Woolfelt dots for decorating my next round of pincushions.
And more dotty goodness:
Key Lime Dot Scarf made by Mountainavenbaby
Elephant Stuffed Toy made by SewnNatural
Stuck On You Card made by Michellenstamps
Jenn : )
I’ve been posting for some time about a custom order I’ve been working on.
My friends Philipp & Renata are going to be married later this month and asked me to make a ring pillow for their ceremony.
I am honored to have something that I made be a part of their special day. : )
Without further ado, here is the ring pillow that I made for them:
I’m very happy with how the finished pillow looks,
and I’m thrilled that they are pleased, too.
Congratulations, P & R!!!
Jenn : )
Hi there – I hope you all had a nice weekend.
Josh and I went to our new favorite sushi place for dinner on Saturday and then drove downtown and saw Paula Poundstone at the Moore – she was very funny.
Yesterday we stayed in. There was an America’s Next Top Model marathon on,
so I camped out infront of the tv and finished embroidering a flurry of these little guys:
I recently got my November issue of Cotton Time magazine.
Here, I’ll give you a peek inside!
Tiny ornaments – I may have to make these for next year.
An interactive felt book for kids – fun!
I think we should all take a day off and make fuzzy hedgehogs - who’s in?!?
Have a fabulous day!
Jenn : )
I’ve had a busy time over here – getting out Issue #1 of my newsletter, shopping for birthday gifts for friends and family over the weekend (now I’ve got to box them up to take to the post office tomorrow) and yesterday I made cupcakes for Josh to take to work with him (Carrot Cake Cupcakes from Ina’s “The Barefoot Contessa Parties!”)
All this time I’ve been working on a secret embroidery project. I’ve been so excited to share it with you, but I’ve been waiting until I had them all finished. So, without further ado, here is my latest project: hand embroidered bookmarks!
Ginger Kitten,
Cinnamon Kitten,
Sugar Kitten,
Pepper Kitten,
& Nutmeg Kitten.
Word-Bot,
Page-Bot,
Type-Bot,
Ink-Bot,
& Chapter-Bot.
I’ve just finished a *huge shop update* – you can check them out in more detail there.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a terrific day!
Best, Jenn : )
Jenn : )
Then he walked over to the post office with me (and more on that in a minute!)
And then, we walked further to a new quilt shop that Josh told me he saw on the way home one night. My man spotted a quilt shop for me! I love this guy!
We don’t have any major plans for the long weekend. Hopefully getting together with our friend John tonight. And I’d like to buy a walking foot for my sewing machine on Monday… and how convenient that Pacific Fabrics is almost next door to the Bernina shop… and having a 25% off sale on all their fabric?
Other than that – I have many projects to finish up. My goal is to have new things to list in the shop on Monday & Tuesday, including new sewing books, new taskets and checkbook covers.
Have a wonderful, safe long weekend.
Hope you have good weather and lots of fun where you are!
Best – Jenn : )
Good Morning 2007!
I’ve been meaning to do a post about some of the materials I use, and since I woke up this morning to a nice comment and question here – I thought I’d go ahead and say a word about felt and fabric.
I started out using craft store felt and found that there really is a difference in quality between the less expensive variety and the kind you pay a bit more for. That’s not to say that I don’t ever use craft store felt, but I look very closely at it before I buy it. I have a craft store near me that carries good white felt that I use for the pages of my sewing books. You’ll know right away if it is of lesser quality because you’ll be able to hold up cheap felt and see through it (yuck!) and it will have a kind of shiny look to it, which I don’t like.
When I want to buy a really nice “felt” for my projects I go to Pacific Fabrics. But I don’t go to their felt section. I go to their wool section. Wool or wool blend is the way to go to get beautiful colors and that great soft texture. I look at the texture of the fabric very closely and the edges to see how cleanly it will cut (some will fray more than others). These wools are about $20 a yard.
There are two online resources for felt that I’ve seen recommended many times: A Child’s Dream and Earthsong Fibers. But I have not tried ordering from them yet.
For fabrics I like to shop at Pacific Fabrics and also online. There are many great sites to find fabrics that you won’t see in regular stores. Japanese fabrics are unique and very whimsical and popular. Here are a few of the online shops I like: Superbuzzy (they also carry Japanese craft magazines which are great inspiration), Reprodepot (they also have a very nice ribbon/trim selection), International Fabric Collection (I’ve been to their shop in PA – I could spend days there!) and Purlsoho (they have a lovely shop).
Here is a photo of one of my sketches for my plush animal & bag project along with two Japanese fabrics that I bought at Superbuzzy.
Investing in good quality felt and fabric can be intimidating at first. I started slowly, incorporating what I could afford into my projects. But I find that my felt projects tend to be smaller in scale – so a little felt goes a long way. You can cut the cost by buying a 1/4 or 1/2 yard instead of a full yard and by all means save your scraps! I keep three bins for my felt scraps: one for large pcs, one for small pcs and one for teeny tiny pieces : )
Hope this answers some questions and gives you direction for finding great materials to use in your projects. Once you use the good stuff you won’t want to go back to the cheap stuff again. And your work will look so nice!
Jenn : )
