I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend, I just got home from the cottage. The weather was absolutely gorgeous all weekend!

I've recently fallen in love with shirring. For those of you who have tried it before, I strongly encourage you to put this technique to the test and play with all the opportunities that it provides. For those of you who have not tried it before, I suggest you read this post, follow along with the instructions and try it! It is sew much fun!

So far I have made tops and dresses as samples to teach to the children in my sewing classes. We "shirr" from the top of the neckline to the bottom of the bust line to create an elasticated bodice.

To create this effect, you need to use elasticated thread ONLY in the bobbin. Unfortunately you cannot fill the bobbin on your sewing machine as you normally would, so you have to wind the elasticated thread onto your bobbin by hand. You may need to fill multiple bobbins before you begin, depending on the size of the area that you are shirring. Use a cotton thread on the top of your machine that matches the fabric that you wish to use. Before you begin, I would suggest you test your stitching on a scrap piece of fabric, to see if you need to make any tension adjustments.

To determine the cutting size, measure your bust and cut a piece of fabric that is approximately one and a half times your measured size. As for the length, you can determine that to your own preference. I cut my dress 27 inches long.

First, I stitched my side seam and then hemmed the top of my neckline. Then, I began to sew rows of stitches 1/4" apart using my elasticated thread. It will take about 3 or 4 rows before you notice your fabric beginning to bunch at all. The amount of rows that you stitch depends on the size of your bustline. I stitched approximately 19 rows.

When you finish sewing all your rows, turn your garment inside out and steam the elastic. This will help shrivel the elastic up and make your dress/top more fitting.

Then you can hem the bottom as desired and either leave your dress strapless or you can use coordinating fabric or ribbon to create straps as I have done.

You can also use your shirring method to create waist bands on skirts, or you can do a few rows of stitching on the bottom of a sleeve to create a puff sleeve/peasant look.

Have fun experimenting and shirring away! FUN FUN FUN!

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day. Many of my students made oven mitts and aprons as gifts for Mother's Day this year. I had this great new fabric now known as the "mommy-print" which displays women cooking, cleaning and just doing "mommy things". Such a cute print. This is a picture of one of my adult students, who has made four pairs of oven mitts and one apron so far, all of the same print, but each time using a different lining fabric, as various gifts.

This past weekend I attended the Quilt Show put on by the Port Perry Patchers Quilt Guild. It was a fabulous show and I had so much fun viewing the quilts in the quilt competition. I also learned lots of new things and of course made some purchases! (woo-hoo!) Pictures to come as soon as I try them out!

SUMMER

All finished my exams! YAY! Summertime means lots and lots of reading, hanging out at the cottage and of course sewing!

I have two adults students who have each recently finished their quilts.
This one is cross-stitched alphabet blocks, done for her Grandson.

 This quilt was done by one of my other students, a photo memory quilt for her Granddaughter.

Very proud of both of their quilts! And I know they will be forever cherished by their grandchildren.


In my last post I mentioned that I purchased some elasticated thread and a jelly roll. I have been playing around with my elasticated thread and I will soon post pictures of what I've done. As for the jelly roll, it is a work in process right now but coming along beautifully. My Mom is actually the one working on it, very proud of her! Pictures to come soon!

Lindsay Creative Quilter's Guild

On Monday April 16th 2012, I had the wonderful opportunity to present my trunk show to the members of the Lindsay Creative Quilter's Guild. What an incredible group of women! I had such a good time and felt very welcomed by all.

A big thank you to the women of the guild for their invitation for me to attend their meeting and for their encouragement in my future endeavours. Also a big thank you to my parents for accompanying me on my trip to Lindsay, for holding up my work during my presentation and for being ever so supportive.

Looking forward to my next trunk show!

Today I bought some elasticated thread and a jelly roll...I have some ideas up my sleeve! Unfortunately I will not be able to actually try out my ideas until the end of my exams.

I will be free to play with my sewing machines on April 26th....and then the fun will begin!

Easter

It has been a little while since I have posted anything, school has been getting in the way again! Final exams coming up soon and then this semester will be over! Yay!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Easter long weekend.

I have lots of pictures to post today of some of the Easter things I have made in the past few years.

I hope they are inspiring!

Easter place mat, the basket is paper pieced and the flowers are machine appliquéd. The scalloped edges were the most challenging part.

I made this table runner several years ago, the pattern came from a book filled with spring-themed projects. It is one of my favourites.

This is a miniature Easter wall hanging. The basket, eggs and bunny are machine appliquéd.

This wall hanging consists of four simple paper pieced blocks that I got off of Electric Quilt.

I will be doing a trunk show at the Lindsay quilt guild on April 16th, I'm very excited! It has been several months since I have done a quilt show, and I have lots of new things to bring with me!

St. Patrick's Day

Hope everyone enjoyed a day of Irish fun yesterday! Unfortunately my day consisted of an exam, and lots of studying. But teaching my sewing lessons in the afternoon is always a good pick-me-up.

Here is a picture of two table runners I have been teaching lately.

I have a few students who are nearing the end of their projects, just need to quilt and bind and they will have many completed projects! It brings me so much satisfaction and pride to see others finish their projects. Photos to come soon!

Off to do more studying, two more midterm exams left!

March...already?

I can not believe that it is already March! wow!

Last Saturday in my class one of my star students completed her wall hanging. It is a paper pieced light house scene, with tiny sail boats in the ocean. Very pretty and so well done, especially for dealing with so many tiny pieces! I'm so proud of her accomplishment.

I have also recently added a new video to my YouTube channel. It is a tutorial on basic hand embroidery. The link is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmQjEaYYQCU&context=C3312f61ADOEgsToPDskLXr8YrnYYjN9TrKPtAPCXj