that is why.... The Lady is a Tramp.

Frankie Blue Eyes' song "The Lady is a Tramp" from the 1950s movie "Pal Joey" has always expressed so many of the sentiments I share, so when I got my Viking Designer SE sewing machine that can embroider onto fabric any wording that you type on your computer, I just had to make this jacket!   

After I finished it, my DH and I celebrated Valentines weekend in the charming village of Carmel by the Sea and while walking around in the afternoon wearing this jacket,  I was amused when a dapper- looking proper British gentleman strolling in his tweed blazer looked at my jacket and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

or of course I had to change one phrase to...."She LOVES California 'cuz it's NOT cold and not damp" .....but heck, that is why we are given artistic license, right?

 Oh well.   Like Oscar Wilde said, "One should either BE a work of art....or WEAR one!

Crazy Lace Scarf/Shawl

I made this crazy lace scarf using yarns, ribbons, scraps of pretty fabrics attached to a chiffon fabric. To sew the elements on, I used solvy and then dissolved it afterwards. The next scarf I make, I plan to do more stitching without the use of a chiffon base, making it truly a thread lace scarf.
This one is listed on my etsy site...sandesigns.etsy.com.

Knitted Fabric Strip Handbags

I have so much fabric that I love. I have collected fabric most of my adult life and love to arrange it according to color families and hues. I am always trying to figure out what to do with it without wasting it. When I learned that knitting can be done with fabric strips I was really excited to try it. I hadn't knitted since I was a teenager at the home of friends with a younger daughter who loved to knit and taught me how. We would sit and knit while our parents played cards (and our younger brothers drove us crazy rough housing like young boys love to do).
I had to buy a book and learn how to cast on. The knitting itself actually came back to me like riding a bicycle. The book explained how to attach the fabric strips as you go along without having to sew or glue. It's great to have a portable hobby to take on trips. My first fabric strip handbag was made with pretty sunset colored batik cotton strips that I bought a year or two earlier. It came out really nicely I think. I saw a knitted purse online that I loved in cool pinks and denim blues so the next purse I did was using those colors. The next one I did using pretty turquoise colors along with the colors of coffee, from deep espresso to cafe au lait, light browns and tans. This seems to be the most popular color as I have already sold two in this color range. Another one I did was in cooler blues and violets along with pale tones of these colors. I purchased a set of handles online and decoupaged things torn from magazines in the same colors onto the ugly fake wood handles.
All of my handbags are listed in my shop at mixedbag.etsy.com.