Here's another first sewing project story, this one from Debbi Lashbrook, an Educator with BERNINA of America, Inc.

"This wasn't my first sewing project, but it was one that I was proud of. My first sewing projects were clothes for my Barbie dolls - that's when I decided I wanted to be a fashion designer. I would hand sew all sorts of trim and color the trim with a marker if it wasn't the right color. I had an old straight stitch, forward only, Singer machine. I would sew the doll clothes together on the machine and then decorate them by hand. I didn't like to put the snaps on and many of my Barbie clothes went without snaps. To this day I don't like finishing by hand that is sometimes necessary for garments.

The picture is my second year 4-H project and I was so very proud of it for two reasons. First of all, it wasn't the elastic-banded, gathered skirt that we made for our first project. This was a for-real sewn on waistband and the skirt had a zipper. I felt so accomplished when I successfully sewed the zipper into the skirt! I then completed a shell and a matching sash and entered the garments in the county fair. The second reason this project brings back fond memories is that at the fair I was chosen to go to the Illinois State Fair to model my garment!"

Do you remember your first sewing project? The first time I remember stitching pieces of fabric together with needle and thread was in Brownies, when we made a Santa Claus ornament out of felt and cotton balls. And I made a yellow gingham apron in 4-H - gingham because it's easy to fold and stitch straight lines ;) But this - which I came across while unpacking still more boxes - is the first real garment I made, from an actual pattern with pieces and instructions.

I was around 11 years old, still in 4-H, and still remember going fabric shopping for "kettle cloth." I'm still not sure where "kettle" comes from, but it's a woven cotton fabric that's easy to work with and presses well. I made this on the sewing my parents bought in 1965 - a Riccar that came free with the purchase of a $79 sewing cabinet. It went forward and backward - straight stitch only - no zigzag - and it's what I sewed on until I was 12 or 13. All of my seam allowances are straight stitched 1/4" from the raw edge, then hand-overcast - miles and miles of hand-sewing, that took forever! Now I zip right along on my BERNINA and Overlock Foot #2, or - better yet - use my serger to trim and overcast at the same time. But I did a good job, even with so much hand-sewing, and won a purple ribbon at the county fair :)

What was your first project? I've been asking some of my friends, and will be posting some of their stories over the next few weeks.

These days, sewers and crafters are very savvy with their use of color. Choosing a color palette can be tricky business, especially if you are creating a project with many different values and colors.  Let's face it, there are about a bazillion fabrics in all shades and colors available to us, and they all look so tasty!

As an art student, I learned about color theory by spending countless hours (and hours, and hours!) mixing paint pigments and arranging coordinating colors on a paper grid.  (And now you know why I love color!)    Color Theory  is the study of the relationship between colors that are arranged in a circular diagram called a color wheel.  But, the color wheel is not just for artists anymore, and it is no longer a big mystery!  Quilters, garment sewers, and even crafters have discovered the secrets of using this tool. 

One of the things I learned about last week at the BERNINA meeting is a great charity that we've donated machines to. The Sewing Machine Project was started by Margaret Jankowski in 2005 with donations of sewing machines to Sri Lanka and India after the tsunami, then switched focus after hurricane Katrina and has since been donating machines to individuals and organizations in New Orleans. In addition to sewing machines they need funding for transporting and shipping machines. Find out more at www.thesewingmachineproject.org.

Last week's Project Runway challenge was sweet in more ways than just a new episode. As the designers raced through the Hershey store in Times Square, in their 5 minute "material" grab, my friends and I wondered what in the world they could come up with. What fun to see actual beautiful garments out of cellophane bag wrappers, disassembled pillows, peanut butter cup cups and even Twizzlers! Rami's dress was both beautiful and exciting to look at. I was blown away when I heard that the underside of each of his pleats on the wrapping paper skirt actually had a different paper than the front of the pleat. Wow! Even in fabric that is tedious to pull off! He totally deserved to win the challenge. Disappointing results from Planet Eliza who showed great creative promise by the way her eyes lit up in the store, but opted for conservative in her design. Christian might have unwrapped a thousand peanut butter cups, but his dress just looked like a chocolate mini cupcake explosion.

Fun challenge and makes me go back to my presser foot box and pull out those sewing machine feet with the non-stick soles. Suppose the designers had them too when stitching up their designs?