One Stitch At A Time…..

So….. long time no see!  How y’all been?  Can you believe it’s almost September!?  Gadzooks!  Where DOES time go?  Well, as for me, this girl has been on the edge of her sewing seat these past few weeks making pillows to sell in the shops.  With the holiday season on our heals, I’ve been gearing up for fall and Christmas pillow making.   Awaiting me is a huge bolt of burlap, new stencils and a stack of pillow forms.  Just looking at the bags of pillow forms makes me think of the story “The Princess And The Pea”.  The disarray drives me mad, but soon the house will hopefully be back in some sort of normalcy…well, hoping so at least.

On the top of my list was to make up some Union Jack pillows in neutrals.  So far, one down and a gazillion to go.  I put this one in the store and a lovely lady, Debbie, bought it the other day.  (smiles!)  I think it will be quite happy living in So. Cal!

For the pillow I used two contrasting linen-like fabrics and a white for the stripe.

 

I have a huge stack of vintage hankies and found three to make into pillows.  If you sew, then you may agree that it is often times a lot of fun to find the coordinating fabrics to match a vintage textile.

 

With hankies in hand, I strolled down the aisles of JoAnn’s and found some pretty cute coordinating fabrics to go with the hankies.  (I could have scoured through my “stash”, but it’s more fun to go shopping and gush over all of the pretty fabrics!)

Some of my favorite fabrics are those that are reproductions of vintage sugar and feed sack fabrics – like the fabrics in my old quilt.  These old snippets are just as charming and sweet as a grandmother’s hug after a Sunday meal!

 This gray and white number is one of my favorites and I think it will be perfect for fall.  Love the roses….

…and they remind me of those we have out in the garden.

 Another favorite hankie, sporting some pretty pink carnations, was turned into this happy little pillow.  I had the fabric with pink roses in my stash and thought it looked pretty cute with the hankie. 

 

I LOVE my labels, too.  They make me happy!  My business name is Fig and Lottie, named after my great Aunt Lottie and my great Uncle Figgins (aka Figgy).  Figgy and Lottie would have been a bit much, so I shortened Figgy to just Fig.  Every time I sew on these labels, I think of them.  My Aunt Lottie would have loved this, too.  Uncle Figgins would have just given me one of his demure smiles and a slight nod of approvement. 

I fell in love with this fabric that looks like old school maps.  These pillows would be so awesome in a young man’s room or in a room with a nautical theme.  See the boats?  Super cool!

The backs are pretty neat, too, with the brown and cream stripes.  Love those stripes!

So anywhos, I best be shuttling myself away from this chair and get myself busy cutting, stenciling and sewing up some more pillows.  Tis the time of year that being in retail is busy, busy!  I know you girls who do this for a living are nodding your head in agreement!  Right?

Take care and have a good week!