Hooray! I can finally post these pictures! These are table linens my sister and I worked on (and have alluded to in earlier posts) for my brother and new sister-in-law. The wedding was this past weekend, so we couldn't really post the pictures until now (just in case).My brother and his new wife have white dishes with blue trim, so we found some fun fabric we thought would nicely complement their china. We chose dark blue cotton with just off-white dots and a just off-white with little red flowers. For the back pieces, which are not pictured, we chose a dark blue canvassy-duckcloth. We bought both blues at Wal-Mart (interesting note: my new hometown has two Wal-Marts; one with a fabric section, one without. Wal-Mart is apparently phasing out their fabric, which is sort of a big "screw you" to the people of rural America who only have Wal-Mart to shop at, perhaps since Wal-Mart drove out all the mom-and-pop stores. I, fortunately, live in a town with fabric stores in addition to Wal-Mart; plus I have internet access and the
know-how to order fabric online if I were super desperate. At any rate, don't shop Wal-Mart. They're evil!)The red fabric we bought at a small local quilting shop. It was a little pricey, but I think it was worth it, if only to help keep the mom-and-pop's in business. The red looks super good with the blues we picked. (It's not noticeable in the pictures, but there are tiny blue dots on the red.) The purchasing of the fabric was about the trickiest/toughest part of these projects. We of course saw all sorts of fabrics we loved, but we had to consider what our brother and new sister-in-law would like and what would match their china.
The instructions for the coasters came from...you guessed it...Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. Ms. Karol's pattern calls for stamping embellishment, while my sister and I used rickrack (much to the dismay of my partner-in-crime, who vehemently despises rickrack). We also changed up the way we inserted the interfacing, which was an off-brand of Timtex. We stuffed it in rather than stitched it in with the front and back fabric.
The placemat and napkin instructions come from Amy Butler's In Stitches by hmm...Amy Butler. The napkins are really easy to make, and we chose them because they're double sided, so we could pick fun contrasting cloth (plus they're thicker than just the single piece napkins one finds in other sewing books).
My sister made the placemats, and she did a great job. They were the first project she finished on her own! (I was assigned the coasters.) We amazed some of our aunts, who attended the bridal shower (where these were given). I guess they didn't know we could be so crafty. And my sister's husband gave her a wonderful compliment: "I thought these were store-bought." So, I reckon they turned out alright.
Unfortunately, as I saw my sister this past weekend, I returned her Bend the Rules Sewing book. Booo. Guess I'll have to get my own copy. :o) And I'm between projects at the moment, so I'm getting skeetchy. (OK, I just made that word up, don't ask.)
As for the title of this mega-long entry...my front bedroom where I sew is seriously toasty. When I have the machine on and the iron on, ready to press, it gets even hotter. Hence, the Snicklefritz Sweat Shop.
Mazel Tov to my brother and his new bride!
Comments
Mom said that JT was also in awe of our sewing prowess, echoing the aunts in saying, "I had no idea that they (meaning you and me) could sew something like that."
I haven't found any good fabric stores here, other than Jo-Ann's. There's a WalMart across the street from me, and I think they sell fabric, but if they're phasing it out, who knows how long they will be selling it. Plus, I don't like to shop at WalMart on principle. Principle being that I'm not PWT.
It's just nice if you have more than one option when it comes to buying your fabric; sometimes I feel stuck at Jo-Ann's because they don't have exactly what I'm looking for.
Have you tried that sewing machine store in the plaza where Hancock's is? I think it was a Singer store and it looked like they sold fabric in there.
Yeah, I totally should have taken a close-up of the red. I can try to crop the placemat some more (therefore, zoom in a little) but it might be a wee bit blurry. This isn't CSI where one can zoom in and in and in and get perfect pictures. The pixels just aren't there, people!! We'll see if that picture turns out (it'll be posted if so).
Also, yes, I have scoped out the quilting shop again, but I did not purchase any fabric at the time. But when I decide on my next project, I will probably need to get some more fabric. Yay. That's one of the fun things about sewing, checking out the tons of fabric out there. I've also perused the Singer shop. No fabric purchases there, either, but I understand that is where the partner-in-crime bought my birthday presents (a cutting mat, rotary cutter, fat plastic ruler, and pinking shears). I think there may even be a couple more little sewing shops in some of the nearby towns, but I've not yet checked those out, either.
I was looking through the Sunday ads and (I can't remember for which store) there was a store advertising placemats that were of the same design as the ones we made. It was nice to see that we've created something that people actually sell on the mass market.
The red, white and blue place setting ensemble is gracing our dining table right now, and it really lends a homelike vibe to the yet-to-be-fully-decorated home. Thank you so much!
Enough said. Thanks, girls. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated.
I, too, think the rickrack turned out well. I'm a fan of rickrack. As previously mentioned, my PIC does NOT LIKE rickrack AT ALL. And I got to wondering if JT even liked rickrack...so I'm glad he's OK with it. :o)