Showing posts with label Martha Pullen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martha Pullen. 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

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Would you like to meet Martha?



You could WIN an ALL-EXPENSES-PAID TRIP to the Martha Pullen
SCHOOL OF ART FASHION 2013!

PLUS: See your item FEATURED in Sew Beautiful magazine & website!



PLUS: Enjoy an AFTERNOON TEA 

with MARTHA PULLEN!



NEW CONTEST! NEW CATEGORIES! NEW JUDGES!




Share the love and care you put into all of your precious sewing creations with fellow Sew Beautiful readers!


You asked for it -- we provided!  We have expanded to include 7 categories!


We'd like to see the work you're most proud of in seven categories:
  • Christening Gowns or Christening Suits
  • Babies (Newborn to 24 months, non-Christening)
  • Children (2T to 6)
  • Children (7-14)
  • Adults (18 and up)
  • Quilting (bed quilts, baby quilts, lap quilts, wall hangings)
  • Sew Beautiful/Martha Pullen (Entries must be made from a Martha Pullen or Sew Beautiful pattern. This includes stand-alone patterns and patterns from the magazines and books.)
(All entries need to be made either by hand or machine in order to be eligible for entry. No purchased or ready-made entries allowed.)

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY!!


ELIGIBILITY
The contest is open to artists in the U.S. and abroad. All entries need to be made either by hand or machine in order to be eligible for entry. No purchased or ready-made entries allowed. Employees or associates of F+W Media, Inc., Martha Pullen Company, Sew Beautiful or their immediate families may not enter. Competition sponsors reserve the right to reject work deemed unsuitable for publication or that does not meet above criteria.
PREPARING YOUR ENTRY
All digital files must be submitted online. You may enter work in any and all categories; there is no limit to the number of entries you may enter. Image files cannot exceed 2MB. The file format must be JPEG. Please avoid using punctuation and characters when naming your files. If your work is selected as a winning entry, we will contact you about sending a hi-res replacement.
FEES AND PAYMENT 
All entries are $50. A credit card, check or money order for the required jury fee (in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank) must accompany entry. You may send one check to cover all entries. There will be a $10 charge for returned checks or declined credit cards. Credit cards will be charged within 90 days of contest deadline. Charge will appear as "F+W Contests."
SUBMITTING YOUR ENTRY
Enter Online
DEADLINE: All entries must be postmarked no later than November 15, 2012.
JUDGING
Entries will be prejudged and finalists will be chosen by the judging panel from Sew Beautiful Magazine, Stitch, Craft Create Magazine and Martha Pullen Company. Award winners and honorable mentions will be selected by the jurors named above. All properly prepared entries will be viewed and judged. The jurors and editors reserve the right to re-categorize the entries.
NOTIFICATIONS
All of the winners will be notified by December 31, 2012. The results will not otherwise be made public until they are announced in Martha Pullen's Newsletter and recognized on the Martha Pullen and Sew Beautiful websites. Non-winning entrants will not be individually notified of the results. Your cancelled check or credit-card charge will be notification for receipt of your entry.
PRIVACY PROMISE
Occasionally we make portions of our customer list available to other companies so they may contact you about products and services that may interest you. If you prefer we withhold your name, send a note with your name, address and the competition name to: List Manager, F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Rd., Cincinnati, Ohio 45236
*Economy class - continental US or not to exceed $1000 outside continental US



SO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! 
SHOW OFF YOUR BEST WORK & BE REWARDED!


Friday, September 21, 2012

Sewing & Bags & Books, Oh My!



Serendipity Studio Ultimate Camera Bag
From Sew Beautiful reader Francine Kind


This should really be called the Ultimate Sewing Bag!  A few months ago at a Florida Sewing Sew-ciety charity sewing day, a friend showed me her Handy Caddy, which she used to carry her sewing notions to classes.  I loved it and immediately ordered one.  The only problem was that it did not have a cover, so I needed to be careful not to turn it over and have everything spill out. 


Serendipity struck (pun intended!).  At my first Martha Pullen Teacher Licensing (Babylock this past April), one of the ladies mentioned the Ultimate Camera Bag.  Not one to waste time, when I returned to my hotel room, I immediately got online, found Kay Whitt’s site, and ordered Media Frenzy

Fast forward to home.  I had a beautiful piece of Lilly Pulitzer fabric in my resource center just waiting for the right project.  It had been there for over a year while I searched for inspiration.  Media Frenzy arrived, and there it was!


Over three days, I measured, cut, and sewed until I finished what turned out to be just about the best sewing bag I could have imagined.  My Handy Caddy fits inside perfectly – as you can see.  Instead of the camera sections, I fitted extra pockets inside – and they hold everything I could possibly need to take to classes.  It’s even big enough for a 12-inch ruler. 


Bonus:  I used this as my personal carry-on for my second MP Licensing – Beginning 2.  Instead of my Handy Caddy (packed in my checked luggage), my USB (Ultimate Sewing Bag) held my Kindle, camera, wallet, sunglasses, cell phone, pens, lipstick, snack – well, you get the idea – everything I needed for the flights to Huntsville and back – with room to spare. 


I have enough Lilly fabric left over to make the Essential Camera Bag – which is actually just about the right size for me for a purse! 

I love, love, love my USB!



You can snag your own pattern for Media Frenzy, or any of Kay's other designs!  
Visit her store at:

Thanks to Francine for sharing her work with us!




Would you like to win a copy of 
Martha's Southern Family Cookbook?





You'll Love This If:

  • You love cooking Southern food
  • You want to get more Southern recipes
In this southern family cookbook, Martha Campbell Pullen offers you a place at her table as she shares her personal collection of family recipes and the joyous memories behind them. She'll inspire you to not only re-create her delicious Southern dishes in the warmth of your own kitchen, but also to reflect on the precious time you've spent with loved ones. Complete with a CD full of wonderful Biblical passages, engaging prompts, and journaling space, you'll be able to record and celebrate your favorite occasions and family recipes for years to come.
From Mama's Famous Sunday Barbequed Chicken to Fresh Fruit Salad for Bible Study brunch, this book is brimming with beloved recipes and remembrances that have been passed down from generations of the Pullen family—and now to you to enjoy with family and future kin.

In This Martha Pullen's Southern Family Cookbook You'll Learn:
  • Southern recipes, stories, and blessings
  • CD with spiritual thoughts and journaling templates for readers to record their own family stories and recipes
About the Author:
Martha Campbell Pullen loves heirloom sewing, Southern recipes, family stories, and cooking memories. Author of more than fifty-five books in the sewing industry, Martha is the founder ofSew Beautiful magazine and has conducted sewing workshops on six continents. A devout Christian, Martha gives total credit for her sewing business as well as her other blessings to God. She currently lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with her family.

Click HERE to enter to win!

Although the book will not be released until November, 

Pre-Order Now to Receive a Signed Copy from Martha Now!



On sale:


Retail: $26.95
Your price: $20.43
You save: $6.52 (24%)



Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Where Women Create: Martha Pullen



Today we are going to take an inside look at 
Martha's Sewing Room!  She was featured in a recent issue of 
(The issue that Martha was in can be purchased here.)


Text from Martha's article:

From schoolteacher to college professor to entrepreneur, Martha Campbell Pullen, Ph.D.,  absolutely loves the business world! She thrives on hosting Martha’s Sewing Room on PBS, writing books (55 so far), teaching sewing, hosting events worldwide, writing weekly newsletters, leading Christian conferences, and Facebooking, blogging, and tweeting! A devout Christian, she gives total credit for her business to God, who happens to be the CEO. Martha lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with her husband, Joe Pullen, DMD; they have five grown children and 18 grandchildren. Her three passions are God, family, and business.

With the birth of our only daughter Joanna when I was 33 years old, I felt the need to sew once again, and it was overwhelming. I am what is known as a “re-tread” sewer — I loved to sew from childhood (age 5), quit for a number of years, and then plunged in a second time with all the enthusiasm I could muster. Out came my $150 circa-1965 sewing machine, and sewing happiness once again began to fill my heart. My sewing machine has always been the source of my Rembrandt paintings, and I desired to fill a museum. Recollecting my years as an English teacher, I think of two of my favorite authors, John Milton and William Wordsworth, who in their times each addressed the idea of loving to do what one loved as a child. In Paradise Regained, Milton wrote, “The childhood shows the man as morning shows the day.” About 100 years later, Wordsworth wrote in My Heart Leaps Up, “The Child is father of the Man.” Sewing was my first “hobby love” and it still is today.



My inspiration for much of the business, Martha Pullen Company, as well as the books I have written, has come from my love of Victorian clothing. Memories make me smile, and heirloom garments are a source of so many memories. Carefully sewn garments are saved and cherished so they create more than just memories of the moment; they hold those memories in each stitch passing them on to generations to come. My husband Joe says, “Martha, I think you have an unnatural attraction to white antique clothes.” I confess: I love antique Victorian clothing and everything else from this era.

On my first trip to England when Joanna was a toddler, I read in the tour guides about two flea markets: Burmondsey and Portobello Road. The books described Burmondsey in this manner: “Get there before 5 a.m. if you want to get the bargains. Dealers from all over Europe arrive about that time with their torches (flashlights) to get the good deals.” Taking this to heart, we arrived before 5 a.m., and found the dealers had not even unloaded their vans. While Joe shivered in the cold, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a jacket potato with baked beans on it, I began my quest. I fell in love with white baby clothes … and purchased a lot of them. Joe said, “Martha what on earth are you going to do with old baby clothes? These are too little for Joanna.”
I replied, “Enjoy them.” I bought more at Portobello Road. At that point, a sewing business had not entered my mind. These baby clothes had simply spoken to me, and I had to have them.

Sales and business in general were other great childhood interests. The journey from top salesman in the fifth grade magazine drive at Scottsboro Elementary School, to opening a dancing school at age 14, to figuring out how to meet John F. Kennedy when I was cheering for the University of Alabama at the Orange Bowl in 1963 (marketing in truest form), lined my path to sewing entrepreneurship. I had also done most of my research for my Ph.D. dissertation on educational management in the business library. Perhaps just being in that environment gave me courage, as opening a small retail smocking/heirloom shop was, in the words of Don Quixote, my “impossible dream.”

With God’s help, it happened for us — the shop; imported French, English, and Swiss fabrics and laces for wholesale; books; events worldwide; School of Art Fashion in Huntsville; Sew Beautiful magazine; a large eCommerce store; an email newsletter that reaches more than 40,000 people each week; Martha Pullen Licensed Teachers all over the world; and Martha’s Sewing Room (PBS series I have hosted for 17 years). Martha Pullen Company became a multimillion dollar business, and today we have the pleasure of being a subsidiary of F+W Media.

It looks like I’ve had a pretty easy go of it, doesn’t it? That is so far from the truth that it makes my head swim. I made no money for the first 10 years! Although I had written several bestselling books in the area of French machine sewing, any profit went right back to keep the business afloat. Joe sold retirement property twice to keep my business going. I was traveling all over the country and to Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand conducting workshops. And, Martha’s Sewing Room was airing in all 50 states! Thirteen shows had been translated into Japanese for Japanese Public Television.

What was the main problem? Why was I making no profit? I had no written plan — none in the beginning, none to plan expansion, and none to remedy problems. I was doing so many things that I had not analyzed what was financially sound and what was draining the profit right off the top. Once I identified this as the problem and was able to address it, Martha Pullen Company thrived.
To read more about my story, look for my newly revised book, Business Boots on the Ground: How a Schoolteacher Turned Her Hobby Into a Multi-Million Dollar Company. You, too, can build a hobby-based business.

TIP
Here is my now famous 3/30 Plan. Before you open your business:
  • Write your financial goal for one year.
  • Write three pages a day for 30 days about how you are going to achieve that goal. Do not organize; just write. Go to the library. Check out books. Browse the Internet, including IRS and SBA websites. Talk with as many people as possible. Network big time! Write down every dream or possibility you have held in your mind.
  • After writing 90 pages, go back and figure out what will work and what will not. Pull the best parts and forge ahead with your business dream. You are ready.
If you’re thinking, “Martha, I don’t want to write 90 pages. That is too much work,” then my reply will be, “You probably don’t really need to go into business.” In my experience, this amount of planning is the minimum you need to do. You don’t want to be like me and work for basically no profit for an entire decade even if you are able to stay in business that long. A hobby-based business can become a reality, but it takes a lot of planning, hard work, and prayer.

FAVORITE QUOTE
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.”
— Luke 1:37





*A big thank you to Where Women Create who allowed us to use this story and their generosity in donating the year subscription.  Photos by Jennifer & Company.


Comment below for a chance to win a 
1-year subscription to 
Where Women Create!  

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

An Interview with Martha Pullen + GIVEAWAY!


Today we are getting an intimate look into the life of Martha Pullen, the woman who started it all.  We had the privilege to sit down with Martha and ask her a few questions.


Sew Beautiful: Why are people drawn to heirloom sewing, and by “heirloom” we mean French sewing techniques, smocking, fine embroidery and, of course, fine materials?

Martha Pullen: First of all it is beautiful, very beautiful. Classic heirloom has been in style for over 200 years and I believe it will never go out of style. I was taught the joy of beautiful sewing and materials as a very young child from my mother and Aunt Chris.  They both loved fine materials. Mama told me when I was very young, “When I went to college, my mother bought me two nice dresses which were way too expensive for her budget. But she said to me,’We cannot afford cheap clothing since we can only have two things. These will last and look good for a long time.’”  Mama only sewed on nice fabrics and only used nice thread. She said her time was too valuable to sew on cheap materials.
I fell in love with smocking the first time I saw beautiful smocking. It was truly love at first sight. Our only daughter, Joanna, was just a baby and I remember thinking, “ I have to have these clothes for Joanna.” I have always loved to sew beautiful children’s clothing. I love fine embroidery although my hand sewing has consisted mostly of hand smocking.
The very word, “heirloom” relays to me that my work will be appreciated for generations to come. My love which has gone into every hand made garment will last possibly 100 years from now. The memories will be in the heart of those for whom I made the garment. Heirloom simply means to me-Made with love for someone I love. I especially love christening dresses, communion dresses, portrait clothes, wedding clothes, and other special occasion clothes.  I also love white bedrooms and beautiful white home decorating pieces. I love the white clothes and sometimes pretend that I knew the lady who made them. I simply love white heirloom clothes—new or 150 years old and Joe and I have traveled all over the world searching for them. This is really quite funny but I thought as I bought each one, “Oh, we will make a pattern out of this dress. Or I’m sure we will reproduce this embroidery design in Sew Beautiful magazine.  This will be a great centerfold pattern.”  If we had used every garment I have bought over the last number of years Sew Beautiful would be 500 pages long each issue.

SB: Machine embroidery vs hand embroidery; it’s an ongoing debate. Can you share your feelings on this subject?

MP:  I love them both. The beauty of hand embroidery is magnificent and no one appreciates the beauty more than I; however the reality of time to do hand embroidery is ever present in most lives today. I have to admit also that it takes a lot of skill to accomplish beautiful hand embroidery in addition to lots of time. Frankly I am not accomplished in hand embroidery. Years ago I found out that shadow work by hand was the easiest hand embroidery and I truly enjoyed that. Surface embroidery with one strand of embroidery floss is not going to be in my repotoire during this lifetime. With today’s magnificent embroidery machines one can choose heirloom designs and have gorgeous machine embroidery in a blink of an eye. Not only do most not have the time to accomplish hand embroidery  when one gets older and has more time to sew the eyesight is not as good as it once was and fingers many times are not as agile as in earlier years. One of my sweetest quilting friends simply wore her hand quilting fingers out and now she adores machine quilting. Life is all about change and truthfully one should choose whichever makes one happy! Both are magnificent to me.

SB:  We all know that fashion and current dressing trends drive sewing. Can you speak to how Martha Pullen Company has weathered changes in the industry due to lifestyle? To what do you attribute your company’s stamina in the market?

MP:  Classic heirloom clothing will never go out of style. It never has. Christening dresses, communion dresses and other classic heirloom garments are as strong a pull as they ever were--maybe more now that more people know about gorgeous family heirlooms for special occasions. We now include more casual clothing in Sew Beautiful for a more casual lifestyle but in many churches the heirloom clothing is stil prevalent on Sunday mornings. I see smocked dresses every Sunday morning. Nearly every wedding in the south has an heirloom dress for the flower girl and most have an heirloom pillow for the ring bearer pillow. Many have an heirloom suit for the ring bearer. Heirloom sewing is still prevalent for certain occasions. I guess most kids don’t wear smocked dresses to school anymore since jeans and shorts seem to be the usual school uniform if actual school uniforms aren’t worn.

Personally, I cannot wait for Prince William and Princess Kate to have children. My guess is that they will wear classically styled clothing and that heirloom sewing will be stronger than ever. Princess Diana certainly dressed her little boys in elegant clothing. Some of the top designers have started a children’s clothing line; it is all classic with a lot of smocking. The royal children of Holland wear smocked clothing. Special occasion clothing is still heirloom. At my grandchildren’s pre-school, the children wear cute clothing a lot—lots of smocking.

SB:  You have written books, founded a magazine, established a retail shop and catalog business. You teach, you inspire. What has been/is the most rewarding part of your career?

MP:  Sharing the love of sewing with YOU my sewing family. Getting to know YOU, our friends who love to sew. Getting to introduce someone to heirloom sewing for the first time and her/him saying, “This is so easy!"

Getting pictures and letters about a special garment that someone has made for someone that she/he loves so much. 

Hearing about how sewing has truly helped someone to weather a major storm in her/his life. 

Feeling the love which surrounds heirloom sewing the the precious ones who love this art.  It is truly the people’s reaction to our beloved art that is the very best. I love sewing ladies. I love sharing this joy.

SB:  If you had unlimited time and any materials you desire to sew your dream creation, what would it be?

MP:  I’m glad you asked that question! As many of you know, I have older grandchildren—the oldest are 20 years old and just this summer one asked me, “Nannie, you are going to make my children beautiful clothes aren’t you?”  I have an urge now to start baby daygowns and maybe a christening gown or two. To put away in my great-grandmother’s hope chest. With 18 grandchildren I will probably have many great-grandchildren and I simply cannot wait to make baby clothes again!!! That is my favorite part of heirloom sewing—baby clothes! My dream creations would be batiste and French lace or silk dupioni and French lace and lots of machine embroidery including putting the family data on the slips and on the hems of smocked dresses.

A big thanks to Martha for taking the time to answer our questions!  She also provided some pictures of her childhood to share with you.










Also, in honor of it being Martha Pullen week, we want to give away a copy of Martha's book, 
Precious Baby Daygowns: Round Yoke Collection.


We are going to do another 
DIY (Design-It-Yourself) Challenge with the
Heavenly Bliss Daygown pictured.  
Tell us in the comments below, what supplies from the 
you would use to make this beautiful daygown!
One winner will be chosen to receive all the materials they listed as well as a copy of the book!

*Total not to exceed $200*