Free and (not so) Easy Sewing

The program at this month's Sewphisticuts meeting was Free-Motion Sewing, presented by Judy L.  Although sometimes called free-motion embroidery or thread-painting, it encompasses much more than those two categories.  Basically free-motion sewing means that you are making your own path, sewing by moving the fabric in all directions under the needle without turning the fabric.  A couple of tips:  don't look at the needle but instead look at where you want to go next; sew at high speed and keep the fabric moving at a consistent rate.  Although a speed adjustment setting is not required for this technique, it is helpful since limiting the speed to a slower setting lets you keep a consistent speed at a rate that is still manageable for sewing.  Two requirements are a special machine foot (darning, free-motion, or similar), and dropped or covered feed-dogs.

After hooping some muslin-type fabrics, we practiced the looping motions we would be using once the hoop was under the machine foot.  Then we began sewing, just getting the feel of moving the fabric smoothly under the foot:  too fast and you get big stitches, too slow and you get stitches piling up in one place.  It took some time but a few of us began to actually make some halfway decent curves and loops, trying to achieve a stippled effect.  By layering fabric and batting, then outlining designs, we could imitate trapunto.  Cindy tried some thread-painting, using some decorative thread and sewing back and forth within an area to lay in color much as one would with a paintbrush.

The techniques we learned could be used in a variety of ways, from quilting to garment embellishment to home-dec.  Some of the methods also have a steep learning curve.  But it was interesting to try out something we might not otherwise explore on our own.

Judy shows an example of outline work and some thread painting.

Kathia works while Connie watches.

Cindy tries some thread painting. She used garden gloves for better grip on the fabric.

And we had some Show-and-Tell.

Peggy's Christmas ornaments

Tree made at the Sew-In

Peggy's blouse - great motif placement!

Maura's yoga pants

Peggy's cutlery holders

Hats, hats, hats, and a few scarves

The Sewphisticuts kept up with the theme of community service from last month's meeting and did some more charity sewing this month.  Hudson River Housing will be the beneficiary of fleece hats and scarves to be given to clients just as the chilly weather begins to move in.  Eight of us showed up to cut out hats and scarves and sew them up.  Ninety minutes later, we had a stack of over 20 hats made with a few matching scarves.  About a dozen more hats were cut out and a few of us took them home to finish up.

Finishing up some hats

A large size hat is modeled!

Judy did a short presentation about free-motion embroidery to prepare us for trying it at next month's meeting.  She gave us a list of materials we will need and got us thinking about what we want to try.  The list will be emailed to members before next month's meeting.  We also had Show and Tell; pictures follow.

Peggy made a purse for a friend.....

....and a top for herself,

as well as a knitted neckwarmer.

 

RoseAlice has an embroidered quilt started.

Maura's sheath dress from vintage pique, and skirt from stash remnant.

Aprons for Thompson House

Wednesday was a good day to be in air conditioning, what with the temperature outside being in the 90's.  So the five of us who gathered that evening at Hobby Lobby stayed a little cooler as we worked on making aprons for residents of Thompson House in Rhinebeck.  The aprons are designed to protect residents' clothes as they cook, bake or do craft activities, and are made with wheelchair-bound users in mind.   Twelve aprons in larger sizes had been requested, so our goal was to make at least twelve.  By the end of the evening we had cut out 16 from various fabrics in the chapter's stash, finished three and had several others in various stages of being finished.  The unfinished ones were doled out to be completed at home.  So within a few weeks we should have all twelve completed aprons.

Kathia, Connie, Judy and Ronnie hard at work.

We had a few moments at the end of the meeting for some Show and Tell, pictures of which are below.  Next month's meeting will be another round of service sewing, with the plan being to make some scarves and hats for the benefit of Hudson River Housing.

A quilt by Connie

 

Another quilt by Connie

Judy's show and tell photo - sundress for her granddaughter.

Ronnie's potholder using method from July meeting

Potholder back

Hot pads and other stuff

At our pot-luck dinner last month, Peggy had brought along a trivet that her mother had made, using the folded-star method.  Quite a few of us liked it and asked her if she would be willing to show us how it was made.  So our July meeting became a small workshop in making this intriguing hot pad.  Peggy showed us one way to make it, where all the pieces are made from circles.   She had a sample of another method that used squares to start off.  A few of us had brought along pre-cut circles and we made up the trivet as Peggy showed us each of the steps.  Here's my finished project:

Folded star hot pad

Aside from the workshop, we discussed some project ideas for Make A Difference Day.  Thompson House in Rhinebeck can use some aprons and walker bags, and Hudson River Housing would appreciate fleece hats and scarves.  The CAB will discuss it at the upcoming meeting and see if there is anyone willing to organize the event. 

There is no meeting in August.  Our September meeting topic is free-motion embroidery.  This is a previously scheduled program that had been postponed (due to weather issues, I think).  It will be a hands-on session so plan to bring your machine with free-motion foot.  More specific information will come out closer to the meeting.

We ended with a variety of show-and-tell items.

One of Connie's quilts for a co-worker

Another of Connie's quilts for a co-worker

Sue's quilt with 2" strips

Sue's topographical quilt

Child's quilt by Kathia

Table pads almost complete

Ronnie's luggage tag

Little Red Riding Hood by Ronnie

Peggy's wrap-top dress

Embroidered fishing fly

Maura's seersucker shorts

Annual Sewing Room Tour

The song from "Carousel" says "June is bustin' out all over", but for sewists like us, it's usually fabric that is bustin' out all over!   Bustin' out of sewing rooms, closets, guest rooms, basement storage, you name it.  But since June is also when the Sewphisticuts hold their sewing room tour, one person in the group gets some motivation to contain the bustin' out piles of fabric, at least temporarily.  This year Veronica agreed to host our group, so she had to get going on the clearing out so that we would be able to see into her sewing space.  The photos show she had some success.

She has her sewing machine on a low table to the left and a long-arm quilter against the wall to the right.  The shelves hold some decorative items as well as books and patterns.  A folding cutting table is in the foreground.  Fabric is stored below the table and in the closet, and there is a small wardrobe (out of frame) that stores notions and small items.  She has made good use of every inch of space! 

We had show and tell, but my camera battery was dying so I didn't take any pictures, sorry to say, since we had some beautiful quilts and interesting garments and crafts.

Next month we were planning on doing a program on installing a lapped zipper, but we all liked a potholder with a quilt pattern design so much, that we decided to try to make that at the next meeting.  Everyone also liked Sue K's art quilt and many of us would like to learn that technique, so that may be a program at a later meeting.

Scenes from the Tag Sale

The old saying is that "many hands make light work."   I think the people who set up and broke down the tag sale this past Saturday would hardly call it "light" work, but it would not have been possible without the many helping hands that took part.  A very nice profit was cleared, so it was a successful day.  We had hoped for more shoppers and had way more fabric left over than we wanted to see, but with everyone's help, it was not going to waste.  Here are some pictures from the day.

So much fabric.....so little time!

 We were inundated with fabric at the May meeting of Sewphisticuts this past week.  The group met at Judy's house and worked on measuring and pricing all the donated material for the chapter's Tag sale coming up at the end of the month.  Eight of us sorted, inspected, measured and priced donated yardage, notions, kits, etc.   This is going to be a huge sale with lots of good quality stuff on offer.  Be sure to stop by on May 30 at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Fishkill during the town-wide tag sale, and please spread the word to friends and neighbors.  Bargains are to be had!

As far as group business went, we discussed Make-A-Difference Day projects.  Although it seems a long way off, we need to start planning it now.  Connie will be exploring needs with Hudson River Housing, a group that is always appreciative of receiving PJ pants and pillowcases for their shelters.

Our June meeting is the annual Sewing Room tour and potluck dinner.  Ronnie has graciously agreed to host this year.  The gathering will begin at 5:30 pm, a little earlier than our usual meeting time.  Watch for emails concerning the meeting a few weeks from now as menu planning begins.

 And we had some Show-and-Tell:

Vintage tablecloths turned into bags

"Paper Towel" cloth

Doll stroller seat

Knit shirt

Hiking/biking shorts in stretch cotton

Knit dress

Dance ensemble: brocade jacket and 2-piece dress

April Showers Don't Stop Us!

It may have been a rainy couple of days, but aren't rainy days good ones to get some sewing done?  April showers didn't stop some of the Sewphisticuts from getting together for an April meeting to learn a little about Stained Glass quilting techniques.

We learned about two different ways to accomplish the look of stained glass with fabric.  The first, presented by Peggy N., involved the use of fusible bias binding.  Sold in rolls and in various colors, it is bias binding with a fusible backing strip so that it can be pressed into place.  After cutting out the "glass" pieces from fabric, they are fused onto a backing fabric on which the pattern has been traced.  Then the bias tape is laid down, filling the space between the fabric pieces that make up the design and covering the raw edges.  It is fused in place, then stitched down to secure it.  A twin needle helps makes it easier to stitch the tape evenly.  The bias tape simulates the leading between glass pieces in stained glass works.

The second method, presented by Maura, uses paper-piecing, also called foundation-piecing.   Fabric is laid directly on the pattern paper (foundation) and sewn to it according to the numbered sequence indicated on the pattern.  The pattern lines serve as sewing lines, making it easy to piece accurately.  To achieve a stained glass look, the quilt block patterns have narrow strips designed between all the major color pieces of the design.  These strips serve as the leading that would be in real stained-glass works.

We concluded that the bias tape method would probably be best for designs with many curved lines and flowing design, while the paper-pieced method would work best for very geometric designs with more straight lines, or where the pieces for the design were very small.

Other business:  Everyone should have received flyers about upcoming events in the Chapter, but here are some reminders - May 2nd is the Sew-In at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fishkill.  The Yard Sale date has been changed to May 30th.   Please note this change on your calendars.  Lots of help is needed to make this a success, so besides helping out with set-up, on the day itself, with clean-up or donations, please spread the word!

Our next meeting will be held at Judy's house so that we can prepare donated fabric for the sale.  Please contact anyone in the group if you need more information.  An email reminder will go out before the meeting next month.

As always, we had some Show-and-Tell:  as a group we are quite productive in numerous ways!

Peggy's blouse

Maura's knit jacket

Peggy's T-shirt

Ronnie's quilts

More of Ronnie's quilts

One of Ronnie's quilts in lighter colors

Maura's retro kitchen towels