Under Construction

Lampshade beautification effort

 Before:

After:

The talented and generous Missy Ballance of Mohair Circus gave me a basket full of "cutter quilt" scraps (several months ago). Even though they were already cut, I had the HARDEST time cutting them again and spent ages trying to decide on the "perfect" project. (these quilt scraps are HAND pieces and HAND quilted with the most meticulous little stitches you can imagine)

Last weekend I took the plunge and cut into several of the smallest and most worn out pieces to make over a cheap-o lamp that has been sitting, unplugged in our bedroom for MONTHS while I used an ugly, plastic clip lamp for bedtime reading.

I must say, I am pleased with the results, rustic, unfinished edges and all. Biscuit immediately declared it "pretty" so we'll call it a success.

On the off chance you have an ugly lampshade and a cutter quilt (or other fabric) here's a quick'n'dirty tutorial (if you can even call it that). Let's call it "a few tips to make your own."

Make a pattern piece out of fabric by using a pen to trace the ridges of one section of the lampshade. You can pin through the lampshade to hold things in place.

Cut out your pattern and use it to cut out the relevant number of pieces of quilt--add about a quarter inch when you cut out the pieces, it's easier to trim than to make your fabric larger later! I also found that the sections of el cheapo lampshade were not entirely even.

Also note, my lamp is six-sided (I think this technique might be hard with a square shade but very easy with a circle if you have enough fabric).

Almost time to start sewing! Pin your quilt piece in place lining up one side along the center ridge of the boning that attaches the adjoining lamp panels.  Like this: (see how the edge of the quilt falls in the center of the boning?)

Ok, now that one edge is trimmed and the piece is pinned in place, start sewing.  I used hand quilting thread (a little thicker than all purpose but, whatever). Tie a knot in your thread and start inside the shade. Stitch as close to the edge of the boning as possible. You want to take long (almost 1 inch) stitches on the inside and very, very short stitches on the outside. Here's a view of the inside of the stitched shade. See the long stitches?:

Once I had one side of the first piece in place I stitched the two adjoining pieces at the same time making sure they were butting right up against one another and trimming as needed for fit.

Be sure the stitch the top and bottom edges as well and, that's it! If you were feeling all fancy like, you could stitch on some bias tape or hem tape to cover the raw edges but I thought the raw edges were part of the charm (and I'm lazy).

Here's to warm lampshades! Oh, one last note, the thick, quilt fabric does block most of the light from going through the shade so this is not a great option if you want the lamp to illuminate a whole room. In my case I wanted the light mostly going downward (so Mr. H can sleep while I read) so this was a perfect solution.

Hooray for cutter quilts and instant gratification projects!

Constructing a log cabin quilt square--a video tutorial

These are all taken in one shot with no editing (as if you couldn't tell). But I hope they make sense. My goal was to explain a log cabin quilt and introduce a few basic quilt sewing technique as I would to a friend sitting in my sewing room. In this case my "friend" was a camera precariously attached to my floor lamp.  Anyway, have fun with the log cabinning!

Videopalooza

I redid the rotary cutter video tutorial--still a one take deal but I think it's better than my first attempt.

I also videoed the layout of a log cabin quilt square and a sewing tutorial. And a P.S. to the sewing tutorial. Yep, that's FOUR, count 'em FOUR video tutorials. (YouTube is running SO slow I'll post the rest tomorrow) 

On a separate note, the lovely Miss Peptogirl gave me a "you made my day" award which totally made my day. That was yesterday, the same day my neighbor dropped off an Easter lily on my doorstep. So nice!

I think I'm supposed to pass on the "you make my day" honor to five other bloggers so here goes (this is hard!):
My dearest friend, Far From CA who's "Monday Musings" from her three year old are priceless
My dad (who let me play with his new D-SLR on Easter)
Jennifer from Craftsanity for the fabulous podcasts (and now she's blogging almost every day!)
Sweet Juniper for this post about his Sacagewea theory
Holly from Decor8 because she answers random email questions from readers and seems to be the sweetest gal in the blogosphere

A video tutorial of questionable quality

My first foray into the wide world of video tutorials leaves a lot to be desired.

But if you don't have a friend nearby to show you how to use a rotary cutter this should get you going in the right direction. I hope you find it helpful.

The video tutorial on Instructables.

I plan to improve my technique with the video and then create a series of basic quilting how-to's that will ultimately lead to making a log cabin quilt square and using that in a quillow in the grand mega tutorial. Eventually.

If rotary cutter tutorials aren't your thing, might I direct you to Thing-a-Day? I would welcome your feedback on the good, the bad, and the ugly of February fabric designs.

And finally, some good news: Loobylu is back!! Hooray!

Calendar of children's art

This project is 100% instant gratification.

Between Biscuit's  new school and newfound fascination with art projects she's developed quite a "body of work."  Simultaneously I've decided that living without a wall calendar isn't going to work for 2008 but the freebee calendars I've received are too ugly to display in my new kitchen.

So I grabbed some double stick tape and solved all my problems.

From random Italian restaurant advertisement calendar....
to display of my daughter's fascination with Ed Emberley:

For odd sized art, I used scraps of construction paper to cover the calendar and then added the art:


You'll notice Biscuit's modern, white-on-white approach to the dog painting.

This whole project was made even EASIER by the fact that my free calendar was 8.5x11 inches and we usually use standard size paper for our "art."

Seriously, all I did was use double stick tape to put the art on the pages

This took me less than 10 minutes. I left several months blank to fill in with new art as it arrives home and filled in December with last year's glitter extravaganza

This silly project made my day. If you still need a calendar, or if you're staring at ridiculous images from the calendar your realtor dropped off, pull out the tape! (I'm sure gluesticks would work as well and larger art can be trimmed to fit)

Enjoy!

Felt garland tutorial (or why I'll have to pack mothballs in the Christmas box)

Last night, driving home from work, I had a sudden inspiration for a new Christmas tree garland. I'm sure I was inspired by all the knit garlands folks were posting but I haven't seen anything quite like this.  It was super easy to make and looks fantastic (if I do say so myself). As always with my tutorials the photos are awful but I'm sure you can figure it out.

Start with 2 or 3 felted sweaters. I chose a bright red, a gray and white and a brown and mulitcolor. All are 100% wool and from the thrift store. The red one was full of moth holes but that's no problem for this project.  To felt the sweaters toss them in your washing machine on hot with detergent and run an extra cycle. Dry in the dryer. The sweaters should be well shrunk and thick--they should not fray when you cut them.

Once your sweaters are ready, start cutting roundish shapes ranging from 1.25 to about 3.5 inches in diameter. No need for a template, egg shape, circle, oval, rounded square, all are fine. This is a perfect tv watching activity.

Once you have a largish pile of round pieces of felt, move off the couch and too your sewing machine.

Use a ball point needle and set your sewing machine to make a long, straight stitch. You may also want to use a heavier thread although I used all purpose thread and it seems okay.  Anyway, shove the first circle under the presser foot and sew through the middle.

As soon as the first circle is through, immediately push the next circle under the presser foot.  Don't overlap them but try not to have any gap between the circles.

This is what the chain of circles should look like coming off the back of your machine. I got into a groove of grabbing the circles with my left hand and guiding them into the machine while guiding the stitch with my right hand. I never had to stop the machine.  Try to vary the color and sizes to achieve a random look.

This is what a good section looks like. Note the approximate sizes of the circles and that they are closely butted together.

This section doesn't look so good--gaps are too big between circles. If this happens when you are sewing, back up the machine onto the previous circle and feed in the next circle more closely and then move on.

That's it! I made 13 YARDS of this in what felt like NO time at all. The sewing probably took 15 minutes total. The cutting perhaps 2 hours of tv time.

Don't forget to pack this with mothballs.

PS--we spent the entire evening decorating the tree so I am way behind on emails and listing on etsy. I plan to get to it all tomorrow :) Thanks for your votes on the holiday photo for the card--ya'll seem to agree with Mr. H.

Gift card pattern

Download the pattern for these gift card holders.Download gift_card_holder_pattern.pdf

Enjoy! This is cross posted here. Check in for lots of good holiday ideas.

Glitter gourds

Eleven people who don't normally live here will be showing up in less than a week expecting a meal. And possibly expecting a clean house. I'm hoping a beautiful centerpiece will distract them from the dust and cobwebs and clutter around here.

I frequently see glittered fruit for a Christmas display but glittered gourds for Thanksgiving? Haven't seen that. Until today!

I'm hoping these will look great scattered on the Thanksgiving table interspersed with tea lights for extra sparkle. 

Want to make some?

Supplies: assorted gourds and squash, mod podge (or watered down school glue), glue brush, newspaper, clear glitter. Note: glitter was on sale at JoAnn's yesterday. I bought the cheapest stuff I could find and it worked fine.

I left the stems unglittered. So, for small gourds, hold the stem and brush on a thin, even layer of mod podge (or glue). The trick is the keep in nice and even and thin.

For larger stuff (like pumpkins) I found it easiest to spread glue on the bottom 2/3 of the gourd. Then glitter. Then set down and glue/glitter the top 1/3.  Be sure your gourds are resting on newspaper and go crazy with the glitter pouring on way more than you need.

Once glittered, allow your gourds to dry for a few hours and then brush off extra glitter. I had to be rather vigorous with the brushing (using my hand to brush with) since I got too much glue on the gourd and the glitter was thicker than I wanted.

Once you've brushed off the excess, fold the newspaper and pour the extra glitter back into the jar.

That's it. I think this project is especially cool because after the holiday I can wash off the glitter and water based glue and bake my squash for soup!  The pumpkins can be washed and composted. Very little waste.

A little context for the photo shoot. You can see the brown sheet I'm going to spruce up and use as a table cloth. I dyed a pale yellow thrift store sheet using two packages of Rit Dye and the washing machine. My washing machine is partially broken so using it for dark brown dye was it's punishment of sorts. Like most punishments, it didn't fix the problem. We're going to have to call a repair service :(

Biscuit is asleep so I need to get back to painting the kitchen and stair rail so it's dry when she wakes up. Tune in tomorrow for photos of the painted backsplash.

Tote bag tutorial--make those freebee totes beautiful

If you end up with ugly canvas tote bags from work or conferences, here's the perfect way to turn them into beautiful, personal holiday gifts.  This quick project takes less than an hour and the results are great.

Supplies:
I tote bag (with an ugly logo is fine--the idea is to cover it up so you'll want to use your tote for your groceries or as an oversize purse)
A piece of contrasting fabric (dark fabric for a canvas tote) about 12 x 12 inches
A piece of fusible web (like Heat and Bond) about 12 x 12 inches

Tools:
Scissors
Iron
Computer and printer
Sewing machine (optional)

Start with your ugly tote.

Choose a letter and print it out to create a monogram. I used 550 pt Liffey Script SF to type the letter "L" but any font will do--print out your monogram letter nice and large. I printed mine in outline form and then outlined it on the paper using a sharpie so it would show through on the back.  Measure the logo on the bag you are trying to cover and make sure you can cut out your monogram without the logo showing.

Once you decide on the right size square to cover your logo and fit your monogram letter, draw the square onto the papery side of the fusible web. My square was 8.5 inches wide 

Now is the tricky part--remember that what is the sticky side of the fusible web will actually be the top of the final project. Basically, you need to use a mirror image of the letter.  See photo above. I've got the fusible web paper side up and the letter is reversed underneath and ready to trace. When I trace it and look at the sticky side of the fusible web the letter will be the right direction. Sorry if this step is confusing--it's late.

Once it's all traced, cut out the fusible web outside the square line (leave a little around the edge) and fuse to the back of your fabric using the iron. At this point I also scribbled in the inside of the letter so I could keep track of what part of the letter to keep and what part to discard.

Once the entire thing is cut out (including the letter) peel the paper backing off everything EXCEPT the letter (the scribbled in part).

Now reassemble your puzzle on top of your tote. I used the letter (with the paper still on) as a guide to arrange all the bits and pieces perfectly.  Then iron to affix the fabric to the tote. Once it's tacked in place, you can pull out the letter and then iron the whole thing securely.  One thing to note, after you lay it out but before you iron peek under the letter to ensure none of the logo is showing through.  I failed to do this and some of the logo shows in the letter :(

It's hard to see in the photo but the entire cutout design is on the tote with sticky side down. The letter is in place but since the paper is still on the back it won't stick when you iron it.

Ideally, if you didn't start this project at 10 p.m., you may want to stitch around the edges of all the pieces of fabric to make sure this is really secure.  Alternatively, use Heat and Bond Ultra which is a pretty sturdy fusible web.

The tote isn't super washable but have you ever washed a canvas tote bag? They shrink like nobody's business anyway.

If this design doesn't float your boat, an alternative is to just sew a giant pocket to the front of the tote.

Iron the edges under on a square of fabric

Pin to tote covering logo and then just stitch it in place. A few tips on that, if you can, expose just the arm of your sewing machine. Then, as you sew, basically turn the bag inside out. Run your left hand inside the bag to ensure you aren't catching the back of the bag as you stitch.

You may also want to use interfacing to stiffen the pocket fabric depending on how stiff your bag is. My pocket is a bit floppy.

Once you've stitched it on, you're done.

This photo is awful but this is a nice, simple bag with the raw selvedge edge of the linen pocket as the only embellishment. If I had time I might have embroidered on the pocket. Free embroidery patterns can be found here.

Let me know if you embellish a tote! I'd love to see a photo.

Tutorial: Interfacing applique technique

Does everyone already know how to do applique using fusible interfacing? I can't recall when I learned this great technique, it's certainly not my original idea, but I thought I'd share a quick tutorial.  Disclaimer: all photos taken with the flash leading to poor quality and weird reflections but I think you can handle it!

I'm working on a mini quilt, applique on chenille, as one of my cozy items for Handmade Parade.   Without further ado, on with the tutorial:

Draw the designs you want to applique on the back (non bumpy) side of a lightweight fusible interfacing:

Pin designs to the fabric you want to applique with the bumpy (fusible) side of the interfacing toward the good side of the fabric:

Now sew on your drawn lines (or just inside since you don't want the pen marks to show like they do on my project).  Stitch all the way around your shape without leaving a gap:

Then cut out your image pretty darn close to the stitch line. Clip corners as needed to reduce bulk and make curves smooth.

Now cut a slit in the interfacing through which you will turn your applique piece right side out (thereby tucking in the raw edges:

Carefully turn your piece right side out taking care not to tear the interfacing (too much).  Poke out the corners as needed:

Arrange your applique pieces on the fabric you are appliquing them to and iron to lightly fuse them in place:

We interrupt this tutorial programming for me to comment on how much I love my dorky little hand sewing kit. I made this little pouch and added a needle, a spool of thread, a leather thimble, a few pins and embroidery scissors and it's a perfectly portable kit for a perfectly portable craft (hand sewing or hand quilting). I have another one for embroidery. I love this simple kit so much I'm going to make a few to sell at Handmade Parade. I think they would be a cool gift for someone who enjoys sewing or wants to learn.  The ones I'm making will come with a needle case and without a wine stain (oops).

So, hand sewing, you need to hand (or machine) sew around the edges of your applique pieces. If you hand sew, use a coordinating thread and a blind stitch as you would use to sew binding.

And that's it. Good looking applique quick and easy with no needle turning required.

I hope this is helpful--let me know if anything is unclear.

have a great day!