Fabric Beads

I always like to take a sewing project along with me when I travel, something small and portable.  This trip I spent some time before I left cutting fabric for beads and fusing interfacing onto the strips. I was inspired by a tutorial I bought from Victoria Gertenbach of the Silly Bodilly blog on her Etsy shop - www.victoriagertenbach.etsy.com 

The beads and necklace above are made from silk dupioni fabric.  And then it started to mushroom, what can I use for a fabric bead next?  These beautiful beads were cut from some fabric I used to make a tunic.

Then my collection of labels came in

And why not some denim beads?

Another ring bearer pillow

This ring bearer pillow was made for my nephew’s beautiful bride.  She picked the dragon fabric and I added a piece of denim on the back as a handle from my nephew’s beloved Grandma’s favorite dress.  Using my trusty Bernina I was able to add their names and wedding date.  I also made the wired ribbon flowers.

The best part was the handsome ring bearer with his engaging smile!

Tie Necklace

So many beautiful and interesting tie fabrics!  I sewed together some lengths of tie fabric and then stitched a tube wide enough to fit these plastic Madrid Gras beads inside.  After inserting a bead I tied a knot and just kept going.  Large and lightweight jewelry, my motto!

Denim Kimono

I’m taking a Creative Clothing class (again) with Lorraine Torrence, always a fun experience.  The assignment was to recycle or reuse a garment or fabric into something new.  I was interested in trying out Sandra Betzina’s new kimono pattern, Vogue1610, so I decided to use it for my project.  The base fabric for the kimono was a denim curtain that I bought at the Stoughton St. Vincent store known for their amazing textile sale in the spring.  I embellished it with various textiles I have collected along the way, Ikat runners from Art Gheko on Monroe Street and some hand-woven indigo hill tribe batik fabric from Ginger Blossom in Richmond Illinois.  

I made this kimono as a 60th birthday gift for my amazing sister who can still stand on her head, among other things.  Our equally amazing Mother passed away recently so I wanted to include a small embroidery detail from one of her favorite dresses in the front band.

Stitched kimono vest

My neighbor gifted me with an old kimono which I decided to turn into a vest.  I backed the kimono fabric with flannel and then used white Sashiko thread to stitch the two together. The vest was lined with an old tablecloth.  It’s a nice warm garment for our freezing Wisconsin temps!

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Fabric Stained Glass

I wanted to make a window covering for our staircase hallway.  We are very close to our neighbors and I didn’t want to see their house through my window so I made this two part pojagi window covering.  To complete the illusion I covered it with a lace curtain, otherwise it’s too obvious, at least to me, that it’s fabric.  I used a lightweight shot cotton fabric which has a lovely transparency without being able to see through it.  I used pojagi style stitching which finishes both sides (see photos) so that both sides are finished off.  

Blue Shoes

For our first assignment for Lorraine Torrence’s Creative Clothing Class this fall I chose to decorate some shoes I found at St. Vincent’s, a pair of laced tennis shoes.  I used indigo fabric scraps sewn onto the shoes to decorate them.  Luckily I was able to stitch through the shoe fabric using both a straight and curved needle.  I used Sashiko thread to stitch patterns on the top of the shoes and made shoestrings of the fabric.