Making Clothes

The Positive Value of Studying Our Machines

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Design Work, Embellishment, Embroidery, feet, Food for Thought, High-Tech Studio, Machines, Making Clothes, My micro-business, My Studio, Tools / 2 Comments

Hi everyone! Today’s machines often have wonderful features that can advance our sewing and quilting in ways we may have wished for but may not even be aware we already have such features.  Some of these machines, even the mid-level ones, require actual study, testing, and practice to bring the full capacity of what is available to owners of such machines.  Such study, practice, and testing can result in wonderful pieces that can enhance our lives dramatically.

Now I retired at the beginning of 2012 to work mostly full time as a fabric artist/art quilter.  Sew my nicely outfitted studio is a great joy to me.  Remember as you read this, that I started with a basic machine I purchased from a hardware store and sewed on my kitchen table for years, but worked my way up over the decades.  I am currently 76, have been sewing since I was about five, and plan on sewing as long as I am physically able, which may be many years from now. I know of a quilter who makes baby quilts for charities on her domestic machine and she is over 100!

I traded up for my Bernina 880 plus about three years ago and recently concluded there were things my machines would do that I did not know how to use sufficiently.  Sew, over the past year plus I have spent a good part of my studio time in studying and testing the ins and outs of my sewing machines.  Now I am a long time sewer, tailor, and quilter.  I was a professional clothing designer/maker in my mid twenties to mid thirties, and have owned high tech machines for years.  At first consideration, you might think I would not need to do this.  I have had quite a few machines and worked my way up over the years to my current fleet with trade ins, sales, and so forth and now I have a great fleet, each of which have their own uses in my sewing life with a wide range of machine complexity.

NOTE:  I will be talking about Bernina machines, since that is what I have, but I do know that other major brands have similar things available today.  You need to look in your manual, check out available online videos, and consult your dealers to find these.

My Bernina 880 plus, one of the top of the line machines they have, has the reputation for being “finicky”.  I disagree with this assessment though I understand it.  I find it extraordinarily useful and easy to use now that I have spent the time to learn how.  Does it require careful threading?  Well yes, it does, especially the bobbin, but once practiced and learned it is not difficult.  Do you have a multitude of things available so you have to sometimes look things up?  Absolutely, but Bernina also has a lot of tools available to help with that built into the machine.  Do you have to clean it and oil it carefully and on a regular basis?  Yes, you do.  Does it have many many feet that aid in doing things that require some learning?  It does, and the more you can get the more you can do or more refined your results will be.  And, in fact, Bernina has a book for that The Big Book of Feet.  It also has many videos on YouTube available to show the use of these feet.

Why just this week I learned how to transfer stitches I found in the Bernina design software for in-the-hoop embroidery to be placed and used in the sewing side of the machine!  I added a handful of additional stitches that look like hand embroidery. I plan on adding a lot more.

I very recently completed making a machine-embroidered central focus part of a new show quilt.  I worked for about six weeks designing and digitizing the centerpiece of my current project and it took me a week and a couple of days to embroider it. I ended up with an interconnecting design that required six jumbo hoopings that had to work together to meet at all the right places. I was a lot nervous that they would not match when I started out, but they did!!!! All the embroidery is wonderful and the handful of in-the-hoop appliques also came out wonderfully. I concluded from this that the Bernina 880 plus (the only Bernina that uses the entirety of the jumbo hoop) and the pin point placement that it has is a great advance for high-end in-the-hoop embroidery. So the middle section is ready to piece in and I think it is wonderful. It is on black silk dupioni and I used 40 weight trilobal polyester for the embroidery. There will be beads and buttons on the finished quilt.

I also have a Bernina Q20 longarm machine set up as a sitdown quilting machine.  I could put that on a frame, but I do not want to.  I learned to free motion quilt on my Bernina 830, which I traded for the 880 plus, and I enjoy it. Plus I enjoy sitting down to quilt (I am, after-all, getting a little creaky now that I am in my mid 70s).  Besides, I seldom make a quilt larter than 60″ wide or so.  This machine is really a simple one designed for primarily being maintained by the owner.  It is powerful and can use all the free motion Bernina feet available (so I can share them between the machines), domestic sewing machine needles (also shareable within the fleet) so you have many types for needles for various threads, and it will accept many types of quality threads.  I use it for free motion embroidery as well as quilting so the thread acceptance is really important to me.  I have an astonishingly large collection of quilting rulers…they just appeared in my storage drawers somehow LOL.  I can’t imagine how.  I think they must have had babies because the collection really grew over the past six years I have owned this machine.  LOL  Using rulers at this machine is a pleasure.  I love this machine.  It has two features that are particularly wonderful…a double built in stitch regulator, and an additional pinpoint laser light attachment that shows just where the needle will come down.  It’s stitch quality is beautiful.

And I have a little Bernina 350 that is a basic machine and not too heavy.  If I were just starting out and making mostly clothing, or looking for a machine to take to college with me, this little machine would be a very good option.  I have used it for travel, but I also find it has exceptional value as a piecing machine with solid stitching and a smaller 5.5 mm width that makes it easier to sew more accurate quarter inch seams than my big wide 9 mm 880 plus.  I also have several attachments I use exclusively on this machine…like a needle punch attachment that is remarkably wonderful for a fabric artist, and I don’t worry about the roving messing up its easy to clean bobbin area or my big machine.  I also have a walking foot that came with it.  These make it great for sewing and quilting retreats, or sewing in one’s hotel room when attending a conference, or just taking along on a vacation.  I once used it to make a fast quilt for a member of my family that had unexpected surgery when my big machine was out for service. It was a lap quilt, and I would not have wanted to make a big quilt in it, but it did a great job with the lap quilt size.

Additionally, I have a basic Baby Lock serger my daughter in law gave me.  It does everything I need in the way of serging and completes my studio nicely.  It not only serges edges and makes wonderful seams for stretch knit items, but since I purchased all of the four additional feet for it  there is much more it will do.  For example, it enables me to quickly make  covered cords for pillows, bags, and other things.  After watching some videos on serging on YouTube, I am sure Ineed to spend more time learning what I can do with it.  It does not do a cover stitch, but if I use a double needle in either of my domestic machines that will take the place of a cover stitch.

Sew have fun in your studio and study your machine whatever level it is.  Do some testing and make some samples.  A stitch library of all the stitches it will make is a great idea and very helpful.

Pages of my stitch library

 

 

A Quick Wardrobe Update for Fall and Winter

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Art Quilt Techniques, Design Work, Embellishment, Embroidery, High-Tech Studio, Making Clothes / 2 Comments

This is a nice jacket pattern I have. I plan to make this one and do the embroidery too.

Sew I recently purchased three nice cotton blend oxford shirts on a very good sale that fit me perfectly 😮 (!) to replace some in my closet that are decidedly worn. Well, they are 15 or more years old, I think!!  I plan on embellishing the new ones with in-the -hoop embroidery and decorative stitching. 🌺

I also have a nice light suede cloth jacket I no longer wear very much but is in great shape and I thought I would alter that down a little bit and embroider that too.  Maybe I will do some yarn couching on it (inspired by Bethanne Nemesh, but different).  This is  all so I can dress in keeping with my fabric artist lifestyle and go out from time to time. 🙃  I might also change the buttons to something more decorative. These will be nice additions to my wardrobe and are a nice fit (my old shirts are a size larger). I seem to be ok with most of my jeans and slacks, though a new pair of dress slacks might be in order.

My current fall and winter work “uniform” is usually a shirt and black jeans plus a sweater when needed. I suddenly realized how surprisingly old my whole wardrobe is, and it looks it too. So I also have plans to make a nice black suede jacket, a denim one, and a light wool slacks suit out of some of the fabulous fabrics I have in my fashion stash under my bed. I have a few beautiful silk blouses I made some time back in good shape.  I think they look nice even a little looser than I used to wear them.  We’ll see how much, if any of this that I will get done.

If only I had a fairy godmother with her magic wand.  LOL

This all, however, must wait for me to finish the Thanksgiving project and a few other things. Are you doing any fall and winter fashion sewing? Are you embellishing it?

Sew happy everyone! Have fun in your studio!

Merry Christmas and New Adventures for 2022

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Applique, Deep space quilts, Food for Thought, High-Tech Studio, Machines, Making Clothes, My micro-business, My Studio, Panel quilts, Project Management, Quilt Journal, Quilts for sale, Skill background, Videos, Wool / 2 Comments

I digitized and embroidered this star as an applique. It is on one of my Christmas quilts now owned by my church.

Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you are already enjoying this wonderful season.  It is one of my very most favorite times of the year. We are having a relatively simple celebration this year, but it is still joyous. Right now I have The Piano Guys YouTube videos of Christmas music playing while I write this.  They are fun.  Have you seen the one with the Christmas scene and all the cameras riding around in the little train, on the Christmas tree, and in the drone flying in the room?  Here’s the link. It’s really fun.  Or how about the one all done in legos.  Here’s that link.  So creative and beautifully performed.

Well, I finished the Two Birds quilt along with completing the filming of the videos. The whole stack of hours and hours of videos I made while I made the quilt, along with the voice over reading, and the intro and exits parts we filmed together last weekend are now being edited by my oldest son.

I have written the pattern and workbook that goes with it, and that too is being edited by the family team.  I don’t know when we will get the first video of that project published but hopefully not long now.  It’s a big job to edit such a tangle of videos, voice overs and corrections into three publishable videos that make sense and are also interesting.  It has already taken much longer than any of us anticipated, but that was primarily due to my unrelated circumstances this year that delayed things, such as my cataract surgery among other things.  But that is all behind me now and I greatly look forward to the coming new year.

I have every expectation that we will produce much more content for my YouTube channel at a bit faster pace and with ever increasingly interesting projects and building professionalism.  I have gotten to where I don’t get bothered by the cameras, know how to set them up properly, and have lots of fun ideas for new stitching/quilting/videoing projects.  I have learned that the videography is as important as the making of the fabric art piece to make it all work and find it also very interesting.

I still have only about a third of the subscribers and a fourth of the viewership needed to monetize the YouTube channel, but it is growing and I nevertheless enjoy being able to share my projects with my viewers.  I hope you all enjoy the videos and will be happy to see them when a new one is published.  We have several projects already planned for the new year.

First of all, I want to create some new wool applique by machine projects, because I think it is possible to make some stunningly beautiful pieces in this category that has hardly been touched in the quilting/fabric art world using the machine and my initial project was only a basic introductory layout of the techniques. It’s an adventure to see how far this can go.

Then I have three new show quilts in mind for 2o22 that I think you will all love or at least enjoy watching me make them.  I hope I can succeed in getting all three made.

There will be a number of short and shorter videos showing techniques and use of tools.

And then I need to make some new clothes.  I have everything I need for them and will try to spread them across the year so I have something new and fun to wear once in a while.  I probably won’t buy any ready-made clothing this year just as a sort of challenge to myself for fun.  I haven’t decided whether or not to video these projects.  What do you think?

Sew happy everyone!  Have a wonderful holiday season and I hope you also Have Fun in Your Studios!!!

 

 

 

 

Fall Project Timing

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in a pattern, Art Quilt Techniques, Classes, Design Work, Making Clothes, My micro-business, Project Management, Sewing Clothing, skill building, Software, Threads, Videos, Wool / 4 Comments

Hi everyone.  I can’t believe it’s already October!  I love that it is fall, because it was a hot and somewhat rough summer for me, but it occurs to me that I have several projects I have in mind for fall and for the Christmas/winter season that aren’t even started yet.  Yikes!  I better stretch my time in the studio a bit more!

 

I have been working really hard on the complex multi-video two birds project.  I am about three fourths of the way.  I want mostly to complete the whole project before publishing the first video because I need to make sure the accompanying workbook and pattern with all its techniques are good and actually work with the videos.  That will be available from my shop on my website and together with the videos presents a fairly complete class.  This class presents a lot of the techniques I have used in the past on some of my show quilts and I think quilters will enjoy making it.  Besides, it makes up into a really nice wall or lap quilt that would be a wonderful present or enjoyable quilt for yourself.

Sew, kind of as step one on this project, I uploaded a video that discusses how to turn a line drawing, like a coloring book page, into a pattern similar to my two birds to use in your own designs.  I know everyone may not have all the software or want to play with it in that way, but I know some will and may not have thought of using it for that or really know how.  If you have Bernina software v8, for instance, you have Corel Draw elements.  Anyway, take a look at the video and see what you think.

Here is a picture of some luscious Wonderfil threads (see link on the right). I love their specialty threads and am using a lot of them in my two birds project.

I have a couple of wool applique by machine decorative wall hangings–one for fall and one for Christmas–coming too, if I succeed in getting them all done in time.

In the meantime, I have my right eye cataract surgery on the 14th of this month.  I will be glad to get that taken care of.  I can see so well out of my left eye now and not well at all out of the right eye.

Then to top off everything, I have clothes I need to make.  We’ll see how much of all of this I get done.

The Simplicity pattern from my substantial pattern stash. Note the pants have a simple full elastic waist and no pockets…not what I want, but I have a better slacks pattern. The long sleeve tunic provides a suggestion for the embellishment. I would be adding something more for fun.

 

I always plan more than I can do it seems.  But it is so much to look forward to and have fun with in my studio as we drift into fall and winter.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studio.

 

Don’t Fear Your Advanced Machine(s)

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in High-Tech Studio, Machines, Making Clothes, Panel quilts, Project Management, Sewing Clothing, Tools, Videos / 2 Comments

 

 

Once in a while I see a conversation on one of my groups focused around sitdown longarms or high-end sewing machines where there are advanced or sitdown longarm machine owners saying they have not really used them much since they bought them because they don’t really know how to use them confidently or are afraid they will break them.  Knowing as I do that these machines can add so much fun and ability to accomplish really fine products, these conversations make me a little sad and frustrated.

True, they do require learning, practice, and a determination to move forward and learn to use them.  But they can help accomplish amazing sewing and quilting projects.

It’s important to use them correctly though.  That is not as difficult as it may seem.  Even if there is not a dealer nearby or one who offers good classes, there are some very helpful books, youtube videos, zoom classes and blogs to help.

One thing I have found that makes things work more easily is to get the feet that do those special things, add the attachments that enlarge the use of the machines, buy a handful of rulers.templates, get a nice selection of needles and pay attention to what you are using, and then play and practice!  Test, test, test. Practice. Practice.  Practice.  Play, play, play. And then step forward and do a sewing or quilting project you really want to do.  If the results aren’t terrific, do another project and don’t be too self critical.  Give your machine a name and pet it.  The last thing to do is sell your machine or leave it sitting there getting all lonesome.

My Q20 sitdown longarm with some rulers…and a practice piece.

I love my Bernina Q20 sitdown longarm.  It is great not only for quilting, but also for free motion embroidery.  I have had it for five years now and have had almost no problems.  I do keep a notebook nearby to keep notes.

 

My Bernina 880 plus all ready to play

I also keep a notebook near my other sewing machines so I can write down things I learn along the way.  I always learn something in the process of making a new item.

Sew what can you make that won’t be distressing if it doesn’t come out quite right, but might be really fun if it does?  I have some suggestions:

Dog quilts, baby quilts for charity, wheelchair size quilts for charity, table toppers for your home, lap quilts for you and yours to cuddle under on tv night, simple tote bags with embroidery or applique, or just well made, zipped project bags, panel quilts with borders.

Aprons, simple skirts, easy tops not particularly fitted in style, some of those fun small projects you can find on sewing machine blogs, small zipped pouches for kids and travel, pajamas or nighties, robes for yourself and family

Decorative pillows using pre-made pillow forms, table cloths and napkins, kitted projects with instructions and all the pieces like from Kimberbell

THEN, you can move up to some more advanced decorative wall quilts, or a foot warmer quilt for your bed, make yourself a lovely outfit using a good pattern, put together your own kits and follow my patterns and video classes.

After that, you will be able to make anything!  Just take your time and assemble the parts, test all the parts, and fly with me.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studio!

 

Time to Use Some of My Fall and Winter Fabrics

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in a pattern, Embroidery, Fabrics, Making Clothes, Sewing Clothing, Videos, Wool

Hi everyone!  So today I started thinking about fall.  I am probably a little late on this, but we had a cooler rainy day that seemed to be appropriate for fall thinking.  Then I got an email reminding me that the pattern sale for Butterick patterns was going to expire today.  It was a really good sale, and so I bought several of the new fall patterns that I had seen earlier that really appealed to me, plus, they came in my size!  I probably will have just a few adjustments, but maybe I can just lay out the patterns and mostly simply cut them out without having to redraft the patterns.

I have a nice stash of some silks, woolens and blends for fall and winter that I will try to use for these projects.  I prefer sewing clothes for fall and winter with these wonderful fabrics.

Here are two of them.  The first one is patterned for knits, and I have some black slack weight ponte knit that has been lounging in my stash for a while.  It’s not enough for both the slacks and the jacket, so I will probably get a different color fabric for the jacket, but I will search my clothing fabric stash first to see if maybe I have something that will serve.  I also got the coat and dress combo on the right, although I have pretty much given up wearing dresses.  This was such a lovely combination and I have fabric that would work well for this, so maybe I will make it even if it is a dress or at least I will make the coat and turn the dress into a top to wear with dressier slacks. They will look great, but perhaps not as great as on those models.

Then I got this really nice blouse pattern. I may not have the fabric for this, but I will check first. If it turns out as nice as I think, I will probably make several.

And I also got this tailored jacket for a project I am thinking of making with in-the-hoop embroidery using fabrics in my stash.  I will use this project for videos.  I have everything I need for this as I envision it.

 

Sew I am also working on some project designs for video projects and making progress.  Taping for some of these will begin next week, since I have finally finished the pattern for the first one.  Should I video the making of at least some of the clothes?  I’m wondering.  Tell me what you think.

Sew happy everyone!  Have fun in your studios!

 

Way More than a Hobby and Memories of a Great Seamstress

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Food for Thought, Machines, Making Clothes, My Family, Sewing Clothing, Skill background

This sewing machine is like the one I remember Mom having when I started to sew.

For me, sewing and quilting is and has been for most of my life far more than a hobby.

My earliest memories of sewing are from when my family lived in Paducah, Kentucky (interesting considering Paducah’s position in the quilt world today!). My Dad was working with Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on their power plant there.  I clearly remember sitting beside my mother at her pretty black Singer sewing machine when I was very young.  She was telling me how important it was to clean and oil your machine and keep a good fresh needle in it.  That was my first lesson that I never forgot.  She was a true expert “seamstress” and we shared the love of sewing throughout her life.

Mom and me in May 1967. We are both wearing clothes we made.

We made most of our own clothes together for as long as I lived at home.  With her guidance, I made some of my more complex clothing like tailored wool suits, overcoats, and stylish clothing of all types.  She made my prom dresses and accompanying gorgeous wraps and I made the bags.

We never did quilt together. I don’t know if she ever quilted. She made some lovely stuffed dolls and stuffed toys..not just rag dolls, sails for the sailboat, tents, in addition to the gorgeous clothes at couture level.  I still have the Victorian doll  that she made and I dressed so long ago. The jacket and skirt satin fabric is sun faded, but I love it. I miss her.

Throughout my life, it has been a key  skill for me to be able to sew.  It enabled me to make not only my own work clothes when I went out to work, but my husband’s too.  I made Marvin suits and a gorgeous Harris Tweed jacket he loved.  I even made him a tuxedo from tropical wool with silk satin lapels using a stylish Bill Blass pattern from Vogue that required substantial resizing (he was a big tall guy).  It turned out well and he wore that for years especially when he sang. He got many compliments on it. I, of course, made things for my boys too…clothes, overcoats, backpacks, pup tents, bedroom curtains, and so forth.

Until I went out to work and got so busy I had little time to sew, I never had to wear anything that wasn’t stylish and well fitted when I went out because I could make what I wanted and alter what I bought to fit right.  Even then, I was able to make things fit better.  It is my hope to keep on sewing  to the end of my life,  Mostly, however, that will probably be making quilted fabric art with the occasional clothing item.

I still do a small amount of clothes sewing, but I work from home now as a fabric artist, and don’t sing with semi-professional choral groups anymore or even often go to concerts.  So my work uniform is jeans and a simple shirt or sweater.  I have a closet full of nice clothes that are timeless in style and I mostly manage to keep well maintained so they fit me.  I have been slowly loosing weight so I do need to do some altering now. I made myself a new overcoat from my stash last year with a faux fur collar.  It’s wonderful. I also made my youngest son a rather nice faux leather jacket.

Making quilted art seemed a natural progression for me towards the end of my government career and I decided to retire a little earlier than I might have otherwise to be a full time fabric artist.  I started quilting about a year after Marvin died at my sweet daughter-in-law’s suggestion.  It helped me cope a lot and still does.

I have occasionally made a cuddle quilt, but creating quilted art for the wall or the occasional piece of wearable art,  is really exciting for me. I took multiple art classes in both high school and college, and have taken private art lessons in addition, practiced on my own, and have my fourth year certificate in Japanese Ikebana I obtained in Japan.  Ikebana is also an art form that inspires some of my wall quilts.

I particularly love to see how far I can push the sewing boundaries working with the power of my machines, the great advances in threads, notions, and fabrics, and even working with leather or fur (mostly faux unless it is recycled), cork, fibers, trims, and beads.

Why am I telling you all this?  Because I have launched my YouTube video channel and am also writing workbooks and patterns to go along with them.  I want you to know that what I am teaching is based on a solid background of study and experience and hope you will join me in many of the projects I will be presenting.

Fabric art is a great way to decorate your home or cheer up your office–wherever it is–celebrate the seasons or family landmark events, help you deal with the more difficult times of life, and fill you with joy and peace.  You can express things through fabric art…praise, thanksgiving, love…This is true even if you get a little frustrated over problems you will encounter and sometimes have to walk away, or throw the project in the back of your storage area for a “time out.”

The fact is, though, that figuring out how to overcome problems you encounter in your projects can help you keep a sharp mind and give you a real satisfaction when done.  Experimenting with new techniques, materials, and designs adds to the whole enjoyment.

Sew happy everyone! Have fun in your studios. Subscribe to my YouTube channel so you will know when a new video arrives.

 

 

Repurposing Sewing Patterns and Die Cut Shapes

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in a pattern, Applique, Design as you go, Embellishment, Food for Thought, Making Clothes, Sewing Clothing

Hi readers!  Yes, I am done with my mom’s memory quilt except for completing the hand sewing on of the butterflies.  They are taking a while.  I am very pleased with the quilt both front and back now, and if there is no show to enter it into this fall, I will go ahead and post pictures of it, which I have yet to take. But for now I am hoping to enter it first into the Mancuso show in Pennsylvania in September.

I was chatting with a friend of mine this week and we agreed that we both need new summer clothes…simple tops and simple pants made from pretty durable fabrics.  I took a look at the pattern sites and was horrified at all the ruffles and dresses straight out of the hippy Woodstock era that are definately not for me. But I did find just what I wanted in my own pattern stash and I realized some of them are still available online.  It might surprise you but I found a couple of particularly nice patterns in the “uniform/scrub” category.  I purchased McCall’s M6473.

Here is the pattern made up into scrubs.

But in looking at the line drawings accompanying the pattern, I realized they are exactly what I was looking for and, made in the right fabrics and adding some embellishments I would have the summer patterns I wanted…quick, easy, and stylish.  These are just right for my daily life.  Take a look.

The pants have a dual waistband with a smooth front and elastic sides and back and really fun pockets. All three versions of the top are perfect canvases for some interesting fancy stitches, embroidery or appliques to spice them up. These tunics are nice and loose but not pregnancy tops.

I also found in my pattern stash a Simplicity pattern I have had for some time, Simplicity 2371, that has a lot of the same characteristics, though I think the scrub pants are a little better.  I will do all the size testing/fixing on the scrubs slacks and make a couple of pair of those out of some nice sturdy knit fabrics I have for that purpose that I bought at least over a year ago.  But I will probably make some version of the long leeved tunic on th Simplicity pattern.

The Simplicity pattern from my stash. Note the pants have a simple full elastic waist and no pockets…not what I wanted exactly. But the long sleeve tunic provides a suggestion for the embellishment. I would be adding something more.

Now as I was browsing through my pattern stash I saw a plethora of bag patterns, my vintage pattern collection, and some really gorgeous jackets and suits for dressier, colder times.  I have the fabric for most of that too.  Yes, my clothing stash, though carefully trimmed, is still quite wonderful.  I will make at least one nice winter suit for this year, but mostly I am still losing weight, but not very fast, still…I want to save some of the nicer fabrics for later.  I already have some really nice summer dressier clothes.  Some of these I made and some I bought and I have kept them pretty much altered to my size as I have gone down.  So mostly I need casual summer clothes for daily wear in my studio and some nicer pieces for fall and winter.

Sew all of this clothing sewing I will fit in here and there between my quilting projects.

This made me think about how I was going to approach my wool applique project.  I have a lot of Accucut Go! dies with flowers, leaves, birds and animals, and decorative shapes.  I think I will simply cut out a lot of them in multiple colors after I back the small wool and other similar pieces  I have with a fusible and play around with making a hands on design.  Many of these have patterns with them and were designed for specific things, but I am breaking up the sets and making a bowl full of these pieces.  I also need to figure out some vines and stems, and I am thinking I may have to draw up another animal shape or two.  This should be a fun project and will result in a small sampler, a book, and a show quilt.

Sew you see, you don’t have to use the patterns or pieces like the original designer intended, and you can often find just what you want by opening your creative mind and looking further at the designs and giving them some thought.

So next I will start two new quilting projects…the wool applique one and a more complex art quilt design in one of my ongoing series.  This second half of the year promises to be much more fun than the first half.  I am hoping and praying that in spite of the darkness of the hour in the country, the light will begin to shine through and clear away the dark.  Like the hymn that has been buzzing around my head for at least a week “Morning has broken, like the first morning…”  Remember, morning starts at the darkest part of the 24 hours.

Sew happy everyone!  Make yourself something fun just for you.

 

 

 

Looking Forward to 2020

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Ancient manuscripts, Books, Deep space quilts, Design Work, Embellishment, Food for Thought, High-Tech Studio, Making Clothes, My Family, Show Quilts / 2 Comments

Happy New Year everyone and God’s blessings on your lives for the new decade!

I have a lot of fun plans for 2020.  As I usually do, I have almost certainly planned more than I can accomplish, but there is always the offhand chance I will actually get them all done and that would be grand.

As many of you may remember I made big plans for clothes making in November.  Read all about it here in my past blog.  But November was basically eaten up with my making of my son David’s “leather” coat, which, albeit successful in the end, required a lot of unexpected time while I polished up my rusty tailoring skills from decades ago, fixing several big mistakes, and taking my time doing a good job on the coat with the great feet and machine I had to sew it with.  If you missed it, you can see the end results in this blog.

But I still need some new clothes for myself.  Fortunately, most of the fabric I have for this update is four season fabric.  So I am going to scatter this sewing across the year.  Besides, I am hoping to lose some more weight so it would be a good idea to go kind of slowly in this wardrobe revamp project.

In the meantime, I hunted through some of the older jackets and shirts I had stored away I used for work that I haven’t worn for a while because they got too tight, but now they are nice and lose.  Some even require taking in.  The first thing I did last week was take a tan faux suede jacket I had but never wore much because it was just too boring, and embroidered the back and fronts with some really pretty steam punk designs in blues.  The designs include an old style sewing machine, an owl, and a bunch of gears and swirls.  They came from this OREA set of designs.  It really improved it and I will be using these designs elsewhere.  I also found the long dress that goes with it.  I don’t really wear dresses anymore, but it is also made from the same nice faux suede and I might make a bag or something to go with the jacket or I might just wear it as is, adding maybe some embroidery on it too, but I doubt I will do that.  In any event, I am not planning on buying new clothes in 2020, because I can make the ones I have work and can make some new ones while I continue to lose weight.

I think I have what I need ready to go now for my trip to California to see my brother, sister-in-law, and the Road to California show we are going to together.  It was a wonderful gift from my SIL.  We have a lovely relationship and I really am thrilled with this trip.  I will also get to see my nephew and his family.

Sew once I get back to my studio what are my plans?  Since I usually work on two quilts at a time, this year I will work on one quilt and one garment at a time for a while.  I like working two projects to give me some changes in muscle and eye activities periodically without losing a lot of time.

Sew in addition to my clothing plans I have an exciting plan for show quilts, books, and maybe some additional items for sale.  Right now, I am quilting my Mom’s memory quilt.  I have made a significant start in the quilting, but I have a long ways to go.  I really enjoyed returning to quilting this past week.

I made a list to pick from  the other day for 2020 show quilts.  I was thinking four quilts, and ended up with nine on the list to choose from.  I am fairly certain I won’t get nine show quilts made this year…hahahahaha.  Here’s a short list of some of the ones I am considering making.

  1. Mom’s memory quilt already well along the way
  2. A strata landscape quilt with embroidered and beaded fossils
  3. A steam locomotive train scene using the fabric I digitized and had printed for the background
  4. A new ancient manuscript quilt (probably Excalibur)
  5. A new deep space quilt
  6. An ancient map with a ragged edge
  7. A deep ancient forest that shows off my couching and thread painting
  8. Several landscape quilts based on my daughter-in-law’s beautiful travel and flower pictures
  9. A wool applique quilt with interesting decorative stitches and heavily beaded.

Plus I am writing two books, which require samples.  I am about halfway through the one on embellishments and have the one on quilting for art quilters outlined and started.

I will do what I can and not try to push myself too hard this year…just sew along and enjoy myself along the way.  But I would really love to get it all done.  Great fun in my studio.

Sew happy everyone!  I would love to know what your plans for the new year are, at least to begin the year.  Enjoy your New Year’s Eve and Day!

Finished “Leather” Coat, What Is Next, and a Quilt for Sale

Posted on by Betty Jo's Blog / Posted in Classes, Fabrics, Machines, Making Clothes, Panel quilts, selling quilts / 3 Comments

I am struck by how much my readership dwindled during this past month as I worked on the “leather” coat for my youngest son.  I think it is informative to me that most of my readers are most interested in quilting, which doesn’t surprise me.  Well, nevermind.  I have finished the “leather” coat and I am going to do some quilting next before I do anymore clothing.  I do want to make a couple of pairs of slacks for me before I go to Road to California in late January.  But I am going to quilt, make a few small Christmas momentos in my embroidery hoop, and maybe a new bag to calm my sewing nerves after this tough project before I resume my clothing efforts sometime early in January.  LOL

The coat.

Well, it was time consuming and tough.  Why was it tough?  Not really because of the “leather” but more because I was tailoring a man’s coat for which I did not have a commercial pattern that fit.

One of the welted flap pockets

I was rusty in my tailoring methodology.  And yes, the “leather” does take more care and time, but it is still relatively easy to sew on.

Detail of collar

My new Bernina 880 plus, Odette, and the feet designed for use with the leather were marvelous.  I had no problems at all with that.  All the problems were mine.  LOL  Did I enjoy this project?  Well, yes.  I felt very happy to re-aquire my tailoring skills and enjoyed the sewing, which was amazingly easier than my decades ago work with leather.  I was only frustrated with my mistakes that cost me time and “leather” and with the time it was taking me.

Lapel detail

Now I have to dig out my studio and put away the scraps and so forth.  Then I have a workshop coming up “Embellish This! that I am teaching at G Street Fabrics in Rockville, Maryland on Friday the 13th (!) at 11 am to 3 pm.  It is largely filled, but I think there is another one or two places if you want to come and have a lot of fun. But I am all prepared for that one, so it won’t cost me any more time.

Finally, I put one of my quilts on special sale because need some spending money for my trip to R2CA.  I have reduced the price of this fun quilt to $899 from $1250.  I love this quilt that is centered around an Alfred Shaheen Vintage panel and I quilted on my Bernina Q20 pulling from Bethanne Nemesh’s book Quilted Textures from A to Zen for the textured quilting patterns.  I can provide more detailed photos if you are interested.

Tropical Garden, June 2017 36″ x 51.5″. I hand painted the border.

So contact me at BettyJo@bjfabricartist.com to buy this quilt.  We can arrange payments through PayPal.

Sew happy everyone!  Have some fun in your studio this week!