Winter 6 pac- first 3 pieces

Camisole in black stretch lace with nylon/lycra blend bottom. I did not use a pattern for this: I just winged it.
First I cut the cups after holding the lace over my bust to get an idea of the size needed. I sewed the cups and added straps, then added a parallelogram of fabric for front and back loosely based on a t-shirt. I finished the upper back edge with stretch lace.
When I tried it on without a bra, the girls falling below the bottom of the cups so I added more stretch lace on the inside front below the bust. Then they were staying up, but fell out at the sides so I added a strip of power mesh to the back, above the existing stretch lace and finished with lingerie elastic at the top.  I don't think I could recreate it exactly, but I do like it enough to try. It is warm under my clothes and the deep V shows less under a top than some of my purchased camisole tops.

I also made the panties. Hate to say it but I am much bigger than this dummy and things are much snugger on me.

The robe is made from a limp nylon mesh. It is very comfortable. It has a raised neckline and a front drape but the limpness really makes these hard to see. The edges have a rolled hem finish done on my serger. I used stretch elastic at the waist and a bias strip of silk that was hanging around for a tie at the waist. There is not much of a crossover so the front drape is handy for modesty. I don't usually wear it over the cami and panties like this so the general effect is not sexy. My apartment has radiators with no turn off valves and the robe works well however hot it is here.

 

Framed

I have finally done something with these pieces. They are framed now, but maybenot quite done. I stretched silk chiffon with stitched on sequins over canvases and then stitched the flower embroideries in place. The sequins catch the light and sparkle through the openings in the lace. It is a pretty effect. I have to stop myself from adding rhinestones though. The Irish dance dressmaker in me can be hard to quell. I think I will add some beads though.
A friend made the frames for me.

Lace Making

Irish lace is made from free standing motifs that are basted to a base and joined with more crochet stitches. After thinking about this construction method for a while, I decided to try to do this with fabric.
I combined the free lace technique with applique to make these samples.

These are the pieces laid out on the sticky water soluble film. I did two samples. The first picture shows sample 1uncovered and the second shows sample 2 topped with a non sticky water sol film. I didn't leave a lot of space between motifs. The fabrics are all silk. Some are duppioni and others are organza in shades of dull purples and gray. The green is a shot organza in purple and green that doesn't read as green in person.

 

Sample 1 after stitching. I did the stitching very dense-ly using a polyester embroidery thread in a purplish gray. I made sure all the motifs were stitched first them added joining stitches.

Sample 1 held up to the light.

Sample 1 after rinsing and pressing. I thought it looked too dense so I stitched sample 2 with less joining stitches. When I rinsed sample 2 it seemed ready to fall apart. I was very disappointed. I left pressing it til morning as the light isn't sufficient for me at night.

Sample 2 after pressing.

Sample 1 on left and 2 on right. I like them both. Now to decide what to do with them. I am thinking of framing them or maybe using them like the fringe on a scarf. Opinions welcome!

I really dislike this new blogger layout. I don't know how anything is going to look.

More Peacocks

These ones are in cotton rather than silk. I really like making the peacocks. I enjoy the free motion feathers. The satin stitching is a bit wonky and hurts me to do. I spent yesterday stitching one and still haven't recovered yet.

Elephant Tea Cosies

Before my series of surgeries last year I had injured my back. I am cancer free (so far, fingers crossed) but the back issue remains. It has made sewing a challenge. I have some bulging discs that are affected by sitting, especially sitting and leaning forward.
I am trying to teach myself to sew while standing, but my control is not great yet. In order to practise I have been doing a lot of free motion while standing. Mistakes are less apparent in a sketchy style. However, I am accustomed to the heavy satin stitching of the dance costumes I have made for so many years.
These tea cosies have been great practise for re-learning to sew. These ones feature some of the satin stitching while the peacocks have far more free motion.

Peacock Tea Cosy

This cosy is duppioni silk and cotton velvet with free motion stitching.

I love how the sun brings out the details.

Absentee-ism

I seem to have been absent a lot lately. I have actually been in and out of hospital with various surgeries/biopsies both of my own and family members.
Mum has been in Niagara (where there is a severe C Difficile problem) for just over a month. She should be home tomorrow. Maisie has had umbilical surgery to repair a hernia. That was a day procedure. Holy Hanna! how the little ones bounce back!
I am back in tomorrow for a more serious procedure that will keep me in for a couple of days. They really try not to keep you in for long anymore. This is more preventative than anything else. The cancerous changes so far have been contained. I will be quite nervous until the pathology is back though.

In the meantime I have been making a lot of kid's hats and adult fascinators. Hopefuly I can get some pictures on here once I get back.
Til then...

Another attempt

I tried free motion quilting before (not terribly successfully) and then did a lot of free motion embroidery recently. Then I found this blog ww.dontlooknow.typepad.com and HAD to try her pillow tutorial.

My result is above, which has my first attempt at free motion quilting. I have done embroidery but not quilting. I was quite rusty with the embroidery as well but it came back (to my not amazing previous level) by the time the pillow cover was done.

Thanks for the comments on the picture of me in my new dress. I have worn it often since then.

Dress

Maisie and I with friend Barb at my son's grade 8 graduation.
This was the only year both of my children will be in the same school. By the time she starts highschool, he will have finished university.
I thought the ceremony was on Wednesday eve, but it was actually Tuesday so I had to miss the last class of my textile arts course. It was a frenzy trying to alter his trousers and get my dress finished. The skirt was from an outfit I made for a wedding a few years ago. It was kind of big and droppy as the skirt so I wore a black one. I cut an empire top and added the skirt to it but the hem hung longer at the back than front. Once I saw all the asymmetrical hemlines in fashion now I remembered the dress, pulled it out and finished it off just in time.

Happy Canada Day! Blogger will not let me upload anything- but I have a title!

More Embroidery

Layers of silk, organza and thread have gone from a swirly sky,

to this,and eventually to this.

I am going to add some beads as stamens in the centre poppy and stop. It has to be done at some point. Now I need to figure out how to finish it. This one is for my Mum, who just got out of some major surgery about an hour ago. All is well so far.

Hat Head part 2

These photos have been taken on the hat forms that are shown in the last post.
I am mainly a garment sewer so I thought I would combine the two things. I free handed the vine and flower design then added a bead in teh centre of each flower. I thought it would be for me and I wanted subtle, but I don't wear a lot of beige or cream in the summer. Oops. Maybe I will try and black and white one. It might be easier if I do it before the hat is halfway constructed like these ones were.
This one has leaves that I made by cutting then singing the edges. I stitched them on a half completed hat and added a flower pin I had made. Voila! a perfect summer sunhat that can match any outfit. Maisie loves it!
These are for you Irene! I combined the stitching with a garment. A hat is a garment, isn't it?
Soon I will try to show myself in something I have made. Thanks Ruthie, Irene, Ann and Karen for your support.

Hat Head

I did a bit more on trees and stuck it in a frame (loosely) for this pic. I might paint the sky a pale gray blue instead of white but am holding off to ruminate a while.

These are some hatforms I drew in free motion. I did about 7 of them but only a few are shown here. I have been painting them, then embroidering and embellishing them some more. Here are two in progress. The flesh was painted first, then the hat, then background. On the red hat the blue leaked onto the flesh. I had to run with it. I added a bit more flesh tone on her nose, but left the blue everywhere else.
Some more stitching and painting. I stitched in one leave on the side and tried to stamp two more but did not like the effect.

So I appliqued some silk leaves over top and added copper foil to them. I then added some gold and copper foils to the swirls on the left. I might add more. Taking a break on it for now.

This one reminds me of Nefertiti. You can see above I am adding some diagonal designs to try to mimic the hat in the sculpture. Not sure about it. Never sure though.

Free Motion

I have always wanted to learn free motion embroidery. What I do is so tight and controlled and I wanted to loosen up. I have been taking a course in Textile Art at a local college and so have been doing a lot of free motion work lately.
I love it!
The trees are about 9x9" and aren't quite done yet. I roughly stitched in the scene, then loosely painted in the bushes, leaves and ground. The bushes and leaves were done with a technique using tiny snippets of silk held down with tulle. The foreground was stitched back and forth with shades of green. It wasn't until I added some deep green into the front that the depth was really created.
This one has more applique. I drew the design on the top and stithched it. I planned to use the reverse side as the right side but decided I wanted to elephant to face right, so I had to add the silk, stitch from the back and cut away the rest once it was all stitched. I am still playing with it. It probably should have been done with black bobbin thread as the white really shows. I want to paint the background and add more stitching and maybe some gold leaf.
I gave up trying to use my Husqvarna Mega Quilter,(which I LOVE for other things) and am using my Pfaff 1550. I had to buy a foot, but I have less tension problems than before.

Musings

Lately, and by that I mean about two years, I have been sewing a lot of simple things. Smaller things like hats, scarves and other accessories as well as children's items, some pillows, curtains, aprons, purses.
I haven't had a lot of extra time, but that is not the main reason. I am big and not happy about it. It is hard to dress a body you are not happy with. Nothing looks flattering to my eyes. However, none of my older clothes are going to look flattering to anyone else either. Really, it shouldn't matter. No one cares what I wear. I am not a celebrity or public figure. I really admire women like Carolyn and Angie, who are larger than your average model, but dress to please themselves. They are well dressed and I am not. I really need to look to them as examples. I don't have to be happy with my weight, but I really should tart up this old body to look the best it can now while working on that aspect.