Today in Los Angeles

I'm still a little bit in tourist mode, snapping pics of everything I see...

Emo Emo Scrap Sack Tutorial

In my (hopefully very temporary) unemployment here in LA I've been able to catch up on a lot of sewing projects that I've been meaning to work on, and make a few domestic items that my adorable new apartment needs.

After seeing so many cute scrap sacks and thread catchers at sew days and workshops I knew I had to make my own and properly inaugurate my new sewing space!

Materials:
- 1/4yd cuts of interior and exterior fabrics (at least one should be of a heavier weight for structure)
          I used Kamiya Kanako's beetle print from Emo Emo for the exterior, and a Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton in Grape for the interior.
- 1.5" strip for binding (I used Kona Lipstick)
- Ruler
- Rotary Cutter
- Something round, like a cup, that has about the same size circle as you want your sack to be

Cut:
Using your round object cut out one circle each of your interior and exterior fabrics, then get ready to do some easy math.
In order to achieve the correct length of the side pieces that you cut you need to determine the circumference of your base circles, and add seam allowance.
Circumference=2*raduis of circle*3.14
The radius of my circle was 2.25" so:
C=2*2.25"*3.14=14.13"
I then added .5" for seam allowance which gave me 14.63" for the length of my sides. Luckily this is is about 14 and 5/8", but you can round to the nearest number that you're comfortable with; it won't matter too much.
 Using this measurement cut one piece of your exterior and lining measuring 9" (for height) by the number you calculated (to fit around the base).
Also make sure that you have your 1.5" strip ready.

Right sides together, sew the side seam (9" seam) on your side pieces, and then finger-press your seams open.

Pin and sew base right sides together on both interior and lining pieces. If the sides and the base don't quite match up, make small pleats around the edges, or take in the side seam.

Turn your exterior right-side-out, and place the inside-out lining into the right-side out exterior. No seams should be visible when they're nested.

Pin your strip for binding along the top of your sack. When you first begin pinning, fold over your binding by about 1/4", and make sure that your last cut-edge overlaps this fold (to hide the seams). Then stitch down the binding using a 1/4" seam allowance.

Finger press a 1/4" fold all the way around the unsewn edge of the binding. Then fold te binging over the raw edge of the sides so that the fold is on the interior of the sack and no raw edges are visible. Pin.

Stitch in the ditch (or if you're like me, you'll sew kind of in the general vicinity of the ditch) on the exterior of your sack, making sure to catch the binding on the interior as you sew.

TA-DAH! You're done! Just fold down the top for extra color-cuteness and added stability.

Now you can keep your sewing area free of messy scraps and cuts without making a million trips to the waste-basket. It's perfect for traveling with too.

One week in LA

I moved to Los Angeles from sleepy Santa Cruz one week ago today. It's been an adventure:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Keep it coming LA! I'm ready to take you on!

Strange Days

The past few months for me have been a strange mix of elation and deep turmoil. A lot is changing in my life, as it is apt to do when you're 23, I guess. Confusion and regret are just part of moving on and trying new things.

At the end of the day we'll all make it through with the help of good friends.

First let me say that I have fallen in love with Colette's Laurel pattern. I had always assumed that a shift dress like the Laurel would be unflattering on me, but I have made 3 so far. This one is made of a cotton sateen that I printed clocks and keys on. 

I'm preparing to enter into a design program (which involves moving to LA, accumulating debt, and breaking off a part of the Santa Cruz part of me, yikes!), so I'm trying to spend this summer finding my voice, which has resulted in some interesting things...

Is this biologist crazy to go to art school? Am I making a huge mistake? Haha, well, I guess I'll have to find out the hard way. All I know is that I'm not where I want to be in life, and if I'm going to course-correct, the time is now. Maybe its stupid, but the time to be dumb is when you're young and still have time to fix your mistakes.

Wish me luck!

Stitchin' and Witchin'

2013 has been a crazy whirlwind of emotions so far. We're almost 1/4 of the way through the year but it feels like much longer.
In early February I shared an amazing weekend with Heather Ross and Gretchen Hirsch at Asilomar for an amazing Weekend Sewing Workshop (an event I told myself that I would dedicate a blog post to, but it still kind of overwhelms me).

My Modern Quilt Guild had a wonderful showing at a local (and sizable) quilt show put on by the PVQA, another local quilt show, and it as exciting to have my quilts on display at such a large forum.

It's interesting to settle into a quilting style; it's definitely something I want to play around with this year. I want to experiment more with solids and improvisational, geometric shapes. I also want to play with denser quilting and more complicated techniques.

However, lately, I have been ALL ABOUT EMBROIDERY. After the intense emotional trauma of finishing Buffy the Vampire Slayer (yes, for the first time ever, oh man, seasons six and seven destroyed me emotionally, in only the way that well written TV can) I decided that I needed a more immediate, more portable and less attention-demanding hobby than sewing.

I started making these as a fun project to make at crafting night with my lady friends without having to take my machine, and I (literally) caught the embroidery bug. I had so much fun stitching these and re-teaching myself techniques. Plus these puppies were featured on Feeling Stitchy today, How cool is that!?
I should mention that I used Carson Ellis transfers from Sublime Stitching for these guys. I should also mention that I am reading Wildwood which she illustrated (I also loved the Mysterious Benedict Society books, which she also illustrated. I like children's books okay? Don't judge, you'll love them too).
I used Anna Maria Horner embroidery floss from Anchor, primarily as well as the Sublime Stitching variegated floss and a dash of the usual DMC.

Right now, however, I'm working on an original design that's coming along well, if I do say so myself.

  

  

 

I'm excited about embroidering my own designs and mixing them with fashion and quilting projects.

Madrona Road Weird Science Hexie

Madrona Road Weird Science Hexie, a photo by Alchemy Tea on Flickr.

I joined the Modern Quilt Guild's Madrona Road challenge sponsored by Michael Miller and Violet Crafts.

Initially I wanted to create free-form hexagon clouds on Cotton Couture Fog and call it the "Bad Weather" quilt.

However, improv quilting does as improv quilting pleases, and the result was much more biological in nature. The result is "Weird Science"

The back is a scrappy "road" with a slashed strip and I call it "Overpass".