Vintage Ruth

About Myself: Long ago, before I became a wife, and a mother...I was a crafter, fabric-lover, and artist. My love for these things precedes my memory. My love for sewing has sprouted from my deep love of fabric. I don't turn out projects like a machine, quickly and all the same. Rather, I go SLOWLY, crafting each piece one at a time. I actually enjoy this process, and stress out when I have to rush. So, it's better (for my sanity, at least!), if I take my time. Each project is special to me, and I am happy to share them with others who will love them as I do:)

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It's Coming!

CraftSanity Magazine, Issue #3 (summer), is being printed as we speak! And I'm a featured designer in it! I can't hardly believe it! If anyone is interested in knowing a bit more of my personal story behind getting this pattern published, read on! If not, my feelings won't be hurt! But I hope you enjoy the sneak peek again of the skirt that is soon-to-be released! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to sew and create new things. I've been doing it for years. Especially since buying my own sewing machine 11 years ago. Every time someone suggests I go into the sewing business, my answer is always about the same: I'm too busy. But maybe someday. The "busy" comes in part from being a mom to three young kids. It also comes in part because I have other interests and pursuits that I feel are even more important than my own creativity. What it boils down to is that sewing has always been a hobby for me. Sewing things for my kids, filling the occasional request from a sister or friend, making gifts for loved ones, ect. This has kept my sewing time very filled! And I've always been happy to do it. Recently however, I had the opportunity to meet in person the amazingly creative woman behind CraftSanity Magazine (and CraftSanity the blog) Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood. It turns out we grew up not only in the same town, but in the same NEIGHBORHOOD!! Seriously, only a few streets away! Well, after I reveled in seeing the wonderful projects from Issues 1 and 2 of CraftSanity Magazine in person,  Jennifer asked what I sewed. I admit I have a hard time narrowing this down, because I sew a little of *everything*. But I happened to be wearing my latest creation of a skirt, and so showed her that. She liked it! I told her of my plans to draft another skirt, similar, but more suited to light and airy summer fabrics. She encouraged me to work up the pattern and submit it for the summer issue of the magazine. I fully admit I worked under the wire on this! Not only was the deadline only a month away, but I had a prior commitment requiring a fair amount of my time for the month of April, and a deadline for another sewing project. Happily though, after a few "failed" attempts, I finally got a muslin I liked. Then  came the sample skirt to send in and then the pattern instructions...something I've never done before! All said and done, I was sending it off rather close to the deadline, but I made it, and it was accepted for the magazine! And now, it's almost time! I just received word that the magazine is at the printers, and will be ready the  week of June 12th! Yay! Here's the info on Jennifer's blog about the summer issue. CraftSanity Magazine-Summer Issue! And now you want to know the last reason why I have never gone beyond "hobby" stage with sewing? I hate to admit it, but I  am afraid of "rejection". I like people to like me and my work. Of course I know I shouldn't ever take it personally, but sewing and designing is so close to my heart, and such a part of who *I* am, that yeah, the idea of someone criticizing my work (or just not liking it) is a little scary to me. Also I see all the other SUPER talented seamstresses out there in blog-land and I get an inferiority complex. I fully realize that there is SO much I have yet to learn in the art of sewing and pattern design. And so, that's it. I've overcome one of my biggest fears already...that I would submit a pattern to a magazine and not be accepted. Thank you Jennifer, for being the first person in the industry to give me a chance. I really cannot express my appreciation enough. Only time will tell how my Eight-Panel Corset Skirt will be embraced by the sewing world, but for now, I am one thrilled woman! ~Ruth

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Three Kyoko's and a Shower Curtain

When the Mezzanine fabric collection came out by Patty Young a few years ago, I was part of an active co-op that pre-ordered the fabric. I got a little carried away and ended up with 14 yards of fabric (two yards each of 7 different prints!). I had plans though. First to do with the fabric: Make Kyoko Dresses for my daughters and my niece. My nieces' dress came first. My only "complaint" with the dress pattern is that the skirt is a little shorter than I would prefer. It's just at the knees. I like the girls' dresses to last more than one year if possible, so I lengthened the skirt on my daughters' dresses. My niece got the first dress, so hers is shorter. I would have altered hers if I had known. Three Kyoko dresses, wow! That was alot of work! But I still had plenty of left-over fabric! What to do next...? Our bathroom was in desperate need of a shower curtain. The vintage one that had been hanging, had water spots on it that didn't want to come out. I took it down to wash it (again), and this time refused to put it back up. Instead, I decided to use my left-over Mezzanine fabric to make a new curtain! This curtain took a LOT of hours to create. Getting the lay-out just right was difficult (and stressful!). Then each seam is stitched and then serged for strength and durability. The hems are double folded and there is a hidden layer of canvas along the top where the grommets are to help the fabric lay nicely. I have no idea how many hours actually went into making this, but I'm sure glad I like it in the end! Did I mention I already have ideas for another curtain? (and it involves natural colored linen!)That's all for now! Thanks for letting me share!~Ruth

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Little Leather Books

There's something about leather that has always entranced me. Perhaps it's the smell of it, or maybe the smoothness of it under my fingers. Or could it be the fact that it only gets better with age? Whatever it is, I truly do love leather. One day a few years ago, my husband brought me home some scrap leather. I salivated at the mere sight of those gorgeous leathers! I was brainstorming ideas of all the wonderful things I could do with them before I even breathlessly said "thank you" to my dear sweet hubby! Brainstorm, yes. Cut into, no. It was a few yearsbefore I would muster up enough courage to cut into them. Finally, I did. And I'm so thankful too, because I found another "fabric" to love...leather. One of the first projects I did was out of necessity. Being the old-fashioned girl that I am, I still carry around a notebook and pencil for all my to-do-lists, shopping lists, exchanging phone numbers and emails with friends, ect (you know, all the things that most people use their iPhones or Blackberry's for these days!) One tragic day this winter, I lost my little notebook with it's fabric cover. If I ever find a picture of it, I'll post it, but it was a gorgeous print from Anna Maria Horner's Little Folk's line (Buttoned Up, Sea), and it even had a little pencil holder on the spine, perfect for a mini mechanical pencil. I believe I lost it in the wintery slush in the Whole Foods parking lot, but that is beside the point, really. After a few weeks with no notebook, I could take it no longer. Quickly, I whipped up another one. This time using leather and fabric. While I loved the old cover, it was starting to show some wear and tear. This new leather one I'm quite certain will last a lot longer (provided of course I don't lose it again!) This little leather book is pictured on the left. The new cover also sports a lovely hand-dyed silk bookmark ribbon sewn in, so I no longer need to search for my current page. The fabric used for the pencil holder is yes, more from Anna Maria Horner (I told you I love her fabrics!). This is just a scrap I had on hand. (yes, I have lots of scraps too!) The stitching is in a contrasting pink and I used the same scrap fabric to create the "flaps" for the notebook to slip into. The whole thing measures in at about 3 3/4" x 5". The perfect size to slip into a front pocket of a purse for easy finding.The next little leather notebook is actually feeding my Sudoku obsession. I blame my older sister, Rachel. See, she has the gift for math and numbers, while I, quite frankly, don't. But I DO like a good challenge. She told me a few years ago that she really liked doing Sudoku puzzles. Once I figured out what they were, I decided to give it a try. Failure. But I don't necessarily give up easily. So, last summer, I bought a book right before our vacation and tried again. Success!! I was also addicted! Since then I've been known to stay up late doing puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. I also found it to be a good way to spend the time while I wait for my girls to get out of school. But I was tired of always searching the house for a good book, carrying them around, and trying to keep the pencil from falling out,  So, I decided to make my own smaller, more portable version. This little book was the result. Modeled after a plastic, hard-cased notebook I saw in the dollar store, the pencil keeps it closed when not in use. Here's some more pictures of it opened up:

So, the puzzles are cut out from a huge book of Sudoku that I have (there's 4 puzzles on each page). I cut the puzzles out individually and simply clip them together with a binder clip. The clip then slips into a slit I cut in the leather flap. Under the flaps on both sides is some cut up cardboard (from a cereal box) to make the book stiff. Once I finish a puzzle, I put it under the left flap. I keep planning to put the answer sheet folded up under the right flap, but I have't actually done that yet:).But I think my favorite part of this book is the owl on the front. 

It is from Amy Schimler's On A Whim II fabric. It is actually stitched onto another piece of leather, which is then cut and stitched on to the front of this book. The reason for this is because my first attempt at making this book did not turn out so well, but the applique was adorable and I couldn't stand to just throw away that cute little owl! I think I actually like it this way better...it gives it more "texture".  So, those are my little leather books. If there is any interest, I can try my hand at making a tutorial on how to make the sudoku book, and post the PDF pattern piece that I used to make it. It's sinfully simple to make and while I use it for Sudoku, the puzzles could also be swapped out for scrap paper to make a great list-making book. What a way to use up paper before sending it to the recycling center!So, if anyone is interested in a free PDF pattern of this book, please leave a comment and I'll try to get one done! Thanks! (This might also include a little give-away!) Oh, and don't be intimidated by leather. It's actually quite simple to work with. I'll give all my tips in the tutorial. Also, I think these could be made from other materials, like wool felt, laminated fabric, see-through vinyl, brown paper (from grocery store bags) and even Tyvek envelopes. This just adds to the cool-ness of this project I think! I love options, don't you?!  Thanks for letting me share!~Ruth

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More Projects...Part #3!

This post has to be short and sweet, as I don't have much time. But it's been a while and I don't want to loose steam in posting, so here it goes!  Baby Carrier! A Half-buckle, padded waist, wrap Mei Tai, to be exact! Yes, no story of my sewing life would be complete without referencing some of the wonderful baby carriers that helped me keep my children close to me:) I think a full post (or two!) could be devoted to the many carriers I've made, but for now, this one will do. It's a lovely Didymos Hemp Indio that I dyed, then sewed into this carrier. I loved it! Since the resale on these kind of DIY carriers is low, I've kept it, though my babywearing days are mostly over. Here's Little Man and Myself. Oh, he was so much smaller then! What a big boy he is now! Can you see the chunk on his legs?! I LOVE fat baby legs! I told you this had to be short, and it is. Sorry! I'll be back again soon! ~Ruth

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Playing "Catch Up" on Past Projects...Part 2 (May 2011)

Ok, so again, in no particular order...some more past, completed projects! This is fun for me! These skirts for my girls are more than 2 years old, but I still love them! C. is still wearing her big sister's skirt, so I still get to enjoy seeing it from time to time:)  

My, how they've grown since then! H. is SO tall now! This bag, I made from a blank from Dharma Trading. There's two things I really love about this bag...it's roomy front pocket (my addition) and the adjustable strap (also my addition). The size is nice, but not overly huge. This was made 3 years ago. Last year, I made another one ( I had ordered two blanks, but had saved the second one for a while). I'll get to posting about that bag too. I did it a little differently, but I love it too! This bag still gets pulled out sometimes...not bad for a little cotton blank that's been in use for 3 years!

 I added a little stencil to the pocket. It says "LOVE" in Chinese. At least I hope that's what it says/} For a while, I was in the "swing" of making Amy Butler's Swing Bag pattern:) This one was for my sister. She likes owls, and this print was super popular.   

Just in case the Amy Schimler  owls were too kid-ish for her (I was nervous!) I decided to pair it with a very gorgeous Amy Butler print. I still love this fabric and some of it remains in my stash to this day. I always envisioned it as a skirt...

Six years ago when my niece was born, I made her this hand-tied quilt. I loved it, my sister loved it. All was well. Until it started to fray at the seams. My sister gave it back to me to fix and shamefully, I let it sit for a very long time before I decided what to do with it.  

This was the result. The fraying was not really "fix-able", so the only thing to do was to reinforce all the seams. I chose some coordinating fabric, cut it into strips, pressed it all and stitched over the seams. I think I like it better this way:)   

These were gifts for my niece and a dear friends little boy. They are fold-up blankets with handles, paired with matching travel pillows. These blankets have been my go-to gift for kids for a while now. These were among my first, and since then, I've only made minor changes to them. Someday I'll make a tutorial on how to make them. They are so easy and beautiful! Not to mention practical! (In this picture, the blankets are folded up, hanging from the chair back. Opened up, they measure 25"x25")  

Another Amy Butler Swing Bag. This time for my little sister. This doubled as a going-away gift when she and her husband moved out-of-state...much to my dismay.  

The reverse: I added pockets on one side, with grosgrain ribbon at the top of the pockets  

The other side was left flat. I still love this print. Too bad I don't think I have any more of it left:(

And that's it for tonight! Stay tuned...more will be coming!

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Playing "Catch Up" on Past Projects...Part 1 (May 2011)

Playing "Catch Up" on Projects! Part 1

This is supposed to be a place to chronicle my sewing projects and adventures. However, I've been terrible about posting pictures for my completed projects. So now, in no particular order, I'm going to begin adding pics of my completed projects. This is over a time span of more than 2 years, so there's quite a bit to show. It won't be all in one post, but I'll keep adding more. And this time, I'll try to keep up with my current projects more diligently...I promise:) To start with...anniversary present for my little sister and her husband. Hand Embroidered, hand sewn (of course!) travel size pillow covers. My sis, like me, is enamored with vintage style and classic hollywood romance...hence the choice of the art deco monogramming. These were gifts for a friend of mine, Lisa (If you are from TBW, you'll know her as "beachgirl3495"! This was for the arrival of her 4th baby...who is now 2 years old! This is a bag for her (then 2 year old) son to carry his cars in. It has a detachable play-mat for making sure he always had a "road". Every baby deserves fresh burp-cloths, so here's some brand-spankin' new ones. They are embellished cloth diapers. The fabric choices were a combination of mine and hers (she has really good taste in fabrics!)  Individual sized wet-bags....perfect for cloth diapering! She picked beautiful fabrics from Heather Ross. See, I told you she had good taste!    And a bag to hold all the goodies in. (There were goodies for her older daughters as well, but I don't have any good pics of them. Book covers and beaded badge card necklaces is what they got). This bag was just supposed to be a "gift bag", but Lisa ended up using it as a diaper bag for a while! I was flattered as well as happy that it held up as well as it did, considering it wasn't made for it! So, I'll add more projects in another post...stay tuned! I have a LOT to catch up on!xoxo, Ruth

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Sneak Peek! (April 2011)

Sneak Peek...

So there you have it, a sneak peek at my skirt which IS being published (with a few minor adjustments)!! I am very excited about it all! This skirt makes me want to tour Italy in it! The perfect summer skirt! Thanks for looking! ~Ruth

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Mission...Accomplished! (April 2011)

Success!! My skirt pattern is done! Ok, not really DONE, done, but almost, done. I've been working on a skirt pattern to submit to CraftSanity magazine for the summer issue. The deadline is like, NOW, so I need to finish up the details and get my sample and pattern sent off ASAP!! I'll be back w/ a few teaser pics! See you soon!

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Color in the Bedroom! (October 2009)

Color in the Bedroom!

I am very excited about this project. It has been a long time coming. We have lived in our house for 7 years now, and our bedroom has been too blue and boring for 5 of those years (well, it was boring before that too, except it was white then, which was even worse). Finally, it's beginning to take shape and show some "life"! We had guests coming in town this weekend (staying in our bedroom), and so I used that as my incentive to get a new duvet done that has been in the works for over a year and a half now. Incase you didn't already know that I love natural fibers...well, now you do! I love linen and cotton, wool, silk, bamboo...you get the idea! So, for our duvet, I had bought some chocolate brown linen on sale over a year and a half ago. I wasn't quite sure how it would all come together, but that's ok...I like it when a project takes on a "life" of it's own and becomes something even better than I had originally planned. That was how this was. My anniversary present for this past year was fabric. 28 yards of Anna Maria Horner's Good Folks line to be exact. Before that even though, I had bought 3 yards of another of Anna Maria Horners fabrics (are you catching a theme here?!), from her Garden Party line to use w/ the chocolate brown linen (Navy Centerpiece). Well, as I had all the Centerpiece fabric laid out down the center of the duvet, I realized it was too much. While I love the fabric, I didn't like it in a 2 and a half yard strip going down the center of the duvet. A dear friend happened to be staying w/ us from NY, and she helped me figure out a plan to break up the long strip. The result is better than I had hoped for! For the reverse, I had originally planned on a solid chocolate brown linen. But I found I didn't have enough yardage, and even piecing it together would not create enough to match the front side. So, here's where the anniversary fabric came into play. I decided to piece together some prints from the Good Folks line to form a center for the reverse, then do a wide border in the linen ( I still had to piece the linen). This turned out to be quite the task. Since this is a duvet and not a quilt, there wouldn't be any quilt stitching to reinforce the pieces, and I didn't want to take any chances of a seam popping open while a fun-loving toddler is jumping on the bed. So, each and every seam is triple reinforced (stitched, serged, then flat-felled). And believe me, w/ both the front and reverse being pieced, that creates ALOT of seams! This thing has been my "baby" for 3 weeks now! I am so happy that it is finally done, and best of all, it's one of my favorite projects ever...and now I get to snuggle under it every night this winter! Here's the "before" of our bedroom. Boring as can be. Plus the curtains are a tad too long and they drive me NUTS!!! This is the old duvet we've been using for the past 8 years...it was starting to get holes in it! In the summer, we have been using a blue matalesse coverlet (the same shade as the walls and curtains almost. BORING!) Now, here's the duvet. The "front": Now the "back". I really don't know which side I like best...I love them both equally. The other part of my (rather long winded) story, is that I have wanted a headboard for our entire marriage (9 and a half years). Since we had guests coming this weekend, and a new duvet, I really wanted one. Here's the cheapest, easiest, most "bang-for-your-buck" headboard I have ever seen! Really, when you hear how simple it was and how cheap...you're gonna want to try it for yourself! I hope you do! This technique (NOT my idea, by the way! I read it in a decorating book years ago, and then later researched it online a bit and found more instructions) is SO COOL! It was even NO SEW! Here you go: the headboard. All it is is fabric and liquid starch. Really. Oh, well I did use iron-on hem tape to hem the edges first, but it's totally no-sew! AND...the bottle of liquid starch only cost $1.58. Yep, that's right, and it didn't even take the whole bottle to do this headboard. Maybe half. My list of reasons why this starch and fabric wall adornment idea is so cool: 1.It's cheap 2.It's easy. (really, it took less than 10 minutes to get this up on the wall. A bit of time was spent ironing on the fusible hem tape, but that was it!) 3.It leaves no marks on the wall when you take it down. (I tried a sample first, and it's true...it's totally safe for walls! If you rent, and are not allowed to paint...this project is for you!!) 4.You can even re-use the fabric when you decide to take it down off the wall, just wash it! 5. You can't mess up this project...it's so easy to fix any "mistakes". There...you want to try it too, now don't you? If any one is interested, I could briefly outline how I did it ( I did it a bit different than the instructions I had seen online had said). Just let me know. I now have lots of plans for this technique all over my house! No more boring walls for me! While I was at it, I decided to make a set of linen pillowcases, trimmed in a medly of Good Folks fabrics. And since I have a special fondness for travel size pillows (I sleep w/ mine every night), I made a matching travel pillowcase size as well! If you've read this entire post...I am truly amazed! I know I am a bit wordy in my descriptions of projects, but this is my craft diary, so to speak, and I like details. I hope that I may help inspire other crafters, just as I have been inspired by so many others out there! Thanks for letting me share! ~Ruth Elizabeth

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Circle Skirts for Everyone! (June 2009)

Circle Skirts for Everyone!

These skirts are all kinds of fun! They spin marvelously, and are simple to make! My girls' love them, and so do I (I'm really just a grown-up girly-girl!) They are full circle skirts with a yoke. The first two I made did not have a drawstring in the front, but the second three I made do have them. All the backs are elasticized for easy on/off. The hem is roll-hem serged, which I think helps give them movement also.

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More Pictures of My Sewing Space (2009)

More pics of my sewing space...

Here's a few more pics of the sewing space. It's not done yet, but the furniture (albeit a chair) is all in. The organization is what's next! I just need some time to get it all done! So, here's a salvaged metal cabinet that used to belong to my grandmother. It held all her cake decorating supplies. It was a plain dingy white before, but got a super fun make-over with some fabulous blue latex paint and poly-acrylic top-coat. This cabinet holds a ton!! It's great for hiding the not-so-pretty crafting tools! Oh, and the best part is...I can use magnets on the cabinet!! And "after"... Anyhow, I need to run. I don't have as much time as I thought I did to post more. I'll be back later! Thanks for looking! ...Ruth Elizabeth

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My Sewing Space...as of 2009

I love fabric. I love to sew up the creations in my head. This is why I really needed my own dedicated sewing space. Yes, I had one before, but it was shared w/ my hubby's ugly, unused (stuff collecting), office furniture. There were the hideous hand-me-down unmatched bookcases holding my fabrics and supplies. Everything was piled everywhere with no rhyme or reason because there was no proper place for everything, I had outgrown my containers, bins, drawers...I felt like "A Fish Out of Water" (one of my favorite childhood books!). So, I made plans. Big plans for improvement. The kind of plans that include large shopping trips to Ikea, and many hours of my dear hubby assembling swedish furniture. I had it all measured out, planned, pages marked, prices estimated. It was all shattered when my Hubby and I decided it would be to the benefit of the whole family if he could convince his boss(es) to allow him to work a 32 hour work-week. They agreed to it. Great! But that means my dreams of a whole new Ikea based sewing studio just flew through the window. Back to the drawing board, as they say.  It took a while for the plans to shift gears in my head. But eventually, I figured out a way to reorganize and fabulize (not really a word, I know!) my sewing room, using almost completely what we already had. It's a hodge-podge of furniture, to say the least, but with some creativity and lots of sanding, staining, painting, decoupaging, and sewing later, it's getting there!  ...And the best part is...the ugly office furniture and the mis-matched bookcases are not a part of it anymore! THOSE pieces really DID have to go! So, here's what's done so far... Here's the "before" shot of the top of the main cabinet in the space...the bottom was just like this, only with solid doors. Pretty heavy and dark looking, as you can tell! Now, here's the same cabinet...re-done! It houses all my quilting weight cotton prints, and shows them beautifully, I think! Under the skirt is hiding all my odds and ends books, magazines, sketch pads, extra pics of the kids (there's a million! I should be scrapbooking majorly to catch up!), and yes, even freezer paper!! (for that freezer paper stenciling project I never have gotten around to yet!) On either side of the big white china cabinet, are two shelving units. Yes, they are from Ikea, but we already had them! They were in use in the girls' room, but I swapped them an antique dresser from my old sewing area, so that these could get a face-lift and help store all my "other" fabrics (well, some of them, anyways!) They were not pink leopard print when they were in the girls' room. But, thanks to some fabulous wrapping paper at Target and some hand-dyed cotton candy colored muslin, now they have a whole new life! Well, this has certainly been my longest post so far, but I'll keep updating as more progress is made in the studio..~Ruth Elizabeth

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Candy Colored Fabrics...

Candy-colored fabrics...  To say that I LOVE sewing, would be a mistake. While I do enjoy the creative process and even sewing itself, it's FABRIC that I have a true love for! The colors, the texture, the way it drapes, the ability to mold it into anything at all...it just boggles my mind! I sometimes dream of having yards and yards of white linen. It would not stay white, of course! (at least not most of it!) I would dye lengths of it in rich, vibrant candy-colors, then neatly fold them and place each piece on the shelf to be admired, and eventually used (maybe!). Ahh, one can dream!  It has occurred to me though, that even if I am not able to procure a 20 yard bolt of white linen for myself, a more affordable option would be white muslin. Of course, not every project would be suited to thin muslin, but the candy-colors would shine brilliantly through this medium as well! (I can also envision lovely little girls skirts in swathes and layers of lovely muslin...or womens skirts...) Am I alone in this dream? I think perhaps not! There is another blog I like to check in on I heart linen is it's name, and the author of the blog is someone who I can sympathize with on the whole loving linen thing! So, muslin may have to be my "poor womans' linen" for now, but I can dream, can't I?

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A New Beginning!

A New Beginning For Me...

 This is me, as a toddler! Not much has changed...I still get myself into "pickles"! If only I knew where to start. My brain seems to work non-stop. I feel like I can hardly keep up with it, let alone keep up with the rest of my life. I need a place to document my crafty/ sewing related ramblings, and so this blog has come into existence. I certainly don't expect anyone to really read it, but it's here for me, at any rate. This is kind of exciting!