My Doily Coat

 I have had this coat idea in my head for quite some time.  I finally made it into a reality.  And I love the way it turned out.  I am not sure what the fabric content is but it feels like some kind of silk.  It was a gift from a friend who worked in a drapery workroom.  I love using home dec fabrics for clothing.  They usually have a heavier feel to them and I think home dec fabrics are perfect for jackets.  While looking through my stash of vintage doilies I came across this crocheted one with pink trim.  When I put it next to this fabric I knew they were meant to be together. 

 I wanted the lace to be an accent around the waist as well as the collar.  While the doily was pretty large I still had to plan carefully to use the doily to the best advantage.  One part of the doily was to damaged to use so I had to work around that part.  I picked The Catherine Coat pattern because I liked the separate skirt with the slightly gathered bodice.  And the large collar would be good to showcase the doily as the collar.  The doily was just large enough to fit the skirt at the waist of the jacket.  I had to do at bit of adjusting to get the rest of the doily to fit around the collar.  For the buttons I stacked two buttons together a vintage ecru shell button on the bottom with a smaller pink button on top.  I love the results and the fit of this jacket.

http://sewingwiththesparrows.blogspot.com/2011/07/catherine-coat.html

I have used this pattern before but it has a completely different look.  The pattern has several suggestions for different looks even a robe version.  It is an unlined coat but if you used a heavy wool or fleece fabric it could be an outerwear coat as well.  A good pattern to be creative with.

Brocade Jacket

I bought this fabric about three years ago, I finally got around to making something out of it.  I love this brocade fabric.  It is reversible one side has grey background with royal blue flowers and the other side is reverse of that.  I used the grey background on the top part of my jacket with the blue background on the pleated skirt and pleated cuffs.  The difference is very subtle but nice.

I love the style of this jacket.  I like the longer length and it fits me very well.  I used Simplicity 3523.  It is a Sew Stylish pattern from the publishers of Threads.  There is also a shorter style of the jacket in the envelope, as well as a dress, top and pair of pants.  I may try the top out.  The dress I am not so sure about even though it is just a longer version of the top it just doesn't look all that flattering.  The pant are the pretty generic pants that seem to be included in every pattern with a wardrobe look.  I do plan to make some pants to wear with my jacket I just will not be using this pattern.

This pattern calls for using large snaps as a closing with buttons sewn on top for a finished look.  I opted for the same finish since it uses large buttons.  I used some of my vintage buttons from my stash.  They are black buttons with a carved star burst design on the surface.  I think the buttons finish the jacket off nicely.

http://images.patternreview.com/sewing/patterns/simplicity/3523/3523.jpg

Basket Lid Monogram

A few weeks ago I attended a county fair.  There were all kinds of businesses having free raffles and giving away things like pencils and pens and note pads and such.  Well this farm store was having a contest that I thought would be fun to try.  They gave away a basket lid like this.  The rules were to decorate it or find a unique use for it and bring it back to the store by Sept. 1.  All the entries will be judged at the store and there will be a first, second and third place.   First place = $75 gift card  Second place $50 gift card Third place $25 gift card.

My entry was turned in today.  I decided to use some of my buttons to create a monogram.  I enlarged a letter and printed it out for my pattern.  Then I just sewed the buttons on a piece of silk to fill it in completely.  I used some of my crocheted lace to give it a little more interest.  I cut a circle of foam core board to fit into the lid and I used three layers of batting to pad it out some.  Since the lid isn't perfectly round there were some spots where gaps appeared.  To make it look more finished and less like a basket lid I hot glued some ruffled eyelet around the edge.  And to finish it and fill in any more gaps I twisted a piece of this loose weave tan fabric over the eyelet and hot glued it in place.  I think it turned out pretty and I have been wanting to make a button monogram for a while now.  I wanted to tea dye the eyelet because it seemed a bit bright for the rest of more toned down vintage lace and buttons.  I didn't have time to do that and because this bright newer lace is at the back it works okay.  I tried some vintage lace that I had but that needed to have some starch to make it stand out and I didn't have any starch either.  This was definitely a project of use what you have.  Who knows maybe I will win a gift card.  I will let you know.

Thread Cabinet

I love this thread cabinet I picked up a few weeks ago at a local auction. I paid a bit more for it than I wanted but I knew I probably wouldn't see something like this that often. It is really good condition and it even had a collection of wooden spools of thread. The front glass panel lifts up so you can pick your thread color. And there is a hinged panel at the back for refilling. The two drawers at the bottom can store other miscellaneous notions. Now I must get my sewing room organized so I can display my new thread cabinet. The four jars of buttons on top are also a purchase from the auction. I always find buttons and sewing boxes there. I don't think I have ever been there when they didn't have at least one jar of buttons. I will be posting more of my cool finds.

Beaded buttons

I didn't have a chance to make many gifts for Christmas this year, but I was able to make these buttons for a friend who loves to sew. I have been wanting to make these for several years. Even though the idea came out of a book called quick gifts I did not think these were quick. However I really don't do much beading so maybe they would be quick if I was more experienced at it. Anyways I loved how they turned out and I would like to make some more maybe some for me next time.

Shopping and friends

I had the best time shopping with my friend Mary on Saturday. After getting something to eat we hit the local Antique Mall. It is more like a thrift store than antique store but sometimes you can find some treasures. Mary and I each found some buttons and we both think they are treasures. I found 3 plastic bags of buttons and Mary found one large bag. One of my bags had the buttons on cards another had many old shirt buttons and mother of pearl buttons and a rather large wooden button that looks much like an egg. The last one had some old coat buttons and one partial card of white buttons and some old hook

and eyes. And I almost forgot about the lovely crochet gloves I found. Aren't they pretty. Maybe my daughter will wear them to her next dance. (not)

So I need to clean up the buttons a bit most of the loose ones have the thread from whatever garment they came from still attached. I am thinking I may do some kind of button art for Christmas with the white buttons. Maybe a button wreath or a heart. Now if I ever get that accomplished is another story.

After the Antique Mall we went to The Goodwill Store. Not much to find there but we each came out with a couple of books. I bought 2 books, Quilts, Patchworks, and Samplers and Guideposts Christmas Celebrations. The Christmas book has a couple of angel crafts inside. I joined a swap over at http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=319590.0;topicseen for Christmas Stocking. My partner is a big angel fan so I thought these angels would be something I could craft for her.

Next we headed over to Tuesday Morning. They just opened about a month ago and I had not had a chance to check it out yet. They always have some wonderful things to look at in there. I picked up a bunch of beads, two knitting books , a crochet book, and a book on beading. I got some very pretty point protectors for my knitting needles and a whole bunch of thimbles. I also bought a set of clear letter stamps and little ink pads. I am just getting started in stamping. Actually I haven't done anything with it yet except buy the supplies. That is the way a lot of my crafting goes. I wasn't going to take a picture of my books but my camera decided to take them anyways and the surprise picture wasn't that bad at least as good as the one I try to take. Picture taking is not really something I am very skilled at. The books are The Yarn Girls Guide To Knits For All Seasons, Pretty Knits, Hooked On Crochet, and Quick and Clever Beading. How could a person resist getting those titles.

Next stop was Joanns Fabrics were I picked up several button cards for 25 cents each. And they had Butterick patterns for 99 cents so I got one for a tunic top 5390. And Vogue Patterns were $3.99 so I bought 8273 a handbag pattern.

After that we had to have some ice cream so we stopped at The Old Towne Creamery for a treat. All in all I would say it was a very good day. We had a blast.

Goodwill sewing box

I found this sewing box at The Goodwill Store a few weeks ago. I thought it was a treasure at least I like several things that were inside. I love finding someones full sewing box and seeing what is inside that someone saved. The box itself doesn't really appeal to me as much as what is inside. Although the box is kind of cute. It is made of twisted straw and some kind of pale pink plastic and it has little pink wooden beads for feet. The inside is pink satin with a pin cushion lid and a clear plastic tray on top. And there were all kinds of goodies inside. I got everything for $5.00 what a deal.

Inside was a few pieces of lace and several hand sewing needle books and a couple of packages of machine needle, several snap cards and some hook and eye cards and a pink metal teeth zipper as well as a blue one.

My personal favorites inside were a little embroidery hoop and some very tiny mother of pearl buttons on tiny cards they look to be old. And to add to my collection of wooden spools this box had 3 of them inside. I also love the little plastic ruler with advertising on it. Back in the day companies gave away sewing notions to advertise their business. The 2 plastic thimbles inside the embroidery hoop were inside the sewing box. They both have adds on them too. The other ones outside the hoop are ones I had collected in the past. The 3 closest to the hoop are plastic advertising thimbles. The one in the front is silver and the second one from the front is bronze maybe. The 2 in the back are newer but I really don't remember where I got them. I do use a thimble for all my hand sewing. I think they are a great sewing aid they really help guide your needle. I also like just collecting them as they don't take up much space and they are not expensive. I prefer the silver ones to use for hand sewing as the plastic thimbles are to thick and the newer ones make your finger all sweaty. The silver thimbles just have a nice feel to them and they don't make your finger sweat. So these are some things I like and they make me happy to see them.