Love of Sewing Retreat

Just spent three inspiring days at the Love of Sewing Retreat with Nancy Zeiman & Babylock hosted by my local sewing center.  Nancy Zeiman presented many great patterns, ideas & tips and she wowed everyone with her landscape quilting.  Babylock educators gave us three hands-on sewing classes with projects to take home.  I came home loaded with prospective new projects and I promise to finish them all.  Below are some photos and descriptions of the projects we made.

My first class was a Sashiko Table Runner.  The pattern for the runner is "The 10 Minute Table Runner" and can be found on various websites.  

We made flowers on an embroidery machine with texture magic 

sandwiched between two layers of organza.  

While the flowers were stitching in the embroidery machine, we moved to a Babylock Sashiko machine and sewed some meandering lines down the length of the fabric.  

You can see the sashiko stitching on the photo above.  

Next step was to add piping to each long side, sew sides together and finish ends.  The flowers were cut out close to the stitching and then steamed so they would crinkle.  Two layers of the flower were attached to a covered button and attached to the table runner.

My next project was a Card or Note Holder Board.  All of the sewing was done on  a Babylock Evolution Serger.  We made belt loops  with the belt loop attachment and they were a lot of fun to make.  The board has a nice print in the center with Peltex sandwiched in-between for stability.

The edges are finished with a wave stitch.  

Finishing touches are the buttons and a fabric rose, also made on the serger.

My last project was a small clutch or cosmetic bag made entirely in the hoop
on a Babylock Elissimo, and that includes the zipper!!

Making cathedral windows in the hoop, how great is that! 

Progress in the hoop.

Finished Bag

Under flap, zipper open.

Under flap, zipper closed.

Now that I put the finishing touches on these projects, I'm ready to get started on some new projects with my new found inspiration.

New Bag

Well, I finished my new bag last week in time for our trip to the DC area for the weekend.

Here's the bag front.  This bag is made from Alova fabric and other doeskin type fabrics.  I wanted a more purse like look to it as opposed to the batik fabric I used the last time.  This time I used Soft and Stable byAnnie instead of Decor Bond or Peltex for interfacing/stabilizer and I love the result.  I also interfaced the fabric with a tricot fusible interfacing.  The Soft and Stable supports the bag, keeping shape, but yet soft and pliable, rather than the stiffness of the Peltex.  

Bag back

Inside pouches & pockets

Scissors Holder

Still working on my new bag, but took a detour and made a scissors holder for my bling lanyard.  This one will do for now, but I plan to make another with some embroidery on the front panel

I made it without a pattern but I got the idea for it from a Pinterest post, repinned by me.  It was posted on a blog, but everything was in French and none of the images displayed on my computer.  

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