Looking back and moving forward

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Linda Matthews

Forest Walk

I’m beginning my personal self-assessment ritual early this year. This is a special time I take to look back and reflect on what’s happened in my life during the past year, and reconcile it all before realigning and moving forward into a brand new year, taking with me the positive experiences and things I’ve learned and want to keep with me, and leaving behind the baggage that doesn’t serve any purpose. It’s a time for catching up with unfinished business and tying up loose ends. It’s an end-of-year purging of the mind and the soul.

I usually do this each year around the middle of December, but this year has been so big and so much has happened, that I need more time than usual to absorb it all!

I’m not sure exactly what’s in store for next year business-wise. But I’m feeling that it’s time for a change. Not just little tweaks and changes such as I’ve been making most of the year, but something more substantial.

I’ll still be here. My business will still be here. But I think it’s going to look a little different.

So during December I’ll be taking some personal time away from the blog to finish up some projects that should have been finished long ago but got sidetracked due to “life happening”, as well as to mull over some possibilities for next year.

However for your blogging pleasure during December I’ll be rerunning some old but favorite posts, tutorials and other interesting stuff that’s buried deep within the archives of this dusty old blog. Plus I’ll be stopping by from time to time.

In the meantime, enjoy this video that was shared with me during the week. (Thanks Mary!)

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Upcycled Purse Tutorials

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Linda Matthews

I am *loving* my new “Free Purse, Bag & Tote Tutorials” website, if for no other reason than you can now browse and find things easily. This means that it’s not only easy to find a free tutorial for a certain type of purse or bag, but it also makes it a great source of inspiration.

For instance, I was recently looking for some inspiration for upcycling a piece of old clothing. I loved the fabric and didn’t want to throw it out, and was in fact kind of inspired by this seller on Etsy who upcycled men’s suits into fabulous bags, purses and accessories.

Upcycled Purse Tutorials

And this one

Upcycled Purse Tutorials

And even this one!

Upcycled Purse Tutorials

While the free tutorials I’ve got listed aren’t quite so detailed or intricate, you can still find some good inspiration. The easiest way to find things is to head over the website, scroll down to the bottom, and pick a tag from the tagcloud.

So clicking on the “upcycled” tag brings up all these listings which is a nice selection to choose from!

Upcycled Purse Tutorials

If you’re in the mood for a little upcycling, here’s the direct link. Enjoy!

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Making custom fabric

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Linda Matthews

After experimenting with some textural mixed media designs the other day – you can see my results here – I began to think that the designs would look particularly good printed onto fabric.

And they did!

When testing whether new designs will look good on fabric I always start small, so I whipped up a few small coin purses to test things out and I *love* the way the fabric turned out. I used the same design in different colorways and with different size perspectives and decided I like the close up textures best. I think I’ll be trying some more of these.

You can find the coin purses in various colorways for a short while here in my Design Store . Or if you prefer, you can also find them here in my Etsy store.

Coin Purse

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Ten creative ways to use the decorative stitches on your sewing machine

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Linda Matthews

I simply *love* using the programmed decorative stitches on my sewing machine, but I know that some of you struggle to come up with ideas on how to use them.

Struggle no more! These creative ideas are sure to inspire.

1. Stitch in the ditch
Instead of a straight stitch, use a decorative stitch instead when stitching “in-the-ditch” on your quilts.
Decorative Stitches

Decorative Stitches

2. Bindings
Instead of hand sewing the bindings on your quilts, a decorative stitch can be a super quick and interesting way to sew down your bindings.

Decorative Stitches

3. Couching
Instead of a standard zig-zag or straight stitch when couching decorative fibers or ribbon, add additional embellishment by using a decorative stitch.

Decorative Stitches

4. Machine lace fabric
Make beautiful machine lace fabric. (Free project tutorial here)

Decorative Stitches

5. Surface texture and decoration
Use decorative stitches to add surface texture and decoration to your fabric. For example, I often use them when making fabric beads. (Free tutorial here)

Decorative Stitches

6. Faux ribbon effect
By adding a couple of narrow rows of straight stitch on either side of a decorative stitch, you can quickly make a faux ribbon effect.

Decorative Stitches

7. Raw edge applique
Use your decorative stitches to finish off the edges of raw edge appliques.

Decorative Stitches

8. Decorative top-stitching
Use decorative stitches to embellish or top-stitch. For example, I’ve used them to top-stitch the pleats on this pleated insert used on art quilt.

Decorative Stitches

9. Focus fabric from ribbon or fabric strips
Make focus fabric by placing strips of ribbon or fabric side by side (I love hand dyed ribbon for this technique) and use a decorative stitch to sew the strips together.

Decorative Stitches

10. Machine lace edging
Use your decorative stitches to make delicate and contemporary machine lace edging. (Free tutorial here)

Decorative Stitches

Did I mention once or ten times that I *love* to use the decorative stitches on my sewing machine?

I could add more, but I’ve run out of time. However I’m sure this is more than enough to get you started using your decorative stitches and once you start using them, you’ll probably come up with dozens more ideas.

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How to turn ordinary into extraordinary

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Linda Matthews

This is the piece of embroidered and textured lutradur that I made last week.

Lutradur Bag

It turned out kind of ordinary and I wasn’t totally loving it. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with it so I threw it on a pile of fabric pieces that were stacked on the corner of my cutting table and it landed on a piece of stabilizer that I had cut and was preparing to use for an art bag. It was just the right size, so …

Lutradur Bag

… now I’m really loving it!

Lutradur Bag

So how do you turn ordinary into extraordinary?

It’s all about changing the way you look at things – changing your perception of how you believe things should be and opening yourself to the possibilities of how things could be.

Lutradur Bag

When I made it, the textured lutradur was kind of interesting but it wasn’t really an outstanding piece and although I thought only briefly about it, I wasn’t sure how I could use it.

Although I make a lot of bags and purses, using lutradur as a fabric isn’t something I would normally consider. But when I tossed the lutradur onto the pile of fabric and it synchronistically landed on a piece of cut stabilizer, it gave me the opportunity to think about using it in an unusual way. Which I think worked very well!

When you’re open to new ways of doing things, expect wonderful results!

PS I’ll be adding this clutch in the Art Bag Section here in my design store later on today.

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