CreativFestival – Day 2

Yesterday was a pretty eclectic day for me at the CreativFestival…

(I appologzie for the poor quality of the photos. I took them early in the morning, without using good lighting.)

First, I took Fractured Fair Isles, a knitting course taught by the lovely and funny Fiona Ellis. We talked about how you can play with Fair Isle patterns (those patterns around the tops of Norwegian or ski sweaters),  maybe making them asymmetrical, or using non-traditional motifs, or making unexpected colour changes. We all then made up our own little pattern and knitted it up. Here’s what I came up with:

Little Cars Fair Isles

The bottom is a row of cars and trucks (which Fiona said she loved), and the top is a row of airplanes and a helicopter (which I’m not as proud of, but, hey, they are still cute).

My second class was I am a Creative Soul with Jennifer Aikman-Smith of Dragon Dreams. The piece is sort of like a sampler, with lots of specialty stitches scattered around. But the wonderful thing about this design is that it is meant for the stitcher to customize. We brought our own fabric, two or three colours of over-dyed threads, and some beads. Jennifer than let us pick a neutral over-dyed, more special beads, a metallic, and a lovely little charm she and her daughters made. I am totally in love with this design and I can’t wait to finish it. I will definitely show more of it as I get a chance to work on it.

I Am a Creative Soul WIP with threads, etc.

My last class of the day was another serger sewing class, with the same teacher as I had on Wednesday. This class was about what you can do with different serger feet, and it was so much better than the class on Wednesday. I now have a book full or directions and little swatches showing the finished piece. (The piping one didn’t turn out quite right because of a problem with the machine, but I’ve got the idea.) And now I know what kind of feet I’d like for my serger.

Sample of Wired Edge and Zipper from Serger

Today’s classes  include one on basic sewing machine maintenance, and three more stitching classes with Jennifer. And, since the show floor opens today, I may even find some time to shop. 🙂