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.)