Strippin' in Black and White

Nope...it's not what you think.

Or...maybe it is!

It was recently brought to my attention that my Etsy shop is overloaded with (ahem) 'girly stuff'. 

Vintage sheet Pink Rail fence

I realized..... that's very true.  There's a lot of pinks and pastels and shall we say, more feminine quilts and things on there. Not so much for in the Manly Men department.

So I am working on that discrepancy this week!

Here's a sneak peek:

Strip Quilts come together quickly!

I cut some of my fav black and white fabrics into varied widths

 

 

I don't know...felt like someone was watching me....

So I have a few planned to work on this week, and a few more finished tops that just need to be quilted up.

Heading up to sew for awhile, get some work done!

OOOOH and I almost forgot...finally finally finally 'they' are printing ALL the superheroines onto fabric!!  When I cut into this darling, I will DEF let you all know what it's turning into!

Batgirl, Supergirl AND Wonderwoman, together at last!

 

 

My finished Wonderwoman Quilt; a gift for my bestie!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American Friends!

No Matter Who Your Family Is....

Like This

Or, like this

Or even ...like this....

 

 

(there's one or two in every family.)

 

Yes.

 

Which comes first - fabric or pattern?

I have a question to pose to all the quilters out there.... what 

 comes first for you?

Do you find gorgeous fabrics INSPIRE you to create and then you grab the pattern?

Or do intricate design patterns INSPIRE you to pull fabrics and then you create?

I found this fabric and fell in love. I didn't want to cut it at first.

For me, I think that it's the fabric that inspires the pattern. But wait...sometimes when I peruse blogs online I see patterns that just yell at me to pull fabrics from my stash. I don't know....laugh.

I put it to the interwebs: What comes first??

The fabric, or the pattern?

And of course. Like all my quilts, Muffin Approved.

Easy Cotton Infinity Scarf...and a tutorial!

They're everywhere.

Infinity scarves. Don't resist. You can't resist. You really shouldn't anyway.

As a former fashion consultant; let me tell ya. A scarf can really update your outfit, make a statement, and change your look in one of the easiest possible ways.

Check it out.

A simple 3/4 sleeve T is instantly updated.

As you prolly already know...I am in LOVE with the "Outlander" TV series.

It inspired me to knit up some infinity scarves like a maniac recently.

See? Look how happy wearing a scarf makes you.

You can see the post and mini-tutorial Here; or visit my Etsy shop Here.

But indoors it's sometimes too warm to wear a bulky knit; or you want something a little less...well, knitted.

So here's the solution - you'll see these everywhere in Blogland & also in the malls.

A super light, easy wear scarf, that still does the job of keeping you cozy.

You can use any light weight fabric you like; I recommend voile, cotton or lawn, or anything else you'd prefer. You could even use several kinds, get creative...make a patchwork scarf!

I chose two contrasting prints of fine Indian cotton.

1. Choose two fabrics.

2. Cut one of each fabric - 9 inch by 72 inches.

3. Placing RIGHT sides together; sew using a 1/4 seam along both sides. Sew one end closed, and stopping the seam one inch from the top on both sides of the other end.

4.  Press seams, then turn scarf right-side-out.

5.  Press seams flat; insert a long knitting needle, or coat hanger, or dowel rod or whatever else you have on hand ( I used my long Omnigrid Ruler)  to get that side seam nice and crisp.

Turn the scarf back right sides out.

"Pinch" the edges of the scarf tightly so you can get a crisp edge.

6. Once you've gotten nice crisp edges; on your flat surface, either iron down or finger press down a half inch hem on the ends you left open. Do this by folding down one edge and folding down the other, pressing overtop to ensure they are the same. You're going to tuck in the sewn closed end into your open end.

7. Fold the scarf in half, tucking the sewn closed end into the open end flap. Pin in place.

The pattern makes it hard to see; so I wrote on the photo for ya.

8. You can either whipstich the end closed or what I did - which is sew a narrow topstitch to close and then do a decorative stitch overtop.

Et voila! Your scarf is pret a porter and loops well; two or even three times!

Two loop!

Three Loop!

Now go! 

Go and accessorize! 

Trimming....Not the Tree Kind

Well I *suppose* you could use these gorgeous trims to trim your tree. They're sparkly enough!

At one of my favourite fabric shops; (see this post here) they had a pre-Christmas Get-Your-Sewing-Started Sale. (And; they do not sponsor me. Heck they don't even know I exist. But I love them.)

Everything in the store was 2-3-4-5-10 dollars a yard. Satins, Lace & Sequined applique Net, Lace panels....FIVE BUCKS..GORGEOUS stretch velvets - FIVE BUCKS! Cottons! THREE BUCKS!!!

and the Bestest part.....the most awesomest part....was The Trim.

Shining sequins, beading, gold & silver threads...two inches wide...TWO DOLLAHS!!!

 For Two. Dollars. A. Yard.

My head nearly exploded.

 Taking photos in there is frowned upon; so I shall leave this magical place to your imagination.

Something like this.

And this. But with trim.

Now, I'm not gonna admit how much I spent....but I know all you sewists/costumers out there would TOTALLY understand. In fact, you're probably nodding your head right now in understanding.

But I had limited time; and it took seriously ALL my self control to get out of that wonderful place in just over an hour.

My booty.

Yep. One Hour.

I had some costumes to alter and fix; one is an easy peasy peasant skirt of silk (I found some awesome remnants years ago at a close out sale).

The other...... is a Beast of a heavy court dress.

 It's Blue Velvet (insert song here) and it is a beast. 

Even after some hard pressing (heh) and steaming, you can still see the creases.

Lots of hand sewing thru mulitple layers...the alterations I had to undo and redo left solid creases & worn down areas to the nap of the velvet.

And that's why trim saves the day..a bit of lace, some silver shimmer, boom.

So that's me....what're you up to? Link up your projects!

 Brag a little! Leave a comment & share some love. :)