Showing posts with label Lace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lace. Show all posts

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Nine-Patch Lace Pillow

Nine-Patch Lace Pillow

I have a book titled Heirloom Quilts coming soon; it features designs for two quilts plus a series of heirloom quilting techniques. Today though, I'd like to share with you a Nine-Patch Lace Pillow from one of my older books, Heirloom Quilts by Machine. For those who love white French lace, white embroideries and patchwork, here is your pillow. 

All of the trims are white; the pillow underneath is baby blue. This pillow is simply yummy with its nine patches of French laces, beading and American embroidery. The squares are connected vertically with American white bridging and horizontally with Swiss entredeux. White American bridging is used around the outside edges of the top of the pillow and blue silk ribbon is run through the holes of the bridging. A pretty blue silk ribbon bow is tied in each corner of the pillow. Gathered French edging is stitched around the nine-patch top and another piece of gathered French white edging is stitched into the side seams of the pillow. The beautiful top is stitched onto a blue batiste pillow top; the bottom of the pillow is blue batiste also. This would be a beautiful pillow to use in a little girl’s room, a baby’s room, or your own Victorian romantic bedroom. 

Materials:
Finished size of pillow is 12-inch square; excluding ruffle
•  3/4 yard of 5/8-inch beading  
•  1-1/2 yards of 5/8-inch lace insertion A 
•  1-1/2 yards of 5/8-inch lace insertion B 
•  1 yard of 5/8-inch lace insertion C
•  1/2 yard of 2-inch embroidered insertion 
•  2-1/2 yards of 1-3/4-inch lace edging  
•  2-3/4 yards of 2-inch lace edging 
•  3/4 yard of entredeux

General Supplies:
(These are basic sewing room supplies that will be needed while making blocks or during construction.) 
•  1-3/4 yards of bridging 
•  5 yards of 4mm silk ribbon (sample uses YLI, #97 blue)
•  3/8 yard blue Nelona (Swiss Batiste) 
•  One 12-inch square pillow form OR fiberfill for stuffing 
•  Lightweight white cotton machine thread 
•  Optional: Rotary cutter, ruler, and mat 
•  Bodkin or ribbon weaver 
•  Spray starch and iron

Directions:
***Note:  All seam allowances are 1/4-inch unless otherwise noted. Technique instructions can be found in the book Heirloom Quilts by Machine AND HERE.***

1. Zigzag lace insertion A to lace insertion B using the technique lace to lace. Cut this lace strip in half. Stitch the lace strip to each side of the beading with lace A against the beading using the technique lace to lace (fig. 1a). Weave ribbon through the beading. Cut the lace/beading strip into five 3-1/2-inch pieces. Cut the strips so that the beading holes are similar in each strip (fig. 1b). Set the lace/beading strips aside.




2. Cut lace insertion C in half and attach to each side of the embroidered insertion strip using the technique lace to fabric. Cut four strips 3-1/2-inch long from the embroidered/lace strip (fig. 2). 


3. Press all strips.

4. The pillow top is made from three long strips of three squares each, joined by entredeux and bridging. To make the outer strips, attach entredeux to the cut edges of two embroidered/lace squares using the technique entredeux to fabric. A 1/4-inch seam allowance extends beyond the embroidered strip on each side. Attach lace/beading squares to each side of the embroidered/lace squares using the technique lace to entredeux (fig. 3). Set aside. To make the center strip, attach entredeux to each side of the remaining lace/beading square using the technique entredeux to lace. Attach the embroidered/lace squares to each side of the lace beading squares using the technique entredeux to fabric (fig. 4).



5. Attach bridging to each side of the center strip using the technique entredeux to fabric (fig. 5). Attach the outer strips to the bridging using the same technique. Weave ribbon through the bridging (fig. 6).



6. Attach bridging along the outer edges of the nine-patch lace pillow top using the technique entredeux to fabric and allowing the bridging to extend 1/4-inch at the corners to overlap the holes. Trim the seam allowance from the outer edge of the bridging (fig. 7).

7. Cut three 12-1/2-inch squares of Nelona. Center the nine-patch pillow top on one square of fabric and zigzag the top to the fabric along the outer edge of the bridging. Gather the 1-1/4-inch lace edging to fit the outer edge of the bridging and top stitch in place with a zigzag (fig. 8).


8. Baste the other two Nelona squares together 1/8 inch from the edges and treat as one to form the back of the pillow. Gather the 2-inch-wide lace edging and pin in place on the pillow back with the heading 1/4-inch from the edge; refer to figure 9. Straight stitch the gathered lace in place along the heading.

9. Place the pillow top on the pillow back, right sides together, with the edging lace attached to the pillow top flipped toward the center of the pillow. From the pillow back, stitch just inside the previous stitching line, leaving an opening on one side for turning; if a pillow form will be used, leave one entire side open (fig. 9). Turn right side out and press. Insert the pillow form or stuff with fiberfill. Slipstitch the opening closed to finish the pillow.


10. Cut the remaining 4mm silk ribbon into four pieces. Run the silk ribbon through the outer bridging of the pillow top. Tie the ribbon tails into bows at the corners.

~Martha Pullen

Monday, October 29, 2012

Turn Lace Scraps into Glowing Lace!



How many times have you finished a project & had leftover scraps of lace?  And usually, they are so small, there isn't much need for them, right?

Here is a quick and easy use for those scraps of lace that will easily brighten up a room!

Light up the autumn season with a collection of beautiful, lace-wrapped candles. This simple project will lend a delightfully eerie, yet elegant touch to your seasonal décor.





Glowing Lace
By Jessica Woodroof


MATERIALS
Laces in cream, white and black (can be vintage or new)
Pillar and votive candles in cream, white and black
Glue stick
Scissors
Paper towels
Scrap paper
Straight pins

Instructions

1. Select an assortment of candles, and experiment with different looks by wrapping lace lengths around candles, temporarily pinning in place with straight pins. Once you have chosen your favorite lace-and-candle combinations, trim laces to appropriate lengths and unpin from candles. NOTE: Trim lace pieces a little bit longer than needed to avoid a gap between lace ends.

2. Lay a piece of scrap paper onto a flat work surface. Place a piece of lace, wrong side up, onto paper. Use a glue stick to generously coat back side of lace with glue. 

3. Carefully lift lace off of paper; press glued side of lace onto candle, wrapping lace all the way around. Use scissors to trim away any excess lace so that cut edges meet precisely end-to-end and lie flat against candle, creating a barely-visable seam. 

4. Wrap candle in a clean, dry paper towel. Place candle on its side on a flat, hard surface, and roll candle back and forth a few times to help adhere lace to candle and remove excess glue.  

5. Carefully unwrap candle from paper towel, making sure lace does not pull away from candle. Discard paper towel. Set candle aside and allow glue to dry before handling. NOTE: Glue may take several days to dry completely.

6. Repeat process with remaining candles to create a coordinating set.

Tips & Ideas
For a spooky, Halloween appeal, I tried to use simple, “unfussy” laces without many flowers. Vintage or stained laces can also help portray a mysterious feeling. 
I would advise working near a sink, as the gluing process can make your hands very sticky.
Thrift stores, yard sales and antique stores are great places to find vintage laces. You can also find a wide selection of new cotton laces in white, cream and black at store.marthapullen.com.
Be sure to always take extra care when burning candles, and never leave them unattended.


Jessica Woodroof is an artisan jewelry designer, handcrafter and homemaker residing in Huntsville, Alabama. She loves living a simple life with her wonderful husband Brian, and adorable cat Anna, in their lovely 1930s stone cottage. She spends her days baking bread, sewing, cleaning, decorating, gardening and creating whimsical pieces of wooden jewelry. You can find more of her work at thearchitectswife.etsy.com and themissingthread.etsy.com.


Friday, October 12, 2012

Painting Autumn Pumpkins




Creativity oozes from the pores of our employees!  Sometimes, however, our work hours get bogged down with meetings, deadlines, and stress and we don't get to sit back, relax, socialize and let the creativity flow.  So we occasionally schedule after-work gatherings!  

We had one last night.  We all brought pumpkins, glue, glitter, lace, paint, and pretty much anything else you could think of to decorate a pumpkin.  Before too long, our Art Director had glitter on her feet, the yummy treats were being eaten and we were all giggling like young school girls!  Nothing brings people together like creating something!  Do you agree?


This pumpkin was decorated by Leighann, our Design Manager.  Who doesn't have scraps of lace laying around?She did, and put hers to good use!  Add some glue and glitter and TA-DA! A beautiful sparkly {easy} pumpkin.



We call this one Kathy's Cinderella Pumpkin!  Kathy, our Editor, hand painted this beauty with some simple craft paint, glue and glitter.  Amazing how such simple things can produce such elegant results!
If you are like myself, who does not possess as great free-hand abilities, consider grabbing some stencils from the local craft store.  With their assistance, some beautiful designs could also be created!



This is Kathy's other pumpkin.  She painted a few details then covered the entire thing with shimmery glitter.  Can you guess will have the prettiest porch on the block? :)

The great thing about glitter is that no matter how much or how little crafting ability you have, your product always turns out looking spectacular!




We also came across this great site, part of Better Homes and Gardens, that has many decorating ideas if carving isn't your thing.


Have you decorated any pumpkins this season?  Share with us here, our facebook page, or email them to blog@sewbeautifulmag.com.  We love to see the work of our fans!

Happy Autumn!!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

No need to cry over torn lace!




Today we are talking LACE!  

Martha is no stranger to lace and using it to make beautiful garments.  Today we want to share a Lace Hearts segment of the Lace Shaping DVD from the Martha Pullen TV Collection.  


Click HERE

How long have you been a fan of Martha's on television?  Leave a comment in the section below telling us your favorite episode.  We will randomly choose one of the responses to receive a Single Show Subscription!  Valued at $19.99, you will have access to any single Martha Pullen TV show for 6 months so you can watch it as often as you like!  Choose either an in-depth sewing tutorial or an episode of Martha's Sewing Room.  


Also, try this easy lace repair technique from 

I received an email from a Sew Beautiful reader, Delayne McDonald, wanting to know how to fix ripped lace in an fancyband on her granddaughter’s portrait dress. I knew that Sue Stewart had addressed this very problem in a past issue and gave Delayne Sue’s email. A week or so later I got a sweet email from Delayne sharing how excited she was with the results along with a few photos. I asked her to share her experience with Sue's technique on our blog for National Sewing Month. Here is how Delayne saved a precious heirloom dress from ruin with the help of Sue Stewart’s easy to follow instructions for repairing lace. -Kathy Barnard, Editor

Taylor (Delayne’s granddaughter) on the day of her portrait session. 

You can see the big tear in the fancyband.

First, cut away the lace from the hole next to the entreduex to "clean" the area and prepare it for
a replacement.

Next, cut a piece of matching, or closely matching lace 1-inch longer than whole. Place over whole with 1/2 inch
overlap on each end. Shift lace to match motifs to existing lace on each side, or at least one side.  

With 80 weight thread and a Size 60 or 70 needle, zigzag stitch to join header of new lace section to entredeux on each side of "hole." 
It helps to place a pice of water soluble stabilizer underneath while stitching. 
It is best to stitch the ends if you can. Sewing ends didn't work for me, so I used a fray stopping liquid. Keep in mind that over time 
chemicals like fray stop liquids can yellow with age.


 All fixed!

 *Don't forget to comment your favorite 
Martha Pullen episode!*