Sewing Student Wins Second Place Red Ribbon at the Kentucky State Fair!

In June, I started teaching private sewing lessons at Austin's Sewing Center in Fern Creek, KY.  I have such a love of sewing and now I can share that with many more sewing students.  I am loving it!

Two weeks ago, I had an interesting experience with a lovely 10 year old girl.  She had committed to enter into the Kentucky State Fair an outfit for her American Girl doll, but had only cut out the pattern for the tunic, leggings and shoes.  Time was running out to get it made before the deadline to submit the entries.  I got the call on Monday that her lesson needed to take place right away so she'd be ready for the deadline on Saturday.

We got the two-hour lesson scheduled and got to work at the designated time.  The young lady was already familiar with her sewing machine.  She had taken lessons at another sewing dealership, having made two projects there, so that was a huge plus.

At the end of two hours, there was still more to do.  I was asked if I could work with her for another hour.  I said, yes, so we continued to work.  After another hour and 45 minutes, my young student had all of the machine work finished.  All she had left to do was to hand-stitch the trim on the hem of the tunic, sew on buttons for trim and glue some hook and loop tape on the opening in the back of the tunic.  We decided the leggings could be finished with a drawstring instead of elastic in the waistline casing, which made the finish work on them quicker and easier for her.  She had already planned to sew the shoes by hand.

At the State Fair last night, Lee and I made a special effort to find out where the junior sewing department was located.  Well, as we were walking toward it, I spotted the lime green tunic top on a doll in the top row of the display case from far away.

As we got closer, we could see that the American Girl doll had a red ribbon pinned on it.  My student had been awarded second place on her creation (pictured here)! 

Instead of hemming the bottom of the tunic and putting in a neckline facing, we decided to use pinking shears to finish the edges.  The doll's tunic was made from polar fleece, so a hem and a facing would have created way too much bulk in those areas.  I think it was a good decision!  It not only made the finish work easier, but quicker!

Here is a back view:

I'm really proud of my budding, designer 10 year old sewing student and can't wait to call her and let her know what great work she did!  Her doll looked fabulous, dressed in her lime green tunic and printed leggings outfit!  I can see that she has a love of sewing even at her young age.

Sheer Ribbon Gathered Flower

One of the flowers I didn't teach at my March 16th Flower Power class is the sheer ribbon gathered flower.  It's made with 1" sheer ribbon, cut at about 18" long.  The ribbon is gathered into a small, puffy type flower and can be used as an embellishment or as a stand-alone brooch with a sewn-on felt backing and a pinback.  A cluster of the sheer ribbon flowers would certainly be pretty as a brooch!

The following pictures show what the sheer ribbon flower looks like from the front and from the back.  There is a slight difference in the look, so you could have some variety if you make a cluster with several of the flowers.

This is one side of the flower.

This is the other side of the flower.

There is a very slight difference in these two sides of the flower.

 Both of the sheer ribbon gathered flowers are from sheer ribbon that is 1 inch wide.  A wider width would make a much fuller flower, and conversely, a more narrow ribbon would make a leaner flower.  The same would hold true with longer and shorter lengths.

The difference between the two sides of the yellow flower is more easily seen.

One of these sheer ribbon flowers looks good layered on top of a yo-yo.  Sew it onto a stretchy headband for a cute look.
  
This is a very easy and versatile ribbon flower, and it's very pretty in the sheer ribbon.  You could probably make it with satin, or silk satin ribbon for an equally pretty flower that would be a little softer looking.

I have had so much fun making ribbon flowers and fabric flowers for my projects and for my Flower Power class.  In fact, I have a Flower Power II class scheduled at Austin's Sewing Center for June 4, from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.  Please join me to learn how to make some more difficult flowers for all of your creative embellishments.

Flower Power Class was Great!

The Flower Power class was held on Friday, March 16, at Austin's Sewing Center with nine students.  This was a fun class.  What a great, fun time we had.

Some had already learned how to make the Kanzashi flower, so I got them started on the next project, while the rest of the class learned Kanzashi.  I surprised myself when I realized I was teaching two completely different techniques to two parts of the class at the same time!  Wow!  I did it!  (To quote my grandson.)

To see the photos of the Kanzashi flowers, and some of the other fabric flowers, go to the previous post about this class.

 These two felt flowers are not in the previous post, so I added them here.  These are copied from a felt flower on a stem that I've had for years.  I don't remember where it came from, nor how long I've had it.  I decided to add embellishments of some fun fur yarn on both flowers, and an addition of some organza squares behind the yarn on the pink flower.

These are very easy to make and with the addition of green leaves and a sewn-on pinback, they make a lovely brooch - don't you think?

The ribbon rosette looks so pretty as a clump of three rosettes, as does a single rosette attached to the center of a ribbon bow.

This is a cluster of yo-yo flowers to show how versatile they can be.

The students were having a great time visiting with each other, catching up on happenings since their last get-together.

I have a second class called Flower Power II scheduled for June at Austin's Sewing Center.  I'll teach how to make a Sweetheart Rose with a template from Clover, and I'll review the pleated ribbon flower project that I offered as a bonus, but didn't have time to go over fully.  Both are shown below.  There will also be several new flower designs taught at this class.

 After the first of April, check www.Austinssewingcenter.com website for the exact date and more details for this class.

Flower Power Fabric Flower Class at Austin's Sewing Center

 If you live in the Louisville, Kentucky area, please come to my class and learn how to make fabric flowers on March 16.  We'll have a wonderfully fun time learning about six different kinds of fabric flowers in this class.  Go to www.austinssewingcenter.com for registration information.

 These are Kanzashi flowers - a Japanese folding technique, which I found on the Internet somewhere.  I had seen some fabric flowers on ready-made garments and started searching for ideas.  When I ran across this technique, I was so curious.  They are easy to make and great fun to put together.  I have sewn buttons into the centers of these flowers and a pin back on the backside so they may be moved from garment to garment.

 The ribbon rosette flowers can be made with satin, silk satin or grosgrain ribbon.  They are a quick, easy way to make some very attractive fabric/ribbon flowers!  And, fun!

 Here are some yo-yo flowers made from cotton fabrics combined with rick-rack flowers.  The yo-yo flowers were made using a yo-yo maker.  They can be used as an embellishment or as a brooch with a pin back sewn onto the back.  The pink is a three-layer flower made with a yo-yo base, a gathered ribbon on top of that, and a small rick-rack flower as the last layer.  The pink flower is sewn onto a stretchy headband.

These fabric roses were made using a template.  The template is a little challenging, but really easy to use after getting the hang of it!

As a bonus, I'll teach how to make a pleated ribbon rose flower brooch by machine, so bring your sewing machine and supplies for this extra project!  I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Get to Know the Teachers

Join me at Austin's Sewing Center on Saturday morning, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. during Austin's grand opening celebration at their new location on Bardstown Road in Fern Creek, behind McDonald's.  I'll be showing some of my projects; ones I've shown here on my blog.  See them up close and personal!  You can examine the techniques I've used and see how I've put projects together.  Check out Austin's web site at www.austinssewingcenter.com for more information on the grand opening.