Friday, January 18, 2013

In The Studio

 This past weekend we finally got my new studio to a place where I can work in it! Yeah! I was itching to start sewing again after taking a bit of a break since just before Christmas. I had something new that has been ticking my creative nerves for awhile and wanted to give it a try. I have seen in various places "Infinity Scarves" and I wanted to give them a go. I spent many a sleepless night noodling how I wanted mine to look and how I wanted them to take shape. Did I want them all vintage materials or a combination of both...did I want them to have some form of batting...etc...  So, I dove in. I wanted to make sure that my decision to go with no batting would work (I decided I wanted them to be 3-season scarves - perfect for Spring and Fall days and nights and even cool Summer evenings). I wanted them long enough to be able to go around the neck twice without them being tight. I wanted them to be as much a fashion accessory as a needed item of added warmth. To make sure this would all work I started with a more basic structure.  A lovely piece of vintage retro fabric I have had for quite awhile that I have loved but had yet to find the perfect use for became the main fabric. The backing fabric is a piece of white and gray floral cotton from the Joann remnant bin. I cut them out using as much of the fabric of both pieces as possible, matched right side to right side and sewed them up and down both sides leaving one end open to turn it right side out. Once I had it turned right side out I ironed it up, wrapped it around the mannequin and liked what I saw.


 On to scarf #2 - much more complicated. I had recently visited our LOVELY local quilt shop with a vision in my mind of the scarves I wanted to create. I came out with some lovely fat quarters (thank goodness for a sale on fat quarters that week :)!) I try really hard to not buy a lot of new fabric but sometimes it is really hard :).

Scarf #2 is made up of pieces of the Zen Chic line from Moda. In keeping with my Remnants theme I added in bits of embroidery from a vintage tea towel that had some stains and could no longer be used for it's original purpose. The tea towel colors and theme (an Asian lantern and flowers) could not have been better! After a little futzing with piecing I discovered what worked and what didn't.


Above - futzing.
Below - the (almost) finished product. I LOVE how it turned out.
 

Scarf #3 is slightly different then scarf #2 as there are no triangles. I discovered straight lines work best. The fabric is a bit of new (sorry - I can't remember the name of the line) as well as a bit of stash fabric (the pretty green floral). I had a hard time choosing the right vintage linen but I think I ended up with the right one. It started out as a small round dresser linen and I ended up with the lovely large square, 2 small squares with flowers, and a funky rectangle where I pieced together two swirls. The backing is a dark red cotton that I had in my stash. I think it is perfect for Valentines!



Scarf #4 is made up of fabrics from the Sun Kissed line by Michele D'Amore for Benartex Fabrics. I cosmbined in two different vintage elements in this scarf. I thought that the combination of the fabrics had a "spring snowstorm" feel (a common thing here in the state of Minnesota) so I added in the end of a tea towel that featured a snowflake cutout as well as the crocheted ends from an old table runner that look like round snowflakes or fuzzy dandelion heads. The backing is a great white stash fabric with white "bubbles" all over it.


The vintage crocheted lace from an old table runner.

The end of a vintage tea towel featuring a snowflake.
The last scarf I have been working on is a horse theme. One of my good friends and his partner run a horse farm and their store front is where you can currently find all of my handmade goodies. So, I decided that I had to make some horsey stuff. (I have made a couple small purse pouches and a pin cushion out of the hat fabric as well - photos of those in another post). I had a hard time finding a vintage embroidery to work but I really wanted to keep using vintage elements (which is why the other 4 scarves I have laid out are not ready - no embroideries that work. But I do have something else "vintagey" in mind for those :)...) The embroidery I picked out are black ovals with flowers in colors from the fabrics. The ovals look like either part of a track or a horse shoe (maybe I'm grasping at straws...but I think it works). The backing is a marble stash fabric that I also incorperated in a bit on the front. The scarf is close to done but I so far I only have an "in progress" picture of it...
Each of the scarves also have the first "Remnants By Carrie" brand tags on them. Yeah! So excited that I finally got around to doing this. Now each of the bigger things I make (bags,scarves, etc...) will have a tag.

The final decision for the scarves is how to finish them up. Just sew the two ends together? Put two or three fabric loops or button holes (which I don't know how to do) on one end and buttons on the other so they can have it as a regular scarf or infinity style?) Thoughts? Let me know.

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