Indigo Shibori Super Tote

I have really been enjoying taking a bunch of fabric dyeing classes this year. Recently I dyed a linen table runner with (pre-reduced) indigo using shibori. It became the main fabric used in my new Super Tote by Anna Graham (whom I met at Quilt Market in Minneapolis in May!). Until now I had only made her Open Wide Zippered Pouch (see here and here), but I always wanted to use more of her patterns... have you seen her new book yet?

I love how my Super Tote turned out!

The straps are chambray otherwise all of the fabrics I dyed in classes that I took this year.

The linen table runner was approximately 17 inches by 63 inches and it was just enough for the main pieces of the tote. Only a couple of narrow strips of fabric remain from it. At the class I also dyed a couple of skirts, here you can see the result of a white Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt that I wrapped with six rubber bands.

This light blue chambray skirt is an Oliver + S Lazy Days Skirt with hem tucks that I sewed over the summer. I think it was only the second time my daughter was wearing it that she got red popsicle stains on it.

So I threw the skirt into the indigo vat and this is how it turned out!

I loved how the skirts came out, so much so that I decided to take them apart and use the fabrics for my tote. I can always sew more skirts for my girl. I love the effect of the hem tucks and decided they would make great visual interest for the sides of the tote.

Here is the before of the white Lazy Days Skirt. I made it over a year ago, one of those last minute projects. It was for an angel costume and got worn a few times, but it served it's purpose and I found it to be quite boring. So into the indigo vat it went to add some pizzazz.

Once the white skirt was wrapped with six rubber bands and dyed, this is how it looked after I disassembled it. Most of the lining of my tote came from this fabric.

So there you have it! A tote full of memories of my sewing and fabric dyeing adventures.

Project details
Pattern: Super Tote
Fabrics: A bunch of fabrics (linen, cotton, chambray) I had fun dyeing in classes I took this year, the straps are chambray

I also recently made the Liesl + Co. Woodland Stroll Cape that I'm wearing, you can read more about it on the Oliver + S blog.

Crafty Planet

 Yesterday I shared with you a trip to SRHarris. Today I'm sharing a trip to Crafty Planet which is in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 On this particular visit they were hosting the Little One-Yard Wonders book release party.

 The party included a trunk show of all the 101 projects featured in the book.

 It was fun to see them all up close and in person.

 Including my Mushroom Tea Party (picnic tablecloth, play mat) project.

 Several contributors to the book were there including, me, Pam, Lorraine, and Rachael.

 This is me with the 2 co-authors, Trish and Rebecca. As you can see we planned months in advance to coordinate our outfits of black, white stripes, and gray! Just kidding!

 And here I am holding Katy's Fun in the Sun(dress) project, standing in front of Lorraine's House in a Hallway project.

 Crafty Planet is the place to go to find designer quilting cottons.

 As well as trims, thread, & buttons.

I left the store with one yard of Paint by Number Deer from Erin Michael's Lush Uptown line and 2 yards of Aqua Salt Water Octo Garden.

By the way, you still have time to enter the Little One-Yard Wonders book giveaway, it ends Wednesday June 11th at 9:00 PM CST time.

SRHarris

This photo of SRHarris was taken a different time of year, there actually are finally green leaves on the trees here now.

 If you are ever in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota you really must make a stop at SRHarris for fabric shopping. It's a 30,000 square foot warehouse with over 20 aisles of fabrics. All regularly priced fabric is 50% off! Here's a quick photo tour...

Neoprene for $6/yard

Outdoor fabrics

Camouflage and bottomweights

Bottomweights and cottons

Silks

Wools

Fashion fabrics

Fleece

More fleece

Laminates and quilting cottons

Trims

Solid cottons and gauze

Remnants

 This particular fabric shopping trip was done in a group. Several of us met up and here we all are in the knits aisle. That's me, Stacy, Cheryl, Rebecca, Amy, Rachel, and Donna.

At SRHarris you take your fabrics to their large cutting tables, measure and cut your fabrics yourself. Then put an orange sticker on it with the amount and price. And you have to return your fabrics back to where they belong, so you cannot forget where you found them. From this trip I took home pink floral laminate, solid cottons, 4-6 inch zippers, thread, elastic and buttons.

Thanks for the super fun fabric shopping day ladies!!!

Fabric Stash Storage Shelf

 Yesterday I organized my paper pattern pieces and today I tackled my fabric stash. I can't believe how much faster and better it went then I thought it would. Considering how quickly it went, I really should have done this much sooner!

So here's the story about this shelf… I bought it at a flea market…

It got painted white…

 It was filled with toys and materials for my daughter (who used to be in part-time school) and would have her space while we both worked/played in my sewing studio.

 Then my daughter started full-time school (sniff, sniff) and my fabrics began to take over the shelf. This is what it looked like this morning.

 I took those fabrics as well as some in a mesh container and the fabrics that were sitting on top of the piano and I reorganized them.

 And here is how the fabric storage shelf looks this afternoon.

Much better!

I still have to figure out what to do with some fabric scraps, but that will be for another day. How do you store your fabric scraps? Also what do you do with your fabric scraps?

On top of the shelf are my sewing projects I have planned for Kids Clothes Week October 21-27. Will you be taking part in KCW? If so, have you been planning?