Crazy sewing

I've been uber inspired to sew the last couple of weeks. Here's what I finished last week:

This is the Joy of Sacks pattern by Tammy Tadd, made out of Moda's tooled leather look vinyl and Studio E's 'Urban Angel' line.

I made another of my Taddle Table Runner and embroidered wool candy hearts and appliqued them to the middle of the runner.

I also made a quilted pillow out of the brown linen fabric that I designed and screenprinted over the summer. This was a gift for one of my bosses. I think it turned out really well, especially since I've never made cording before. I did break down and buy a cording foot for my machine. It really made it easier to get in close to the cording.

I also made two Girly Girl purses in the pink from the Deb Strain 'Sent with Love' fabric and Micheal Miller's zebra and another with the tooled leather vinyl.  I added the buttons with ribbons cris-crossed over it. I thought it was a little plain with out anything so I sat there and stared at it for a while and the fabric covered buttons popped into my head.

This is giant ric rac that I braided together and stitched down.

I think the tooled leather purse needs a little something up top, so I have a wool felt flower pin in mind for it.
I have to say that the vinyl was not easy to work with, but I think I've got it figured out now. You can't pin it because the holes stay permanently. I had to use some clippy things to hold it together as I sewed.

Screen printing insanity!

This screenprinting thing is a total blast!

This is some of what I did last week:

There will be table runners, placemats, pillows, and maybe a bag or two out of these. The ones with the raspberry colored blobs in the middle are extra special! I'm such a mess. I think I horrified the other students. My hands were always covered in ink. And the blurry looking one on natural linen was a total accident, I moved the screen while printing, but everyone seems to like it the best. Go figure. I'm also having difficulties deciding whether I'm a right-handed screen printer or a left-handed one.

One of the other students was saying kind words about my design and asked me what program I drew it in. When I told her "Power Point" she totally burst out laughing. She said "I was thinking you were going to say Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop or something, not Power Point!" She had no idea you could draw like that in Power Point. I explained to her that I'm pretty darn good at Power Point and can create quite a bit in it. She was really amused.

There are more down at the school that weren't dry when I left last Weds night. They are a gorgeous lavender. Some are on natural colored linen and some are on brown linen. Holy cow! It just hit me, Lavender Brown! She's the Ron's first "love" interest in Harry Potter. How funny is that?

I'm trying to decide on what class to take next. I'll have to talk to the teacher Weds night and see what she suggests as the next step.

I could really get into this!

That's what I told the hubby last week after my first screen printing on fabric class.

I explained to him that I could really get into this screen printing thing, so I'll need to take over the rest of the basement for my "studio". He just snorted and went to seek refuge in his computer room.

I'm taking a four week beginners screen printing on fabric class with my friend Emily at the Lillstreet Art Center. It was technically my birthday present from the hubby, and I think he may be regretting it.

Here's my first ever screen print. I'm calling it "Bubble Tree" since that's what Santiago called it and I think it's fitting.

I was petrified because in the first class the instructor had us cut out images w/contact paper and just slap them on the screen. Just like that, come up with an image now, and print it! I totally can not draw. Stick figures are my forte. I am able to cut out circles and a vague tree shape though, so that's what I went with.

Here are the screen prints that Emily and I made on the clothes line drying. She did the cute jellyfish. I think they look like Atari jellyfish, don't you?

This is the oiled image that I drew in PowerPoint. I love PowerPoint! The image has to be oiled if it's on paper so that the non printed part becomes translucent. The emulsion used to make the screen is some kind of photosensitive goo that burns away the image part, so anything you want to use as the image has to be solid, and everything else light has to be able to go through to harden the emulsion.

It was kind of fun being in a darkroom again (if not ridiculously hot). It brought me back to those blissful times spent in the photography dark room in high school. I was surprised that they used a bug light in the room. I remember the dark rooms as being all dark w/a red light on and that was it. I must say, it's much easier working in a dark room that has light.
And this is my first ever real screen that I made this week. It took almost the whole class time to make the screens so next week I get to print! How exciting is that?

Well, I'm off to make another bag that's due by the end of the month.