New fabric collection by Liberty of London

Lesleys A Tana Lawn fabric

Liberty of London is a design house based in London with a history dating back to 1875. They are a design house and also sell fabric in addition to products.  Their product is described as being cutting edge, savvy and avant-garde.  To the shopper they are probably most well known for their classic ditsy floral prints.  Pictured above is a print in Tana Lawn fabric which is a silky light weight cotton perfect for dresses, quilts and hair accessories. Liberty has branched out into many new categories; apparel, accessories,  stationery, lighting, home and more.

Peacock journal

 Two that are very exciting to me as a designer are their new line of quilting weight fabrics, the Bloomsbury collection and their collaboration with Nike.  

Nike featuring Liberty

The new Lifestyle Collection called Bloomsbury, consists of 11 prints in 5 colorways. These are retro, kitchsy, fun, and colorful! A perfect weight for dresses, totes,  aprons, quilts, table cloths, curtains and so much more.  The Bloomsbury collection is inspired by the historic district in London.  Rich in cultural history and home to the British Museum, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and the University of London.  This is an eclectic mix inspired by the abundance of flowers and plants in the area.

Beautiful!

If you are a designer or crafter definitely make a point of checking out these new fabrics. I think I will be making some aprons and dresses for my nieces with these bright, happy prints!

Happy Sewing!
Tracey

www.traceytoole.etsy.com
www.traceytoole.blogspot.com

Wish upon a Snowflake - Tutorial

As I was sorting through our holiday decorations, I stumbled upon some instructions for paper snowflakes and stars, which inspired me to cut up some snowflakes of my own -- out of fabric. You may know how to do this already, but here is a quick refresher:

Materials

• a square fabric remnant, this example uses a 6 inch square
• very sharp scissors

Directions

Base Shape

Iron the fabric square flat.

Create a triangle by folding the square on the diagonal from one corner to another.

Fold the triangle in half along the center. Iron.

Open up the triangle and take the right corner and fold it over to the lower left at about a 60 degree angle along the middle crease.

Repeat with the other side until you have a symmetrical shape. Iron.

Cut a straight line across the base of the shape to create a triangle.
This is the basic shape from which you start a snowflake

Cutting out the Snowflake

To make a 6-pointed star shaped snowflake do the following:

Cut out a triangle on the base of the snowflake. The deeper your triangle, the longer the points of the star will become.

On each side of the triangle cut out a shallow oval.

Snip off the tip of the triangle

Open up the snowflake and iron it.
That's it.

You can use this snowflake to decorate a card, include it as part of an applique project, or attach it to your window for the holidays with a cornstarch and water "glue." If you wish you can also adhere fusible web to the fabric square in the first step and create an iron-on applique. Obviously there are many ways to cutout different shapes from the base shape. You may want to use paper squares to experiment with different patterns first and then transfer your designs to a fabric square. 

Have fun!

Simone
groundsel.etsy.com

Bring the Fun of the Fall Cavalcade Home

It’s Sunday and you’ve enjoyed a beautiful day in Beacon, New York snatching up handmade wares from the {NewNew}. The feeling was so good, you want it to last forever. What to do? Make yourself some decorative {NewNew} Fall Handmade Cavalcade trees to enjoy all year long. These would make great wall decorations and can easily be hung anywhere. The steps in this project can also be applied to lots of other shapes - such as pumpkins for Halloween or turkeys for Thanksgiving. Maybe even tiny ones to hang on the Christmas tree?

For this project you need:
Card Stock
Newsprint paper or even an old copy of the NY Times Double-sided tape
Fabric Glue
Scissors/ Rotary blade
Cutting Mat
Colorful Quilting Fabric
Felt to compliment the fabric
Ribbon (we used 1/4" grosgrain)
Awl
Pins
Pencil
Ruler
Cookies and Milk (optional)

Create Your Pattern We made three sizes trees that were 28 inches, 22 inches and 16 inches tall. You can make whatever size suits your needs just keep in mind the final project will be hanging off a ribbon and will add a few inches in length. To make a pattern for the base tree start with the card stock. Take your ruler and measure out the length of your tree and mark the line with a pencil. This is the center axis of your tree. On either the left or right side of this line, draw a 1/2 tree. Cut this shape out. Now trace this shape on another piece of card stock. Flip the 1/2 tree pattern over, align the center axis with the shape you have traced, and trace the other half of the tree. This makes sure that your shape is symmetrical left and right. Once your symmetrical whole tree shape has been cut out, set it aside as this is the base.
Now roll out a section of newsprint paper. Trace your 1/2 tree shape onto the newsprint. Then inside that shape, draw a 1/2 arc that starts and ends along the center axis. It is helpful to do this within a tracing of your base tree so that you don't have to guess size and proportion. Now fold the newsprint along the center axis and cut out your center shape along the line you drew.
One pattern left, the felt trunk pattern. On newsprint again, take your 1/2 tree cardstock and trace just the bottom truck. Flip it over along the center axis to trace the other 1/2 of the trunk. Using a ruler, extend these lines up so that the length is about half of the total height of your tree. Extend branches from this trunk. Cut out your trunk shape and now all the patterns are complete! Take a moment for a pattern happy dance.
Fabric Time! Take the whole tree cardstock base that you cut out and apply double sided tape all along the edges. Stick this to the backside of one of your printed quilting fabrics. Using the edge of the cardstock as a guide, cut out the fabric so that it is the same size as your base.

Select a second printed quilting fabric, pin the paper pattern to it, and cut the shape out. Repeat this step to create your felty awesome tree trunk. Make sure your fabric is ironed and wrinkle free before you cut. Wrinkles ruin trees (or maybe you would call it character.) With your fabric glue (we prefer Beacon Magna-Tac 809 permanent adhesive), glue down the printed center of the tree to your printed base. Try to make sure you get the top points aligned and centered. Then glue your felt tree trunk on top.
Let it all dry for about 30 minutes while you admire your work and enjoy yummy cookies and milk. (Optional but recommended)

Alexandra and Virginia enjoy a not to vintage 2% and amazing chocolate chip cookie.
Finishing Touches Once your magical Fall Cavalcade tree is dry, carefully use your awl to poke a hole through and through about 3 inches from the top of your tree. From the good side of the tree, center your length ribbon on the whole and push it through. We used dull tweezers to push through as much as possible, and then pulled from the underside with a needle. You now have a loop coming out the back and two loose ends coming through the front. Tie these loose ends into a pretty bow.

Conceived by Jody and Alexandra Ferguson

With lots of help from Lauren, Virginia and Kelly

Reported by Kelly

Tutorial: Using Beaded Jacobean Couching to Fill Embroidered Shapes

This embroidery technique is a variation on a stitch called "Jacobean Couching" that uses beads to give your project some added elegance. This project is not difficult, though it is helpful to have some knowledge of basic embroidery. Here are the materials you will need:

1. Embroidery Floss.
2. Seed Beads.
3. Regular sewing thread in a color that matches your beads.
4. A heat-transfer pencil.
5. An air-soluble pen (a pen that makes a mark which will disappear in a day or so).
6. A transparent gridded ruler.
PLUS, tracing paper, scissors, a home iron, fabric to embroider your design onto, and an embroidery hoop. For this project I used a 6" hoop.

STEP 1: Trace your design onto tracing paper using the heat transfer pencil. I chose an eight pointed star - you can choose pretty much any image you like, as this technique works well for filling any simple shape.

STEP 2: Iron the design onto your fabric. Use the hottest setting that will work for your chosen fabric, turn the steam setting to "off," and do not let your design shift while ironing. My design was transfered after about ten seconds of ironing.

STEP 3: Outline your design using any stitch you like. I chose to use the Stem Stitch, which is illustrated below. For this project, I did my stitching with three strands of embroidery floss. A handy set of illustrations for various outline stitches can be found here.

STEP 4: You are going to run a series of parallel threads over the entirety of your design. I chose a distance of 3/8". Using your transparent gridded ruler, make small dots right next to your outline, indicating where your parallel stitches should be placed. The ink should disappear in a day or so, but it's still best to keep your marks as small as possible.

STEP 5: Using the marks you've made, create a series of long parallel stitches that fill up your entire shape.



STEP 6: Decide whether you would like to end up with a shape filled with squares or diamonds. If you want squares, you should make your second set of parallel stitches at a 90 degree angle to the first set. I decided I wanted diamonds, so I chose a random angle, and simply made all my stitches parallel to the first line that I made at random.

STEP 7: Once you have filled your entire shape with a grid of long stitches, you can start adding the beads. Thread your needle with a double strand of regular sewing thread, then bring your needle up through the fabric right next to the place where two threads cross.

Thread a bead onto your string, and bring your needle back down through the fabric on the opposite side of the crossed threads.

To make sure your beads are securely stitched onto the fabric, bring your needle back up, and make a second stitch through each bead before moving on to anchor the next intersection of threads. Keep going until you've tacked down all your threads.

STEP 8: Admire the beauty!