New School Year = New Skills

I took a short sewing class about fabric art:  Stitch and Slash.  It's not really about sewing, but about working with layers of fabrics to achieve a particular style and texture to your fabric that you can then use to create something.  A lot of times this technique is used in works of art, home decor pillows, or even personal tote bags.  I've never seen it as part of anyones clothing, but I suppose you could.

The lessons were great.  They focus on color combinations, textures, and hues, no matter what the print or design.  I played around with scraps from the stash of fabric and chose 4 fabrics of black and white and prints. I layers the fabric black, black/pink, hexagons, and white on top. I saved the black and white polka dot for a different place in the project.

Next, I came up with a design and sewed it (black thread) through the layers (white on top) I kept my design super simple and used straight lines.  In hind-sight, I think straight lines might've made it more difficult.  FILE UNDER "Things to do differently next time."

Then, came the fun part.  Using a seam ripper, I just started taking off layer by layer.  The idea was to leave jagged edges to create texture and reveal different layers of the fabrics.
Layer 1:

Layer 2:

Layer 3:

And finally:

The final step in fabric preparation was to add more interest/texture with embellishments like ribbons and machine embroidery.  My sewing machine is old, old, old and doesn't have any special stitches other than zig zig, but this is what I came up with.

The ribbon and yarn pieces I attached have a slight silver thread running through them.  Good enough for this project (plus, I didn't have to buy anything else.  That was a priority!)

Now that the fabric is prepared, I decided to  make something out of it.  Again, using what I had on hand in the craft closet, I chose to make another insulated lunch bag.  I'm calling it shabby chic.

 Bring on the PBJ and leftovers.  Lunch is served!

As a final, "over the top" touch,  I added some buttons and beading in the black areas for added texture.  It doesn't show up that well in the photo, but here's the final picture.