Recently I was asked what resources I used to find my inspiration for creative ventures; what do I read, where do I find the things I purchase, who are my favorite fabric and pattern designers, etc..?
Because I have been asked this so often over the years I decided to share just a few of my many, many favorite things with you. So here we go….
Some of the magazines I use for sewing and pattern inspiration are; Vogue Patterns, Sew News, Sew Style, Threads, Stitch and Sew Hip, a magazine from the UK. Vogue Patterns always gives me the current color cues for the coming seasons along with the new styles and lots of technical sewing advice.
I enjoy looking at interior design and DIY magazines to see current decorating styles and fun projects. I especially love the elegant rooms in Traditional Home and the warmth of Romantic Homes. Do It Yourself and Fresh Home both give me a colorful, fun, creative and up to date decorating approach for some of the rooms I recently did. You will be seeing some of those rooms in the near future, watch for them.
Studios by Cloth.Paper.Scissors is my all time favorite studio design magazine, you get to see all kinds of studios with lots of storage and layout ideas which come in every size, shape, style and design. Super fun and very inspiring, I always end up moving things around to make my creative spaces function and look better right after a new issue comes out. My husband dreads it when I pick up the newest copy, it means he is going to be putting his muscles to work moving my very heavy furniture around, poor guy. He would hide the magazine if he thought he could get away with it.
Where Women Create is another magazine I enjoy, I read this one because it is based on the stories about creative women and their work spaces. I purchase it because of the featured woman who appears on the cover, if I want to know more about her and her studio I buy it.
This beautiful studio was featured in Where Women Create the Aug/Sept/Oct 2011 issue. I just couldn’t resist showing it to you; it’s the work space of Jinger Adams, the Creative Director for Provo Crafts. Pretty in pink and soft blue, love it.
This bright colorful Studio belongs to Heather Bailey, prolific textile and pattern designer; I really love all of her work and have quite a bit of her extensive, incredible line in my studio. I would purchase it all if I could get away with it. To read more about her and Jinger and view all the incredible photos of their work spaces, you can order Where Women Create at www.Stampington.com .
Pictured are some of the goodies I purchased from Heather Bailey. She has some fantastic bamboo felt, which is super soft to the touch and very high quality, unlike the synthetic felts made from recycled bottles which are thin and of poor color quality. Her patterns are adorable and so are her fabrics.
I adore all things Amy Butler; she is another fantastic textile artist, seamstress, pattern designer and author. I have three of her four books, several patterns and some of her fabrics. I would love to have it all but I would need a warehouse to store it (giggles). I guess I will just have to limit myself to a few yards of fabric from time to time.
My goodness I could go on and on and I will in part 2 of My Favorite Things. I have so much to share with you I decided to break it up in parts, at this point I am not sure how many parts there will be, at least two installments right now and more to follow off and on. I hope you enjoyed viewing a few of my favorite things with me and you are looking forward to reading the next one. See you soon.
To order:
Studios – Cloth.Paper.Scissors
www.interweavestore.com
Where Women Create
Heather Bailey
heatherbailey.typepad.com
Amy Butler
The rest you can find wherever you purchase magazines, I like Barnes & Noble.
Happy Shopping!
Besides the things I occasionally sew for my girls, I have a niece that I love to spoil whenever possible. One such occasion, was this past July. She just turned 7 and she's all about Hello Kitty. Her bed set came with an extra top sheet that needed a purpose, or an upcycle as it may be. And there lay a naked window with the need for flare.
To make this top sheet into a set of curtain panels, I just needed a few cuts and decent amount of hem work. I stared by cutting off the extra fabric not needed for the boxy sized window. Making just one cut to leave a nice 30"x80" section of fabric left over, to use later for other items in the room. Then I cut the width of the top sheet in half vertically, to make two curtain panels. Then hemmed all the unfinished edges. Once each panel was hemmed and ready, I ironed down the top flap I wanted to give me enough fabric to create a rod pocket and a 2.5" ruffled top. Two sewn seams per panel, and the cutest set of curtains were born.
