Feathery goodness

And I am not referring to that fluffy white stuff falling from the sky again. I swear, February – and now March – made up for all of the winter that we didn’t have from November to January.

I am so happy with myself this morning… I made a bag!!! Don’t laugh. I’ve been trying to figure out this process for ages – read and watched lots of tutorials. Unfortunately, I don’t have years of sewing behind me so I don’t  have that foundation of knowledge. I can do lots of other things that I’ll bet you can’t,  but bags wasn’t one of them. I wrote my own instructions as I went along, so now I can work on making them look attractive. I used four six-inch pieces for this one (my third attempt) – two for the outside and two for the lining – and some scrap batting that I pieced together. Stay tuned for more bags in the future!

Still practising my feathers! (And my stippling.) I’ve been using different thread as well, and two weeks ago I bought some silk thread – some 100wt YLI and some Guttermann – probably 40wt. They both sewed nicely but the YLI took a bit of getting used to. Hard to hold on to because it’s so small and slithery. Also had to fiddle with the tension because it was too loose. In the above picture, I sewed one feather using Guttermann on one side and YLI on the other. Then I continued on with the YLI, which was easier to cover up mistakes with because it’s so fine.

Even managed to do a little curly-cue fiddlehead. The 100wt makes it easier to sew lines closer together and not make it look overwhelming. I like it. It’s not for every sewing project, but I think I can find some more uses for it in the future.

So, February was the month of feathers for SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge, with Diane Gaudynski as our teacher. Thank you, Diane. I think I learned a lot. (The above picture is my feather practice sheet.) This month’s challenge is from Ann Fahl and I just know it’s going to be another good one!

Until next time,