Patchwork Underground

OMG! Hat Making - where have you been my whole life!?

This hat is insane and I love it!  The back story: I was bumping Lady Gaga in my sewing room and testing out a traditional Dresden plate pattern that I found on the internet. When it was done I was like, “OK, so, this is cute and would make a nice pillow or whatever - but seriously now - what would it look like on my head?”

BANG!

I used super stiff iron-on interfacing as the body for the brim, ironed it onto the Dresden plate, hand stitched a rad fake fur lining onto the other side and stitched a doily center onto the middle to form the crown.  I hid the unfinished bit where the brim meets the crown with matching lace so that it just looks like an extension of the doily.  I also hand-stitched wire into the brim so that I can move it all around and change its shape however I want to.  I used tiny stitches everywhere so that the whole thing is REVERSABLE.

Plans for the next hat are already in the making.  This time, I want to actually wet felt a vintage-looking hat together….with feathers and rhinestones and fake foliage, of course.  I already put a couple different millinery books on hold at the library and they should be shipping to the North Portland library for me soon.  There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this thing and I’d like to actually learn how to do it for reals.  Yay!

Attention Portlanders: I’m going to be teaching Patchwork 101 at Skill-Share Studio this Saturday from 2-5! You’re invited. =)

I just put up a bunch more of these flyers all over Alberta, Hawthorne, Mississippi and Belmont…so all you cool PDX kids should see ‘em. (AND COME!) It’s sliding scale $5-$25 and we’re gonna be making these awesome retro checkerboard pillows using a “cheater” strip patchwork technique called Seminole patchwork. Like the flyer says…if you can sew a straight line, then you can do this. I mean it. And it’s stupid fun.

So, come on down if you’re in town! I’ll be there with bells on….

Yay! I finished the quilts/wall hangings, the photoshoot AND the photoshopping of the slides! They’re at Citizen’s Photo in Portland as we speak and they should be done tomorrow at noon which leaves me just enough time to overnight them to Eugene and have them there by the deadline!

For those of you who just tuned in, I’ve been working on my application to vend at Oregon Country Fair this summer. It’s super competitive, this is my second try at getting in. If you don’t know what Oregon Country Fair is, you should totally check out their website! You can find it here. It’s this awesome yearly event that happens in the woods of Veneta, OR….arts, crafts, music, vaudville, everything. Best festival I’ve ever been to EVER. Hands down. In past years, I’ve worked at the fruit booth in community village and also at the smoothie booth by the main stage but I’ve always wanted to have a little booth of my own.

K….here’s my slides in the order they’re gonna appear. They’ll project these up on the wall for a panel of judges and read a little description I’ve written of each one to explain what the heck is going on.

Ok. Slide #1

Slide #2

Slide #3

The End.

Fingers crossed for getting in this year!!!!!!! Send good vibes if you have any to spare. =)

<3 erin