Wishing a heartfelt Happy Mother's Day to my sweet mom
and all of you other awesome moms out there!
Enjoy your day! xo, b
Friday, May 10, 2013
Thursday, May 02, 2013
little windows
Sharing with you some little windows into my studio space. This is where I spend many hours of my day creating, day dreaming and honestly, working pretty darn hard. Lately I've been cleaning, organizing, and beautifying as well. Tomorrow this space (and myself!) has got to be camera ready for something special coming up!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
look up!
After a hugely busy few weeks both with work and family obligations, this week feels like a breath of fresh air. The deadlines and responsibilities are still ever-present but I am making time for daily walks, yoga, good food and catching up with friends and family. I even plan on doing a little spring cleaning. I know, right?
It's easy to let the weight of the world press down on me but I am determined to look up from my work, step away from the computer and appreciate the very good things in life.
Hugs and High Fives!
Betz
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Stitch Organic Fat Quarter Bundles
When my licensed print collection, Stitch Organic, started shipping to stores in late 2011, I made the conscious decision to not sell fabric in my shop. My desire was to let the quilt shops and fabric stores do what they do best while I promoted the collection by designing sewing patterns that use the fabrics.
Now, many months later, I have been getting regular requests from people not being able to buy Stitch online or at their local shops. It is no longer being printed and it seems to be hard to find. So there is only one thing I can do:
As of now, I am offering Fat Quarter Bundles in my etsy shop! There are 2 sets of 11 fabrics, divided by colorways, Garden and Lagoon.
The Garden palette consists of bright rich color that is predominantly warm with some cool colors mixed in.
If you can't decide which colorway is your favorite (I can't!) you may have to settle for both and mix them together!
Wanna see more projects made from Stitch? Check out the Stitching with Stitch Flickr group for inspiration. And if you've made something with Stitch, I hope you'll share it!
Release the Stash!
As of now, I am offering Fat Quarter Bundles in my etsy shop! There are 2 sets of 11 fabrics, divided by colorways, Garden and Lagoon.
The Lagoon palette consists of cooler tones anchored with grey, brown and greens.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Scarf-to-Shrug Tutorial
Have you been practicing your Lettuce Edge Technique that I demonstrated in the last post? Now's your chance to put your skills to work! I present to you the Scarf-to-Shrug Tutorial!
Here we go!
1) Take your "wingspan" measurement. Using a tape measure, measure from your wrist to the center back of your neck. You'll want to keep your arm down at your side and have the measuring tape travel up the outside of your arm across your shoulder to the back of your neck. I measured about 31". This will be half of your wingspan and half the length of your scarf.
2) Take your "cross-back" measurement. Measure yourself underarm to underarm with the measuring tape going straight across your shoulder blades. I measured about 22". This will be the size of the opening in the scarf to shrug-ify it.
3) Cut 2 rectangles of jersey fabric 14" wide by the length of half your wingspan measurement from Step 1. (ie: 14"W x 31"L) You'll want to be sure that the width of your rectangle is cut with the stretch and the length is cut with the grain (parallel with the selvedge). If you're not sure why this is important, you can review the Lettuce Edge tutorial.
4) Seam the 2 rectangles together with a 1/4" lapped seam. Do this by overlapping the ends of the rectangles by 1/4". Pin then sew with a larger zigzag stitch, taking care not to stretch the fabric as you sew. This will make a nice flat seam at the center/back of your scarf/shrug. See Diagram A, below.
5) Next, create a lettuce edge and scribble stitching detail at either end of the scarf, referring to my tutorial. See Diagram B, above. You can make as many rows of this as you'd like.
6) Fold the scarf lengthwise, right sides together, aligning the raw edges. Pin, then sew with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving an opening in the seam equal to your "cross-back" measurement from Step 2. You can divide this measurement by 2, then measure that distance from the lapped seam (ie: 22" ÷ 2 = 11" from the seam). See Diagram C, above. Be sure to back stitch at the beginning of each seam.
7) Turn the scarf/shrug right side out and you're done! The raw edges around the opening won't fray and the jersey will naturally curl in just a bit so you don't have to worry about finishing those edges. To wear it as a shrug, simply put your arms into that center opening and into the "sleeves".
Because of the way this is cut with the grain of the fabric, I specified a one yard length in the materials list. You will only be using about half the width of the fabric, so you should have enough material to make 2 of these from one yard of jersey. Perfect! You can make a second one as a gift. Maybe for Mother's Day!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions!
What you'll need:
• one yard of cotton jersey knit fabric
• coordinating or contrasting thread
• measuring tape
• fabric shears
• sewing machine
Here we go!
1) Take your "wingspan" measurement. Using a tape measure, measure from your wrist to the center back of your neck. You'll want to keep your arm down at your side and have the measuring tape travel up the outside of your arm across your shoulder to the back of your neck. I measured about 31". This will be half of your wingspan and half the length of your scarf.
2) Take your "cross-back" measurement. Measure yourself underarm to underarm with the measuring tape going straight across your shoulder blades. I measured about 22". This will be the size of the opening in the scarf to shrug-ify it.
3) Cut 2 rectangles of jersey fabric 14" wide by the length of half your wingspan measurement from Step 1. (ie: 14"W x 31"L) You'll want to be sure that the width of your rectangle is cut with the stretch and the length is cut with the grain (parallel with the selvedge). If you're not sure why this is important, you can review the Lettuce Edge tutorial.
4) Seam the 2 rectangles together with a 1/4" lapped seam. Do this by overlapping the ends of the rectangles by 1/4". Pin then sew with a larger zigzag stitch, taking care not to stretch the fabric as you sew. This will make a nice flat seam at the center/back of your scarf/shrug. See Diagram A, below.
 |
| click on image to see bigger |
6) Fold the scarf lengthwise, right sides together, aligning the raw edges. Pin, then sew with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving an opening in the seam equal to your "cross-back" measurement from Step 2. You can divide this measurement by 2, then measure that distance from the lapped seam (ie: 22" ÷ 2 = 11" from the seam). See Diagram C, above. Be sure to back stitch at the beginning of each seam.
7) Turn the scarf/shrug right side out and you're done! The raw edges around the opening won't fray and the jersey will naturally curl in just a bit so you don't have to worry about finishing those edges. To wear it as a shrug, simply put your arms into that center opening and into the "sleeves".
Because of the way this is cut with the grain of the fabric, I specified a one yard length in the materials list. You will only be using about half the width of the fabric, so you should have enough material to make 2 of these from one yard of jersey. Perfect! You can make a second one as a gift. Maybe for Mother's Day!
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Let me know if you have any questions!
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