FITF: Film in the Fridge | modern quilts, clothing, fabric, and photos

obsessed with dresses!

Posted on May 1, 2009

Are you tired of hearing me write about dresses? probably…

I must tell you about this one though, because I love it so. This fabric is my current favorite (My Secret Garden by Alexander Henry) – I already have the pink version of it set aside for a quilt backing, and the blue may become a shirt… too much? nah!

Anyway, here it is –

floral-dress

I had a vague idea of what I wanted for this dress, and I’m pleasantly surprised that it worked out so well! It has thin straps, a crossed top and a full skirt. And pockets, of course! It still needs to be hemmed, but I’m having trouble deciding on the length.

I didn’t feel like dealing with a zipper, so I inserted a small smocked section on the back, which allows me to pull it on over my head.

floral-quilt-top floral-dress-back

I have a lot of dresses with similar silhouettes (that straight shift dress style), so I tried to create a different look with this one. I don’t think I have any dresses with a full skirt like this one, but I’m quite liking it. I think it will be a great little summer dress!

floral-dress-back

Oh, and just so you don’t think that I’ve stopped quilting altogether, here are my first nine patch blocks for amandajean’s quilt-a-long. I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy making these, but it turns out they were kinda fun!

nine-patch-blocks

Posted in Clothing | Tagged Clothing, dress, handmade, nine patch, Quilt Blocks, quilting | 51 Comments

a handmade summer wardrobe

Posted on April 30, 2009

I can’t seem to help myself! I’ve been spending way too much time lately creating (or thinking about) my new summer wardrobe. I’m reminded of second grade when I told my mom I was only willing to wear a handmade dress each day. She must have liked sewing, because I recall that I did end up with a closetful of dresses, and indeed, that’s what I wore… every single day.

So here’s the start of my wardrobe. First there was this bathing suit cover up… which then prompted a skirt, made out of some home dec weight Anna Maria Horner fabric. It’s just a simple skirt – knee length, and I added a few lines of stitching with elastic thread at the waist.

simple-skirt

Next, I was thinking of another dress, but this time with a boatneck top. I didn’t have a pattern, so I grabbed this Alexander Henry fabric from Joann’s (1/2 price with a coupon, so not too expensive in case I messed it up!) And surprisingly enough, it actually fits! The fabric makes me dizzy though, so I’m not sure how much I’ll actually wear it…

Oh, and something to make note of – don’t try making pockets out of a somewhat nude colored fabric. People will just think you have a big hole in your dress…

blue-dress

I can’t decide what’s next… maybe another shirt? Or maybe I should just work on finishing some older projects. I didn’t do too well at Jacquie’s Spring to Finish Challenge – my grand total? 1

Posted in Clothing | Tagged Clothing, dress, handmade, skirt | 19 Comments

baby wonderland

Posted on April 28, 2009

This little quilt started out as another test. I wanted to try out a different free motion quilting design, and a baby quilt is a good size for me to try something new. Plus, it has the added benefit of using up more of those batting scraps I have laying around!

I used 2 charm packs of the lovely Wonderland fabric line – love those scissors! I simply sewed all the squares together and then backed it with this nice, slightly iridescent orange fabric from Joelle Hoverson’s Net of Jewels.

This is the quilting I had planned on trying –

I gave it a try on this quilt and I wasn’t loving the look. It might be because I had white thread in the bottom bobbin and it was REALLY noticeable on the back. I had about 9 blocks covered with this quilting when I decided I’d had enough. Of course, I really didn’t want to have to pick it all out, so I almost changed plans completely and changed it into a quilted bag, but honestly, I already have way too many bags! So I spent hours (yes, hours!) picking out all the quilting.

Then I redid it with just simple straight lines, 1/4″ away from each seam both horizontally and vertically. I used orange thread in the bottom bobbin and cream for the top, and it looks much better. I suppose I’m glad I took the time to do it (despite all those wasted hours!) – now that it’s washed and dried, it’s a really cute baby quilt!

On an unrelated note, I just had to show a picture of these wonderful pieces of Munki Munki fabrics I received from the lovely Rachel. She had seen one of my older posts where I was looking for some older fabric and she emailed me to let me know she had some of the Heather Ross mushrooms on yellow (yay!). Imagine my surprise when I opened the package she sent and found this great selection of Munki Munki prints. Being a huge Heather Ross fan, I couldn’t be more excited. Thanks so much Rachel!! I think you’ll see these make their way into a quilt at some point (when I’m finally ready to cut into them!)