On my Sewing Table this week.....

Starting up again. Many requests for these so I am set up to sew!  What started out as my Hudson
"toile" design is now being printed on velveteen and suede with great results.

A New Purse

I had purchased this fabric as a remnant from a sidewalk sale in Montmartre. The red vinyl is a lovely raspberry shade and I picked that up too along with purse fixtures like feet and handles that I find hard to get here unless I go online.  I must have come home with a suitcase full of fabrics.  That was a year ago and I've only just made the time to finish this project.  It has a dropped zipper panel that keeps the contents safe.  That was a little bit of a challenge to do simply because I thought I had it figured out without looking at a pattern.  I know better now!

I'm always inspired to start another project like this right away but it is always more time consuming than I remember at the start of any project just gathering the supplies, measuring, figuring things out and then you get into that zen mode where it all comes together.

Baby Shower

I had designed this little bird as vector art and it came in handy when my daughter and I organized a baby shower for my son and his wife.  A new baby to welcome into the family!  My daughter took the design and created the invites, menus, game cards etc.   That was a fun little collaboration that I'm sure we'll do again.

Before I go further.....

I needed to finish projects that had been started.  This came together very quickly and without a lot of fuss.  I used whatever I had on hand for the straps, the lining, interfacing, embroidery etc.  It started out with a wonderful shade of teal burlap which will make for a really nice summer purse.  Inspired to follow a pattern from the book "Bags in Bloom" by Susan Cariello.  I'm definitely making others from this book.  

Experimenting with photoshop brushes....

Every so often, I start to doodle with Photoshop images.  This cardinal was meant to be a line drawing but I wanted to experiment with one of the photoshop brushes and coloured it in.  There are just so many variables in creating brushes that I get lost with all the possibilities.  This brush gave me a loose
water-colour like effect and I wanted to remember it, so I make
these little notes to myself.

So far....sew good

I may be in danger of using that title more than once.....

Here is the front half of my Alabama Chanin inspired sewing project.  A simple sleeveless top with a scalloped hem.  It actually took less time than I anticipated.  I have prepped the back half now and I'm about to start the hand stitching.  In order to proceed with this project I made an unembellished version to see how I liked sewing it all entirely by hand and also made a half dozen samplers to explore and practice the various embellishments and appliqué possibilities.  I do like the hand stitching part of it.

Another little bird.....

As I was cleaning up the photos from my camera, I found this image of a pillow completed this Spring.  The centre panel is a hand painted bird on canvas with thread sketching appliquéd to a canvas back with more hand painted leaves.  A few velvet leaves were added.  The side panels are
raw silk and dupioni silk.  I've done several of these pillows now in Fall tones with bird motifs and
enjoy the process and the outcome so much, I will definitely do more with different subject matter.