My Half Scale Challenge entry

There she is! I knew I wouldn't win, but I had so much fun. I'll do it again next year and maybe get fancier. The ball gowns won, of course. Next year's inspiration is '50 shades of red'. Look on my examiner.com page to see the other entries. Its not finalized yet, but I was told that contestants next year will be able to use their own dress form and won't have to spend money on a specific one. I didn't have one, so it was a good excuse to buy one. Not sure what the prizes were yet. I'll hopefully see it the Newsletter and I'll add it to my article.

My inspiration was Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin. I took her class on Craftsy, Hand-Embellishing Knit Fabric: Stenciling, Appliqué, Beading and Embroidery,  and bought her books and couldn't get her out of my head. It was awesome to work on the 1/2 scale because mistakes only used up a small amount of fabric and sewing time was minuscule.

Some pictures of my process, the self drafted skirt had a side zipper, 28 pieces and was on the bias. Cut from jean legs I got at a rummage sale. Jacket was from a half scale pattern and a pattern book for the sleeves. Rummage sale jean legs again. I was tempted to cover the whole thing with the rosettes, but I didn't. Self draped tank, in Alabama Chanin Style, all hand stitched, I used the stencil from the book and recycled t shirt.

Messy, messy, shop :/

My inspiration for the 1/2 Scale Challenge

 I have entered the 1/2 scale challenge for the 2014 American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan.

All images from Alabama Chanin and Natalie Chanin books

I fought it. I really did. But the truth is I find Natalie Chanin very inspirational right now. I was machine sewing letters on T shirts in 2012 and she has catapulted me forward with her embroidery and strained my brain with the thought of hand sewing EVERYTHING. 

After listening to Joi's class that comes with this American Sewing Expo contest, I threw together this board. I even tried to sketch. I'm not yet convinced that I can learn to sketch, but it has helped a lot to arrange my thoughts. I usually just think about it and it morphs while I'm doing. Now its solidifying in a different way. I don't think I'll do the whole thing by hand, but I'm considering doing beading (yikes!). 

I will be using upcycled denim and T shirts. I took Natalie's Online Sewing Class and will be using what I have learned there and in her books. 

My entry in ASE Out of the Box Challenge

 Well, my entry is home.  I'm still very proud of it, but it turns out I do not know innovative! 

Look at the winners. Now these are innovative!

I will still enter again if I can in the future.  And I'll have to think long and hard about 'innovative'.

As I said before, I didn't make it to the American Sewing Expo this year.  Would anyone who did care to do an interview about your Expo experience for a Detroit Sewing Examiner article on examiner.com?

ASE Out of the Box Challenge

This photo was included in the most recent ASE Swatches email Newsletter. The caption is: ' This is what Special Events Director, Diane Kroll's office looked like on Tuesday morning after receiving a mountain of Out of the Box contest entries over the weekend.'

My box is right behind, to the left of the chair, in the old blue Priority box with the stickers! :)

My guess is its OK to show you now since all the entries are in.  My four things to use in my 'quick gift' were:
  
 1 YKK 9" Designer Accents zipper, color Persimmon
            1 Signature spool of Size 20 Cotton Tropical Brights
            1 Robison-Anton spool Decorative Floss, color Pastoral Green
            1 Robison-Anton spool J Metallic, color Blue

OK, first off, it turns out Persimmon was BRIGHT orange.  And the other three were threads!  I was a little miffed at first, not much to go by.  A zipper, some hand embroidery thread, machine embroidery thread and some thick varigated thread.  How the heck was I gonna get all those threads to work together?  

Well, the zipper was the perfect size for a cosmetic case, and I'd been meaning to make a pattern anyway.  I was able to use the varigated stuff as topstitching, the decorative floss was really very good and I got alot of practice on my blanket stitch.  The machine embroidery thread was the hardest, but I got it in there.  It was a bear to use as hand sewing thread, but I will try it out on the Janome MC300E one of these days.

My entry:

Interior view:

The shell is recycled denim, the lining is some thrifted fabric and the pocket interiors are recycled t shirt.

It was fun! I can't wait to see what everyone else did.

My Entry, PFF 2010

At the last moment,I got an entry ready for the Passion for Fashion contest in the Novi American Sewing Expo Show this fall. Unfortunately, I didn't make anything new. The machines were all busy making other things for clients and charity. I sent in a shirt I made earlier this year for a job opportunity, I was asked to bring some samples of my work and she said she was especially interested in men's shirts. My poor husband, I made the shirt in his size, but neglected to add the buttonholes for 2 or 3 months. I added them Tuesday night at Midnight, but if I get into the contest he won't be able to wear the shirt till October!



I'm not positive I will make it in. The contest says the entries will be judged 50% on creativity and 50% on sewing ability. While I'm confident I sewed the shirt well, I followed a pattern, and besides matching stripes, there is nothing specifically creative. So, I'll just wait it out till August 1st when the contestants are notified! Wish me luck!

And Week #3 of my farm share:



This is the first week it felt low to me, but that is the nature of the farm! I know soon it will be too much to eat. Now I have to figure out how to prepare Kolerabi. And last week I did get garlic, I mistook it for an onion! At least until I tried to cut it.....

A couple more thoughts...

About the American Sewing Expo in Novi. There were some cool trims, many crystals and such for embellishments. I started out writing things down, but I *thought* I could depend on my memory. Next time I'll do better! No wonder they say eyewitness acounts are some of the worst records!

I'm always telling myself that I need to get more organized, and the problem remains. I do extremely well when I'm working on someone elses things. Maybe it is because of the accountability.

My latest plot is to get one piece of vintage clothing up on etsy a day. I've GOT to clean that stuff out. OK, we all know I'll buy more, but it has to get cleared out first. Anybody want to hold me to it?

I have so many ideas for creating things too, I've got to set aside time for that. And if I don't start using some things, Its time to pass them on to someone who might use them.(That sounds like lip service to me,lol!)

I've also got a list started for stuff to write about on the blog here. Some tutorials, reviews (books, notions,products),diy's and such.

And if you haven't yet heard of him, check out Ron Paul for President. I've read some good things about him and he is worth looking into further.

American Sewing Expo Review, Novi,MI 2007

I did make it to the Sewing Expo for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. I haven't been there for the last two years so I am glad I made the effort.

It was my first time at the Rock Financial Showplace, it is an impressive looking building. It was nice to have classrooms instead of tents for the classes and workshops.

I'm not sure if it was my imagination, but the show seemed smaller this year. I did see a post on Pattern Review that said it had 150 vendors, but I don't have a point of reference to compare with previous years.

The show is a great place to compare home sewing machines if you are in the market for one. All the brand names were represented Bernina, Singer, Pfaff, Viking, etc. You name it, I hear that there are always good deals on machines too!

Lots of quilting stuff, not really my thing, but very pretty to look at the beautifully arranged fabrics.

It seemed that there were fewer of the Independant Pattern Companies than I remember, but there were also some that I didn't recognize. It is a good place to take a look at the designs made up into garments. It can be difficult to picture some of the styles from the pattern envelope drawings.

Threads and Sew News Magazines were there. I entered the Threads drawing, I wanted a copy of The Subversive Seamster, but alas, it was not to be!

There were some beautiful garment fabrics, as always Haberman Fabrics and The Sewing Workshop, along with many others I didn't take specific note of. One had Men's silk tie fabric by the yard! Very beautiful. I hadn't noticed Fabrications before, I took their card. I also found an Upholstery place, V Trading, in Grand Blanc that sells $5 per yard, the show special was $2.50! I picked up a couple yards for making bags.

I found a great source for zippers, The Zipper Lady. About a million styles and lengths and colors, if I ever get around to recovering stuff.

There was some goofy stuff, nail techs, some kind of drying sheets and pet hair remover.

I made a Bear for the Kuddles for Kids.

There were quilt and dress displays.

I regret that I wasn't able to make it to the Baby Lock Passion for Fashion Sewing Challenge doings, I did see some of the finished garments. I'm hoping there is a published review somewhere. I wonder if everyone was able to finish in the allotted time, how it all looked when they were busy working and if, as I suspect, the winner won, mainly because they embellished the designs.

I found something that I want want want, Sew-Brite The Absolute Ultimate cutting craft table! I love all the drawers and stuff, I've already taken to arranging projects and ideas in plastic dish pans from the dollar store. Just look at all the drawers!

I also purchased the Patternmaking Made Easy book, by Connie Amaden-Crawford from the Fashion Patterns by Coni booth.

My only complaint was the the clubs, American Sewing Guild and Michigan Bishop Sewing Council, seemed shoved together in the back.

If you are into sewing as a hobby or just looking for ideas, I think the show is worth a look. It is not a show for wholesale sources, but it can be fun taking a look around and seeing what is available in the home sew*ers market.

American Sewing Expo Workshop Review 2007

This Thursday I took the "Industrial Shortcuts and Easy Zippers Combined!"at the American Sewing Expo, in Rock Financial Showplace, Novi, Michigan.

I throughly enjoyed myself. I forgot to count the people in the class, but I'm gonna guess 18. All skill levels were represented, with some people finishing quickly and others having trouble getting each task done in the allotted time. There was one person younger than me and the rest older, not suprising, I think there are a lot more people my age sewing, but life keeps them away from the classes. All women, also expected.

I got a lot more than I expected out of the class, and probally different things than I would had I taken the class as a beginner.

Most of the class was about Industrial Sewing Techniques from Islander Sewing Systems. We watched a bit of the Margaret Islander videos. I met Margaret once, too. I doubt she would remember, but I found her very likable. Her videos showcase her excellent sewing skills as well as her cheery nature and sense of humor.

The instructor, Rosebud, is a skilled sewing machine operator and a patient and pleasant instructor. Rosebud and Janet Pray have created a "Easy Zippers" video, I didn't ask if there is a book to go along with it. We also watched part of this video during the class, I really needed the multiple showcasing of the techniques. I always say that I need to be told twice. The video has Janet introducing each technique with useful information and Rosebud operating the sewing machine. I did find some of the banter between them to be scripted and humorous (though not meant to be), but the sewing is flawless and worth the watch.

I was definately on the right track with the zipper insertion. That whole part of the class was new to me. I'm looking forward to incorporating the new techniques in my sewing. I had no idea that an invisible was soooo easy!!I've never taken any classes besides a quilting class 10 years ago at a Hancocks Fabric Store. Most of my instruction has come from books and there is no substitute for *seeing* something done!

Like I said I enjoyed the class very much. It was all day, 9 to 5, with a 1 hour lunch. I knew I would have some waiting, so I set myself up to be patient. When we were cleaning up Rosebud asked me what I do, I told her that I work for people who sell at art fairs, she said "I thought you caught on fast". That made me feel great! I can't wait to take another one next year. I already have my sights on the Patternmaking Class by Connie Amaden-Crawford.

I plan to take another ride to the Expo Center today, Sunday, to take a look at the vendors and the results of the Baby Lock Passion for Fashion Sewing Challenge. I'll let you know what I think of the show!

I'm Taking a Class

At the American Sewing Expo, at Rock Financial Showplace, Novi, Michigan. Its called "Industrial Shortcuts and Easy Zippers Combined!".

Though I am mostly taking it for the zippers I'm sure I will learn something that I forgot or haven't done correctly in the Industrial Shortcuts segment.

I've actually done sewing for Janet Pray and her clothing company Jan`et. I usually got a 15 or 20 minute lesson on the techniques and did it as well as I remembered. It was most important that I made the garments successfully. I'm sure its been moved around in my head since several years have passed, so I'm interested to see how it really SHOULD be done.

I'm mostly interested in the zipper portion, I haven't done much in the way of zippers in my Contract Production Sewing, and I've never had a lesson. I like zippers better than elastic waistband on skirts and I'd like a few pointers even though I've done quite a few zippers successfully over the years.

Basting and pressing open and pinning just isn't for me. I recently put a zipper in with the side seams unsewn and then did the seams around it. I was quite proud. I should have documented it here, but it is difficult to stop and take pictures when I'm on a roll!

The teacher, Rosebud, who I only remember as the woman who hand wound her bobbin so she could do a double needle on one of Christine Jonson's Patterns, was a zipper setter, so it should be a good class.