Twisted Stitchers: Week 7

Theresa's finished pillow - all made by hand!

Theresa's workstation: finished pillow and the Tao Te Ching (her inspiration for the stitched poem activity)

Tammy's stitched poem is by Emily Dickinson

Theresa's stitched poem is from the Tao Te Ching

Ellen was inspired by her "creatures from patterned fabric" activity and continued working on it

Ellen's peacock composition

You can see where Ellen's peacock came from in this quail fabric. A great use of patterned fabric for this activity.

Kimberly adds JAZZ HANDS to her stitched poem, which will be...Girls Just Want to Have Fun!

"Make Cornbread, Not War" by anonymous (she wasn't happy with it so we shall leave her unnamed)

Twisted Stitchers: Week 6

Meredith's creature: pinned and ready to be sewn.

The Twisted Stitchers busy with layout.

Ellen chooses patterned fabric for her creature project.

Shannon goes wild with animals

Shannon's hexie project and some of her own techniques

Kimberly working on her pillow

Kimberly looking for just the right scrap from the Ort catcher

Tammy in a moment of contemplation and Theresa ready to finish up her pillow

Twisted Stitchers: capable of sewing and discussing Hello Kitty, Barbie (pros and cons), Disney Princesses and everything in between (believe me, there is a lot in between)

Theresa's pillow top

Tammy's composition is just beginning...

Creative chaos abounds!

Tammy's garden composition comes to life

Theresa's creature project

Fashion Upcycle Challenge Workshop

Beverly's Before & After: A shapeless dress turned into a form-fitting tunic

Dae's Before & After: A blouse made edgy when shoulder pads are removed and a strap is attached giving the neckline an asymmetrical slant

Stella's Before & After: Awkward stretchy pants and an ankle-length black dress turned into funky leggings paired with a black mini-dress

Toni's Before & After: A perfectly good sweater with one tiny hole turned into a unique work sweater paired with a patterned skirt

Fashion Upcycle Challenge: A complete success! Participants holding up their upcycled garments after an intensive two-day session totaling six hours.

This past weekend, four intrepid lovers of fashion came together to take ArtPlay's Fashion Upcycle Challenge and the results are in: a complete success! The four participants came to the challenge with a variety of skills and levels of sewing experience but all walked away having transformed slightly hum-drum garments into upcycled works of art.

The clothing was provided by My Sister's Closet, a retail store associated with the YWCA which provides clothing in a comfortable and fashion-forward retail environment to battered women in need of interview and work clothing. The Upcyclers returned their works of art to My Sister's Closet in the hopes of adding to the store's collection of great clothing. For more photos from the challenge, click here.

Week 12: December 8th - The Piecemakers' Last Class!

Anna's completed Cathedral Window - gorgeous!

Dana H receives her certificate of participation, daughter Harper helps her accept it.

The Piecemakers attaching the binding to their Local Fabric quilt.

Individual squares sewn, sashing added, batting and backing pin basted, quilted and now bound. A round of applause for the Piecemakers!

Everyone was able to participate in the hand-quilting of the Local Fabric quilt.

Envelope pillowcase demonstration

Cut two pieces of fabric the width of your pillow. If you are like me, you will want a plump pillow. For a 12"x12" pillow, I generally make my front image 12"x12". So your two back pieces will be 12" wide and between 8 and 10" in length. This is a trial and error measurement. Depending on how much fabric you fold over for each of your hems, you might need more or less in length.

Fold edge of each piece over twice and press. These will be your hemmed edges.

Hem edge of each piece. Running stitch or back stitch will work if sewing by hand.

Now you have two hemmed pieces of fabric which you will use to make the back side of your envelope pillowcase.

If the front of your pillowcase has been cut and squared to size, arrange your two back pieces as shown. Right sides facing each other so that once the case is sewn, you can flip it right side out.

Both back pieces laid on top of front piece, right sides facing.

Make sure there is enough overlap between your two back pieces. If there is not enough overlap, the pillow will "peek" out once it is placed in the pillowcase. If there is too much overlap, the pillow will not fit in the case. This is also a trial and error measurement, however, 2-3" of overlap is generally sufficient.

Sew around all four sides of pillowcase at a quarter of an inch distance from the edge.

Detail of sewn edges - when sewing by hand, back stitch is recommended.

Clip corners

When back is sewn to front and all corners are clipped, your pillowcase is ready to be turned.

Turn pillowcase right sides out.

Turn one side of back half and then the other.

Poke corners out with a pencil or pen.

Insert pillow form and fluff and adjust where necessary.

Enjoy pillow!

Enjoy pillow some more!