Last week I packed up my BERNINA needle punch set, took a vacation, and spent 4 days needle felting with Paula Scaffidi, aka Fiberella. What a great workshop! Check them out HERE. Be sure to check out the rest of Paula's website, too - there are great galleries and tutorials!

I'll be showing you some of the things I did over the next few weeks, starting with this one - a needle felted scarf. First we laid out several layers of fibers and ran them under the felting needles...

I was going for colorations somewhere between gray winter skies and gray/pink granite. This is what it looked like before I rinsed out all the stabilizer...

...and here's what it looks like finished. Just in time for winter! It's getting chilly out here in the mountains :)

I finally finished the guest towels from Amy Butler's In Stitches - the ones I started back in May. Here's what they look like neatly folded...and hanging from a hook in the guest bath. (It needs some paint - right now everything is white, white, white.) Next guest suite project - a curtain & valance for the window in the bathroom. It already has mini-blinds, so all I need is a something pretty to cover all the hardware. I have a few yards of "Flower Mosaic" from the Benartex "Woodstock" collection that I think will work nicely.  I'm looking for something easy, but more interesting than just "cut a rectangle and hem the edges." I've marked pages in several books and magazines - more on that in late July, early August (next occupant expected mid-August).

If you follow Amy Butler's instructions for fusing the circles for the Big Dot Pillow in her In Stitches book, your results will be fine, but there are easier ways to bond appliques in place. My favorite adhesive web product is The Warm Company's  Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 - a fusible adhesive with paper-backed sticky adhesive on both sides. Here's how I cut and fused all of my circles for my pillow.

First, I found a plate in my cupboard just about the same size as the template in the book. My pillow form is a little smaller than the one called for, so it won't matter that my plate is a smidge smaller than 8" in diameter. I used the plate to draw circles on one side of the Steam-A-Seam 2 - so much faster and easier than tracing a pattern!

Then I rough cut the circles, leaving about 1/2" all the way around. I peeled the unmarked paper from the other side of each circle, exposing the sticky adhesive, then placed the circles on the wrong sides of the patchwork. Since the sticky adhesive only forms a temporary bond I was able to reposition the circles until I liked the layout of the stripes in each one. I rough cut the patchwork around the adhesive just to make it easier to work with each one. Then a trip to the ironing board to fuse the fabric and adhesive.

Next I cut out each circle, following the lines on the paper backing. When I'm ready to position them on the pillow front all I have to do is peel off the remaining paper backing and stick them on the pillow. I'll be able to reposition them until I like the layout, and then tweak the placement until all of the spaces between circles are even. Tip - Use a digital camera to take pictures of your favorite layouts so you'll have a record of each one; use the photo as a guide to recreating the one you like best.

I went out a couple of weeks ago and taught My Label classes to some BERNINA dealers in the Midwest and New England, so I made some new My Label clothes to wear. First I scanned my fabrics and loaded them into the software - a medium weight brown and black woven cotton, and a very lightweight knit cotton paisley print in brown, cream, and peacock blue. I played with the length and flare of the Pull On Pants until I found just what I wanted, then did the same with the Tunic. You can't see it on the model, as the lines are too fine, but I used the drawing tool in the Stitches Drawer to draw a new neckline on the tunic; you can see it in the close-up of the pattern piece. When I printed the pattern I used this line as the edge of my new scooped neckline, adding a 5/8" seam allowance. Then I cut ribbing about 3/4 the distance around the neckline (measured on the pattern, not the fabric).

Here's the finished outfit - dog not included (she decided she needed to be in the picture...or that she needed to sit on my foot, one or the other). I like using the tunic as a t-shirt pattern, as the darts give it a better fit. I have a whole collection of tops based on the My Label Tunic pattern - woven, knit, with the default settings, with altered Style Properties, I've even switched sleeves between the Tailored Shirt and Tunic. The next variation will probably be similar to this paisley top, but in a woven fabric instead of a knit, and a faced neckline instead of ribbing.

After stitching the outside covers of my Miranda bag, the next step was to make the pockets for the inside. The instructions call for just one fabric, but since I have lots of little batik pieces that kind-of-sort-of coordinate, I pieced them together and used them instead. I followed the instructions for the main pocket stitching at the corners of the bag, but then also stitched-in-the-ditch at the patchwork seamlines using Edgestitch Foot #10. This will make it easy to tell which pocket is which...as long as I remember to always put my phone in the brown pocket, my inhaler in the blue one, my PDA in the purple one... I stitched a few extra pen/pencil pockets - they're just the right size for knitting needles - Miranda's going with me on my next trip, and knitting's a great way to pass the time while waiting for planes to arrive.

Edgestitch Foot #10 (left) is also great for attaching hook-and-loop tape; just align the edge of the tape with the guide and move the needle position a few steps to the left.  

I also like Piping Foot #38 (the same one I used for the mini-piping in the first Midanda post), especially for thick loop tape; there's lots of room for the bulky tape to move under the foot.

After stitching the lining to the covers, it's starting to look like a bag! To finish the faux-binding at the top edge (actually the lining peeking out over the top) I pulled out Edgestitch Foot #10 again, placing the guide in the well of the seam and sewing with the needle in the center position. 

Have you noticed that Edgestitch Foot #10 and Piping Foot #38 are two of my favorites?

Only the handles and tab left to go!