Transforming a Turkish Table Runner into Pillows

My daughter had the extreme good fortune to spend a bit of her summer in Turkey and she returned with lovely tapestry woven table runners- one for me and one for her.
Of course she had a plan for hers that involved me using the table runner to create two matching pillows to replace the ones I had sewn for her as a house warming present last year ( the girl is seriously hard on pillows ).
She said "all" she needed was the pillow covers because the pillow forms were still usable... see how easy it would be?

Of course I agreed and working off the  18"X18" measurements of the pillow forms I  cut two pillow fronts out of the Turkish tapestry table runners. I also carefully removed the tassels ( I love tassels ).

I purchased 5/8 of a yard of fabric for the back on the pillows and two 16" all purpose zippers.

I was ready to start sewing...

Sewing a Lapped Zipper

I am certain these pillows will require frequent washings so a zipper was mandatory. I will sew a  lapped zipper which has a pleat that covers the zipper and is stronger than an invisible zipper but, still looks good. 

Directions for sewing a lapped zipper are included in the all purpose zipper package but, here are the steps. First machine baste the two pieces together that will have the zipper inserted. Use a generous 5/8" seam allowance and I also overlocked the edges before I basted the pieces together.
1. Carefully place the right side ( has the zipper pull ) of the zipper face down on one side of the seam allowance with the zipper teeth NEXT to NOT on the seam.

2. Using a zipper foot on the sewing machine sew the zipper to the one side of the seam allowance, and just the seam allowance. These stitches do not show on the front side of the fabric. Keep the zipper teeth next to the seam ( seam is what scissors are pointing at ).

3. Here's the confusing part. Fold back the side of the seam allowance that now has the zipper attached  so the zipper is now right side ( see the zipper pull ) facing up. Carefully stitch in the folded back seam allowance between the zipper and the seam ( scissors are pointing to seam ). This is the step that creates the 'lap' in a lapped zipper.

4. Now the zipper is completely sewn to one side of the seam allowance and the other side of the zipper is not sewn to anything. Turn your entire fabric back right side up and stitch the fabric to the zipper side that is not sewn to anything. You can feel the zipper through the fabric but, ideally you are stitching about 1/4" from the seam ( where the scissors are pointing ).

5. CAREFULLY remove/cut away the original machine basted seam and the zipper should peek out from under the lapped edge of fabric.
If this is your first lapped zipper I suggest you practice on spare fabric first. That's the great thing about sewing- ALL the stitches can always be removed and you get a second chance ( and third chance and fourth chance and fifth...)

Sewing Tassels in Pillows

To strengthen the tassels I enclosed the tips of the tassels in interfacing and zigzagged to hold it all together. I am hoping this will help prevent the tassels from accidentally being pulled out of the finished pillow.

I hand based a tassel at each corner and even basted down the fringe end to prevent it from being caught in the seams.

The pillow fronts with the tassels securely basted is placed with the right side of the pillow front onto the right side of the lapped zipper backing ( remember it is always right sides together! ).

I pinned each corner diagonally so the motion of sewing would not dislodge the tassel from the corner. I also marked with red ink pen where to stitch so all tassels on finished pillows would be identical lengths. The measurement is about 1/2" from the tassel bead.

After sewing the four sides together I ovelocked the sides for added strength and to help stop the tapestry pillow front from fraying.

Tah dah! 

My daughter now has two matching pillows to remember her Turkish adventure.

You're welcome Sarah :)

Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles

A long meandering Sunday drive ended at the Port of Los Angeles with my hubby very interested in touring a newly docked battleship- the USS Iowa. But, I was happily surprised to also see lots of signage advertising a new mecca for crafters called Crafted.

Luckily the lines to the battleship were too long so we kept driving and eventually found the giant Port of Los Angeles warehouse at 22nd St, San Pedro, CA 90731 that is " the new crown jewel in Southern California's Handmade Movement ".

Admission is free and all the information and calendar of events can be found at craftedportla.com

Crafted bills itself as the " nation's largest indoor year-round craft marketplace " and while the facility is HUGE it is also at only about 1/4 occupancy. Lots of empty stalls and not a lot of shoppers :(

The crafters/vendors that were set up had some really great crafts from jewelry, to hats, to mosaics, to screen prints, to soaps to etc, etc. Definitely a good place to start Christmas shopping for unique gifts.

Of course we did not leave empty-handed...hubby could not resist a box of freshly made macaroons and I decided I needed a very, very large ( bigger than a macaroon ) ring made out of an unknown material.

Crafted is located in a fairly obscure part of LA but, as the Terminator once said,

" I'll be back ".

The 6th Annual Exhibit of Television Costume Design

I love to go yearly to the Fashion Institute of Design ( FIDM ) in Los Angeles, California to see their exhibit of Academy Award nominated costumes. I am not a fashion industry girl, I am a theater costume girl. 

And this year for the first time I got to go to FIDM's Primetime Emmy Nominated Costume exhibit!

The exhibit has over 75 costumes from 16 shows that represent many different TV genres and time periods. Although this is the first year I heard about the exhibit it is actually the 6th year FIDM has showcased nominated costume designers and supervisors; and a few of the nominees are FIDM graduates!

I admit I was most excited about seeing the Downtown Abbey show costumes. The show is on PBS and the costume designer is Susannah Buxton. She states her goal is to make sure the actors " don't look like they are in costume ". The details of the costumes on display are beautiful but, I wish there were more hats.

And I confess out of the 16 shows I had never seen almost half. However that did not diminish my enjoyment of the costumes. The kid show The Fresh Beat Band  on Nickelodeon had fantastic fantasy costumes and head pieces designed by Joyce Kim Lee.

This costume collection from Once Upon a Time on ABC and designed by Eduardo Castro with his assistant Monique McRae is pretty impressive. The orange tutu outfit is also from this show.

I downloaded these images from facebook ( hope that's legal ) but, there are lots more at

 6th Annual Art of Television Costume Design exhibition on facebook.

However, images do not do justice to all the amazing, inventive details of these costumes. Images also do not communicate the size of the actors ( Christina Ricci from Pan AM on ABC is tiny! ) and the wonderful textiles. 

The costumes are on exhibit until October 20, 2012 and admission is free. 

A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from 1820's-1920's

Hats always capture my imagination and I truly try to wear hats as often as possible. And vintage hats are so wonderful because hats were worn daily, literally the crowning accessory to any outfit. 

There were numerous hats included in the Emmy exhibit and especially memorable were the Boardwalk Empire hats. The show takes place during the 1920s which was a time of great hats. However imagine my surprise when a guard ( who was watching me suspiciously because I stood ogling a Boardwalk Empire hat for about 10 minutes ) informed me there was an entire separate exhibit of hats!

In a not very noticeable small room off the main exhibit there are 25 hats, bonnets, cloches, and toques spanning over 100 years from 1815 to 1930. The hats are a small part of the Helen Larsen Historic Fashion Collection which FIDM is working feverishly to acquire.
The exhibit is mainly hats, with some period photos, interesting hat accessories, and a few mannequins in outfits to complement the hat.
This hat is labeled J.W. Robinson Co. and is from Los Angeles, California dated 1917. The hat is made of metal sequins, silk velvet, and lacquered stripped ostrich feathers.
I also love the tassels on the collar points because currently I am quite mad for tassels.

This bonnet is from Great Britain around 1830. Bonnets were so darn practical and it's a shame now only babies get to wear  serious bonnets. Although I guess sun hats evolved from bonnets.

Anyways, I obviously downloaded these images from the FIDM website because no photos were allowed :(  There are many more dynamic hats on display.

The exhibit is ' A Century of Millinery Style: Hats from the Helen Larsen Historic Fashion Collection 1820's-1920's ' showing until October 20, 2012. And admission is free!

More info at fidmmuseum.org/exhibitions/current/

THE FASHION WORLD OF...

I finally got a chance to visit the exhibit of the French designer Jean Paul Gaultier at the de Young Museum in San Francisco and it is terrific.

The eight rooms of the exhibit house 140 haute couture and pret-a-porter designs starting in the mid seventies and spanning thirty years. 

Equally amazing to the garments are the 30 animated mannequins that talk, whistle, wink and sing.

This exhibit is memorable in so many ways...

and unfortunately it is leaving the de Young on August 19th.

Upon entering the exhibit you immediately see the stripes and nautical looks that I always associate with Jean Paul Gaultier. But the following rooms contain so much wit, workmanship and innovation that it is indescribable. 

The designer never had any formal training but, Pierre Cardin saw his talent and hired him as an assistant.Suffice to say the designer is incredibly versatile and his ideas and topics are diverse, amusing and amazing ( when you say things in threes you just sound smarter LOL ).

Of course the other classic Gaultier is the conical corset made famous by Madonna on her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour. Apparently this look was popular with both women AND men and one of Gaultier's earliest looks. The exhibit even has his childhood teddy bear that he affixed these conical shapes to it's little torso. 

And he was mad for plaid and punks.