One of my students, Elena, commented that I’ve been very prolific this year, more than she has ever seen me to be.  I’m not sure why that is.  Maybe, because I am not being hindered by RA (rheumatoid arthritis) which is now under control.  Or, it could be that I love my new sewing school space and I am inspired to sew to decorate it, as well as make samples to inspire you, as students, or potential students who like to peek in the windows…..

Whatever the cause of my large sewing output, I have been excited to produce many a project this year.  It started with quilts.  One lead to another, like pieces of chocolate, or the oft mentioned Lays potato chips…….I made a quilt for my daughter, inspired by a fabric one of my students brought to class.  Then, since I wasn’t crippled by RA, I could then quilt it myself at Laurena’s Longarm studio in Burlington, MA.  I then made a quilt for each of my nieces, then another for my daughter.  Then, I thought I do one for myself.  I finally finished a quilt I started at least 8 years ago, and hung it in the new sewing school bathroom.  It matched the decor so well.  Then, another student, Sherry L, brought in some blocks she was working on that involved folding the fabric like you would paper for Origami.  I had her show me how to do it, and by the end of the day, I had 25 blocks folded.  I made a wall hanging quilt and had it done within a week.  I finally stalled out on my 8th quilt of the year, when I g0t stuck on finding the right fabric for the border…….It’s still on my design wall.  I thought I’d take a break from it.

More recently, I was dabbling in clothing, for myself, my daughter, and my sister.  One of the most recent items I sewed is the skirt made from sneaker themed fabric (made by Timeless Treasures, C5522 Brite.)  Again, the fabric caught my eye, when Avery, a teenage student, brought it in to make pajama bottoms.  I purchased what was left on the bolt, thinking I would do the same.  My daughter loves her high top Converse sneakers.  When I showed her the fabric, she said that she wanted a skirt that she could wear with her high tops.  Then, she told me exactly how it should look.  And, it should have randomly placed zippers on it.  So, having been given this task, I designed a skirt to those specifications.  I like to use a pattern that is close, has the right sizing and then alter it from there.  I often get donations of sewing fabric and materials.  So, I reached into a box of donated zippers and brought them out to see if any would work in this project.  I had eyelets, like what you find in sneakers or sometimes in belts.  They were years old and I wasn’t sure that I could find them.  But, miracles of miracles,  I did find them.  And, the pliers to set them into the fabric.

I decided to put in to parts in the back of the skirt that have shoe lacing.  I used white eyelets, since most of the sneakers on the fabric have white eyelets.  I used white shoelaces as well.  It was really fun to play around with these things.  So far, all the girls in my classes love this skirt.  My daughter does, too.  I had to bring the waist in, it was too big, but other than that, it’s well liked, and will be worn.

I’ve never been one to make bags much or purses or totes.  But, since I came across the Weekender Totes over a year ago, I have been hooked.  With the use of fusible fleece and peltex and other fabric stiffeners and stabilizers, we can make some pretty amazing bags out of quilting fabric.  And, Very Bradly being such the rage, these bags are really in!  I think the photos pretty much show off why it has been so fun for me to make these.  And, it’s a new kind of challenge, working in ways that I haven’t much in the past.  Plus, as I say in one of the photo captions, it’s an opportunity to play with mixing colors and prints on a smaller, quicker scale than making a quilt!

I hope you enjoy these photos.  If you want a closer look at a picture, just click on it and it will expand to fit your window.  To get back to this page, just hit the “back” button.

Here are just a few photos I had posted on my Wirkkala Designs website.  I thought that I would copy them here.  The first is of the curtains and pillows I made for the Master Bedroom in my old house.  You may recognize them, since they now hang in the front windows on my Sewing School!

Second picture is of a lamp I found in the trash.  I cleaned it up, had it rewired and made a lampshade out of some Elephant print fabric I have, which you may recognize from a quilt I have pictured below and in another post.  I glued the trim on with white glue.  I prefer double sided tape nowadays.  Less messy, instant tack and no burning potential when using a hot glue gun.  This picture was taken at the base of the stairway, leading to the 1/2 bath on the first floor of my old place.  The painting on the wall is a watercolor I did.  I copied a picture of leaves scattered on the forest floor.

The third picture is of my daughter’s crib, from when she still slept in one.  Of course, she slept with the side on, but the picture looked much better without the railing.  I made the dust ruffle, bolster pillow, the bumper pads and the duvet cover for the crib-sized down comforter.  (The only place I was able to find that size of down comforter was at the Company Store in Wisconsin)  Amelia still uses the duvet and even though she is too long for it to cover her, she takes it with her on sleepovers and, at home, has me put it on top of all her other blankets.  Once I pieced the top, I backed it with cotton batiste, stitched those layers together in the ditch so that it would keep the patchwork seams from fraying in the wash.  It has worked well because this cover has been washed many times in the last 8.5 years.  Don’t you just love the walls behind the crib?  They were painted during the 4 days I was in the hospital when I had Amelia.  The painters did this beautiful paint effect.  Plus, they painted faint cloud images on the ceiling.  Dave Matuccio and his crew did the work.  Great guys.

Following up from the Quilt project posting, here are pictures of various projects I completed in 2008. It’s not all of them, but the ones that are loaded into my shop computer. As you scroll onto the picture, each has a label of what it is.  Just like on the other pages, if you click on the photo, it will enlarge. To return to this page, click on the Back Button. (When I made so many items from a duvet cover: shower curtain, sink skirt, a top and a dress and then had some fabric left over, I couldn’t help but think of Carol Burnett’s “Went with the Wind.” Their take on “Gone with the Wind.” Check it out on YouTube, especially part 2 and the dress she makes…… Part 1 and Part 2)

Well, I haven’t been very prolific when it comes to posting new things. I do sew as much as I can, but haven’t been keeping up with posting pictures of my work. And, I have made more things than I have the photos to prove.  So, I thought I would quickly post my latest quilt project. I make quilts, not for money, but for friends and family. There is so much time and work involved, it would not be a financially viable way to make a living. I do it for the love of the process and the recipient. Piecing a quilt top requires precision, and since I have a streak of perfectionism in me, it is a good outlet for that. (To see an image closeup, click on it. To return to this page, press the Back button.)

The pictures of the individual blocks are in order from left to right, top to bottom. If you look closely, you can see that I put the border print in every block. I had to “fussy cut” them but the effort was worth it.

The Last picture is of the pillow my daughter, Amelia, made for Joan. She took scraps from when I was making the center block, and without help from me, cut and sewed the pinwheel. Then, she asked me to rotary cut some strips. She did all the sewing and stuffed the pillow and hand-sewed it closed.

This quilt was started in the fall. It was a gift for my daughter’s great aunt, who was suffering from cancer. I had bought a set of 1800′s reproduction fabrics from Keepsake Quilting in New Hampshire. My friend, Sara, and I went on a day trip there a few years ago. We wanted to see their store and take a day off together. She makes wonderful quilts. Sara always has a quilt in process and is very organized. She brings a file folder of fabric swatches with her so that she can fill out the colors needed for the quilt. I tend to enter a store and buy what appeals to me. I didn’t plan on buying anything that day. But, of course, I could not resist…… 19th century style fabrics are not what I usually work with. I tend to like batiks, bright colors, and more contemporary styled prints, including some modern. I bought a variety which would go together well. Trying something new, or should I say “old?” I thought I would make a feathered star quilt. But, as I let my fabric age, I never started it. When I thought of doing so, I couldn’t find them in my stash and then, when I could find them, I had misfiled the pattern.

Last Fall, I decided to make a quilt for Joan. I thought she would like the more traditional fabrics. She was a fine needleworker. Amelia received several gorgeously made smocked garments. And, Amelia was christened in a gown Joan had made for her children, grandchildren and other family members. Amelia was the 11th to wear it 9 years ago. She was a photographer, and writer, too. I decided to use Biblically inspired blocks for the quilt, since Joan and her husband are devoted Christians. I used 2 books by Rosemary Makhan for the patterns, “Biblical Blocks” and “More Biblical Blocks.”

The 6 squares above and below the center block, are 12 inches square and placed on point. They are divided in thirds, fifths, sixths and sevenths. That means that some of my cutting was to the 1/16th of an inch, yikes! For the triangular piecing, I used a paper piecing technique using freezer paper patterns. I used freezer paper templates, ironed to the fabric for the odd shaped pieces in the Tree of life block. The rest were cut to size and pieced together. The borders were cut to show the pattern at its best. It was hard to match them at the corners since the pattern in the red section was not symmetrical. I was in a hurry to put on the outside border, so I just crossed my fingers and left it up to serendipity that they would look good. It turned out better than if I had tried to second guess it. As you have probably figured out, I did all of the cutting and sewing for the quilt top.

Since I needed a fast turnaround on the quilting, I decided to have a professional machine quilter do the work, if I could find someone who was available. Georgette Gagne of Black Wolf Quilting Services was able to help me. I gave her the top on a Sunday afternoon. She lives in Webster, NH. We met the following Wednesday at 5pm in Nashua. I drove right back to my shop and started putting on the binding. I finished it after my evening class, around Midnight. I printed a label on my inkjet printer. I set the ink with a dry iron. The printing was done by ironing a sheet of 8.5 x 11″ sheet of freezer paper to the back of the fabric. I trimmed the sides evenly and ran it through my HP. I used the same fabric as the quilt backing. So, to have it stand out, I bordered it with a rust colored print, which coordinated with the binding fabric.

I used the freezer paper piecing method on my Elephant Walk quilt, pictured below.  It hangs in my shop near the cutting table. It is easy and precise. All of the triangles in the compass and the borders are done this way. It was especially helpful when I did all of the green triangles in the Tree of Life Block. This technique was the brain child of Judy Mathieson. I took a workshop with her a few years back in which I did the center compass of the Elephant quilt. She is an extremely talented quilter whose best known for her Mariner Compass quilts.  Since I was intent on using the Elephant print fabric somewhere, she suggested that I have Elephant’s walking across the quilt.  Thank you, Judy!  I machine pieced all of the geometrics.  I hand appliqued the various Elephants who are walking outside the lines.  Needle turning under the 1/8″ inch wide tail of the smallest elephant is not something I would like to do again.  Then, I machine quilted in the ditch around all of the triangles and compass points and borders.  Then I free-motion quilted around all of the elephants and plants and flowers and the cream colored background of the center block.  Trimmed bound and labeled it.  The label is also done on the inkjet printer, like the Biblical quilt above.  It’s been in 3 shows.

Though I have been taking the role of Sewing Teacher here, I do have a long history of knitting.
I learned from my Grandmother, Stella Karki. And, my skill was reinforced my an older lady, Emily Fouts, who attended our church. My grandmother used to make us mittens and hats. She would trace around our hands for the mittens, then make them and send them to us. She also made many slippers over the years. Doilies, wash cloths, afghans, etc. She dabbled in all sorts of crafts. I loved going to her house. I don’t remember ever being bored.

I am including a picture of some children’s sized slippers I found in some of Grandma’s things, my mother gave to me. Grandma had a Swedish background. She was born in the town of Biwabik, MN and lived there all her life. She called the slippers “tussu’s.” I don’t know how to spell it, but she pronounced it Tuh’ soo. She also used to tease us and say, “You better watch out or you’re going to get a full “tupin.” (two pin) When you are a kid, you just get what it means, so I never asked for its translation.

I knit many scarves, mittens, sweaters, shawls, bags, and I can’t remember all. Most of the items I made for other people.

But, I did keep this sweater. It is knit of Icelandic Lopi, which is a one ply, fat strand of wool yarn. If you are not careful with the way you knit, you can end up untwisting the yarn and having it break. It is very warm. This sweater is knit sideways. Most are knit from the bottom up, and some are made from the top down. But, this one was unusual in that it was knit from one cuff to the other. The sleeves are done circularly, so there is no seam. The front and back are knit flat and woven together at the side seams. The neck is picked up and knit and the front and bottom are crocheted.

I hope you come and enjoy the art of knitting with us. I am thinking of taking it up again in the evenings. I hope it can be a diet aid. Maybe if my hands are kept busy by the needles, I won’t be as tempted to munch after dinner. If it works, it would be a whole new method of weight loss!

Learning new ways to produce historic garments

This past week, at my daughter’s school, they held a World Fest. It was a great opportunity to expose the students to other cultures. The students were encouraged to wear costumes during the day representing their national background.

Since our background in mainly Finnish, with a little Swedish thrown in, I did an online search for what a traditional costume for a girl would be in Finland. I found these two websites: Finnish National Costume and Kutri’s Korner.

I decided to make an outfit which would evoke the feel of the costume while making use of fabrics in my stash. I found a woven striped fabric I made into a simple dirndl skirt. It took me less than an hour, which lead me to believe that I could easily make a whole outfit in a day. The apron was one I made for a friend’s daughter for Colonial Days at her school (Brackett Elementary) last Spring. I borrowed that and she gave me a button-down, white shirt to use if I needed it.

I didn’t see any good vest patterns online. So, I pinned pieces of Swedish Tracing Paper to my daughter’s T-shirt. (I actually prefer Pattern Ease, but I used what I had.) I traced the lines I wanted for the vest and fit the paper to her shape. I made a pattern, adding seam allowances and truing seamlines. Even though it was for one day, I couldn’t bring myself to do anything other than make a fully lined and finish garment. I found some Logger’s Flannel which I had bought years ago from The Rain Shed. Finnish vests are made from wool, luckily, this heavy flannel looked a lot like wool. I lined it in black moire, interfacing the front with Knit Fuse interfacing. The front closures are some frog-like links we had bought from the Wright’s Ribbon Outlet in Sturbridge, MA. (If you have never been there, it is worth the trip!) I don’t know why we bought them, I think it was one of the items Amelia chose with the shopping allowance I gave her. Fortunate for us when it came to making this outfit. I was very tired when it was time to attach them to the vest, so I tacked them on with the machine, in matching thread.

The last item was a white blouse. I didn’t have time to make a whole new blouse, but I wasn’t happy with the look of a button-down shirt in it’s place. So, I compromised and removed the collar and cuffs. I added a gathered flounce collar to the neckline and trimmed it in lace. The lace was actually from a lace snowflake kit I bought at Wright’s outlet. Then, I released the pleat at the bottom of the sleeve, added fabric and sewed lace over the joining seam. I wove burgundy cording through the lace and tied it around the sleeve. It was almost 3 am by that time, so I packed it all up and went home to bed.

My daughter had some white tights and black shoes which completed the outfit. I knew that it wasn’t exactly what the girls wear in Finland, but was pleased later in the day when I ran into a friend who had spent time in Finland an exclaimed that the outfit looked just like what she saw girls wearing when she lived there. Amelia made the appropriate praises and gave me a nice number of hugs to have made the loss of sleep worthwhile.

I have been sewing since middle school. I could not even begin to estimate how many items I have sewn. Not only for myself, but gifts for friends and family, plus as part of the many sewing jobs I have done in my life.

Here are some examples of my work. I will post pictures as I find them. Click on image to enlarge it. Then use the back button of your browser to return to this page.

This picture is of several projects. I painted and decoupaged the dresser on the left of the photo. The little dress above it, I made for my daughter when she was a baby. I came up with a way to cover gripper snaps with fabric for the back, so they would be less bulky than buttons. The quilt above the ironing board was a project my daughter chose to do. She picked the pattern, the fabrics and then helped with the construction. She loves ironing, so she pressed the folded centers of the flowers. She was worried about not being able to sew straight, so she press the clutch of the sewing machine while I guided the fabric for some of it. It’s like driving a car while someone else has control of the accelerator. Luckily, we all arrived safely. At the time, I was a member of the Quilter’s Connection. I was entering my Elephant walk quilt in the show. My daughter wanted to enter a quilt but didn’t really get serious about it until the Saturday before the Thursday morning deadline. You can guess what I worked on almost exclusively those 4 1/2 days. It was fun to work together with her. She was 5 years old at the time. She has been using a sewing machine since she was 4. Now, she is 8.

Before and after pictures of a chair I slipcovered for my sister. I did it in one day, while I was visiting her in Maryland. I brought along my Bernina Activa.

I made these blue sheers for my sister, Peggy, too. They had some navy valances in place already, along with some cellular shades behind them.

I had window lettering done by Tricia O’Neill in December 2006. Just a short time before opening my new space for classes. I felt for awhile that a sign above the shop was needed. The framework for the old metal sign was still attached to the front of the building. I measured it and decided to make my own sign. I used outdoor friendly fabric. First I traced the letters on my window and enlarged them 150% with a pantograph. Then I fused the cut letters to the background fabric. I had drawn chalk lines on the red fabric to help me space the letters. Then, I stitched them around the edges with UV protected thread. One I was done, I sewed heavy duty velcro to the edges. With help from my friend, Cynthia Murray, and her husband, we mounted the fabric sign to the framework on the building. Luckily, it fit. Now, I just have to get some lighting on it.

The bathroom was filthy, but after 2 heavy scrubbing sessions on the sink, the goop and paint splatters are finally off. I do plan to put in a new vanity, sink and faucet before classes begin in January. The floors are newly waxed and I have put up a balloon sheer in the bathroom window. I was able to use one that I had made for my old dining room. Since it was on a tension rod, I was able to shorten the rod and gather the curtain more. I shortened the support dowel at the bottom to fit inside the window frame. I had to adjust the length of the cords to make them even and pull up the bottom to fit the shorter length of window. But, it looks quite nice and gives needed privacy for the room.