Not a Pretty Picture!!

This week has been busy every with everything but what I want to do STITCH!!

SO the purse is at a standstill....................
                        but last Friday I started a new class.   I signed up for a "Form and Draping" class last year.  It's at the University of Rhode Island (only a 2 hour Drive) and is part of the their Master Seamstress Program.  I want to start sewing clothes to embroider so I decided to invest in a dress form.  At the first class you strip to your undies and then you are covered with a plastic bag. The instructor and her helper coat you with plaster bandages. They partially dry very quickly and the form is cut off your body.  Then the two halves are dried more thoroughly with the aid of a blow dryer.  Once dry you stitch the front and back together and the seams are cover with more bandages and dried.   

You take the form home letting it dry completely.  So here it is on my dining room table.  Today I coated the inside with Vaseline YUCK!!  Next I will close the neck and arm holes with more bandages and once dried coat the inside with Vaseline.  When I return to class tomorrow the form will be filled with foam.
 (The Vaseline will allow the bandages to be easily removed from the hardened foam).

To be Continued.....no eye candy here!!

Lots of things happening this month.  I am teaching a class in Tambour  in February and also taking a "Form and Draping" Class at the URI. Too much in my head to work on a "big" project so I decided to work on a someone else's abandoned project.

It all started in September I went to the Textile show at the Host Hotel in Sturbridge with Maureen Greeson.  During the show I spotted this beaded purse.  The side pictured below was finished up to the 3 flowers at the top of the basket of flowers and there was a box containing the beads and blank other side.  I really wanted it, but I have developed the ability of late to resist temptation, so I walked on.
 Had a great time at the show and when I was dropping Maureen off at her house on my way home she popped a bag from the back seat and wallah!!!  She presented me with the purse saying she wanted me to have it and it was just something I could look at... and not to worry about finishing.
Easier said then done!!!  There were not enough beads to finish the other side so I decided to finish this side and make it a pouch in a leather bag.  

I found a pattern and modified it to accommodate the beaded pouch.   I used the dark brown leather that my late friend Adrian had sent me and mounted it on the frame with a gusset from green heavy fake ultra suede.

This is how the pouch will be attached to the bag... still thinking about the sides.. needs something.

On the back I embroidered a basket to carry the theme.  The flowers are on the side and will be cut out and attached to the basket.

a small flower grouping on the gusset... plus?? 

Today Dr's appts and stitching later.

I want to thank everyone for The GYBParty!!!  Welcome to my new followers and I am happy to have new blogs to follow....I checked everyone of the 575 or whatever the number was out.  

GROW YOUR BLOG!!!

I am happy to welcome everyone to my newly redesigned Blog in honor of  Vicki's Grow Your  Blog Party!!!

I have studied many forms of embroidery my entire life but it became a serious addiction when I retired in 1998.   I continued taking class in different types of embroidery and was making my second crazy quilt when I attended my first class at the Ecole Lesage, Paris France , in 2007.   I was literally HOOKed on the tambour technique or as the French call it the Lunéville Hook.

Tambour Hook

image from www.woodedhamlet.com

I have incorporated the couture embroidery techniques I am learning in France along with my years of embroidery experience to create my own unique art quilts. 

Couture Circle Quilt

 My blog gives me a platform to express my creativity!

Please check out the Ecole Lesage class pieces listed under the Labels Lesage I,II,III, and IV.

To celebrate this event I am giving away this whimsy.  I made it for the Etsy account I never got around to opening.  Leave a comment and I will put you in the drawing.  The winner will be selected and announced on February 15, 2014. 

The Feathered Lady              6"by 7 1/2" 

Please poke around my blog to see what I am up to!!

To see the other 595 bloggers who are coming to the party click here....................  TO GROW YOUR BLOG 

How I got my blog redesigned!!

For a long time I have noticed that a lot of the bloggers I follow have stopped posting or post very infrequently.  I certainly understand as I am also guilty of slowing down.  Last week I noticed a link on Suziqus threadworks  for a 2014 Grow Your Blog Party.  I followed the link and even though I had missed the deadline I was able to sign up for the PARTY. 

 I am going to PARTY --- I need a new "dress"!!

My blog layout has been awkward for a long time.  I have little patience for trying to figure it out and have long wanted to get someone to "Professionally" redesign my blog appearance.  
Through the Blog Party post I got Karen Valentines name and sent her an e-mail... The rest is History..... Love my new look and hope you all like it to!!  Thanks Karen... her tag is at the end of my blog page.
P.S.
The pictures in the header were taken by Susan Elliott 

Embroidered Jacket

I finished sewing and fitting the jacket and it's not too bad...  I only look like a teenage polar bear in it not a giant mama polar bear.

As with everything lately I am flying by the seat of my pants.  Now I have to figure out how to finish the raw edges. 

Last week I found some cream yarn that was a good color match. Using one strand of it in a #16 chenille needle I sewed all around the edges finishing it nicely.  Added a mother of pearl button and it is done.

My inspiration for the project was a lovely vintage "never used" white wool blanket I purchased at my church fair In Dec of 2012 for $8.00. I felted the blanket and "saw" a jacket in the fabric. The gown below was the inspiration for the embroidery.