Sunday Quilt Inspiration: IQA Winners!

Okay, enough waiting for the winners--below are the big money quilts!  

 Unfortunately, I missed taking photos of the information sheets because there were always people in front of the quilts, even though I tried to get to them several times.  I'm not complaining, but know that it's possible that this last info sheet follows the wrong quilt. I apologize if that is the case. The other sheets are in their correct places.  

Milestones
Fact: Fleur de Lis Quilts has followers from Germany, Russia, Sweden, UK, Ukraine, and Australia.

Hint: I'm still working on the giveaway!

Memory: I taught you how to attach an eyelet in 2012.  It has been one of my most popular tutorials!

Surprise!

Totally Tutorials, a blog "directory of free craft tutorials," just published one of mine!  I know, if I submitted the tut to the admin, I must have known something, right?  Nope.  Not really, anyway.

Here's how it works, you submit.  Maybe you get published.  Maybe you don't get published.  How do you know?  You don't.  At least not unless you go by and check every day.  I didn't.

I sort of forgot and was sort of busy.  Then I remembered and checked and there I was....right on the front of the blog.  Pretty as you please.

It's the "How to Attach an Eyelet" tutorial, which you can find here.  But if you're interested, you can of course, go visit Totally Tutorials here.   Really, you should go.

You know what, this is fun.
Mary

Back to School

Since I now know that I'll be teaching this year and will have little time in the library, I've been rethinking my wardrobe for the school year.  I've found khakis and tee shirts are perfect in the library because I do a lot of work that requires I be able to move, crawl, reach and so on.  We move armloads of books, clean, work on computers and other machines and climb on steps to reach high shelves.  

In a classroom, however, there's mostly walking around, slight bending, and standing.  Lots of standing!  I wore mostly dresses and skirts when I was in the classroom but never in the library.  I've decided to find a happy medium between those two styles: pants or skirts and tops that are more dressy than tees.

I've been busy the last couple of days sewing a few things for myself.  After paying $30 to $50 each for a couple of shirts, I decided it would be much more affordable to make my own, especially since I have plenty of fabrics that are perfect for clothing.  Remember the boxes of fabrics I purchased from the elderly lady a few weeks ago?  About half of that is beautiful linens that sew up into great fitting pants.  I bought this Simplicity pattern last week and spent a bit of time measuring and fitting the pattern to my size.  



I've made two pair of pants: one in khaki and another in black.  The linen is very comfortable and hangs very well.  I love the hand of this fabric, so I'll probably make several more pairs.  I have probably 10 more pieces of fabric in every color!  So it shouldn't be a problem.



I also made a few tops.  The first one I made is this beige pullover blouse in a light linen that I added embroidery to.  I'm not doing that again for a while....it was too stressful.  The computer is old and easily freezes, which it did.  


I ended up restarting the embroidery program and losing the adjustments I'd made.  So then I had to abandon part of the embroidery motif and just drop in the monogram.  Since I could not line up the border correctly and it is fairly simple, I chose to put it in manually.  And there's the stressful part!  Not bad in the end, but I'm not trying this again soon.


So, since I don't want to embroider on these tops and they are a little plain, I decided to try some other form of embellishment.  Today I made a blue top using the same pattern from the beige linen one.  The fabric is some type of rayon that easily melts, so I couldn't use any kind of iron on.  


Some time ago I'd purchased some wooden game pieces on Etsy.  Rich and I then drilled tiny holes in the pieces to turn them in to buttons.  I stitched several of the wooden buttons on and interspersed them with bright, colorful plastic buttons.   I like the end result.....bright, fun and nonsensical.  


Although I like these tops, one of the problems I've had is that there has to be a button, hook and eye or some other closure in the back neck.  My hair gets tangled in a hook and eye set and the loops that I've made to pair with buttons generally do not stay buttoned.  

I redesigned the back part of the blouse so that I could add a button hole and a small button--no pulled hair and no open back!  The left back extends over the right side of the back and I added a button hole on the extension.  Perfect!

After wrapping up the blue top, I decided that I'd make one more top.  This one opens to the front and is intended to wear over a tank top as a light shirt jacket.  I used a striped blue fabric that was in the boxes but was too small.  


To have enough fabric, I added a Copenhagen blue solid from my stash. I cut the front and sleeves from the stripe, the collar, back and sleeve band from the solid. 


The two fabrics are a perfect match, and the top will look smart with a solid white tank.  I'm considering whether I want to add some type of closure to the shirt.  That might be a little too constraining to work in, so I'll have to wait till it's washed and try it on with the tank to decide.

How to Attach an Eyelet

A few posts ago, I mentioned that I'd modified a dress by removing the zipper and adding eyelets so that the dress would fit more comfortably and also to change the look a bit.  The young lady to whom it belongs was very happy with the new changes.  


Today I thought I'd write a tutorial on how to add eyelets.  Let's begin with the tools: I've assembled several items: not all are absolutely necessary, but they'll make the process a bit easier.  You'll need a hammer (not shown) scissors, measuring tape or ruler, pencil, small block of wood, hole punch and eyelets.  The needle-nose pliers and eyelet tool are great additions if you have them.  



The eyelet tool that I show here is great because it both cuts and applies the eyelets, but it's rather expensive.   That said, I wouldn't purchase one unless I planned to use it many times.  If you do make the purchase, be careful to purchase the right size for your project.  This one is too small the eyelets that I used on the dress I wrote about.  It does apply two sizes of very small eyelets though.


Another option is to use the smaller tool that often comes with the eyelets packaged as a kit.  The open end cuts the hole and the other end bends the eyelet piece.


Let's begin, shall we?  I recommend that you make your first attempts on some scrap fabric of the same weight and thickness as your real project.  


Eyelets come in pairs.  One piece has a longer shank than the other, this is the one that goes on the right side of the garment.  


Begin by punching a hole in the fabric exactly where you want the eyelet.  When working on a garment, you should first carefully measure and mark the fabric.  Generally, the eyelets are equally spaced just as in marking buttonholes.  


The small tool above has two different ends: a sharp one with a hole, which cuts the hole in the fabric, and a solid end that bends and shapes the eyelet pieces so that will lock in place.  To cut the hole place the fabric on the block of wood, place the tool on top of the fabric so that the mark is in the center of the hole.  Use the hammer to tap the tool into the fabric.  


Slide the long-shank eyelet into the hole.  Turn the fabric over and put the eyelet on the block of wood to protect your work surface.  Add the short-shank eyelet on top of the first eyelet piece.  They will fit one inside the other.  


Now put the tool on top so that the solid end fits into the two eyelet pieces.  Hold level and tap with hammer.  This time you'll have to tap fairly hard. When the eyelet seems to be finished, test by trying to pull the two pieces apart.  The finished eyelet should be tight against the fabric all the way around the edges.  If there is space left around the edges, you will need to add stabilizer or interfacing to the fabric.  


 It definitely takes some practice.


The end result, though, can be stunning!  


Happy sewing,
Mary