Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Summer sewing musings

It's been a while since I've opened up my sewing machine. The last project I did was a child's quilt, during the last few days of winter. But it won't be long now before I get it out once more-- I'm bursting with ideas!

My first project will be a cinch-- simple leaf shapes cut from bright coloured felts, sewn into a garland for a Thanksgiving day decoration. Something like this. My other ideas are a bit more ambitious.

I'd love to sew a dress from Jenny Chancey's Elegant Lady's Closet pattern, which I received as a birthday gift last year. I've got the perfect fabric: a soft tan cotton with woven-in gold and silver stripes and a bit of stretch. My eye is on the crossover bodice design. I like the idea of incorporating a diagonal stripe into it. Hopefully this pattern will be just as user friendly as the first Sense and Sensibility pattern I made. The detailed instructions on the website gave me the confidence to try more daring pattern alterations than I'd done in the past, and I ended up making three or four different versions. My red dress is my favourite, and I'm still wearing it a couple of years later.

And lastly, I'm thinking of making a quilt for our guest bedroom. Australian-themed fabric, I think. I've seen some interesting designs at the local fabric store.

I wonder how many of these ideas will become reality?