The Season of Sentimental Sewing

Memory is a powerful thing. Every time I smell Peach Nectar by Bath and Body Works, I am immediately transported to Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. I wore that fragrance during my semester abroad more than 15 years ago. My mind is flooded with  feelings of adventure, freedom, curiosity and joy I experienced. The flashes of memory are always surprising in their vividness and the pleasant feelings they evoke.

We all have these sense memories and at times, long to recapture feelings brought by positive experiences. I was recently commissioned to make a garment that reminded the client of the love and care her grandmother imparted in a "Little Red Riding Hood" cape she was given as a child. I was nervous to take on a project loaded with such sentimentality, but I was willing to take the risk.  For this project, I had several cape patterns from which to choose and she decided on retro Simplicity 6630.

                   

                   

We considered, wool, fleece, and microsuede as fabric choices and decided on red microfiber for the exterior. This pattern is designed to be reversible though she did not want contrast. I chose a red cotton broad cloth for the interior.

                   

Here is Ann in the completed cape. She loves it and says it does the trick. It is like the cape from her childhood made with love by her grandmother. I see that smile on her face and I can imagine her as an adorable six-year old with a pretend basket of muffins. :)

Her enthusiasm about her cape was palpable. Her joy was overheard by a passerby wanting to give that feeling to others. That person commissioned me to make two more to be given as holiday gifts! I got busy and made them!

Black, red and grey plaid with cranberry interior.

                   

                   

                   

                  

Grey and white Hounds tooth with a Panne velvet interior. 

                   

                   

                   

                   

and one for my sister in a print exterior and denim interior. 

                   

                   

                    

Whew! I am beat! Making a reversible garment is like making 2 garments at once and requires twice the time. Having satisfied recipients made it worth it. I have written a review of the pattern that you can read here.

Have done any sentimental sewing? What did you make? Have you received a treasured garment? What was it? Who made it?

Happy Sewing,

Bianca

Beading Woes and Wins in my Anna's Garden Poncho

Oh the troubles of beading an Alabama Chanin piece. The dilemma comes from finding a needle that is large enough to accommodate the thickness of the button and craft thread but narrow enough to fit through the bugle and seed beads. In the past I have found needles that work but I lost the package and didn't know what type they were  when I needed to replace them. 

I did some research and asked around on Craftsy for suggestions for good needles. I got suggestions for big eye needles. 

They have a collapsible eye and a narrow body to fit the beads. These work great in that they accommodated the button and craft thread easily, however because they were so flimsy they would bend and made the process very slow going. 

I then switched to the Sullivan's beading needles. They were thin enough to accommodate the seed beads but the eye was too small. I ended up using another needle to enlarge the eye and it worked for a time. The problem with this needle though was that going through the layers of jersey fabric, over time it would begin to arc and bend. This made for a slow process is well forcing me to stitch one running stitch and bead at a time.

I asked Dr. Fun what type of needles she was using and she pointed me in the direction of the Dritz Milliners needles. When I went to the fabric store though I forgot if she said embroidery or milliners. So, after debating for quite a while, I decided to go with the embroidery needles because the eye was  larger and the body of the needle is really narrow. I figured if I got it wrong I'd be back at the store if I needed to replace them.

Turns out the size 5 embroidery needle was perfect!  The steel is firm and the needle is short so it allows me to be easily work through the fabric without the needle arcing.  This needle allowed me to stitch a beaded back-stitch as opposed to a single running stitch every time.  It is hard to explain the difference, but in the time it took me to do one shape with the wobbly needles I was able to complete three shapes with the firmer needle.

My husband put some compression sewing gloves  in my Christmas stocking.

Compression Glove with double-sided tape as my beading glove.

I put them, and my needles too good use on my new poncho. With this poncho, I used a tan top layer stenciled with brown airbrush paint using the Anna's garden stencil and a white under layer. I used three types of beads in color combinations of white, silver,  and clear iridescence.

 

My label on scrap jersey.

I chose to use reverse applique in random shapes while leaving some shapes unstitched and unbeaded. 

Front on my custom dress form

Back

I am sure to return to this piece over time, adding more beads and stitches. For now, I am happy with it. 

Happy Sewing,

Bianca