The making of things

I don't want to sound like a broken record here, but in case you haven't heard this before, I don't know much about sewing. However, I do know that I love handmade things, and I really like having things that I have made myself. I enjoy the learning experience, and the satisfaction of the final product. I have never really used a pattern, so generally when I'm sewing it takes two tries to come up with something that works.

All this to say, I decided that I wanted to make a camera strap cover. We are going on a trip soon, and since I will have my camera on me everywhere we go, I didn't want to advertise I HAVE A CANON to everyone within eyesight. So I took some fabric I had on hand, and went to work. It was just some leftover fabric so I wasn't totally concerned with exact measurements. I've finally learned that I shouldn't use my "good" fabric on the first attempt without any sort of tutorial or pattern. I'm pleased to say it actually turned out pretty well and I learned a few things for the next one.

Here is my camera strap before:



And camera strap after!



To see the photo tutorial and general instructions, click here.

P.S. If you are more into the having of things rather than the making of things, there is someone by the name of SheyB who makes and sells camera strap covers online. Super cute stuff!

(Not) a tutorial: Fabric message board

When I was down in California recently, my sister lovingly suggested that I make her a fabric message board for Avery’s room, “so you can put it on your blog!” Thanks, Leslie! Such a fabulous, selfless idea! (I kid…)

I had never made a fabric message board but assumed (correctly) that they can’t be that hard to make. Luckily I already had all the supplies necessary (read: borderline hoarder. "I might need that for something...").

I have an unframed message board in my art room which looks fine, but I wanted hers to have a more finished look, so I started with a plastic 16x20 frame (sans glass). I cut some leftover cork board to fit the frame. Next I cut fabric to wrap around the cork board, ironed the fabric, and used a staple gun to secure it to the board. Then I strung the ribbon, and used the staple gun again. I love staple guns. Where the fabric intersected I added a fabric covered button with a thumb tack hot-glued to the back of the button.

I went outside and spray-painted the frame with heirloom white paint. Then I remembered that I should have sanded the frame a bit to get the paint to stick better. Oops. I let it dry for a while, then added a second coat. The paint was much stronger on the second coat. Once the frame dried really well, I put the covered board into the frame, and then a 16X20 piece of cardboard over the back, and taped that into place. Project complete. Next!

WTC?

So here’s the story: I frequently find myself reveling in the company of my creative, intelligent, and incredibly competent friends. We’ll be sitting at a table (inevitably over a beer at happy hour), and I will look around and think about the individual talents and expertise represented. I often feel honored to be a part of such a fantastic and ever expanding circle of friends.

When several of my friends asked me to host a craft night, of course I said yes. They know I love nothing more than spending hours making stuff. They also know that any gathering we have instantly becomes another occasion to eat. We love eating.

As I started planning craft night it occurred to me that this should become a regular thing. Not only because I love crafting and my friends, but also because we all have so many interests and talents. The idea of a recurring craft night morphed into the concept of a WTC: Women’s Teaching Cooperative (or What The Craft?), the idea being if someone has a skill or craft that others in the group want to learn, that person will host a WTC night and teach the group. It could be anything from making croissants, to canning, to French lessons, to brewing beer, to floral arrangements.

For the inaugural WTC night, I showed the group how to make glass lens magnets and fabric magnets. Since this was the first try, I wanted to choose crafts that were easily completed in a couple hours, and didn't require major tools.

I gave a 5 minute tutorial, and then they were off!

Super fun to see the results and each person's unique eye. A couple examples below. I can't wait for our next WTC! I'll be sure to report back.

Supply lists

Glass Magnets:
Mini hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

Clear glass rocks (large and small)
Magnets (large and small)
Stack of old magazines

Mod Podge

Scissors for paper

Fabric Magnets:

Button kit

Button refill packs

Magnets

Fabric scraps

Fabric scissors

Mini hot glue gun and hot glue sticks

My first quilt!

If you remember, (as I'm sure you do because of course you mentally catalogue all of my posts), I am in the process of making my first quilt. I had no idea how many (meticulous) steps are involved in making a quilt. I will say this is by no means a tutorial.

According to the great Wikipedia:

Traditional quilting is a six-step process that includes: 1) selecting a pattern, fabrics, and batting; 2) measuring and cutting fabrics to the correct size to make blocks from the pattern; 3) piecing (sewing cut pieces of fabric together) blocks together to make a finished "top"; 4) layering the quilt top with batting and backing, to make a "quilt sandwich"; 5) quilting through all layers of the quilt sandwich; and 6) squaring up and trimming excess batting from the edges, sewing the binding to the front edges of the quilt and then stitching the binding to the quilt backing.

Here are a few notes on the process.

First, a few key things you need:
- One fabric rotary cutter
- One large cutting mat (so you don't dull your blade on other surfaces)

- One 12.5" x 12.5" cutting square. This size is great for large strip cutting, and checking your squares.

- One trusty sewing machine that makes an exact 1/4" seam with the presser foot. This is important for sewing accurate seams, so that your blocks line up throughout the process, and in the assembly stage.

- A pattern to follow. This is something I didn't think was entirely necessary. I thought I would make a random patchwork quilt. But I found an easy pattern to modify and it has been SO useful in determining how much of each fabric I need, how many squares of each size, how to lay it out, etc.

- Someone who knows how to make a quilt. I have learned so much on every step of the process from my teacher, Justin's step-mom, Diann. From proper cutting techniques, to ironing/setting the stitches, graphing the layout, and all the shortcuts, it makes me wish I had taken better notes. I predict I she will be on speed dial for my second quilt too.

On my quilt, I'm currently on steps two and three of the six step process. I've put about 20 hours into it so far (which includes shopping/selecting the fabrics).

These are some of my cut squares, with a few of the smaller squares sewn together.

Below is my first assembled large block. My finished quilt will be five large blocks wide, and five long, plus a thin and thick border around the outside.

So far I have really enjoyed the process. It was sort of intimidating knowing once I began, there would be a LOT of hours until completion, but it's been rewarding to see each of the blocks come together. It can be tedious (cutting the strips and squares, sewing, sewing, sewing) but it's also relaxing. I think I actually enjoy the repetition at times. I definitely think you need to like sewing, which I do. Already my sewing techniques have improved a ton which was one of my major goals in this project.

I'll update you later on with the quilt's progress. In the meantime, recipes, quick crafts, and other projects forthcoming!

Birthday Banner #2

Want to make a cute party banner?

I know what you're thinking: I don't own a sewing machine. I don't know how to sew. I don't even care about sewing.

Well, my friend, this post is for you...

Last summer, before I gained a bit of confidence and experience on my trusty sewing machine, I decided that I wanted to make Justin a banner for his 30th birthday. But I needed a no-sew option. I also happen to love hot glue guns. And so this is what I did, and you can too.

1. Figure out what you want the banner to say. In my case, I went with Happy 30 Justin, so that I could avoid the super long "Birthday" and still get his age in there. Count your letters. Then count any spacer flags you want.

2. Go on down to your local craft store and pick up some cheap felt. It's probably in the kid craft section, or poster board section. It comes in 9x12" rectangles and they usually carry it in all the primary colors, plus a few more. It's super cheap (probably $.25-$.50 a piece?). You will need half a piece per finished flag, and half a piece of white per letter. So for mine I bought 8 colored squares, and 7 white. Pick up a spool of craft jute (its like twine) for a few bucks. Each flag is going to be 6" wide so if you decide to use string or ribbon you already have, the length will need to be 6"x (number of flags) + 1' extra to allow for loops at the end. If you don't have a glue gun, get one! They're super cheap and you'll come up with a zillion uses for it. Buy it! Plus, I'll show you how to make some magnets later.

3. Decide on your layout. I went with a gradient of four blues. Cut each of the rectangles in half (short way). [Yes, the piece below is green. I cut all my blues before I remembered to take a picture. But you get the idea.]

4. Turn on your glorious hot glue gun. Make sure its hot enough so that the glue flows nice and gooey. Decide on your back side. At my craft store they put the price tag on each felt square, so when I took that off there was a funny square spot, thus this became the back. Lay a line of glue along the top edge of the back side, then fold it down 1.5". You will need to be able to pass the jute through this fold/hem. Lay it aside to cool. Repeat with each flag.

5. Cut your letters. I made mine about 6 inches high by 4" wide. So technically you could probably get three letters out of each white piece of felt if you want to buy less. I'm just not that into careful cutting. And I wanted big bold letters.

6. Now that all the flag hems are glued and cooled, glue on the white letters. I waited for this step to glue the letters to ensure the letters would line up with each other. Allow them to cool really well.

7. String up your lovely work. I put glass balls between each flag (benefits of dating a glass blower...) but you could experiment with other things or nothing if your flag is long like mine. I tied a loop to both ends of the string to easily hook to some nails.

Piece of cake! Mmmmm...cake....

Little Suzy Homemaker

My friend Jennifer recently celebrated her birthday. I decided that I needed to make her an apron. I didn't really know how to make an apron, but it seemed easy enough. I searched online for free patterns and found this one. And then I took the liberty of not really following it.



My modifications to the pattern:

I knew I wanted a stationary neck strap rather than ribbon so I cut a 4 x 30 inch length of striped fabric, folded it in half lengthwise (print side out), ironed it, and then tucked both raw edges under 1/2 inch, ironed over those, and then zigzag stitched the edge closed.

I did the same thing with the waist ties, except I wanted those to be a bit wider so I cut two 6 x 44 inch lengths of fabric and used the method above. I cut one end of each tie diagonally. (The square end was sewn to the apron, the diagonal end is the end of the tie.)

I didn't make a pocket. It seemed unnecessary.

I really wanted to make a ruffle along the bottom except I didn't know how. Back to the internet

I went. Some things I learned:

1. Cut the ruffle fabric longer than the fabric you will join it to, so that you get lots of ruffles. (In my case I cut a 3" x 44" strip. Hem the length of one edge of the strip.


2. For the other (raw) edge, change your machine setting to a wide zigzag stitch. Fold a hem. Lay a string (I used embossing thread) on the middle of the hem, centered under the presser foot.


3. Zigzag over the string, but don't hit the string with the stitches. The presser foot should have a little space that will keep the string in the middle as you go. When you reach the end, pull on the end of the string to gently to create ruffles. Be careful not to pull the other end of the string through.


4. Pin each of the ends of the ruffle to the ends of the under side of the apron, then another pin in the middle and then pin in the middle of the end and the center.


5. Stitch the ruffle to the apron, making sure your ruffles stay ruffly as you go. Yay, a ruffle!
   

When I was done and tried on the apron, I noticed that the top edge of the apron was wider than it needed to be. Since I had already connected the neck straps I wasn't sure what to do to fix it. I decided to sew two darts in the middle of the fabric. It successfully made the top a little narrower and gave it a little more (womanly) shape.

Happy birthday, Jennifer!

Birthday Bag

One of my great joys in life is finding perfect gifts for my friends and family. Sometimes that means making the perfect gift. One of my best friends and fellow bibliophile, Natalie, who lives way-too-far-away, just celebrated her birthday. While I couldn't celebrate with her, I did enjoy the weeks leading up to her birthday as I worked on her birthday gift. I came across Sunset's 3 DIY gift baskets not too long ago, and this one was great inspiration.

Here's Natalie's birthday bag:

You can see each item close up here.

This is what I did: I bought a blank canvas tote from the craft store (about $4). Using my fun new fabric ink I stamped away. I tried it out on a sample piece of fabric first, to get an idea of how dark the ink would turn out. Once it was dry I ironed it (through a thin tea towel) to hopefully set the ink and and iron out some of the fold lines in the bag.

I stamped some packing paper as well and wrapped up a bar of handmade soap, tying it up with some jute.

A while back I begged my engineering friend to give me some of his old building plans. I used one of those to wrap her book and also stamped the paper with "DRAFT", "REVIEWED", and "PRIORITY".

I made her a set of magnets using an old map, some clear glass craft stones, some mod podge, and hot glue.

And you remember the notebook.

I hope she had as much fun recieving this bag of goodies as I had making it. Happy birthday, Natalie! I hope it's a great year for you.

I made this: Knock-off notebook

Inspired by Lindsey Cheney of The Pleated Poppy, I decided to make this covered notebook. It's pretty darling, if I do say so myself.

Lessons learned from this project:

1. I am not qualified to write a sewing tutorial. Seriously. Take no sewing lessons from me. [Insert jammed sewing machine sound here]. I don't know how to follow a pattern, and I have no idea what is wrong with my machine when it refuses to work. However, I channeled the good old high school days, when we had to make paper grocery bag textbook covers, to make this work.

2. Contrast stitching works best if you actually know how to sew a straight line. If you don't, it shows off all your errors (and crookedyness). Also, when you are sewing on ribbon, take the extra five seconds to make your bobbin thread the same as your main thread. Otherwise if your tension is wrong, you will see the (in my case white) bobbin thread pop through from underneath. Don't worry, I have changed my ways.

3. After making one myself I must say, Lindsey Cheney's notebooks are a killer deal. I really adore her ruffly creations and fabric combinations. Another thing I love about her design is that she had the great idea to make them to fit a standard composition book, so when you fill the book, you can just swap in a new one. Brilliant and inexpensive (comp books only cost about $1-2). Being the non-sewer that I am, this took a surprisingly long time to make, though I used fabric and ribbon that I already had, so that didn't cost me anything (just blood, sweat, and tears...). I'm sure it would go faster should I try it again, but it's the same way I feel about cinnamon rolls. In the end I just want to have one, I don't have to make it myself to enjoy it.

Thanks for the inspiration Lindsey!

Avery is turning 1!

So if you have been following this blog for a while, you have met my adorable niece Avery Juliet. In case you have forgotten, here she is in all her cuteness.

(This was at Christmas when she was still trying to figure out how to crawl.)

I can hardly believe it, but she is turning 1 in April. I'm super excited to fly down for her birthday weekend, and especially excited to help my sister Leslie decorate for the party. While discussing fun party themes via chat, I decided that I wanted to make Avery a birthday banner. And so, the madness began:

Step 1: Pick out some cute fabric based on how many flags you want, or how long the name is, etc. I chose 3 different fabrics, plus one complimentary color to unify the three. I also bought some white felt squares to use for the letters of her name.

Step 2: Create a stencil in the shape and size that you want and cut the flags accordingly. Before cutting I decided that I needed at least 5 flags for her name, and 2 on either side, so I chose the order (and quantity) of each fabric piece before I began.

Step 3: Cut the complementary border pieces about an inch longer than the flag on either side to allow for a hem. I wanted the border to be an inch wide on top when finished, so I cut each piece to 4 inches. I made a thin hem on each side, but not the top and bottom. Like so...

Then I cuffed the top and bottom so the unsewn edges met in the middle, inserted the flag, and sewed it all together. I sewed pretty close to the bottom of the border because the string has to have room to pass through the top part. (Sorry if this is a bit confusing. Kind of hard to explain).

And flag one is complete! Repeat with each of the flags. Jam your sewing machine at least 10 times and call it bad names (optional).

Step 4: Cut some stencils for the letters, cut the letters out of felt, and sew them to your flags.

Step 5: Start stringing your banner. I wrapped the end of the string in tape (the length of a flag) so that it could pass through easily. Don't forget to start with your front spacer flags, and not the first letter (which I did in the picture and had to take back off. Oops.) Talk your glassblowing boyfriend into hooking you up with cool glass balls to put between each flag. You don't have a glassblowing boyfriend? Order some from mine!

Tie loops on either side and hang! It turned out pretty long, so for the sake of the picture it's pretty swoopy (since I just hooked to the curtain rod), but you get the idea...

Fun find - quick project

I love antique stores. There are some good ones out where I live, and I could spend hours and hours looking at old things. (I am perpetually looking for an old school room style roll down map if anyone happens upon one...but I digress.) Last weekend I came across some great finds, one of which was this old luggage rack.

Now I know it doesn't look like much, but at the same time, I also found some great fabric in a way back room for 50% percent off of practically nothing. And the wheels started turnin'. So after a few dollars, a partial can of white spray paint, and a little zigzag stitching, voila! A new old luggage rack for the guest room.

"Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"

My all time favorite book is The Little Prince, by Antoine St. Exupery. The first time I read it I was in college and it was like finding a pot of gold. If you haven't read it, whatever you are doing right now, some matter of consequence, stop and go get a copy and a cup of tea, and read it lying in the grass somewhere beautiful. And if you have kids, read it to them.

Yesterday was again gorgeous, and when I got home from work I sat out on the porch in the sun, enjoying my garden and my silly dog. I have been in the mood to paint and the day before I had prepped my canvas, so I took it outside and started to paint. It was exactly how I wanted to spend the day. It started to cool, so I watered the garden, pulled some weeds, then brought my painting inside to work some more. I finally finished it at about 10:30 and hung it on the wall. It was very satisfying.

Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived--as on all planets--good plants and bad plants. In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants. But seeds are invisible. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth's darkness, until some one among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin--timidly at first--to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun. If it is only a sprout of radish or the sprig of a rose-bush, one would let it grow wherever it might wish. But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.

"I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes . . ."

Jewelry that rocks!

Here's a fun project I made with guitar strings and picks this weekend. I had been stockpiling Justin's old strings for a while. He also might be short a pick or two (or six) now...but new jewelry for me! I call that team work.



Required: old steel guitar strings, some picks, end clasps, o-rings, crimp tubes (2.5mm), earring hooks, wire cutters, and a thumb tack to make the holes in the picks. I also wrapped a set in the guitar string envelope for a thematically complete gift! Easy, funky, and practically free.

Tweet

No, I did not just join twitter. However, another bird themed project I have been working on is a mobile for my sister's baby girl (due April 22!). I found this tutorial on line and liked the pattern so it was a good starting point.

I bought felt squares at Joann's Fabric for $0.29 each (one of each: blue, purple, brown, green, light green). I bought embroidery floss in blue, purple, green, and light green ($0.33 each). Unlike the tutorial, both sides of my birds were the same color, and rather than gluing the felt I hand stitched it with the corresponding color floss. Once I was almost around on the stitching I stuffed in some of the felt scraps to make the birds more 3D and then closed it up. I glued the wings just along the bottom so that they would sort of flap back. I also cut a pattern for leaves and sewed with the opposite green floss (didn't stuff those) leaving a long strand at the end to hang. Instead of a branch I had a thin dowel from Home Depot (under $1), and painted it with brown acrylic. I secured the dowel it to itself with thin wire, but hemp or twine would also work. When I assembled it I did it while it was hanging so that I could get it to balance correctly since not all the birds are at the same height. I used brown yarn for the bird strings. Sliding the leaves around also helped me achieve balance. Strictly following the tutorial probably would have only taken about 30 minutes. Since I hand stitched it, added leaves, and painted a dowel it took me about 3 hours but it felt shorter than that. It was super easy to make, and I love how it turned out.



Now I'm pondering making a few more for other babies I know, and scheming some more designs.