Category — Sewing Projects

Saturday, when I was machine quilting a quilt, I ran out of thread.   I hopped in the car vowing I would not spend money in quilt shop…I would only buy thread….nothing else.  If you sew, you know that’s a HUGE challenge.  The newest issue of Quilts and More was there.  I flipped through it…all the while telling myself, “don’t cave in….only buy thread.”  While I was flipping through the magazine the shop gal showed me a bag made from an empty bag of dog food.  I thought it was silly and left the store with only my thread.  (aren’t you proud of me!)

When I got home I went to change the wash and there next to the washing machine, was an empty dog food bag.  I looked at the bag and thought…no.  I’m not making a bag made from an empty bag of dog food.

Well then…last night, I could resist no more.  I had a couple minutes before I was going to bed and decided what the heck…it won’t cost me anything.  I retrieved the bag from the garbage and wa-la….there’s my bag.

Kalissa came home and said…”really Mom, you’ve got to be kidding!”  About two minutes past and then she said, “Wait.  Can I have that bag?”

So now it’s your turn to weigh in….Cute?  or Strange?

Yesterday I was the guest blogger over at Stash Manicure.  Today I thought I would answer a few of the questions I got….

Question one:  Can I post some close up photos?
Answer YES!

This is a close up of the trivet.  You can see that my stitch length is at the widest setting.  You can see that I am catching the new added coil and the main piece in each zig zag.  I am using a brownish tan thread that blends.  I have seen light colors sewn with black thread and that was neat.

Question Two:  Do you use bias pieces or what?
Answer:  No…you don’t use bias pieces…you could but it isn’t necessary.  Here’s a salvage edge that I am wrapping around the clothesline.  I would glue the end in place with a glue stick and then glue a new color down and start wrapping with the new piece of fabric.  I only glue at the start and finish and about every 12 inches in between.

Question Three:  Do you sew at an angle?
Answer:  Keep EVERYTHING as flat as possible if you are making a trivet, coaster or rug.  The only time you need to angle is if you are making a basket…like I am making in the photo below.  The book, “It’s a Wrap” will give you all the specifics and varying angles.

QuestionFour:  How long does it take?  Answer in one evening after supper I made the four coasters and two trivets…probably about two hours.

You may notice in the coaster picture that the threads are closer together in the middle.  You are right.  They aren’t perfect.  Starting is REALLY a challenge.  If you can get your piece to 2″ in size, it will be MUCH easier.  Hang in there….breath and know the hard part will be over SOON.

I hope I answered most of your questions….Now for the giveaway winners:

1.  Karla

2.  Marie

3.  Mary

4.  Nancy Sue Phillips

5.  Melissa Corry

6.  Judy D

7.  SewLindaAnn

Congrats to all the winners.  I have emailed you for your shipping address so that you can get your little treasure.  And to those who weren’t the lucky ones this time….there is another giveaway in the works.  Don’t forget to sign up to win yesterday’s trivet!

A few weeks ago, I got a stack of magazines at our local “used store”.  Since then I have been VERY busy reading a putting them to good use….

Here’s a sneak peek at what I’m working on.  Check back tomorrow and I’ll show you….It’s not quilting….but it’s sewing.  It’s lots of fun and TOTALLY addicting!

Of all my girls, my 14 year old daughter Kalissa is the least likely to sew.  But last week, she did a little bit of “sewing”.
Check out what she “made”….

She didn’t exactly make her top, she refashioned it and is VERY proud of her accomplishments.

We were used store shopping and she saw this dress on the “new clothes” rack and tried it on. 

After consideration, she decided she probably wouldn’t wear it, not knowing if this style of dress would be popular again this season.  Then, just as we were checking out, she grabbed it off the rack and decided that she would repurpose the dress.  She explained how she would cut the dress off, hem it and make it into a shirt.  (I think she has seen me reading Samster Mommy’s blog too often…she is often repurposing clothes.)

Well I encourage ANY kind sewing so Kalissa came home and started her project….She was busy pinning and cutting but the sewing on the knit T-shirt material ended up being a bit of a challenge.  She couldn’t get the concept that when sewing knits, you can’t pull them or it will stretch so…Mom to the rescue…

She LOVES the shirt and started talking about how she was planning to wear it to school when I informed her that it wouldn’t meet dress code.  She inventively coupled it with her white T-shirt and off she went.

She coupled the shirt with some black dress capris and wore it Saturday for choir contest too…It looks like the $3.50 maxi dress was one of the best clothes purchases she has made in a long time.  Now she’s asking, “Mom, how do you put in elastic?”  It looks like the bottom of that dress just might become a skirt!

When I am making a project with charm packs, I often have just a “sliver” of fabric left over.  I’ve been saving those “slivers” and here’s what we’ve been doing with them….

…making ponytail holders!  This pony tail holder made from the leftovers from my March Schnibble.  It’s Oz fabric line.  The pieces are about 1/4″ wide.  We just tied the “slivers” around a ponytail holder.

There’s another “sliver” project….It’s a little notebook journal.

This one is done with “slivers” from the Charisma fabirc line.  You will need a notebook with an oversized “chunky” sprial.
Measure the notebook cover.  Cut a scrap of fabric to that size.  Cut a piece of clear contact paper about an inch larger on each side. Take the paper off the contact paper and lay in sticky side up on a table.  Take the fabric and place it UPSIDE down on the contact paper placing it all the way to the edge of the side that will butt the coil binding.  Put a small amount of glue on the notebook cover.  Position the fabric/contact paper in place.  Bring the edges of the contact paper around the cover and stick them in place.  You may want to trim the corners on the contact paper to have it be less bulky.  If you are using a plastic covered notebook, you might need to use clear packaging tape to hold the contact paper in place.  Now take the fabric ”slivers” and tie one to each individual coil.  Trim if necessary. 

These little journals would make cute gifts for kids to make for friends, sisters or for moms as Mother’s Day gifts.  You could easily bundle the slivers, a notebook and the instructions as a cute “craft kit” project to give a special girl in your life. 

Here’s to using every litttle “sliver” of fabric!

I finished my little wool project just in time to meet the deadline.  Here’s a close up. 

We had it mounted to a black matting.  Now the cast of the play are going to sign the black matting with a gold metalic pen and give it to the director of their play, The Egg and I, as a gift .  It’s actually a  little candle mat pattern from Bareroots.

I started it a week or so ago…It took one evening to cut it out and two evenings to stitch.  A quick little project…now I wish I had one for myself.  That’s always the way it goes when I make something for someone else.

Last night I finished up this little beauty….

It is from Lori Smith’s Fat Quarter Quilting: Throughout the Year.  I started it last year but got frustrated in the process and set it aside.  My frustration was not due to the pattern or the instructions.  I got the basket blocks sewn together and realized I had two triangles inverted…not on just one block, but on all five blocks.  I packaged it all up and set it aside.  I am not very good at ripping things out and fixing them. 

A couple night ago, I remembered the project and dug it out thinking it would be nice to finish for spring.  The quilt was made to hang out by our front door, so I didn’t take the time to hand applique the rabbits and flowers.  A little heat and bond along with button stitch applique is perfect for an outside quilt that will only last a couple seasons.  There are several other quilts in the pattern that I would like to make as well….maybe the 4th of July design will be next…Hopefully it won’t take a year to finish.

When I was in California, I visited The Country Loft.  It was a WONDERFUL shop.  I went out of my usual comfort zone and bought a couple doll patterns and a pinchusion pattern.

Here is my new little pinchusion….it’s made with wool scraps and a little metal muffin tin.  I really love it.  It was quick and easy to make.  I bought mine as a kit.  It was a fun quick easy evening project. 

When I was there I met Joanne Mullaly from the book Wool Crazy.  I believe she is the pinchusion designer too.  Many people in blogland are raving about Wool Crazy.  She also designs MANY of the dolls in the shop.  I LOVED the dolls and broke down and bought two of her doll patterns.  She was a real treasure and SUPER helpful.  You can check out Simple Pleasures to see more about Joanne and the quilt shop. 

I have decided that something that really attracts me to quilt shops is the awesome customer service….in this world of fast paced busy people, customer service has died.  THANKFULLY, quilt shops, haven’t gone in that direction.

I am also thankful that The Country Loft isn’t closer to my house….my checkbook couldn’t handle the stress of it!

When Kayla was home over the weekend, we hit our favorite thrifty place.  It just so happens that a crafty friend of Kayla’s was there with a pair of BEAUTIFUL mittens.  She explained that she had made her mittens from a repurposed wool sweater.  Well, I quickly went to the sweater section and found this red sweater vest.

Kayla told me about a free pattern that she had seen online over at The Purl-Bee.  By combining their pattern and Kayla’s friends advice, this is what I did.

I put the wool vest in the wash in hot water and dried it so it shrunk.  I dug through my scraps and found black fleece for a lining.  The pattern is designed for medium hands….mine are large and I wanted to add a lining so I added about 3/8″ to the outside of the pattern making it larger. 

I cut out and sewed both the lining and the fleece.  (The Purl Bee has great pictorial instructions so I just followed them)  I put the fleece mitten on my hand with the wrong side out, then I put the sweater vest mitten on top with the wrong side in.  Now, I was at a stand still.  The Purl Bee suggested knitting the cuff….well I don’t knit….Kayla does, but she had already left….so I went to my second favorite thrift store and found a black sweater.  I cut the cuffs off.  I sewed the cuff to the outside of the mitten with the wrong sides together.  You will need to stretch the cuff to fit the glove when doing this.  Then I turned over 1/4″ of the lining and hand sewed it to the cuff, hiding all of the seams.

Here are my new mittens….

I LOVE them.  They are super warm and cozy.  The sweater I used to make the cuffs had extra long cuffs which is a feature I look for in mittens.  The little flowers look so cute.

So here’s the run down…
Sweater vest      $2.00
Fleece lining            .25  from previous thrift shopping
sweater for cuffs     .10  Yes, ten cents…it was a deal day!

Total…. $2.35  but the fun in making them was truly priceless!  All together with the hand sewing and all, the mittens only took about an hour and half to make.  I will definately be watching my local thrift stores for more wool sweaters….if you’re on my gift list, you just might be getting a pair next Christmas.

I finished my block of the month yesterday.  I have never been more happy to finish a quilt…..
Sewing the quilt top together wasn’t a problem at all.  BUT the machine quilting was a nightmare.  I had a silly notion that a feather design would look great on it, and it probably would but it just isn’t possible for ME to do it with my Grand Quilter and Frame. 

I had stitched one whole border edge before I decided to rip all of the stitching out.  Thankfully, the kids helped through part of it….but honestly, it took almost a whole entire day to rip it out.  UGH!  The kids kept asking me, why did you stitch so far before you realized it was bad…what can I say, it was the optimist in me.

The quilt is going to be a wedding present for hubby’s great nephew who is getting married in January.  This was an Open Gate pattern by Monique Dillard and Sue Glorch.  The local quilt shop featured it as their block of the month.  The fabric is Collections for a Cause-Tradition.  There are three different layouts for the quilt blocks.  I chose the Ruth’s Medallion version which at 84 x84.
 

 If anyone would like the pattern book (it does have my scribbles in it), drop a note in the comments and I’ll pick someone to mail it to on Friday.  That’s another Joy in the New Year project finished….ya-hoo.  Now to go finish another one….