More Comfort Caps Made by Sew What! Class Member

More comfort caps!  

This is the second of my posts to brag on my Sew What! community sewing class attendees.  Patsy, one of my regular students, made more comfort caps for donation to those who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy or other reasons.  Patsy brought about 12 caps to our November class, and these 21 caps were brought to our January class.  Patsy has become a comfort cap-making machine!

All of the caps have been embellished with either iron-on or sew-on appliques or flowers or buttons.  As you can see in this photo, we love the University of Kentucky!  Go Cats!

These caps will be divided between two locations at Baptist Hospital East: the radiation treatment center and the chemotherapy treatment center.   This week, I found out about a third location that needs caps, at another local hospital's cancer treatment center.  So, I'll be donating a portion of the caps to them, also.

Thank you so much, Patsy, for your wonderful work and willingness to donate your time, fabrics, appliques and effort for those who are in such need!

Sew What! Community Sewing Group Update

This is the first of several articles I'll be posting about what our community sewing group, Sew What!, has been doing so far this year.

The first is about our project to sew shoulder bags for an orphanage in Haiti.  This is a photo of the bag I made as a model to teach the class how to make the bags.  Our Louisville Area Master Clothing Volunteers made 39 of these shoulder bags at our work day in January.  There were 10 shoulder bag kits left, so I brought them to our January Sew What! sewing class and taught them how to sew the bags together.

The students took them home to finish.  At our class last Thursday, they brought back 13 finished shoulder bags!  Thank you so much, Bonnie, Patsy, Rebecca and Jan!  Patsy even made 8 more out of some upholstery fabric she had at home!  You ladies ROCK!!!!

This is the same bag that's in the photo above.  It's been reversed.  These shoulder bags are reversible and are sewn primarily of upholstery fabric.

One of our Master Clothing Volunteers drew up the pattern for the bags so they are easy to make, but are very functional.  I had one shoulder bag kit remaining, so I gave it to one of the students who wasn't able to come to the January class.  I know she will bring back a beautifully made bag to our March sewing class.

Here are some of the shoulder bags that were brought to our class on Thursday.  The bag kits were made with upholstery fabric that was donated to the project by a fabric store in Shelby County.

The fabrics look like a mish-mash of patterns and colors, but they turned out to be very cute.  Everyone did a great job of combining what they were given to make the flaps and the linings go together so well.

These shoulder bags can be used for carrying books or personal belongings.  They have a shoulder strap, but it isn't really long.  I think the length of the strap is good for children, so the bags won't be uncomfortably long.


My heartfelt thanks goes out to my Sew What! sewing students for taking on this project with such ease, for a job well-done!  You ladies are the greatest!

February Sew What! Community Sewing Class Project

I made my Valentine a mug rug so he can stop using paper towels for his coffee mug!  I had so much fun making this little cutie!  I just discovered mug rugs about a month ago and have fallen in love with them!

I wasn't sure how big, or small, to make this one.  I just guessed at the size, after trying out a mug to fit.  It worked out really well, and hubby really likes his mug rug! (He had no clue what a mug rug was - imagine that!)

When I found the built-in decorative stitch with hearts on it, I thought what a no-brainer using that stitch would be!  I used regular all-purpose thread, thinking the rayon embroidery thread would be too glitzy for the mug side of the rug.  I do like it this way.

I used flannel fabric for the mug side, to make it look more "manly."  Along with the cotton/poly blend plaid fabric for the snack side, I like the way they compliment each other.

I used the rayon embroidery thread for the applique stitch on the hearts.  The applique consists of two sizes of hearts, stacked one on top of the other.  I like the way it turned out.

I'm teaching this project at my community sewing class this Thursday, so I hope to have some more photos to share of what my students make in class.  Stay tuned!

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!

Custom Ribbon Bag Holder for Kindle Fire

My first ribbon purse custom order from the last craft show was a success!  A lady who visited my booth at the previous craft show asked about the availability of a smaller ribbon purse.  I was away from our booth at the time, but hubby told her I could make a smaller size.  (Which, of course, I can!)

She looked me up at the next craft show and placed her order for two smaller ribbon purse/bags for her two granddaughters, who are sisters.  The sisters were to get Kindle Fires for Christmas and grandmother wanted them to have matching bags to hold them.  The only complication was how to differentiate the bags from each other if they were alike!  We decided to try a monogram of the girls' initial of their first names.  I told her I would experiment with some scrap ribbon and see what I could do.  As seen here, the monograms turned out great!

Grandmother requested purples for the color combination.  I had run out of enough purple ribbon to make the bags "purply," so I went out and purchased the floral and the solid ribbons.  I thought the combination turned out looking really nice.  I always try to put together a combination of ribbon colors and patterns that are eye-catching.

This is an inside view of the Kindle Fire bag.  The pocket was made large enough for a box of crayons, so the girls could include a coloring book in with their Kindle Fire.

Both ribbon bags have the same bow out of sheer ribbon that has glittered circles printed on the top side.  The glitter seemed to fall off as I was working on the ribbon, so I sprayed a heavy layer of starch on the surface and let it dry overnight.  That took care of the glitter!  I rubbed it and shook it and it wouldn't fall off.  I like to hand-sew a pin back on each ribbon bow so the owner may remove it, if desired.

I enjoyed working on these ribbon bag holders for the young girls' Kindle Fires.  They certainly won't see any other holders for Kindle Fires like these anywhere!

Art and Craft Shows are Over

The craft shows are over, for me, for this year.  What a whirlwind of activity they have been!  I was accepted into the first one in mid-October, then had to be out of town for three days at my annual Master Volunteer training, where I taught two sessions of a class on how to decide which fabric goes with your chosen pattern.  As soon as I returned from that training, I got caught up in getting late summer/early fall yardwork done, planting some plants my mother was taking out of her yard.  So, I really didn't get anything started toward the craft show until after the 1st of November!  Wow, talk about marathon sewing!  I made 12 ribbon purses in 10 days, from start to finish!

Here are 9 of the  purses I had for sale at the first show.  I had a worktable set up at the front of our booth, so I could sew custom ribbon bows and/or ribbon rosettes for an added touch to the purses.

It was great fun seeing some of my high school classmates and friends who stopped by to see what I'm doing.

A surprise happened after we got set up.  The person who had the booth right next to ours was one of my library sewing students!  We were both totally surprised to see that we were right next to each other.



The next week we set up at a church in the downtown area.  It was held in their dining room and was decorated for Christmas so beautifully.  Lee decided to make a special cookie that he has been making from a recipe included in one of our Bible study workbooks.  The study was on the Book of Esther.  They are called "Haman's Ears," are made with wheat flour and an apricot filled center.  They are really delicious, so he sold out of his cookies within a few hours!

Our next show, a week later, was at a school in the east end of the county.  We found out that another friend had a booth in the same show!  The friend's wife does paintings and is more experienced in doing craft shows.  Their booth was very creative: put together with old doors to make it look like you're walking into an art gallery.  It was really imaginative!  Lee made more Haman's Ears cookies and sold out, again!

Our final show was on Dec. 11 at the high school where I worked for 12 year total, from where I retired in 2002.  I saw many of my former co-workers and neighborhood friends, plus I made some new friends.   It's been fun making friends with some of the other craft show vendors.  Some were new at it, like us, and some were seasoned.

The day after our third show, I went to another two-day craft show at one of the local high schools.  I was in hopes of finding a vendor whom I had met at a craft show last year when I was "scoping out" the local craft shows seeing how they work and what products were being sold.  She had given me some good tips on getting on the craft show circuit, so I wanted to tell her that I had taken the plunge.  I found her in the same spot she had last year and we chatted for several minutes.  She gave me some more good tips and congratulated me on my new venture.

I decided to look around to see what was being offered at this craft show.  I ran across a new idea, for me: a bow making system.  After perusing the finished product, I found out that the vendor had developed a set of templates to help the bow-making process be much more easy and quick.  I was sold!  I could add these cute bows to my ribbon purses making them more appealing!

When I got home, I had to sit down and start making some of these new bows.  They went together very quickly and came out looking so beautiful.  I am so grateful that I found this system.  I have made all new bows for 10 of the ribbon purses and I think they look great!

Lee setting up his cookie display.

Here, I'm working on a special order ribbon bow and a rosette for a headband.  I offered one size fits all headbands for sale with a free ribbon bow or rosette.  They sold well!

This ribbon purse has one of the new bows made with the bow templates.  This has two sizes of bows that are stacked one on top of the other with a knotted center and some shorter pieces of ribbon inserted between the two bows for added pizzazz.  I think it looks more snazzy now!

This is a close-up of another ribbon purse with the new bow on it.  It's made with two sizes of stacked bows  and a solid color knotted center.  These are a great improvement!  All of my bows have hand-sewn pin backs so they may be removed or re-positioned.  The removable bows would make pretty brooches, also.

Art and Craft Shows

I've been away for a while!  I've been working on a new venture: making items for sale at art and craft shows.  After all, this is the Season!

I have been making ribbon purses for about six years and decided to take them to the marketplace.  Two weeks ago, I exhibited my purses at the art/craft show at my high school alma mater.  My husband, Lee, helped me with the exhibit and working the show.  We had a blast!  He loves people and loves to tell people about what I do, so it was a good experience.  We also did a second show the next week and had more fun!

This is one of my purses, made completely with grosgrain ribbon and embellished with fun fur around the top edge and a sheer ribbon bow topped with a ribbon rosette.  The bow and rosette are hand-sewn onto a pin back for easy removal.  This one is in a lavender and white combination.

This red, white and black combination is quite eye-catching!  It has a red and white polka dot lining.  All of my purses are made with a cotton or cotton/polyester blend lining fabric, and there is one pocket on the inside with a hook and loop tape closure.   I have added a magnetic closure for the purse, itself.

The grosgrain ribbon is extremely durable and can be spot-cleaned to maintain its beauty.  I have been using my own personal ribbon purse for almost four years and it's still in like-new condition.






The next one is a black and white combination and has a black and white floral lining.

I now have both of these last two purses, along with a third one, for sale in the Koi Gallery, a shop inside the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. 

I was thrilled when the shop owner said she would love to have some of my purses in her shop, needless to say!

I'll update my status on how this new venture is going, as time goes on.  I've also added some lower priced gift items for sale that can be purchased at a lower price for the budget-minded, such as Christmas tree napkins, coasters to match, fabric bowls, and I'm working on a garment protector design.  I'll try to get some photos of them posted when I get them ready.

I'm getting ready for another art/craft show scheduled for this Saturday and another - my last one - on the 10th.  My time is short, so I'll get back to the work table and sewing machine.