Dresses ready to go

Just made 4 dresses for Seattle Peace Chorus that they will be wearing in their next show.  They had previously had different folks make them and lets just say, there was lots of sewing magic and "thank heaven this is a loose fitting pattern made of out a knit" going on. But they turned out great and I can't wait to see the show.

on display

Go to the Henry  and see this great exhibit.  I forgot that these were actually prayer shawls that will sent out and used. Very cool.

This is what the creator of this project has to say

I am writing to you to tell you that we did it!! Thank you dearly to each and every one of you for contributing to this effort to create prayer shawls for mass shooting survivor communities. It is from your active hearts and hands that we have not only enough for 5 shawls, but enough for 10 prayer shawls!! We received squares from all over the world from Great Britain, Mexico, Boston, California, Portland, Texas, and Seattle. It is so amazing what word of mouth and social media can accomplish these days and how far this effort has stretched our correspondence.

The first 5 prayer shawls are on view at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, WA and will be up from May 25 through June 20. On June 20th, we will have a Sending Ceremony at the Henry Art Gallery at 7 pm. Please send me an email if you are interested in attending this interfaith event. You will find images of the completed shawls in their installed form to this email! I will keep you posted as we send them off and if we hear back from the communities when they receive the shawls.

As many of you know, we will be sending the first 5 shawls to the 2 Christchurch Mosques, to Emanuel AME church in Charleston, to Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and Stoneman Douglas HS in Parkland. We will be sending 2 of the next 5 shawls to Pulse Nightclub and St. Louis. Since we have 3 without destinations named right now, I would love to hear your feedback on where the other 3 shawls should go :)

Finally, because of the outpouring of squares, there is an opportunity to add edging and embroidery to the next 5 shawls as well. As of now, I don't have enough funds to make this happen, but if you and your community would like to donate money, we need $500 more for the labor of the embroidery and seamstress to add the borders. Please let me know if you are willing to contribute financially to help make this next group of 5 shawls to the same standards as the first 5.

Thank you all again for your love, prayer, and support to make this project come to fruition! It has truly been an honor, privilege, and blessing to connect with each one of you even if for a little bit or for an extended time. Bless you, and I send my love and gratitude to y'all!

My new labels

Love them.

Emergency hem

This poor girl got her prom dress in the mail less than a week before her prom! She dropped it off with how much she wanted off and next day, done! 

serged off sequins

inside of hem

outside of hem

lining

on my dress form

blanket hanging in museum

I am sure it will have more around it but isn't it beautiful. Connor has done a great time. I admit every time I look it I am afraid the seams will rip and it will fall!

clown pants - ready to fit

All I need to do is get these on my client so I can finalize the waist and length. Clown shirt is next, then clown jacket. Of course, lots of non-clown things as well.

Bee purses a big hit

Here is a family from the Bee Festival proudly displaying the purses we helped them make. 

clown pants - underway

velour choir dress

This is for a new client who needs a velour dress for her choir.  I love velour.  She is also a drummer in a band.   She should get something in velour for that too.

Sewing Bee at the Bee Festival

Today we volunteered to help man the Sewing Bee at the Bee Festival in Seattle. It was crazy. Lots of people, scissors, stickers, fabric and chaos. But we had a great time. I think we made at least 20 purses between us.  The kids thought they were awesome. And it was fun to see them sew. 

sneak peak of exhibit

Here is a sneak peak of my client's exhibit using the blankets I sewed the border on. I don't know yet 100% what this is about but I think it is really peaceful and beautiful.  I am glad my work is part of it.  Henry Art Gallery - here I come (in a very small way).

Almost art gallery ready

All 5 blankets sewn together and borders on. If found a way to make clean corners that would impress any quilter.  (Please note - I AM NOT A QUILTER!).  This was a challenge but we did it.  Here is one that only needs a top stitching on the joining seams and I think I will top stitch around the outside border. But not sure yet.

Repairs and shortening to summer clothes

My client wanted these cute summer outfits shortened and repaired.  I decided to put a better hem on when I did it. You can see the original hem did not have a clean finish on the edge. So I serged it before I sewed it in place.

Rip before

Rip after

Waiting to get hemmed

Hen before

Hem after