I have been inspired to sew again! I owe it all to Alisa Burke and her fabulous new book, Sew Wild. Sew Wild is packed full of great tips for creating one of a kind surface designs with items you have around the house including potatoes, bleach, Elmer's glue, and bubble wrap.You don't need to go buy any special items to create her projects. Alisa gives you the instruction and encouragement and you are free to let your imagination soar. Her techniques and suggestions can be easily adapted to whatever style YOU like and you can create surface designs to match your personality. Once you've created your fabric, she gives very easy-to-follow instructions for cool items including a graffiti pillow, an improvisational art quilt, a fusion tote bag, a romantic apron, and my favorite thing of all time, a cozy jersey scarf. I have longed for one of Alisa's scarves ever since she posted a different one (with a hat) on her blog long ago. I would wake up in the middle of the night shivering and just stare at the photos and wonder how she made it. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that. When I found out that there would be instructions for AN ALISA SCARF in her new book, I got out a box of Swiffers and went to town on my sewing machine.
I wanted a summer version of THE SCARF to go with my orange bag that is always in my hand. It's very hard to find accessories to go with a big orange purse! I had some remnants of batik fabric, some old white pillow cases I was going to throw out, and some orange fabric I wanted to experiment with. I decided I wanted to be wild in my color combination. I cut up the white pillow case and dyed different pieces of it gray and blue. I do not have a free motion foot for my sewing machine but I did want some top stitches in straight and wavy lines on the blue and gray fabric anyway. Not having that foot attachment did not stop me! I just stitched with a straight stitch in random patterns on one piece and in a wave pattern on another. I used contrasting thread colors (in the bobbin, too!). Before attaching all the pieces together, I spritzed the batik and gray fabrics with a bleach solution to remove a little color. I followed Alisa's instructions for assembly and my Wild Scarf was done! I love that it is full of texture, color, and pattern. Even though I followed Alisa's idea, my scarf looks like me. I was able to create my scarf without having to run out and buy anything and was able to adapt the book suggestions to what I had on hand. I love that--there were no complicated steps. Well, it was hard to keep a certain cat off my stack of cut fabric but that has nothing to do with the book.
If you are new to sewing and mixed-media, Sew Wild will quickly get your imagination flowing. If you have been sewing for years, Sew Wild will push you in new directions. Prepare to be inspired!
If you're looking for me, I will be busy working on my winter scarf.
*Sew Wild is available where books are sold.
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