Designer Spotlight: Tamara Kate and Les Monsieurs!

Hi everyone, it’s Tamara again, back for another collection introduction. 

Gentlemen, start your engines … “Les Monsieurs” has arrived!

Last week I introduced you to the decidedly feminine Flight Patterns. This week is for the boys! Les Monsieurs was the second of my two lines to debut at Quilt Market this past Spring.

I created this line for my five-year old son Max, who, like most little boys, has a vivid imagination, loves playing with things that go fast, and dreams of one day being an astronaut, a race car driver, a pilot, a super hero that scales tall buildings … The list goes on. The name of the collection is all him. I love the way he talks about his wooden men, calling them “les monsieurs”, as opposed to the correct French “les messieurs”.

Much of the physical inspiration for the line is based on a series of wooden toys my husband Greg has been lovingly creating for Max since his first birthday.

While I wanted to design my interpretation of the toys, I also wanted to give them context. I love telling a story on fabric, and so tried to portray the dreams and aspirations of a boy who wants to be like his Papa, racing around a building block city of his own imagination, scarf blowing in the wind.

To appeal to a range of little boys’ (and their mama’s) tastes, I colored the line in three versions that can be used individually or all together.

I started with Aviator, a natural, somewhat earthy color way that still has a bit of zing to it. Then came Retro with a range of blues and pops of intense navy, bright turquoise and acid green. And for the little boys who love color, I created Soft Top that offers lots of brights in a very energized color way.

Sewing options abound. The first thing I wanted to make was a super hero cape (as pictured below). It is fully reversible and I will have a tutorial finished up within the next week or so over on my blog. The racing stripe up the middle is my favorite part.

Accessories are a big hit with my boy, so I made bow ties, bow ties and more bow ties. This was a really fun project, as the printed motifs are just the right size to play with pattern placement.

In recovering this chair seat, I played with the chevron, cutting it very finely to create little diagonal lines.

And clothing. This sweet, simple caftan-style top has been a hit! I have already had requests for adult versions.

And remember that I mentioned the three color ways could all be used together? Well, all you moms out there, be careful about showing this to your boy as he is going to run to start packing for a camping trip. This is a junior-sized quilted sleeping bag (with built-in pillow) using each and every fabric in the collection.

The chevrons, called Tire Treads, are a great dynamic filler fabric. They can blend in or stand out, depending on what you pair them with. There are twelve colorful options.

Now for some fun! Here is a link to a tutorial for a playful interactive pillow I created, the “Monsieur Pocket Pillow”. There is a little bit of simple painting involved as well as a bit of sewing.

  

The doll is removable and is meant to be your little monsieur today, or the racecar driver / aviator he dreams of being one day, depending on which way he is placed in the pocket. The pocket, of course, is also a great secret storage spot for a variety of little treasures, so be sure to search therein should keys or other small valuables go missing.

Once again, Michael Miller is kindly offering a giveaway … a fat quarter bundle in the Aviator color way to one randomly drawn lucky participant to sew a pocket pillow (or some other wonderful creation) for the adventurous little boy in their life. All you need to do is leave a comment below telling us which Les Monsieurs color way inspires you the most.

Well, it has been great being here with you the past two weeks. Thanks again for spending a bit of your time with me and for all the kind comments last week.

You can keep track of what I am creating here:

my blog

my facebook page
my pinterest page

Happy sewing!

Tamara

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And, the winner is...

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 Drea said...

"Love them all, butI keep going back to the Aviator (earth tone) color way. Maybe with fall around the corner, it is inspiring me the most to line a jacket and hat for my little guy or make a quilt... so many ideas, so little time!;-)  Thank you for the giveaway!"

Designer Spotlight: Tamara Kate

Introducing Flight Patterns by Tamara Kate

Hi everyone! I am Tamara Kate, the newest licensed designer to join Michael Miller Fabrics, and am so thrilled to be here! 

At the Spring Quilt Market I introduced my first two collections, Flight Patterns and Les Monsieurs, and I am here to give you a personal introduction to them, just as they are hitting stores. First I will focus on Flight Patterns and then will be back soon to tell you all about Les Monsieurs (if you have an adventurous little boy in your life, you won’t want to miss my next post!).

So, how did Flight Patterns come about? Well, I live in the land of long winters, Montreal. I designed this collection in the early months of last year when claustrophobia was setting in and I was dreaming of being outside … of fresh air, spring breezes and bright dappled sunlight that warms your skin; of lying in the grass on long summer days, letting your mind dance; and definitely of the magic of nature, the incredible detail and symmetry in a butterfly’s wings, natural geometric patterns and the flow of migration. 

As much as it is about all of that, Flight Patterns is also about my love of color. Joyful, pure explosions of riotous color, but in a decidedly feminine fashion.

I set to work with pen and ink and drew patterned butterflies, moths and other winged creatures that all seemed to be searching for some color. Then I pulled out my highly neglected watercolors (I typically do most of my design work on the computer) and had some fun with a multitude of colors, and the first pattern, Dappled Migration, came to life. The other patterns followed, all keeping a sense of movement evident throughout.

The collection is printed on Michael Miller Fabric's gorgeously soft Cotton Couture base cloth. That means it is an heirloom quality cotton that has a luxurious silky hand, it drapes beautifully for garment making and it is a dream to piece or quilt with. 

And because of the range of colors I included in so many of the prints, if you are in need of some solids to work with them, the line co-ordinates wonderfully with a high percentage of Michael Miller’s vast range of Cotton Couture solids. Here are just a few suggestions. I will be doing a much more complete post on this over on my blog in the weeks to come.

I created a small quilt that I think effectively shows how the prints work together harmoniously and I wanted to share a simple tutorial for it with you. 

The Dancing Light Quilt uses all eleven prints from the collection. It would be perfect as a baby quilt, but I actually designed it to be used as a play/reading mat in the little spot in my daughter’s room where light comes in the window in the mornings, where I often find her curled up reading, enjoying the early morning sun.

Dancing Light Quilt

Finished size: Approximately 40” square (mine is 39” x 40”. That’s just the way I tend to sew … imprecisely … I’m working on it).

Materials I used:

- A fat quarter of each of the 11 prints in the collection

- A fat quarter each of 3 colors of Cotton Couture: Coral, Orange & Petal

- 1¼ yards of  Cotton Couture Lipstick

- A 42” square of quilt batting (this gives you a bit of “just in case” extra all around that will be trimmed at the end)

- Thread & white quilting thread

Here’s what to do:

First cut pieces for the quilt top as follows:

- 45 pieces 4½” x 8½” of Flight Patterns fabrics (that’s 4 of each of the 11 prints, plus 1. I cut 5 of each, then when laying them out, decided which I would keep in). I tried to choose areas of each fabric that were interesting on their own for randomly flowing patterns, or centered for more geometric ones. The patterns should be running vertically on the rectangles.

- 10 pieces 4½” x 4½” of Flight Patterns fabrics (again, I randomly chose which of the eleven to omit).

Lay out the pieces randomly in 10 vertical rows as follows, keeping all patterns facing the same vertical direction (See Diagram 1):

- Row 1: Lay 1 square, then 4 rectangles, then another square end to end

- Row 2: Lay 5 rectangles end to end

- Rows 3 to 10: Repeat first 2 rows.

Then play with the arrangement, moving patterns around, trying to find a balanced, random look.

Diagram 1

Working one row at a time, start sewing the pieces together (using ¼” seams), right sides together, across the 4½” ends. Press seams toward the bottom end of each row. Pin and sew (from the top of each row down) the rows together (again with ¼” seams). Press all seams in one direction across the back. Quilt top … done!

Cut the piece of Lipstick Couture Cotton to be an inch or two longer than the quilt top. Lay this piece on a large flat surface and smooth out any wrinkles. Lay the batting on top (smoothing again), and then the finished quilt top (right side up) on top of the batting. Pin these layers together and then hand baste. Using a long ruler to make sure the sides are straight, cut the batting and backing to align with the quilt top.

I love hand stitching, so I opted to hand quilt this one following the printed patterns on each fabric piece as much or as little as I felt like for each one.

For the binding, cut:

- A full width (45”) of the remaining Lipstick fabric, 4” wide.

- 2 pieces 4” x 22” of each of the other 3 solid colors

Randomly cut these lengths into shorter pieces between 3” and 12” in length and then (again, randomly) sew them together, end to end, to form 4 strips of equal length. Press all seams open.

Do the following steps (A to E) for all four binding strips, referring to Diagram 2:

A - Right side facing out, press the strip in half along its length.

B - Then fold one long edge in to meet this fold line and press.

C - Right sides together, using the long edge of binding that was not folded toward the center, pin the strip to an edge of the quilt top, centering it. Measure in and mark 1” from each quilt edge. With a 1” seam allowance, sew each side from mark to mark, making sure not to catch the binding from the adjacent sides.

D - Trim the short ends of the binding strip to ¼” outside the edge of the quilt on all sides. Temporarily unfold the folds you made in steps A & B, then press this ¼” to the wrong side of the binding, flush with the quilt edge.

E - At each end, measure & mark 2” from this folded edge along both long edges. Fold & press from this point to the center folded edge point. Refold folds A and B and flip the binding toward the back of the quilt. You should now have nicely mitered corners.

Diagram 2

Using an invisible stitch, hand stitch the corners to each other on the front and back.  Hand stitch the binding in place all along the back using an invisible stitch. Finito!

In hopes that I have inspired you to make this quilt or to create something of your own with Flight Patterns, Michael Miller is generously offering a bundle of Flight Patterns to one lucky randomly drawn individual. All you have to do is leave a comment below to try your luck.

Thanks for spending a wee bit of your day here with me. I will have more tutorials, giveaways and other fun events on my blog over the next while to celebrate Flight Patterns & Les Monsieurs . I’d love it if you’d stop by to take a peek from time to time … You can also find me here on facebook.

See you back here soon for Les Monsieurs!

Tamara

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And the winner is:

 Kris said...

Love the fresh designs. Pen and Ink and watercolor effects are something I love and this gives that impression.

Designer Spotlight Friday: Sarah Jane

Hello! Sarah Jane here, and I’m thrilled to be guest posting today on the Michael Miller blog.  I have a new collection out, LET’S PRETEND, and since I wasn’t able to debut at Quilt Market (I’m 8 months pregnant!) I’m happy to introduce it to you a little bit here. 

LET’S PRETEND is a collection close to me, because it was inspired by that lovely phrase I hear so often with my kids. I love hearing “Hey, Let’s Pretend that we are in a castle and ….”  You know what I mean? It’s so precious to witness imagination.

And with that, I created a line full of imagination and play for both the sewer and the kids :)

The color and design is inspired by my love for modern European design. Clean, simple, bright at times and understated at times. Geometrics dominate the blender fabrics, and whimsical illustrative designs fill up the main prints. My times spent in small towns in Europe, and witnessing evening puppet shows, mime and mask productions, I created a collection of prints for children with that same whimsical meets modern flare. 

There are two color groups that work for boys and girls, and you can mix them up quite nicely. I like to pair them into neutrals and bright jewel tones, personally. The jewel tones bring out a lot of drama, and are great for colorful projects, while the neutrals stay soft and light. And of course, I have to have a panel print! They are so fun to sew with, and make for such great skirts, table cloth borders, curtain borders, dresses and yes, pillows! 

I designed this pillow around the MAKEBELIEVE panel print, with a bit of patchwork on the top and bottom edges. Super easy! I’m not going to give exact instructions here, (It’s fairly straightforward, and I’m sure you’ll want to make a pillow the size that you need!) But here’s a quick little DIY: 

FABRIC NEEDED:

Make Believe Panel Print as wide as your pillow form, plus ½ inch for seam allowance. I like to measure my pillows and make the cover about an inch or two smaller so it’s nice and firm.

16 prints from the LET’S PRETEND COLLECTION or 8, doubled up as shown. (Fabrics shown here are: Cloud Pictures-Sky, When I am King-Raspberry, Mr. Bear’s Harlequin- Flame, Cloud Pictures-Breeze, Wooden Blocks-Retro, Harlequin-raspberry, ShadowPuppets-Flame) To determine the size, take the width of your finished pillow cover size, divide by 8, and add ½ inch seam allowance (1/4 for each side of the square).  This pillow cover is 14x18, so each finished square is 2.75 inches.

ACT IT OUT print, or any other that suits you, equal to pillow cover size, plus 1” total for seam allowances, and plus about 8 inches more in width for envelope back.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.     Measure your pillow form, and decide how big your finished cover will be. I like to keep my covers 2 inches smaller to make it look nice and firm. 

2. Cut your MAKE BELIEVE PANEL the final width of your cover, plus ½ inches (to allow for ¼ seams on each side.) Cut the top and bottom of the panel to allow for two rows of patchwork squares.  So if your finished pillow cover is 14x18 inches, I’d cut my panel 18 inches wide (plus ½ inch for seams), and 9 inches tall (plus ½ inch for seams). This allows for 2.5 inch finished squares on the top and bottom)

 3. Cut 16 fabric squares  (from 8 prints) into desired size squares. Mine shown here are 3 inches cut. Sew 8 squares together with ¼ inch seams. 

4. Take the two rows, and sew them to the panel print, with ¼ inch seams.

  

5. For the back, I like envelope backs. You can do what ever you want here. To make the envelope back, measure your pillow form, and then add 8 inches to the width. This is your total needed fabric. Cut the fabric in half, and hem the short side of each piece (the two sides that will face each other)

 

6. Taking right sides together, pin the two back envelope panels to the front of your pillow with ¼ inch seams, making sure your hemmed sides are overlapping each other to make the envelope backing 

7.  And as an extra option, this looks lovely with a bit of simple quilting.

And voila! A fun, unique and illustrated pillow! 

Have fun sewing! Be sure to add your projects to my Pinterest Group here (send an email to info at sarahjanestudios dot com to add) or add it to the FLICKR group here! And visit my blog for lots more inspiration and inside peeks :)

And just for you Michael Miller Fans, I have a discount for you! 15% off anything in my online shop, which includes art prints that compliment the fabric collection! Just use the code MM15 at checkout until July 1^st 2013 here on my website.

Great to be with you, and happy creating!

xo

Sarah Jane