Miss Loreen's Schoolhouse

Buttons, Buttons and More Buttons!

Check out the new photo library "Buttons".  I have a 1 1/2" and 2 1/4" button maker.  That's two different button makers as you only get one size per maker.......that's a drag!  They're lots of fun and very easy to use compared to the store bought fabric button makers though, with the difference in price, these professional button makers should be!  I purchased mine last year when we were doing the Farmer's Market to make buttons for sale.  The hardware I purchased was for making ponytail holders, keychains, zipper pulls, magnets and pins.  The photo library shows some of the items I had for sale at the Market and will be selling on Etsy.  I'll be adding more pictures as I try out different hardware that I have ordered.  The first project is to make some fabric buttons for jackets and other garments.  I'm looking for just the right way to sell them.  Should I sell them in groups of two or three or sell them individually.  I can offer my customers the option of sending some of the fabric they would like to use as well as having embroidered fabric buttons.  If I sell them in groups, should I put them on cardstock??  So many things to think about that I let that get in the way of actually making the buttons.  So off to my button factory I go to make some sets of buttons.  I've decided that while I making buttons, it may all become clear to me as to displays, etc.  One can only hope!

Happy crafting!
loreen

Fancy Pants!

I was hanging out at the Martha Pullen website, just nosing around to see what's new.  I love heirloom sewing and my dream is to one day go to one of Martha Pullen's sewing schools.  Every year Martha has a contest for a free trip to one of her schools.  Someone has to write into Martha expounding on your virtues, etc. and she picks a winner from these letters.  Every year my son diligently writes a heartfelt letter (so he tells me.........the heartfelt part!) and one year one of my daughters also wrote a letter but I haven't been the lucky winner yet!  I still hold out hope each year.  It didn't occur to me until just now that I should probably ask my son if he is cutting and pasting the same letter each year as it gets entered by email!

Anyway, I ended up at the Sew Beautiful website and found a series of video lessons on making small bias strips, setting them in a criss cross design with pony beads and decided to add this look to the bottom on my daughter's comfy pants I was making for her.  I used clear pony beads so I'm not sure how well you can see them in the picture.  The technique isn't really hard especially with the help of the videos.  Click here to see the video tutorials.

Check out my Fall Projects Photo Library for other pictures of these pants.  I'm showing some of my students this technique in an upcoming class. 

Have fun!
loreen

Gathered Skirt

I've finally gotten back into making and teaching garment sewing.  What fun it is.  This skirt has to be the simpliest to make.  You cut a 10" strip on the bias for the top portion and make it the width around you that you want, making sure to have enough ease to be really comfortable.  It has an elastic waist so you don't have to be exact, just go for comfort!  The ruffled layers are done in two sections.  The first section has three 4" to 4 1/2" strips about one and a half times longer than the 10" strip.  I serged the three sections together.  Some of my students didn't have sergers so they simply sewed their three sections together then did a small zigzag stitch to finish the edges.  It took no time at all.

The next section is three strips the same width as the last set.  They are twice as long as the first set of three and sewn or serged together the same way.  Each set is gathered to fit the section it is being sewn to.  Once I serged the sets together, I used a narrow rolled hem stitch on the serger with red thread for the hem and the skirt was done.  This is a great project for a beginner! 

There are lots of patterns on the market for this skirt so pick one up and try it!  It took about about 3 yds of fabric.  I used all one fabric in this skirt but it looks like different fabrics because of the pattern.  Some of my students used 4 different fabrics- one for the top 10" section and three different fabrics in the strip sets.  Really cute!

Have fun!
loreen

Holiday Pillows

I really enjoyed making a couple of holiday pillows.  First, one for Halloweenie.  It's a witch hat with a dangling spider.  I used crystals for the spider's eyes and added a bit of black netting for a bow.  Next was the Christmas pillow with the words "JOY" appliqued on.  Both pillows were pretty easy to do and great fun!  When I started making the Christmas "JOY" pillow, I decided to make it the same size as the Halloween pillow so I could use the same inside pillow for both since the two pillows wouldn't be on display at the same time.  I went to the local JoAnn's to get a pillow form and couldn't find any to match the shape I needed.  I bought a bag of fill thinking I would just make a muslin form and stuff it.  When I got home I realized that I could just stick the bag of stuffing in the pillow and it was just the right shape.  How's that!!  

Here's a quick picture of the Halloween pillow.  The rest of the pictures are in the Fall Projects 2011 photo album.

Happy sewing,
loreen