Design Outside the Lines Retreats 2023
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Welcoming the New Year!! I’m thrilled to announce our DESIGN OUTSIDE THE LINES RETREATS and guest teachers for 2023! Plans are underway to welcome 4 talented guest teachers who will join...
The O’Keeffe: BELTED CoatDress
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Whether it’s a vest layer or a 3/4 coatdress, this is a favorite year-round, garment design! With a collection of O’Keeffe's in my wardrobe, I’m already dreaming of more...
New Mexico Inspired Design-
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Just back from New Mexico for the Sept retreat there in Taos…..I am still feeling the change of seasons, hint of sage in the air and cool crisp mornings. Listening...
The O'Keeffe Coatdress Pattern
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The high desert of Northern New Mexico has inspired many artists including Georgia O’Keeffe. I imagine her stepping out into that expansive landscape, painting satchel in hand, wearing her iconic...
August Stencil Sale - 20% OFF STENCILS AUGUST 1ST - AUGUST 15TH
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AUGUST STENCIL SALE 20%off Aug.1-15th Time to hit the refresh button on your fabric printing? Fill in your stencil collection with our Aug Stencil Sale! Wanna join me in the...
Summer Time in THE RIVER-
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Easy, light dressing in soft fabrics is what this summer is about. We need simple construction that leaves more time to be outdoors and deep breathing in nature. The River...
Kantha: REVERSIBLE!
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I’m in love with my new shirt!!! It started out as a kantha throw (106”x86”) and after working the puzzle to create a reversible garment, there is only one 3”x 5”...
New Stencils-The Africa Collection
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New stencils, fresh off my design board, are inspiring new ways to play and create. The beauty of a collection is that there are so many creative directions to play with Uganda, Warrior...
Collaboration: MAKING together in 2022
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1 Pattern= COAT • VEST • SHIRT The process of working with one pattern creates challenges I enjoy. Smart sewing means doing more with everything... so let's start the New...
FALL Design: Scarves
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Fall came as we gathered in the studio at Mabel Dodge in Taos. It was a glorious week of inspiration in the high desert of New Mexico for our first Design Outside...
PANTS: 1 Pattern = 3 Designs
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My Capitola Pant Pattern (PAPER) is a winner and the perfect choice for these 3 Fall variations. To get the fit you want, start by taking a few measurements of your favorite comfy pants. How...
Undershirts=Summer Wearing
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SUMMER Wearing=Undershirts + Mini River Tunics. You have seen some of my layering River Tunics in the last Journal Posts. Here are some tips...
SUMMER WHITES: The Shrug & The ReMake
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'Once upon a time....there was a new stash of beautiful fabrics and trims shared by friends from all over the land. It was not the end, but another beginning. Inspired by...
Summer Layers-
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By now, you know I am all about the River Tunic. My favorite silhouettes are the ones I know I will continue to make every season- in every fabric,...
Expanding on a Summer Theme: WRAP-JEWELRY- BAG
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Okay, I still have Cicada design love in me! ....and I want to share some cool ways to create more with one, favorite stencil design. Surface design is very personal...and stenciling can...
CICADAS: Brood 10 in Oregon
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Brood 10, the Cicadas that appear in the eastern United States seem to have landed here! This shrug, started with the River Tunic Pattern and is a fun, timely piece to step out in. If you...
Quick Summer Tunics-
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One of my favorite garments to wear are these quick relaxed fit tops! Usually linen or soft cotton in the summer. Just fun to stitch one up and pair with a drapey pant...
Welcome back Cicadas!!
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I never got to share the last pair of toddler pants I printed with Cicadas.... so as they make their way to the surface again....here is a fresh pair with some how-to...
My Spring Linen Jacket-
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This IS my new favorite jacket in my ongoing Make a Wardrobe from Scratch project this year. ReMake is attracting more of us daily-sometimes we intuitively know what works and what doesn’t....
I-Ching for the Garden-
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The I-Ching Working Vest- I love the strip ticking for a canvas weight I-Ching Vest. The pattern is available in PDF and Paper. It is perfect for gardening or workshop time. The combination of...
KANTHA!
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Kantha, literally ‘patched cloth’, is traditionally made and stitched in workshops of women in India, Bengali and other countries in that region. A testament to our passion for making something...
The Paisley: New Stencil
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New! In my collection=The Paisley Stencil. You may have heard me say, ‘HOW you print is just as important as WHAT you print’…Let’s explore that idea with the new Paisley...
MARCH - Stitching a Night Sky
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And so it is….the Year of the Ox begins. I'm ready for the world to unfold for us all in this new year!!! Time for a new jacket, celebrating the spring, to wrap...
CAWFS- Blue Flannel Shirt
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Doesn’t everyone need a flannel shirt?…and I’m talkin’ GOOD flannel. Remember: Garment sewing is all about the fabric that feels good to wear. This beautiful collection of blue flannels is...
Birthday Garments: Celebrating Color
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INSPIRATION: From my photo library, some armchair traveling reminds me how much I enjoyed the visual delights of downtown Denver. The collage below is a combo of photos and fabrics...and...
Creating a Wardrobe from Scratch: #3 River Tunic T
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Tee Shirts and knit tunics are at the top of my new Creating a Wardrobe From Scratch list! The River Tunic Pattern is my 'go to' for Tee Shirts. The...
Creating a Wardrobe from Scratch: #2 Coat
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Needing a warm, easy to make, coat I could throw on anytime for walks & daily life…this one nails it!! My coat started with a piece of washed and dried jacquard woven wool and...
JANUARY 2021 NEWSLETTER : Calling in 2021 on A Wing 'N A Prayer
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There has never been just one way to MAKE calling me- As makers, that love affair with what is sensuous in our hands, drawing us farther...
JAN- Journal Post: Making a Wardrobe from Scratch-
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I have begun. The once daunting task of making a new wardrobe has now settled into me as an interesting adventure. I look forward to my clothing being an expression...
DECEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER: A Winter Of Making: Soup & Clothes
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‘I’ve been thinking about you today--imagining what you're sewing so your closet looks like you.’ ...... This email…from my childhood friend, Cynthia Thomas, reminded me I need a wardrobe! ...a bit overwhelming at...
Design Ideas with SCISSOR Fabric-
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Scissors were finding their way into my work this past summer. These favorite tools, now a memory, can now show up in your sewing projects too! Here are some ways to...
NOVEMBER 2020 NEWSLETTER: My Perfect Life
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I woke knowing there was a new ladder in me. Trusting the instinct, I made one last trip to the ashes with saw in hand. Cutting, I hoped somehow the ladder...
The Red Bike - Revisited
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This dynamic fabric combo really plays well combined with one of the Red Bike Panels. Combined with linens and denims, the linen/cotton canvas panel is a great weight for a...
OCTOBER 2020 NEWSLETTER: 'MAKING' My Way
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Transformation definitely builds our creativity. We are all launching into Fall with various emotions about a summer and so many people lost to Covid. The impact of continuing natural disasters are exhausted all...
AUGUST 2020 NEWSLETTER : Shadows on the Wing
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Shadows on the Wing As this butterfly landed, in just the right light… she opened her wings and gave us something unexpected. It's probably happened before, maybe lots of times….but...
July/Aug NL
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WOOD has carved deep roots through generations of my Swedish family. In that proud tradition of makers….the women have always created textiles, in all the Scandinavian...
July/Aug -Working in WOOD
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Wood has carved deep roots through generations of my Swedish family. I have always been a 'stick' person...collecting special ones and finding ways to integrate them into my daily life....
JUNE 2020 NEWSLETTER : HOME
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Home IS our personal shelter Right now, I am celebrating the places in myself that are unfolding as I appreciate HOME....
HOME Stencil: 3 Design Tips for Printing a Shirt
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'DESIGNING with a stencil is when you take it farther than just printing a design'. Here are 3 Design Tips that can change your work: Starting with a solid color...
The Duplex Apron Pattern
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ A new pattern always inspires lots of ideas and directions to create! Here are some...
May: Inspired by Monet
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The Monet Show, at the Denver Art Museum last year, was a memorable highlight. Room after room, unveiling colorful, textured canvases in perfect lighting, all illustrating the life of passionate painter, Claude Monet. I love the...
APRIL 2020 NEWSLETER: YOUR CREATIVITY NOW
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Your Creativity Now- ‘New Design grows from discovering fresh inspiration & engaging it in innovative ways’, Diane Questions to Spark our Making Process: Notice the unexpected: What catches your eye? It...
APRIL:Thank-You Mr Finch!!!
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Thank you Mr Finch! …and thank you Selvedge! Looking out the window for any movement of time....the Selvedge Newsletter is a welcome sight. Here in Southern Oregon, it is the perfect...
MARCH 2020 NEWSLETTER- UFO sightings!
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Not everything is meant to be a finished product. There are different reasons to make!!! All of the projects waiting...waiting to be recycled, dismantled, finished or re-visioned! Our CREATIVITY is...
March- Inspired By: A Linen Shirt
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March UFO Sightings- Yes, I have many many projects in a state of ‘in process’….Spring is a great time to revisit what moves forward and what goes away. Here is...
FEBRUARY 2020 NEWSLETTER
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Panatone Color of the Year or not....see how my new BLUE ReMake is changing up my end-of-winter wardrobe in my Feb.Blog. February Patten Bundle Special- Spark your spring sewing and refresh...
Feb. INSPIRED BY!: BLUE
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ReMake meets Fabric Stash….My design work this month is inspired by my never-ending love of Blue! As you may know, Panatone is calling in 2020 as the year of a beautiful...
INSPIRED BY: Denver
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I've been exploring historic, inspiring downtown Denver, Colorado. It is influencing new direction in my work. The charming architecture, a blend of old and new, is very cool! It was the seed for...
DECEMBER 2019 NEWSLETTER
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Studio time is part of the holiday season. I've been finishing the year designing & sewing with one of my favorite fabrics: Kantha Cloth. Any pattern can be a canvas for new design...
