Crochet snake toy or draft stopper. Just finished.

I just finished this snake, crochet. It's in my sewing shop for sale, I had to hide it when it was done, my four year old grandson thinks everything I make should go in his room.

Still working on a free form blanket. Crochet

I'm still working on my crochet, free form, blanket. Figuring out all the patterns is half the fun.

owl tote bag

Large Owl tote bag.
You can find it in my shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/93376802/large-owl-tote-bag-applique-pieced?nc=1

Sewing machine art embroidery freestyle

Playing on my sewing machine yesterday.  

Sewing notions, Binky Clip for Babies

This is one of the cutest things in my shop right now.  I just love them.  Attach to mittens so they don't get lost.  Put a ribbon on them and keep the Binky from getting lost.  Add to a pair of suspenders for a fun look.  I've been using them on my handmade bags.  I just love them!  You can find them in my shop here:     hand clips

In The Sewing Room

I like to have lacy bits and trims displayed around me when I sew.  Seeing pretty pieces inspires me, allowing me to grab things spontaneously, as needed, making the outcome unknown when I start a project.  This is just the way I create, I'm not a planner, so everything I make is a surprise, even to me, when I'm finished.

Visit my shop, Pink Sewing Room, to see some of the things I've made, unusual and vintage trims and laces.  You can never have too many buttons or trims!

Just started a new project

I've only just started this. The glass buttons are gorgeous Czech pressed glass and I have a bowl of turquoise I'm going to add with hand embroidery.  

Antique Kellog's French Tailoring Tool

People say they don't make things like they used to and everyone rolls their eyes, however!  This is the most beautiful tool.  

It's smooth, the wood has such beautiful color, the metal hinges, wonderful graphics….do you hear the awe in my voice? 

 I just love old things.  I can't help it, when I pick them up and feel them it just makes my blood rush!

I'm not going to say a lot about this piece, just let you feast on the photographs!

A small obsession in the sewing room.

As I walk down the hall, I glance into the joy of my sewing room.  The sun bouncing through a beaded collar.  I'm lost.  No work is getting done this morning.  The room has cast it's spell, time slows as my breathing relaxes.  The rest of the day is spinning past, yet time in this most magical place stands still and allows me to follow creative desire where it will lead.

Baskets of colored threads line a shelf.  Spools of vintage ribbons stacked by color.  Drawers full of carefully stored millinery stems, some so tiny and delicate it's satisfying to just gaze within.  Old, complicated laces pinned to mannequins.  Fabrics stacked on open shelves,  organized by color, with lace, ribbons, buttons and trims piled on top.   Each pile carefully chosen to someday use with the fabrics.  Rows of large antique jars full of tiny parts-embellishments for projects, bits of ribbons to exquisite to waste, Frozen Charlotte dolls peeking out of the glass, surrounded by color and textures. Huge baskets with buttons categorized by color, at least thirty pounds of buttons.  Antique scissors and other tools from all around the world tucked into every wooden box or jar.  

I think it's time to admit to an addiction that consumes me.  I love the look, the feel in my hands, the faded, muted or tattered textiles, tools, EVERYTHING to do with woman's work of times past.  At one point I remember reading that woman's work was a lost part of American life.  This may have been true for a time but I think there is something, maybe deep in our DNA that connects us to our generations of mothers past, that drives us today to continue to sew, knit, embroider, quilt and the many other hand traditions.









  There may be a new spin on designs and materials that we can readily access, but the simple process of pushing a sharp tool through a piece of fabric is still the same, still satisfying.  

Rarely a day goes by that I don't at some point thread a needle or wrap a yarn around a my finger.  When I see an old tool or pattern I have to save it, give it a home in my room.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/59705660/vintage-pink-tape-measure-sewing-tool

SEWING SUPPLY POUCH

Handmade sewing pouch. Carry your tools, ribbons, needles or whatever in the case. I also use these to carry makeup in my handbag and travel bag. You can carry art supplies, jewelry or anything else that you want to gather together in a shabby, romantic roll.

*****************************************************************************************NOTE!!!!!!! Items pictured inside the pouch are NOT included in the sale. They are there for illustrative purposes, example of ways to use.
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If you'd like to see additional pictures of this pouch you can visit the photo album on my fan page: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197422&id=136372288780
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Measures: 21x 6 inches
11 pockets

Fabric with cotton batting lined flap. I've put some pins and a safety pin in there. The batting makes it easy to slide pins through.

Layers of new and vintage laces and trims embellish the inside and out with photo transfers on the front and inside the needle flap. 

Brown with pink polka dotted grosgrain ribbon tie the bundle together.

A large crochet circle on the front is cut from an old doily my mother in law made about forty years ago.

On the outside of the fabric, needle flap is a button/pin back with a pair of scissors printed on it. Put there just for fun. Across the front at the top are the words: PLAYING WITH MARBLES which I cut from the edge of a piece of fabric. It was the name of the fabric and I thought it was fun so it's recycled here.

Sewing Therapy

Hand sewn fabric cuff.

I don't sew clothes. I don't mend seams, reattach buttons, shorten pants or any other excuse I used to convince my husband to buy me a machine.  We didn't have a lot of money so it was easy to convince him what a great idea this would be-a true investment!  Well...I've never made a single mend or new garment on the thing.  Actually this is my third sewing machine I now use.

Miniature Art Quilt with Clay face.

If you could calculate how many times I worked my way through a problem, relaxed myself when I was feeling tense, was thrilled by the few hours I could  grab to create just for the  sake of creating, well I think you would say my machines have been a wonderful investment.  I don't go to therapy, I go in my sewing room,   push fabric under the needle while my tension seeps away.

Most of the things I make I sell. This is a wonderful gift, I get to do what I like and make a living at it.  Once you start selling your work, it becomes just that, work.  My sewing is still my last pure joy, no profit to be calculated-good thing! I'd be bankrupt in a month!-no time schedule to meet,  all of the decisions are just for me.  I choose the fabrics and trims that make me happy, not what I think will sell.

It's really important when you work at your passion to save a piece of it just for yourself.  What used to be your outlet is now your job.  You could end up without a quiet space where you can retreat.  I've saved my sewing room just for me.  I sell the occasional art doll, tote bag, but the rest is just fun.

I love searching for the perfect embellishment, collecting old buttons and lace, doll clothes patterns from the 1930's and 40's, vintage sewing tools, notions, spools.....

My machine has paid for itself over many times through the years.  I can face just about anything after an hour of Singer Therapy.

Sample board of art quilts.

Vintage Sewing Supplies

There are never too many pretty things.

Fairies Fly About in the Day

Fairies Fly About in the Day Mixed media necklace.  I used vintage seam bindings, antique lace and tatting, old bells, buttons and beads. A slice of wood with a collaged picture and a tag made with many layers of papers,ephemera, then sealed and tipped with gold paint. A pewter pendent with a Celtic symbol for protection is sewn into the mix. The closure is a giant vintage button with a loop to hold it securely. Glass beads are strung throughout the length.

Interesting note about the necklace: Farmgirlrocks, found on etsy, made some of beads, they look like giant turquoise nuggets. She used potatoes that she dehydrated, then sanded, painted and sealed. The funniest things I ever saw in a bead, BUT! they're fabulous. I love the colors and texture. They add such a new and different dimension to this piece. When I find interesting items

 to include in my jewelry it's like finding a treasure. Farmgirlrocks 

Pink Flamingo 61

Pink Flamingo 61

Pink Supply

Pink Sewing Room

Making art dolls without all the sewing!

Making art dolls is just fun!  Sewing the little arms and legs, turning them, ironing them~I can live without that!  Embellishing, dressing, making faces, hats, wings:  that's where the fun starts.  Turning the long legs is pure torture.  I do it because I want to make dolls.  

A wonderful woman that loves to sew has agreed to make some body blanks for me.  She does the cutting, sewing and turning, mails them to me and I get to stuff, paint and go crazy on them.  This is just the perfect way to work.  I've proven that, YES, I know how to sew, but I don't want to.  Now I don't have to.  Dolls are a relaxing, creative time for me.  I felt guilty the first time, I've gotten over that completely!  Each one still comes out with their own unique personality, looking at them you'd never know they all started out with the same shape piece.  

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6119594&section_id=5576110

cat's in the supplies

This is my daughter's cat.  When she lived with me for a short time she was always hiding in my sewing room.  You could never find her.  Trying to knit was impossible, she'd sneak beneath my chair and cut the yarn with her kitten teeth.  I get much more done without her living with me...she was cute though.