I had a ton of fun matching different ribbons with different sets of ribbon! I found some combos that stitch together beautifully and others that just don’t quite “go”. You know those….;)

Here’s a few fun photos!

love those decorative stitches!

magnetic snap!

fun closure!

love the striped bias binding! :)

After I created my quilted fabric and cut out the purse pattern, I started digging for embellishments that would work. I had decided to use burgundy with the ivory fabric, so I found some sheer burgundy ribbon that would work perfect.

One problem: it was only 1″ wide. Too narrow for the pleated satin I wanted to stitch on top of it. Solution: Stitch two pieces of ribbon together to make it wider. Perfect!

Then stitch the pleated shiny satin trim on top of the ribbon. I found this pleated trim on one of my fabric shopping trips and loved it. It turned out beautifully on the ribbon.

Then this ruffled velvet trim fit perfectly right down the center of the pleats. Stacking trim and ribbon is fun and creates a neat layered effect. I should do more of this to use up the huge stash of ribbon I now own.

I stitched the layered ribbon down the center of the cut-out pattern and then stitched the binding to the outside edge.

After I stitched the bias binding to the edge, I then encased the raw edge in it and tacked it to the inside edge by stitching in the ditch around the edge. Perfect edging!

The last step was to stitch the purse sides together and add the magnetic closure.

Add a ribbon/corded pin I found at the Houston Quilt Market one year and it’s finished! Quite stylish and unique! And every single bit of it used from my collection of stashes!

It’s at times like this that I’m so glad I have those little (or rather large!) stashes!

So I cut out 10″ squares of Snow White and Red fairy frost fabric (love the bit of sparkle in those pieces!) which allowed me a little extra room as I would be cutting the squares down to 8″ before folding.

Then I cut the same size squares of Ultra Heat’n'Bond and fused the red to the white fabric.

And then started folding…

…and folding over again….

And then folded the top down to see the white overlaid with the red.

I did glue the top white flaps down on each side of the basket. I also decided they needed a bit of embellishment….

After digging around in my stash of buttons and not having much success, I finally raided my sister’s supply of scrapbooking elements and found these little red jewel hearts which were perfect! And that little bag of hearts had just enough for the 20+ baskets I made.

Fill with chocolate and they’re done! Beautiful!!

Thanks to Alison for the idea and tutorial on her blog! Add ribbon, buttons and embellishments to your heart’s content and then have fun filling with fun treats!

I’ve been playing with envelope templates and printing various sizes on paper and decided that I had to try a fabric envelope! If it works with fabric, why won’t it work with fabric?! Normally I stick to the same kind of projects, but every once in a while I have to try something different and unique.

I found this simple envelope template and printed it on a piece of scrapbooking paper and put it together. Loved it!

Now to try it with fabric.

1. Fuse HeatnBond Lite wonderunder to the fabric.

2. Bond the fabric to a piece of card stock. I just used white; but if you want the interior of the envelope to be colored, use colored or printed card stock.

3. Open the pdf template (can be downloaded here), place the fabric/card stock into the printer so you are printing on the card stock side and click print. (And yes, I did this with my laser printer and it worked GREAT! No printer error this time! :))

4. Cut the template out following the lines and fold it along the dashed lines.

5. Cut a piece of card stock that is slightly smaller than the front of the envelope.

6. Place on front of envelope and stitch a decorative stitch around the card stock. Be sure to select an open and light decorative stitch; if it’s too dense like a satin stitch, it could tear the card stock. (I used flat tape in a couple places to hold the card stock in place while stitching.)

7. Glue the side flaps and bottom flap to create the envelope shape and placed it under a heavy book until it is dry. I also folded down the top flap to give it a crease, but did not glue it shut.

Now it’s time to insert the card, glue down the top flap, address it and mail it!

And surprisingly enough it went through the mail without any problem with only a first class stamp, although depending on the bulk of your fabric and card stock, it might require extra postage.

I pin-basted the layers together with a low-loft batting and was ready to start stitching. I really wanted to stitch with the suede side up since that was a solid and would be easier to see where I was stitching. The minkee fabric would be next to the feed dogs, but that would be ok. I raised my presser foot pressure just a little to accommodate the thicker fabrics.

Issue 1 – When stitching with suede, usually a teflon foot is needed and since I’m freehand quilting, that’s not an option. Even though my feed dogs were lowered and my foot was not exactly close to the fabric, it still tended to stick and not glide smoothly like it should for freehand quilting. Ok, raise the pressure foot pressure a little more so I have more space between the foot and the fabric. Nope! If the presser foot pressure is raised too high, the foot is higher which causes skipped stitches.

Ok, onto plan B…maybe I can sew on the minkee side and still see where I am going?! Maybe? I’ll try it. Now that was a challenge! Not only was it hard to see where I was going because of the print, but also the stitches tend to get lost in the pile of the fabric, which is just the nature of minkee fabric. It just meant I was stitching blindly. Not something I really wanted to do! Plus the suede fabric did want to hang up a little on the bed of the machine. Not too much to be much of an issue; the bigger problem was that I couldn’t see my stitches.

Back to plan A. Insert brand new needle after a 1′ section. Find the perfect balance of presser foot pressure and no skipped stitches. Sew for 10 minutes and then rest my arms/hand for 5 because manipulating those fabrics through the machine really pulls at those muscles. Go slow and keep on stitching! Finally…it was finished!

Minkee printed side

Suede solid side

It isn’t the most beautiful job of quilting I have ever done, but it did turn out fairly nice, considering all the trouble I had with quilting it. And once I finished the quilting, the binding was a breeze! And the most important thing – the little granddaughter for whom it was for and grandmother who brought the fabric to me love it!

Need some tips for sewing with minkee fabric? Look here for some helpful ideas!

Ah, yes – Minkee!!! It’s that luxurious fabric that you just love to rub your hand over and over again! It feels so good that you can’t resist purchasing it! But reality sets in when you start to cut the fabric and stitching with it! Suddenly your great love affair with this fabric is diminishing very quickly! Not only does it create a blizzard of lint and fuzz everywhere when you start chopping it into pieces, but it moves and slides around all over the place the moment it is in your sewing machine.

What do you do with the wonderful-feeling fabric that you are beginning to hate? Here are some tips that might help you keep your sanity and renew your love of the fabric and the reason why you bought it in the first place!!

Pay attention to the nap! Minkee is a napped fabric, so the fibers will lay down in one direction and it will feel and look different. So as you are cutting, be sure your pieces are going the direction that you want them to. Just run your hand across the fabric to feel the direction of the nap.

Add more for seam allowances! If you are using a pattern that is not specifically made for minkee, then you may want to add to the seam allowance. Stitching a 1/4″ seam in minkee fabric is nearly impossible, so add extra for a 1/2″ or 3/4″ seam.

Cut out all the pieces at once! Cut out everything you need to and then wipe down your cutting mat, rotary cutter, scissors and anything else you used with the minkee with a wet paper towel to catch the extra lint. Oh, btw…this is NOT a time to have a ceiling fan on. Trust me on this – previous experience (not a good one!).

Use pins, pins and more pins! That’s right – what would we do without good ol’ straight pins?! This is where you need to use them! Pin your fabrics together so your pins are 1-2 inches apart. Yes, it does take a little more work, but it is worth it when you are stitching that seam.

Sew next to the feed dogs! If you are mixing minkee fabric with cotton fabrics, sew your seam with the minkee fabric next to the feed dogs. This will help the minkee to feed through along with the cotton.

Wash the cotton fabric! If you are using cottons and minkee, be sure to pre-wash your cotton fabrics. Minkee does not shrink, but cotton will, so if you wash the entire project after it’s complete, your cotton pieces could end up smaller than the minkee ones.

Lengthen your stitch length! Since this is a napped fabric with some bulk to it, it’s a good idea to lengthen your stitch. I usually sew with a stitch length of 3-4 mm. If I’m top stitching on Hankie Blankie Pets, I use a stitch length of 4. Make a test stitch to see what works on the minkee fabric you are using.

Use a walking foot! Put on that walking foot and put it to good use! This will be your greatest help in sewing minkee fabric. The walking foot will help to feed the top layer while the feed dogs feed the bottom layer through the machine, creating an easy-to-stitch seam.

Serge the edges! If the minkee lint is seemingly out of control, serge the edges or stitch a zigzag stitch on your machine. This will help to control the lint and fuzz that flies around as you are working with the fabric.

Stabilizer topping is a must! If you are embroidering on minkee fabric (Yes, you can do that!), you need to use a clear water soluble or heat soluble topping to keep the stitches from sinking into the pile fabric. Lightly pin a piece of clear topping to the right side of the fabric after it is in the hoop.

Do not hoop minkee fabric! You will create a hoop mark or burn if you try hooping minkee fabric to embroider on it. Hoop the stabilizer (tearaway if the design is not too dense or cutaway for dense designs), spray it with 505 Spray Adhesive and the stick the minkee fabric to the stabilizer.

Make your binding wider! If you are using a binding with minkee fabric, make it wider to account for the lush fabric pile. Instead of 2″ or 2 1/2″ wide, try a 3″ wide binding.

Only use steam! You do not want to press or iron minkee fabric to compact the lush pile it holds. Either use steam or gently press with a press cloth over the minkee.

What can you do with minkee fabric? The options are limitless, but I love to create Hankie Blankie Pets with this luxurious fabric! They are so sweet and perfect to give as gifts and little ones love the feel of these little animals. I usually personalize it with a name on the front corner. Here’s just a few I’ve stitched:

Just look at those floppy puppy ears!

Cute little pink kitty whiskers!

These are so soft and cuddly!

On the three pets above, I used the original pet pattern here, but also take a peek at the New Friends pattern and At the Zoo pattern for other cute pet variations!

Can’t find minkee fabric in your local area? Try here!

Ah, yes! Who can’t resist stitching another tote bag?!?! I have many; way too many to count in several different sizes and styles. Some I have kept and others I have given away, but there’s nothing such as fun as a new and different kind of bag!

Check out the Trim It Tote by designer, M’Liss Rae Hawley! Pick out a base fabric (perhaps one from your stash you aren’t too crazy about) and start embellishing with ribbons and trims. Have you seen all the fun and unique trims, ribbons, cording and beaded fringe that are available in hundreds of thousands and colors?! Way too many for just one bag. So get started stitching! :)

Thanks to allpeoplequilt.com and M’Liss Raw Hawley for the project instructions!

All you need is a fat quarter of fabric or some scraps, heavy interfacing, vinyl scraps, bias tape and some velcro and you are set! Not only is this a great place to hold the car info, but you could also use it to store just about anything! :)

Not only do they have quality garment fabrics such as sheers, satins, silks, rayons and polys, but also a huge home dec section. Finding garment fabrics or home dec fabrics in my area is quite a challenge, so I’m always on the look-out for some fun fabric shops. Many times they buy fabric in bulk quantities and always have sale racks of garment fabric and home dec pieces, so that is most certainly a great section to check with each visit.

I did have a specific goal in mind for shopping at Denver Fabrics this time. Usually I just go because I love looking and walk out with several pieces I just can’t resist taking home. But I had curtains for our main bathroom we painted on my mind. I needed a light sage/lime green color and really wanted something in a stripe with green and gold colors. I knew I was being picky and was counting on nixing the stripe and just finding a solid green, because finding exactly what I was imagining probably was not going to happen.

But guess what?? Joanna spotted the stripe that was perfect! Just what I had in mind. And to make it even better, is was on the sale rack. So instead of $22 a yard, it was only $7. Can’t get any better than that, right? And for home dec fabric! I wanted to bring out more of the green, so I found a green sold that blends well with the stripe and matches the green color of towels.

I even have the type of valance I want to stitch. There are horizontal blinds on the window, so all I need is something at the top to cover the top of the blinds. This is what I had in mind, using the stripe in front and the green back behind. I like the layering effect it gives. Although I will make my points the same degree for the stripe and solid. I think.

But while I was browsing online,  I found these two which I like as well. So I may change my mind before I actually start on the valance. Imagine that – changing my mind! ;)

images from www.fashionwindowtreatments.com and www.windowtreatmentcenter.com

Fiber Etch – have you ever used this etching gel? I have several times and taught a couple of classes using it several years ago, but it’s been a while since I’ve picked up my bottle. If you’ve never heard of it, it is a gel that etched out plant fiber fabrics such as cotton, linen and rayon. It will not etch polyester, wool or silk, so you can create designs by using different fabrics and etching whatever design or motif you want.

www.embroideryonline.com Design NZ369

Basically what I’ve done with it is cutwork like the embroidery design above. I’ve stitched an open cutwork design with polyester thread on a rayon fabric, applied the fiber etch to the area of fabric inside the stitching, heated it with an iron and the fabric inside the stitching darkens and just falls out.

If you’ve ever done cutwork, usually you stitch the design and then take a little itty bitty pair of scissors and cut out the fabric inside. What a headache! It’s tough to cut out the fabric without clipping the threads plus getting a smooth clean finish without those little thread ends sticking out. Just look at the tulip and imagine trying to cut out all the fabric without snipping the threads?!?!

When using the Fiber Etch, the fabric just falls out inside and there is a smooth clean finish on the edge of the thread. It’s great to use and I’ve gotten out of the habit of using it, so this was a good reminder to get it out and create something with it.

What was neat was seeing how Dana (Dana Marie Designs) used the Fiber Etch here at the Sew Expo. She does use it for cutwork with embroidery, but she also showed some pieces using silk/rayon velvet. Trace a pattern such as a simple outlined leaf on the fabric. Just run a line of Fiber Etch following the pattern. Heat it and brush away the fibers. The rayon pile of velvet is etched away and the silk background remains. Just too neat!!!

I actually have some silk chiffon that I was planning on making a skirt out of at some point and doing cutwork around the edge of the hem, but I may dig around in my stash and see if I have a plant fiber fabric that I can do the same thing and use the Fiber Etch. I’m sure I have something!

The great thing with using the Fiber Etch is that you can etch out the top fabric and put another fabric behind it to show through as a different color. Make a very easy project look like it took hours to do! :)

There’s some other projects swirling around in my head in which I could use the Fiber Etch and create some neat things, so I just need to get that bottle out in my line of sight and make a note to do something.