Wrinkled linen is so cozy

Do you ever leave your linen wrinkled because it looks so charming and cozy?

I made one blue and one green quilted vest to keep me warm in the winter months.

Want to make your own quilted vest? I put together a guest post on the Fabrics-Store blog with a full tutorial to create your own.

Details

Fabric: Blue linen from Fabrics-Store.

Batting: Bulk 100% cotton batting from the underrated sewing supply store, Walmart.

Pattern: Self drafted vest.

Floor: Upstairs sub flooring in my turn-of-the-century brick home, painted white.

Brown paper: Packaging paper from Walmart’s office supplies aisle.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy…

Green Linen Ruffle Tote

Inspiration photos to fill your closet with too many ruffle totes.

Sewing a mini quilt

Using scraps to make a mini quilt for my niece’s dollhouse.

How to Make a Bunting Banner

Step by step tutorial to make a bunting banner from fabric scraps.

Green Linen Ruffle Tote

Because I don’t have enough ruffle totes in my closet, and you probably don’t either, here’s another one. This time with lovely linen from Fabrics-Store.

I put together a full tutorial on their blog if you’d like to make your own!

Details

Fabric: Something similar to this from Fabrics-Store.

Photos: Tripod, flash, and self timer.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy…

Feeling Sentimental

Thoughts and photos on inheriting someone’s fabric stash.

Flowers on Flowers

Photos of puff sleeve floral dress.

How to Sew a Ruffle Pillow

Step by step tutorial with lots off photos.

Using a Twin Needle for Seam Binding

I’ve been playing with using a twin needle and grosgrain ribbon for binding seams in bags and backpacks.

Here you can see it on ripstop nylon and on waxed cotton canvas.

Right side — lovely twin lines.

Wrong side — the bobbin thread makes a zigzag between the two lines of stitching.

Here is twin needle stitching compared with single needle stitching on ripstop nylon and waxed cotton canvas.

I used the twin needle on grosgrain ribbon to bind all the seams in this climbing rope backpack made with ripstop nylon. The grosgrain gives the seams a bit more structure, which I think looks nice.

Feeling Sentimental

Inheriting someone’s fabric feels like inheriting someone's photo albums.

Fabric is the keeper of memories. It encapsulates the whole season of life while the fabric was in use as a shirt, skirt, curtain.

My friend, Marcia, recently asked if I would like to look through her fabric stash. After 30 years in a turn-of-the-century home on a colorful acreage, she and her husband are in the process of downsizing to a new location.

She turned on the warm light. We knelt on the hardwood closet floor. She pulled out a box and sighed disapprovingly when she brushed away a small spider web with her fingers. It made me smile. Her house is so clean. It’s always clean. I didn’t even notice the small web. I selected all the floral cottons. She told me all their stories.

Through the boxes of knits, wovens, and miscellaneous, she shared stories about hamsters eating through flannel, daughters learning to sew, grandmothers hand stitching quilts, the making of wedding veils.

I suspected the day would come where I feel caught off guard by my parents’ generation moving into their late chapters. It’s been looming, but now it’s here. And as predicted, I do in fact feel caught off guard.

By the end of looking through the closet of fabric and memories, I was equally determined to use these floral pieces for something special as I was reluctant to cut them at all. My mom told me recently I am becoming more sentimental. I guess she’s right.

I asked Marcia if my camera and I could take a walk around the yard with her while she brought in the last of the year’s produce.

The way Marcia is handling this move is a lesson to me in how to age gracefully.

After walking around the gardens, we sat on her wooden bench while the sun set. I asked how she was feeling about selling the property. She reminisced about what a good place it was to raise her children, and then finished by saying she wants it to be a good place for the next family to raise their children.

It’s hard for me to confront the reality of parents and friends growing older and selling houses. It’s hard for me to use this fabric because it’s a representation of that reality.

But I’ve been thinking it over. It occurred to me that as Marcia is honoring her property by wanting it to enjoy the games of a new batch of children (when I was young, her yard was filled with quicksand and cowboys. The next batch will probably fill it with zombies), a good path to honor this fabric is helping it to continue writing stories.

Maybe the best way to honor the past is to enable its possessions to enjoy the future.

There is room yet in this fabric’s photo album of memories.

Is there something you are having a hard time processing in your life lately? Send me a note if you’d like to talk. I’d like to hear about it.

How to Join Bias Tape Mid-Project

If you’re sewing bias tape in a situation where you can’t sew the ends together before you start, or you aren’t sure how much bias tape will be used, you can still join the ends together mid-project in a neat way.

If you’re new to bias tape, check out this post on how to sew bias tape and other ways to join bias tape together!

How to Join Bias Tape Mid-Project

Step 1: Leave a few inches of working room on each end.

Step 2: Fold the bias tape so the tails are 90 degrees out from each side. Hand press the folds firmly so the fabric is visibly creased.

Step 3: Keep the creases aligned and sew directly in the furrow of the creases.

Step 4: Trim the seam allowance. Press seam open. Continue to sew the bias tape as usual.

This method is useful for projects that use a long length of bias tape and you start sewing before knowing exactly how much it’s going to take. Like sewing all the way around the outside perimeter of a quilted jacket. That’s a long way around!

If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy…

How to Sew Bias Tape

Step by step tutorial and discussion on bias tape.

Juniper Quilted Jacket Digital Sewing Pattern

Instant PDF pattern download with step by step instructions to make your own quilted jacket.

The Easiest Way to Sew In-Seam Pockets

Step by step illustrated tutorial to add pockets to all your dresses.