Headbands

Today I made some pretty cute (I think!) headbands. The thing that I love about making them is that they are a great way to use up scraps of fabric, and they don't take up much time at all. Here are today's selections:

Here they are reversed. The beauty of these headbands is that they are reversible. Two looks for the price of one!

Here are 3 more. The outer layer of the middle headband is a piece from an old sofa. I got that fabric in a thrift store. Somebody gave me both the fabrics on the far right. I love them --- very early 70's calico.

Here they are reversed. I love the little windmills. It's a reproduction of a feedsack type of fabric.

On the right is another incarnation of that same sofa upholstery. Different fabric on the other side, though. And on the left, is another reproduction pattern.

And on the left in the below photo is a groovy paisley print. I made a wrap skirt from it that is in my etsy shop. Wearing the headband at the same time as the skirt may be a little much!

On the right, is a vintage fabric that I scored at the free shed at our local trash collection center. People put things in this shed if they think it is something someone might like. Well, I sure did!

Here they are reversed:




I have a good stash of leather, so I thought it would give a leather headband a try. I think this one is pretty cute, especially if you like the 1970's. Haha! I cut out the two shapes, glued them together and did some fancy stitching. It's nice, because it is a very heavy duty headband.



Here is it reversed:

Then my eyes fell on my grommet maker, and I got all inspired. Same technique, but I added a row of grommets. It's awesome!

And reversed.... I can't decide if this is Rocker Chick, Harley Mama, Xena Warrior Princess, or early 1970's. Anyhow, I think it's pretty cool.

The leather ones are on etsy in my shop. I mailed the fabric ones to Down Creek Gallery in Ocracoke, NC where they are sold. But, I can always take special orders! Hint, hint!

Feedsack Charm Squares

I love feedsack fabric.  I love it so much that I decided to write another post about it.  But, I am going to be lazy this time and not provide you with another illuminating, albeit brief, history of this type of fabric.  If you are dying to know ALL about (okay, a little bit about) feedsack fabric, you might want to check out my last post.  Today, I am only going to present you with pictures of some small pieces I have.  

My sister, a supremely talented quilter, gave me a big stack of feedsack charm squares.  I am not sure why they are called charm squares, but maybe because they are cute and charming? Anyhow, they are 4" squares that are pre-cut and I assume they are used for patchwork quilting.  However, I don't quilt, so I don't know for sure.  I suppose I could do some top notch research and find out via google, but it really is all I can do to publish a blog every so often.  I just love the fabric, so I will leave it at that.  I think there are about 40 in the stack I have, but I have only included twenty five.  These are all pretty great, I think.

Gotta love these colors....

More fantastic colors.  I really, really love this one....

More pink and blue....

Simple, darling....

This is one of my favorites.  It has a kind of Pennsylvania Dutch feel to it....

I think this is another favorite.  The colors are unusual and fantastic...

This is another pretty unusual one that I have seen...

More loveliness....

More really cute pink and blue....

Maybe those are violets and asters?  Maybe they are made up?  Who knows.  I just like the colors!

More crazy fake flowers...

This one is pretty spare, but I love it...

This is neat.  It looks like it might be from the 1950's....

A really great shade of blue.  I think that is supposed to be a poppy, but do they actually come in blue?

I would love to see this one as a big piece....

Oh, absolutely gorgeous!

Another beautiful red and white piece....

another geometric....

And again.  This might be my favorite shade of green.  Or of any color, for that matter...

This is a super cool pattern with great colors....

More green geometry....

Okay, now this is one of my favorites....

And this one.  Actually, can you have more than one favorite?  I guess since it is my blog, I can do what I want!  Haha!

More funny, imaginative flowers....

And, lastly, stripes.  I love the variety of widths and colors.

I am not sure what I am going to do with all these.  I might make some coasters out of them. But probably not a quilt!  If anyone has any knowledge about charm squares and feedsacks, I would love to know more about them.

Feedsack Fabric

I love where I live. I really do. It's really beautiful here, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We are about 15 miles from the closest big town, Waynesboro, and about 30 miles from Charlottesville. Sometimes I get tired of driving, but then I look at those mountains!



Okay, why am I telling you this? Because, being out here means that I don't have access to high speed internet service. I do have something called cellular broadband which uses a modem to access a signal from a cell phone tower. Usually, this works pretty well. It's kind of fast, but not the real deal. The biggest issue I have is that it takes FOREVER to load a photo to blogspot. It can take anywhere from 3 minutes to overnight to never. This is not a lie. I have tried to make sure the files are small (they say they can load pictures that are up to 4 MB, and mine are generally about 600 kbs). Thus, sometimes blogging can seem like a bit of a chore. But enough of that!!!

I have had an obsession with feedsacks for quite awhile. They are becoming more and more collectible, which means more and more expensive,  so that means I don't get to buy them. That makes me sad, but such is life. If you don't know what feedsacks are, they are the cotton bags that feed, flour, sugar, etc. used to come packaged in from about 1840 to about 1950. Originally, the sacks were plain white in color with a company's logo on it (the logo's were originally round, because barrels were used before cotton sacks. The logos would be on top of the barrel, which was round). Gradually, around, the 1920's, companies began to use colors and patterns on their feedsacks. As women had been using the feedsacks for quilting and undergarments, manufacturers realized there was a huge marketing opportunity to be had. If they could make their feedsacks prettier than the next guy's, the ladies would be more likely to buy their sack of flour rather than the competitor's. Pretty smart! So, there became a big industry in designing lovely prints on these double duty sacks.

Feedsacks died out in the 1950's as the manufacturing of paper became less expensive. Now you can find them at quilt shows, antique shows, ebay, junk shops etc. Or maybe in your grandma's attic! I have only a few large pieces of feedsack fabric, as they are quite pricey.


I really love the colors they used.

This is a neat one, with the gray and orange.

I love the gold tones mixed with the turquoise.

Again, gray and orange.  This is one of my favorites.

Some companies are reviving the feedsack type of pattern, but I have yet to see them in larger prints.  Mostly they are small, calico type prints.  This color is too gorgeous.

I haven't done anything with these, as I am waiting for the perfect project.  I might make some coasters with them.  Just simple squares, but then they will be scattered around the house, and we can all admire their beauty.

I got this information from http://www.womenfolk.com. She has lots of great information if you are interested in quilting and history.

A Word About Mending: Part 2

As I noted in the previous post, I am all about mending, recycling, saving money, etc. (smoked salmon, $16/pound cheese, and free range chicken notwithstanding). Here is another example of my thrifty, some might say Depression Era, ways. I bought a set of expensive Wamsutta sheets several years ago. Finally, after many nights of use, these sheets have become incredibly soft and cozy. However, that softness, I assume, can be attributed to the breakdown of the fibers. Breakdown of fibers leads to weakened threads which leads to holes. Holes lead to rips. Really big ones. As a testament to my thrifty ways, I decided to not throw out the sheets but instead to mend them. I found some fabric that was similar in weight and kind of matched (but not really, since it is a different color!) and decided to work my magic. I did the patching technique which I explained in my previous post. And I'll be damned if it doesn't look god-awful! The irony of this story is that my sheets are really no longer all that comfortable. I mean, shouldn't I have known that adding another fabric and stitching the heck out of it would kind of ruin the texture? So now I just keep that section at the bottom of the bed, and I curl my legs up in the fetal position. Problem solved.  I think the true purpose of my blog is teach others who sew how to do a better job.


(These sheets aren't dirty, just old!)

A Word About Mending: Part 1

I truly believe that mending has become a lost art. Too frequently, people just toss things into the trash that are ripped rather than sitting down and mending those holes. Because I am cheap, it is my intention to revive the lost art of mending. Here is an example of two things that I mended recently.  By the way, this example can in no way be called art, either in reference to mending or otherwise.  It is more about function rather than fashion.

Here are a pair of shorts that my husband ripped.

Fortunately, he works alone, so he wasn't faced with the humiliation that would normally accompany a rip such as this. You might wonder why in the world I would repair these shorts rather than tossing them, raggedy as they are. Well, my husband works in his vineyard and winery, so it really doesn't matter how nice his clothes look. As a matter of fact, I think he makes it his personal goal to ruin his clothes and then hand them over to me to attempt to clean and repair. Perhaps he thinks I need some challenge in my life. Anyhow, this is what I did.

First, I found some fabric of a heavy weight that approximately matches the shorts.

Then I cut out a rectangle of the same size as the rip, and I pinned it to the inside of the shorts.

Then I used a zigzag stitch on the inside to secure the fabric and make a sort of patch.

On the outside, I zigzagged around the tear to stop it from ripping some more, and to close the hole.

Okay, so it doesn't look that great. Perhaps that will encourage him to not tear his shorts anymore. Right.  Or maybe I should put a Hello Kitty patch on the outside.

Leather and LacES (or, The Toe Protector's in Town)

Not too long ago I posted about some leather jewelry I made, and I called the post Leather and Lace (well, not really). Now I am kinda wishing I hadn't used that really, really awesome title, because this time, it's for real!! I made some toe covers for my roller skates. I made them out of leather. And you can thread the laces of the skates through them. Get it? Leather and LacES. Oh, how I crack myself up.

Anyhow, in the rough and tumble world of roller derby, a girl can do a lot of damage to the toe of her boots. There's falling, sliding, dragging, etc, and once there's a hole in the boot toe, that's the end of the boots. Well, maybe they can be repaired. I don't really know. I also can attest to the fact that I try to avoid falling, sliding and dragging as much as possible. But, sometimes it can't be helped. And in the short time I have been participating with the Charlottesville Derby Dames, I have done a bit of damage to the toe of my boot.

So, I set out to protect them.

First, I made a pattern.



Then I cut it out of leather. I am hoping that this will be durable.

I stitched up the sides. It kind of looks like a bug, don't you think?

To add a bit of cuteness, I have added a leather heart to the toe guard. This will add extra sturdiness, sort of an extra layer of skin for the rink floor to get through. I found it easier to just stitch back and forth through the heart rather than stitch around the perimeter. I think this will also make it wear tougher.


Then I used an exacto knife to cut holes out of the top for the toe stop to go through. I used my grommet maker to put a grommet in for the hole, but the grommet was too small to allow the toe stop through. I don't think it is necessary for the grommet anyway. For the top part where the laces thread through, I added little eyelets.



To increase durability, I have added thick interfacing to the back side.

To add a bit of cuteness, I have added a leather heart to the toe guard. This will add extra sturdiness, sort of an extra layer of skin for the rink floor to get through. I found it easier to just stitch back and forth through the heart rather than stitch around the perimeter. I think this will also make it wear tougher.

Here is the first one. Here is the one that has the upside down heart. Sigh. Luckily, I figured that out before I made another one.

Here are a pair that look right.

Look how beautifully it hugs the toe of the boot! Ah, if my skating skills were half that nice.




I haven't tried this model out. I did, however, make a set that was blue with no heart or interfacing on them. I used them one night in practice, and they got pretty scuffed up.


I am hoping these will hold up better. You can buy a set in my Etsy shop!

A Hanky Quilt

My dear friend, Kathryn, hired me to make a quilt for her mother's 60th birthday. It was a unique challenge because A) I don't quilt and B) she asked me to make it from her grandmother's handkerchiefs. I was happy to take it on, however, because the hankies were just gorgeous. Sadly, I did not take many pictures of this project, and I wish I had photographed some of the individual handkerchiefs. She had a stack of 24 that were beautiful and made from  vintage linen and cotton batiste, and it was up to me to figure out how to put it together. I took them to my local fabric store, and the kind ladies there helped me figure out how to make it work. It was decided that I would lay them out in 3 rows of 8 and separate the rows and hankies with lace. So, I bought a ton of lace (I used a couple of different kinds in order to get a wide enough row), which added up in price pretty fast.

I laid the hankies out on a large piece of cotton batiste (actually assembled to make it wide enough), arranged and then rearranged them. The challenge was that they were all different sizes, so I had to find a way to make it so that they wound up in a sort of rectangle. Also, I needed to make sure they were placed in a manner that made sense, color and pattern wise. Then I sewed the lace to each handkerchief.


And that is when my trouble began. As it happens with all new projects, there is a learning curve, and this one was kind of steep for me. It took a while for me to figure out how to sew lace without it getting all funky in the machine. Then, trying to keep it flat while going around the corners was another challenge. But, eventually, I got it sorted out and I got all these handkerchiefs bordered by lace. I attached them to the batiste, pinned batting to it, and I machine quilted it. Another obstacle was that once they were on the batiste, the hankies tended to puff out a little. I really didn't want to sew through them, as that would mar their beauty. So, I pressed and starched the hell out of them, and that helped a little. In retrospect, it would have made much more sense to attach the hankies to the batiste first and then sew the lace to the batiste also. I have no idea why I didn't think of that. 

After the stitching, I put on a backing of royal blue silk satin. I planned on tying the back on with small individual stitches, but that idea deflated pretty quickly. I was supposed to ship the quilt to her the next day, and I started the tying on at around 7 that night. Me, being the time challenged person I am, thought that it would only take an hour or so to do that (did I mention that I had never made a quilt before?).  After about 30 minutes and about 3 stitches later, I decided to just use the tying on mechanism on my sewing machine (you know, the little start/stop button), and things sped up considerably.

Finally, I finished it at around 2 a.m., and I was able to ship it off.  Kathryn's mother absolutely loved it! She didn't know that Kathryn had all these hankies, and she was very touched that she had thought to make something with it. It turns out that K's mom remembered some of the hankies as being HER grandmother's also from when she was a child. I am sure it brought back many fond memories.


For me, I have not as many fond memories of quilting, and I consider myself retired from the profession.

A Wrap

My sister-in-law, who is a bit of an ebay freak, gave me this fabric several years ago for Christmas. And it has been just sitting in my stash. Why I haven't used it until now, I don't know. Except, perhaps it was meant for this particular project. Perhaps it chose to not be used until now. Is it possible that the fabric has controlled my life and my choices? Well, sometimes it seems that way. If you saw my stash, you might think that it does, indeed, control at least some aspects of my life.

Anyhow, I got a cool book on skirt embellishments. The ideas are really quite unusual. I decided to try to pattern in the book to make a sample skirt. This skirt has no embellishments, but, with this crazy print, it doesn't really need much else, right? After cutting out the pattern and trying to make the skirt, I realized that maybe the book is only good for the decorative ideas. Because the pattern stunk! I mean, it was baaaaaaad. Even my studio mate, Susan L., couldn't make head nor tails of it. I am a semi-moderately skilled seamstress, but Susan L. has been sewing all her life. So, basically I just used it as a template sort of thing and figured out the assemblage part myself. In the end, I think it turned out pretty cute. It's on my etsy site if you want to buy it. Hint, hint!

This is the back.  Obviously, it is a size small.

I lined it with a pink cotton lawn.  I left the lining free so that, if the wind blew, you could see it.  I think it makes a nice contrast.

Really, a wrap skirt is one of the greatest inventions. They are comfortable, adjustable (this style would be the perfect choice for your Thanksgiving dinner- hahaha!), and classic.

Leather and Lace (well, not really)

My sister has a sweet connection with a manager of a large home furnishings store (I dare not give away my source here), and occasionally she give me huge sacks of upholstery samples. They are perfect for lining handbags.  And every once in a while, I get some seriously nice leather pieces.  I have a huge stack of small ones-- they measure about 4" x 8"-- which are perfect for little wallets and what I am about to show you. 

I made these little pendant necklaces out of the smaller pieces of leather.  They were super fun to make, and I wear one all the time. This is one example: 

I took a rotary cutter with a rippled edge and cut out a circle.  Actually, I cut out two circles and glued them together.  With leather, it is important to fix the pieces together with glue before you sew them.  If you don't, then the leather slips when you sew it, and that is massively annoying.  Then I made a little red leather star and glued that on.  Using a leather needle, probably a size 100/16 (and a teflon sewing foot comes in real handy), I stitched it with the radial lines and sewed the button on. On the back, I made a little tab out of leather that I stitched on before I applied the star.  That way, it wouldn't show.  Then, I strung a cord through, added jewelry findings, and now it is a super cute necklace!  And you can buy it on my etsy site!

Here is another made with white leather.  Same method, different look.  I love the button on it. Vintage.

This one sports a little flower I made from thread.  Using a water soluble interfacing, such as Solvy, you can make all sorts of shapes.  It is a very cool product.  You just have to make sure the threads all overlap, or it will fall apart.  

Here are two more fun ones in black:

Different shape, different color, different design, oh-so-cool vintage button:

Then I branched out and made a bracelet.....

And that is a story for another day....  In the meantime, check out my etsy site!  Did I already mention that?