Aprons, Aprons, Aprons

I have not been blogging for awhile.
I have been SEWING and SEWING and SEWING.

Among other things, Aprons and more Aprons . . .

I was sewing samples to send to the

International Quilt Market 2013 in Portland, Oregon.

I lived in Portland for 15 years so I wish I could have gone.

But the next best thing was sending aprons!

Here are some of the samples ----

Lime Rickey 

with some new Buttons and  fresh Fabric from Riley Blake!

Strawberry Licorice

Fun stripes & dots and . . . 

a new Halloween fabric!

Punch and Cookies

Look at all these versions!!

You just gotta love that flower!

And FINALLY . . . 

Blue Daiquiri

. . . Sure doesn't have to be all blue

Whew! That's enough for now.

Next time I'll show you the latest Jade's Ruffle Skirt. Stay tuned . . . 

I am not a Farmer's Wife . . .

But I am making a Farmer's Wife quilt.

I know, I know . . .  You thought I taught smocking and sewing. I do . But I also work at a quilt store and teach quilting there. And for the past 12 months we've had a Farmer's Wife club going.

That's what kept me going on this project and I want to complete enough blocks for a throw. I need at least 50 something blocks.

I have 30+ blocks done and here is a preview of some of my favorites.

Maybe you will recognize some of them.

That's enough for now. 

Anybody else done a Farmer's Wife?

I'd love to see.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Give Away! Get a FREE PATTERN

My good friend and co-worker Amber is hosting a give-away of my patterns. Did you see the Apron she made? So cute from the Lime Rickey pattern.

Amber has a quilt pattern line called Gigi's Thimble that is AWESOME.

If you haven't seen her blog now is the time to CHECK IT OUT . . . A Little Bit Biased.

If you want to enter the drawing for a free pattern click on the PATTERNS tab at the top of this page.

Then decide which of the first five patterns (four Aprons and a Skirt) is your very favorite or if you HAD to choose which would you like to WIN.

Click on over to A Little Bit Biased and follow Amber's instructions for entering the give away drawing.

Good luck!

Oh . . . While you're here poke around and have a look at the tutorials and the smocking pictures. Just click on the slide show in the top right corner to see all the pictures at your leisure.

Happy SEWING!

Learn to Smock!!

Ever want to learn to smock but feel intimidated by the look of all those row and rows?
Take a look at this little smocked top with ruffled shorts.
It's fun, it's colorful and it's done with SHORT rows of repeating stitches.

You can totally do this!!!
If you live near by this is the project I'm using to teach a beginning class at the store where I work

Just Sew in Highland, Utah

The class will be two sessions - One for teaching the stitches and one to help with sewing it all up.

Wednesday mornings - March 27 & April 10.

Maybe I will see YOU there. :)

The Silence is Broken . . .

This blog has been quiet for several months.
Lots of reasons but none worth going into detail about.
Just two 'foot notes.'

Alaskan Cruise

And Foot Surgery

A quiet blog DOES NOT mean no sewing, quilting or smocking.
On the contrary! There has been plenty of that.

Here are some pictures of recent projects.
The first is the smallest and took the longest!

This is grandson #11 - Mathew Barry modeling his Christening outfit.

That was ALL about LOVE!

This sweet dress is for one of my cousin's granddaughters. It was an auction item at the family reunion. The ruffles were lots of fun and the sash just makes me smile.
Watch for my ruffle tutorial in the next few weeks. I have a great new TRICK!

The last one speaks for itself. This was for Lucy Elizabeth. Her mother is a dear friend and after 3 boys, something special was in order for this darling baby girl.

First the dress - Washed silk Dupioni -- So soft, so classic.

The camera makes it look like shiny satin but real life was vintage silk!

Washing the Duponi was a new experience. It washed just fine. But ironing it was a project. 

It had to been ironed from damp to dry.

All good dresses need a slip.

Slip detail:

AND NOW . . . . 

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE . . . . .

Here's the darling mom and daughter. :)

Oh, Lucy! You are a princess!

See we may have been quiet but we have been busy!

Smocking Group Shout Out!!

The Sew Much Good Smocking group continues to produce beautiful things!

Some of us share pictures and some . . . .

Well, they need a little prodding!  You know who you are.

Here some of the latest pictures.

Kerry started smocking this Spring and made two look alike dresses for her granddaughters.

They are lucky girls in Arizona. :)

Now Kerry has a brand new granddaughter here in Utah.

This dress is for her special Christening Day.

The yoke is smocked in palest pink with pearl beads.

The skirt has 1" pleats, pintucks and wonderful cotton lace insertion.

Tinley will look like an angel for sure.

Bravo! Kerry!

Jacy has been at it again. This bishop's yoke dress is for Kate. Here's the front. Click on the picture and see the clever lace beading with ribbon sewn in the skirt. Cute, cute!

Here's the button band in the back. Very cute!

Here's Kate in the dress. What can you say about those adorable little legs in those adorable red shoes!? Adorable!

Here's Kate showing off her daisy and her dress! So adorable!

Here's Kate in the daisies! Three kudos, Jacy! Adorable dress, adorable photo, adorable Kate!!

Who wants to learn to smock?! You can do this!

Narrow Hems

So much of great sewing is in the details.

And so much of enjoying sewing is being efficient and accurate.

Narrow hemming on ruffles and other things like the sides of aprons can make the difference between things looking great and . . .  well . . . not so great.

Doing it faster can also make the difference in whether the project gets finished or . . . well, you know where you stash your unfinished stuff.

Here's the straight scoop on making narrow hems as quick & accurate as possible.

For a finished 1/4" hem start by sewing 1/2" from the raw edge.

You may be tempted to skip this thinking it is a waste of time. Don't. It will save you time in the end.

If want to go faster - use a longer stitch but sew straight. If you are hemming a curve like the arm curve of an apron this stitching will keep your fabric from stretching out of shape and getting those ugly ripples like cheap ready-mades.

Next use your stitches as a guide and press 1/2" to the wrong side. Your stitches should be just slightly to the back side.

Now go back and press the raw edge into the fold to make a 1/4" hem. Sew close to the folded edge.

If you are hemming a curve, press carefully so that you don't stretch things out of shape but show who is boss and press it down flat. If you think it might slip or slide as you sew you can even pin it at 90 degrees to the edge - removing the pins as you sew.

If you are hemming a shorter length and are confident you can skip the second press and tuck the hem into the fold as you sew like I am doing in the picture above.

Now there's a nice even narrow hem without fighting or %#$@ !  

You know.

Happy Sewing!