On a Lark » batting http://onalarkdesign.com Sewing, cooking, and generally enjoying life Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:00:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Reward for a job….done http://onalarkdesign.com/2011/01/10/reward-job-well/ http://onalarkdesign.com/2011/01/10/reward-job-well/#comments Mon, 10 Jan 2011 23:44:32 +0000 Emily http://onalarkdesign.com/?p=412 When I first started my tee shirt quilt project I decided that, knowing myself, I needed some incentive to finish the job. So I only bought the fabric needed for the top and the batting. I left the binding, quilting materials, and backing as a reward for at least partially completing the project. And here [...]]]> When I first started my tee shirt quilt project I decided that, knowing myself, I needed some incentive to finish the job. So I only bought the fabric needed for the top and the batting. I left the binding, quilting materials, and backing as a reward for at least partially completing the project. And here we are, many many months later and I finally completed the top and bought myself some new fabric. I went with silver broadcloth for the binding and this beautiful fabric from Amy Butler’s new line Soul Blossoms:

soul

I ALSO bought new embroidery floss and a giant embroidery hoop. Anna Maria Horner inspired me to try out hand quilting. Now, I completed enough sewing projects at this point to know that I will regret the choice to hand quilt my first quilt at some point during this project. Who are we kidding, I will probably regret it at many points. But it looks so lovely when Anna Maria Horner does it.

And finally, I know this is a little overdue, but some pictures from New Years. We stayed in this year, made a great dinner, and drank champagne. We even made it until midnight. The dogs were not as excited:

100_1645 100_1650

Happy New Year!!!

]]> http://onalarkdesign.com/2011/01/10/reward-job-well/feed/ 0 How I beat a laptop sleeve into submission http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/02/15/beat-laptop-sleeve-submission/ http://onalarkdesign.com/2010/02/15/beat-laptop-sleeve-submission/#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:36:19 +0000 Emily http://onalarkdesign.com/?p=240 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 [...]]]> 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.

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