See the video here: Making a Queen/ King Fur Blanket

This had to be the most challenging fur project that I have done so far. It consisted of:

 ·   2 Full Length Fox Coats

·   1 Full Length White Mink Coat

·   3 Mink Shawls ~ 2 Tan Mink and 1 Silver Mink

·   1 Patchwork Fox Short Waisted Jacket

 I gave the customer a few different types of patterns to choose from. The first one was a patchwork blanket made of 12. 5 inch squares. The squares we're mixed in random order. The second blanket was also a patchwork blanket, but instead of random squares they were placed in a repeating order. The next pattern was a pattern made of 7 vertical strips with a patchwork like border.   The strips were 84 inches long. Ultimately this was the pattern that the customer chose.

 The repeat pattern is Brown Fox-White Mink- Silver Fox-Silver Mink- Silver Fox – White Mink – Brown Fox. All Strips were 12.5 by 84, except for the center panel, which was 8.5 by 84.  Just not enough Silver Mink  to make the 12.5 strip.

 The side borders were 3 inches each side. The sides had to be narrower because there wasn't enough leftover fur to have a wider side border. The top and bottom border were 5.5 inches wide. One of the mink shawls was a little damaged and dried out. It wouldn't be able to hold the stitches very well. The patchwork fox jacket also had some damage to it. One particular fur that was in that coat was dried out. So, I had to work around those sections. The blanket would measure 90 by 95. Just a little shy of a king size blanket that the customer wanted. It is very heavy and will be extremely warm!

Watch the video here: Mink Jacket & Beaver Coat ~ Transformed to a Throw & Pillows

Fur: Mink, Beaver, Calf & Fox

The customer wanted to transform her Mink Jacket and her Beaver Coat into a throw and two pillows.

The Mink Jacket would make up the main throw, and the Beaver would be used as the border. The Mink Jacket was a short waisted jacket, so the amount of Mink that I had to work with was limited. The throw measures 47 by 48 inches.

The front of the two pillows were made from the Beaver Coat. They measure 16 by 16. I used the bottom Checkerboard Calf that was on the Beaver Coat as an accent to the zipper area of the pillows. The checkerboard Calf on the sleeves was too damaged to be used.  The Fox was not used in the final product and was returned to the customer.

This Beaver coat was so beautiful and wonderful to work with. The Throw measured 47 by 50. I used a layer of batting as well as a layer of lightweight weft. That will help stabilize the throw, as it is heavy. With the left over fur we made a scarf with measures 10 by 70 inches. It can be used as a shawl or wrapped around like a scarf. I made two videos of the project. One focusing on the throw and part two on just the scarf.

You can see them here:

Part one: Making the Beaver Throw

Part two: Making the Scarf

Enjoy the process!

See Video here: Mini Memory Bear

Memory Bear made from three  T-Shirts

Customer wanted all the words that were printed on the gray shirt to be part of the bear.  The other two shirts where black and dark blue. I forgot to take the before photos (ugh).

It was a challenge as bear is Tiny.

The shirt read:

“World’s Greatest Farter Father”

The How: I used Pellon 911FF to stabilize the T-Shirt material.  I used Wonder Under on the gray shirt.

I carefully cut out the all the letters except World’s.   I wanted to keep that whole.   I ironed the letters to the pattern pieces. Used monofilament to tack the letters onto the bear as well.  The customer wanted the FARTER as the focal point.  Due to the size of the bear, that was almost impossible.  I had to separate the word.

Here is how I divided it up.

World’s- Tie

Greatest – Two letter on each arm and leg to spell out greatest.

Farter FART on the back &  ER on the front

Father -   Belly/Butt area

It was a fun project.

Watch the video here: How to Make a Fur Pillow with a Pocket/Muff

My customer wanted a pillow where she could take her hands and put it in the pillow and give it a hug. I scoured YouTube and the Internet for a pattern, but I didn't find one. I found regular pillows with a pocket for reading a book and I found an old-fashioned Muff, but I couldn't find anything that she wanted. So, here's a little mini tutorial on how I created this pillow.

The pillow is Constructed in the following order starting at the top and working down to the bottom

. • Fur

• Suede

• Batting

• 2nd layer of Fur

• 2nd layer of Suede

• Light interfacing (both sides)

Pillow measures 16 by 16.

Highlights are: • How to cut out the pocket/muff Using a pot lid as a template. • How to properly cut and mark leather and fur. • Using suede as a binding strip • How to sandwich all the layers together and some helpful tips along the way

I received a fur stole, two fur collars, and a suede jacket. The customer wanted as many pillows as possible from the garments that I had. One of her requests was to make a pillow with a pocket so she could slide her hands in and give the pillow a hug. Very similar to a fur muff. A more detailed video will be following on how to make a pillow with a fur muff/pocket.

Watch the video here: Fur Stole to Four Pillows

Loved this Coat!

This was a full length Tanuki Fur Coat. I loved working with this rich and lovely fur. I used the original lining and labels. Final Throw Size: 48 by 50

A tanuki's fur is thick and soft with long black guard hairs atop a medium-brown undercoat. They have a black-tipped bushy tail, and short, rounded ears. Tanuki's are often referred to as a "racoon dog", but they are not related to racoons.

See the video transformation here: Tanuki Fur to a Throw

Customer wanted to turn her Mother’s Beaver Coat into a Family Heirloom. I was able to make the throw as well as a matching pillow. See the video Here: Beaver Throw & Pillow

I was contacted by my client, who was looking to transform her Grandmother's Mink Fur into a Lap/Throw Blanket. The original lining was stunning and was incorporated into the project. I used both the lining and new black silk lining. Custom quilting was used to attach lining material and batting. Both fur layer and backing were then sandwiched together to complete the throw. Original tags and labels were sewn onto the backing. A lovely heirloom to give joy to the family for years to come.

A customer asked me to take their Beaver Coat and to create some pillows from the fur. It was requested that I used the lining of the jacket as well as the monogram on one of the pillows. The Beaver coat has both long fur as well as sheared Beaver fur. It's a lovely soft malleable fur. I was able to construct four pillows incorporating the sheared Beaver pelt as the center focal point. I hope you enjoy the process.

Click here to see: Making a Fur Pillow from a Jacket Lining

This Memory Pillow was made with the deceased Grandfather’s shirt. Made a Heart that goes into the back pocket. You can order one here: Memory Pillow

Here are some new Scarf & Hat Sets. Another happy customer!

Monogramed Towel Set. Set: Includes two bath towels, two hand towels and two wash cloths, one Monogramed Toilet Paper Roll. Also added two Heart Shaped Soaps, two Botanical Bath Bombs and one Botanical Bath Salts .

I was contacted by DQDS Dance Academy http://www.dqdsdanceacademy.com/ to monogram some of their dance uniforms.

I was asked to use the lining of a coat to make two fur pillows. The lining was made of New Zealand Opossum. They wanted to use both the fur and the jacket lining. A very sharp Exacto knife was used the cut the fur. As you can see the manufacturer used very small left over pieces to make the inside lining of the coat. Enjoy the process.

I was asked to cut a leather skirt and attach it to a pair of blue jeans. This is a little bit of a challenge because of the texture of the skirt and the diagonal seams on the skirt. I have incorporated the skirt seams into the leather fronts . The pair of jeans is also lined with fleece on the inside. So far, I have made a template, cut out the leather. I am in the process of making the leather longer to fit the pair of pants. I will deconstruct the seams of the jeans and tuck the leather into the sides.

Photo’s Below: Concept of the project, template, and the leather fabric.  

I have been making soap for a very long time. I recently bought a 3D printer and wanted to make something that would make my soaping more productive. Here are two items I made that are very helpful while using precut shrink wrap.

Shrink Wrap Organizer I wanted a way to keep my shrink wrap organized. This print took 48 hours from start to finish. It holds my 4X6, 6X6, and 6X7 shrink wrap.

Shrink Wrap Organizer: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:473...

The next is a Shrink Wrap Slider. I make both melt and pour and cold process soaps. I find it very frustrating when I'm trying to wrap my melt and pour soaps and the soap gets stuck in the plastic bag. This alleviates a lot of the problem.

Shrink Wrap Slider https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:473...

Watch How I Use These Items Below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmyALi7k9Ec

Today I just finished a Memorial T-Shirt Quilt.  The quilt will be gifted to the father of the deceased young man.  Theme: Star Wars.  The prominent colors of the shirts were red and black, so I used that color scheme for the borders.  

It went from a pile like this to this! 

  To This!  This is a big quilt!  Measures 87 by 107!!

First I cut out each shirt larger than the block size.  I used Pellon Feather Weight Fusible Interfacing 911FF to the back of each shirt. I cut the pellon larger that the shirt size too.  This way all of the t-shirt is stabilized.  If you skip this step you will have lots of puckers if you do an overall quilt pattern on top or freehand work.  I put the interfacing on in sections.  I love my stream press for this.  

I photograph each piece and "lay" them out in my EQ8 program.  Great program because not only can you preview your quilt, but you can change the size, color & layout  of your quilt.  When you are done you can print out the quilt and templates if you like.  Sure beats moving 30 pieces around the bed! 

FOR more close-up and construction details go to:

http://luv2sew-dinahsquiltsandembroidery.blogspot.com/2020/07/star-wars-theme-t-shirt-quilt.html

Check Out the Video ——- From start to finish —— Enjoy the process.