Good Monday morning my friends! Kelly here, with a week full of stuff that I like - and thought you might like, too. But first, a story:
I come from a long line of sewing ladies. My great-grandmas quilted, and embroidered pillowcases, and whipped up all kinds of clothes out of scraps. My grandmas both sewed more quilts, and Easter dresses, and doll clothes, baby clothes, and more pillowcases. My mom sewed great polyester pjs, prom dresses, curtains, and must have re-covered her couch every few years. So is it any wonder that I grew up and wanted my turn at the sewing machine? My first attempts were with doll clothes and an old Singer sewing machine my great-grandpa gave my sister and me. I didn't use a pattern, and the results were less than beautiful. But I persisted, and learned how to sew straight stitches. I've even made things that people wear!
I love fabric as much as I love paper, so when I started scrapping, I couldn't get very far from ribbon, fabric, and stitching. Happily, paper and fabric can live together, and the seamstress can be a crafter, too. This is a week dedicated to using the two together to add texture, color and a little bit of the sewing world to your pages and projects.
A bit of inspiration:
These are just a few of the supplies I used to make projects and pages to show you this week. But you may have noticed that there are quite a few manufacturers that have created sewing themed products lately. In fact, did anyone see this cover?
If you have a minute, check it out. There is a whole feature on sewing themed cards and products. It's not hard to incorporate a little ribbon here, and a bit of stitching there. Doesn't that card with the tomato pin cushion just make you want to go to the fabric store?
Look at this beautiful card designed by our own Francine Clouden:
Don't you love the way she used lace and fabric flowers to create dimension and a dreamy feel?
Here's a page I recently made that celebrates the four generations of women who were gathered at my bridal shower (those sewing greats and grandmas!). I used a bit of canvas as a mat for my photo, a bit of machine stitching to add a border, and a bit of ribbon to make it stand out.
Go raid your button box, your ribbon stash, or your scrap-fabric bin, and come back tomorrow for "sew" very much more fun with fabric, stitching, and the seamstress-scrapper.
