Category: alipyper likes to sew

personal progress journal covers

I made a few of these white vinyl covers with a temple decal for the young women in our ward in preparation for girls camp next month. They fit over a Personal Progress journal.

There is a clear vinyl pocket inside the front cover so that the girls can insert a picture of themselves in front of the temple and a small pocket inside the back cover to keep their recommend. They were super easy to put together and with my fabric store coupons they were very inexpensive.

Click here for the template. Click here to purchase the journals.

Note: Investing in a walking foot attachment for your sewing machine is a must if you want to sew vinyl or machine stitch quilts. They usually run about $100, depending on what kind of sewing machine you use. Best attachment ever!

Difference without and with a walking foot attachment…

cath kidston and the parthenon

What a day I had yesterday! It ended with me being incredibly homesick for my son {I} and wishing desperately that he was with me (I wanted all my children and the Mr. with me, but especially {I} yesterday at the British Museum) to see the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman exhibits. They were spectacular! And the most spectacular thing about it was being so up close and personal to them.

Reading Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson  and the Olympians series made {I} want to learn Greek, live in Greece, go on a mission to Greece, and BE Greek.

I, on the other hand, want to live in a Cath Kidston store. I want to eat, drink, sleep, and speak Cath Kidston. I’m sure it’s very juvenile but it makes me very happy and the Mr. very poor. The Maryleborn High Street store was delightful and I enjoyed every minute of the hour and a half I spent in it agonizing over the fact that I couldn’t just buy the whole store and transport it back with me in my suitcase.

When I’m done living in a Cath Kidston store, I’d like to move down the street a few spots and live in the Rococo Chocolates store. Double yum. I’m taking full advantage of the foreign travel clause in my “no sugar” contract. The best? The sea salt chocolates. Ooh, baby!

Around the  corner and down a ways is V V Rouleaux. Gorgeous ribbons and trims. I wanted to buy their whole selection of velvet ribbon. Why is it so hard to find velvet ribbon in Utah? Why? A great selection of velvet ribbon should just be a given in a craft store, but apparently nobody else thinks so.

Lindsey from Urban Mums {London} wrote about The Button Queen, which is just a hop, skip, and jump away from V V Rouleaux, and made me want to check it out. It’s true! It’s only buttons! And it was all business when I went in to peruse. I think that you could find any kind of button you could ever want there, and some pretty spectacular cuff links too! I loved it.

When I got home after my glorious day of shopping in Marylebone and the amazing visit to the British Museum, I discovered that there was a Scottish Highland Shop RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the British Museum, where I had JUST BEEN, that had some Wallace plaid items available! Darn! So, I went back today and picked up some ties for my Dad, who gives all his sons-in-law and all his grandsons when they turn 12 a Wallace tie to wear to church. Yay! Success!

liberty of london

Okay, so I returned to the mother ship today (do you see the ship on top of the building?!? Really, there is a ship on top of the building!!).

Oh, Liberty, I love thee.

It was gorgeousness overload. But outrageously expensive! Yikes! Their signature fabrics are of the highest quality and the cotton is almost as soft as silk, but since I didn’t have a specific project in mind I couldn’t really justify expanding my fabric stash. Never fear! I did pick up a souvenir and I was ridiculously happy to sign up for their loyalty reward program.

Down the street from Liberty was a cute little yarn shop called All the Fun of the Fair.

Loved the eclectic yarn, haberdashery, and gifts. Super lovely.

Again, not far from Liberty and very near Hanover Square, I discovered MacCulloch & Wallis, a three story fabric, notions, trims and ribbon shop first opened in 1902. It was chock full of the nitty gritty supplies needed for dressmaking – full of substance and not much fluff. It was perfect. I’m sure that if I lived in London I would be there very often. Probably more often than the mothership, Liberty, I’m forced to say. I do have Scottish blood running through my veins and those thrifty genetics do occasionally force me to be practical.

I ran out of time, so I couldn’t continue my tour up towards the Marylebone High Street, but I’m hoping to get back downtown early next week to check out VV Rouleaux, The Button Queen, and the largest Cath Kidston store in London. Can’t wait!

embroidered birthday badge

I’m working with the Young Women in our neighborhood now. We wanted to recognize the girls on the Sunday before their birthdays. I couldn’t really find something that I liked online, so I came up with this.

The badge measures 7″ x 9″ and hangs around the neck like a lanyard (didn’t want a pin or crown or cape to interfere with Sunday best outfits). It’s made from muslin, fabric and felt with a grosgrain ribbon. I actually made two, and might need to make more, just in case we have more than one birthday in a week.

Crocheted flower and leaf pattern here.

doll clothes for emily

Last year I made a little doll for my godchild who lives in London. She named the doll Emily. It was such a fun thing to make!

 

For Christmas this year I made a couple more outfits for the Emily and mailed  them to her before Christmas. I had to make another doll, whom I’ve named Freya, to get the dimensions right for the clothes. Every second I worked on the outfits was complete joy.

There were lots of adjustments as I worked the fabric to make the clothes fit. This next year I’ll actually make re-usable patterns so that making clothes is not such a bespoke endeavor.

I think that the embroidered cross-stitch heart on the inside pocket of the coat is my favorite detail. It was also super fun to adjust my Knit Pixie Cable Hat pattern to a doll size and make matching mittens.

Little Emily will now be ready for her New Year’s Eve celebrations!

the incredible power of handwork

I was deeply touched by this short clip of Renate Hiller, co-director of the Fiber Craft Studio at the Threefold Educational Center in Chestnut Ridge, New York, who speaks on the transcendent and meditative qualities of creating with our hands and the importance of using natural and beautiful fibers in our work.

To quote from the video clip:

“…in handwork, in transforming nature we also make something truly unique that we have made with our hands, stitch by stitch, that maybe we have chosen the yarn, we have even spun the yarn — even better, and that we have designed. And when I do that, I feel whole. I feel I am experiencing my inner core because it’s a meditative process. You have to find your way; you have to listen with your whole being. And that is the schooling that we all need today. Because we’re so egocentric and this makes us think of what is needed by something else. So we are in a way practicing empathy — empathy with the material, empathy with the design. I think this practicing of empathy that we do in the fiber crafts is paramount for being healing to our world. And it’s a service for the divine that we are surrounded by.”

Thank you Amanda!

Colonial Day with {K}

I volunteered down at the school for Colonial Day today. I cut off a pair of thrift store pants to make breeches for {K} and made a simple mob cap out of muslin and a long skirt and apron for myself. I was able to help teach the children how to tie quilts. The kids were so smart and quickly learned how. They finished 6 baby quilts that will be donated to the Humanitarian Center.

{K} was such a pill about the tri-corner hat I wanted him to wear! Apparently the rest of the school was having “Crazy Hair Day” and he thought the hat would get in the way. He would only wear it for a picture – and then only begrudgingly. Oh well.

Learning to Smock, a Bake Sale, and Granny Squares

I signed up for the Smocking Class at Harmony and I’m over the moon to finally learn how to embroider smocking!! I’ve wanted to learn since {G} was a baby and for one reason or another I never have. Thank you Harmony!! And I also learned how to embroider bullion roses. Bonus. My lines are a little wonky, but I’m thrilled with how it’s turning out. Just need to sew the smocked panel into a skirt and I’ll be done!

I promptly put Sabrina‘s cute new logo that she painted for me to good use! {K}’s soccer team was having a fundraiser so I made a little tag and put them on my famous Peanut Butter Cookies with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies, and my mom’s Gingersnaps to help raise a little bit of money. Super happy with the logo!!

I’m teaching another class at Harmony on Saturday November 3rd from noon to 2 pm. Do you want to learn how to crochet Granny Squares?? I’ll discuss how to quickly change colors, weaving in ends as you crochet, different methods of circular crochet and joining the blocks together as you go! The 2 hour class will be jam packed with tips and tricks that you can apply to all your crochet projects. Come join us for a great class to elevate your basic crochet skills to the next level. Only $20!

Eyelet Lace

I recently designed a crochet edging that looks kind of like eyelet lace. When I was trying to find a crochet pattern to edge my robe, I came across these laces available from the famous Britex Fabric shop in San Fransisco. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Britex Fabric Eyelet Lace Selection
I’m thinking I need a couple yards of each of these! So beautiful!
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