Tag: sewing

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Felt Snowmen Ornaments – Super Cute!

Felt Snowman Ornaments

 

Love these cute Felt Snowmen Ornaments! Christmas just seems the “right” time to DIY and these little guys were just so easy to sew up!  We followed the tutorial by Tied with a Ribbon and gave it just a little twist.  Instead of adding a button as trim on their hats, we used snowflake brads found at Michael’s.  I saw them when shopping for the pink and black brads and knew they would be “just right” for our Snowmen!

The first one took a little time, but once we got to working on them, they sewed up pretty fast. We have lots of felt, fiberfill, and floss from many crafts over the years, so all we needed was the brads. Honestly, I hadn’t ever noticed the tiny brads over in the papercrafting / scrapbooking section of Michael’s. By the way, you can also find these on Amazon if you don’t have a craft store nearby.

These would make great “teacher” and “co-worker” gifts!

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Easy Cool Top

Simplicity 1615

Spring is finally warm here! I made this EASY COOL TOP using Simplicity 1615 to celebrate~

Simplicity 1615
Simplicity 1615

 

I chose a light cotton with small flowers. I think it will be COOL and just right over jeans.  I wear a lot of T-shirts and this new top gives me some options.

The pattern was very easy, and I love the sleeve and collar detail. I followed the directions which include using bias tape to enclose the seams around the neckline. Next time I make this blouse, I will make some bias tape because I am not crazy about seeing the white bias tape inside the blouse. I am kind of particular about the inside looking as nice as the outside. As usual, I also sewed with french seams – I know – it’s more work but that is just “me.”

Mother tried on the blouse and she wants to make one, too. I have some soft fabric that drapes better that would be great in this pattern.  I am sure that I will make this top again, perhaps view E (the green one) next time?

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Spring Forward: Jump on those UFOs

Spring Forward

Today we “Spring Forward” and start Daylight Savings Time. There are simply not enough hours in a regular day, and today we have one hour less!  What projects are you thinking about today? Starting a new quilt? A skirt? A yarn project? Embroidery?

Or perhaps you are thinking about finishing up some of your UFOs (unfinished objects), WISPs (works in slow progress), PIPs (projects in process), PIGS (projects in grocery sacks), AFUFOs (almost finished UFOs), or “the pile” (as husbands tend to call our projects…)? Believe me, all those projects you see in the photo above were once a UFO/WISP/PIP/PIG/AFUFO/part of “the pile” (note – some of them still are…).

Now, I know you have some of these lying around!  We all do. It’s a natural thing to get bored, distracted, or just plain stuck on a project.  Sometimes we need a little motivation to get us moving and today is a great day to forge ahead.

Today, let’s think about “Spring Forward” as a reminder to jump on those projects that are holding us back and making us feel guilty. It feels wonderful to finish a project – what will you finish up today?

“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” -Josh Billings

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” -Japanese Proverb

“Never, never, never give up.” -Winston Churchill

“You must find a way or make one.” -Hannibal

“Those people blessed with the most talent don’t necessarily outperform everyone else.  It’s the people with follow-through who excel.” -Mary Kay Ash

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” -Pablo Picasso

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” -Buddha

“We learn by doing.” -Aristotle

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.”  -Jim Rohn

“Do we need more time? Or do we need to be more disciplined with the time we have?” -Kerry Johnson

We can do anything we want if we stick to it long enough.

“What I am looking for is not out there; it is in me.” – Hellen Keller

There are no mistakes, only opportunities.

 

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Our Abbey Bags

Our Abbey Bags

We decided on using primary colors in polka-dots for our new Sewing Room. For each of our machines, we are sewing matching Table Aprons and Abbey Bags. The polka-dot materials are anchors to our patchwork-quilt theme. So far, we’ve completed “Blue,” “Black,” and “Red” Abbey Bags with plans to make “Green,” “Yellow,” and “Orange.” We’re pretty certain we will be sewing more than six of these….

I just love how they turned out! Of course, “Red” is sEaMcRaZy Edna’s favorite (she just LOVES RED) and my fave is “Blue.” Each thread scrap bag is anchored by a flower pincushion at the top. If you look closely, you can see a little pocket which is the perfect size for our little snipping scissors. And seam rippers, which get a lot of mileage at my house.

We used ground walnut shells for the pincushion stuffing. Honestly, it took me several tries to get the shape just right. At first, I had filled them too much and they looked like footballs. Next, I got them rounder and they looked like softballs. Not cute. At all. There is this little trick to getting them round-ish and flat-ish to look right. I think I finally got the shape right:

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Woxjs4adxmk/UxFOH1uyekI/AAAAAAAAEgg/bUbEL_gAaS4/s144-c-o/SDC12043.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/110956043075394460751/Seamcrazy02#5985651276341475906″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”SDC12043.JPG” ]

These little cuties sit right beside our sewing machines. They don’t fall off because of the weight of the pincushions with ground walnut shells inside, plus they have a circle of vinyl shelf cover underneath them. I literally took some liner out of one of my kitchen cabinets, cut it up, and glued it to the bottoms!

I confess we are terribly messy seamstresses…putting pins down wherever we happen to take them out of the fabric. So there is this little pile of pins beside every machine. Now, we have our cute little Abbey Bags pincushions for our pins. These are great little additions to our sewing tables!

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Sewing Tools #1

Favorite tools

There are some sewing tools that I just can’t do without.  I have my favorites because they do the work I want them to do.  I’d like to introduce you to just a few of my best friends on my sewing table….

Let’s start with the sharp stuff: I’m a big fan of Gingher scissors and shears. I am very persnickety when it comes to having sharp scissors to work with, and my Ginghers have never failed me. I use a pair of Dressmaker Shears and Embroidery Scissors. Never, never, NEVER, let your good shears cut paper, and always treat them with great respect on the cutting table. I keep the Embroidery Scissors on a lanyard around my neck while sewing so that I don’t have to dig around when it is time to clip a thread.  My Ginghers cut very straight and never give me grief. I use Fiskars Softgrip pinking shears for cutting cotton fabrics and cutting around curves. This pair with the orange handles is very ergonomic for my hands.  When buying scissors and shears, select a quality brand like Gingher or Fiskars.  Before buying (because they can be expensive), use a friend’s pair for a day or try out a pair in the store so that you can see if the handles and general feel are good for you.

Ball point pins are my favorite type of pin, but even if they are not ball points, I still like pins that have bead heads or something that helps me handle them (rather than the flat head of a standard pin).  I have a pin cuff that I wear around my wrist when pinning a pattern.  Actually, I have a couple of these, some of which are magnetized. Chopsticks are very useful for turning and for making corners just right, and in the photo you can see two types: one with a pointy end and another with a square end.  I use both depending on the job to be done.

Choosing the right sewing tools can make the difference between a frustrating day and a pleasurable day sewing.

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Hot Stuff Hot Pad/Mitt

Here’s a hot story – don’t get burned by evil cook pots and pans! This Hot Stuff Hot Pad/Mitt makes the kitchen a little bit more bearable.

I think it turned out nice; and it’s been given a test run with some hot microwave baked sweet potatoes yesterday and some biscuits today. I like the fact that it doubles as a hot pad and a mitt.  With Insul-bright insulating batting inside, it protect hands and countertops.

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Red Wheelchair Tote

Red is Edna’s favorite color; if she ever has a choice of fabric, the red fabric ends up on the cutting table. She recently made this very nice Wheelchair Tote in – you guessed it – red floral cotton.  The Tote hangs from the back of the chair by ties.  She added a velcro top closure, two velcro closure pockets on the outside, and two on the inside. She used self-fabric buttons to give it a tailored look. It will match the wheelchair, which happens to be red, by the way.

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Fall & Fabric

It was a beautiful fall day today and a great day to go fabric shopping!  We enjoyed the sale at Joann’s, where so many things were 40-60% off.  We ended up with some flannel (60% off!!), fleece, thread, and more patterns. You know, you just can’t have tooooo many patterns.  On the way home, we stopped at Saladworks and picked up supper (Edna loves her some salad).  At home, we took it easy, checking emails and such, because tomorrow is SEWING SUNDAY and we have a few projects to work on.  I have plans to finish two projects and Edna has to finish up a tote bag that hangs on the back of the wheelchair.

It’s great to get out and visit a fabric store…but we always buy more than we anticipated and have a great time doing it.