In a recent copy of Selvedge magazine there was an short article about Pia Wallen. I have liked her simple, sewn, industrial felt forms since I first saw them. It reminded me that her work inspired the "foamy" gift packages I've been sewing for a couple of years ago.
I was wrapping some mundane birthday presents for my husbands special day when I got the inspiration to sew the foamy sheets together to make a more interesting gift wrapping. I bought two packets of the large Foamy sheets and then just started zigzagging sheets together on my sewing machine, cutting edges with decorative scissors and folding and restitching to form large envelopes or this year, large bucket-y structures for more bulky gifts like sweatpants. Paper punches worked to create slots for ribbon threading....
I get such a good response to the foamy wrappers when I give a gift, that I thought maybe I should really figure out how to get better stitching results on my Bernina sewing machine. Using a regular foot or even a walking foot on my late model Bernina (1001) does not produce even stitches and it's difficult to feed under the presser foot. My local source for Bernina accessories suggested that I get a teflon coated foot or a roller foot which would cost $52 -$80. So I'm hoping to find an online source for this antique foot or maybe I should just convert to industrial felt? Hmmm. I'll attack both fronts.
