Sewing Vloggers

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Wednesday Words

I do hope all who celebrated had a wonderful and happy Christmas, full of joy and family and friends! Now we move on to a New Year and all the unknown that it holds for us. This week's Wednesday Words, for the first time, are my own. Several years ago I had fun publishing this post right before New Year's Eve. At the moment my fabrics are in the same order but the rest of the room is chaos. My New Year's Resolution? Clean that room! I wish you all a healthy and happy New Year and humor me with this reposting. 
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Twas the day before New Year's, when all through the house
Machines were not humming or making a blouse.
The velvets were hung by the leathers with care
In hope that free time soon would be there.

Hubbie was nestled all snug in our bed
while visions of garments danced in my head.
I in my Jammies and Dad in his sweats decided
No party on New Years was as good as it gets.

When down in the basement their came such a clatter
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to my bunker I flew like a flash
Tore open the closet and eyed my great stash.

The glow of my Ott lite on cleaned closet shelves
showed amazing order put forth by the elves.
And what to my wandering eyes would appear?
Visions of fabric so vast and so dear.

There were fleeces all rolled and labeled with care
in hopes that my fingers would make things I'd share.
There were boucles all begging for Chanel's nimble skills
and 100% linen was giving me thrills. 

When up on my shelves my eyes did alight
to find glass jars of fibers reflecting the light.
There were laces and ribbons and sequins galore
and sewing such beauties was surely in store. 

I found angelina and rovings
 all bundled with care,
 and splendiferous threads with no room to spare. 

Drawers were all perfect with scissors at rest
and tools made for marking ones marks at their best.
Buttonhole chisels, silk ribbons too, glass headed pins
asking "what do we do?"

 Polies and silk take up space by the knits. 
Their sparkly gleam giving shivering fits.
Then there were doilies and gingham so square.
With so much to sew there is no  time to spare.
Bottomweights share a really tight space, 
A perfect pants pattern will they ever grace?


 Why, here are my fingers on hands that are eager
to stitch and create, even projects quite meager. 
They'l move on the fabric with speed so unknown
Productivity will blossom with items I've sewn. 

It's time to get dreaming of what I will do 
with all I've been blessed with. How about you? 
Here's hoping your New Year will be one that's bright
 and loaded with sewing far into the night.
Happy New Year to all with more sewing in sight.....Bunny Pepin
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Wednesday Words are quotes gleaned from the internet, blogs, books, newspapers and more. They are notmy own words, other than today. They are not my opinions but merely comments written that made me go "hmmmmm,,,,,,,". Some may be provocative, some may not. Some may be my opinion, some may not. My goal is to start a conversation among followers of this blog and hopefully learn as we share our thoughts. I know you will do so respectfully and intelligently and  I thank you for that.    

      

  

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Wednesday Words


courtesy merrimentdesign.com

Today's Wednesday Words are my own. I wish you 
all the peace and joy of Christmas, loved ones close by  and a safe and happy holiday. May the delights of sewing sit under your tree along with a bounty of blessings. You are all truly appreciated. Have a safe and happy holiday. I will return next week. Merry Christmas!.......Bunny

photo courtesy hookedonneedles.com

Sunday, December 20, 2015

I've been making jewelry!


I have been making jewelry the past two weekends, that and wrapping a lot of gifts! I have just let my mind wander with all sorts of blingy little things  and fabrics I dyed years ago laid out in front of me. It's been kind of a "what can I do next?". , No rules, no copying something else, no instruction (yikes!) but a lot, lot of fun. While my skills are rudimentary, for the unknowing, I think they might like good.


The first piece is made with some wool I hand dyed some years back, sort of a tie dye effect and a wrapped stone.  I have just decided lately to cut into my hand dyeds. If you have ever dyed fabric you know the pleasure of just keeping them and reliving the serendipitous magic that sometimes happens in the dye bucket. I have decided their time has come and I will cut. This second one is made from rolled up jacquard ribbons . I really like this second one. It got lots of compliments when I wore it. 


This one is a piece of rayon velvet that was discharge dyed. It really revealed some amazing colors. It started out emerald green and because of the way it was bundled varying shades of the autumn color pallet emerged, great fun! Here it is wrapped with copper wire and assorted beads. 





This one I love and really is prettier IRL. It looks perfect with a pink chiffon blouse I have. It is made with vintage ribbons from a dear friend and assorted beads. I showed a friend at work how to make the ribbon beads and she has just caught fire with the technique. We are getting together after the holidays for an afternoon of bead making. We both can't wait. If I can't find sewing friends, a beading friend will do just fine! 


This piece is made with washed and dryed in the machine silk velvet. Love the magic that happens to velvet when you do that. More silverplate wire and wrapped stone. 



I am wearing thest to work tomorrow. I usually don't wear dangles or very "strong" earrings but I will make these work. We will see what happens. Again, tiny pieces of hand dyed rayon velvet and copper wrapping and various tiny beads. 

This HDed bit of wool is left raw on the sides. It just seemed to work. It sits on a simple wire necklace. Nothin' shy about this one. 


More wrapping fun! I like the shape of these pieces, the slight curve. 


Here is a very similar necklace to the one above but this time I wrapped it with the silver wire I think it is so pretty with the gold velvet.





And last but not least, more wrapped ribbons, albeit much narrower, with beads and silver spacers. The necklace is tied to ribbons a close friend brought back to me from the Laura Ashley store in England. I talked to her just today and miss her lots. I am glad I found a place for the ribbons to be seen by more than just me. This necklace has a real summery vibe and I will probably save it until then. 
All of the pictures in this post were taken with my new camera. I spent nearly the entire day today learning its features and know I haven't even scratched the surface.  Please don't be too judgemental. I used their editing software and am not used to it at all yet. But it's the first day and there will be many others. I am looking forward to getting back to sewing after the holidays and sharing it all with you. I need to focus on using the macro mode to get better closeups. Be patient with me and we will get there. I've had one of these before and for a long time, but this camera is far more advanced and just newer. It has the wireless remote, the one thing I insisted on as well as wifi. It should be a great time of discovery and creativity. More to come......................Bunny


Friday, December 18, 2015

The Happy Dance!




I've completed about five more jewelry pieces and hope to do more this weekend, particularly the ones made with some velvet I hand dyed. First I have to make friends with my new Nikon camera. I've also started on my "Great Courses" in photography. It is taught by a world class National Geographic photographer and so far I am really impressed with the class. It is college level but starts from nothing and builds at a wonderful achievable pace. There are four DVDs and a book.  This is an investment camera for me so I hope to learn all I can about it. I've also found some adult ed classes at our local community college that will start in the spring so I am hoping to take those as well. Life is good!...........Bunny

ETA: I just want to thank BaMA for suggesting the Great Courses. This is the basic course but there are quite a few more advanced than this as well. Thanks, BaMA...Bunny

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Wednesday Words




"Jeggings cannot replace a well-cut pair of pants, but 

on rack after rack, lycra has triumphed over 

tailoring."............La Duchesse on Passage du Perles



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Wednesday Words are quotes gleaned from the internet, blogs, books, newspapers and more. They are never my own words. They are not my opinions but merely comments written that made me go "hmmmmm,,,,,,,". Some may be provocative, some may not. Some may be my opinion, some may not. My goal is to start a conversation among followers of this blog and hopefully learn as we share our thoughts. I know you will do so respectfully and intelligently and  I thank you for that. 

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Flash, Update!


I haven't forgotten blogging, people, just have not been able to take any pics with my cheap little dead WalMart Camera. That puppy has always been meant as a short term replacement until I could do some research and decide on a new DSLR. My old DSLR got injured in a fall and was never the same and unable to be repaired. .  I've been juggling Christmas duties with looking for a new pic-taker. It had to be a DSLR as I desperately miss the one I had for a long time. I am happy to report my  new Nikon is on it's way. Santa and his Prime friends at Amazon are going to deliver my gift early in a couple days. He knows how important it will be to take pics over the holidays. Yippee!!!Then it will be back in business as usual with the blog.

Here's what I have been up to:

My bag has been put aside while I finish making  Christmas gifts for loved ones. I left undone one of the inset corners so I can show you how I did that when I get my new Nikon . Can't wait! It is a BIG bag. I like big bags but it is even an inch or two bigger than my ideal. It is still looking good, however.

While my bag parts have been resting, I have been on a bit of a creative jewelry binge. I took pics with my tablet but truthfully, they suck. So I will patiently wait and take them again when the cam comes in. I've really been enjoying mixing fibers into wearable jewelry. I've used vintage ribbons, big and little beads (love the matte finish), velvet I dyed, colorful cottons, colored wires, and more. I know they are not the best made things you'll ever see but they are  artsy enough to make up for that and are wearable and unique. Today I came up with the velvet idea when I saw a plastic hose in my basement! That's a tease, I know. I can't wait to wear one of the velvet necklaces tomorrow to work. I made two today and they came out way better than I thought. More to come!

Yesterday was time to make some small food gifts as well. I love Biscoff cookies, you know, the airplane cookies, and have found a really good recipe for them. The recipes all call for 5-7 spices  to make that unique flavor. At King Arthur Flour they had jars of ""speculaas spice"  to make the Biscoff cookies but I didn't indulge. I had a feeling there would also  be a recipe or two for that mixture on the internet and there were. I went and bought a big bunch of cinnamon, had all the other spices on hand and made a huge amount of "speculaas spice". I jarred them up in little glass bottles and will supply a pretty copy of the cookie recipe along with the bottle of spice as little gifts to some I know who love . to cook.

Another food gift I made was Oreo Peanut Butter and it is addictively awesome! Basically, it's a blend of honey roasted peanut butter and oreo cookies, all put in the food processor for 4 minutes to become smooth spoonfuls of heaven.  Chocolate and peanut butter? Can't beat it! Made a big batch of that and jarred it up in nice glass jars for more gift giving. It's REALLY good. Put it on crackers, ice cream, or just scoff it up from a soupspoon.  Here's the link if you would like the recipe, courtesy Crazy for Crust:    Oreo Peanut Butter from Crazy for Crust


photo courtesy crazyforcrust.com

I know many of you make garments, dolls, and quilts for holiday gift giving but do you make other things as well, any food gifts?

So it has been productive here lately, but this little elf is about done. All that remains is wrapping, but not much so it shouldn't be too bad. Then it will be packing time and travelling to NH, MA and more specifically  Cape Cod. Can't wait to get some pics taken to share my projects with you..................Bunny

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Designing for Modesty...Wednesday words


photo courtesy stylesbyshaheeda.com



"For some it’s a lifestyle, for others it’s a trend. In the past few months we’ve heard about “Modest Fashion” (dressing with modesty).............. An understated style that doesn’t leave much skin uncovered, does not necessarily mean being unfashionable. It can be very powerful, due to the accurate research behind it that requires a very strong inner awareness. The secrets to this look? A skirt, midi or maxi. Those who love shorter skirts can wear them over pants: it’s a super cool solution that we often saw on the catwalks."....................Gregorio Tosetti on the Blonde Salad, a fashion lifestyle blog

photo courtesy  justicepirate.com

Sunday, December 6, 2015

Back to sewing!



I have been down with a bronchial type flu for more than a week now. Yesterday I finally felt better and well enough to get back in the cave and sewing. A big blogpost was planned about sewing the inset corners of my bag and my camera died. It's the cheap replacement camera I purchased upon the death of my treasured and relatively old DSLR.  I will be shopping today and maybe will see how generous Santa wants to be. I have tried to be a good girl!

In the meantime I have also been making beads. I stopped my bagmaking at the inset corner point so I could do some pics for the blogpost with a new camera and switched gears to jewelry. I got a cute necklace completed. I've been having fun making more ribbon beads, paper beads and some fabric Pandora type beads. Today will be Christmas shopping in the big city fifty miles away but hopefully we will get an early start and back in time to churn out a few more beads or put another necklace or bracelet together. Pics coming, promise. Just a matter of time!
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My brother found a picture of my Mom and me at birth that I have never seen. I thought I would share. I love that she put on her makeup for the photo.


Happy Sewing!...................Bunny

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Wednesday Words




"My disposable income is extremely limited, which 

means I think long and hard about which fabric and

 patterns I buy. The result is that I buy very few 

patterns. I tend to buy wardrobe basics and modify

them for different styles, getting the most out of my

 money. I am a firm believer that I only need one

 t-shirt pattern" .....Carolyn on Baste and Gather


What's your pattern buying strategy?


photo courtesy Lekala.com


Sunday, November 29, 2015

M6532, the Taco Bag, Part One


First, thanks for the lively conversation regarding Liberty Tana Lawn. It's fun to share opinions, isn't it? It's what makes the world go round and the sewing blogosphere interesting, fun, and with a depth not found in other social media. Thanks all for you input.

I spent a good part of this afternoon putting the zipper in the top gusset of the bag. FWIW, I am doing this bag totally out of sequence. Why? The interfacing will make this bag fairly stiff and I want to turn the bag as little as possible to prevent cracking. Secondly, in the pattern the upper gusset is set into the inside corners  of the sides, all lined and interfaced. That is a recipe for disaster IMO. So the lining will be separate and I will use Shirley Adams' wonderful technique for doing inside corners that you can see here. Fingers crossed and I will let you know how it goes. Above you can see the completed zipper installation. I use upholstery zips a lot. I love their neutrality, large metal teeth and sturdiness. This one was the perfect highlight for this bag. Here's a little rundown of how I went about it.


When I make bags I do something I have really not seen mentioned by other bag makers, but very important to me. All interfacing is cut WITHOUT seam allowances and then fused. This eliminates huge amounts of bulk and gives a better finish to the seams. Remember, per Roberta Carr, "her" number one rule of sewing is to reduce bulk whenever possible! That's worked well for me. Above I am using old fashioned colored carbon paper and a serrated wheel to mark the seam line on the fusible fleece. That will be the cutting line for  the interfacing. The results:


Once the gusset was interfaced it was time to put in the zip. This involved sewing a rectangle and turning it, just like you do for bound buttonholes or welt pockets. Here is the lining I chose. Light colored linings are important to me in a bag. This one has the added feature of some glitter. It is a simple quilting cotton, not the best quality, and therefore heavy and with body, just fine for its intended use.


Here is the zip installed in it's "window".


This zipper will get a lot of use, another reason for the heavy upholstery zip. Because of that heavy use I don't like to do the usual row or two of topstitching. Instead I use the triple zigzag as you can see  more clearly in the first photo in the post. It's served me well. It's ok to not follow the pattern. Utilize your machine and all of it's wondrous abilities. With this fabric the stitches sunk right into the fabric.  This is what the zip looks like on the underside.


This was enough for today! Next will be getting the bottom of the bag together and doing those inset corners.

I've decided this may be a Christmas gift, or not. I am also working on some jewelry gifts for my favorite women. More on that later!......................................Bunny

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Wednesday Words, a bit early!


photo courtesy Britex fabrics.

" I know what you mean about Liberty – the soft 

lawn cotton is really nice but most of the patterns 

are way too ditsy – and from a distance most of them

 turn to a purpley grey sludge. Or brownish." 

.......................................Kate from Fabrickated


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I will be travelling over the Thanksgiving holiday and won't be back until next week. I wish you all a wonderful day with family and friends, revelling in their company and sharing the joy of good food together. Safe travels for all............................Bunny

Sunday, November 22, 2015

The Taco Bag, McCalls 6532


I am anxious to start my Taco Bag, McCalls 6532.  First, the fabric which you see above. It was recently purchased at a Joanns fifty off home dec clearance sale. I truly regret not having bought more. Because I needed to place the motifs, the yardage amount was really compromised. Oh, I really had enough. I just didn't have the extra I thought I would. Of course this was in the store the day I bought it and never more. It is a black denim with very heavy rayon embroidery all over, huge repeat. I am showing  it to you all scrunched up to make a point.  This just came from the washer, dryer and iron. Before that it was like any home dec fabric, stiff, yucky and loaded with finishes. I wash home dec fabrics all the time. The hand on this changed in such a positive way that if I had more it would have become a rather Koos type coat, not a bag. It now has a beautiful drape and will be much kinder to sew, the biggest reason I wash Home Dec. That really helps eliminate stitch problems.  I do know that the marvelous new drape won't make any difference as I interface the hell out of the bag parts, but it does just feel nicer to work with. Moral: don't be afraid of those big ole nasty stiff but pretty home dec fabrics. WASH THEM!



Here you can see why I call it the Taco Bag. It's shaped like a taco! All reviews say they were surprised at how large it was but I want a large bag. I need one to schlep my books and stuff to work. This should do it. I will be doing View A, the view with no contrast bottom fabric. This is how I cut the motif. The big flower will be bisected by a zippered pocket but that should be below the center of the flower.


This pattern has a rather odd way of sewing in the zippered top. Actually, it's not odd. What's odd is that the gusset is not run down to the bottom edge of the bag, ending instead half way down the side. That means inside corners  to deal with. Add in that Peltex is recommended and you can see where this could get a bit sticky, something reviewers mentioned. I am going to pass on the Peltex and use my tried and true combo of Decor Bond and fusible fleece. It won't come out with the luggage look but that  is fine with me. It should still have some serious body.
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I am still working on beads and jewelry at night while watching TV and still enjoying it. I purchased and painted sheets of Tyvek, that stuff they wrap houses with, and hope to make some beads with that real soon. In the meantime, the holiday hustle is on. I am off to make one of my deserts to bring, Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake from the Betty Crocker site which is down today "for maintenence" and wind out a bit of fresh pasta for dinner. Once you've gone that route its tough to go back to Barilla!..........Bunny

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Linen cushions are finally, finally done!


The cushion project for DD#2 is finally done. Cushion number one went perfectly, taking no extra time and falling into place like a snowflake on Christmas. Cushion number two: let's just say it was a friggin' nightmare. It took me five passes around the last boxing edge to get it finished. I've since calmed down, and the cushions are ready to be delivered on Thanksgiving. Here's the low-down.


DD wanted two cushions to fill the window seat of her bay window in the family room, 110 inches wide and 17 inches deep. On her own, she purchased the fabric and asked if I could make them. The fabric was a linen drapery fabric with a large repeat. Her purchase was done without my input. The linen was too light, IMO and would there be enough with the huge match? As far as the match, I made it with a six inch square piece to spare. Talk about close! But it matches nicely, on the covers and the boxing. Since the linen was too light, IMO, but was perfect for her room, IHO, I backed it all with fusible tricot interfacing, better.  For the insides I used the high density foam, thank you Joann's, and wrapped it with poly batting. The batting was loosely stitched together around the core and then was good to go.

I made miles of piping, 23 yards to be exact and too much but you just never know, and I used the technique for making bias found in the tutorial tab. The plan was to stitch the piping to one "cover" and then stitch the boxing to it following the previous stitching. That worked well and the first cushion came out perfectly.  The second cushion, not so much.

It took me five passes around the final boxing seam before I was finished. I sewed the boxing to the top and then took a couple days off to go to work. Then I stitched the remaining boxing seam to the bottom or so I thought. I am using my Kenmore and you can't see the spool from the front of the machine. I sewed the first four inches beautifully. Little did I know that the spool was empty after that. Remember in seventh grade Home Ec class they told you to look at your edge, not the needle? Well I did and thne stitched the entire boxing to the bottom with no thread, Pass Number One. OK, take a day off, start again with a full bobbin and spool of thread. It's going well. I got all the way around and about 12 inches from the end realized I had ALL THIS EXTRA fabric bunching up  at the end, GAhhhhhh. The boxed corners didn't match up from top to bottom either, Am I losing it? I am just shoving this away.

Another weekend and I rip out all the previous stitching that should have finished the cushion. Try again. This time I was really careful, lining up my corners nicely and spreading out any ease. Looked good and I decided I would baste it first just to be sure. I baste stitched all around  and all look wonderful. We are now into Pass Number Three. Let's finish this baby! I grab the cushion cover and start sewing.  I am excited to be done. and wha.....I restitched the OTHER boxing seam which was just fine, Pass Number Four. Can you hear my primal scream? Ok, here's comes Pass Number Five and I am going to get it right this time and I did! The Sewing Gremlins definitely took up residence in my sewing room for this project. Is not any project for someone else, whether we love them or not, doomed to major frustration? Sometimes I think so. But it is now done, and I am sipping my glass of wine as I write here.

Below you can see the two cushions. Because they are so long I couldn't get them all in the pic or close enough for detail. They are the same size and match nicely despite some sort of optical illusion going on.


I will be bringing the two cushions to New Hampshire and will  place them in their new home on the window seat in the way wide bay window. In the end, I think they will look nice and DD will appreciate my efforts. I am just glad it's done.

Hanging over the couch and visible in a few pics is the tapestry for my next project. I can't wait! I will be working on a much needed new bag for winter. Reading Marie Kondo's organizing book conned me into chucking nearly every bag I own. They didn't  "spark joy" in me. My next project will be making a bag that "sparks joy" in my heart. Better not have any gremlins.....................Bunny

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Wednesday Words, out of the mouths of babes




Another pleasure of King Arthur weekend was spending the day with my ten year old granddaughter, Sophie. She is extremely bright, a delight to be around and very "in control" of her world! She loves to sew and we try to get to the machine every time I visit. I gave her my Featherweight and she is enjoying it and taking very good care of it. This trip she was having a problem with her tension, loopy messy stitches. We checked and the thread was threaded perfectly. I pulled out the bobbin and lo and behold, it was put into the case counter clockwise when it should have been clockwise.I gave her a quick class on filling her bobbin case properly.  I had her do a few practice bobbin fills and she definitely learned her lesson. Then our conversation began.

Me; "Have you been sewing in school?" ( she does) "What are you working on?"

Sophie: "This year we made a gym bag ( draw string bag, sixth grade, she skipped a year). That will be our project for the year. We learn all sorts of things in our FACS class.? (pronounced like fax in kid lingo)

Me: "What is FACS?"

Sophie: "Family and Consumer Science. We learn how to sew and cook  and lots of other things."

Me:  "What else have you sewn?"

Sophie: "Last year we did a pillow case. But we learn lots of things besides sewing and cooking."

Me; "What other things?"

Sophie: "We've learned the right way to set a table, how to iron a shirt, how to wash dishes the right way by hand, do the laundry and lots of stuff. It's really fun."

Me:" Is this just in middle school?"

Sophie:  "No. Everybody has to take FACS from fifth until twelfth grade but in high school they spend more time on cooking and sewing, I think."

In comes big brother, in eighth grade,  who brings his phone over to be part of the conversation.

Jack: " Bunbun, look what I did in FACS."

He proceeds to show me his digital presentation he had to do for his cooking segment of the class. It was amazing. He documented the meal he was assigned to prepare at home for his family, showing how he cut the onions, cooked the meat, read the recipe, set the table, cleaned all the dishes, including pots, when done. Everyone in class had to prepare an entire meal for their family, eighth grade, mind you, document it all digitally, and do a power point presentation to the class. I was so impressed and told him how proud of was of his assignment. I don't know of anyone other than these two kids who are getting this kind of valuable learning. Do you? Can you see the value in it like I do? These are necessary life skills. I am so glad my grandchildren attend school in a community that doesn't write off sewing and cooking as a frivolous budget expense. I am thankful they live in a community that wants their children to learn how to iron a shirt, set a table, wash the dishes, do laundry and I am sure many other life skills. Where I live kids are being taught to pass tests and not much more. There is nothing like this. I am sad for those who aren't as lucky as Jack and Sophie....Bunny


Monday, November 16, 2015

Fiber Beads!



With a little inspiration from Pinterest I decided to dip my hands into making beads from fibers, namely batik and vintage ribbons. These are vintage ribbons in the necklace above that were given to me by my  dear friend Ima. There used to be a ribbon factory in New Hampshire at one time and it had a retail outlet. This is where she got these and kindly gifted me with them many years later when she "broke  up" her sewing room.  Very similar ribbons can be purchased today at places like Joanns.


There are a couple of different techniques to wind the beads but in this necklace I used a clear straw as the center and proceeded from there. After that actual glass beads were stitched to the fiber beads. This was really fun, great "TV" work and fairly quick to do. I've worn this necklace a few times and received lots of compliments. I think it is the "bead on bead" effect that makes it special.



This necklace was made with batik quilting cotton, similar technique. I touched up the beads with a bit of silver paint pen. I think the fiber beads really need a bit of bling somewhere to work.

I hope to make a few more of these as Christmas gifts. My cadre of favorite women, those I joined in the King Arthur class, will wear them and appreciate them. They are special like that and really the only people I sew and create for. It is my pleasure to do so as it is always much appreciated.......Bunny

Thursday, November 12, 2015


No sewing got done this past weekend. My two daughters and my sister and I all spent a fabulous weekend together culminating in a whole day at King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont learning all about hand making pastas from scratch. This was just the best girly time. It was spent with my favorite and oh so wonderful women doing our favorite things, learning, cooking, eating and shopping.  Our chef/teacher Robin was  very knowledgeable, fun and patient.  The sauce we savored made with  Black Trumpet mushrooms she herself foraged from the Vermont woods gained her rock star status.  Above you can see my oldest daughter churning out what will become spinach fettucine. 

 Here is baby sis working on hers. We made raviolis, laminated pastas, fettucines including flavored variations, and capallettis. Hope I spelled that right! We had a meal of spinach pasta with a sauce made with heavy cream, nutmeg and the black trumpet mushrooms, simmered over an hour, incredible. We all took our work home each of us needing two provided boxes to house all the booty. Tonight I cooked up some more of the pastas with a simple garlic olive oil dressing. Hubby loved it and thought the texture was perfect. He's very fussy about his al dente. We learned how good  texture depends on the blend of flours, not so much on boiling time.  

 This pic has moi and my youngest daughter . I'm cutting my spinach fettucine. In the pics you can see what a professional environment we were in, each with our stations all stocked with everything necessary. Another chef circulated answering our questions and checking our results, clearing and delivering any necessities. There were sixteen in the class aided by the two chefs. We learned SO MUCH. I can't stess that enough. It was clear everyone there was an experienced cook who loved the craft. This is not first time we've done this. A few years back we all went and took a class on baking sweet yeast breads. If you ever have the time or or plan to be in Vermont, this is a great  way to spend a day, particularly with like minded individuals, be it friends or family. Hope you give it a try.  The building is gorgeous, the restaurant all locally sourced and serving fabulous food and the education area and staff totally professional. It was great fun!

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Since there is more fresh pasta in the freezer and I had the day off yesterday, I took some time between catch up house chores to make some bread. I love to cook almost as much as sewing! Back to sewing soon.......Bunny


Had to Refurbish This One!

    About  6 or 7 years ago , during the dawn of the Zipper Trend,  I bought one of my rare retail items. It was a blush pink and black bord...