Stop Three, Daytona Braids and Trimmings

This little store packs a punch. It looks small from the outside but there's a lot of merchandise per square foot in this place.

Let me tell you about the best thing or should I say person here. I'm kicking myself for not remembering her name. I didn't ask if I could take her picture but she was a hoot. Right out of the gates, she let us know about the store. She told me how to mark the items that I wanted then we would go through and cut everything at once. Jeff and I were sad to leave we had so much fun with her. I think she made a comment on being tired and not going to make it to the end of the day. I said, "Can you just hold on until I'm done shopping then you can have your meltdown?" That started our time in the store. She was a hoot.

Lot's of fun stuff. No particular project in mind but when in Rome.

I had to get some of this. I don't think I've seen this around town. Its loops on elastic. So you could do maybe shoulder straps for a little girls garment. Who knows. I'll think of something!

My husband helped me shop for these trims. He wanted the Dutch trims. Having a Dutch son-in-law, we hope we have a little Dutch-German-Irish grandchild someday. Of course I had to have the nautical trim.

Stop Two, Sposabella Lace

For family and friends who really know me, they know that I love lace. This is when I wish I were a Victorian and was able to wear all of the gorgeous cotton laces. But since I'm not a Victorian, I need to find another way to get my lace fix. So bridal gowns, garters, christening gowns are when I get to play. Too bad in my neck of the woods, nice lace is impossible to find. Exquisite lace is not something most people see now a days. This is another product that was sent out of France, the USA, Italy and Switzerland to China. I knew that I needed to make a stop at Sposabella Lace and Lace Star while I had the chance to see what they had.
I don't have any weddings or christenings coming up but I needed to stop just the same. I came out of Sposabella with this piece of cotton lace. Very pricey but it came home with me. I bought two yards of it. I think I paid $25.00 a yard for it.

Sposabella has mixed reviews. Either five stars or a one star. The store is extremely small. The owner of the store had helped me. I can't say he was overly friendly as the rest of the textile stores but I certainly didn't go there for tea and cookies. I would shop there again. 

The Traveling Quilter Goes to Houston

Isn't it handy that my daughter moved to Houston right after the wedding. If Jeff and I had to move Whitney's furniture and wedding gifts down there, I may as well go during the International Quilt Festival in Houston. If you really want to know, I haven't been much of a traveling quilter for over a year, more of the traveling garment maker. But why pass up an opportunity to fabric shop.

Jeff, Whitney and I arrived about an hour before the show opened up. For those of you who attended the Chicago show in the past, the Houston show is a luxury. No more standing on the cement floor in the cattle corrals. We were able to go upstairs and get a coffee and, gasp, sit. No, no sitting allowed in Chicago. Your feet and legs were wore out before the show ever began.
A few months ago when we were in discussions about going to Houston, I mentioned the quilt show to Jeff. He said I could go and he would probably go with me. Well as the day drew near, he was rethinking his commitment. After all, he's a manly man. The morning of, he decides that he would take a chance and bring his laptop. Lucky for him that the convention center had lot's of areas for him to work. We bought a ticket for him but he didn't go inside until lunch. After lunch, he headed back upstairs. He only ventured onto the convention floor when Whitney and I were finished with the vendors and we were ready to view the quilts on display. My husband's only comment was "I'm scared." What's there to be afraid of with a few quilters mulling around the space. I must say, he didn't mind looking at the quilts. And at the very back of the quilt display, we found a curtained off area that said Men's Lounge. I think they had a big screen tv set for the men to watch football. I'll remember that for the next time.
My first stop, to see Luc the lace guy. Luc is from the Netherlands. He used to travel to the Chicago show with his French laces. French heirloom sewing isn't big in the frozen tundra as it is down south. We can make anything out of polar fleece but we really don't know what to do with this lace. Well, upon arrival at Luc's booth, I think he asked which vendors we had been to. I told him he was on my list for the first stop. He was surprised. I then told him that it I didn't have a lot of choices where I lived. He then said, "oh you're the person from Wisconsin". Ummmm, did my face turn red. Yes, I meekly said. He said, "you email me every year to make sure I'm going to be at the shows". Whitney then proceeds to text Jeff and said "Should I be worried that the Dutch vendor knows mom?" Luc is such a nice guy. He has a following. Lot's of heirloom sewers purchase his lace even though it's shipped over from the Netherlands. For you heirloom enthusiasts, you can find him at Cotton Laces. He has the best prices around. I think Whitney was a tad embarrassed that I asked if I could take his picture.
Whitney and I had a good time roaming the isles, all twenty-two of them. We came, we saw, we spent. Then it was finally time to go pick up Jeff and look at the quilts. We found the one we came to see. Pat Bishop's "Walk of the Cranes". How lucky in life can you be when you hang with such a talented artist. One of these days, I may just venture over to the dark side and try my hand at an art quilt.

It's Been a Long Two Weeks

This is what I've been up to the last two weeks. Yes, it took exactly two weeks to sew the hem and the lace on.





































The hem took about a half a day. I ripped out part of the hem and had to redo it. Remember waaaaay back when I cut out the satin? I took the excess fabric and added it to the skirt. I didn't add any to the front but I did start the increase about six inches from the side seam. Well, all that had to come off. Because I'm not a couturier in real life, I don't always know what I'm doing. In order to make a graceful slope from the front to the back, all that extra fabric had to be cut off. Oh well. That didn't bother me as much as I thought. What bothered me is that because of the excess fabric, my slope is a little wonky at the side seam. Don't ask me how that happened. I'm being brave by posting the underside of the garment. You can see how the hem is wavy. And I have excess fabric in the hemline. I had no issues with the rest of the hem, just at this one particular seam.















My estimate for the time spent on the lace was about 30 hours. The lace is heavily beaded. I could not do a simple basting stitch. In order to get the lace to lay correctly, I had to lay it out on the floor. I only work on three to four scallops at a time. I then had to pin the heck out of it. In certain parts of the hem, excess lace had to be cut out so the lace could lay flat. I'm taking a flat piece of lace and trying to curve it with the curved train.

Whitney's Garter

When I started to pull out the supplies for Whitney's garter, I was remembering my mistakes on making Megan's garter. Too much length, too much fluff. I wasn't going to go there again. I was going to make the same design but just downsize it.

The schiffli lace was purchased off of Ebay several months ago. Sadly, you can't find anything like this around here unless it's nylon and I refuse to buy that. The lace is maybe six inches wide. I decide to cut off one inch of the netting then I gather up the lace to make a flounce. The second part of the garter is to make something interesting in the middle. Like Megan's, I took a piece of lace and gathered it into a posey shape. And like Megan's it was totally wrong. Even with the downsizing, it still was too over the top. So like Megan's, I had to dismantle what I did and made the garter simpler.

I had some left over trim from the gown and cut a little motiff out. I purchased two Claddagh charms, one for Megan and one for Whitney. I then went to Blue Nile and purchased two charm bracelets. The charms were stitched down with colored thread so it could be easily removed and added to the charm bracelets.

I need to figure out a design before the next round of brides come my way.