My "Puff Chair"

I like the comfort of my "Puff Chair".  It is very comfortable.  But, after about two years I get tired of the fabric and the fabric gets tired of me (it shows wear).   Now here is the hard part, finding the right fabric to cover the original cushions.  I bought this fabric several years ago, I bought about two other fabrics for the same purpose also.  I bought fabric for my future "re-fabricing". Then I brought it home and spread it on the chair and leave it there for about a day.  Fortunately I get to purchase these choices at FIDM because each choice has to be 3 yards of 60" wide fabric.  It gets to be pricey if I purchased anywhere else.

This is the fabric that won the contest.  It is a cotton with a diagonal thread running through every 1/4".  It doesn't hold a wrinkle and is very comfortable.  The other fabrics will go to GoodWill.  It is hard to hold onto a large bulk of fabric.

I sewed the new fabric onto the original cushion cover.  I also put an additional piece of foam into to two parts of the chair.


I made the foot stool first.  I made it first to see if I liked the finished looks.  I did enjoy how it looked and then tackled the chair.

Making the cover is a small job compared to stuffing the cushion into the cover.  The last time I did this it took me about 1 hour to stuff the foam into the cushion.  I was sweating and calling to the sewing gods to help me.  I won a favor because when I made a workout cushion for a friend, the man at the shop told me of a trick.  I asked him for a tip and he told me to cover the foam in a plastic bag.  Well, I used the large garbage bag and the cushions went in so much faster.


P.S.  The cats took ownership of the chair before I could even try it out!

Roll or Schmoll

I made this a retrospective of four people. My sister, my niece, my great niece and me. I made this for my niece and I wanted this to be very special. The basis for all this was the transfer paper and my favorite photos of people I love.
The basis of the little pocket bag is a very lovely cream Silk that was imported and was embroidered in India. I think that is the most luscious Silk that I have ever seen. The belting is from Tibet and hand woven.
The reason for the photo: my niece has an aviary and she raises Canaries. This perfect photo is of my Great Niece with some baby Canaries. The photo is so special - the framing, the light and most of all the subject.

This transfer is a Siamese Fighting fish that my Great Niece purchased and then made a drawing for me. It is a lovely combination of form and color. I felt that it was important enough to be immortalized on transfer paper. The gold ribbon is metal ribbon that I was lucky enough to procure down at the FIDM store.
These are Garnets that I had included in a necklace that I had made for my sister, my Darling Niece's mother. The Yin-Yang was my Uncle's. And of course my favorite stone, Pearls.
This Silver Quan Yin was also my sister's. I put all these memories together and I hope that it will bring happiness to my Niece.
My Darling Niece will not see this post because she is camping away from phones and the Internet. It will arrive by the time she returns. Oh crafty me!

The Magical Kingdom -

This is a brass sculpture, one of a grouping of foxes at play in the park that is in the enclosure at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. There are many sculptures and works of art that inspire the students and the families that come to the park.
I couldn't get a better grouping of the "Fox Family at Play" (my title). The ground has little hills in order to segregate the areas.
The College works with the fashion industry. This includes donations of last years fabrics and of course interns. The college also has a scholarship store for the students who subsidized their tuition. Students work in the store and also get a better price for whatever they buy. That is how it should be. I have seen students come into the store to get fabrics for their projects and stop and pick up some piece of clothing as well.
The funny part for me (when I am talking with these students that work in the store) is remembering how I was once a design student in San Francisco.
This is the clothing side of the store. Many years ago the store was just one long room with the fabric in the back of the store. Sometimes, I think that it was more exciting that way. The workers would haul out boxes of fabric and before it could reach the tables or racks, people would be grabbing the good stuff. But now the students of the merchandising part of the school get a hand in how the store is run.
Now, this is what I go to the store for, rolls and rolls of fabric. 60" wide, $ 1.00 a yard. Yes, I did say $ 1.00 a yard. Yeah! ! If you want to try a idea out and it doesn't work out as you would have wanted, no big deal. Throw it away. You only lost maybe $ 3.00. And you had the wonderful experience of working out an idea. Profit both ways.
I don't always find anything that starts my heart to sing but that is also part of the treasure hunt feeling that carries me down there. There are times that I want to drown myself in the beauty that I bring home. But there are other times when it is just so so.
These are the notions. In order not to miss anything that will be useful now or at a later date, every card has to be appraised.
Now this is one of the tricks. Always wear a watch. Time has a habit of escaping notice. The parking meters go for $3.00 and hour. And they only take quarters or smaller. If your wallet carries 12 quarters it weighs a ton. I have never had that much foresight to have that many quarters and there isn't a place around to make change. Be prepared to dash in with all your clear thinking and be able to run when the meter goes off. They ticket on Saturdays. I can testify to that.
But, what fun!

Inspiration!

I was reading mendofleur and I was getting very inspired to get in and organize, clean and (if necessary) discard in my studio. Then I received that huge, heavy box from my darling niece. Needless to say, I got off track and sat on the floor and played with the fabric. I do have a problem when I see wonderful fabric. I fall into imagining what I can do with this piece and that piece would be wonderful for this purpose. And I got very distracted. My studio is still in a mess because I have to finish my next project. And did I mention that I have a few more on the line?
What is wonderful about these samples is that they are heavy duty fabrics and will take a lot of abuse. So, for making purses they are ideal. What fun!!!

The Present Is All We Have

I purchase this remnant about four years ago. It has been left out to make my memory remember (is that an oxymoron?). For some reason, I bought this and I want to know why. It reminds me of something and it won't come to the surface. And it has been four years.
Well, fortunately for me, I have a teacher. Right in this house. He came to show me that what is past is past and what is now is all we have.

The discussion began slowly and with great clarity but it soon became a little frantic.

But in the end, I got the point.

I will now put the fabric away in a drawer.

Red Tweed Purse

I have always been drawn to Tweed. I don't think because it is Celtic but who knows what residual memory the soul has. Anyway, in church, I would think about how fabric was woven. This was when women wore scarves or hats to church. And I fell in love with the intermixing of threads.

When I saw this fabric I knew that I would have to make it into a purse. I didn't have a choice. I just have to do it. So, I set about to figure it out. I found some really choice navy blue Velvet that volunteered to be the lining.

And this is as far as I have gotten. I am waiting for the weekend to pick up the pieces and keep going on. But waiting is so hard!

Wonderful time

I went way faraway on Saturday. That is way faraway for a day trip. It took about 1 1/2 hours on the freeways. I had a wonderful time. A friend and I went "way faraway" to visit her daughter, who was cleaning out her fabric stash. I was the lucky receiver. Now this woman, the daughter, happens to be the most impressive seamstress that I have ever encountered. She can whip up bride and bride's maids dresses in about 6 weeks, has two boys and works full time. The sewing she does is breathtaking. I still can't get over the creations she made. I saw one dress that was a prom dress. It was pink, was draped in such a way that the girl wearing it looked like a princess. She must have been the best dressed girl at the prom.

Anyway, I came back with a haul. Six Trader Joe's bags filled. Now comes the problem of finding where to put all this. A small problem compared to my fabric addiction.

She also passed on this little book that was printed in 1974. It has all sorts of small projects that could be fun gifts. This jewelry bag got me to thinking of using my sample silk pieces and whipping up some gifts. I would also include a device to hold necklaces. After all, that is what I wear more than anything else!!