Project: Creating the Shawl..

Last January, I bought a dress in Verona, to wear at a black-tie event here in San Diego. I was to be honored as "Educator of the Year" by the Fashion Group of San Diego. Check my blog dated January 15th, and you will see the dress I purchase. Then, you will see the fabric I purchased to make a shawl to wear with the dress.

The main fabric is an off-white wool boucle (slightly felted). I purchased black silk organza to use as a backing fabric, and to make a ruffle.

Here you can see the final result, the night of the event.

So, how did I make the shawl?

I started by calculating the size of the basic shawl. This was 20" by 54". Then, I cut the same size of the silk organza.

I then experimented with figuring out how deep I wanted the ruffle to be, and I cut and experimented with a sample. I decided that the selvage was 'nice enough' and that I would simply let that be the edge, thus eliminating the need to hem the organza.

After a little 'futzing' with gathering on the sewing machine, I thought I would give my serger a try. So, a quick Internet search took to to a site that had great visuals.
http://everythingyourmamamade.com/2008/03/04/gathering-with-a-serger-sewing-machines-too/


Once I had joined the long pieces and then let my serger do all the work of gathering it, I laid the ruffle on the right side of the wool, and pinned it in place on three of the four sides. I did not want a ruffle on the shoulder edge of the shawl.


Then, I basted the ruffle onto the wool with my Brother machine. I used a longer basting stitch, which is one of the features I love about the machine.

Next, I laid the lining silk organza on top of the entire shawl, and stitched it around all four sides, leaving an opening so that i could turn the piece inside out.

Here you see me wearing the shawl, posing with some of my students from Mesa College.

My sons flew in for the occasion. Below you can see Blake and Danny, plus Danny's girlfriend Isabelle.


It was a lovely evening. I love my new shawl, with its Italian fabric origins.

Project: Alter-Ego Figure

In February, I am going to be teaching a workshop in New Zealand. I decided I wanted to involve sublimation printing in the project, and so I had to come up with something that fiber artists would enjoy. Put on the thinking cap.. and voila.. a project, building what I call an alter-ego figure (doll).

What is an alter-ego figure? Well, she is the other side of you. If you are tired.. she is full of energy. If you are a bit shy, she is not. If you are stuck in a rut, she moves forward. She is everything you need her to be, and more. She is your guardian angel.

Here are the steps...

I began by rounding up the usual cast of characters.. two girlfriends who I do creative projects with...Victoria and Lisa


Then.. the prep work
I asked each of them to send me digital image which had a good 'face'. I then used Photoshop to select the portions I wanted,and then, dropped the face into a 'body' I had drawn. Once I had the basic body/face ready, I printed the image on sublimation paper using a printer at the college.


Next, a little sewing..
I took the printouts and sublimated them onto fabric. In case you are wondering, sublimation is the process of going from solid (ink on paper) to gas, (transfer of ink), to solid (ink on fabric).
I then cut out the figures, and stitched the two layers together on my Brother sewing machine, leaving the bottom open for stuffing.



The girls arrived.. and away we went. We stuffed our figures, all the while bestowing good thoughts and magical charms on our alter ego dolls.
Using fabrics, beads, and anything you want... we dressed our girls.. and made them 'pretty'.

Here you can see the results of a few hours of fun..

Quick Top: from Garment Designer

I recently made a fun little top. On Thursday of the week, I showed my Intro Sewing students the fabric, and told them I would wear the garment to the next class. I know... some did not believe me (as they sat there and struggled with a jammed sewing machine... do you remember those days?)

So.. home I went, over the weekend, and sat down to Garment Designer, my software, used to create sewing and knitting patterns. I wanted to explore a function called "Give/Take Symmetry". We had talked about its various uses at the Design Retreat in August, so I decided to let this function be the theme of the garment.

Give/Take symmetry works in such a way, that when you click on a line of a pattern and move it, it gives to one side of the garment and takes from the other. So, take a look at the pattern here, and you can see how I used the function to create a diagonal line across the front of the pattern.

Here you can see that I have printed and taped all pattern pieces together. Then, I cut the fabric (which, by the way, has Italian words on it.. another language lesson for me).





I'm currently in a "non-facing" groove. This means I experiment, and try to find alternatives to facings. For this garment, I used a strip of fabric that was pre-cut for trimming purposes. I stitched this around the entire neckline.




on goes the sleeves...

and here, you can see the completed top.




I did wear it to the next class... (smile)