Leslie's Art and Sew

What Makes a Monster a Monster?

2012-02-28T14:35:00.001-05:00

The Monster Pouch Swap is now open for sign-ups on Craftster--yay!--but it closes on Saturday morning, so hurry if you plan to sign up.

While writing the information about the swap, and sewing the two pouches who will serve as our "spokes-monsters", I had to ask myself, what exactly is it that makes a monster a monster? Here's the first one I made:

I made it using the pattern for the eyeglasses case I showed you last week. Thinking back to the Hungry Monsters we made last August, I added lots of teeth. The eyes needed to be monstrous, so I made them different sizes. It still needed something, so taking my cue from Susan's rendition of my mystery critters, I added some scraggly hair, by sewing on some short scraps of embroidery thread (that really cleaned up some of the mess around my sewing chair!)

But I wasn't completely happy with the eyeglasses-case-monster, so I went back to the first monster I ever made: good ol' Zipper Face (below)! The zipper is the perfect monster mouth, especially when you use a constrasting color for the zipper and the inside of the mouth. The eyes are especially good on this one too, because they are both very different, and one eye has an orange spot around it, sewn on with random zig-zag lines of stitching.

Using Zipper Face for my guide, I made this new monster pouch, below. Yes, that's better! The two things that bothered me about the eyeglass-case-monster were the teeth (just a little bit of overkill there) and the matchy-ness of the fabrics I used.

So here are the ingredients for a pleasing monster pouch:
1. A mouth with a zipper or teeth (just not too many teeth).
2. Eyes that don't match, plus some added detail, like a spot around one eye, or layered buttons for one eye.
3. Mismatched fabrics (but not so many different colors that it looks like a kindergarten exploded!)--strong colors seem to work well, and a print that could be monster skin is especially awesome (of course, fake fur is the ultimate monster fabric!)
4. An extra detail or two, such as wonky hair, a tongue, or arms and legs will go a long way in making your monster pouch really unique and special.

Pincushion Surprise

2012-02-26T08:10:00.000-05:00

Over at Craftster, there's always something fun going on; a few weeks ago a challenge was issued, to do some sort of Random Act of Crafty Kindness, and then post about it on the challenge board. Here's what I did:

I made a TON of these cute little tie-on pincushions (based on these at the Better Homes and Gardens website). Here they are, in-progress.

and I mailed one to each person who signed up for our Fabric Basket Swap. The picture below shows some of them, ready for mailing. I sent them anonymously, but about half of the recipients knew they were from me! (I didn't know it would be so obvious!)

The picture below shows the three stages of construction:
1. Cut out 2 heart-shaped pieces from wool felt, and choose two scraps of felt for the leaves and flower. I cut the leaves and flowers free-hand.
2. With embroidery floss, sew the leaves and flower in place; add a button to the center of the flower. Choose ribbon for the tie, and embroidery floss for the stitching around the edges, in a color that will add a little contrast.
3. Blanket stitch around the edges. When you come to the top of the heart, tuck in the ribbon and anchor it with a couple of extra stitches. When there is only a small opening left to sew, stuff the heart with fiberfill, and continue stitching to close it up.
4. Give it away, or enjoy it yourself!

These were a big hit with all who received them; their happiness and excitement made ME happy and excited! It is so fun to do something nice and unexpected for other people!

If you didn't receive one of these from me but wish you did, you still have a chance! Starting on March 17th I will be hosting a 7-day-long celebration of both my birthday (yeah, I was a St. Patrick's Day baby!) AND my 1-year anniversary of blogging (I started last year on March 28th) AND having 100 followers (okay, okay, as of today I only have 90...but that's pretty close to 100!). For seven days in a row, I will be giving away stuff I have made and brand new fabric fat quarters to people who leave a comment on that days' post! It's going to be great! I can't wait!!

Eyeglasses Cases

2012-02-24T07:01:00.000-05:00

The last pair of sunglasses I bought came with a horrid vinyl drawstring case. I promptly threw it away. Later, when I flew to Arkansas to visit my mom, I put the sunglasses in my carry-on bag; unbeknowst to me, my nail file was right next to the glasses. Emerging from the airport several hours later, I put on my sunglasses, and wondered what was wrong with that left lens...yeah, the nail file had rubbed against the lens the whole time, and the sunglasses were ruined.

That won't happen to me again, because I have vowed to always carry my sunglasses in a case from now on! When this package of fabric arrived last week (from Sew Mama Sew) I knew that some of it would be perfect for glasses cases.

I made up my own pattern. It's just two pieces, the body of the case, and the flap. In this picture you can see the outside of the case on the left, and the inside on the right.

The button is just for decoration, since the flap stays closed with velcro.

I will keep one for myself, and take the rest of them to the store where I sell my work.

Problem solved. Yay!

Beaded Hair Pins Mini Tutorial

2012-02-22T06:34:00.000-05:00

While looking online for some sort of hair ornament I could make, I came upon this cute little idea at annekata--pretty beaded bobby pins that would be appropriate for all ages. I love these, because they look great but they aren't too big, and they are really useful too--I frequently use a bobby pin to hold back stray hair, but these will really boost my style quotient!

I tried making them with thread, like she did, but the beads didn't feel secure to me, so I tried again with 34 gauge beading wire (it is as thin as thread so it wasn't too bulky, and it was strong and easy to work with). I bought my beads at Joann's; I just used two different types, a faceted glass bead alternating with an irregular polished stone. If you look at Annekata's post, you will see that she used all different types of beads, which looks really great! I had some beading pliers (I guess that's what they're called!) that I used to pull the wire tight, but they weren't really necessary. Scissors are necessary to cut the wire. (Obviously, don't use your best pair!)

I used seven beads per pin.

Start by cutting a 20" piece of wire. Wrap it around the end of the bobby pin, positioning it so that one strand of wire is longer than the other (the short one should be about 6"). Thread the first bead onto both wires, then wrap the longer wire around both the pin and the short wire, 2 times, right in front of the bead. Continue on this way until you reach the end of the pin.

At the end of the pin, you will need to hide the wire ends, so feed them back through the hole in the last bead, and cut them off close to the bead.

Wrapping the bobby pins with wire had an unforseen bonus: the pins stayed in my hair much better than unwrapped pins ever have. A pair or two of these would make a nice little gift, even for someone with short hair.

SHINY!! PRETTY!!

Strawberry Pouch

2012-02-20T07:02:00.000-05:00

I make a lot of zippererd pouches, and I've decided I need to step up my game a little--you can find a basic fabric pouch at every major retail store, so mine should be something unique, something that you CAN'T find at a big store. That's what hand-made is all about.

I just got these marvelous fabrics in the mail this week (a gift from my equally marvelous friend, Susan!) I decided to use the cute strawberry print fabric for my pouch.

I found a red polka-dot fabric to add to the front for constrast, and I wanted to do something else, but what? A button? Something embroidered? Taking my cue from the fabric itself, I settled on a felt strawberry on a square background, sort of like a badge or medallion (or maybe a postage stamp?) I cut the green square using a ruler and my pinking shears; I cut out the strawberry and stem freehand. Here it is before any sewing has taken place:

Here it is, hand-sewn onto the fabric that will be the front of the pouch. Isn't it cute?!

This is a medium-sized pouch, measuring 6.5" x 5". It's a perfect size for organizing the small things in your purse.

I also used the red polka-dot fabric for the lining.

I finished it off with a leaf charm tied with a red ribbon to the zipper. (I wish I had a strawberry charm!)

It's so exciting when something comes out just the way you want it to! No more plain pouches for me!

My Favorite Artist

2012-02-18T07:55:00.000-05:00

It has occurred to me more than once, that with the word "Art" in the title of my blog, I ought to be showing you more of that! So today I want to introduce you to my favorite artist: my daughter, Jenna. I plan to post her artwork regularly, perhaps once a month or so.

Jenna is currently a freshman in the School of Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. She's always been artistic and creative, and when she entered high school she already knew that she wanted to pursue art as a career.

Here she is at her Senior Art Show last spring at her high school, surrounded by her work:

She is fabulously talented as a painter on canvas, and as a digital artist on the computer. On her left you can see a painting of her cat, Q-Tip, done in the style of a painting by an artist whose name she can no longer recall!

Jenna has a unique personal style that is quirky and offbeat. She doesn't always paint fluffy white kittens; usually the tone of her art is more like these highly-detailed, painted ping-pong balls (which I set on spools of thread so they wouldn't roll away during the photo session!)

Front view:

Back view:

On the left, the Monster from the Black Lagoon; on the right, a "lovely" mermaid:

On the left, a vampire; on the right, a mummy:

I think these are amazing! I especially love the mermaid, because it is completely opposite of the "average" mermaid, with her missing tooth and over-done makeup. I'm also impressed with the mummy's wrappings, which extend smoothly around the entire ball.

Next time I will show you a couple of Jenna's sculptures...they are really cool...!

Making Pillows

2012-02-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

I really have pillows on the brain right now, because I'm in the Cushion Cover Swap at Craftster. I wish I could show you the one I'm working on for my partner because I like how it's coming out! But it involves a lot of handwork, so it will be another week or so before it is done (and then I have to wait for it to reach my partner in England before I can show it here!) So instead, I will show you two scripture verse pillows I have just finished.

I love making these pillows because I love scripture, and beading them is really fun!

I make the tops just like a mini quilt, layering the front with batting and a backing fabric. Then I do a little hand-quilting, and add all the beads.

Here's my secret for making a nice smooth pillow: I also layer the back of the pillow like a mini quilt. In this picture, the pillow front has been trimmed; I will just flip it over onto the layered backing, pin it, and take it to the sewing machine to sew it all together.

I leave an opening for stuffing, turn it, and fill it with polyfill. Sew up the bottom and ta-da! Finished!

These pillows are about 9" square, and make a wonderful little gift.

These could be made with any quote on the front; I add the words with a sakura micron marker and a light box. They are really versatile that way, and could be personalized to anyone.

Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T08:15:00.002-05:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Yesterday I whipped up the "love" hearts in this picture so I would have something appropriate to post today, and to add a few more hearts to my 365 sewn hearts total. As I was making them, I realized I had a sewing tip I would like to share with you.

I used red thread to sew the felt letters onto the fabric hearts on the sewing machine (I wanted to hand-embroider around the edges but I ran out of time). Normally when you sew on the machine, you backstitch at the beginning and end of your line of stitching to secure the thread. I didn't want backstitches to detract from my red outline, so here's what I did:

I stitched all around the letter without backstitching, and I left a long tail of thread at both the beginning and the end.

Flipping the heart over, I pulled the loose threads from the front through to the back (with the help of a pin).

Then I just tied them in a knot to secure the threads.

There--a nice neat outline!

I happened to have some red polymer clay beads that I made a while ago and never used--they were perfect to put between my hearts! Then I used a long doll-making needle to string everything onto a length of embroidery floss. This is the hutch in my dining room; I think the little "love" garland fits in very well. (The strange glow in the lower right is the reflection of my computer screen from the other side of the room!)

Have a happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Zakka Sewing Book

2012-02-13T06:03:00.001-05:00

I may have mentioned my awesome friend Susan before; in her regular awesome manner she sent me a great book for Christmas called Zakka Sewing. Zakka projects are functional objects to use in the home, meant to add an element of style and individuality to the environment.

Susan sent the book in this super cute bag she made!

We both love the "shabby chic" style, but Susan is more successful at it than I am; it's hard for me to let go of finished edges and 90-degree angles! She knows I love pink, and hearts; look at how fun and raggedy this heart is!

Okay...getting back to Zakka Sewing...I decided to choose one of the 25 projects in this book to make and show you. Here's what I made: the "Flower Corsage Pincushion". It is a wrist pincushion meant to resemble a wrist corsage. Mine looks just like the picture in the book--success!

My one complaint with this project is that the flower patterns in the book are not full size; the directions tell you to enlarge them on a copy machine by 200%. Well, I'm at home in my pajamas, and my scanner doesn't enlarge like a copy machine...so with a lot of scanning, editing and printing, I finally got the flower patterns to approximately the right size (the larger one is about 3" across, and the smaller one is about 2 1/2"). Would it have killed them to include full-size patterns???

After tracing the flower outline onto the fabric, you are supposed to cut it out and then sew around the edges (which are left raw). Since I'm always thinking, I decided to sew first and then cut out the flower. It was quick and easy this way.

Here's the flower, it's almost done!

After making the flower, you make the wrist band; that part is very straight-forward.

Sewing it all together (by hand) took a little figuring out; you layer the flower and wrist band with a felt circle and a plastic disc (cut from a milk carton or a random lid) and blanket stitch it all together on the bottom. The stuffing is actually inserted here, underneith the wrist band (which seemed weird, but it works out okay).

I have never used a wrist pincushion before, and I am super excited about this one--it is so cute and feels so nice when it's on (it's just like a fabric bracelet) that I hope I will use it a lot! Once I got past the pattern-enlarging issue, it went together quickly; there is no interfacing or anything tricky, and I had all the materials on hand (you probably do too). I can see that this will be a perfect little "extra" to add to future craft swap packages on Craftster!

There are several more projects I would like to make out of this book, and I plan to show you at least one more. Which one will it be--the bunny pencil case, the slippers, or the sashiko pouch?

St. Patrick's Day Bags

2012-02-11T08:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know it isn't even Valentine's Day yet, but St. Patrick's Day will be here before you know it, and everyone needs her own special purse to carry in honor of that occassion, doesn't she?

...Okay, that's a stretch, but my favorite customer Debbie needed shamrock-themed bags for herself and her daughter (a school teacher), so here are the two designs I made for them to choose from.

First choice:

Bright green with shamrocks, checkerboard and stripes!

One pocket inside and one outside.

Second choice:

Dark green with shamrocks and stripes!

I made one large and one small of each fabric combination (Debbie carries the large bag and her daughter prefers the small one.) I REALLY should make one of these for myself, because my birthday happens to be on St. Patrick's Day! But it's hard for me do that; I always feel that I should be sewing to fill up my little booth at the local store.

Debbie, I hope you and your daughter LOVE these bags. (I guess it's time to start looking for Easter fabrics now...)

One White Bag

2012-02-08T13:35:00.001-05:00

Regular readers of this blog will remember my customer (a friend of my mother in Arkansas) who ordered some special bags back in the fall. First there was the all-black bag

which was followed by the all-brown bag

which has now been followed by the all-white bag! The light-weight cotton fabric on the front came with the pin-tucks and lace sewn on already. The back and inside are canvas.

I'm sure you're thinking "how will she keep it clean?" The answer is, she will throw it in the washing machine frequently!

I know that because this is actually the SECOND all-white bag she has ordered from me; the first one has lasted through several summers and many trips through the washing machine! I Scotch-Guarded this one and sent it on it's way to her last week.

Although I prefer the freedom of sewing whatever I feel like making for my booth at Country Treasures, these unusual special orders force me to think in new ways about the things I make. Lessons I learn from special orders always transfer over to my daily sewing, adding to both my experience and creativity--so bring it on!

The Fabric Basket Swap is OPEN!

2012-02-06T12:41:00.001-05:00

Today I want to encourage any of you who are not members of Craftster yet to go sign up! After you have been a member for one month, you can join a craft swap and have a ton of fun!!

This is a package I sent to my partner Beunruffled (hi, Suzy!) in the recent Craft This Tote Round 2 swap (click on that link to go to the gallery and see all the awesome totes everyone made).

We used the pattern from the morsbags website; I made this bag with a big ruffle down the front because that's just what Beunruffled likes! I also made a zippered pouch and two fabric baskets in one of her favorite color schemes: orange and aqua. The fabric baskets sparked a lot of interest amongst the swap participants, so today I opened the the Fabric Basket Swap so everyone can try their hand at making a basket or bin or other free-standing fabric storage container!

If you aren't a Craftster member already you won't be able to participate this time, but if you go and sign up today, you will be ready the next time a great swap opens up!

Exciting Project Updates!!

2012-02-04T10:16:00.002-05:00

I have two exciting updates to share with you today:

Remember my Happy Heart Card Tutorial? It has been included in an e-book of Valentine projects for all ages! Go to Sidetracked Sarah to download your FREE copy! Sarah only asks that you subscribe to her blog in return for the free e-book. Thanks, Sarah!

Also, my cute little Ring Dish tutorial will be featured on Craft Gossip this coming Tuesday, Feb. 7th. If you are not familiar with Craft Gossip, you are missing out! Go there and subscribe, and each morning you will get an e-mail full of all kinds of really great new crafty projects (like my ring dish!). Every day I find several things that pique my interest, and I am sure you will find interesting things there too.

While I have your attention...don't forget about the great big, incredible, awesome, unprecidented Seven Days of Giveaways that will begin here the day my blog reaches 100 followers! Check back often so you don't miss out!

Ring Dish Tutorial

2012-02-02T17:20:00.001-05:00

Here's a picture of the package I recently sent to my partner waggonswest (hi, Charlene!) in our "Craft This Tote Round 2" swap on Craftster:

It included a morsbag with a wonky house pocket on each side; a fabric basket that I designed myself, a stuffed bear keychain from her wists list, and my favorite, a polymer clay ring dish.

I had been wanting to try making this ring dish for a while, and I needed a small "extra" for this swap package, so it was a good fit.

I want to show you how I made it, so I took pictures yesterday as I made one for myself (what a good excuse to make one for myself!!) Here's my dish:

This is most of what you need, starting at the back: a foil-covered cookie sheet, an oven-proof bowl to use as a mold; a circle template in the size you want to use for your bowl, Sculpey polymer clay, and a pasta machine. You could do it without the pasta machine, but it's quicker and easier with one! Be sure to cover the area where you will be working with a towel or paper bag, because the unbaked clay will stick to any sort of finished surface. I use a wooden cutting board to make my shapes, and it doesn't stick to that.

Start by "conditioning" the clay. Just force it through the rollers; the first time it is stiff, but after that it goes through easily.

This is how it came out the first time. Fold it up and run it through the machine a few more times. When it comes out nice and smooth, you are ready to make your dish!

Decide how you want to decorate your dish. I used a texture sheet for the background design, and a cookie cutter for the heart.

I pressed the texture sheet into the clay before I cut the circle. I cut my circle using a plastic ring I found in the scrapbooking aisle of Joann's. The inner circle that I used is 4 1/2" in diameter.

I used a cookie cutter to cut the heart, then I altered the shape with a sharp knife. I wanted some kind of pattern on the heart, but I didn't like any of the texture sheets I had, so I used the red towel in this picture to press the waffle pattern into the clay. I just set the heart onto the dish, and pressed it gently around the edges to make them stick together--there's no glue or anything like that holding them together.

I had an old pyrex dish in the cupboard that I used to shape my ring dish. I centered it upside down, and smoothed the edges down. Bake it in a 275 degree oven for 30 minutes.

After taking it out of the oven and letting it cool, I made a simple twist of the two blue clays to decorate the edge of the dish.

Since the unbaked clay is stretchy, it's easy to twist and pull it until you get the cut ends to line up. Then gently press them together. I just pressed the twist onto the baked edge; I didn't use any kind of "glue", and it stuck on just fine. Bake it again at 275 degrees for 30 minutes, right-side up, directly on the foil-lined cookie sheet.

After it is cool, it's time to varnish! I have had this can of Varithane Polyurithane for several years; a little goes a long way and doesn't dry out or thicken as long as you keep the can tightly closed between uses. One note: STIR the varnish, don't shake the can, before using it; shaking will incorporate a lot of air bubbles that will make your dish look bad! I used the plastic spoon to stir the varnish, then I spooned a little into the plastic cup to work with, so I could seal the can shut again. It takes very little varnish to cover it; just brush on a thin, even coat. I did the back first, let it dry for an hour, then did the front. That's all there is to it!

I love my cute little ring dish!!

I LOVE SCISSORS!!

2012-01-31T10:26:00.001-05:00

In case you've ever wondered what my favorite sewing/crafting tool is, wonder no more--it's SCISSORS!

I love them because they are so functional, and they come in so many sizes, shapes, and colors. Here are most of the scissors I own; I know I have more (where are my two pairs of stork-shaped embroidery scissors?) but these were all I could find when I wanted to take a group photo:

This is the first pair of real scissors I ever owned. My parents brought them back for me when they went on a short trip to Spain, when I was 13 years old. They are pretty dull now, and the screw tends to fall out when you are cutting, but I love the decoration on them. They are my favorite pair!

One of these two is my most expensive pair of scissors--but I don't know which! I remember that the embroidery scissors were really expensive when I asked my husband to get them for me for my birthday about 20 years ago; they are super-sharp and well-made. The Ginghers are my prettiest scissors; I treated myself to them a couple of years ago. I am left-handed, and so are these scissors; one of the things that made me want them was that they are "true" left-handed scissors--they don't just have a left-handed grip, but the cutting edges of the blades are actually reversed--it sounded great, but in reality, as a person who has always used right-handed scissors, it seems very awkward and is hard to get used to. Otherwise, they are great!

These three are my "work horses"' that I use every time I sew. The orange handled ones are left-handed Fiskars; I've had them forever and they always work great and rarely need sharpening. The blue handled pair has the name "Durasharp" on the blade; I don't remember where I got them, but they are amazingly great scissors! This is the only pair that I use for both fabric and paper, and they never get dull!

These Cutter Bees are my newest pair of scissors. They were part of the huge bag of goodies I got at the Blogger's Meet-up hosted by Craft Gossip and sponsored by EK Success Brands, back in September, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Everyone had a pair of these sitting at her place at the table when we walked in--I was so excited to see free scissors!!

I already had this pink pair, and let me tell you, if you need scissors for scrap-booking or other kinds of paper-cutting, these are the ones to get! They are fantastically sharp, but best of all, the tip is extremely small and sharp too, so you can easily cut into small corners. I love them! But then again,

I love all my scissors!!

Seven Days of Giveaways!

2012-01-28T15:22:00.000-05:00

I started this blog almost a year ago, in March of 2011, with three followers: my husband, my daughter, and my wonderful friend Susan (whose idea it was that I start blogging). As of today I am up to 76 followers, and since a few more are added each week, it won't be long before the number reaches 100! I've been thinking that I need to do something special for my readers then, some kind of giveaway, but one day of prizes just isn't enough for something as big as this--so I've decided that starting the day my number of followers hits 100, I will have SEVEN DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

Many of the things I will be giving away are the samples I've made for swaps, like this apron:

or this basket:

or these morsbags:

or this card wallet:

And to make it more fun, I will have two winners each day: the first person to leave a comment will win the handmade item (plus whatever extras I throw into the package) and the second person to leave a comment will win a group of fat quarters of designer fabric! The fabric is being donated by Susan; she came upon an amazing haul of brand-new, packaged fat quarters at a garage sale last year, and because she is so awesome, she is letting me give it away!! There will be a picture of the prizes each day, which I will post at a random time, just to keep things interesting.

The tricky part is, I don't know exactly when this will all happen--that depends new followers signing up--but I think is will be within the next month or two. I'm telling you now so you will know to keep checking here.

As the number gets closer to 100, I will post a reminder of this great big, incredible, awesome, unprecidented SEVEN DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!!

Fabric Basket Tutorial

2012-01-26T17:29:00.002-05:00

Have you seen fabric baskets like this before?

They are not too hard to make, and you get such a feeling of accomplishment from making something so useful!

In the very near future, my friend Susan and I will be organizing a swap of fabric baskets, bins, buckets and boxes on Craftster (sign-ups begin February 6th). At the request of one of our regular swap participants, I took pictures recently as I made a fabric basket using my own design. I will show you how it's made--the tutorial starts NOW!!

Here's the finished product; it measures 5 3/4" wide x 4" deep x 4" tall.

1. Choose two fabrics, one for the inside and one for the outside of your basket; a fat quarter of each will be enough. To make the basket sturdy, you will also need two kinds of interfacing. They can be bought by the yard at fabric stores.
--1/2 yard of heavyweight sew-in interfacing (also called stabilizer)
--1/2 yard of featherweight or lightweight iron-in interfacing (also called fusible interfacing)
(I buy mine by the bolt. Pellon is a good brand.)

2. Cut the fabrics to these sizes:
--inner fabric: one piece 12 1/4" x 10 1/4"
--outer fabric: one piece 12 1/2" x 10 1/2"
--handle fabric (I used the outer fabric): one piece 2 1/2" x 10 1/2" (this makes both handles)

3. Cut 3 pieces of the iron-in interfacing just a little smaller than each of your 3 pieces of fabric. Following the package directions, fuse it to the wrong side of each piece.

4. Cut 1 piece of the sew-in interfacing just a little LARGER than your outer fabric. Pin it to the wrong side of the fabric, then baste it to the fabric using a 1/8" seam allowance, and your longest sewing machine stitch. If it seems a little warped after sewing, try ironing it.

5. Trim the excess interfacing from around the edges of the outer fabric.

This picture shows my fabrics with both interfacings applied. The sew-in interfacing has not yet been trimmed.

6. Make the handles: fold the handle fabric in half lengthwise, and sew it into a tube, using a 1/4" seam. Turn it right-side-out and press it flat. (This picture shows my sewn tube before turning. It also shows my handy-dandy tube-turning tool!) Use whatever method works for you to turn the tube.

Sew a line of stitching along each side of the handle fabric, about 1/8" from the edge.

Cut the handle fabric in half (each piece will be 5 1/4" long).

7. Now to make the basket shape, starting with the outer fabric: fold the interfaced fabric in half so the short sides are lined up at the top, and sew the two folded sides using a 1/4" seam. (This picture shows the inner fabric sewn in half as just described.)

8. Make the 4" gussets: flatten one of the sides you just sewed, so the seam is centered and it ends in a triangular point. With a ruler, find the spot where the width of the triangle is 4", and draw a line there that is perpendicular to the seam. It is easy to do if you have a gridded mat like the one in this picture.

Sew along the line you drew, then cut off the excess fabric. Make the gusset on the other side the same way.

I'm repeating this picture to show you how your outer fabric should now look. Sew the inner fabric and make 4" gussets on it in exactly the same way.

9. Attach the handles to the basket: pin each handle to the outer fabric so it straddles the side seam, with each inner handle edge 3/4" from the center seam (the two handle ends will be 1 1/2" apart).

Sew the pinned handles in place using a 1/8" seam.

10. Yay, now it's time to finish the basket! Your outer fabric should be inside-out, as in this picture. Turn your inner fabric so it is now RIGHT-side-out.

Place the inner fabric inside the outer fabric, and line up the side seams. Pin the side seams together.

To figure out where to start sewing, hold the basket with one side seam in each hand and one flat side facing you. Start sewing near where your right hand is holding it, about 1" ahead of the handles. Sew around the top edge of the basket, using a 1/4" seam, until you come to the second side seam. Stop here and remove the basket from the sewing machine. Since your inner fabric is 1/4" smaller than the outer fabric, the two fabrics will not line up perfectly along the top edge (but it is important for the inner fabric to be smaller, so it fits smoothly inside the finished basket).

HERE'S THE TRICKY PART:
You need to adjust for the difference in size here, at the seam line. Pinch about 1/4" of the outer fabric at the seam so it overlaps itself, and pin it in place. We're doing this at the seam line so the adjustment will be invisible in the finished basket. Take a look at the remaining opening in this top seam; if the two fabrics are now perfectly aligned, continue sewing the top seam, but leave a 3-4" opening on the side to turn it right-side-out. If the two fabrics are not perfectly aligned, unpin the seam and adjust it until the fabrics line up perfectly. Then sew the remaining seam, leaving an opening for turning.

Whew, I'm glad that's over! Turn your basket right-side out and it will look like this:

Iron the top edge flat, pushing the inner fabric down a little so it is recessed below the top edge. Iron down the seam allowance of the opening, and pin it for sewing.

11. Sew a seam all around the top edge of the basket, 1/8" from the top. Then sew a second seam 1/4" from the first seam. This gives your basket a firm top edge. Iron it nice and smooth, and you are done!

It came out great!

Yes, I'm happy!

Amaryllis in Bloom

2012-01-25T09:28:00.001-05:00

Last week I showed the amazingly rapid growth of my pot of amaryllis bulbs; this is where I left off:

Here's what happened next:

Isn't life amazing?

Call for Suggestions--CLOSED!

2012-01-23T15:52:00.001-05:00

This has been a very exciting day for me! I just found out that the "Hope" Hearts Project (which some of you helped me with in November) has been recognized TWICE on Craftster: first, as inspiration for the current "Random Acts of Crafty Kindness" Challenge; and second, as one of the "Best of 2011" winners! (That's what the new badge on the top right of the page is for.)

These are the hearts we sent to Amanda, remember?

Now I would like to ask you, dear readers, for your suggestions for a "random acts of crafty kindness" project. I know some of you are Craftster members yourselves, and you might be planning something--care to give us a sneak peak? What I would really like would be any suggestions you might have as to how I could use this blog for a random act of kindness. A giveaway of some kind? A contest? If you have an idea for me, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

UPDATE 1/29/12: I have decided upon my project for the Random Acts of Kindness Challenge and have started crafting for it. Submissions are due on Craftster near the end of February, so I will post all the details of what I am doing, at that time, here on my blog.

Happy Heart Card Tutorial

2012-01-22T10:19:00.003-05:00

If you want to see what other people are doing for Valentine's Day, check out the Linky Party/Blog Hop at Itsy Bitsy Paper.

A couple of days ago I came across a post on Lime Riot's blog that got me really excited! She showed the CUTEST Valentine's Day cards that she made for the other moderaters at Craftster--you can go directly to that post HERE. The cards feature a hand-sewn felt heart tied to the front, so it can be removed and tied elsewhere--it's a card and a gift in one! Lime Riot, you are brilliant!!

I could hardly wait to make my own, and I posted the first card I made on my other blog, 365 Sewn Hearts. Of course, I had to make more than one, and I want to show you the steps so you can make your own.

Here's the card I will show you how to make:

1. Gather your supplies. You will need two different fabrics, heart templates in two sizes (just fold paper in half and cut a heart, like you did in grade school!), kitchen twine (or string, or ribbon), and iron-in interfacing. Don't be afraid of interfacing! Just get a package of light-weight iron-in Pellon, and follow the directions on the package. It makes ALL the difference between something that looks homemade and something that looks professional.

2. Cut your fabrics into a workable size, depending on how many hearts you want to make. Cut interfacing slightly smaller than your fabrics, and iron it onto the backs of both fabrics. Trace the heart shapes onto your fabrics. I traced mine onto the back so the pencil line won't show. My traced line will be my sewing line, so I cut out my hearts about 1/4" beyond the line.

Center the small heart on the front of the large heart, and sew it in place on the sewing machine. The edges will be left raw. (In the first heart card I made, I used Heat n Bond to "glue" the small heart in place--that works great, but I noticed that the white parts of the fabric looked dingy afterwards, so I didn't use it this time since my small heart has a lot of white.)

Cut the kitchen twine about 14" long. Fold in half and tie a knot at the folded end. This end will be sewn inside your heart, and the knot will ensure that the twine doesn't get pulled out. Place the twine as shown in the picture, and use a small piece of tape to hold it in place. You will remove the tape after sewing.

3. Sew all around the edge of the heart on your pencil line, leaving an opening on one side for turning. Be sure to let the ends of the twine extend through the opening--don't let them get sewn into the seam! Use a short stitch length so the curves of the heart will be smooth.

4. Trim the excess fabric to about 1/8". Be careful not to cut the twine. Trim as close to the bottom point as you dare; if there is too much excess fabric there, you won't get a good point on your finished heart. At the top of the heart, make a cut close to the sewing line where the two curves meet.

5. Turn the heart right-side out. Do yourself a favor and get some hemostats, like the ones in this picture! They make turning SO easy! Then, run the end of a chopstick or knitting needle around the inside of the heart to smooth out the curves, and iron it flat. Be sure to turn under the unsewn edges of the opening and iron that nice and smooth.

6. On the sewing machine, sew all around the heart, about 1/8" from the edge.

7. Tie the twine in a bow, and you are done! I decided to add a coil-less safety pin to these hearts (it just slides on without sewing), but you could sew a safety pin to the back, or use a jewelry pin.

8. Make a card. I used white card stock, cut in half to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and then folded in half to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". On top of that I glued a piece of colored typing paper, cut to 3 1/4" x 4 1/4". Use rubber stamps to stamp any message you want.

Since this heart has a pin on the back, I just taped the pin to the card. It's simple to do, and easy for the recipient to remove the heart. The heart can be worn as a pin, or tied onto a purse or anything, really!

I love these cards so much!!

Thank you Lime Riot for being my inspiration!

Valentine Purses

2012-01-20T17:52:00.000-05:00

I just finished these Valentine's Day-inspired purses, and not a moment too soon! The ladies who own these will only get about 3 weeks of use out of them this year.

I made these at the request of a regular customer (Debbie, who also ordered wintery blue bags from me). She and her daughter, who is a school teacher, both like to carry seasonal bags.

I made four for them to choose from. Debbie's daughter specifically asked for something with chocolates on the fabric.

I know which ones are my favorites, but I don't know yet which ones they chose (they will pick them up at the store where I sell my bags and other things).

When I called Debbie to tell her the bags were at the store, she concluded the conversation by saying "We will be wanting St. Patrick's Day bags too." Luckily, I've already ordered that fabric!

Pincushion Parade!

2012-01-18T15:17:00.001-05:00

I came upon this CUTE idea today at Love Laugh Quilt--Beth is hosting a Pincushion Parade, and anyone who wants to show off their pincushions can participate! I want to play! Take a look at my pincushions:

The only one I made is the square watermelon-looking one on the left. It is actually a Japanese ote-dama (juggling) ball, but it makes an awesome pincushion when filled will plastic pellets!

The other four pincushions came from talented crafters in swaps I participated in on Craftster. This cute purple cat is from wendiek in The Netherlands. She made this for me because I love cats!

This lovely pincushion was made by alwaysinmyroom in Pennsylvania, using Japanese kimono fabrics. There is a lot of detailed beading and embroidery around the sides.

Unsuperb made this pincushion. She hand-painted the design on the cup it sits in!

This little cupcake is from Amifriends in Mexico. I love how realistic it looks!

I use pincushions every day (I have several others that are too scruffy to show)--I have three in my sewing room and these are all in the family room, near my sewing chair. I plan to keep adding to my collection!

Amazing Amaryllis Part 1

2012-01-15T08:03:00.000-05:00

I'm posting this non-crafty event because it is so amazing! I want to show you the progress of my pot of amaryllis bulbs.

About 10 years ago I bought an amaryllis bulb in November. I planted it and watered it, and it bloomed beautifully! The next year I got a second one and added it to the pot.

The pot sits on my front porch all spring, summer, and fall. It's a terrible plastic pot which is now cracking and breaking; I really MUST get a new pot!

While it's on the front porch, the bulbs get rainwater and the occasional glass of water when I remember it. I usually give them plant food once or twice during the summer. I only did it once last summer.

A few years ago, one of the bulbs sprouted another bulb, so now the three of them are happily squeezed into the pot!

Right around New Years Day, I checked the bulbs, and I was thrilled to see the first evidence of the flower buds emerging! I get so excited about this every year!

This series of pictures is following the main flower shoot, but there are actually four shoots coming up! Yes, one of the bulbs is an over-achiever, and is giving me two stems of flowers this year.

The pot is in the back of my kitchen dining area, in the corner between the big window and the French doors. All day long it is bright, and it does get a little direct sunlight.

All these pictures were taken 1-2 days apart.

This was yesterday, January 14th. You can see two of the other stems in this picture.

Isn't it beautiful? There are four buds on this stem; you never know if you will get two, three, or four. Each one is a surprise package!

In a week or so I will show you my amaryllis in full bloom!

A Little More Lavender

2012-01-13T16:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I sent the lavender cat from the previous post to my friend Susan; it happened to arrive on a day when she was suffering from a migraine, and it managed to cheer her up (which is no small accomplishment at a time like that). It's wonderful when something I make gets a great reception! Her daughter liked it too, so, being a good mom, Susan gave it to her...and then asked me to make her another one...which I did today! As long as I was making one, I went ahead and made two: one just like the first one, and one in a different fleece fabric:

And, since I had the lavender out, I went ahead and finished this sachet that I started last month. It's for my mother; her birthday is in February, and she dislikes the shorter, darker days of winter. This seems like the perfect sentiment for her:

This sachet is made of all cotton fabrics and the details are hand-embroidered (except the words, which are written in ink). It is filled with dried lavender buds (just like the cats).

We haven't had much of a winter yet, here in Virginia, but being engulfed by the scent of lavender today has made it feel like spring!

If You're Lavender and You Know It...

2012-01-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

If you have read this blog very much, you will know that I mention Susan quite often; she is kind of a cross between a crafting muse and a mascot. I putter around all day, alternating between my sewing room and computer, and she regularly e-mails great ideas my way--links to cool projects, pictures of things that might make a good swap on Craftster, or just crafty ideas that have occurred to her. She constantly inspires me and challenges me.

Here is one example: Susan likes to take a lavender sachet with her when she travels (which she does several times a year), and I made one for her last year. It was my standard "pillow"-type sachet, like this:

Once I get something perfected, I get stuck doing the same thing over and over--so this is the only kind of sachet I have made in quite a while. But Susan is a thinker. She suggested I combine a stuffed plush toy (something we both love and enjoy making) with a sachet; that way a busy traveller could enjoy the calming scent of lavender AND the comforting presence of a little animal friend. Brilliant! Introducing: Lavender Cat!

Lavender Cat taking a walk

Lavender Cat taking a nap

This stuffie is 5" tall and is made from fleece. The face is hand-embroidered, and he has a button heart. He is entirely stuffed full of lavender buds I ordered from Prairie Lavender Farm.

Thanks, Susan, for being a constant source of inspiration; but even more, for being my friend.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt (Updated picture 1/9/12)

2012-01-08T10:26:00.007-05:00

Today would have been my brother David's 51st birthday. He died at the age of 33 from AIDS.

I've been quilting since I was 14 years old, so it was natural that I would make a panel representing him for the AIDS Memorial Quilt; in fact, before he died, he asked me to do so. I finished it during the year following his death, and sent it to the Names Project, where it was sewn into a larger piece with 7 other panels. This is the official picture from The AIDS Quilt website; David's panel is in the lower left corner:

This is the panel I made. (My awesome husband just found our picture of it--thanks Bill!)

When we were teenagers, our family lived on 10 acres in Virginia, and David and I each had a horse. In this panel, I have depicted him on his quarter horse, Miss Virginia. Under his arm is a photo album, with pictures streaming out of it; they are actual photographs from his life, transferred onto fabric. The panel measures 3 feet by 6 feet, which is surprisingly large when viewed in person. I saw a display of sewn-together panels at a library in Las Vegas many years ago; it was a moving experience and felt very much like visiting a cememtery.

Leslie and David Larson, Christmas 1961

Make Your Own Cutter Quilt Fabric

2012-01-04T17:35:00.000-05:00

Back in November I talked about cutter quilts--old quilts that are too damaged to be useful as a quilt any longer, so they are upcycled into other things, like pillows or stuffed toys. If you don't happen to have old beat-up quilts lying around, but you want to make something with a vintage look, why not make your own cutter quilt fabric?

I like to make stuffed heart ornaments with the pieces of old quilts that my friends have given me, like these:

Look at the picture again, and see if you can tell which three hearts I made from old quilt pieces, and which one I made from a new piece of "cutter quilt" fabric?

(If you happened to read the post on my other blog yesterday, you already know the answer!)

I hope you think they all look old. The new one is on the far left, with the darker button.

I had a spare block from a quilt I made years ago, that I used to make my cutter fabric. It was perfect because the reproduction prints had a lot of beige in them, so the fabrics looked old to start with! I simply layered the block with batting (I used "Warm and Natural", which is a cotton batting similar to what you will find in old quilts. Don't use polyester batting for this, because it won't shrink much when you wash it...and you WILL be washing it...that's how you give it an "aged" look) and backing fabric. Then I hand-quilted it. Since it was only 10" square, the quilting didn't take very long.

Here is the block right after I hand-quilted it:

Here it is after about a dozen washings. It looks really old now, doesn't it! I just threw it in the washer every time I ran a load of clothes, and then into the dryer. It shrank a lot, but none of the fabrics showed any "wear and tear", so if you wanted it to look very worn, you might have to run it with your laundry for a couple of months!

I decided to use my cutter fabric for both the front and back of this heart, so it looks nice--and different--on each side. I hand-sewed it with the raw edges exposed and the batting showing. Here's one side:

Here's the other side:

These ornaments can be used in a lot of different ways--tied on gifts, strung onto a garland, hung on a Christmas tree, fastened onto a wreath...if you want to see what I do with them, check out my other blog, 365 Sewn Hearts. I've started my one-year challenge over there, and this heart will be #8!

Heart Charm for a Scrappy Bracelet

2012-01-02T13:57:00.000-05:00

You may know that I have started a year-long challenge at my other blog, 365 Sewn Hearts. The heart I posted there today is made to go on one of my scrappy braided fabric bracelets. I just finished the bracelet and added the heart--here it is:

I chose the colors for the fabric bracelet to compliment the heart charm.

The heart is two layers of wool felt, with seed beads and embroidery floss decorations. I made a matching bracelet by simply stringing beads on stretchy beading cord. I like the combination of the hard, shiny beads with the soft fabric.

I'm excited that I thought of this; the charms I had been using on these bracelets (metal discs with a single word like "love", or "hope") were fine, but I like having the whole thing hand-made, especially if I am giving it as a gift or sending it in a swap. The charm would look good as a circle too; and I could embroider a word or phrase or an initial instead of the flower. Feel free to borrow this idea--then tell me what you made!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2012-01-01T06:57:00.001-05:00

"Behold, I make all things new."
Revelation 21:5

(This is a "watercolor" style wallhanging quilt. Size: 14" x 15.5". Machine pieced, hand quilted)

Zipit (An Etsy Shop Review)

2011-12-29T12:43:00.002-05:00

I got my first order from zipit on Etsy. As the name implies, zipit is all about zippers. Here's how my order looked when I opened the package:

It looks awesome, right? The zippers are neatly tied together in a bundle with ribbon. But what's that dangling from the zipper in the middle?

It's a free zipper pull! You can buy these at zipit too, and they threw one in as a little gift. I love getting a freebie, so this store *rocks* in my book! I was also very happy with the extremely fast shipping and follow-up e-mail to let me know my order was on it's way.

I use a lot of zippers and I've always gotten mine from Homesew; I tried zipit because they offer a lot of colors I can't get at Homesew. The prices start out about the same at the two stores, but when you buy larger quantities, you get bulk pricing at zipit. This order of 100 10" zippers was $30, plus $5 shipping, bringing the price to 35 cents per zipper, compared to 48 cents per zipper at Homesew (Homesew always throws in a free gift too). I will continue to shop at Homesew for all my other sewing notions, but I think zipit is my new zipper store!

Christmas Stockings

2011-12-27T08:04:00.001-05:00

Before the decorations all get packed away, I want to show you my family's Christmas stockings!

This is the one my mother made for me when I was very small, in the early 1960's. She made it from a kit. The top is felt, the body of the stocking is velvet, and the lining is something silky. The decorations on the front were pre-cut felt. The materials are all very good quality, and this stocking has stood the test of time! I can remember putting my foot into it and walking around the house with it on when I was little!

My mom spent several hours sewing on all Santa's sequins by hand.

I think the color of the little tree has faded over the years. You can see that some of the details of the deer were pre-printed.

Flash forward to the 1980's. When I got married, my husband needed a stocking, so I used mine as a pattern. I used what I had on hand, and I was going for a "crazy quilt" look. I don't really love the body of the stocking...

...but I think the counted cross-stitch is great!

After my son was born in 1990, my stocking-making improved! The body of this stocking is quilted by hand.

I love this counted cross-stitch Santa and message! I think I found the pattern in a magazine.

Last but not least, this is the stocking I made after my daughter was born in 1993.

This one is all cotton fabric, except for the felt gingerbread boy. He's holding real cinnamon sticks, but they have lost most of their aroma!

Every Christmas when the stockings are hung on the mantle, my daughter looks at hers for a while, and then declares, "I got the best one!!"

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T07:15:00.000-05:00

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests!
Luke 2:14

(Thanks to Diane K. for making me this sweet ninni angel tree topper.)

Introducing...The Morsbag!

2011-12-23T13:49:00.001-05:00

I'm excited to tell you about the next swap I will be organizing (with my friend Wendie) on Craftster soon after Christmas--we will be making and swapping morsbags! They are re-usable fabric shopping bags. Click on that name to go to the website. You will see that it is run by a group of people who are very dedicated to ridding the environment of harmful plastic, one morsbag at a time.

I'm just a person who likes to sew, but if I can sew something that makes the world a better place--wow! I'm all for that! I hope you will be able to join us in the swap on Craftster, but if not, go to morsbags and make a few bags--for yourself, your family, or your friends!

There are morsbag instructions on the website, but I thought it would be helpful to any new sewists in our swap if I showed you how I made my morsbag. Here's what to do:

1. Go to morsbags and download the instructions.

2. Choose your fabric. Since this is for the swap, I am using nice new fabric (morsbags encourages people to make them by upcycling a bedsheet or other old fabric). The finished size is large (18" x 16 1/2"), so a large-scale print works great. You will need a 20" x 44" piece of fabric (I always like to have slightly more than I expect to need, in case of shrinkage or a cutting mistake!)

3. Cut:
--cut two pieces 18" x 20" (the shorter sides are the top and bottom--keep that in mind if your fabric has a directional pattern).
--cut two pieces 4" x 18" for the handles.

(my fabric is a little busy, but this picture shows the four cut pieces, and my printed-out instructions)

4. Make the handles. The instructions say "fold a narrow hem on one side, and a wider one on the other, then iron". I made my narrow hem 1/4", and the wider one 1 3/8". When you fold the side with the narrow hem over, it will reach the center of the fabric., and your handle will be 1 3/8" wide.

(These two pictures show the handle fabrics ironed and folded.)

5. Sew the handles. Start by sewing one seam right down the middle, along the edge of the folded-over fabric; then sew near the edges of the two sides.

6. Next, fold down a 1/4" hem on the top edge of each piece of the bag fabric, and iron it. To set the handles in place, I measured 6" from each side and put a pin in the fabric to mark it. I put one side of each handle against the outside edge of each pin, then pinned the handles in place.

The morsbag instructions don't tell you to sew a seam along the center of the 1/4" hem, but I did, just to hold it all together before moving to the next step.

7. Fold down a 1" hem along the top edge of each piece of the bag fabric. Pin in place and iron. Sew a seam along the lower edge of the hem.

8. Now, fold the handle UP, and "sew a strong box and cross at the area of the handle and hem". This is an important step to make the handles secure.

(My sewn "box and cross"--I hope you can see it!)

9. Okay! Now let's sew this bag together! This part is easy to do but it might be hard to comprehend, because you will be making a French seam: pin the two halves of the bag together, WRONG sides together, and sew a SCANT 1/4" seam along the three raw edges. (I know this looks wrong, but it is right!) You need to make this seam narrower than the next seam, that's why I said to make it a scant 1/4".

10. Turn the bag inside-out and iron the edges flat.

Sew a GENEROUS 1/4" seam along the two sides and bottom. This will encase the raw edges of the fabric between the two seam lines.

11. Turn the bag right-side-out and iron it flat.

Ta-da! It's beautiful! Let's go shopping!

If you want to print out the "morsbags" label and sew it on, go right ahead! I didn't do it on mine.

Scrappy Swap Package

2011-12-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

Today I will show you the rest of the package I sent to my partner in the Scrap Happy Swap on Craftster.

I wanted to get her color palette just right. I didn't have enough yardage of the right colors in my stash, so I carefully examined the picture I had of her living room colors, and pulled a few fabrics from my stash that seemed just right. Then I went to Joann's and spent a long time pulling bolts of fabric from the shelves and comparing them to my swatches. I was pleasantly surprised to find a lot of fabrics that would work, and I bought them all! I got half-yards of everything except the two main blue fabrics that I used on the pillows (I got a yard of each of those, and used them all up!). But first, the mug rug. This is the front:

...and this is the back. I have to say that I like the back better than the front! I think the front is too busy, and you lose the circles with all the other fabrics competing for attention. That's how it is sometimes when you are making something for the first time using an idea from your imagination; this time it didn't come out quite as great as I had hoped it would!

These pillow covers, on the other hand, exceeded my expectations! They are large (17.5" square), made to fit on the pillow forms she was already using on her sofa. This first one, with circles, was inspired by some quilts and fabrics I saw on her Pinterest.

I wanted to make the second pillow different from the first, but with a design that related to the first one, so I made it with these leaf shapes. I spent a lot of time constructing both pillows carefully, with finished seams and a velcro closure on the back. The circles and leaves were affixed with Heat n Bond lite, then I sewed around the edges to secure them.

I also made her one of my Scrappy Fabric Bracelets, (click on that for the tutorial) using one of her favorite phrases. I went a little overboard crafting for her--and she went overboard for me too--so we've decided to request each other as partners in a future swap, because there are lots more things we would like to make for each other!

My First Needlebook

2011-12-17T09:24:00.002-05:00

I can't believe I waited until now to make my first needlebook! I've always thought needlebooks were cool, and I received an amazing one in a Craftster swap this year; so in the Scrap Happy swap that Susan and I recently organized, I finally jumped in and made one for my partner, since she listed a needlebook as something she would like to receive.

Here's the front. These are my partner's favorite colors, and I used these fabrics in several other items I made for her as well (which I will show you next time!)

And here's the inside. I used wool felt for the pages, but in the future I will use flannel, because the felt was a little too thick--I ended up giving the book just two pages; with flannel it could have had four. One good thing about this felt, though, is that the color is perfect!

This shows the completed needlebook along with the drawing I used for the design; I drew the leaf in my sketchbook quite a few years ago, and I've always wanted to use it for something.

I used French knots on half of the front, and a simple straight stitch on the other half. There are lots of tutorials online for French knots, like this one by Wendi Gratz of Shiny Happy World. French knots can be tricky at first, but with a little practice, they are as easy as falling off a log--don't be afraid to give them a try--you can do it!

My One-Year Challenge

2011-12-15T12:38:00.001-05:00

I am so excited to tell you about the challenge I have set for myself in 2012!

My friend Susan pointed out to me that a lot of people have jumped onboard the 365 Photos train; they take a photograph every day for a year and change their life! I don't expect to change my life, but I do expect to stretch my creativity with my personal challenge: 365 Sewn Hearts! Yes, that's the name of my new blog, click on it and you will see that I have already started planning to sew a heart a day, starting on January 1, 2012. I've always been a "heart" person (my user name on Craftster is Leslieshappyheart), so this is an obvious choice for a challenge for me.

Because Susan is such an awesome friend, she has also sent me some fabrics to jump-start my imagination as I plan my attack on the 365 hearts!

These are the fabrics she sent from her stash. All of these are small-ish prints, with more than enough fabric to make a big heart out of each one. Yes, my imagination was indeed stimulated by these! I have decided to start the year doing a series of hearts using an "A is for Apple" type theme (okay, she didn't send me any apple fabric, but she sure did send pigs, monsters, and handcuffs!) Each heart will have the appropriate letter sewn on it.

The fabrics below came from a friend of hers in Hong Kong. Because Susan is so awesome, she sent them straight to me, without even taking them out of their wrappers! They are all so beautiful! Thanks, Susan!

I hope you will visit the new blog (I'm already posting there daily); I would love it if you would offer me your ideas for new hearts. I'm slightly worried that I will run out of ideas before the year ends! Please "join" my blog so I will know that I'm not alone!

O Christmas Trees

2011-12-13T10:54:00.000-05:00

One of the things that really got me into the holiday spirit this year was working on my partner's package in the Christmas/Winter Ninni Swap on Craftster. (What's a ninni? Click HERE to find out!)

In her swap questionnaire, my partner Diane said one thing she would like is "...the beginning of a little forest land setting that relates to Christmastime--I like the idea of snowy woods with little creatures around a tree..."

I mulled that over for a while; I thought about making something small, then something bigger...trees...snow...Christmas...and this is what I came up with: big snowy Christmas tree pillows!

The center tree is 14", the two side trees are 12". I just drew a tree shape on paper and cut it out, and used that for the template for cutting the fabric. I used iron-on interfacing to firm-up the fabric, then sewed on the buttons, and then sewed on the backing and stuffed them.

I was thrilled when I remembered that I had the stuffed-raccoon-making-kit I showed you yesterday; the raccoons were PERFECT to go with the trees because Diane's Christmas decorations are all red, lime, and turquoise! I whipped up the two raccoons, and voila! A wintery, Christmassy, forest scene for her sofa!

But this was supposed to be a Ninni swap, right? I didn't forget the Ninnis; they don't go with this forest scene though. I made them smaller, as ornaments for her white Christmas tree:

"Fa la la la la, la la, la la!!!"

Raccoons! (A Product Review)

2011-12-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

The biggest and best thing I got in my "swag" bag of free goodies at the Blogger's Meet-up this past September (in Little Rock, Arkansas, hosted by Craft Gossip and sponsored by EK Success Brands), was this cute kit to make two plush raccoons. The kit contains everything you need to complete the project, including a needle and stuffing.

This is an "American Girl Crafts" product, designed to go with the American Girl dolls, so a girl can make a large raccoon for herself and a smaller one for her doll. It's a really cute idea! The kit comes with an instruction booklet with lots of pictures. The material is felt, which is perfect for this sort of project, since the edges won't unravel. Each piece has little holes punched in it where the stitching will go, so you just sew through the holes, like those big sewing cards you might have done in kindergarten!

As an introduction to hand-sewing, it's not bad. There are a large number of pieces to assemble, which might be a bit confusing to a young sewist (it is recommended for ages 8 and up), but the details are exactly what make these raccoons so cute, so with a little guidance from an adult I think it would go together quite well.

The circles on the tummies are open on top to form a small pocket--that's a nice touch. My favorite detail is the shiny sequins that are sewn onto the eyes, which makes them look alive. I love the overall design of the raccoons; the simple outline combined with the surface details makes them very appealing. I've noticed this kit in my local Hancock's fabric store; there is a small section of American Girl crafts, so the product seems to be widely available.

I made these raccoons for a special purpose--which I will tell you about in my next post!

Wintery Blue Bags

2011-12-09T17:05:00.000-05:00

Now that we are well into December, my crafting has shifted from Christmas-themed to a more general winter theme. Coincidentally, I had some special orders this week for purses that are blue and winter-themed.

Lee Ann, a regular customer of mine for many years, LOVES bears and teddy bears, so when she called to ask for something wintery that would go with blue jeans, this is the first fabric I thought of, since it has bears on it. It has a wonderful back-woods, log-cabin feel to me.

But I wanted to give her more than one choice, so I made this bag too. The fabric has different stripes of wintery scenes: snow-covered houses, bare trees, and big silver and white snowflakes.

At the same time I was making these two bags, another regular customer, Debbie, called to ask for snowflake bags for herself and her daughter (Debbie ordered the Christmas bag and school-themed bag I showed you a couple of weeks ago).

I made these two bags for Debbie and her daughter, and then showed all three pictures to Lee Ann.

Much to my surprise, she chose the second bag with the bare winter trees! It really is a great fabric, with touches of metallic silver sparkling all over it.

Just as I sat down to write this post, Debbie called to say her daughter had just picked up the two snowflake bags (I had left them for her at the local store that carries my crafts) and they both LOVE them! She said they plan to get bags for every holiday and season! That means I need to start looking for some great Valentine's Day fabric!!

Scrappy Braided Fabric Bracelet: A Tutorial

2011-12-07T17:45:00.000-05:00

I love these braided fabric bracelets I made for my partner in the recent Fabric Jewelry Swap on Craftster; several people expressed interest in them, so here comes a tutorial!

Quick summary: you simply braid together 3 fabric strips, adding a charm along the way, then secure the ends and add an elastic loop and button for a closure. Here's how I did it:

1. Cut 3 different fabric strips 1 3/4" wide by at least 15" long. There will be waste fabric at the beginning and end of the braided section, so you need to cut the strips longer than the size of your wrist. A 7" bracelet fits my wrist comfortably (my actual wrist measurement is 6 3/4"), so this tutorial is for a 7" bracelet.

2. All the fabric edges will be left raw. Start by folding the ends of the 3 fabric strips as shown, and stack them on top of each other so you can sew them together on the sewing machine.

3. Run a line of stitching through all 3 folded fabrics at one end. This is just to keep them together so you can start to braid. Since this will eventually be waste fabric that you cut off, this part doesn't have to look pretty.

4. To keep the fabrics from moving around while I braided, I pinned the sewn end to my ironing board. You could also tape the sewn end to a table top. Now, BRAID!! To keep the braid smooth and even, I twisted each fabric strip as I braided it, as shown in this picture.

5. Braid for 7", then put a couple of pins in the ends of the fabric strips to keep them from unravelling while you add a charm.

I used a charm from this kit that I had on hand; but you can add any kind of a charm here. Attach it to an 8mm split ring (they were included in this kit), and slide it onto one of the fabric strips, right up to the spot where you stopped braiding. Then keep braiding for at least 2 more inches.

6. Unpin the braid from the ironing board (holding the loose end so it doesn't unravel) and take it to your sewing machine. Sew the loose end securely (this part will be cut off, so it doesn't have to be pretty, but you do want your braid to be nice and tight here.) Go ahead and cut off the unused fabric that wasn't braided (about 1/2" beyond the stitiches you just sewed). From this cut-off fabric, cut two strips 3/4" by at least 3". You will use these strips in the next step. (If you don't have enough fabric left, you can use any scrap fabric you want.)

7. Now it's time to finish the ends. Measure 1 1/2" from the charm; this will be the end where you sew on a button later. Place a pin to mark the spot, and machine-sew back and forth across the braid right there.

Take one of the 3/4" wide strips you just cut, and wrap it around the braid two times. It should be centered over the line of machine stitching.

Leave the end long, like in the picture, and sew all around the edges of the fabric strip several times to secure the braid.

This is how it will look.

Using sharp scissors, cut off the tail of the fabric strip; then cut off the excess braid beyond the strip you just sewed on.

8. Now you will finish the other end. Start by taping a hair elastic in the middle, and cut it in half. You will use one half for the closure (save the other half for your next bracelet!)

Measure 6 3/4" from the finished end, and mark the spot with a pin. Machine-sew back and forth across the braid there to secure it. You will finish this end the same as the other one, with the addition of the elastic loop. Before wrapping the 3/4" fabric strip, you need to secure the loop with a few stitches by hand (my experience was that if you don't do this, the sewing machine foot will push the loop to the edge and it will be very off-center).

Now wrap the 3/4" strip around the braid and loop twice, leaving the end loose.

Sew around the edges several times to secure the braid. Cut off the loose end of the strip.

Before cutting off the excess braid, pull down the elastic loop and hold it firmly so you don't accidentally cut it off!

This is how the finished end will look.

8. Sew on a button and you are done!

My Favorite Planner: A Product Review

2011-12-05T10:55:00.001-05:00

I want to show you my new favorite calendar/planner, because it would make an awesome gift for any woman who likes art, watercolors, birds, or nature. I bought it at a museum gift shop this summer, but I've only recently started to use it, and I love it! It is drawn and painted by the wonderful Geninne Zlatkis. The covers are flexible and there is an elastic band closure. This is the front, decorated with her signature birds:

This is the inside front cover. I LOVE Geninne's birds!

There are undated pages like this for weekly planning; you can start any time of year--just write in the dates.

Then there are 13 of these monthly pages, which are also undated, so you can start whenever you want to. I started mine in November!

The calendar pages are interspersed with blank note pages, and full-page artwork. So beautiful!

This is the inside of the back cover, which has a little pocket.

Do yourself a favor and click on Geninne's name (above) to visit her blog. She posts beautiful pictures and artwork every day; she is a constant source of inspiration to me.

I love this planner so much that I just ordered two more on Amazon! (They call it "Avian Friends Pocket Planner" if you are looking for it there.) I am using mine to plan out my blog posts; the small size is just right for that (just 4 1/2" x 5 3/4"), and the pretty cover makes it easy to find amongst all the other "stuff" near my computer.

And the Winners Are...

2011-12-03T08:52:00.002-05:00

(UPDATED Dec. 13, 2011)
It's time to announce the three winners of a pair of my Christmas ornament hearts!

Using a True Random Number Generator that I found online, I chose the three winners (the number corresponds to the order in which the comments were posted). There were 51 comments; here are the three numbers that were chosen:

Winner Number One:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 8

Winner Number Two:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 18

Winner Number Three:
True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 44

#8 is Margaret (macky5331)

#18 is Gatearte in Barcelona--please contact me with your mailing address (leslieandersen4@gmail.com)
#44 is Elaine Akers

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment; I enjoyed reading them all, and I am always happy to be able to share what I make with readers! I will have more giveaways in the future, and in the meantime, I will continue to share crafty ideas and tutorials with you (there's a super-cute scrappy braided bracelet tutorial coming up next week--don't miss it!)

Helping

2011-12-02T11:18:00.000-05:00

A few Sundays ago in church, we heard one of my favorite Bible passages from the Book of Proverbs, about a virtuous wife. This part really speaks to me:

"She obtains wool and flax and works with loving hands. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her fingers ply the spindle. She reaches out her hands to the poor, and extends her arms to the needy..."

I personally don't know what a distaff is, and I don't use a spindle; but I do sew things every day and I do work with loving hands, so I feel like a modern-day version of the virtuous wife. But the last line bugged me, because it's been a while since I could say that I have reached out to the poor and needy.

On Monday, as on most Mondays, I drive my daughter back to college, 45 minutes away in Richmond, Virginia. When we get off the highway in Richmond, there are 5 or 6 stoplights to go through before we reach her dorm; and at every stoplight, there is a different rough-looking man, holding a cardboard sign that says something like "Hungry, please help". If we happen to be near the front of the line at the stoplight, the man walks slowly past our car, looking right at us, holding his sign prominently. I've always looked straight ahead, ignoring them as much as possible, and feeling very uncomfortable.

But not any more!! I've decided to do something for them. Apparently, the standard thing to do is to wave a dollar out your car window, and the man will come over and get it (I saw that happen this week).

When I got home, I pulled out the cash box that I haven't touched since I stopped doing craft shows a couple of years ago, and lookie what I found:

MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!!!!
Those are all the one-dollar bills I had for making change in my craft booth. I had no idea I had so much money sitting around--it looks like about $100 in ones.

So here's my plan: I want to give each person I encounter $2, plus a snack (they must get hungry and thirsty standing there for hours on end); I will bag it up like this:

I'm thinking of adding a hand-made card like the one next to the baggie; but I'm not sure what to write on it. "Have a nice day"? "Don't worry be happy"? Hmmm. I don't want to sound like a dork, or worse, insensitive or condescending. What would you write on the card? Help me out with your comment, below. Thanks.

Etsy Shop Review: Inspire Lovely

2011-11-30T08:06:00.001-05:00

I have to show you the order I received this week from an Etsy shop called Inspire Lovely. It was indeed a lovely package, starting with the address label, which starts out "To The Lovely Leslie Andersen"! How sweet!

I was floored when I removed the packet from the envelope--look how Debee wrapped it! A big piece of fun polka dot tissue paper, a paper doily, and her card, all wrapped up with black and white baker's twine. I've recently become aware of baker's twine as a crafting item, and I bought a big roll of red and white twine, but I haven't thought of a way to use it yet. This is getting my mental wheels turning.

When I unwrapped everything, the wrapping was bigger than my order! I will be able to use the tissue paper, doily, and twine again.

This is what I ordered: three yards of black and white polka dot ribbon, and a small box of white sequins. The wrappings were color-coordinated to my purchase!

Inspire Lovely's shop announcement says it is: "A place where you can find lovely and inspiring * paper * handmade crochet * packaging * art* items. I share exclusively designed items for you to enjoy. I hope you love my little creations as much as I loved making them :)"

The price on the ribbon was great (that's what I went there for--the sequins were an impulse buy!)--it was just $1.75 for 3 yards. I will be going back for more. Thank you Debee, for sharing your lovely approach to life with us.

Mailing the "Hope" Hearts--UPDATED

2011-11-28T16:13:00.003-05:00

UPDATE: Amanda has received the hearts and she was very deeply touched by our gesture of support. Read her post on Craftster to get her reaction and to read the many comments from other readers who have been moved by her story.

I am happy to give you another update on my project to send "hope" hearts to Amanda, who could use some support as she supports her husband through his cancer treatments (you can read more about this in my other posts HERE and HERE and HERE).

I have received hearts from two more lovely crafters. First, from Diane, these two beautiful hearts made from a damaged antique quilt. I love the worn look of the old quilt, and the modern letters stamping out the word "hope" is just great! Thank you, Diane!

These two pretty hearts are from Shari. The blue heart is made from several different fabrics; the leopard heart is hand-stitched around the edges. Both feature hand-embroidery of the word "hope". They are wonderful, thank you Shari!

Here are all the hearts together. They look awesome! I am going to pack them up tonight and mail them in the morning. They will be a great addition to the hearts she received in the Jar of Hearts swap on Craftster. I know Amanda will be smiling from ear to ear when she opens the package, and it is my hope that this unexpected show of support will be something she looks back on as a bright spot in the midst of a very dark time in her life.

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who sent hearts for Amanda--Susan, Kim, Diane and Shari. You ladies ROCK!

Christmas Giveaway!

2011-11-26T10:13:00.008-05:00

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed, and winners have been chosen! Click HERE to see who won.

It's Christmas time again--I LOVE Christmas!! I just made a whole bunch of these heart-shaped ornaments; there are several different colors and fabric combinations, and each one has a word in the center that is meaningful at Christmas. They measure 3 1/2" in width. They are puffy and light, and each one has a ribbon loop for hanging on a tree; it would also be cute to tie one onto a wrapped present as an "extra".

Since Christmas is all about giving, I want to give three of you a pair of these heart ornaments! (Actually, I want to give ALL of you an ornament--but my resources are limited--so I can only commit to three!)

If you would like to be entered in the drawing to win a pair of hearts, just:

1. Leave a comment below. If you have a color or word preference (as seen in the pictures), mention it in case you are a winner.
2. Wait patiently. I will leave this open for one week, and choose three random winners next Saturday, December 3rd. (Maybe you'll be lucky and only three people will comment...!)
3. Check back here in a week to see if you are a winner. The winners will need to contact me, so be sure to check back!
4. I will mail the hearts to the winners sometime during the week of Dec. 5-10.

--This giveaway is open to ALL, even those who have previously won something from me!
--If you have had trouble leaving a comment before, try again, because I've changed some settings; you should be able to post a comment now.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T06:56:00.001-05:00

Thank you for the world so sweet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything.

St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, VA: my spiritual home.

Show and Tell: New Bags

2011-11-22T10:33:00.001-05:00

Most of the time when I am sewing purses to stock my booth at the local store called Country Treasures, I go about choosing fabrics somewhat haphazardly--I have a handful of designs that sell well, but I don't want to limit myself to just those, because then the booth looks boring; so I try to find new fabrics that I think will have broad appeal. Sometimes they sell immediately (like the single Halloween purse I managed to make this year!) and sometimes they sit, and sit, for months before the right person comes along to claim them. Sometimes that person is me!

I like it when I get a special order for a purse (even if the order is unusual, like the solid black bag and solid brown bag I've shown you before) because I know it will will go straight to its new home and will make someone happy.

I know the holidays are approaching, because I recently got an order for this bag:

Red and green and holly--this purse's owner will bring the holiday spirit with her everywhere she goes!

This customer also ordered a bag as a gift for her daughter, a school teacher. This is the front:

and this is the back. I love the graphics on these bright fabrics. The cursive writing fabric, near the bottom on the front, and at the top of the back pocket, was an unexpected gift from my awesome friend Susan (aka, The Sloppy Sewer). It works so perfectly with the theme of this bag. Thanks, Susan!!

I love the fun print on the home dec fabric I used for the lining. Yes, that's a pocket on the inside, too.

Debbie, I hope you and your daughter love your new bags!

Happy Plushies Wreath

2011-11-20T16:04:00.002-05:00

This year on Craftster I've made and swapped a lot of plushies; they were starting to take over my house, so I've been looking for ways to put them to use. I've already told you about using some of them in toy drops for The Toy Society, but a lot of my plushies have button eyes or other parts that might not be child-safe, so I can't use them all that way. I'm not sure where this new idea came from, but last week as I was thinking about decorating the house for Christmas, I suddenly knew what to do: put them on a Christmas wreath! One stop at Walmart was all it took to get the supplies I needed for my project, and here it is, in all it's glory:

I LOVE my new wreath!

By the way--the green plushie on the center left and the red plushie on the center right are Hungry Monsters--the very ones chosen by Natasha at Serenity You as one of her top-ten handmade Christmas gifts this year!

You can make a wreath like this too! Here's what I used:
--a large artificial wreath
--sparkly red ribbon, and lots of it (I started with a 15 foot roll, and ended up using almost twice that much)
--green string (in the picture the string is red--oops!)
--small sparkly red ornaments
--scissors
--handmade plushies

It's simple, really. Start by wrapping the wreath with the ribbon. Ribbon with wire in it works great, because you can shape it as you wish, but it isn't necessary for wrapping the wreath.

When you return to your starting point, tie the ribbon in a knot.

I made a separate bow, by looping ribbon in a big circle, then gathering it together at the center and tying it in place with the ribbon trailing from the knot on my wreath. I used wired ribbon for the bow so it would hold its shape well.

I TIED the plushies and ornaments to the wreath, so I could move things around if I wanted to (which would be much harder if I had used glue!) I sewed the string through the back of each plushie using a big curved needle.

You will want to play with the placement of the stuffies and ornaments to get everything looking good; that's what took the most time.

I'm hanging this wreath on the inside of the front door, where I can enjoy it! I have a more traditional wreath for the outside of the door, so visitors will think we're normal.

I have a few plushies I haven't used for anything yet...this is what I think I'll do next:

JUST KIDDING!!!!

Scrappy Fabric Bracelet Tutorial

2011-11-19T10:35:00.001-05:00

We are starting a new swap at Craftster next week--the Fabric Jewelry Swap. This little tutorial will show you how I make a scrappy fabric bracelet. This is a great way to wear a favorite phrase! You could also make a bracelet like this using just a single piece of your favorite fabric for the front.

1. Decide on a color and gather some scrap fabrics. Iron them, and start sewing them together! Sew them in pairs, like this, and cut them at a wonky angle:

2. Start sewing the cut-up pairs together.

3. Straighten the edges so you can sew on more sewn-together pairs.

4. Keep sewing, trimming edges, and sewing on some more. For a 7" bracelet, you only need a section that measures 7 1/2" x 1 1/2", so keep your scraps small, and try to have a lot of "intersections" of fabric, concentrated in the center of the pieced scrap fabric.

This is a 1" wide ruler; I'm using it to get an idea of where to cut my bracelet fabric.

5. When your pieced-fabric is big enough, cut out a section measuring 7 1/2" x 1 1/2" (that is for a 7" wrist; make yours bigger or smaller depending on your wrist measurement.)

6. This shows the back of the bracelet fabric, and a piece of iron-on interfacing. Cut the interfacing slightly smaller than your bracelet fabric, and iron it on the back.

7. I use a light box to copy a phrase onto white fabric (using a phrase I printed onto paper at the computer).

8. The edges of the "phrase" fabric will be left raw, so I just cut it out carefully, leaving a little less than 1/4" all around. Find the center of the bracelet fabric and center the phrase fabric there; pin it in place.

9. Sew the phrase fabric using the sewing machine.

10. Using coordinating embroidery thread, hand-stitch around the phrase on top of the machine-sewn lines. Pull out some of the loose threads around the edges to make a fringe. (Don't worry, the machine sewing and embroidery will keep the phrase in place--I've worn mine a lot and it is still very secure.)

11. To make a closure loop, tape a hair-tie in the middle and cut it in half.

12. Choose a piece of fabric for the backing. Iron it and cut it a little bigger than the front. Place the bracelet front, face down, on top of the backing. Pin the elastic loop, centered, at one end. Sew all the way around the perimeter, using a 1/4" seam. Leave an opening (about 2" or less) towards the end of one side. When you come to the elastic loop, sew back and forth over it several times to make it secure.

13. Trim the backing even with the front fabric in the seams, and trim the corners. Turn the bracelet right-side-out, through the opening. A pair of hemostats will be your best friend at this point!!

14. Iron the bracelet flat (avoiding the elastic loop--you don't want it to melt!), then top-stitch all the way around, 1/8" from the edge.

15. Sew on a button, and you are done!

Wear and enjoy!

"Hope" Hearts Reminder

2011-11-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago I told you about my wish to send hope, in the form of hearts, to AmandaBL on Craftster (you can read that post HERE). I would like to mail them to her shortly after Thanksgiving, so this is a little ~PUSH~ to anyone who was thinking of making a heart for her, but you just haven't gotten around to it yet--it's time! Let me know if you will be sending soon so I can set a firm date to mail them. It wouldn't take too long to whip up a heart with the word "hope" on it, I bet you could do it in an hour!

Let me show you what I have so far: these first two hearts are from susanab at Craftster. The "hope" heart is puffy, with the letters stamped on. The bright heart is flat and quilted, and is made in her signature "shabby" style, with loose threads and exposed edges. Awesome!

This pretty yellow heart is from kimchery, also from Craftster. It is made of felt, and the word is embroidered. She made the little blue flower button from clay--wow! Beautiful!

These two are from me; I showed them in a previous post (that's why they look familiar!) Both are puffy, and the word was handwritten with the aid of a lightbox.

I know at least one more package of hearts is on it's way to me for Amanda, and I do hope a few more of you will be inspired this weekend to grab some fabric and make a heart. I'll send you my address if you will email me (click on my name at the right to find the link to my email); then I will post a picture of all the hearts before I send them. You don't have to know Amanda to participate; you just have to be a person who wants to lift the spirits of a fellow-crafter who is going through a difficult time. Thanks in advance!!

Zipper SCORE!

2011-11-16T16:59:00.004-05:00

We have a shiny-new Goodwill store here in Williamsburg, Virginia; I have only been in it once before. Today I decided to run in and give everything a quick once-over, and look what I found--a big bag of zippers!

The price tag says $10.25, which seemed a little steep to me, but the zippers all look to be in perfect condition (old, but perfect!) and I guessed there were about 40 in the bag, bringing the price per zipper to... (...umm...where's my calculator?) about 25 cents each. That's a bargain! I use a lot of zippers in small pouches and bags, and I can use lots of different sizes, so I decided to go for it.

At the counter, the cashier told me "It's half off today"! What?? SCORE!! With tax they were only $5.39! And now that I have the package open, I can see that they are all good zippers, lots of colors and sizes, and best of all, there are 64 of them. Cost per zipper: 8 1/2 cents!

I think I will have to drop in to Goodwill more often. They have a ton of traffic in and out of there; who knows what treasures I've missed already?

Have you ever found something really great at a thrift store? Tell me, please!

My First Toy Drop: Mission Accomplished! (UPDATED)

2011-11-15T12:45:00.003-05:00

Two weeks ago I told you about The Toy Society and how people all around the world make toys and secretly "drop" them for children to find and take home (you can find that blog post HERE). I've had this toy bagged and ready, riding around in my car, ever since then!

I had thought I would drop it in one of the parks in town, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought I might look strange and conspicuous, wandering around a park or playground with no kids with me. So I just kept thinking about it, waiting for inspiration to strike--and it did! I realized the perfect place was outside the library; it is a small public space, with fountains, benches, and a pergola; and although you don't have to walk through it to get from the parking lot to the library, lots of parents with children make a detour to go through it, because it is a magical spot that children love!

There she is--my Happy Critter! I was there in the morning before the library opened, and I waited until no one was around to tie the package to a thick vine at child-height. When I stepped back to take pictures, the woman in the purple hoodie (behind the beam where my toy is tied) wandered in and sat down. Darn! She was so close to my package that it was hard to take the pictures without drawing her attention. Luckily my camera has a zoom lens, so I took the picture without having to get too close to her!

I will go back tomorrow to see it if is still there. I wish I could be there when it gets picked up, but I might get arrested if I lurk around the library too much! So I will just send it off with my good wishes for the child who finds it and takes it home.

If you have a spare handmade toy around your house, or you feel the urge to make one to give away, come on! Be a toy dropper! The weekend before Christmas is when The Toy Society is making a concerted effort to reach their goal of 300 toys dropped in a single weekend. I will be part of that--I hope you will be too. Then please come back and leave a comment--I would LOVE to know about it!

UPDATE: I went back this morning, 26 hours after dropping off the toy, and it was gone! I casually wandered around, looking in the fountain and the trash cans to be SURE it was gone, and there was no sign of it--now to wait and hope that it will turn up "found" on The Toy Society's web page.

More Scrappiness!

2011-11-13T09:49:00.002-05:00

I want to show you what I sent to my wendiek, my Craftster partner (in The Netherlands!) in the Scrap Happy Swap; here's the whole package:

What's that big green thing in the foreground, you ask? Why, it's a plastic bag dispenser, of course! Wendie listed that as one of the things she would especially like to receive. I have one hanging in my kitchen that I could use as a model, so I decided to go for it! I had to make a BIG piece of scrappy fabric (16" x 16") which took a lot longer than I expected! (You can click HERE to go to my tutorial for the scrappy patchwork technique.)

Once the scrap fabric was pieced, the plastic bag dispenser went together quite easily; it is basically a fabric tube with elastic at each end, and a hanging loop. I am extremely happy with how this turned out!

What's up with the cows, you ask? Wendie has several pictures of cows on her Wist list, and I had some fabric with cows on it...Wendie struck me as being like me: a practical woman with a sense of humor. I thought she would find the cows funny, and she did! She says she loves the whole package, and that's what I love to hear!

Veteran's Day, November 11, 2011

2011-11-11T11:01:00.002-05:00

To all who have served their country in the military,

including my father

Lt. Col. Jennings O. Larson (Ret.), U.S. Air Force

and my husband

Maj. William R. Andersen (Ret.), U.S. Army

I wish to say two words:

Thank you

(These pictures were taken at my father's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in 2006)

Hungry Monsters--For Christmas!

2011-11-09T09:54:00.001-05:00

Natasha, a blogger "mum" in the U.K., has compiled a list of her Top 10 Handmade Gifts for Christmas this year. Coming in at #2 are the Hungry Monsters we swapped recently at Craftster! Remember them?

You know, making these for the children on your gift list is a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? Go to Natasha's blog, Serenity You, to view the whole list and get some more great ideas for your handmade Christmas gifts. (And you can click on the blue words "Hungry Monsters", above, to go directly to the tutorial.)

The Making of a "Hope" Heart

2011-11-08T07:05:00.000-05:00

After last week's post, "Hearts and Hope for Amanda", several of you have let me know that you are busy making small hearts with the word "hope" on them to send to this fellow-crafter who's husband has been diagnosed with advanced cancer. Since I asked you to have them in the mail by November 15th, I thought I should get going and make mine! I made these two for Amanda:

Since I'm big on tutorials, this is a good chance to demonstrate a couple of things I've been asked about. I'll walk you through how I made the blue heart (it's a really basic step-by-step tutorial for beginner sewists, so you advanced people, just skim right through it!)

Make a heart-shaped template any size you want. Mine is 3 3/4" wide. (You can find the gridded template plastic at most fabric stores; or just use cardboard.). I cut two blue fabric strips 3" wide and about 10" long (that's for two hearts--I'm making one for my own jar of hearts!), and one strip of plain muslin 1" wide and 10" long. I sewed them together as you see in the picture, using a 1/4" seam. Cut out one heart from the pieced fabric for the front of the "hope" heart.

Here's my light box. To transfer the word "hope" to the front of the heart, I printed out the word on my computer; I made a lot of different sizes so I could choose the one that fit best when I was at the light box. These are the marking pens I use: micron, and Staedtler. I prefer the Staedtler because on some fabrics the micron pens will bleed and ruin the word. I have assorted sizes, and I used the largest size (0.7) to trace "hope" onto the heart.

I cut a heart-shaped piece of iron-on interfacing and ironed it to the back of the heart, so the finished product with be smooth and firm--not lumpy and bumpy. (Stay tuned, anyone with questions about interfacing, I will do a separate post about it soon!) Here's my heart front all done:

I used a different, coordinating fabric for the back of the heart. I ironed interfacing onto it, and cut it larger than the front, so I don't have to worry about the two sides shifting when I sew them together.

Sew all around the perimeter, using a 1/4" seam. Trim the excess fabric, and BE SURE to make a cut at the top of the heart, right to the stitching line, or it will pucker terribly when you turn it right-side-out. (Yes, I've forgotten to do it before!)

This picture shows a pair of hemostats, like doctors use in surgery! They are the best thing EVER for turning things right-side-out. Do yourself a favor and get a pair (or 6, like I have!)--and then go ahead and turn your heart right-side-out. (Or use a chop stick or knitting needle.) Press it flat.

Stuff the heart with fiberfill, sew the opening closed by hand, and you are done! This would be a great Christmas tree ornament, using holiday colors and a Christmas message. You would want to sew a loop of ribbon into the seam right at the top of the heart when you sew the two sides together.

For the pink and green heart, I wrote "hope" on a separate piece of fabric and machine-sewed it to the front of a pieced heart. I left the edges raw and exposed, and pulled out some threads to make a fringe around the sides of the word.

I'll give another update next week--hopefully I will have some of YOUR hearts to show off!

Happy Critters Toy Drop

2011-11-05T22:22:00.000-04:00

I finally figured out what to do with these cute little stuffies I made as prototypes when I was designing the Mystery Critters pattern. (The one on the left was my original idea; he morphed into the guy on the right. Quite a change, isn't it?!)

The two above, as well as the three below (which were the "models" for the swap on Craftster) will soon be going to new homes, thanks to a group called The Toy Society. They encourage people to make toys and secretly "drop" them in public places, for anyone to claim and take home.

A few days ago I got an e-mail from my friend Diane, saying she had just seen a picture at The Toy Society of two stuffies someone had just "dropped" near the town where she lives. The stuffies were made from my Mystery Critter pattern! Of course I hurried to take a look, and I was instantly captivated by the idea. Here's a quote from the website:

"The Toy Society is a craft/street art project spreading love throughout the streets of the world. From Melbourne to Lisbon, Antwerp to Michigan and everywhere in between, The Toy Society is all about giving you a 'something for nothing' experience." How cool is that!

To participate, you just go the www.thetoysociety.blogspot.com and register by submitting your name and e-mail address. They will send you an e-mail which details how to do a toy drop. On the website you can also see pictures of toys that have been "dropped", and read about some of the toys that have been found.

I decided to give these critters a makeover--I switched their button eyes for safety eyes, so they would be ready for any child who finds them. (I just noticed that some of them still have a button on their bodies--don't worry, I will snip those off too!)

The Toy Society will give you links to print out the labels and letter that goes with each toy you drop. You seal it all up in a zip-lock bag, and take it somewhere you think a child might find it. I'm going to drop this one in a near-by park.

The letter that accompanies the toy gives the website address, so if the finder wants to report the toy "found", they can. This would be a great family activity! My kids are in college now, so I guess I will do the toy drop by myself!

They have a special toy drop date just before Christmas, when they hope to have 300 toys dropped around the world. I will save one or two of mine to drop that day, and then I will register them at the site. I'll be sure to let you know if any of them are reported after they are found!

Matchbook Notepads

2011-11-03T20:10:00.001-04:00

Here's a tiny little gift that I like to make in big batches so I always have some on hand--these Matchbook Notepads are fairly simple to make, and they are great to tuck into a card for a little something "extra". I saw something similar on etsy and decided to make my own. They are great to have in your purse--if you need a slip of paper, just tear one out!

Here's a tutorial all in one picture!
1. For the outside, cut a piece of pretty cardstock 7" x 2 1/4".
2. Fold the cardstock 1/2" from one end, and 3 1/8" from the other end. (When both flaps are closed it will measure 2 1/4" x 3 3/8".)
3. Cut regular computer paper (or any kind of paper you want) into 2 3/4" x 2" slips. You will want 12-15 slips of paper per notepad.
4. Position the slips of paper under the short flap at the bottom, and staple in place. (You will want your staple fairly low, to leave room for the big flap to tuck in.)
5. Decide how you want to decorate the front. I used my Word computer program and printed the phrase "happy heart" on whitecard stock, and cut it 1 7/8" x 2 1/4".
6. With the notepad cover closed, center the white card stock and glue it to the cover.
7. Cut fabric scraps into heart shapes (or flowers, or anything you want) and glue them to the white cardstock.

That's it! I included the quarter for size reference. (Someone melted a hole in it before it came into my hands! I will do something with this special quarter some day--but I don't know what!)

I included one of these notepads in each package I sent to partners in the recent Jar of Hearts Swap at Craftster. They were PERFECT for that! I also include one when I mail an etsy purchase to a customer. They are great in a thank-you card too. Try making a few, I'm sure you will find lots of ways to use them!

Cutter quilts

2011-11-02T18:02:00.001-04:00

A while ago, my awesome friend Susan sent me (among other things) this sweet little heart that she bought from a seller on etsy called Wordz of Life. The seller makes these ornaments out of old, worn out quilts, referred to as "cutter quilts", because that's all they are considered to be good for--cutting up to use for something else. Here's the front:

Here's the back:

The first thing I said to Susan about the heart was: "I love it!" and then, "I want to make some like this!" She hadn't heard the term "cutter quilt" before, but she is really good at finding information online, so it wasn't too long before I received another package in the mail: Susan had found another seller on etsy with cut-up squares of vintage quilts for sale, and she bought one for me! (I told you Susan was awesome!)

I love the look of the old quilt block, with the hand-stitching, the small holes, tears, and worn spots, all of which tell of its history. Someone made this by hand, and it was used, and hopefully loved, until finally, it didn't look nice as a bedcovering any more, and was discarded. Maybe the etsy seller got it at a thrift shop, or at an estate sale; either way, the quilt is now living its second life--it is being "re-crafted". I decided to start using it for three of the hearts in the Jar of Hearts swap I participated in at Craftster (that's why it now has heart-shaped holes in it!)

The recipients of these quilt-hearts have told me they love them! I made mine 3-D, sewing two pieces of quilt-heart together, and filling them with fiberfil. I left the raw edges showing and the cotton batting exposed. A simple button in the middle adds a little something without detracting from the simplicity of the heart.

I will admit that I have mixed feelings about cutting up old quilts; ideally, I would like to see them remain intact and used as a decorative element--over the back of a sofa, on top of a bookcase, or at the foot of a bed. But some old quilts are too far gone, I suppose, for anything but being repurposed. I am happy to see the usable parts of those quilts live on in other ways, like these hearts.

Hearts, and Hope for Amanda

2011-11-01T08:45:00.001-04:00

I love hearts! I love making hearts! Even my Craftster username is Leslieshappyheart!

Last month I showed you the hearts I made for a personal swap on Craftster (Box of Hearts), and I am currently in the Jar of Hearts swap. I sent out my hearts on Friday, and they are all going to be delivered today, so I don't think I will spoil any surprizes by posting pictures here! They will all show up in the gallery this week, so you, my readers, will get this sneak preview!

The pink-and-white heart on the upper right was made from a piece of an old cut-up quilt that my friend Susan gave me. The red button-y heart on the bottom right is my favorite!

I have 5 official partners, and one unofficial (she only asked for one partner, but then wished for more, so I am doing a personal swap with her). Each partner gets 5 hearts.

Some of the hearts are the same, and some are unique to the recipient. This partner requested some black hearts, and I love how they came out!

One of the heart swappers, Amanda, is also in the Journal Cover Swap that I organized; that's how I came to find out that her husband has just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Amanda commented on one of the hearts in the gallery: "I like the hope one because that word has recent significance for me..."

I've talked with her a bit about the diagnosis through private message on Craftster, because I know exactly what she's going through--two years ago, my husband was also diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The treatment was long and difficult, and it was a very bad time in the life of our family, but he is now healthy again! Thank God!

So, my crafty readers, I have an idea: I want to send Amanda a package of hearts for her jar of hearts. Would you be able to help me? My thought is that everyone who wants to contribute would make one or two hearts, out of anything you want (fabric, felt, clay, paper, yarn, wood...whatever), and incorporate the word "hope" on one (or both) of them. You could write it, stamp it, attach it as a label, embroider it...I know you will think of a way to do it.

Then send the hearts to me, and I will package them and send them to Amanda. Before I send them, I will take pictures and post them here. Here's a summary:

1. Make one or two hearts, one or both of which have the word "hope" on it. (I don't know her religious beliefs, so let's avoid any mention of anything religious). The heart can be any size, up to 4" in diameter.
2. E-mail me (click my name at the right, you will see the link to my email on the next page) to tell me you have hearts for Amanda, and I will e-mail you my mailing address. You can do that before you make the hearts if you wish.
3. Please send your hearts no later than November 15th. That's two weeks from today. If you would like to add a little note for Amanda, please do. I will package the hearts so the maker will be identified by your first name and state (or country), and/or Craftster username.
4. If some hearts are slow to arrive, I will send a second package to Amanda, so don't worry if you live in Outer Mongolia! Cancer treatment takes quite a while, so she will be needing regular reminders that people are supporting her.
5. I plan to send the first package right after Thanksgiving, so check back here for an update! And thank you in advance for your help. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you create!

More Journal Covers

2011-10-30T13:04:00.003-04:00

In September, I posted a Journal Cover Tutorial for a swap I was organizing on Craftster. The swap is winding down now, which means the gallery is filling up with some really great and inspiring journal covers! You can see them all if you click here.

For my partner who loves "Hello Kitty", I made this journal cover:

The great thing is, my daughter is also a Hello Kitty fan, so I already had this fabric in my stash! Using wool felt, black embroidery thread, and Heat n Bond, I made the large kitty-face applique for the front. Hello Kitty always wears a bow in her hair, so I sewed a 3-D bow onto her head. It will probably become flattened with use, but I don't think it will detract from it too much. I also added a ribbon bookmark with a flower charm.

My other partner is an art student who loves bright colors. I was inspired by the cover of this magazine

to create this journal cover

I gathered up all my bright-colored scraps and ironed on a lot of Heat n Bond! Then I made a leaf-shaped template and cut out all the fabrics. I printed the words on the computer, and traced them onto the fabric using a light box. After the leaves and the oval with the words were ironed in place, I thought it still needed something, so I embroidered around the oval with bright blue thread...and it STILL needed something. I always have buttons handy, and they seemed to fit well above the oval to balance the design. This one also has a ribbon bookmark. I am thrilled with how it turned out!

See the white cover with fruit on it, underneith the orange one? I use that journal EVERY DAY, to plan my day, make to-do lists, and write down random thoughts. I love how pretty it is; it's so much better than using a plain composition book. So, if you didn't get one in our swap, I strongly recommend that you make one for yourself!

My First Mug Rug

2011-10-29T17:46:00.001-04:00

Recently I was in the Mug Rug swap at Craftster, and I made my very first one! A mug rug is bigger than a coaster and smaller than a placemat; the idea is that it is big enough for a drink and a snack. It is really just a little quilt, so as a life-long quilter, I jumped right in!

I looked through my partner's Wists and I saw this picture:

I decided to use that as my inspiration. I drew up a pattern, cut out the pieces, and hand-appliqued the fruit onto the background--that took a few hours. Since her favorite color is yellow, I used that and red as the main colors.

For the back I drew a message, using a sloth (also taken from her Wists) and a heart to represent our Craftster usernames. I love the yellow dot fabric on the back!

When I was finished, I knew I had done my best work--but was it appropriate for something that would quickly be subjected to coffee stains and cookie crumbs? Hmmm, not really! Luckily, my partner, who is also a quilter, realized this too, and said that she plans to hang it on the wall in her kitchen. Yay!

This experience served to remind me of something I already knew: you need to take into consideration the function of the item you are making when you decide on the techniques you will use. Fine hand-applique should be reserved for things that won't receive a lot of wear and tear. Next time, I'm using Heat n Bond!

The Post Office Loves Me

2011-10-28T14:53:00.000-04:00

When I posted the tutorial for my scrappy patchwork technique, which included a scrap fabric giveaway, I expected to get a few requests for scraps from Craftster members, and that's just what happened the first couple of days. Then yesterday, my Scrappy Snappy Pouches tutorial (which again included a scrap giveaway) appeared on CraftGossip.com--and now I'm almost afraid to read my e-mail because I've been flooded with requests for scraps!

I went to the post office again today, to send fabric-scrap-filled envelopes throughout the U.S. and Canada. So far I've mailed 32 envelopes, so if you requested scraps before 10am EST today, your envelope is heading your way right now! Here's my mail bag:

One of the envelopes in the bag actually contains a scrap of the chicken print fabric left over from making this bag (several years ago)! Who will get it?

Ironically, after mailing away so many scraps, it actually seems that I have MORE scraps now than when I started! It's as if every time I put one in an envelope, two more sneak into the pile! Where are they coming from? Take a look:

Sadly, this is how my living room looks right now, so if you haven't requested your scraps yet, don't worry, I've still got some!

How to Set a Snap Without Crying

2011-10-27T19:58:00.001-04:00

This snap-setting gizmo might make you cry. It's hard to use and you frequently end up with a snap that's only half-way on, and you have to pry it off the fabric, which oftens means you damage the item to which you are applying the snap. I hate that! It makes me so mad!!

Following the directions on this package could also lead to tears. They tell you to hammer the snaps, without offering a way to keep the plastic on the front of the snap from cracking under the hammer blows.

After applying many snaps, and suffering through many failures, I came up with my own way to set snaps like these.

Here's what you will need: the four pieces of the snap, two thread spools, a piece of scrap fabric, a hammer and a pencil. (Oh--and an item in need of a snap!)

Start with the front of the snap. Find the spot where you want it to be, and push it into the fabric. Since you are probably pushing it through several layers, the prongs will barely be showing on the back. Use the pencil eraser to push the fabric down onto the prongs, so the ends of the prongs are well-exposed. (See how chewed-up my eraser looks? It has helped me with a lot of snaps!)

To fasten the "outie" part of the snap, start by placing your scrap fabric on top of one of your thread spools; this will cushion the snap. The center of the spool has a round hole; center the snap over the hole (you will have to feel around for it, since the scrap of fabric is covering the hole). The hole will cradle the snap and provide even support around the edge, so when you hammer it, it won't crack.

Center the "outie" part of the snap on the exposed prongs.

Now center your second thread spool over the "outie". Hold the spool firmly with one hand, and whack the spool with the hammer four or five times. Remove the spool and check the snap; if it doesn't seem tightly attached, you didn't hammer hard enough. Replace the snap and spool, and hammer it harder! (I usually warn other people in the house before I start hammering!)

I don't have a picture for the other half of the snap, but it's the easy part, so I will just tell you: mark the spot on the fabric where you want the other half of the snap to go. Push the "prong" piece up through the fabric from the bottom at your mark, again using the pencil eraser to push the fabric down and expose the prongs. Center the last piece of the snap on the prongs (but check to make sure the deeply-grooved side is FACING DOWN; otherwise it won't hold). You only need one spool this time, because all the hammering in the world won't hurt this half of the snap! Just put the fabric item on the workspace, center a thread spool over the snap, and whack it hard with the hammer four or five times.

Hooray, you did it without breaking the snap OR crying!

ANOTHER Special Order

2011-10-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I told you about a special order I received for a purse--I said that my purses usually look something like this:

but the bag she wanted would be all black, and it came out like this:

She liked that black bag so much, she has ordered another purse--all brown this time--and it looks like this:

Not bad, right? I think I'm getting the hang of this! Solid-colored bags actually look okay!

Scrappy Snappy Pouch Tutorial

2011-10-25T10:43:00.004-04:00

After posting the tutorial for scrappy patchwork, my friend Susan (aka The Sloppy Sewer) tested it out and had some questions. Since another reader asked for a pattern for the red snap pouch, I've decided to present you with another tutorial, with a more detailed explanation of the scrappy patchwork technique, AND directions for the pouch (this time in pink). What more could you ask for?? Here we go!

Scrappy Snappy Pouch Tutorial

Here's what I will make today:

You will need to make a template for your pouch. I use template plastic, like that in the picture below, because it is sturdy, has handy grid lines, and you can lay it over your fabric to check pattern placement. You can buy this at most fabric stores. If you want to use cardboard, that will work too.

Cut a piece of your template material 5 1/2" by 6 1/2". To make the curve at the top, find something circular--I am using a plate with a diameter of 8 1/2".

Find the center of your template material on one of the shorter sides. The arrow marks the center of mine. Line up the edge of your plate (or whatever you are using) with the arrow, and trace the curve. Cut it out on the line and you have your template, which INCLUDES SEAM ALLOWANCE. (I will move the plate right up to the top of the arrow to mark my curve.)

Now, on to the patchwork!

1. Start with scraps that are not too big: not more than 2-3" wide, not more than 10-12" long. Here you can see that some of my pieces were bigger than that, so I cut them up before sewing. Notice that I cut them at random angles. You want to avoid 90 degree angles to make it look scrappy.

2. Start sewing pieces together. Sew two pieces together, then iron, then cut a new straight edge along one side, at a funky angle--this straight edge is where you will sew another piece of sewn-together scraps. The section in the center of this picture is what I am starting with. I sewed together the striped and dragonfly pieces, then ironed, cut a straight edge, and sewed on the flower piece.

Here's the same segment, after I've cut the edges straight. Since this is the one I'm starting with, I cut all the edges, so I have lots of areas to choose from to sew on the next piece. After this I will just cut one side at a time; I will choose the piece to sew on based on the size of the piece and color/pattern placement.

Here I've added another section of pieced-together scraps, ironed the seam flat, and now I'm cutting a straight edge. YES, you will end up cutting off a lot of fabric to make the edges straight! That's okay--it means you're doing it right! (I know it's ironic that you will generate a lot of scraps while using your scraps to make this scrappy fabric! Don't worry about it! Sometimes those pieces can be sewn to a different side later.)

3. As the pieced fabric gets bigger, use your template to check it from time to time. This will help you decide which area to use for the front of your pouch, and where to sew on more fabric. I need to do some more sewing!

(You can use narrower seams than usual when piecing together your scraps; one-eighth of an inch is not too narrow, if you can manage it, and it will reduce the bulk on the back of your fabric.)

4. Okay, now my fabric is big enough to make the pouch. The template includes the seam allowance, so just trace around it with pencil, and cut on the pencil line.

5. You will need two more fabrics:
--pouch bottom-front, cut 5 1/2" x 3 3/4"
--pouch lining, cut 6" x 10 1/2" (I like to cut my lining a little bigger to avoid disaster when sewing!)

Sew the bottom-front fabric to the patchwork fabric, right sides together, on the shorter straight edge.

6. Iron on some fusible interfacing to give the fabric body. I use Pellon featherweight fusible. I am also going to use sew-in interfacing (again, I use Pellon, any weight will do--I used a scrap I had laying around). Here, my inner and outer fabrics have interfacing ironed onto the back; in the middle is the sew-in interfacing.

7. Layer everything like this:
--sew-in interfacing on the bottom
--lining fabric, face up, in the middle
--patchwork fabric, face down, on top

Pin together, and sew a 1/4" seam around the perimeter, leaving a 2" opening on one side (in the picture I'm pointing to the best place for the opening).

8. Trim your seams down to 1/4"; turn right-side out through the opening, and iron flat. Then fold up the bottom-front section (the solid pink section) and iron a good crease there. You can see the crease in the picture.

9. Sew the pouch together with a single line of stitching, starting at the bottom front corner, sewing up the side, around the curve, and down the other side to the other bottom front corner (don't stitch along the bottom edge). Back stitch at the beginning and ending of sewing.

10. Iron the front curved section down, add a snap, and you are done!

Which one do you like best?

I'm still offering an envelope of scrap fabric! Just do two little things:

1. Leave a comment below, it can be about anything.

2. Click on my name at right to find the link to my e-mail. Send me an e-mail with your mailing address, color choice for scraps, and Craftster username (if you are active on Craftster ).

I will send you some scraps ASAP, to get you started on your own scrappy project! (That's right--this is a free offer!)

Scraps: I Have a Few

2011-10-22T08:03:00.001-04:00

Yeah, I have a few scraps...a few MILLION! Here they are! After yesterday's post about the Scrap Happy Swap on Craftster, I decided to gather them all together to see exactly what I had. From the back of the closet and the top shelf above the washing machine, from under my sewing table and behind my sewing chair, I gathered together all my bags and boxes of scrap fabric.

I want to give them away! Soon after yesterday's post was published, announcing the scrap giveaway, I got my first request...and my only request. So I thought I would show you what you could expect to receive if you request a packet too--they are good scraps! Not tiny bits, but mostly big strips that you can really use. This picture shows the scraps next to the business-size envelope they will arrive in:

And just to show how useful they are, I made this cute little pouch from them! The front flap and back are all scraps; the lower front and lining are single larger pieces:

Here's something else you could make with these scraps: a patchwork fabric bracelet.

So leave a comment here, or under yesterday's post, and then click on my name at right to access my e-mail on my profile page. If you e-mail me your name, mailing address, and color choice, I will send you an envelope of scraps to get you started on your own scrappy patchwork project. I'm looking forward to hearing from LOTS of readers!! C'mon, what are you waiting for??

Scrappy Patchwork Tutorial and GIVEAWAY

2011-10-21T08:35:00.006-04:00

Okay, time for another swap-related tutorial! This time I will show you how to make a scrappy patchwork card case, but this patchwork technique could be applied to any sewn item. Basically, you are just making a large piece of patchwork fabric, from which you will cut a piece to make your card case (or potholder, or pillow, or pouch...) There is a giveaway at the end of this tutorial, so read (or at least scroll through) the whole thing! And, if you love "scrappy" stuff and want more, more, more, join us on Craftster for the Scrap Happy Swap that my friend Susan (The Sloppy Sewer) and I will be starting within the next week or so. You will be able to choose whatever you want to make for the swap; I'm offering this tutorial to show one way to make something "scrappy".

Card Case Wallet Tutorial

1. Go to your scrap bag and choose some scraps. I have a lot of blue, so that's what I'm using. I chose similar shades of blue, with a few pops of color thrown in. Iron your scraps. (A couple of mine were already sewn together from other projects--bonus!)

2. Start by sewing the scraps together in pairs, and iron flat.

3. Using a rotary cutter and clear ruler, cut the sewn pairs into smaller pieces (3-6" long), but be sure not to cut at 90-degree angles! You want as many different angles as possible to make it look random.

Here are my pieces all cut up:

4. Start sewing the cut-up pieces together in pairs.

You will need to straighten all the edges, so trim as needed. I'm using this one as my center:

Random Acts of Kindness

2011-10-13T10:43:00.004-04:00

About a month ago, I posted about a "Pay-It-Forward" game for bloggers; the first 3 bloggers who commented on the post would get a gift from me, if they put the same post on their blog and agreed to send gifts to 3 people. I felt bad that it was only for bloggers, so today I'm going to give EVERYONE the chance to get a little hand-made gift from me (except Susan, Kat and Helen--whom I love and encourage to do a random act of kindness!--you three are my Pay-It-Forward recipients, so feel free to comment on this post, but your comment won't count toward gift).

This time we're doing "Random Acts of Kindness". I will send a random gift to anyone who does a kindness for someone and leaves a comment on this post. Maybe it will be one of these zippered pouches:

Simply do something unexpected for someone, any time, anywhere, and then come back here and tell what you did in the comment section. If it's next week, next month, or next year, fine! Maybe you will volunteer at school; help an older person in the grocery store; give a gift to your favorite bank teller--I'm sure you will think of something. It can be big or small, it just has to be something that makes someone else know they've been noticed. The world can seem cold and impersonal at times, and random acts of kindness are meant to counteract that.

I hope I have to send a ton of gifts, and that we all will make random acts of kindness a habit in our lives.