While the yard baked this past couple of days, I have been cool inside sewing away.  I made five baby flannel blankets for a soon to be new baby in the family.  Mailed them off - Mark it DONE!  Finished grandbaby’s quilt.  Mailed it off today - Mark it DONE!  Finished hubby's couch quilt.  Mailed it off today - Mark it DONE!



I was using my Mom's Singer Genie machine for the construction of the quilt tops.  Switched to her Singer 2010 to quilt them because the walking foot fit the 2010.  The machine has some issues.  I remember Mom telling me several years ago that the 2010 would continue sewing and you had to unplug it to stop.  The first couple of times I started and stopped sewing, it worked fine.  Then I stopped at a crucial point and it did not.  That is when I remembered that it continues to sew.  LOL!  I just said "Thanks Mom!" and got good at pulling the plug.  After I finished the second quilt, I noticed that the 2010 machine was also skipping stitches.  Back to the Genie to fix what I could.  Boy did I learn a lot on these two quilts.



I go back to the real work life next week.  I think I will try to find a 40’s or 50’s dress pattern I have stashed away and try to sew it up this weekend.  I know I have plenty of fabric to choose from – from my stash or from the five or six huge boxes of my mom’s stash my siblings sent me in the past couple of months.  If only I could use it all.  My Sister said I should have started on it 10 years ago – LOL!



More later…

Finished 2 quilt tops over the weekend. Will quilt purple first. They look pretty cool for not knowing anything about quilting. LOL!

Quilts and Thread Drawing

Finished piecing Hubby's quilt top. Gotta find a nice lemony yellow for the border. Started on the Grand Baby's Purple quilt. I have no formal training so I'm just stumbling along doing squares. They seem to go together alright and look fine.  I took some advice from the podcasters I listen to and also did some cutting up of fabric that I had laying around waiting to become something. Now it is neatly cut into strips and squares. I am sure they will tell me what they want to become. LOL!

Next adventure is going to be doing some thread drawing and painting.  I draw and I want to transfer some of my drawings to fabric. I have some that I think might look cool if I can do what I have in mind. I think some of the shows I enter might find my thread drawings a unique way of expression. Who knows, maybe a blue ribbon is hiding in some fabric over there?!

Bridal Veil Pattern and Instructions!

I just finished the Bridal veil for the most beautiful Bride - my daughter! It wasn't hard to make the veil and it looks like it cost a good chunk of change. Here are the pattern and construction instructions:

Bridal Veil

Supply list:

6 yards of tulle in 108 inch width

60 inches of ribbon

A tiara or comb to attach veil to

Beads, ribbon, pearls, etc. to attach to curved edge of veil

Dental Floss

Erasable Marking Pencil

Needle

Scissors

Sewing machine

Straight Pins (T-Pins work best)

Super Glue

1. Buy tulle in 108 inch widths.  I bought 6 yards for 2 tiers in the back and the blusher. If the bride wants more tiers, increase the yardage. Consult with the bride as to how much weight she wants to carry on her head (some brides are unaware that the veil can be heavy when embellished). You will need to know how tall the bride is and long the dress train is. This will be the length of the longest tier.  Very rough estimate!  The next tier will be about a foot, maybe 18 inches less than the long tier.
2. To round the bottom of the tiers: Lay out tulle on floor (carpet works best).  Find the middle fold and then the 2 edges.  You will want to keep the tulle folded in half giving you the width of 54 inches.  Make sure the edges are even. Add straight pins down the sides of the tulle squaring up the fabric as you go down the edges and fold side. I pushed the pins through the carpet and pad to the floor. I also counted the pins as I put them in so I could be sure to locate all of the pins when I was finished.
3. Make this tool to create simple rounded edges for the bottom of each tier:

1. Cut a length of ribbon about 60 inches in length
2. Tie ribbon onto the marking pen
3. measure the width of the fabric with the ribbon/pen. and place a knot at the point the ribbon hits the edge of the fabric. Put a straight pin into the knot.

4. Now you have the tulle laid out so it is straight and square and you have the tool to make the rounded edge.
5. Use the tool you created to measure from the bottom edge of the fabric up to the ribbon knot on the folded edge of the tulle. (approximately 54 inches up). Press the pin/knot into the edge of the tulle at this point.

a.     If you measure on the two free edges of the tulle, your veil will not have the correct curve on the bottom.

b.    What you want is to have the arc create a rounded edge that looks like this when you unfold the width of the fabric

6. Okay, Now to mark the arc:

a.     Carefully mark the arc with the erasable fabric pencil keeping the ribbon taunt.  It should mark the fabric cutting line. It will look something like this

7. Detach the ribbon pin and pencil.
8. Cut along the arc you just made, being careful to not cut the carpet
9. Measure on the fold edge from the arc edge up to the length you determined correct in step 1.
10. Repeat steps 3 – 9 for the shorter veil – cut 12 – 18 inches shorter than first viel.
11. Repeat steps 3 – 9 for blusher. Blusher length will measure from wherever the tiara or comb is attached, over the head, to about 2 inches below elbow.
12. Now to gather the top of each veil:
1. Use dental floss as thread and sew along the top (un-curved) portion of each veil.  I use about 6-10 stitches to the inch.
2. Collect gathers to the width of the comb or tiara. Tie off thread, Machine sew over gathers with a close zigzag stitch.
3. Repeat for next tier.
4. Repeat for the blusher
5. Machine sew the all three tiers together.
13. Make sure to have the bride present for the fitting and have her fix her hair similar to what she plans for her wedding day. Properly place the comb or tiara on head so you can see what direction to attach the fabric. It will be different for different hair styles and the brides comfort.
14. Attach the veils to comb or tiara. Use dental floss and / or super glue.
15. Have bride verify that the veil appears correct to her.
16. Attach trim to the bottom of each veil. Sometimes the trim looks good on all layers, sometimes just on the rear layers, sometimes you will not want the veil to have any trim because the dress is elaborately trimmed with pearls or sequence.

Have fun!

A Saint Powered Life