hand made lacy fabric

Well, that's what we are calling it ...cuz we mostly do make it ourselves using FME (free motion embroidery) on the machine.... albeit on some base of scrim as lucky Karen gets to use...or in the case of us gals in Canada and the U.S. ... silly old cheesecloth...which is not nearly as nice to work on and it becomes stiffer somehow than the scrim too...

My own has some off white bits added and I don't care for it as much...plus, I think I've decided not to FME it so fully..maybe that makes things a bit stiffer as well.

I am using the piece I won from Karen to cut up and add to my latest endeavours with the pincushions and those are the hole-y areas... almost sacrilege to cut it ..but I am putting it to great use...at least I think so.

 I did a practice bit on the edge of the scrim and on my cheesecloth, and they did feel more similar when I used exactly the same bits of soft lace to add to it ..and did a bit less FME... it'll save on the reels of cotton too..hahhaha...the only thing I really know about FME is that is does use many yards of thread... bobbins actually ..already...

Okay, now I'm off to rummage in the storage area looking for my little walnut mice bits and pieces ....and also the origami ornaments to play with.  Must make some each year to give to folks.... always a new face that doesn't have one or two for their tree...
It's a perfect day to play inside at -17C  although, I must try to shovel a bit later...the drifts are huge and packed pretty stiffly...but, maybe I'll wait until the 60 kph winds die down a bit ... they are saying it is wind chill of -30C  ...brrrrr.....

colour..

... I decided to add a bit of colour...  the little pieces of white that I added with FME didn't stand out enough for me... they just seemed to disappear into the fabric when I got some stitching done around them.
It looks great up close ... but, just not enough oomph...

I love the way the bits of colour look with pieces of lace and organza built up on top of them, but, I think next time I'll let it ruch up a bit if possible...it is a bit too flat looking for me.                      

 I did add a few French Knots of yellow to pick up on the colour of the printed fabric.
Almost ready now to stitch up and turn and see how my first little off-white cushion looks....still looking for some off white fabric for the back side.. my silk is a bit too white...... might have to go shopping....  
   

                         

working on something else.

....learning to do things with paper and fabric and FME and ...well, just about everything in Karen's latest class.  She's got us moving in all directions...  making sure the newbies taking a class for the first time know all the stitches and tricks  ..  ..and keeping us prior students interested as well... must be a tricky thing actually...but, she seems to manage it.

Making a page for my info/inspiration ledger...  I"m still trying to decide if I will give it a name or just put 'stuff' in it...hahhaha.... it's only for me really...and I know what it is and what's in there ...so it isn't that important...

Remember my fashion sketch? ... here is a rough one simulating the gown's bottom edge...  made to use for a page in my book  ...FME over bits of silk, organza and lace ..and the bits on the side? ..just some initial practice pieces and also... it adds balance to my page...

This little piece is silk with lace FME'd onto it... it ruched up like that.. probably because it was just a small piece and difficult to keep flat really.....but, wouldn't it look pretty as part of something to wear? ....

and, look at the back of my paper  ... wow... ....

stylized snowy trees.....aren't they lovely?

Christmas cards spring to mind........ sorry... somebody had to say it....

Blog fodder/embarrassing moment..

It's hard to know the difference.

Sometimes I used to think it would be almost too embarrassing to show you some of my erroneous or downright stupid stitching moments...but, hey, it's definitely nothing like all of Rob Ford's regular life ..so what's the big deal?  I'll just blurt it out and carry on like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

Here's the morning's effort...

Merrily stitching away on the machine...which is not my fortè anyway...but...onward... it must be used for FME.  Well, I suppose you could spend all day doing backstitch by hand over a rather large area....but, no... not that necessary to waste time doing that.  I need a new 'master sheet' of fabric from which to cut some new pin pillows/cushions.... and I do need to get on with it...I want at least one finished before Christmas.

This sheet is off white compared to the pristine whites I used for my first sheet  ....   and I've found some lovely bits of fabric including a piece of satiny one side stuff...it might be crepe of some kind...I'm not all that knowledgable about fabrics.

Anyway..back to my story...which by now is reaching novella length and I'm not even into it yet...hahhaha.... I'm going to say it.....I sound like Karen.... whittering on at length... ooooh, there; I've done it...I'll be on the "naughty step" in our class for sure now.....

oh, sorry....another detour...it's like driving around our city..you can't find your way on any of the streets just now due to construction, road repairs and so called flood mitigation antics ...

Pay attention to where the edges and corners of your fabric sheet are once you get whizzing along, doing great circles and chortling to yourself about how wonderful it is looking..... with the stitching creating lovely artistic swirls and satiny bumps that look like little pearls......sigh.............because sure as the dickens, something like this will happen while you are congratulating yourself.

Can you see it?

Yes, I did.  Stitched the front to the back with FME .... and it's even stitched it into the darn hoop.  What the ?? .... aarrgghhhhhh!!!@%&*

Great.  This could take a while..... where is my trusty little picker thing-a-ma-jig?...

Found it.  Picked it and ..yes, I did say some blue words......but, mostly under my breath, while trying not to ruin my pretty satiny fabric... cuz it will leave marks if I poke around willy nilly.

HAH!! Salvaged it.  And, it looks fine if I say so myself.  Okay then.... now, I can brush my teeth and get on with the rest of my day.....

Tip of the Day:::  pay attention to what I am doing.    Think before pressing the pedal.