Hat Challenge--July/August 2012

Jan B issued the challenge for July/August 2012.  She challenged us to make a hat.  Jan gave us a list of possibilities--everything from a tam to a chef's hat, and she brought some great hat patterns to share.  Here's what we did:

First is Jan in her silver-ish denim hat, with a beautiful glitzy embellishment on the side.  Gorgeous!

Kathy made two hats.  This one is a baseball cap style, made from a print.  Perfect for cheering on your team!

This cloche style hat is made from a brown tweed (left over from a previous project), trimmed with brown leather.  She will be stylin' this winter!

Susan L. took a different route and made doll clothes.  Each outfit had a matching hat.  Lucky little girls who get these cute outfits.

Marge has a granddaughter who gets lots of home-made love from grandma.  She made the little girl a coat, hat and scarf from pink fleece.  Adorable!

Susan T. made a shawl that can also be worn on the head like a hood.  It's fabric on one side, and a fur type fabric on the other.  This will warm her up on a cold winter day, when the wind blows.  (Well, unless she's basking in the sun somewhere!)

Susan also started another hat.  Here it is in it's beginning stages.

Carol made two hats, totally different .  Here is a white fleece cap with blue snowflakes.  A cute hat that will keep her head and ears warm when the temps are evil.

Carol also crocheted this pretty hat, with a flower embellishment.

She also brought a hat that she made previously.  This show-stopper is made from a light sage green upholstery fabric.  The pattern is one she used in high school.  Is that considered Vintage yet?  Ha!  She made the brim wider than the pattern indicated and trimmed it with ribbon.  Beautiful.

Brenda W. made a cloche from dark charcoal gray and red wool.  This hat is very classy--very New York.

Kathryn put her hat box on the table--

--and out popped 3 stunning little Fascinators!  The photographs of them in her hair don't show up well, but in person, they are all beautiful.  Kathryn has some beautiful photos on her blog:  http://roomforsewing.blogspot.com/ The first one is mink.

Next, she rolled black felt into roses and attached them to a base.

Last of the trio is a Fascinator featuring feathers.

And here they are , all together.  Kathryn is ready for a party. The English have nothing on her!

Cynthia came into the room wearing one of the two bucket hats she made.  Both are terrific hats.  The first one is a teal/rust print.  Isn't she cute in it?

The next one is made from a blue print.

And last is Gwen's hat.  It's a big sun hat, made from black/white check, adorned with a black ribbon band and black flower.  The pattern is by HotPatterns and a free download at fabric.com.   I will get a photo of it on my head and post it.  But for now--

Everyone did a fantastic job on this challenge.  Hats off to all of you!

May 2012 Challenge

The challenge issued in May was to use a strip of fabric to embellish an article of choice.  The strip of fabric could be in the form of bias tape, fabric tubes, strip pieced fabric, or a strip of woven or knit fabric.  Anything was ok, as long as it began as a strip.

Everyone had a different idea of how to use a strip of fabric.  Very interesting concepts, and fabulous finished projects.

Jan made a beautiful sleeveless top, ivory and taupe, which was pieced with narrow strips.  She used narrow fabric tubes at the top, embellished with beads.  This was reminiscent of Ann Williamson's work. The top is lined in a cream color fabric.

Sue had three projects.  First up-a top she added a black lace inset to, taking the garment to the new trend in lace-wear.

Sue also bought three of the same Tshirt.  One remained as purchased.  She used another to cut up, using strips of the knit fabric as a ruffle to embellish the third Tshirt.

Her third article is a purse, embellished with fabric strips. Very cute!

Carol is working on a jacket.  She's using strips of fabric to making "faux" fabric bows.  This is a very time consuming technique. It's going to be fabulous when it's done.  Here's what she has so far.

Susan T also came in with three projects.  Here's a shirt she embellished with fabric strips on the collar.  Notice she used the same fabric to make a decoration around the buttonhole.

Susan T took a plain, stripe vest and turned it into an art garment.  She sewed patches on the face of the vest, and then appliqued fabric tubes on top.  It's all nicely color coordinated.

She also made a pair of pants into Tuxedo pants by inserting a fabric strip down the side legs.  Sorry Susan, I didn't get a photo of those pants on you.

Kathy had started a sweatshirt jacket.  She incorporated a few fabric strip techniques in this terrific piece:  appliqued fabric tubes, tubes coiled into circles, tubes tied with beads.  There's a lot of work in this jacket and it shows.

Kathryn is piecing a beautiful fabric to make into a skirt.  This is going to be stunning.

Brenda made a gorgeous pillow out of fabric strips.  She used silk decorator fabrics, cut into strips, folded in half width-wise and sewn to a base fabric, each strip overlapping the previous strip.  Her colors have a gradated appearance.  Her use of color is amazing.

With the left over fabric, she's making a handbag.  This is the beginning.

Marge is making a pretty fabric, using organza bias strips to embellish.  She has tons of strips and it's going to be interesting to see how the fabric turns out.

And, she finished the last challenge--making a handbag out of suits.  It's a loosely woven fabric, and she make fringed trim that reminds me of Chanel.

Susan L made a strap for her handbag out of strips which she hand painted designs to match the prints in the bag.  She left before I could get a photo.  Susan, send me a photo and I'll get it up on the blog.

Last, there is me--Gwen.  I made a white jacket, using a technique in Threads #158.  Kenneth King had an article in that issue called "bias tube inserts".  It was a challenging piece to do, but so much fun.  I've written a detailed post on my blog:  http://allmyseams.blogspot.com/

Nice work, ladies.   It was very interesting to see how each of you interpreted the challenge.

Finished projects from March's challenge - shown at the April 26th Meeting

      Kathy's challenge for us in March was to make a bag - purse, messenger bag or tote - using men's or women's sport jackets or suit coats.  We were supposed to incorporate the lapels, pockets, sleeve vents, and buttons as design elements.  Here is the one Kathy made - it's a messenger bag with lots of pockets inside and out, a flap closure and colors and styling appropriate for a man or woman.  The pocket "hankie" is styled from a men's tie.  I wouldn't want to part with it, but Kathy is willing to sell it for $55.

  

           Here is the bag Brenda W. made.  Check out her adjustable strap and its hidden zipper (with a cute tassel pull), the neat pouchy pockets on each side and another version of a pocket hankie.






      

       Here is Brenda P's version.  As you can see this is still in the development phase, but she still brought it in for show and tell.  The red piping gives it a nice pop of color.





         


      Gwen made this dressed-up "girly" version.  Her beaded handle, sequined and lace medallion, beaded ribbon flower, and lace-edged lapel pockets are gorgeous.  See Gwen's blog for more pictures.  Wish she had a photo of the button feet she put on the bottom.

                                                                                                                                                                                  Marge choose to use women's jackets for her purse.  The 2 different tweedy patterns and colors complement each other well.  The fringe you see on the edges were part of the jacket lapels.  Since she was still trying to decide on exact placement for the various parts, we (of course) all offered advice.  That's the price you pay for bring a WIP (Work In Progress) to Designer Group!!

                                                                               Here is my green-for-spring purse.  I used part of the linings from the 3 jackets to make piping to separate the sections and to make the pocket "hankie".  Both front and back pockets are functional and the handle has a bit of padding to make it comfy to carry. There are extra pictures on Carol's blog.

Katherine met the challenge with 2 purses -  stash fabric added to a grey jacket for one and a flowery print from a women's jacket for the other.  She likes her bags to have structure, so hers are the only ones standing for the photos.  Isn't the gimp trim on the handles a nice touch?  Check out Katherine's blog to see her other projects.




 Susan T brought this cute bag with a shoulder strap and great embellishments.  There's a flap pocket on one side and this deeper pocket, also.

        Cynthia used parts from a red suede coat and the Tulip Purse pattern.  She has shown us many different versions of this pattern and always adds her own touch to personalize them.

       This was Sue B's tote that she designed specifically to hold her choir music books.  She embellished the pin striped fabric with decorative stitches and multi-colored threads and added the scalloped trim.  She repurposed ties for the handles and added yo-yo flowers with button centers for even more color.

          Dolly took her linen jacket apart, cut it up, stamped it, dyed it, wrote on it, used a batik resist technique, and painted it.  Now she just has to put it together as a bag.  See Dolly' s blog and you'll understand that she puts a lot into her sewing.  Remember - she was the one who challenged us to make the sweater coats!






Jan is our newest member, so this was her first challenge.  Very nice tote, classic color scheme, and done on time!

  










Sorry this took so long to get posted.  Susan L - we need pictures of your bag.  And please, anyone with more to add, put it up here.  Let's make our blog a real destination!

Some additional photos...



from our last meeting.

Susan T. showing her great sweater/coat from our Challenge.





This is an example for our next Challenge. We have to make a bag from suit jackets.  Brenda did the explaining since Kathy wasn't able to be at the beginning of the meeting.  However the challenge is from Kathy, so contact her with questions.







So inspiring!  Cynthia's great knit jacket.

These are the cutest baby bibs!  Jan made them for her niece who is having twins.

 

I can't even imagine how long this took to create. It is beautiful!

Another lovely example of our many talented members.  Susan L. brought these that she made for Brenda's silk challenge.