Stitch Story – I come with a past….

Jul 11, 2018 Stitch Stories Post a Comment

Why You Need to Use Recycled Leather in Your Bag Making

I love making handbags out of recycled leather. Making bags out of recycled leather is much more time-consuming than using original skins. But the results can be a lot more satisfying. Especially when you factor in that bags made from recycled leather are leaving a smaller footprint on the planet. Not to mention the cost of new leather vs. the cost associated with recycled leather.

When I began back making several years ago I was totally overwhelmed with the statistics regarding how much of our clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories end up in landfills due to fast fashion. The statistics are staggering! Our planet is not getting any larger but the number of items that each of us own, grows every year.

May 12, 2017 Tutorials, Tips, & Tricks Post a Comment

7 Ways You Can Find More Time To Sew – Part 2

Tip #4: Set up a Dedicated Place to Sew I know, I know….you would if you could! But even a closet or space against an unused wall in a bedroom can be big enough for a folding table and a hook to hang up the current project. Having your projects close at hand will increase the time you can actually spend on sewing by reducing the time spent taking your project out and putting it back, but it doesn’t come without its own drawback.

But there can be drawbacks. Even when I finally had enough room to have a separate sewing room/office I was reluctant to move into it. For years I had sewn on the dining room table while my husband watched TV near by and my kids ran around under my feet. Moving my sewing into the room upstairs took me away from them but increased the amount of sewing I could get done in one sitting with the added advantage that I didn’t have to put everything away when I stopped. I could merely close the door.

Tip #5 Destroy and Banish all UFOs: Anyone who sews has at least one or two UFOs hanging around. UFOs stand for UnFinished Objects. I had a dress on a dress form in my dining room looking at me everyday for a year. Looking at this dress daily stopped me from sewing anything – for over a year. What a waste of time think of all of the projects I did not do because I felt deep guilt from having this project around unfinished. I finally moved it up to the attic – out of sight although I should have thrown it out! When UFO’s are lying around they remind us of what we have not done and that can keep us stuck. When we are stuck we can spend our time ruminating and feeling guilt instead of getting stuff done!

Tip #6: Have Realistic Expectations of What You Can Get Done. Am I the only person who has agreed to make a prom dress, bridesmaid gown, or Easter dress and then spend the day before sewing ‘til dawn? I often think that sewing projects will take a lot less time than they actually do – even though experience tells me how long things actually take.

In my past life as a computer programmer a good rule of thumb I would use when giving a client a time estimate for a project was to take the time I thought it would take and triple it. For example, if I thought a project would take 20 hours, I would tell the client 60 hours. It might sound like overkill but more time than not the tripled estimate was the right one.

Tip #7: Have the Right Tool for the Right Job. Wow! This is the tip that should have been number one. I can’t tell you the time I’ve wasted trying to rip out a seam sewn wrong with a pair of open scissors and the seam held taut between my knees all for want of a seam ripper! Or how I’ve used heavy household objects to hold down pattern pieces when I’ve run out of pins. The right tool used at the right time, in the right place saves massive amounts of time! So now, I make sure that everything I need is within reach before I get started. All I have to do is sew!

I hope these tips will save you time and make you a more productive, more stress free sewer. Have Fun and Happy Sewing!!

Apr 22, 2017 Tutorials, Tips, & Tricks Post a Comment

7 Ways You Can Find More Time To Sew – Part 1

For me one of the biggest barriers to sewing has always been finding the time. In my mind I need to have 2-3 hours of continuous, uninterrupted time that I can carve out before even sitting down at my machine. But by using simple strategies I have found that I sew whenever I have as little as half and hour to spare.

With a husband, three kids, and a dog I realize that I sometimes do more daydreaming about sewing than actual sewing. But when I use the tips below I can turn sewing into something "done' not just something I dream about doing.

Tip #1 Set An Intention to Sew: It may be in the back of my mind that when I get home my reward will be to sit down at the machine and sew for a while. That is totally different from setting an intention to sew. When I say to myself "Today, Im gonna sew for one hour from 7-8pm." I tend to take myself more seriously than when the idea to sew is just a vague idea in my head. I find too, that when I say it out loud, or write it down everything seems to conspire to bring it about. Try it and see if it works for you.

Tip #2 Make Sewing A Priority: This tip is a sister to the one above. I don't need to tell you that as mothers, wives, employers and employees we don't consistently set ourselves, and what we want to do, as a priority in our lives. Most of the time I used to feel like if I got myself home from work, got everybody fed, got the dog walked and spent a few minutes watching my husband watch TV, that I had a pretty successful day. But that really is only part of the story.

The real story is that I fell in love with sewing when I was five years old and watched my grandmother on her old Singer treadle machine. Seven vintage sewing machines, 4 large bins of fabric and two dress forms later, its time to make this passion a priority. And no one is going to give me permission to do it but but me.

These are all of the tasks I do before I actually sit down at the sewing machine. And while the machine is the actually the most fun for me, if I have all of my sewing supplies organized I can actually get a lot of pleasure out of the prep phase. This is when you:

Select the fabric from your stash
Press the wrinkles out of your fabric
Cut out the pattern
Pin the pattern to the fabric
Cut out the fabric
Transfer the markings from the pattern to the fabric

If you think about it, each of these can sometimes be completed in an hour or less. And they each can have their own fun factor, if you look at it that way. Completing a step that helps you make progress in your larger project is very fulfilling and satisfies the spending some time on me need we all have.

Select the fabric from your stash
Press the wrinkles out of your fabric
Cut out the pattern
Pin the pattern to the fabric
Cut out the fabric
Transfer the markings from the pattern to the fabric

This step comes after most of your sewing project is complete and there are just a few little odds and ends left to do. Odds and ends might make these tasks sound unimportant, but really this is the step where some of the decisions you make will effect the quality of the overall statement that your project makes. Some of the parts of the wrap-up step are:

Button selection
Buttonhole crafting
Hemming
Final Press

Each of the wrap-up steps could use their own post related to time-saving, but like the tasks in the prep step, they can each be broken down into smaller tasks that allow you to complete them in an hour or less.

Thats it for now I will cover the last four steps in my next post. Happy Sewing!

Apr 05, 2017 Stitch Stories Post a Comment

The Simple Beauty of Ironing

Kansas is flat. So level, that when I looked out my grandmother’s kitchen window I could see my elementary school, Parkdale, like it was right next door. Monday was washday at my grandmother’s. I remember scalding hot water, Octagon soap, bluing and a manual wringer that could crush a finger to bits if you were unlucky enough to get a hand in the way.

I helped my grandma put the still steaming laundry on the line after they were wrung out to near-dry. The tea towels and handkerchiefs were mine to hang. Drying time was 7 minutes tops for those items in the hot Kansas summer sun. The irises, lilacs and roses danced on the fabric of my grandmother’s shirtwaist dresses, gently sweeping the grass as they hung on the line. The dresses piled in the clothes basket when dry carried the same sweet smell of grass, and wind and summer.

Tuesday was for ironing, and it would take up the entire day. My grandmother set up the ironing board in the dining room. She threw the windows wide open and turned on our one large fan full blast. She started the ironing with the household items; the tablecloths the napkins and sheets. She’d move on from there to my grandfather’s dress shirts and his handkerchiefs.

As the afternoon began to wind down she would spend the last part of the day on her flowered dresses, lovingly and expertly pressing every pleat straight and every collar until it was standing at attention as if it had a mind of its own.

My grandmother’s dresses wore well and some were decades old by the time I was born. But the flowers were still bright, the hems still straight, the buttons still tight.

Now, everything is so chaotic. Too many things to handle at once. Grandma never rushed. As I grow older, I want the luxury of returning to a time when life is a slower and steadier. I learned the lesson you taught me grandma, there’s a time and place for everything. And I will always do my best to get it right the first time.

Feb 07, 2017 Bags Post a Comment

From Suede Jacket to Funky Tote Bag

I am continuing my commitment to working with recycled fabric and recycled leather. I am trying to work with suede, which I originally thought would be an unforginving material to work with, but it has proven to be more forgiving than regular leather.

I started out to create a tote bag. I have been working to improve my craft by working with the wonderful team of Richard and Linda Manigault at HMDH Academy . There are amazing designers and have a school for serious handbag students.

I started with this nicely worn suede jacket which I bought from a thrift store.

Using my seam ripper I disassembled the jacket, following the seam lines.

Then I created a pattern.

Since there were elements on the front of the jacket that I wanted to maintain, like the pockets, I copied the main pattern piece onto clear plastic so that I could get the placement I wanted on the jacket front.

I folded my see-through pattern in half and laid it out on the part of the jacket front that I wanted to be the front of the tote bag.

The front of the jacket was not long enough to make the tote front so I ended up sewing the sleeve to the bottom of the bag. Unlike leather, suede has a nap so you have to be sure to assemble your pieces so that the nap all runs in the same direction.

I cut out the right front of the tote and then I turned the see-through pattern over and cut out the left side of the bag.

Here are the front pieces. I was able to mainain the pockets

I sewed the front together and then went back and topstitched to reinforce that front seam.

There was some puffing out of the suede in the front. I used some light seam and interfacing to work that out of the front of my tote.

Then I sewed up the bottom. Bag bottoms used to be difficult for me to get right but there are so many helpful videos on Youtube that have helped me out with that.

I added an Ankara lining with an inside zipper pocket.

Here is the finished bag!

I’m happy with it.

Here is the BEFORE and AFTER!

HAPPY SEWING!

Jan 23, 2017 Bags, Made Post a Comment

From Suede Jacket to Funky Pillow

I have been rolling around in my mind, the idea of doing a pillow for my best friend, for a while. I thought it would be fun to do something a little different before launching into the spring bag making frenzy. My BF and I have very different tastes so I wanted to come up with something that I thought she would like. When we were in World Market one day she told me that she wanted a red pillow. So I knew that color would provide the basis for the pillow I would craft.

She’s big on quality and is quite fond of the earth, so I knew she would appreciate my desire to create something that was made from high-quality recycled material.

I chose this vibrant red suede jacket.

Red Suede Jacket

Many hours of labor later this funky pillow was born!

Red suede Pillow - After

Read the Stitch Story here.

Oct 03, 2016 Stitch Stories Post a Comment

Highland Park – “Arts in the Park” Arts Festival

Sunday was a wonderful sunny day in central NJ. Maggie and I got out there early and set up. Most of what was on display were the wonderful infinity scarves and “scoodies” that Maggie has spent the last month creating.

I only had one thing to display – the “I Love Paris” skirt. I put it on a dress form, with a denim jacket and a cami, and figured I’d take orders from anyone who was interested in one just like it.

8-24-Paris-Skirt-withJacket3

I was pleasantly surprised at the interest it generated!!

Here are some more pictures of Maggie’s beautiful items.

She also makes gorgeous mosaic tables!

Aug 30, 2016 Bags Post a Comment

From Old Leather Coat to Trendy Leather Tote

I followed Don Morin’s “Making Leather Bags” course on Craftsy and created this fabulous leather bag. This coat’s Stitch Story starts way before I met it at a local thrift store and gave it a new life. The coat had a decidedly 80’s style.

One of the most challenging aspects of making this bag was constructing the rouleaux handles. In order to construct the handles it takes 2 strips of leather about 30 inches long, two small pieces of leather to be used as tabs to cover the ends of the handles, and cording for the inside of the handles.

The cording is placed inside of the leather strips, which is folded over the cording and then stitched on the outside.

PartsofDMBag

Slits are made in the tabs, the rouleaux handles are placed on the body of the bag, through the slits and the tabs are then sewn down.

DMRouleaxSewn

This is done before the two sides of the bag are sewn together. The result is a beautiful custom handle on a one-of-a-kind bag.

DMRouleaxHandle

The result is a beautiful custom handle on a one-of-a-kind bag!

Got an old coat you’d like to see re-tooled into a stylish trendy tote?

8-19a-Bag

Aug 27, 2016 Made Post a Comment

The I Love Paris Skirt

I fell in love with this fabric when shopping in the Fabric District in NY a few weeks ago. I am reminded of cafes, long afternoons at sidewalk cafes with friends, Girls Night Out and summer fun.

This gently pleated skirt is made with the Paris-inspired fabric surrounded by black scuba/neoprene at the top which gives the waistband plenty of stretch and a wide border of cheery, cherry-red twill which adds plenty of body to the skirt.

Perfect for fall with a Gap Jean Jacket!

It looks GOOD at the Deepak Chopra Center at the upscale ABC Carpet and Home in NY.

Would like like one in your size? Check out the etsy link soon!

Aug 18, 2016 Stitch Stories Post a Comment

Willy Otey Kay – Couture Dress Designer on Exhibit in North Carolina

“You have to like what you do, no matter what it is, to make a success of it.” —Willie Otey Kay

Willie Otey Kay was a North Carolina native who walked the color line in expert fashion to live her Stitch Story. For more than 60 years Mrs. Kay created debutante gowns, wedding dresses and fancy ball gowns for North Carolina’s elite. She was sought after by both black and white patrons and was careful to split her time 50-50 between the two communities.

She and her sisters created breath-taking one-of-a-kind dresses. An exhibit of works is on view now at the North Carolina Museum of History

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