Kentucky State Fair Winners for 2014

After an extremely busy spring and summer, I have finally gotten back to a slower pace!  In early April I taught a "Linen and Lace" camisole class at the "It's Sew Fine" Sewing Expo, then in late April I went to a four-day sewing retreat with Londa Rohlfing where I learned how to take a high quality sweatshirt, cut it totally apart, embellish it with lots of silk & wool fabrics and scrumptous yarns, along with some quilting stitches for the fabric panels, then sewing all the pieces back together.  To finish the sweatshirt makeover, I used bias binding made from the wool fabric to bind the bottom edge and the sleeve edges.  The mandarin collar is made from the ribbing that was cut off the bottom of the shirt.  Bias binding was used at the top of the collar and is trimmed with some of the red yarn.  The colors in the beautiful handmade clay buttons were the inspiration for the jacket embellishment fabrics & yarns.

The jacket was only partially finished when I returned home from the retreat, and with several private sewing students lined up to teach during the next 10 days, I wasn't able to get back to it.  On top of that, I came down with Influenza B, pneumonia & bronchitis!  That kept me out of commission for about five weeks!  At almost the last minute, I was asked to teach a week-long summer camp for youth sewing students the first week of July and along with many more private sewing students, I found myself staying up very late at night to get the jacket finished.  I had submitted it as one of my entries in our State Fair and the deadline to turn it in was August 11.  By the grace of God, I got it finished and turned it in about an hour before the deadline!  When Lee & I went to the State Fair a few days later to check on awards, I was pleasantly surprised to find it had won a blue ribbon.  Yay!!!

I also entered a T-shirt makeover that is made from two cotton knit T-shirts.  I purchased two identical shirts and cut one up to make flounces for the second one.  This is another one of Londa's ideas from her Neckline Treatments Talking Patterns (see www.londas-sewing.com).   I thought it turned out really well.  It won a third place ribbon (white).  I'm pleased that it even placed, since it's an unusual design and has raw-edges on the flounces!




 


My third entry, a ribbon purse made from grosgrain ribbon, came in with an honorable mention.  For some reason, no one seems to realize the amount of time and workmanship that goes into making these ribbon purses.  I've had three of them in a gallery at the Galt House Hotel for sale, and none of them sold!  Oh, well, I think they're very unusual and pretty, so possibly I'll find buyers for the six remaining purses if I set up my online shop on Zibbet!

Please leave me a comment on what you think about the ribbon purse.  Maybe it'll help me decide what to do with the ones I have left - thank you!

This is the three-piece American Girl doll outfit one of my 11-year old students made for this year's State Fair entry.  I was so thrilled to see that first place blue ribbon attached to it.  When choosing her fabrics from Austin's Sewing Center, she said she wanted something with bright colors.  Well, I think she accomplished that goal!  She did an outstanding job on her creation, not only with her sewing skills but also following the pattern directions.  This was the first time she actually sewed on knit fabric, but she didn't let that stop her!  Congratulations on a job well-done, young lady!

State Fair Entry Winners: Sweatshirt Makeover and Ribbon Purse!

Two of my three Kentucky State Fair entries have won a blue and a red ribbon!  I almost didn't enter anything this year, but decided to go ahead since I had some items ready to go.  The sweatshirt makeover that I've been working to complete off & on over the past two years became my last minute "hurry up and finish" project!  Here it is with its blue ribbon.

My second place entry is one of the ribbon purses I made a year and a half ago for the craft shows and for the Koi Gallery at the Galt House in downtown Louisville.  I added a layered flower with an embroidered, covered button center placed on top of the bow that was already on it.  I think because it's in the red/black/white combination, it looks like a University of Louisville Cardinal bag and that may have caught the judges' eye!  Oh, well, I'm not going to complain about a second place, red ribbon award!

The display at the Fair isn't very attractive, so I've included the photo I took of the purse just before I took it to be entered.  The second photo shows it off better.

Teaching "Sweatshirt Jacket Pizzazz" and "Purse Accessory Set" Classes at Austin's Sewing Center in September

I'm scheduled to teach "Sweatshirt Jacket Pizzazz" on the 6th, and "Purse Accessory Set" on the 8th.

SWEATSHIRT JACKET PIZZAZZ

 This is a project where I took a pullover sweatshirt and turned it into a jacket, with lots of embellishments, such as yo-yo flowers and rick-rack stem on the bouquet, a wide band at the bottom for added length, pockets from two different fabrics and rick-rack trim along with yo-yos and buttons, and lots of bias binding and trim along the front and sleeve edges and around the neck.  The yo-yos were more fun to make than I expected them to be.  I made some of them the "old-fashioned" way, and some with the new yo-yo makers from three different sizes.  The corsage group was made with the large oval yo-yo maker.

 This close-up shows the bias trim along the neck edge, with yo-yo embellishment and decorative stitching using rayon thread.  The large yo-yo is stitched on in an off-set direction so it looks off-center.  The button sewn onto the top of it makes it rather cute, I think.

PURSE ACCESSORY SET

 This three-piece set consists of a tissue holder, a quilted cosmetic/catch-all bag and a purse organizer.  The organizer contains numerous pockets that are stitched in sizes that can accommodate necessary items that we carry in our purses.  When it's desirable to change purses, one can just lift the organizer out of one purse as a unit and place it in the next purse - all without having to place each item individually from one purse to the other.  How easy is that! 


(See my post, titled "Purse Accessories and Organizer" for more photos of this project.)