dreaded ka-thunk. Needle number two was in two pieces. This time it was because I was at the end of my bobbin. The last teeny bit of thread clung tenaciously to the bobbin causing resistance and another broken needle. Unfortunately, this needle breakage jerked the fabric out of the hoop which meant starting yet again. My pile of extra fabric wasn't looking quite as massive.

Needle Number Three's unfortunate demise was a direct result of Needle Number Two. In the process of finishing off the late Needle Number Two, the threads had tangled around the bobbin and nudged the throat plate just a little out of line. Funny, the reaction of a needle hitting a solid surface like a throat plate. That Poor Number Three didn't have a chance. Ka-thunk again.

Sometimes I think the machine breaks needles just to tell me to change my needles more often.

I'm pleased to say that I've finished the embroidery and I love it. I did finish with three versions of the left back panel, which enabled interesting comparisons. When I first started this project, I sewed out a couple of color options. Now I have two more variations and I like them both. I'm not unhappy with the final product but I like the other two as well.

Kind of put a crimp in my feeling of omnipotence as far as color choices. Looks like there were lots of other ways I could have gone. The obvious choice doesn't seem so obvious anymore.

Stay tuned for the next installment from the Needle Graveyard, with plenty of pictures.

A Fitting Story - Vogue 7828

2010-12-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

The adventure began with a frantic call from a friend, T who has just finished a blouse and wanted help fitting it. Now T is not a strong proponent of the fitting muslin. No, let me restate that, T couldn't be bothered with the time it takes to make a fitting muslin.

This picture is from Vogue Fabric Stores

So T walked in the door with a spectacular blouse, Vogue 7828, made up in a silver gray silk organza upon which she had added embroidery designs. The designs were from my Lines and Flowers

collection so I was predisposed to like them from the beginning. (Hers were in shades of gray and white on a silvery gray silk organza). The blouse looked fabulous. Well, it looked fabulous on the hanger. Then she tried it on.

Hmm... fabulous was not the word to use, the thing just didn't fit. The sides didn't pull all the way to the side, the neckline gaped, shoot, it was just wrong. So we started in. What happens if you put the buttons here? The overlap looks good but the gape at the neck now resembles a swinging cable. When you move the buttons over a little to the left, the lines look cockeyed. What if you leave it a little looser? Can you pull the top down more to lessen the neckline gap? We messed around with it for several hours. We pulled it one way, pushed it another tried finesse and tried brute force. It was like physical abuse to fabric. The answer was, she should have done a muslin.

So I've done a muslin for the pattern and am ready to sew it up. It's tempting to use the same exact designs T used but I think that every time I wear the top I'll have one of those little devils perched on my shoulder whispering in my ear, "You copied, you copied".

So off to a plan B - different designs placed in a spot other than the one T chose to use.

More later.

In Praise of the Muslin

2010-12-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

I admit it, I'm a muslin groupie, one of the 7 people in the world who publicly takes a stand in praise of the muslin. I am a true muslin believer.

We all know people who don't sew garments because of the fitting issue. These same people will spend a million or so hours making up a quilt with a zillion or so pieces, each requiring perfectly matched points, yet they won't sew clothes because it takes too long to sew up a muslin.

I recently spent time with one of those, a friend who didn't believe in wasting time on a muslin. She visited me with a perfectly constructed, embroidered and crystalled blouse that she can't wear because no amount of changes will make the neckline not gap and the fronts meet correctly. Ah... the case for the muslin.

Anyway, I am a believer. I've drunk the muslin Kool Aide.

So it doesn't make sense that I would make up a top without making a muslin first, but I did. In my own defense, Friday I was at a wonderful little fabric store in Diamond Springs California where there were samples of many of their patterns made up in a variety of sizes. As I watched my friends shop, my hand clasped over the top of my purse (did I mention I'm very poor) I decided to try on a few of the samples to pass the time.

And therein lies my mistake. One of the samples was magnificent. Well, the sample was OK, but the pattern it was made from was magnificent. So I bought the pattern. Never mind that I sell patterns for a living (but not the Christine Jonson patterns). Never mind that my queue of proposed projects is longer than Richie Rich's Christmas list. I noted the size of the sample (X small) bought the pattern, took it home and traced it out.

The pattern is Christine Jonson's Princess Wrap top. It's a simple T- top with a wrap front. I had a compelling reason to move this pattern to the front of my sewing list; I could use it to make up the last two presents on my 'nice' list. As both of the people requiring gifts conveniently wear the exact same size as me, I was ready to sew. I had lots of knit fabric in the house and I knew this would fit both me and my friends because I had tried on the sample.

The pattern is delightful. It takes NO time to make and it looks wonderful on. Well, let me re-phrase that, it looks wonderful on when you make the right size, which unfortunately I had not.

My initial try was with a delightful heavy black knit covered with little white nubs. Too bad I had cut out an extra small and I (and my two friends) wear a small. After construction I tried on the top. I should say I tried to try on the top. I pushed and pulled and squeezed and finally got it on. The word sausage comes to mind.

Yikes! I had thought that I had my last two presents complete. Thought that that stress and pressure of the holiday gift race was over, yet now I had two more presents to make. And there was a time crunch. The clock read 3 pm Saturday afternoon and the next gift giving occasion was Sunday at 4.

The end of the story was that I did make up both tops with plenty of time to spare. I didn't have enough of the black and white to make third and fourth tops so I had to find something else. Luckily, the hall closet has taken on a new name, the knits stash closet. Hiding at the bottom of the pile under puddles of slinky and poufs of polar fleece lurked a silvery, shimmery gray knit. Voila! Enough for the two tops. I was ready to sew.

I went to my first choice of sewing techniques, I waved my wand and called the sewing mice from Cinderella. Unfortunately they didn't show. Guess it's a pretty busy time of year for sewing mice. No way around it, I was going to have to do it myself. I traced the pattern again, this time in size small (I guess that X on the label at the store was really a schmear or scribble or something. That top in the store couldn't have been an extra small, must have been a small.)

Luckily the top sews up very quickly (as I've already said). I finished it with time to spare. Even got in a bicycle ride after I finished. Here's the top on me. Look fast - it's already out the door and in another home.

So now to make one for myself which means adding embroidery. I haven't been working with embroidery on knits much. Time for that to change.

Celebration!

2010-12-08T20:48:00.000-08:00

I do love sewing and part of what I love is the endless possibilities. I think the love of a fabric stash comes from the unlimited potential.

One of the pieces in my stash was a gorgeous remnant I liberated from Britex fabrics many many years ago. It's a 3/4 yard piece of a wool boucle with a black base with brown and metallic gold threads woven in. At first glance 3/4 of a yard seems limiting, but with these new, shorter jackets three quarters of a yard can be the body of your jacket and still leave enough for part of the sleeve.

The back side of this fabric was more subtle than the front and it was tempting to stand things on their head and use the fabric in reverse, but this was foiled by my discovery of some tied threads on the back side.

I've been eying a jacket in the August '08, 2010 Burda World of Fashion, in the section on Jackie O (pattern 115).** It's a simple jacket with princess seams and a slight funnel neck topped with a Peter Pan type collar. I decided to ditch the Peter Pan collar because 'sweet' is not my style. Several weeks ago I ran up a muslin of this pattern. Fitting was fairly easy, just needed a little more space in the bust and little less space in the shoulders. (Curses to narrow shoulders, the bain of my jacket fitting existence).With the muslin done I was ready to go this morning.

I always do my embroidery before cutting so that was the first step. Unlike most of my work, I visualized a piece with very subtle embroidery. (I know, you're thinking, who is this woman, but is really is me.) I chose a design from the set I'm releasing next week, Celebrations!. The design is a bell but set on it's side it was perfect for the jacket; waist high on either side of the front opening. The embroidery design is a subtle gold and copper on an applique fabric (black in this case). I placed it at the natural waistline to emphasize mycurves.

As usual, I went through multiple iterations of the embroidery - the first border was a chocolate brown that matched the fabric's brown, and ended up too subtle. The second was tan and too light. My final choice for the outer border was the same gold tone I used within the embroidery.

I'm often asked the best way to embroider with metallic thread. First, find out what thread your machine likes. I swear, each machine has likes and dislikes on brands and types of metallic thread. And don't believe that because your friend's X machine likes a particular brand that yours will. Not so. Your machine might like a different thread. It's really machine specific. For this design I used the metallic gold Superior Thread's Glitter line in Gold 201. It seems to be more forgiving than a lot of threads.

My best tip for working with metallic thread is to extend the thread by holding the thread between my fingers rather than to let it go through the machine's normal thread path. This reduces the natural kink found in metallic threads and eliminates troublesome breakage that is so common with metal threads, saving hours of frustration and "do-overs." While you might have avoided using metallic thread in the past, this tip can change your experience.

Here's the picture of me holding the thread. Nothing high tech about this. The longer the thread path, the more chance to get the evil kinks out of the thread.

Here's the embroidery. It was designed to be a bell but when you set it on it's side, stitch one on a front and mirror it on the other side, it's the perfect accent at the waistline of the jacket. This is a free design on my website.

The jacket went together really quickly, once the embroidery was finished. The alternating multicolored and black panels work well and I think the jacket is flattering.

Next, I'll make it again in another fabric. Hmm... which of those wonderful pieces of potential in my stash should I use?

** I've just found out that many of the patterns from Burda World of Fashion are also available on the Burdastyle website. You can find this one here.

I've Been Pantsed

2010-08-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today's project should have been quick and easy: the first of a series of sample pants for an article proposal I'm putting together. The article will feature multiple pairs of pants, each uniquely embellished with embroidery. The operative phrase here is 'should have been'. The reality was a little different.

Let me explain that I love making pants. I really love making pants. Once you have you have a pattern or set of alterations that fit, pants almost make themselves. Unfortunately that lesser known ancient pant god, Bracchaeos, was not smiling on me today.

My goal was to use an embroidery design of mine from the Cutting Edge design set. You might have seen these designs before because I use this set often. It's versatile and adaptable to all kinds of clothing.

Here's a picture that was published in Designs in Machine Embroidery magazine. No false modesty here - I love the designs and I love the vest.

Today I had another vision for these designs; using them to tart up the side seam of a pair of pants.

Because my goal was to produce pants that didn't resemble clown pants (or emphasize my, shall we say, low center of gravity), I wanted a color combination that would be less bold than the one on the vest. A quick search of my internal resource center unearthed a woven cotton with a little lycra in a quiet beige. The cotton/lycra meant the pants could be close fitting.

My closest fitting pants pattern has a seam down the front of the pants, offering an additional design opportunity. I decided to put a stripe of a coordinating fabric in that front seam.

I spent quite a bit of time auditioning fabrics for the stripe. I tried an animal print, a stripe set on a bias, some wonderful men's wear fabrics.... on and on. I sent pictures of my auditions to a few select friends seeking input on what fabric to use.

I thought I was so clever, coming up with this idea of using the embroidery and the stripe. I made the pants and took pictures.

The pictures made me humble. The stripe looked terrible.

You don't have to tell me. I know. The pants don't look good. Here are a few of the captions I came up with for the picture. Feel free to add your captions below.

"Surrender your wallet and valuables. We're putting you in cell 3."

Or

"Where's the striped shirt to go with those convict pants?"

Or

"The black and white forest shirt, found in the temperate regions of Kazakhstand, is known for sending out root tendrils that navigate the length of the pants to sink into the earth, eventually rendering the wearer immobile and planted."

I have memories of a movie usher selling cigarettes and I'm pretty sure he wore pants with a stripe down the front but so far I haven't located any pictures of the guy. Does the phrase 'Call for Phillip Morris' ring a bell?

No matter how I sliced it I wasn't going to wear these pants in public.

So I removed the stripe. It took less than an hour. That was an hour well spent. I was right about the embroidery, though.

Now, if it were as easy to get the wrinkles out of my neck!

In case you're interested, here's a closeup of the embroidery:

The Quilt Show Entry

2010-06-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

As a fiber artist I often feel compelled to enter quilt show competitions in the wearable art category. I do this even though I know that my entries are in a unique niche that seldom gets recognition. I'm a little to the side of the usual wearable art entries. You would think that my work, being so different, would be considered cutting edge and would earn a first place here and there. Well, that's my hope. So far I've won ribbons but none with prizes attached.

Despite that, when the call for entries for one of the largest quilt shows in the country came around, I decided to try again. Unfortunately, the entry deadline fell in the week that Randy and I would be out of town on vacation.

So, the night before our long awaited vacation, I scurried around to get my project ready for pictures so I could send in my entry.

At 11 PM, I thought I was doing well. I had my entry jacket finished except for closures and crystals. I knew that a few carefully placed straight-pins would discreetly hold the jacket closed, so I wasn't too worried about that, but crystals were non-negotiable.

I was enamored of my handiwork! It was gorgeous! I hadn't tried it on in a couple of months, but I loved the way it seemed to beam down at me from the hanger. I was an artiste extraordinaire! My plan was to wake up early, early, Saturday morning, apply crystals and whip up a skirt to wear with it for the pictures. The Callisto Skirt from LaFred was a perfect choice; two side seams and a hidden zipper. The skirt requires cool stuff at the hem but that could wait till later.

So, 4:30 Saturday morning found me hunched over the jacket, applying crystals. Did I mention that this jacket requires lots of crystals? Lots and lots of crystals?

A mere four hours later and the crystals were attached. Four sweet hours of blinging. Next task, the skirt. As expected, the skirt went together very quickly. Unfortunately, when I slipped it on, the waistband was more than ten inches too wide. I had expected some stretch from the bias, but not that much. To inhibit the stretch I had stay stitched before I started any work. Obviously that didn't work. OK, not to worry. I could tuck the skirt top under my bra, the bra and the top of the skirt well hidden under the jacket. Ahh, the bra-belt!

At 9:30 am Randy stopped packing the car (a task which he had been doing somewhat annoyed-ly by himself, as I was buried in the sewing room) to take pictures of me in my outfit.

Down to the wire, and I still hadn't really evaluated how the thing looked on. (Did you notice that by this time my masterpiece has now become 'the thing'?) It was not until I saw the downloaded pictures that I realized that this jacket is the perfect example of disaster in wearable art. The thing looks great on the hanger, incredible, exquisite! Unfortunately, on me it looks less than stellar. I look dowdy in the thing, like I've gained back all of the weight I'd lost. It's kind of the Queen Mother look. I've become a solidly built rectangle somewhat resembling a fireplug.

Why? I can't even tell you why. Analyzing the fit problems at this point would mean the ice melting in the car, and escalating irritation from Randy. Maybe I should have named the piece "Frumpy" and run with it.

But with the vacation clock ticking, there's no time to turn back. This is it. On to the next step, the application.

The application required a printed photo as well as pictures on a CD. At first I tried to upload the picture to Long's Drugstore in Placerville. After 10 minutes I sigh a big sigh of relief. The picturewas uploaded.

Hold on, wait a minute, Long's doesn't have one hour service. Photos take four to six days. I try to upload to Raley's. No, that won't work. Raley's has no on-line uploads. Here's where I could actually use a corporate merger so I could have both online and one-hour photo service.

Finally I just printed the doggone thing on my own printer. A year or so ago, I did all of our photo printing at home until I discovered Costco photo printing, which is easy and cheap. If only we were going by a Costco. In theory, the new photo printer should be better than the one of yore. It was the same brand, HP, and it WAS a photo printer, and it was a newer model. So I hit the print button.

Yikes! The print came out kind of dark. Like the flood was "kind of wet." Or like we were "kind of running late."

I couldn't try printing again. I couldn't. Randy, bless his heart, had put up with doing all of the work. He had packed the car, filled the cooler, assembled our hiking and snowshoe gear and gathered the groceries. We also had a stop at the Placerville post office. I wrote up a formulaic Artist's Note and popped the whole thing in an envelope.

Next stop, the post office. Knowing that the application was due the next Wednesday I grilled the post office worker, "What's the estimated delivery for an Overnight Letter?"

After fiddling with her terminal she answered, "Tuesday." (When you live in the boonies there is no overnight mail). That worked, the application was due on Wednesday. Just for laughs and giggles and to save fifteen dollars I asked about delivery for the Priority Mail option. True to the unerringly bizarre nature of the post office, the answer to that was "Monday." Well, one thing was working for me.

The whole thing is now hopefully winging it's way to the folks at the quilt show. I'm hoping they think that I'm just a dumpy looking person wearing exquisite clothing. Not often do I hope to be thought of as built like an outhouse, but there you have it.

Thus ends the saga of my latest quilt show entry.

On the Blog Again

2010-03-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

It's been really a long time since I've posted a blog. It's funny, Every time I sew, I mentally compose a blog. As I work, I start a conversation with myself saying things like, "When I put this in the blog, I'll make sure I make a note about how hard it is to xxxxx.....". My answer might be "Make sure you mention that it helps to .... whatever". Unfortunately, for the last 5 or 6 months these conversations have been internal. I haven't gone from sub-verbal chatter to blog posting.

Today I started a new project and I began the same type of mono conversation. The chatter began, "when I post this on the blog, I need to make sure I mention how much I want the embroidery to be appropriate for the subtlety of the stripes." and "How, cool, I'll get to play with the angle of the stripes on the collar." and "Maybe I should mention my internal debate about whether or not to underline in silk." and "If this is lined, the inside will be hidden so I can use a cutaway stabilizer, that makes life easier."

Instead of just saying these things in my head I decided to head to the computer and start the chatter here - in my Blog. This is probably a good thing. Surely typing in a blog is a better sign of mental health than talking to one's self.

So, as I make this jacket, I'll also log the process here in the blog.

The Project - a Jacket:
I'm making a jacket to add to my trunk show. In addition, I can use a new jacket, so a jacket it is.

My usual sequence is to start by pulling fabric out of the closet and this project is no exception. For quite a while now, a lovely black silk woven with a slender stripe of salmon and tobacco yarns has been calling my name whenever I get anywhere near the fabric closet. When I saw this fabric for sale it, was very reasonably priced, probably because there was so little left on the bolt. I bought all there was, maybe a yard. Of course, that's not enough to really do anything, but that just means I have an opportunity for creativity. I do have a solid black woven that will work with it.

Even as I was pulling the fabric down off the shelf I knew which embroidery designs I would use; a continuous line of designs from the latest design of the month club mini set, Cadeau. I'm really happy with these design and have plans to expand the mini set into a full set later this month. Using them on the jacket can only help when I do put the set on the market.

My choice of pattern is Sewing Workshop's new pattern, the Verona Jacket. It's a cute, short, double breasted jacket that includes a front dart. It has lots of potential for embellishment.

Today I made a muslin to see the fit and was pleasantly surprised to find that the size small fits almost straight out of the pattern. The only adjustment will be to lower the front darts a half inch. Considering that my breasts seem to be plummeting down my body faster than a sled on an icy hill, a half inch felt pretty good.

Tomorrow I start experimenting with thread colors.

So that's all I'm typing for today. Don't worry, I'll be back. No more 4 month gaps in blog postings for me.

A Ringing Endorsement

2009-10-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I decided to make up a new project using the Bell Choir Embroidery Designs. It’s obvious now that what appeared to be a compulsion was an avoidance technique as my to-do list rivals the national census. But that didn’t matter, I wanted, no, needed, to make up a wall hanging using these delicate bells. The seed was planted when I received my copy of the latest "Through The Needle” magazine (Winter 2009) which features my article on the mantel scarf shown here.

The seed germinated when I saw the pictures of those golden bells stitched across those pristine white rectangles. I wanted - no, needed - to use these designs again.

I won’t go through the excruciating details of choosing my fabric.I’ll just mention a trip to a local quilt store and the ravaging of the closets in my ‘internal resource center.’ At one point our house was covered with multiple stacks of fabric, all auditioning a particular color/print combination. No room was left untouched - not the living room, the kitchen or even the downstairs bathroom. After tripping over fabric for two days it became clear to me that the bells wanted to be sewn on my collection of cream and gold silk dupioni silks.

I decided that, like the mantel scarf in the article, this would be another Quilt as You Go project. The Quilt as You Go method is a method of quilting in which you finish individual quilt squares, including batting and backing, then assemble the squares into a quilt that bypasses the free motion quilting step. (I have free Quilt As You Go instructions on my website on the Bell Choir page. They will be there for no charge for a while.) You can use the Quilt as You Go method with the Bell Choir embroidery designs because there is a version of each bell that includes a rectangle of stippling surrounding the bell. It’s easy to make the quilted rectangles. Here's how:

Hoop your top fabric and batting and stitch out all of the colors of the design the last color (the stipple stitch). Remove the hoop from the machine but DO NOT REMOVE THE FABRIC FROM THE HOOP!
Turn the hoop over and cover the back of the hoop with a rectangle of fabric.I use masking tape to temporarily attach the edges of the fabric to the edges of the hoop.

Turn the hoop over so the right side is up again and place the hoop back into the machine and stitch the last color.

So I created quilted rectangles, lots of quilted rectangles. I chose a deep gold thread and cream dupioni and stitched 12 of the designs.

I love the contrast of the luscious dupioni and the embroidery. I think its stunning. Nevertheless, after stitching 9 of the suckers boredom set in. Luckily, boredom can breed creativity. The appliqué version of the design, I started changing fabric combinations.

First was the original cream dupioni on a gold silk background. Next, I used the cream again, but this time with a checked gold dupioni as the main fabric. I liked that pretty well so I pulled out another background – a striped textured silk, again with the cream as an appliqué. Then I used a white dupioni with the striped fabric from the last square as the appliqué. I have more; a pale yellow dupioni for the background, a white with a brocade appliqué.

I've begun putting the wall hanging together so I have more fun and games and pictures. Stay tuned!

Out of the Depths of the Scrap Hamper

2009-09-13T06:04:00.001-07:00

Utilizing Your Embroidery Stitch-Outs

I recently discovered that I have accumulated wealth. In my sewing room I have a softsided hamper, overflowing with orphaned sample embroidery stitch-outs and pieces of fabric too small to fold.

I would guess that I'm not the only sew-ist who has a collection of very small pieces of fabric and / or samples of embroidery not associated with projects. Still, I feel I need to explain why I have this hamper. It's not just that I am a fabric hoarder (though I am). I'm a fabric addict. But the scrap-embroidery addiction all started in a class I took from my friends the Pixeladies. I was commanded to keep all scraps for future free piecing works! Call that my first taste of the drug.

The vessel of choice for collecting these small pieces of fabric and unused embroidery designs is a bright yellow soft-sided hamper. When I began my collection, the hamper seemed like a good choice; standing about 3 feet tall, with a 24" diameter, it seemed as though it would hold all of the small pieces I could possibly collect.

Naturally, as with so many things, the collection expanded to fill all of the available space and now my hamper is not only full but overflowing.

The hamper stood unmolested for almost a year. But then, the siren song called to me, and first I tasted...then repeated...and soon it fed off my own genetic tendencies to fabric addiction...until I was completely powerless and out of control.

Of course, I could never weed through it and discard some of my valuable fabric pieces, small though they might be. For me, the queen of fabric hoarders, it seemed that a better idea was - gasp - to start using these pieces!

My first foray into the "use-what-I-have" scene was fairly innocent: I took pieced rectangles from the Piece Party class and combined them with a sample stitch-out from Crested Beaut 2 and made up the Travel Documents case from my own Quick Gifts 1 Booklet.

Ahhhhhhhh....the first rush of using something from a forgotten stash!

But it wasn't enough. While digging, I came across so many beautiful stitch-outs nestled in that bed of little scraps. The urge was upon me!

Oprah had guilted me into carrying my own bags to the grocery store. I could always use more shopping bags. "It's good for the environment," I reasoned. Call it justification, call it rationalization, or be realistic and call it my drug. Out popped one of the flowers from the Flowerful design set. Put that together with the Stitch-N-Flip method and...a star is born.

(OK, a grocery bag star, but a star never the less.)

Arghhhhhh! Ahhhhh! Groan! The scrap junkie woke! "Use all this gorgeous crap! USE IT! MORE! NOW!" I broke out in a cold sweat. My digging in the basket became more frantic.

What about using the pieces from the hamper in a more formal setting? It's easier to justify things if they're classy and upscale.

Enter 4 stitched-out designs (from the Savannah set) added to the front of an in-progress sewing machine pad with pockets from the Quick Gifts 2 booklet.

"MORE! MORE!" the addiction roared! It was time to get serious. No more "one scrap here, another two there..." If I really wanted to set these pieces free from their hamper-dungeon, I would have to get more pieces than that out for my next project. And it would be hard to stop me from doing just that.

I noticed that the colors in the hamper were heavily weighted in the oranges and reds. I started pulling and Voila! I had a lead for my next fix! Even though all of the colors were in the red/orange/yellow family, some of the pink toned reds were a little abrasive when placed next to the more orange reds. The problem was solved when I did some neutral brown lines.

It took a lot more work for this fix than the previous ones, but I loved the results*. All of the fabrics for a blouse came from the piece hamper. The designs had already been stitched as samples and the only place I had to work with yardage was the dividing lines. Luckily, I had the deep brown print in my main fabric stash. (Could I interest you in a hit from your own stash?) The designs are again from Crested Beaut Design set.

Just then, Randy found me, bent over, head deep in the hamper. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me out. "Look! We've got a business to run! How is anyone going to get their embroidery fix if you're stuck there with your head in the scraps!" He slapped my face with a wet remnant and shook my shoulders. "C'mon! You've had enough scraps for today! Get out here and start shipping orders!"

I knew he was right, that my scrap project addiction was interfering with my livelihood. I got myself together, took some deep breaths, and went back to work.

But don't tell - that hamper is still over half full...and the moment when nobody's looking...

you might find me rummaging in there again...making...who knows? A pet-cosy? Car organizer? Remote control holder? There were some turquoises in there with crystals that would be perfect for a...

Stay tuned until the next time I fall off the scrap wagon.

*I'm not the only one who loved the Scrap Hamper Blouse. This blouse was accepted into the juried show, PIQF 2009.

Don't forget, you can see more of my embroidery designs on my website.

Release Your Inner Peacock

2009-07-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

I know that most people who sew, embroider, and even embellish do not make clothing. Even at sewing shows, I seldom see hand-crafted or embellished clothing.

Although I happen to believe that sewing clothing is easier than quilting, many find garment sewing intimidating.

But... sewing your clothes from scratch is not the only way to clothe yourself in your own work. Want to wear the fruits of your labor without setting a sleeve? Consider adding your own touches to purchased clothing.

So, Where Do You Start?

First - Start with 'dispensable' clothing.

Choose something of little value to you to test on. You can choose unloved items from your closet, very inexpensive pieces from your favorite discount store or something from a thrift store. Working on something that has little or no value emotional or financial alleviates the pressure of turning out something perfect on your first embellishment foray.

Second - Be creative on a separate piece to attach after completion.

Paint or piece or embroider or bead on a square of fabric. When you've completed your composition, trim it to the size of a panel of your garment. Tack the edges of your masterpiece to the jacket or blouse. Once you're comfortable with the embellishment process and end result, you can move to working directly on the piece of clothing.
Third - Play, play, play!

This is supposed to be creative and FUN! You're working on unattached fabric. Don't be afraid to experiment. Try a variety of combinations. You can work freely until you attach your fabric to your garment. And Last - Enjoy yourself and wear your new creation with pride!

From the Depths of the Drawers

2009-01-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

The drawers and shelves of my sewing room are populated with countless treasures, all purchased at sewing shows, many of them in their original packages. At the time of purchase, each of these items offered unlimited potential for making my sewing so much easier. Yet, somehow these little orphaned tools sit untouched and alone in the bottom of my drawers.
Imagine my surprise when this week, while immersed in the creation of my latest project, I pulled out one of these heretofore unopened treasures.

The Project:
Because I am an extreme multi-tasker, it is never a surprise when I start new projects even when I have, well, too many works in progress. This week I began a new quilt. My goal is to have something to enter in juried quilt shows. Despite the fact that I’ve only made five quilts, I’m positive I can produce something that will be accepted. As a founding member of the ‘Too Stupid to Be Afraid’ club, I often take on goals beyond my current skill level and this quilt is an example par excellence. I am using my Round To It embroidery designs. These designs use the embroidery machine to produce New York Beauty arches embellished with perfectly positioned machine embroidery. The ‘paper piecing’ is actually done on a tearaway stabilizer on the embroidery machine.

After all the pieces are attached, the machine embroiders around the triangles in the arches. It might be possible to duplicate the end result in another way but not without high levels of frustration.

I already have a quilt made with these designs and I’m quite happy with it. Unfortunately it doesn’t pass the ‘made in the last two years’ test. I even considered fudging the age on a quilt show entry form (who would it hurt to show a quilt that is 3 years old instead of 2?) but for this quilt there’s documented proof that its beyond the two year age limit as it's been in a magazine editor’s hands for longer than that.

For the new Round To it quilt I’ve chosen a rainbow of hand dyed fabrics to for the spikes and a mottled cream for the background. I am very happy with the color/texture/embroidery combination. The first step was embroidering/piecing the arches for the first four squares.

The Learning Experience
In my directions for the embroidery designs I suggest that you piece the quarter/circle arch to a center piece and an outer edge to complete a square that is one fourth of a New York Beauty quilt square.

In the past I had found this technique to be quite challenging. However, a few weeks ago, the owner of a new LQS (local quilt store), Shared Stitches, led my sewing guild group in a session on piecing curved edges. Sharon used the method she had learned from the author of a book on the Winding Ways quilt, Nancy MacDonald. Sharon’s directions were excellent. Everyone in the class produced beautiful, smooth, perfectly curved seams.I am certainly no expert; I’m actually kind of new to this curved piecing thing. But, having attended Sharon’s session, I can now produce acceptable curved seams. My take on the technique is that if your pieces are cut accurately, seaming is easy.

The key seems to be having identical sewing lines on both the concave and convex pieces, and the piece cut exactly one quarter inch from the sewing line. (Is it any surprise I'm more of a garment sewer?)

If the pieces are cut accurately, and you match the ends and the centers of the pieces, your seams will be perfect. If you want detailed instructions you can get the book, Winding Ways Quilts, A Practically Pinless Approach by Nancy Macdonald.

With the confidence built from this lesson on piecing curved seams I approached attaching my paper/embroidery machine pieced arches to their background square.First, I decided to sew the 4 arched pieces together to make a circle and to piece the entire circle into the background fabric. I carefully trimmed the seams on both the inside and outside of the pieced circle to ¼” outside the stitching line. Next I cut a square from the outside/background fabric. I cut a circle in the middle of that square that had the radius of the outside of the pieced circle minus ¼.

The New Gadget
That’s when I decided to break out my secret weapon. Buried in my drawer of not yet embraced gadgets was a foot designed for piecing curved seams; the Curve Master Presser Foot. This presser foot is designed to enable anyone to produce perfect curved seams. As I felt competent in the curved seam process even without this foot, I was sure that I would now become a superstar of curved piecing. After all, two years ago at a sewing show in Novi, Michigan, I had stood with mouth open, watching perfect curve after perfect curve being sewn by the company demonstrator.
Of course I had to buy! In retrospect the company demonstrator was sewing the curves using the method I had just learned, the ‘practically pinless pieced curves’ described in the Winding Ways book.

So I approached the drawer of unused sewing gadgets and began the great search. There it was, next to the fabric circle cutter, under the beads presser foot, behind the template for the uneven quilt squares, my Curve Master Presser Foot. I cracked the plastic case on a new gadget, a presser foot designed to sew curved pieces together. It was a good day.

Before sewing the circle to the background square I marked the top, bottom and each side of the pieced circle and the circle cut out of the background piece. I pinned the circle to the background piece, matching the marks. Using the special presser foot I sewed the two together.
Comments on the Special ‘Curves’ Presser Foot

The piecing went very smoothly. I can see how the curved foot makes the piecing a little bit easier than using a regular quarter inch foot. I think I’ll enjoy having this presser foot, but only because I have a lot of curved piecing to do with this new quilt. And, its probable that I would get just as proficient sewing curves with a regular quarter inch presser foot. My grade for my new gadget is B+; good but not great.

Back to the Quilt
I’m still plugging away at the quilt. I’ve totally completed the first four squares and even as I type the embroidery machine is stitching out the first of the pieces for number five. I was not able to use a sewing machine to piece in the centers of each circle. The hole was just too small. If I had constructed the square one quarter at a time I probably wouldn’t have had a problem. My solution was to hand appliqué a center circle into the middle of each quilt square.

I’ll try to log more as I get further in the decision making process.

As for the Multi-Tasking

I am working on a large number of concurrent projects. I'm a third of the way through creating a an embroidery oriented Block of the Month product. My goal for that is to introduce new embroidery/quilting techniques in many of the months' blocks.

And watch for my newest design set, another of the projects in process. (You do know that I design embroidery designs, don't you?)

I'm frantically preparing for my next big show - Sew Expo in Puyallup Washington at the end of February. I'm excited about the classes I'm teaching there. I have great new ideas to introduce.

Stay tuned.

The Christmas Stocking Chronicles

2008-10-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

In theory, making a Christmas stocking is easy. Decorate a piece of material, cut it out in a stocking shape, sew on a back and voila! A fiber art masterpiece. OK, I knew it would be a little more than that but compared with my usual sewing, elaborate garments covered with embroidery, one little stocking should be a cinch.

Well, sometimes theory and reality are not synonymous.

When the folks at Designs in Machine Embroidery asked me if I’d be interested in making a Christmas stocking for the holiday issue I jumped on it. The requirements were simple; make a Christmas stocking using machine embroidery. To spice it up I could add as many other embellishment techniques as I wanted. Oh yes, one more thing, I had to use one of three color combinations: gold and white, silver and light blue, or red and green. Well, it seemed easy. That is till I actually started the project.

Though I am truly the queen of procrastination I had a flash of rational thought and began this project 4 weeks before the deadline.

Getting Started

I began with a search of my internal resource center. Surely with the thousands of yards of fabric tucked into every nook and cranny around my house I would have something that would work for my stocking masterpiece.

I chose to make a gold and white stocking. This was an easy choice for me as I have lots of white fabric, very little red and green and I’m pretty sure there isn’t even a tiny bit of light blue fabric anywhere. To add to the appeal of gold and white, I have a quilt that is all white with gold embroidery that is stunning. Surely I could get the same effect as in the quilt in a Christmas stocking. OK - gold and white it is.

Despite an intensive search I couldn’t find any metallic gold fabric. Yes, I looked under the bed and yes, I looked in all the closets and yes, I did look in the boxes of fabric in the spare bathroom shower. No gold fabric.

But that didn’t stop me. I had something just as good, gold Paintstiks. Paintstiks are crayons made from oil paints pressed into a stick. The metallic Paintstiks can color fabric and add a beautiful sheen. Let's see, gold Paintstiks on white fabric, Voila! gold fabric.

How to use the gold Paintstiks? Hmm... My first thought was to show off some of my rubber stamps by placing a stamp under the fabric and rubbing the Paintstik on top. I loved the way this looks. I pulled out a Christmas-y stamp, a Christmas tree consisting of little gold stars stacked up. Houston, we have lift off.

I spent the next few hours working with stamps and Paintstiks.

I began by practicing the rubbing technique. Great, I haven't lost my touch. Obviously I’m on the right track. The trees are gorgeous.

I carefully marked up a grid and systematically placed trees on a line, and then repeated on multiple lines creating an over all pattern. I didn’t have to make a full rectangle, only enough for the stocking.

The gold was beautiful, the trees interesting, the overall pattern was just what I expected. I covered the space for a stocking and then repeated on some more fabric so I would have extra fabric for experimentation.

I was feeling good. I was on my way to creating a stocking and not even close to the deadline. Who was that person occupying my body?

But where to put the embroidery? I tried appliquéing a Christmas tree design in the middle of the patterned fabric. Hmmm, nice. But ‘nice’ is never the goal for me. Stunning, spectacular, gorgeous, moving… that’s the goal.

Next try. What if I filled the triangles between the trees with embroidery? OK, easy enough. I digitized little textured triangles the right size. I tried a variety of textures.

Again, nice. But nice is not good enough!

Next I digitized a little satin stitch triangle to highlight the space. This worked, but the embroidery was definitely from the minimalist camp. Not exactly showcasing machine embroidery.

So Where Could I Go?

Back to the drawing board, literally the drawing board. I next spent some quality time with a sketch book. I doodled stars and snowflakes and lines and arrows. I tried flowers and swirls and just about everything. What about leopard print and gold silk matke? No, not unless the leopard is white, Nothing struck me as just right for a gold and white stocking.

Days had passed and I was no closer to making a stocking. Maybe I should wait till that deadline pressure kicks in.

Around this time my sister, a wise and wonderful woman, gave me some very sage advice, “Forget the color constraints,” she said. “Think of something beautiful and then worry about the colors.”

Ok, that sounded so good. My next doodles resulted in some beautiful designs. I had several but one of the drawings spoke to me. “Me! Me! Me!” it said. So I decided on the simple design of continuous lines of embroidery pieced between vertical lines of fabric.

The Embroidery

Finally I could begin stitching. I knew just what embroidery designs to use, a lovely line of Asian flowers from my Crested Beaut design set sewn in shades of gold.

I set up the machine and started to go. I sewed one set, then moved the hoop for the next. A beautiful bouquet created itself before my very eyes. Unfortunately my instinctive attraction for color overcame my good sense. A spool of rose pink thread had pushed its way into my hand and onto the machine. What’s a little pink between friends? Surely I could slip that into the embroidery as an accent to the gold and white.

I loved it! The flowers were gorgeous. I laid the completed strip of embroidery on my work table to admire.

I gloried, I gloated, basked in the magnificence of my work. Every time I passed the table I admired these gorgeous flowers.

Then the cold hard truth set in. As much as I wanted this line of flowers to be the centerpiece for the stocking, it would not do. With that much pink the stocking would no longer meet the ‘gold and white’ requirements. *!#*##!

Back to the embroidery machine. I needed a new line of embroidery At least I didn’t have to go back to the drawing board.

I did an instant replay on the stitching—only this time in shades of gold. And what a nice surprise, the gold version was just as pretty as the pink!

Now for the piecing.

Stripes Between the Embroidered Strips

When I laid the embroidered strips on the white fabric I wasn’t overwhelmed. The best way to describe the piece was ‘Blah’. What could I do to perk the thing up? Time to pull out the Paintstiks again.

This time I wanted an over all pattern that wouldn't overwhelm the embroidery. I decided on texture plates.

Texture plates are squares of plastic molded with a texture They’re sold in sets of 5 at your local craft and hobby store.

You use texture plates with Paintstiks the same way I used the Christmas tree stamp. Slip a texture plate under fabric and rub lightly with a Paintstik. After the fabric has cured for 24 hours press it using paper towels over the fabric to protect your iron.

My work with Paintstiks produced lightly spotted fabric which perfectly complimented the embroidered panels.

Trims

That wasn’t the end of my decisions. I pulled out the trim box and found a variety of possibilities to use between the fabrics. That one trim box held a line of gold sequins, a tiny line of white dotted with metallic gold pieces and a wide gold braid.

My final option was fabric I created using the gold Paintstiks, pressed into decorative trim.

Creating a Stocking From the Pieced Fabric

After drawing stocking shapes I liked I created a pattern. Because it was so important that the piecing and embroidery be aligned perfectly relative to the stocking, I cut out the center of the drawing and placed the tissue paper over the fabric, adjusting until I liked the final placement.

I then drew around the edges of the stocking. Removing the paper I cut on my drawn lines.

I repeated the whole process for a stocking back.

I completed the stocking in a traditional manner using some fake fur trim for the cuff.

I did add a finishing touch, Bling! I don’t call myself the Self Proclaimed Queen of Bling for nothing. I added hot-fix crystals, and crystals and more crystals. They did it. They added the perfect finishing touch.

So, am I happy? Yes. I love my finished stocking. Did I meet the deadline? Yes, with two weeks to spare.