Kari Me Away

Pictures as Promised

Better late than never! Here are a collection of candid pictures from my July Martha Pullen classes.  I think we all had a great week and I am even starting to receive pictures of finished projects!

A view of our classroom.

A smiling Shanna poses with Suzanne Shelton our wonderful classroom assistant. 

I am happy to report that Suzanne will be teaching pre-day classes in Feb 2010. Be sure to check them out! 

 Here I am doing a group demo.

On the left, is Laura a wonderful lady who is not only sweet, but brought us homemade goodies everyday.  There is nothing like fresh caramels, fudge or caramel corn to keep up our sewing strength.

On the right is Sara, who is always a pleasure to see but also a pleasure to see how her daughter has grown over the last year!

Cindy is another proud mom who brings her daughter to sewing school.  I can't wait to see what both you create next!

Smiling for the camera with me is Audra Kennedy, my pre-day classroom assistant.  She is another wonderful and talented person who has her own interior design business.

Who says we ladies can't wear pettiskirts!  Started in my Monday night pre-day class, this skirt was finished in a couple of evenings and modeled for us by Friday afternoon. 

The pettiskirt class is being offered once again on Monday night in Feb 2010.  Come join all the fun and the ciaos!

 

Jean, another super sweet lady and beautiful sewer! 

This is Lisa, I had to include her picture since she was brave enough to sit in the front row!

 I'll end this post with a group photo of our Embellishing School.  The projects are shown in the front and are offered again in July 2010.

Home, Sweet Home

I love teaching, but being a home-body at heart, the end to a trip can be just as sweet as seeing my friends and meeting a few new ones!

As many of you may know, I have been away teaching at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion in Huntsville, AL.  This is a favorite for me as I teach there twice a year (Feb. & July) and get to see both antendees and staff that have become great friends.

My long time roomate, Wendy Schoen of Wendy Schoen Design and I once again took up residense in the Embassy Suites Hotel and prepared ourselves for the week of events that was to come.

Stay tuned for a quick day by day report and photos from my classroom, projects and more!  Here is the first of my projects...

Sassafras Coat

 

 

Yoyo Cover Shot

I am happy to say my newest article in Sew Beautiful magazine is pictured on the cover!  The issue mailed this last week, so keep an eye out for it in your mailbox or on your news stand. 

 

This ultra close up cover photo is of my newest pattern, the Yo-Yo & Buttonholes Bubble.  The article features making yo-yo flowers, rickrack daisy flowers, super simple whipped tucks and wrapped rickrack trims.  

While the cover shows great close-up details, the article has a super sweet photo of the bubble on an adorable little girl.  A special "thank you" goes to Jennifer Tarkington of Jennifer and Company for the adorable photo!  I have shared one of the pictures below, but you can go to my Flickr photo site to see more.

As many of you know I enjoy adding as many embellishing details as I possibly can into a design or project.  So be sure to look closely for details like.....

 A yo-yo here, a yo-yo there, but not your Grandmother's yo-yo ...
Tilt the center of your yo-yo to the side and the design goes a little topsey-turvey, but in a good way! As a result, we have affectionately nicknamed this "the barnacle bubble" (thank you Marian for starting the whole thing, you are so right)!   

 

Not really into handwork? Try the super simple whipped tucks.
These remind me of some of my first attempts at embroidery when I was a little girl.  They are easy to do and the simple up and down stitches use the stripes as a needle placement guide.  And guess what?  You actually want the stitches to pucker up! 

How high can you count? 
Having a super slick Babylock Elegante sewing machine that makes truly wonderful automated buttonholes, I went wild adding buttonholes for ribbon beading.  I have always liked the idea of using ordinary elements in a new or different way and this technique really fits the bill.  Now, I'm not actually going to tell you the total number of buttonholes, let's just say you could quite possibly break the bank if you had to buy a button for each one!

 

What was it your high school driving instructor was always saying? Something like "Be sure to check your rear view...."
Well, that's what the photo above shows, the design on the back "cheek" of the bubble.  Now if this was for me, I wouldn't be pointing out my widest part, but kids just look too cute from any angle!

Notice too, the new shell stitched bias trim with wrapped rickrack on the leg band.

We've Moved Out

After taking over almost every extra inch of space, my home based business can no longer be contained in my home (and have room for my family too).  As a result, I am pleased to annouce, Kari Me Away has moved out! I have found a pretty little business park where we will now be calling home.  Here are a few pics of the process.   

I had no idea the sheer mass of fabric, lace, patterns, books, kits, trims, do-dads and the like that make up the total inventory of Kari Me Away, but here it is.  These are the "before" pictures, I will post the "after" pictures once we are organized!

 

An added advantage will be that once we are completely set-up, we will be able to be open by appointment.  I'll keep you posted!

Bias & Blooms Blouse pattern

     

Be sure to look for my article in the next issue of Sew Beautiful magazine featuring the Bias & Blooms Blouse.  The article includes instructions & cool tips and hints on how to sew all types of bias bindings, how to add a keyhole cutout to sleeves and how to end the binding with ties.  Also included are the pink Rosie Posie Rickrack Flowerinstructions.  The more complicated RickRack Fiesta Flowers are included in with the pattern or can be found in my newest book, Sewing with Whimsy. 

The pattern comes in sizes 2-6x & 8-16 girls, complete kits are available at my website: www.KariMeAway.com