Sew Serendipity: Classic Tailored Jacket, My Version

I love the beautiful images and inspiring projects by Kay Whitt in her book, Sew Serendipity. Kay has a fun, whimsical style and makes projects that are flattering on most figures. I saw this jacket in the book and thought it would be a fun project to make. I pulled out some options from my cotton sateen stash and had just enough of this floral Block Print Blossom by Joel Dewberry. The green color seemed neutral enough that I thought I could wear it with a lot of different things in the springtime. 

So I worked away and found the pattern easy enough to follow. But I was a little horrified by the result:

Seriously? It looked like a maternity coat. I added ruffles on the bottom of the sleeves because I thought it would add a fun detail. Bad improvisation. I kept thinking that because the model in the picture was probably an extra-extra small, the coat looked cute and dainty. The hardware on the coat made it look more mature, but making the coat in a size Medium just looked totally unflattering. I immediately felt like I looked like Lucille O'Ball when she was pregnant. She wore these house coat frocks, and she would have asked to borrow mine had it been her pregnancy decade.

Visuals

So I attached a belt to the jacket, and it really slimmed it out and made it look a lot better. I just stitched the belt right onto the back of the coat, like she gives an example of it in the book.  Still, the sleeves made it look to girlish. So I cut those off and left a 3/4" sleeve with a hem. 

In the end, the coat turned out much cuter than I thought it would after I first completed it. There are a couple of things that bother me about it. #1. It isn't lined. So unless it is made out of wool or another warm fabric, it isn't going to do much to protect from the cold. #2. I don't like the inset sleeve so much and would rather that it have normal sleeves because somehow I feel like inset sleeves look like they are made for giant shoulder pads.

#3. My fabric choice probably wasn't the best idea. I love the print and the color but on such a big piece of clothing, it reminds me so much of the Sound of Music Curtains with the big mossy green print. I feel like I could line up with the Von Trapp children and would fit right in.

But it was a good project, which Kay told me herself wasn't too tough. She was right. It was manageable. If it had the lining that I really wish it did, maybe it wouldn't have been so easy. I am not sure. I am still not sure if or where I will wear it, but I have made so many projects that I may or may not ever wear that it is really not why I make things to begin with. 

Modern Yardage... my new project

I have been a terrible blogger lately. Not because I don't love you all: only because I have been so busy with fabric. Tomorrow begins our pre-launch for a new business that my husband and I started a few months ago. Actually more than a few months ago. We have researched and learned and wrestled with decisions about fabrics and inks and machines and FINALLY we are ready to launch --well, sort of. 

A pre-launch means that our website www.modernyardage.com will go live. Are all of our current designs up and ready to order? No. Is our site perfect? No. Can we take orders yet? I'm not quite sure. But when our site goes live, we will be able to allow fabric lovers to see what we have been up to and explore how our big idea will bring beautiful and unique fabrics to them... that they won't be able to find anywhere else for a price as low as we offer. So are we ready? We better be. We are close, and we invite you to check us out while allowing for some construction as you shop. We hope our customers will help us to find issues and ways that we can improve before our actual launch next month.

We think there are too many restrictions and gatekeepers in the way that the quilting fabric world works as it now stands. We wanted to be able to eliminate trend speculation, overstocking unpopular fabrics, and color and scaling limitations placed on designers.

Along the way, we can offer designers creative freedom, instant-to-market designs, and a better platform to connect with their consumers. We print fabric on-demand. How can we do this? Digital textile printing. And I can't wait to show you how much fun it can be.

As a consumer, you will enjoy multiple colorways of the same designs. You used to choose from 2 or three. We offer up to five or six color ways of many designs. We also offer most prints in three different scales. So you can make a skirt with one print and make an accent on it in the same print but a smaller size. How fun is that?

There is so much more to it, but these are just some of the great things that we are excited to offer our customers. We have wonderful designers and many more coming soon. So check back often.

This is a bag I made from a design by Cindy Lindgren. This is the same print, in two different color ways and in two different scales. Orange and more orange. I can't get enough.

This apron is made of two different color ways in two different scales as well. 

There is a lot of fun coming from Modern Yardage. I hope you will follow us on Instagram @modernyardage and on facebook. I'll try to keep you posted.

Joel Dewberry at Houston International Quilt Market 2012

I know that the lighting on this picture is terrible. This is a shot of the original quilt made for Joel Dewberry for the Houston Quilt Market 2012. It was made by Barbie Mills and I took this picture when she presented it at our Salt Lake City Modern Quilt Guild Meeting before quilt market. She did a great job, and I think Joel's take on a chevron is a great use of this bold fabric. The slanted pieces are cut diagonally which makes it even more interesting and probably makes the fabric easier to work with. This pattern will be available for free soon. For better pictures of this, go to Barbie's blog and see her photos. They are much better than this.

Notting Hill in Turquoise color way at Fall Quilt Market 2012

This color way is only available in home dec weight or "cotton sateen" as Westminster calls it. The are from Joel's booth. On the rich is a stack of his brochures. He covered the boxes himself, and I sewed the hat from his Pieced Pinwheel Hat pattern. It is such a great, reversible hat. I highly recommend making it.

Navy Pockets Aplenty Diaper Bag

Of all of the lovely color ways that were represented in Joel's Quilt Market booth, the Navy color way was most admired, or so he says. This bag was made by Leigh. And it is just lovely.

Joel Dewberry's Pockets Aplenty Bag made in Cotton Sateen

 This bag was also made by Leigh.

Can you stand the pink and grey color way? It is so lovely. Again, a color way available only in heavy sateen fabric. The pink skirt and the yellow and aqua skirt in the background are voile. I actually made both skirts and the Pink and Grey Pockets Aplenty bag. What a pleasure it is to sew with such beautiful fabric. And it was a very cool feeling to know that I was the first one to ever sew with fabric from such a beautiful line.

I made this beautiful dress in Voile with the Red color way from Notting Hill. I also made the Hobo bag from another of Joel's older patterns. I didn't expect to love the red color way so much. The color is vibrant and beautifully contrasted by the blend of colors that surround it. That plaid is so well done. This photo shows my three favorite prints from the line: Plaid, Kaleidoscope, and Poppy. I love the fabric walls that Joel had printed with old London street maps as well as the fun subway signs that he designed and had printed to decorate his booth and highlight words that tie into the Notting Hill line.

The Westminster Fibres booth included this lovely quilt , dress (Vintage Flutter), and many lovely pillows. There was so much on display to highlight Joel's Notting Hill fabric line.

I sort of wanted to take off with those pretty pillows or at least take a little nap on them. I might have embarrassed my husband had I actually done that.

Anyway, I am super biased because Joel is not only my favorite designer but also a close personal friend. But I was super impressed by his booth at quilt market in Houston and recognized the enthusiasm in so many who took a look. Now go sew something with it. You won't regret it!

Fall 2012 International Quilt Market in Houston

It really is a treat to attend the International Quilt Market in Houston. The 2012 Fall quilt market was not a disappointment. It was filled with beautiful fabric and wonderful, creative people. I will have to break this into several posts because there was too much eye candy to put in one post all at once. 

Sadly, I forgot my SLR camera battery at home, so my pictures are all from my camera phone (which is super stinky) so sorry these pictures are a bit of a disappointment.

I think I will start with some of the wonderful designers from Westminster Fabrics. Westminster did a new booth at this market. It appears that they took a lesson from Riley Blake on how to make really good use of booth space, allowing walls for each designer within their space. This is great because spectators get a really good look at what each of their designers' new lines are like even if the designers don't actually have a booth at market.

Of course it is always a delight to talk to Amy Butler and to look closely at the beautiful projects that display her designs. Amy's newest line is Alchemy. I really love Alchemy much more than her past two lines, Cameo and Lark, though they both had their own gems. Amy is a kind and sincere person who always seems sincerely interested in getting to know me and any others who visit her booth.

This is an interesting quilt that was on display. It was very chunky and textured. 

The skirt with the circles in this photo is a velvety feel and would be great for a coat or a couch.

I think that this picture is the best show of how beautifully these fabrics work together. I love the rose print toward the front.

This is a quick peek at a quilt in Jennifer Pagnelli's section of the Westminster booth. It is as bright and floral as most of her lines. Pretty. 

Tula Pink is just lovely. What would a market blog post be without a mention of Tula? She is funny and cleaver and obviously super talented. I enjoyed my chat with her and really love her new line, which is so interesting and beautiful. The line is called Salt Water and it has a beautiful ocean motif, including octopus prints among other more mellow prints. The orange is my favorite color of them all, but I could embrace any of these with enthusiasm.

Here are some of the things in Tula's portion of the Westminster booth.

Tula Pink Salt Water Quilt from Fall Quilt Market 2012

Joel Dewberry Fabric on Modern Family

I am a big fan of Joel Dewberry's designs and I am just as big of a fan of the hilarious show, Modern Family. Each week I wait to see what fabric one of the gay characters, Cam, will have on the cuffs of his shirts. It adds to his flamboyance, and is such a great detail in showing Cam's personality. On the most recent Modern Family, the show started with Cam wearing not just flamboyant cuffs, but a whole shirt in one of my favorite Joel Dewberry prints from his Heirloom collations. And my husband was the one to spot it first. He has become pretty knowledgeable on fabric lines.

When I posted these pictures on instagram, designers started asking how they can get their fabric on his shirts. Some designers said that the manufacturing companies send the fabric into the costume departments in hopes that they will choose those fabrics for the shirts. Riley Blake did this, and they did use some of their fabric on his cuffs. But in the case of Joel Dewberry, he nor Westminster had any hand in this. A Michael Levine person (Michael Levine is a huge fabric outlet in the fabric district of Los Angeles) came through quilt market and told Joel that the costume designers come through their store and pick out fabric for Cam's shirts. And I think that is how this happened. 

Joel's fabric has also been featured on Cougartown. There was a whole bedroom set made out of one of his lines on that show. There was also a diaper bag on a daytime soap (not sure which one) and I saw an episode of Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood where Tori made a dress to wear in the hospital when she had her baby, Hattie. The whole ruffle top on it was made with a fabric from Aviary 2 in granite. 

Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill on Pockets a Plenty Bag

Joel Dewberry's new line, Notting Hill will debut at the 2012 Fall Quilt Market in Houston. I thought I loved his old lines. I didn't know if he could beat Heirloom, but I was wrong. This line is beautiful. It just keeps getting better.

I made this bag, his own pattern, Pockets a Plenty, with his advance fabric in cotton sateen. It is a thick home dec weight cotton. It is so smooth and lovely to work with. And the print on the fabric made the whole project a love fest for me. 

This picture is inside of the pockets a plenty bag. I turned it inside out. I love the Poppy print from Notting Hill but the beautiful kaleidoscope print that I used on the inside made me wonder whether I put the right print on the outside. I still can't decide. 

The cotton sateen color ways are always different than the quilting cotton color ways. This time, I really appreciate color ways in both weights of cotton. This pink immediately spoke to me. I didn't expect to love the red color way so much (quilting weight and voile) but I just couldn't believe how much I loved the red. Turquoise is also a favorite of mine. Hopefully there will be many posts after market showing more variations. This is going to be a huge hit in the sewing community.

Sewing Summit 2012, Salt Lake City

I was so looking forward to the opportunity to go to the Sewing Summit in downtown Salt Lake City this weekend. And it was every bit a fabulous that I thought it might be. I have been in a slump with little enthusiasm about my craft. But this weekend gave me new ideas and avenues to explore. This is my friend, Jennifer (www.allthingsbelle.blogspot.com)who is the most wonderful, creative girl. I had such fun discussing our creative journey with her on the opening night and found so much in common with her.

This teacher, Mena Trott, has a blog @ www.sewweekly.com. She spent a whole year sewing her own wardrobe. She sewed new clothing every week and used vintage patterns and materials in most cases. She was inspiring and funny. She really got me interested in finding some patterns and making some vintage dresses for myself. This is something I have never done. I was so excited when someone brought a couple of boxes of vintage patterns to sewing summit and let my friends and I take from the boxes. I got about 6 that I really like. I am mostly interested in the 50s and 60s.

This is Jeni Baker. She has a blog called www.incolororder.com She taught me a lot about balance and tones and saturation. I am not a quilter, but I was very inspired by how I can find a color palate and mix a lot of different prints and colors to make something really lovely. 

Perhaps my most useful and needed class was by this pattern design class by my cute new friend, Carrie Lundell of www.thismamamakesstuff.com. She taught me things that should be intuitive but of course were not before the class. Carrie used to design children's clothing for Old Navy in New York City, and as it turned out she lived just one block from my apartment in Manhattan (I was on 119th/Amsterdam). Later I moved to Astoria. She moved there too. She now lives in Orange County, where of course I grew up. I appreciated her energy and her effortless ease and sensibility in her work as well as her cute personality. We ended up spending a lot of time together at the conference. 

After Carrie's class on Friday night, we went to dinner with more of our friends. Katie Deshazer is in Pink (www.katiekadiddlehopper.blogspot.com). She is crazy talented. She makes the most amazing clothing that is tailored and sophisticated. She is also a doctor. So cool. And in the middle is Deborah Moebes from www.WhipstitchFabrics.com This girl is wonderful and talented and almost completely lost her voice, which almost made it harder to get to know her. But somehow we managed just fine. I sewed until late at night with these great girls and wish I had them around all of the time to meet for sewing... or at least once per month. Is that too much for a girl to ask?

Of course everyone seemed to be very excited about Joel Dewberry's new line, Notting Hill. We were all super excited to have him make an appearance and speak to us about his line and his design process and his inspiration. I was not very excited when I found out at the last minute that I would be introducing him. I feel like I roped him into speaking in the first place, but I didn't think I would get so nervous just to do an introduction. But anything in front of 250 is sort of a big deal. So I couldn't eat my lunch. But I made up for it at dinner time.

Joel was gracious as ever and a lot of fun. I could tell that people were very impressed by his work and who he is as a person. I am grateful to count him and Laurie as my friends because the Dewberrys tend to make me look good. I hope that I don't do the opposite for them. Oh shoot! I better be careful!!

Joel was super nice to stick around and talk to the mob that looked forward to meeting him. It was a wonderful experience, and I will try not to get him roped into these things in the future just because I know how busy he is. Still, he has to admit it was rewarding.

This is my dear friend, Erin (www.twomoreseconds.com). She is also my neighbor. This girl changed my life and introduced me to this whole blogger/sewist world. I am so glad she did. I met her a couple of years ago and now I feel like she is my partner in crime. I love my adventures with her. Though most people would not consider staying up late and discussing fabric lines an adventure, for us it is exciting and inspiring.

More of my sewing summit friends at the closing dinner. Oh, I should mention Melissa Esplin on the end in navy (http://melissaesplin.com/). She is young and funny and full of energy. I so enjoyed my time with her. I met her last year and took a refashioning class from her, which was super inspiring for me. I didn't realize at the time how useful the class was, but it panned out later. That night at dinner, we had a wonderful and inspiring keynote speaker. Her name is Nancy Soriano. She has major experience in the New York City publishing world. I identified with her journey, starting out working for a big name in New York (Cosmopolitan Magazine) and following her heart in her career for many years since. 

I loved the wisdom she shared about finding your path and what is right for you. She said things like: start down a path and see where it takes you, stay near people that keep you on edge or that don't quite rub you right and learn more about them, put yourself out there and see what comes and who you make connections with that might change your life, when things aren't enjoyable anymore, take a break and try something else, always be kind and treat people with respect, etc... I could identify with every nugget of wisdom she imparted. After the dinner, I stayed late talking to her and enjoyed her so much. 

I am way too lazy today to PhotoShop my pictures, but this gives you the idea. The class I attended that was the most amazing (though not exactly the most applicable to me) was Special Occasion sewing by the very lovely and graceful Sarai Mitnick. I enjoyed her so much. She is edgy and deep, two things that I know I am not-- but yet when Sarai showed us the lovely vintage gowns that demonstrated different fabrics that we discussed, I recognized that vintage brings us all together. Sarai and I have more in common than one might think. 

This woman's class was more technical than any of the other classes. She came prepared with take away cards with samples of each fabric and information under each one describing the needles to use, the hems to use, and tips for how to best cut. Amazingly helpful. I would never know what to do with Chiffon if I hadn't taken this class. Then again, I am not sure that I will ever actually sew anything with Chiffon. She painstakingly brought examples of each fabric with hem and seam finishing details on them so we could see what they look like. I was floored by her professionalism and felt like the class was worth so much more than my ticket to sewing summit. It was so kind of her to go to the trouble too because I am sure she wasn't making a fortune teaching us. On the contrary. 

This is my friend, Stephanie Woody from West Virginia (www.providencehandmade.com)

Oh and Leigh, on the left here, who I knew before sewing summit because Erin introducted us. Leigh  is just a gem. I am glad to count her my friend. Leigh Hansen (www.leedledeedlequilts.blogspot.com) is one of those people who makes me feel like I have a good friend in the room and adds that bit of comfort that we all want when we go to something like this and know very few people. I have gotten to know her over the past year and look forward to knowing her for a long time. On the right is Deonn Stott who has done tutorials for Riley Blake for quilting. I felt like I knew her because when I was preparing my Riley Blake tutorial, I watched her online to see how it is done.  She is very experienced and a very nice person. 

Overall, I left sewing summit inspired and uplifted and excited to sew new things in a new way. Now I am off to make a dress from a vintage pattern!!! Not really. I have to put the kids to bed, but that doesn't sound as exciting.