Sewing Suite and Ti Leaves

I've moved up in the world.  Gone are my two folding banquet tables.

A trip to IKEA got me this great table.  Okay, so it's really two tables screwed together.  That isn't important.  The important part is that the height is adjustable.  Working height = 36 inches.

Much better than bending over to cut and pin.  Of course, now, my chair is too short.

Ti Leaves is a great little pattern I picked up last weekend at a little quilting shop in Virginia.  I wanted to try something different.

It's a different way to do applique.  Basically, you use both pieces when you cut out the shapes.  Above you can see the leaves traced onto the paper.

Next, you sit around and do some tedious cutting.  But they sure look neat.

There they all are, cut out and waiting to be matched up with complimentary light fabrics.

I've matched them up with their respective partners.  Time to get out the iron and make beautiful blocks. 

Adventures in Pottery

One Sunday, I couldn't find an open fabric or yarn store. I did a quick search for pottery and found this great shop. I decided to give it a try. I'm not really a painter, but I'll be heading back there another time. I had fun and love the results.

Polka Dot Madness

I've been drawn to polka dots lately, I'm not sure why.  So, when I pulled from my stash to try out a new pattern, I grabbed this cute green and pink fabric and a coordinating floral print.

The palette.

Loads of pinning and cutting later, I had all the bits of a dress, time to get with the stitching.

I used two fabrics for a couple reasons.  One, who wants a plain dress, and two, isn't it just more fun this way?

The pattern didn't call for a fully lined bodice, but I wanted one anyway.

Here it is before the zip, hem and bodice lining.  This is the best lighting of the day, so I'm glad I snapped this before I was done.

Zips aren't my strong suit.  I'll keep trying, though.  Hopefully I'll get better as I go along.

The lining is stitched and pressed to the inside.  The lining is pinned down for hand-finishing.

Here it is all finished.  Sure, it would look better with someone wearing it. 

I'm also not chasing a dog around so I can get that picture for you and my brand new spring dress dirty in the process.

Dye like you mean it

Cassie brought over some silk veils and all the wonderful tools you'd need to turn them from plain, white silk into WOW silk.

We picked four random colors and set to bundling and dyeing the fabulous fabric.

For the first one, I picked this wonderful chocolate color and combined it with raspberry.

The overall effect is wonderful.  Raspberry truffle!

Next, I set my sights on this blue.

Then I mixed the remainder of the blue with some chartreuse.

The final application was of the chartreuse.

Silk makes it fun as it has a tendency to shift a little when you're bundling it up to dye.

I love the effect, though. 

I may have to take up belly dancing in order to put these to proper use.