On a Lark » Applique

Flying the family flag

Emily — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:53:08 +0000

My Dad has worked as a captain for nearly all of his career. Schooners, tugboats, all kinds. But we still don’t have a family burgee. Burgees are flags that represent a family or group, you’ve probably all seen them on boats that belong to yacht clubs. So this last Sunday, as the rain washed out our street-wide yard sale for the second day in a row and with Father’s Day just around the corner, I got to work. Our local canvas shop gave me a bright red scrap of Sunbrella and I used some old sail canvas we had laying around for the letters. The design is simple, but what isn’t shown in these pictures are the two magazines that died in the making of this burgee. It turns out I’m not that great at making symmetrical stars. Who knew?

Now all that’s left are some grommets in the corner to fly it from my parents motorboat. Their golden retriever loves to pose dramatically on the bow next to their current burgee, and I think the red is really going to compliment his lion’s mane:

I can’t wait to get this burgee flying because the Farmer’s Almanac is calling for a hot dry summer in Maine and besides the yard sale wash out, it’s been right on!

Purple and yellow make a good pair

Emily — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:00:12 +0000

Among many things I’ve picked up while living with my roommate is a healthy appreciation for the purple and yellow color combo. It’s good. Accept it. Where is this going? I made a little graduation gift for my roommate! I picked up some fat quarters from Joann’s for the project. Typically, I don’t use fat quarters because they aren’t a great deal and I don’t like the name. But in this case it was perfect. Two fat quarters = one excellent wallet.

I got the ideas for the felt from this pillow. But as it turns out, I’m not so good at translating a picture into the same shape free hand. All things considered it turned out pretty well.

Graduation is sneaking up in the next few days. I’m VERY excited, but I’m definitely going to miss my roommates and our little house. Onwards and upwards.

The best Carhartt hoodie ever

Emily — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:02:26 +0000

Who would have guessed that my local True Value Hardware had two full aisles of crafting stuff? And the best color of felt around? It’s only oatmeal, but it’s a really nice oatmeal. I’ve been wanting to try some more applique for a while now, and just like this post, I really like making my Carhartt stuff feel like my own. And plus, they’re work clothes, so if they don’t turn out great, it doesn’t matter.

I decided to go with a leaf design, like I did on my laptop sleeve, because they are easy to sew and cut. Are you sensing a pattern here? I like things to be easy. The flower/leaves on the front turned out to be a little bit too small to put through the machine, so I broke out my bright pink embroidery hoop and went to work. Hand sewing can be pretty soothing. As long as there isn’t much of it. Again, I like easy.

On the back, I went back to the machine and bingo bango they were done. I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out, hopefully it’ll make it through the wash alright!

I have time to write this post because I passed my Coast Guard Exams today! Five tests later and I can finally relax and start getting ready for my last few exams. Woohoo!

Stuff I Like: New Fabric Etc.

Emily — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:20:33 +0000

This weekend felt like June. And not even the type of of June we sometimes get where it rains the whole time. The nice type of June. Anyhow, there’s nothing like beautiful weather to make me remember all the news things that I like (and that you might like too!)

1. Ambiance Bemberg lining: This is a really luxurious feeling lining that I’m using for my graduation dress. I’m using this fabric from Fabric.com. It is a bit of a trick to deal with. Case in point, Pattern Review has a three page discussion in their forums about how to handle it (check it out here). But still, I sort of love it.

2. New spring projects: Inspired by this pillow, I bought myself some felt. It’ll probably be a while before I get to actually put it into use, but for now it’s something colorful to think about:

3. Headway on winter projects: And this is also an example of why I need a serger. Or more aptly, need some kind of crafty patron that would like to donate a serger to my cause.

Graduation Dress Bodice Interior

Topstitching Fun

Operation Graduation Dress is chugging along. This is a good project for me because, usually, once I get going on a project, I like to finish it in one shot, even if it takes all night. It’s taken some serious self control to work on it for a few hours here and a few hours there.

4. Chubby puppies: That’s right, the puppy from a few posts ago is now giant. He’s more than doubled in size in his week and a half of life. We’re going to name him Otto (aka the Ottoman Empire or Ottopotamus). He’s adorable.

5. The new Vitamin Water flavor Spark. It is delicious.

What do you like right now?

How I beat a laptop sleeve into submission

Emily — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:36:19 +0000

Maybe some of you remember what happened with my first laptop attempt. It wasn’t so good. But, I did managed to salvage the exterior and the zipper from the wreckage and I gave it another try this weekend.
This time around I skipped the foam and went back to fusible fleece and batting. I’ve been using batting that I bought in a larger bag for about three bucks from Reny’s so it took a few layers. I used one layer on the exterior, two layers (one of fusible fleece) on the interior.I even basted the batting on first:
I use zippers by the yard, so I sewed carefully over the beginning and end of the zipper, just to make it easier while I sew:

The ultimate zipper tutorial is from twelve22, and that’s what I used for the zipper. You sew the the exterior, zipper, and lining for one side all together and then do the same thing on the other side.
And there it is! Now is a good time to top stitch and double check how the zipper looks before you sew it all together. Mine didn’t come out perfectly, at this point I was just happy that I didn’t have to force it through my machine.
Even at the very end, I was convinced that it wasn’t going to fit. It’s just barely big enough. I think in the future I’ll put a little more wiggle room in But now I have a laptop sleeve! Woohoo! I used Sunbrella fabric for the exterior and it was surprisingly forgiving to many many times I angrily ripped out seams.
On an unrelated note, my very supportive boyfriend took me to the Joann’s fabric President’s Day Sale before we went out to dinner for Valentine’s Day. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that the store was FILLED with women scanning the aisles and men trailing behind them dutifully holding bolts of fabric, patterns, and thread. And I got a tiny pink embroidery hoop, because I think it’s about time I learned to embroider. This blog (with a great Etsy store) inspired me. Oh boy.

Recycling = iPod case

Emily — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:10:35 +0000

So I have a whole bag full of fabric scraps from my various projects. I don’t want to throw them away but I couldn’t think of anything to do with them except possibly to make a chew toy for the puppies and stuff the scraps inside of it, but I like the fabric too much to sacrifice it to the yellow puppy we are puppy sitting this week. So I made an iPod case! I looked at few blogs for ideas first, like this very cute one and this one.
In the end I made a sleeve of two of my favorite fabrics and folded and sewed. I used interfacing scraps left over from other project. And I took another stab at applique. I haven’t bee using any fabric glue or anything, but I did use up all of my tiny interfacing scraps to make the applique pieces keep their shape as I sewed them. I wasn’t feeling too creative so I went with a star and an ‘e’. I cut and stitched a little hole for the ear phones, I’m sure there’s a better way to do this, but it worked. Here are some pictures from the top:

And here’s the finished product. I lost a little steam on the photo process so I only have the beginning and the end. I used one of the buttons that my Aunt Jo sent me over the weekend. More on the buttons to come, but let me just say that I have enough buttons for a LONG time.

I’d like to find a way to make a case so that I could still use the iPod without taking it out of the case. Maybe a cut out near the bottom where the next and play buttons are. Has anyone had luck making iPod cases? It’s been great for when I toss it in my gym bag or accidently drop it on the ground when I take it out of my car. Maybe you’re noticing a theme hear. I have to make things that protect my possessions from me. This was a quick and easy project, let me know what you think!

Epic Fail

Emily — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:49:06 +0000

Well, I’m not sure who I’m going to blame for keeping me up way past my bedtime on Saturday night working on this mess of a project, but I think the ladies at the Joann’s cutting table could definitely be listed as enablers. I thought “oh laptop sleeve. No big deal. Then I’ll have a laptop case. Yay!” And somewhere along the way, the excitement turned to actual threats issued to fabric. Here is a picture at the start, so much promise *sigh*.
The applique portion of this project went really well. I got the idea for my friend Barb, who has the very best appliqued hooded sweatshirt of all time. So here’s where it went wrong:
1. Sewing high density foam is the worst. I was literally sweating trying to push it through my machine. I have no idea what made me thing that would work .
2. High density foam requires a big allowance in sewing, because it takes up a lot of space. I did not think of this.
So here’s the finished product. At about 3am:

If you can’t tell from the photo, this is an example of what happens when you double up foam and try to sew it. It is chewed up and spit out by the machine. I had no idea my machine was so cruel.

I don’t think it looks so bad from the outside. BUT, no matter how good it looks, it won’t work as a laptop sleeve if you CAN’T FIT YOUR LAPTOP INTO IT!!! I thought I would have been more disappointed, but thanks for the time of night (or morning) it was actually a little amusing. Word to the wise, if you think it might not be big enough when you’re cutting the fabric, you’re probably right.
So with all the seams ripped out, the pieces of the pattern are waiting for me at home. The foam is being punished so I think I’ll try the project again next weekend with some batting and fusible fleece. Anyone else have frustrating project stories to share or laptop sleeve successes?