CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

This toy cradle was meant to become a Christmas present for little E  but winter came early and it languished half painted in the garage until the recent turn for the warmer. I finished it as soon as the sun came out last week, two facts I am incredibly astonished about...

The cradle is spay painted in Heirloom White over a coat of gray primer. The little mattress and pillows are sewn in matelasse and filled with a few layers of cotton batting. I serged two rectangles of a soft woven for sheets.

Making good use of the Bernina 580 embroidery module again to decorate one of the sheets with her initial. The alphabet is pre-programmed in the Bernina, I simply added a layer for the heart frame and  increased the stitch count by 30%, it gives a "bumpier" result, much like an antique monogram. the piece could have been stabilized a bit more though, next time I will use cut away instead of a thin tear away. It should reduce some of the pucking.

The cradle is already being played with as I type but it still needs a little blanket in Berrocco Alpaca, I am a bit slower going on that end!

 My last pattern for the Sewing Republic is up ( and has been so for a few weeks... but I am too busy with summer to blog apparently). It's a duvet cover that fits Ikea crib size duvets. I have made Finn a few of those and love them because you can use quilting prints without needing to piece them. You can download the pattern here for free.

This cover has flannel on one side, Finn loves it and screams when I want to put in in the wash.

Today is quiet and gloomy, I am sewing a commission in its early stages and having a little fun making my own spring. Taking layered artificial hydrangea petals to fabric using the button setting on the Bernina (#17) turned out to work like magic. It was actually a student of mine who had been taught this technique by a dealer. She bought a special foot for this purpose but I didn't feel the need for it, just any foot with a large  opening will do.

Here is my first try, complete with green polish:

These would look really adorable on headbands or to spruce up a little girl's dress/skirt/tank top. My friend S suggested that the least expensive the artificial flower the better the chance it would hold up in the wash. I think I will throw this sample in an undergarment bag and see what happen.

Do you have any experience using this technique to tie a quilt? it could make quick work of it.

edited:

I was just asked if this technique was much different than using a wide zigzag with the feed dog dropped and I feel that it is for a a couple of reasons:

The button setting will secure the stitches at the beginning and the end, which means that you can clip the loose threads without a second thought.

The button setting will do the same thing over and over, all your flowers will be the same, without having to estimate how many times you have to go back and forth.