recycled+revamped 2011 harvest collection

Here it is, at long last. A new batch of purses in the work ! Last weekend I was scurrying about packing up for harvest gathering and working out the details of this collection, made from rescued swatches of rich fabrics. What would be the ideal purse for this event? One purse for a memorable experience. Colors that reflect the richness of autumn all around us. Warm late sunshine, local music by friends, full moon in a vast indigo starry sky.

Stacks of fabrics, components are gathered together and cut to size for the sewing spree that will ensue!

More on the 2011 harvest collection coming soon...

community sewing studio class - pants to skirt, part 2

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For a longer skirt, we cut up the inseam and pulled out some stitching.

Some possiblities for an insert in the front of the skirt and some applique for embellishing.

A lightweight pair of pants and a pieced skirt:

Measuring for length and then for width of the flouce, to be sure it's the same size as the bottom of the waistband section of the skirt.

Using a pinking shear to trim the edges so they don't fray.

The next artist class is the Make your own Hat Workshop with our friends Nadia, Sonja and Amy Daniels Moehle. We are going to be making Greta Garbo inspired hats from recycled materials. Nadia will also show you the color wheel and talk about how to choose colors.

It's on Sunday, May 22, 1-4pm, at the Grow Benzie community sewing studio, $20. Let us know if you can make it! It's warm and green in the greenhouse too, so stop by and see what's growing.

a peek into my studio

This photo was taken by my little guy while my friend, Amylynn, and I were working. He took the one of me below too. It's getting interesting in my studio, no doubt about it!

The t-shirt was in the stack to be revamped, and I took the great artwork from one of my old t-shirts. It was from the good old days in Grand Rapids and was illustrated by a friend with a very creative family. I taught his girls to sew in their first sewing class! Rose has become quite a successful entrepreneur at the Fulton Street Artist's Market. Pearl is a gifted illustrated already, so I hope she keeps drawing and painting! Check out the Wonder Wagon when you are in GR!

Wait until you see these great obi-style belts! I'm so excited about them b/c they are comfortable!

work in progress - wip wednesday!

 Here's a little preview of what's coming out of my studio for the "From Women's Hands" show this weekend. Over 150 talented local female artists are coming together to sell their wares at the newly renovated Streeters Center on Garfield in Traverse City. In addition, 20% of all sales will be donated to breast cancer research at Munson Hospital.  There's a party (with food, live music and dancing!) on Friday night from 6-10pm if you want to get in on the action early. I'd love to see you there!

In my studio - a new Bernina sewing machine!

Look at it, all sleek, black and shiny! Lucky that my table was made with room for three (really? all for me?) machines! I'm so thankful for a husband that just nods when I explain how I went to take one machine in for service - the backstitch on my Huskystar is sticky and the zig zag a bit loose - that I came home with a brand new sewing machine. Blame it on the great service at CS Sewing in TC, if you want. This is the machine I am test driving for the community sewing studio. Wouldn't a whole room full of them look super sleek?

summertime studio update...

We have been swimming at the beach with visiting family and are now heading out to the cottage for a couple weeks, so I'll be on vacation!

Here's a little peek at what's been going on my studio, to hold you over until I get back!

Sequins are everywhere this season, it seems. I love how they are becoming more of an everyday thing. This shirt is currently back in my studio for another revamp. I cut off the cowl and cut the neckline more like a tank top and am trying to decide if the stripe should become a racerback, a skinny cowl around the new larger neckline, or just a binding. Any suggestions?

A fun challenge using men's shirts. This one is linen, but it was a medium, and ended up being a little tight, so it's also on my stack to revise...

Another men's shirt challenge. It looks best with a wide belt, up high. I did add some pockets, so I'll try to get a pic of that to show you.

A fun t-shirt tunic, made from the top of a pink dress. The rest of the dress is the bottom of another summer dress with pockets. I'll work that getting that pic too...

embellishing... there was a hole elsewhere on the shirt, so I covered it with a little cashmere heart.

Another long sleeve shirt in progress. I added a cowl neck and am working on pics for my etsy site to sell this one!

Check out the new Community Sewing Studio!

For those of you who live in the TC area, here's a great new opportunity! A couple of sewists set up a cool place to sew in Benzie County. It's in the house next to Grow Benzie, on the lower level.

We have tables, chairs, sewing machines, a tall cutting table, shelves, thread, a variety of fabrics and clothing to recycle! Right now we are sewing patchwork tableclothes for a fundraising event with Top Chef Hosea Rosenberg and Song of the Lakes at Grow Benzie at the end of this month. If you are interested in helping out, let me know!

In the fall, we plan to have classes and open studio sewing times available. You can catch me at the Great Lakes Bioneers Conference at NMC in October, where I'll be teaching a workshop called "How to sew on a button and other life skills for recycling your clothes." It will be on Sunday morning.

OOooh, I'm so excited! One of my friends mentioned to me a song we used to sing at camp which talks about how it only takes a spark to get a fire going. I want to thank Sharron May for connecting me to this amazing opportunity! Time now to fan the flames...

a peek into my studio...

Here it is! The new sewing table, complete with a newly organized set of shelves, a thread shelf and a vertical sewing box (I stuck it all my bulletin board with pins!). Lately, I've found myself in there just reveling in all the organization and it makes me want to work! Creativity is an amazing gift, although somewhat unpredictable!

The table is tall, so I can stand at it and sew. The idea was to have a place where I could work without a chair, since my little monkey is climbing on everything. When I'm not using a machine, I'm learning to switch it off right away. He did find the pedal today, so now I'll have to be extra diligent. There is room for them on the shelf underneath when they need to be stashed for vacuuming.


I love this table leg! It's a tree limb which had it's bark removed by squirrels!
For the skirt, I stapled some Designer's Guild linen onto the top, and spritzed it with water to remove the wrinkles. Ironing might have been easier, but I wanted to make sure it would work first, and then, there was no going back!


Now, this is deluxe! There are holes in the desktop next to each of my machines, so the cords go down underneath, rather than cluttering up the surface! Thank you, David Moehle, for the great ideas in addition to the workmanship! If you live in Northern Michigan, and are looking for custom wood design using recycled material, he's your guy!

Two fabric covered bulletin boards are covered with ephemera, inspired by a good friend, Marcy at Mecca Crystal Lake. There are some of her works here too (the ATC's on the left board). All you need is an old bulletin board, fabric and a staple gun. Mine were $.50 each at a yard sale a year ago. I love bulletin boards! The gorgeous brown dish was a gift from another crafty friend, and holds one of three magnetic pin cushion, scissors and other sewing

A serger scrapcatcher! I finally replaced the "storebought" bag that catches the serger scraps with a beautiful orange linen. It was a bit tricky to figure out how to get it attached to the padded base that goes under the serger, but I did it.

studio shelf update

Ta-da!
Here they are, filled with goodies.
I'm so excited!

new artwork for my studio

Look at this groovy shadowbox, made by my good friend, Ann Edens. She is a talented artist, and she made this with goodies from my grandma's sewing box! It's so thoughtful, and I love how it turned out. It will look great in my studio, and I'll treasure the white sunglasses especially - I wore them for my wedding - in memory of Gram's stylish white sunglasses. Any Grandma that can waterski, slalom no less, when she is over 70, has to be cool!

new studio shelves!

studio update! Thanks to my wonderful friends, I now have shelves upon shelves in my studio! I couldn't wait to put stuff on them, so maybe this summer there will be time to paint them.