A Month of Sewing and Decluttering: Part 1

In spite of the fact that I spent most of the month of February getting acquainted with my new sewing machine, waiting to pick it up from Sew and Vac after its tune-up, and then getting sick, I did manage to get some sewing and decluttering of my work areas accomplished. I'll be posting about it all in several posts.

Two projects I had been wanting to sew for some time are fabric book covers for my Shakespeare books. I love old books and I have two complete volumes of Shakespeare's works - one from a library book sale that is 100 years old this year, and the other from cleaning out Meme and Pepe's house last May that is 105 years old this year. The insides are in great condition, but the covers have seen better days.

I used Marie-Madeline Studio's Fabric Book Cover tutorial but ended up modifying it some. Instead of batting, I used medium-weight iron-on interfacing. I modified the pattern to make it reversible with the cover in one fabric and the spine and inside flaps in another.

Cover for the 105-year-old Shakespeare book. I don't have pictures of either of these two reversed yet, but you can see the purple on the spine. When I flip it inside out, the flaps are purple instead of the red ones in the picture. I used the same beige floral fabric for the covers of both sides.

Cover for the 100-year-old Shakespeare book. This one is a little simpler than the previous one, being the first one I made. On one side, the spine and flaps are the blue material and the cover is the purple. Reverse it and the spine and flaps are the purple material and the cover is the blue.

I love all the fabrics used in these two book covers. Pretty much all of them were fat quarters I had picked up full-price at Joanns because I loved them so much. Let's clarify at the start that this is a frivolous practice I rarely engage in, preferring to by the fabric cheaper off the bolt, but once in a while, I'll happen upon a gorgeous fabric that is only sold by the fat quarter. And sometimes, I just can't resist... :-)

Aren't they now a beautiful addition to my bookshelves?!

Another project I was able to begin this month was my Beatrix Walking Skirt from Sense and Sensibility Patterns (link on the sidebar) I'm making it out of a roll of deep red and green plaid wool from my grandmother. The picture is a little overexposed; the colors are somewhat darker and more subtle than shown.

And a bonus, the best result from my attempt at the art of self-portraits with the camera this morning. :-)

More to follow...