On May 13th this year, my friend Rosanne and I went to the Northwest Quilters' Quilt show.  For me, it was an art show!  So much artistry, so much beauty.  I want to share it with you! 

Re: the pictures... I did not talk to the quilters or get their permission to post these pictures here, but as they'd already made their work public by exhibiting it, and as I was within the rules of the exhibition to take pictures, I think it's all right to show their workmanship here as long as I credit them.  If the work is yours and you object to its placement here, Contact Me and let me know, and I'll remove your stuff.  Ditto if I've mis-attributed something and you want me to fix it.  Thanks! 

As always, click on a picture to see it enlarged. 

A friend who was getting married earlier this month asked me to do her wedding dress alterations.  It was a three part job: hem the front skirts shorter, create a 5-point bustle for the back, and shorten the shoulder straps.  The hemming was basic, and the bustling routine, but the shoulders were interesting, and would make a good tutorial. 

Just a quick post, today!  Sometimes it's fun to make a little change that makes a big difference: this wedding dress was quite a statement five years ago, but had spent too long in the closet, and the lovely lady who owned it wanted to take it out for some more events. 

Since the Kluge Job was a dud, today I'll highlight one of my favorite early successes!  I made it from an embroidered yellow cotton I bought at the Mill End Store and a salvaged white cotton skirt with lace insertions and ruffles which I bought at the Goodwill Bins.  (The skirt had two layers: the outer layer was stained, but I used the inner layer for this project.)  I call this dress my highlighter dress because of its color scheme, like a yellow highlighter used on white paper.

I never officially learned to darn... I simply figured out my own method after I learned some needlelace.  My method is simple: first I used a doubled thread to outline the hole, giving it wide margins.  Then I fill this outline with a Corded Brussels stitch.  Where there is cloth, I sew the Brussels stitch through it, thus thickening the fabric.  Where there is a hole, I just sew Corded Brussels stitch right over it, putting a layer of new cloth where there was none.  When I'm teaching someone to darn, I use contrasting thread, but generally I match the sock color.  ​

Several months ago, I had in my stash two slivers of cream-colored poly-satin.  If I had to guess, someone made a wedding dress with a gored skirt, and these skinny triangles were the leftovers.  I also had a few scraps of another satin, but this one less shiny, in the same color.  From these, I intended to create a shirt that would match my tulip skirt, and thus be a valuable addition to my wardrobe.  As to the actual result, well... it was educational!