Fresh Off the Sewing Table

Second Post of the Day

We are having a heat wave here and when that happens, I hibernate either with a good book or in the sewing room. This time I chose the sewing room and have a lot of haversacks cut out, in progress, or finished as a result.

Here are some completed Venti/Curio/Medallion sized ones that are available for $8 apiece plus shipping.

Fairy Tale Unicorns

Model to show what fits.

Medallion to show what fits.

Skeletal Horses

Model to show what fits.

Medallion to show what fits.

Purple and Ponies

Model to show what fits.

Medallion to show what fits.

Chalk Horses

Model to show what fits.

Medallion to show what fits.

Interested? Comment below or message me! And more coming tomorrow so stay 'tooned!

Remember to comment to enter for a show apron!

Apron with Poseidon's Ponies fabric used as pockets.

It's Gonna Be a Day!

Tick! Tick! Tick!

The clock is ticking - it's Great Lakes Congress week and I am busy getting ready for the show. I'm so looking forward to seeing the GLC crew and other friends this weekend!

While time is passing quickly, there is a different "sense" of preparation for GLC than there was for the Feast. The Feast prep was far more intensive - I'd been sewing for months to get ready and there was a multitude of other things to do to ensure that I was ready to go.

Haversack making goes far more quickly and a stack of them can be completed in one day whereas most 18th century clothing items take me at least two and often more than that.

Last week I made seven XLTs (extra long traditionals) and so far this week I have sewn twelve Hamilton-sized traditionals. Hamilton's height and that streaming tail require a slightly larger pouch, but so do a lot of traditional scale models, so essentially I make three traditional sizes: regular (think Proud Arabian Mare), Hamilton (for Hamilton and a bunch of other bigger traditionals), and the XLTs (for shelf eaters like Nemea and Via Latte.)

I love this fabric but it takes some care to cut it so that the scene is on the flap as well as the body of the bag with the red fox showing.

This "cameo" style of print seems to becoming more and more popular - I am seeing similar prints in fabrics all over.

The teacher in me was drawn not only by the cute primitive horses, but by the latitude and longitude map lines faintly seen in the background.

A very striking print, but another that had to be planned well before cutting to ensure complete heads were on the flap.

A very soft flannel, which normally I don't use as I prefer cotton, but that bottom/middle horse reminded me of Abby so I purchased a yard or so of it.

I know, I know! But just because I am not a fan of unicorns doesn't mean I don't have customers who aren't, so...

I also made up some Christmas prints into haversacks. I love this barn print and the decorated stalls.

This fabric was a bit of a surprise. I love sleighs and horses, but I meant to purchase a smaller scale print. But doesn't this larger print look good? (Another one that I had to be careful cutting so that the grey horse and sleigh showed in full.)

Lafayette has a huge Christmas parade every year (I've ridden my horse in it in the past) and these festive carts reminded me of some of the horse drawn wagons and floats there are in our parade.

This is a vintage fabric that I've used before. It always sells well. 

A second hunt scene - I cut it just a bit differently than the first and was able to to get four red foxes on it!

And a second haversack from the cameo fabric, too.

I have two more XLTs cut out that I'd like to stitch up today. (I'm ignoring that stack of 18th century fabrics for the moment, LOL.) However, getting much sewing done is going to be a challenge.

It's Wednesday and Nash and Molly spend most Wednesdays with us. Tammo will go crazy with delight, and he and Nash will storm around the house together when they are reunited. 

They will also go through the toys - there's nothing new, but you never know, right? (We have six, SIX!! of those green and orange snakes. Their favorite toy of all.)

And of course they have to mill around as they greet us and frisk our pockets for treats.

Craig will fix them all an egg apiece (sweet guy that he is, he cools the eggs a bit before handing out the bowls.) Note the "sharks" circling below - waiting is hard!

And at last things settle down and for the rest of the day, our "entourage" follows us absolutely EVERYWHERE.

Up since 4:30 AM and hoping to take a nap? Think again, Lynn!

The entourage is happy to help with that! They are available for snuggling, lying on your feet to keep them warm, and please don't stop belly rubbing as they nod off themselves. Oh, and so sorry, but there is no room on the bed - humans must sleep in the recliner or on the floor.

Having the entourage in the sewing room means stepping over dogs constantly, and most importantly, worrying about the iron. It's hot and it's heavy. If the ironing board gets jarred and the iron falls off (it's happened, although not when the dogs were present), a pup could get hurt.

I've tried shooing them out of the sewing room so I can work and they are bewildered and their feelings get very hurt. It's easier just to step over them and then iron after they go home.

So, not much sewing will get done today, but that's okay. I can work on my GLC show string and start pulling ponies to pack.

Besides, those dogs are sweet, kind, funny, and just the best company. I can give up some sewing time for them, no problem.

Meat Textiles - A Fabric Story

I have been spending a lot of time in the sewing room, trying to replace all the merchandise I sold at Indy Blooms, Midwest Model Mayhem, and via internet sales. I found some really nice and colorful new fabrics last week.

Isn't fabric this pretty? (I'm tempted to keep it for myself.) I made a Traditional pouch

and an Extra Long Traditional from it. (XLT) 

I was actually searching for a flamingo fabric a customer had requested when I found these brightly colored fabrics. I made a Traditional to sell

and an XLT for the customer. This flamingo fabric reminds me of a summer evening.

Finally, I made two XLTs from this fabric.

XLTs fit Contantina, the Cleveland Bay, Shagya Arabian, and other of Breyer's longer models.

I often get asked as to where I get my fabrics. The answer? Everywhere and anywhere. I even search state by state for mom and pop/locally owned fabric stores which is how I found those fabrics above. Most of the time I don't find anything new, sometimes I do, and other times, I am utterly taken aback as to what can be found in a fabric shop.

Here's a quick story about the latter.

One place I get recommendations on where to find fabric is from friends. One of my fellow musicians from my opera days, Charis Bean Duke, is just as an accomplished sewist as she is a professional musician. 

Charis buys a lot of her fabric from abroad and shares those links with me.  The British shop fabric godmother web site, though, turned out to be an eyebrow raiser.

It looked totally normal, but when doing a search for horsey fabrics, I discovered that they carried fabrics that were very realistic meat prints. There was a disclaimer that said:

It needed that disclaimer because onsite photos of those cabbage leaves, veggies, and especially the sides of raw beef absolutely, 100% looked real. And yet, it was all fabric. A little taken aback, I wondered who would want to buy fabric like that? Maybe film and theater companies would want foods for filming and performances that would not spoil? Those meat textiles were realistic enough for that!

Those textile food pictures made me feel a little sick, but they also made me smile. Why? In an opera that Charis wrote and I performed in, we were using fake food in it, although ours was plastic, not fabric. And that fake food led to a near disaster between Music City Son Cole and me during the performances. The irony and the connection back to our opera days made me smile.

One last mini fabric story, just for fun. Charis also does needlework and gifted me with this embroidered picture she made and framed for me (barn wood!) several years ago. 

Anyone else think that Marabella might have been the model for the horse?

Back to the sewing room to enjoy my fabrics with pretty horses and ponies on them and no meat textiles in sight!