Show and Tell: New Bags

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

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

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

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!

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)

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!

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!