Work Blog | Made By Julianne

KNIT RAINBOW BAG

8 March 2013 by Julianne

I’ve always been enamored of net shopping bags, and now I finally have my own!

For demonstration purposes, it is filled with yarn. What else?

The bag is perfect over my shoulder, but if I hold it in my hand with my arm down the bag drags on the ground. I knew the bag would stretch, but I still wanted to be able to fit everything in it. Next time!

I call this jumbled area “the Mojito vortex” and it’s a fond memory of a new friend (who I met via the Internet, and she lives .6 mi from my house). By the way, that gorgeous yellow flower embroidery came out of the trash in New Orleans. It’s one of my favorite things ever.

This pattern was simple and easy to follow, but I was still able to pick up a couple new skills. This was my first time using m1 increases (for the base of the bag), which are easy but I’m not nuts about the holes they create. For future bags I guess I’ll use a different increase. I also got to bind off together when I joined the handle back onto the bag.

I love the idea of cutting plastic bags into yarn to make a craftier, stronger plastic bag, but I don’t have that much plastic on hand. Eventually I will go full monty with a big ball of plarn, but in the meantime I used Red Heart acrylic for $3, and I loved seeing the colors change.

Since this is a good project to use up not-so-fancy yarn, and makes a useful gift, I think I will be making many more of these. I’m so new to knitting, and I don’t want to repeat any patterns, so I might make this bag next, with a tape handle like here. Or maybe I will try i-cord for the first time! Does anyone have recommendations for other bag patterns?

GLOBAL PILLOWS

6 March 2013 by Julianne

I love sewing pillows for Hot Moon Collection. Gabby collects gorgeous fabrics from around the world, and we work together to pick out the perfect linens, silks, and cottons to showcase the antique textiles.

These embroideries were done in the early 20th century in Egypt.

Japanese shibori:

I don’t remember where this silk embroidery is from, but it’s absolutely stunning.

And always beautiful indigo work.

There were 11 pillows total, all with invisible zippers. I love having a metal invisible zipper foot.

I love seeing these handmade fabrics, from different times and vastly different places, and getting to contribute to their artistry. Fabric and sewing is (literally) a connective thread through nearly every civilization on Earth, and my threads are part of that!

SEWING LATELY

4 March 2013 by Julianne

I feel like after three years, I’m finally starting to find my place in Los Angeles. I’ve made several new friends lately, and work is going well. And there’s nothing like taking a day off to spend some quality time with some of your favorite ladies in a Korean spa to make you feel optimistic.

Yesterday I attended a sewing meet-up at Caroline‘s beautiful home. I was so excited to meet other sewists! The ladies behind Lolita Patterns were both in attendance, working on their new dress design. It turns out that I am their sample size, so they may use me as a fit model, which would be awesome!

What would any congregation of sewists be without a swap? Since I regularly donate my unwanted bits to the Boys and Girls Club, I didn’t have much to give away. Our host Caroline is a book agent, and we all scored some amazing sewing books and patterns. I can’t wait to dive into these!

In other news, I’m almost finished with the tutorial for my genie pants! Everything has been sewn, photographed, and written, but I just need to integrate it all into a cohesive instruction sheet. So keep an eye out this week.

Why the delay in the tutorial? Last week I finished an order of 10 bike seats for Jameson Whiskey for the Las Vegas St. Patrick’s Day parade, which I will hopefully get pictures of. Each color required multiple coats, and like I said, there were 10 seats. My hand was aching so bad from gripping the tiny brush that it actually kept me up at night. Luckily I’m OK now.

I also just finished making curtains for Throop Unitarian Church in Pasadena. It’s a beautiful old building, and I found a gorgeous embroidered canvas. Minister Tera wanted to brighten up the wood-paneled tea room, but we had to choose a somewhat neutral fabric, as this is used as a dressing room for brides.

I also made black-out panels to really keep the sun off the baby grand piano.

This upcoming week will be even busier. I’m working on a set of PJs, 11 pillows, patching 4 pairs of jeans, replicating a chef’s coat and pants, and sewing coiled bowls. And of course I have lots of personal projects that need attention. I stopped drinking HFCS a few weeks ago, but I might need a Dr. Pepper and plate of fries to help me cope.