Back at Last

Well summer is well and truly over and what a busy time it was and I can now get back to the blog. I have worked on lots of new quilts which I think may make an appearance over the next few weeks.

I am looking for inspiration as my new term starts  in 2 days, this year it is a fashion and interior products and I am not sure what to expect but I have just spent the last couple of weeks away in Italy and have worked on a few ideas so lets see what happens and appears in these pages.

Fingers crossed !!

The shop is open for business

At last the Sewing the Thought shop is now open for business on Folksy. I will be building up the stock over the next few days so have a peek.

http://folksy.com/shops/sewingthethought

The things you find hidden in a box

For many years I have been collecting  vintage jewelleryand clothesw  and often buy an old tin of jewellery  or vanity box at an auction or a flea market, sometimes you find treasures and other times you find junk but that is always part of the fun. Lots of the jewllery is wearable and others need restoring or parts of it can be  used in projects. I like to use the loose beads and jewels in some of my sewing projects but this weekend I found enough of these bakelite beads, victorian jet and 1920's amber beads to make into a necklace.

But in another box was part of an edwardian dress, in fact just the bodice and as I am starting a new fashion course in september where we learn to adapt patterns and design  fashion costumes. I thought this would be a great items to start with.

So here is the next restoration project !!!

Where or where has my sewing box been!!

It seems so long since I last wrote, other events in life seem to have taken over from my crafting adventures but last week I decided to get back to sewing again as the projects were piling up and becoming quite daunting. You would be amazed a what a brisk walk on the beach, a cup of tea and a large slice of cake and a good gossip with a friend  can do to make you get back in the creative mood

Suprise suprise my first project was to finish off a few more cushions

I have looked through all my fabrics that I printed on my course earlier this year and I still have tons to turn into cushions so that will keep me busy for a while and I must get them finished and up on my Folksy shop

I also turned my hand to a few more shopping bags and also started putting together some patchwork quilts. I really could do an  good impersonation of the princessa and the pea fairytale as I have that many to complete.

Sometimes looking at all the projects I have on the go or want to start can be a bit overwhelming so I really need to focus on finishing all the current items and I make a plan on what to do next.

Anyone else have the same problem?

I have also been looking for art and craft fairs up in the north of Scotland, I don't seem to be having much luck, everything seems to be in the central belt, Edinburgh/Glasgow so if anyone knows of any at all please let me know.

Can a home have too many cushions ?

Well it has been a while since  my last blog but I that does not mean I have been having a snooze on the sewing front. In fact the last couple of weeks I have been doubling my sewing efforts to try and pull together some new stock for my shops on my Folksy and Etsy.

We do not have many fabric shops locally and I do wonder what they think I am up to as I pop in so often, so I do now purchase alot of my fabrics online as  there are some fantastic stores out there on the internet and have had my fabrics delivered from all round the world and I am always on the lookout for designs

If you have read any of my previous blog entries you will know I have been on a printed textile course this year and loved it so much and would have happily continued for another year, therefore lots of my current projects have been based on my printed designs.

I have loved turning all my printed fabric into cushions galore some have even managed to make it to my living room rather than the shop!!!.

1920's Vintage Harper's Bazaar

1920's Hermes advert from French Fashion Magazine





Edwardian Fashion Adverts

I have decided to use the envelope style for these cushions  this is proving to be the easiest type for the printed fabric as it means I can make small and large cushions and add bulky or fragile trimmings wherever necessary and it allows the cushions to have smooth edges rather than the bulk of a zip.

It was like a production line at one point in the kitchen only to be halted for a cupcake and coffee which is what a girl needs while sewing. Though I did have a disaster with a coffee and walnut cake last weekend which was a bit like an exploding volcano, but that story is for another day and I have been sticking to my local cupcake bakery which is keeping me well stocked

Look at the range of cushions  ended up with  !!!!



The final cushions of the afternoon was a piece of embroidery which was edged with some vintage and floral fabrics. It is a great way of using up the scraps of fabric

Look out for the another selection of cushions on the next blog

Cushions, curtains and lampshades !!

As I mentioned in my last blog update my textile printing course is now complete and we have an exhibition in a few days time. We spent this week setting up and everyones prints and products looked fantastic, it was lovely to see all the combinaiton of colours and different products.

I spent the last couple of weekends stitching away to get some items finished and I still have a load of printed fabrics to do the next round of products

My finished products  for the display are 2 cushions, a lampshade, curtains, a tote bag, a show bag and some box canvas framed pictures and I am pleased with the collection,

Let me know what you think?

The exhibition has arrived!

I cannot believe that my textiles course is already over and done with for this year, when we started last September it seemed we had ages to learn all the techniques and practice printing fabrics and now it is all over and we have our exhibition starting in less than a week.

I have had so much fun doing the textiles print course, trying our different ideas and learning what I like and don't like and even discovering my own style. The rest of the people on the course have been a great bunch to work with and it has been really fun watching everyone develop. I wish we could continue for much longer, I  only just seem to be getting started, there are so many things I would love to try out.

The last couple of week have been making all these printed fabrics into interior products and that has been so much fun.

Cushions, curtains, bags, pictures, book covers, lampshades and needle cases are just a few of the things that have kept my sewing machine busy.

So watch this space in the next few days for the pictures  to be revealed.

Its back to school!! or the production line

I cannot believe it is February already where has all the time gone, so much to do and so little time.

It has been back to school time as my textile course started again in January and we have our exhibition in March so where to start!!!.  I have been working on my designs for the last few weeks and trialling them out in the print workshop and have been really pleased with the results with the different patterns, colours and types of fabrics. I even had a little print production line going at one point as I was getting so enthusiastic

I now need to start turning the printed fabrics into something to exhibit so the sewing machine will be in full flow this weekend. Thinking about table runners, cushions, book covers, lampshades bags, where to start!!! though any suggestion would be welcome

Here are a few of the sample printed fabrics and most of them stay with the vintage/art nouveau that I have been focussing on  theme but I did stray to make a baby print for a present for a friend, I could'nt resist

I even tried to print some vintage magazines onto fabric and these will be turned into book cover and bags this weekend  so look out next week for the results.

New Years resolutions include the words, crafts, crafts and more crafts

Well the Festive season is well and truly over, there was a sudden rush just before Christmas to finish off one of two projects such as these cushions with an embroidered Christmas motif, I realised if I didn't finish these off they would need to be put away for another year, so a few evenings after dinner and they were completed.

Next was the sort out of the Christmas Fabrics and they have been put to the back to the cupboard till later in the year. I even started on the New year detox and in this case it wasn't putting away the booze and chocolates it was a case off  sorting out all the unfinished sewing and craft projects of which I seem to have accumulated a lot of them. So this was the basis of resolution number one, I will only have a maximum of 2 unfinished projects sitting in the craft corner at any one time .So  I am now in the middle of trying to finish off 15 quilts, 10 cushions,  5 bags, 4 niteatures, 2 places mat, 2 pot holders and a book cover. (this sounds like an alternative Christmas Carol)  and  I think will keep me going for sometime. Oh and a realisation that I am easily distracted!!

I did manage to also finish off another embroidered bag

There was even time to finish off another couple of my Niteaures.

Now for Resolution Number two, I will up date the Blog at least a couple of times a week, so here goes!!