Cherries Apron Done!

I wanted to show the underside of the bib - I like to use a fun fabric for this piece. This is a wonderful red and white polka dot from my Aunt Mary's stash. The perfect compliment for the cherry pocket I think! I used some purple shadows in the embroidery on the pocket to compliment the purple neck strap and ties. Now on to the wine bottle cozy - a project for the weekend I think! (I mean I'll need a few bottles to make that, right?)

In Progress

Apron, originally uploaded by Viteen.

This is a custom order - a gift for a gal getting married in August. The cherries are a pocket. The neck strap and the ties are purple, and I'll need to put black ric-rac on the hem as well. I hand applied the green leaves, and then machine stitched them as well. All of the embroidery is hand-done. I will be making a matching wine bottle cozy as well. It will be my first miniature apron.

This project was a fun collaboration with the client/friend. She came by with some fabric scraps, and some strips of ribbon with colors that she wanted me to work with. In just as hour or so we were able to come up with the fabrics we wanted to work with, the colors and the theme. I love custom orders - heck, I just love orders!

Friday's Project

This is an apron for a friend who ordered 2 custom aprons made from her Great Grandmother's gingham. The gingham had been curtains and a matching tablecloth. Great Grandma had already cut them up a bit - it looked like she was planning to make a blouse (there were sleeves cut out) but she never finished and the fabric had been sitting in a bag for years. On 2 of the aprons I was able to preserve the tiny hand stitches that formed the hem. I hope my friend is pleasantly surprised with this apron!

The Latest

I made this apron for my daughter Mae's brownie troop leader Deb (I appreciate her hard work so much). The topstitching on the pocket flap covers a mistake (I love it when a creative idea to hide a mistake ends up being a good idea!) - and then I ended up adding the apron to my line and updating the previous Callie Black apron with this one. I have also lowered some of the prices, mostly on my aprons of this same style (Callie Blue, Callie Black, and Caroline and a few others) and the full aprons as well. Please have a look at the site and let me know what you think!

Sewing Baby

Sewing Baby, originally uploaded by Viteen.

This was taken in 1998. Mae was about 6 months old - she was such an easy baby that I could actually get work done with her in my lap! I have since replaced the Singer machine with my trusty 1978 Viking Husqvarna. I'm afraid the blouse I am making is long gone too...

Tie one on, Kitty-kitty

My Kitty-kitty apron is part of the Tie One On pocket challenge - there are some terrific aprons and you can see them all here.

Apron Admirer!

Well the sidewalk sale was not a complete loss: I sold a couple vintage aprons, attracted the attention of one of the local papers which may do a little feature on Practically Necessary, AND interested Julia @ Flybird in my purses! Success! What a nice moment my friend Julie caught with this picture - just as this woman is glancing at my apron collection!

Rain Delay Purse

The dang rain kept up all day. I guess that's the chance you take when you participate in an outdoor sale! After we set up the table, I came home and set to making a purse. It turned out to be one of those projects where EVERYTHING goes wrong. I measured twice, cut once - but managed to measure twice incorrectly (for the lining) after I corrected that I realized the fabric I was using for the lining had a hole in it!! ARGHH!!!! Oh well - It came out pretty well after all was said and done (and ripped out and resewn!) Here's hoping for sun tomorrow!

Hollywood

One of my favorite labels from a collection my husband found in a thrift shop. See it here.

Large Farm Scene Purse

Large Farm Scene Purse, originally uploaded by Viteen.

I have started making some purses in addition to aprons. I think this is the best of the group so far. It has a long shoulder strap. The covered button is the farmer in the scene, and there are 2 inside pockets in addition to the outer pocket. I will be selling this at the sidewalk sale this Saturday, June 23rd-24th. I 'll be in front of Flybird on Lake Street in Oak Park. Come by and see me!!

Look Mom!!

My mom asked for a basket liner for her yarn basket for Mother's Day. She reminded me yesterday that she was still waiting. Oops! I got right on it. The outer fabric is reused, it was once the skirt for my son Leo's basinette. I hope you like it Mom!!

Sara's Basket Liner

This is made from the same pattern as the basket liner below. I added a coffee/beverage holder and a cellphone pocket. Now I need to make one for my friend Barbara, then I need to update mine so it has the same cool features!

Card/Cigarette Case

I found this cigarette case at a thrift/mattress store on Grand Avenue in Chicago. I wasn't sure if it was authentic, but since it was like $2 I figured I couldn't lose. I called my dad immediately and described it - and he was pretty certain that it had been purchased on the RMS Queen Mary. It wasn't until about a year later that I realized it was the perfect size for a business card case. Note the actual cigarette burn at the top. Incidentally, when my son Leo was 4 he called smoking "cigaretting" - it's one of those things he likes to remind us of - "remember when I called smoking cigaretting..." and we all laugh and say "yeah".

You've Got To Have Friends

Anybody ever heard that song by Bette Midler? I have been humming that tune in my head since last night when my gal pals came over for cocktails in our garden. I don't know if it's because I'm out of work, but every one of them has to have a Practically Necessary basket liner! I've got work to do!

Smock Apron - 1967

My sister Sue and I make peanut butter cookies in our house in Saginaw, Michigan. The cookbook is the Betty Crocker Cookie Book. My mom made the apron in her highschool home economics class. We lived in the house at 1626 Stone until 1971, and then moved into a ranch house in Saginaw Township - a city to suburbs move.

Studio Tour

My worktable. Textile stash underneath.

We always had crates like this because my grandfather had a grocery store and my dad saved a lot of the orange and bottle crates. I like to make little scenes in them.


I love my Viking Husqvarna. When I realized that I needed a new sewing machine last year I went to the Singer store. I broke into a sweat when I say down to one of the machines, I just didn't like the way the new machines looked or felt. I left the store unsure about what to do. Then I went on ebay and found this model. All metal, top of the line in 1978. I just fell in love with it. I bid on at least 4 of them until I finally won this one.

Ping and Pong

Mae strikes again!. She really worked hard on this one - she's been wanting to make a 2 sided creature since she made Blueper. I'm so proud of her!

Beautiful Embroidered Letters

These are from the book in the following post - Handbook of Stitches. It was originally published in Copenhagen, and then translated and published in The US in 1970. Fabulous letterforms and exquisite stitching - so inspiring!

Embroidery for Lefties!

I got this fabulous book at the library and had an embroidery epiphany when I looked at the first page. There's a note about left-handers using a mirror to better see the stitches! Well that seemed a little awkward so I scanned in the pages, then flopped the drawings - voila - I think I might be able to learn these stitches now!

Piper's Diapers Done!

I am so excited about this bag! It's the second one I have made, and so much better than the first. I used a stiff interfacing so it has really nice body, and I love the little button tab. My son Leo took the picture of me at my machine working on the bag, I have wanted to blog about my fabulous Viking Husqvarna since I got it a last year. So pretty to look at, so easy to use, so many great decorative stitches, and it will sew through anything! I LOVE this machine!

Piper's Diapers

Sara doesn't know that I am adding Piper's name to the inside of the bag! Her name is Piper Rose - I got creative with her middle name.

My embroidery style is a little primative, but I am happy with it. I usually embroider letters with a chain stich - using a back stitch for the serifs and fine parts of the type. Hoping to finish the bag tonight, will add finished pics tomorrow. (striped yellow fabric is a vintage pillow case - now a pocket).

I am making a diaper bag for my friend Sara and her baby Piper. A perfect use for this scenic barkcloth. Only the outside pockets are the barkcloth so I have more for another project... hmmm... The striped fabric will be the lining.

Blueper

Blueper, originally uploaded by Viteen.

This is the ugly doll that my 9 year old daughter Mae made. She drew the pattern, cut the fabric and did the embroidery - she also stuffed him and sewed him shut! (and named him!) I helped a little bit with some of the sewing. My son Leo (6) wants in on the action, so I hope to help him make one too.

Label Collection Extraordinaire

There are many theories about what sort of person made this collection and where they got all of the labels. Did they go through everyone's closet in their entire family and remove all of the labels? Perhaps they worked in a thrift store? I wish I knew...The labels date from about the 1940s, to the late 80s, or mid 90s. Everytime I page through it I see something I hadn't noticed before. From the sublime - Voila - to the ordinary - the Springmade sheet label, there is something for everyone in this wonderful collection that goes on for 59 pages.

New Vintage Blouse

I just came across the New Vintage Wardrobe challenge at Bitter Betty's blog. This is my addition. The pattern is from my Aunt Loretta. I have made this blouse twice, once with vintage fabric (shown). I changed the sleeves (I used the 3/4 sleeves but simplified the cuff), and I added a button (the pattern called for 3, leaving my belly exposed!). I love the one piece collar, so easy to do - and so good looking.

Nail Art Terrarium

This piece started out as a piece of discarded nail art. It would have hung on the wall vertically, and there would have been a little vase underneath the "flowers". I made an environment for a Fisher Price spaceman (or hazmat tech) and a fat little bee - they live in a world of rocks and flowers.

Bunny Gets Religion

I cannot resist this kind of scenic image fabric. And doesn't bunny look right at home? I got this piece on ebay this week. There's nothing quite like that "Oh I won it" feeling. And oh that ebay feeling when you really want something and just get outbid. Sometimes you get the bunny, sometimes...

Bunnydale

I was inspired by Hillary Lang at Wee Wonderfuls to make this little tableaux. I put my felt bunny, and the bunny my Aunt Loretta knit for my daughter Mae when she was a baby in a setting with "The Little House" by Virginia Lee Burton. Be sure to check out my inspiration at Wee Wonderfuls!

Vintage Vogart Transfer Patterns

See "PotLuck" two posts down.

Bias Tape Birds

I have never seen bias tape used for this effect. Planning on making an apron pocket out of it.

Pot Luck

I bought a bag of vintage transfer patterns - this is the second embroidery I have completed. Seemed like a good posting for St. Patricks Day.