Friday, July 11, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Bag Keeper
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
This grocery bag keeper is a simple project that I think any novice sewer could create. Mine is made with a piece of scrap fabric about 17” by 18”, 20” of elastic, 20” of matching ribbon, fusible web, and a fabric cutout. I used the left over picture from a bunny cut out project.
The first thing I did was to fuse the fabric cutout onto the web, cut it out along the pattern edges and then fused it to the center of the 17” by 18” piece of fabric. I then zigzag stitched all around the edges of the cutout with matching thread.
Next I folded down about 1/4'” on each 18” edge, pressed it, then folded another ¾” and pressed that. Then I stitched across forming the casing. I cut the elastic into 10” pieces and fed them through the casings, stitching them at each end to secure. Next I folded the fabric in half, right sides together, and stitched up the side seam. Finally I folded the ribbon in half and attached it to the inside of the top of the bag at the seam.
This is a super quick and easy project. I think it would be a great one to use for teaching young ones to sew and would be a practical gift.
I searched the web and found all kinds of variations to making a bag keeper.
Penn State 4H PDF-made from dish towel
Grocery Bag Dispenser Tutorial
There are some wonderful and fun ideas to make them from recycled items.
If you don’t like to sew, there are patterns for knitting and crocheting them.
Crochet:
Top 6 Patterns for Plastic Bag Holders
Knit:
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Friday, June 20, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Daughter's Project
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
All this week my son has been a volunteer at the local Cub Scout day camp and my daughter and I spent a lot of time together. Monday we ran errands and did a bit of shopping. Tuesday I took her and her friend to the skating rink. My dad came along to see how she has progressed and this made her very happy. Wednesday, after her volunteer work at the library, she decided she wanted to make her doll some overalls. So she set to work choosing the fabric and cutting out the pattern. Yesterday, I sat beside her at the sewing machine, walking her through step by step. She did very well. The only thing I physically helped her with were making the straps, which had to be redone because she had sewed all the way around, not leaving any way to turn them inside out and then I helped her sew the snaps on. For some reason she kept tangling the thread and getting knots in it while trying to sew them on. She still needs some practice feeding the fabric through the machine evenly, but she is getting better with every project. She certainly sews better than I did at her age. I really didn’t enjoy sewing until I was an adult. I let her take the pictures of her project. It would please her so if you would swing by her blog, see her finished project and let her know what you think.
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Friday, June 13, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Kid's Quilled Bookmark for Dad
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
Children can try their hand at the art of quilling using a straw that you cut a slit in.
Here is a simple project to make a bookmark for Father’s Day.
Using a paper cutter or a paper shredder that cuts in strips, use colored paper to make strips for them to use. The strips should be about ¼” wide. I used regular weight colored printer paper for this project.
You will need:
1 strip @ 11 ½”
1 strip @ 7 ½”
2 strips @ 5 ¾”
1 contrasting color strip 11 ½” by 3” for bookmark
a straw
a razor knife
glue
Cut a small slit in the top of the straw so that the end of the paper can slide in and out from the top.
Take one of the paper strips and slide the end into the slit in the straw.
As you turn the straw, keep the paper snug to coil the paper around it.
After you have reached the end of coiling the strip, slide the coil off the straw and let it rest on the table. It will uncoil a bit, but that’s okay.
Repeat with the other strips. Then apply a dab of glue to the end and press to the edge to close the coils. Let the glue dry before moving to the next step.
(The next few pictures are a bit blurry, but I wanted to give you the idea. I just can’t seem to get good close-ups with my camera.)
Take your 11 ½” coil and pinch the two ends to form a marquis.
Do the same thing with the 2-5 ¾” coils.
With the 7 ½ coil you are going to make a marquis, but then you are going to push the middle in and create a ‘V’ shape.
Lay out you pieces like this.
Glue the pieces together by using a small amount of glue where you want the pieces to join the body.
Let the glue dry completely.
While waiting for the glue to dry, work on the bookmark by cutting another piece of paper about 11 ½” by 3”. Decorate it with your message.
When your fish is dry, turn it over and put a bead of glue on the edges of the coils, then put in place on the bookmark. Voila.
I found this little video on YouTube that shows the basics of quilling. I thought it might intrigue you to try it this summer. I tried to find others but they were all in foreign languages. With the scrapbooking rage I really thought that there would be more women trying their hand at it to create embellishments for their pages. BTW. You don’t have to have the slotted tool to quill. I learned with a hatpin.
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Friday, May 16, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Memorial Stones
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
If you have been following my blog for a while you may remember back last year when I posted about the loss of some beloved pets. I had planned to make memorial stones for each one, but after completing the first one time got away from me and the project was set aside. Last week I was able to make the stone for my cat and both stones have found their home in the “rose” garden. We used a kit to create the stone, but I bought dog and cat theme buttons to decorate them. I also printed out on the computer pictures of them that I placed under clear mosaic pieces. I used stone stamps to ‘engrave’ their names. Now we have the memorial I wanted for those valuable parts of our family that have passed away.
The kids used the leftover cement and a soap mold to make their own stones, but these serve as paperweights right now.
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Friday, May 2, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday & Flashback Friday-Macrame
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
I thought this week I’d merge both Sew Crafty Friday hosted by Shereen and Flashback Friday hosted by Kellie Ann.
While at the check out at Hobby Lobby this week, my kids noticed the hemp macramé bracelets at the register. My daughter immediately asked if she could have one. After all they were under 2 dollars. After asking her if she had her money and then informing her that money didn’t grow on trees, I explained to her that I would make one for her. Growing up in the 70’s had its advantages and the art of macramé was one of them. I had taught myself how to tie the knots, joined the crazed crafters and made plant hanger after plant hanger after plant hanger. I loved making them. These hung at the house my husband and I built in Massachusetts. (We did not make the wooden planter)
The ones above have long since succumbed to weather but here are a few that have weathered time. (Sorry no flowers planted yet)
So, last night I set to the task of making my daughter her bracelet. This is the end result.
I painted little flowers on a wooden bead to dress it up for her. Now my son wants me to make him a macramé choker.
If you are interested in learning how to macramé bracelets, Rings and Things has some simple instructions with illustrations. Have fun and be groovy. LOL
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - Making Candles
Friday the kids tried their hands at candle making. Needless to say, it was interesting and they learned that they are glad they didn’t live in the 1700’s.
At first they were totally bored. It seemed to them that it wasn’t working.
After about 30 or 40 more cycles of dipping into the wax and then into the water, they began to see some progress.
Then they wanted to add some color so we added crayon shavings into the wax.
Now they were getting excited as the wax began to build up. Then they decided to get creative by layering the colors.
By the end of the whole experience they were joking and laughing about the shape of their candles. They didn’t care they were deformed. (I have no clue how we were supposed to make them straight. We followed the directions. LOL) They enjoyed the art of creation and learned some valuable lessons.
We used the leftover wax to make poured candles using a TP tube. I had done this in elementary school.
All you need to make them is candle wax, crayon shavings for color, TP tube, aluminum foil, wick, a popsicle stick or pencil, a washer, and newspaper.
Fold the foil in fours then mold it around the bottom of the tube. Tie one end of the wick to the washer and the other to the popsicle stick or pencil, adjusting it so that the washer just rests near the bottom of the tube and the wick is fairly straight.
Because we mixed our wax with water for melting, be sure to use plenty of newspaper under where you will be pouring. The water will seep from the bottom. Pour the wax into the tube adjusting the wick in place.
This shows the mess made and the reason for the paper.
We let them sit over night. Then we peeled the tube off. This takes a bit to get all the paper off. We used water to help get the rest of the cardboard off.
We then trimmed the wicks and the bottoms of our ‘tapered’ candles and lit them. By golly, they work. LOL
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Friday, April 11, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday- Scrap Quilt
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
Ok, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to take a class on how to finish a quilt.
I have wanted to make a quilt for my oldest son from the scraps of fabric from things I have made for him that I have been saving over the years. I have been working on this project for some time. I started cutting squares from scraps before Christmas, but set it aside for other things. As time has allowed, I continued to cut 5 ½ inch squares and 2 ½ squares from an array of materials. I have been working on this diligently the past 2 weeks. When I thought I had enough squares I chose black as a corresponding color because it was a neutral color and cut out the squares for that.
I decided to just use the 5 ½ squares and will use the smaller squares some other time. Now I had no trouble putting the squares together. I used the hint I saw on someone’s blog about stitching them in one long stream of squares and that worked out great.
Then I laid the squares all out on the floor to get the pattern design. Because there was such a variety of patterns and textures in the fabrics, I opted for a simple pattern.
I stitched them together and had the quilt top done in no time.
Now comes the part that I always dread. I laid out my cardboard sewing board and another large piece of cardboard to make a large enough flat surface. I followed the directions for making the ‘sandwich’ and then did all the pinning. I took my time knowing how important this part was and was satisfied with the job. Then I decided to make this a tied quilt, mostly out of the fear I would mess it up if I tried sewing it. So far everything was going great and after I finished tying it looked smooth and good. (forgot to take pics of this) Then the book said to trim the batting and bottom fabric so I did this leaving about 4 inches all the way around. Then I took it to the machine to stitch around the edges. I used an even feed foot like the book suggested. This is where it messed up somehow the bottom fabric ended up not being enough on one bottom corner. UGH! I was able to get it to be about 1 inch shy of the top. I figured that I could put a label there to cover the booboo. After I put the edge on, I zigzagged stitched until I filled in the messed up white space.
I decided to use regular silky blanket edging all the way around. I love the feel of that when snuggling in a blanket. This quilt is 74 inches by 94 inches. I’m satisfied with the end result although frustrated that I can’t seem to do the ‘sandwiching’ part without problems. Oh well. I hope that I’ll get better so when I make the other two kids their quilts in 8 to 10 years I’ll have mastered my troubles.
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Friday, March 28, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Cross Stitch Clock-part 2
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
Didn’t get too much done in the traditional crafty way, but I did get the leaves stitched in my cross stitch clock that I had posted way back in November. This is a slow going project for me as I don’t tend to sit still for very long. Always seem to have something I want to do somewhere else. I wish my camera would take better close up pictures, but you get the idea.
We’ll be heading outdoors today to work on the yard. It is in pretty rough shape because of the drought, the dogs, and the passing of winter. The kids and I will be working on Amanda Bennett’s Garden Unit study so this will be good for that.
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Friday, March 21, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Curtians & Journal Bags
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
It has been a busy week as usual. We are finishing up our 13 Colonies unit. I hope to post our complete lesson plan here soon. I have many oars in the water and a few projects on the burners so bear with me if I haven’t been leaving comments. I feel bad when I don’t get around to everyone’s blog but it’s not from lack of want but lack of free time. I plan on spending a few hours this weekend catching up on my reading. So on to this week’s Sew Crafty Friday.
If you remember back in February, we had switched the craft room and the classroom. If you noticed in the craft room picture there were no curtains. While I love the openness of not having something in front of the windows, my husband prefers them to be covered. So Saturday I made some curtains. I’ve had the fabric for a really long time (since @ 1993). I had purchased it on clearance for about $1 a yard. I had been meaning to use it for curtains, but then I had two more children, a job, and then Homeschool, so it never came to pass. I’ve made curtains many times before and these whipped up in a few hours. The tiebacks took a while because, even though my machine has been serviced and repaired, I’m still having trouble with the buttonholer.
This is a close up of the fabric.
While I was at Hobby Lobby this week I came across a deal on some journal notebooks. I have wanted the kids to enjoy doing this, so I was excited to find these for $2.00 a piece.
We’ll also bought a couple of zipper bags that the kids decorated. They chose pictures from my iron transfer books and used permanent markers to color them.
This is my son’s bag.
Side 1
Side 2
Here is my daughter’s.
Side 1
Side 2
Side 1
Side 2
Now we have a place to put journal books, pencils, and specimen boxes (cheap Wal-mart find @ .98/2) and we are ready to go whenever we want. The kids have been enjoying journaling this week and are improving in their detail observations.
I’ve made a few Nature Journal sheets to download if anyone is interested.
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Friday, March 14, 2008 - Sew Crafty Friday-Quilled Frame & Doll clothes
Shereen at Waiting for Him hosts Sew Crafty Friday.
I finished Kellie Ann’s quilled frame last week but waited until this week to post it so I wouldn’t spoil her surprise. I have only made 1 other design on a dark colored mat so I had to choose colors that showed against it and that would fit into her décor. I have no real sense of color. I chose what I thought would look nice together. I tried to make magnolias because she was a southern girl but they came out too large for the design. I continued to have a few problems with proportion and size on a few of the other flowers I created, but it finally all came together. It wasn’t all that hard just different for me.
I thought I would explain how I made one of the simple flowers in the design.
The tiny flowers are made using a shape punch. I used a four-petal flower mini punch:
After punching the flower from 3/4 “ quilling paper or scrap book card stock, use a hat pin or quilling tool to curve each petal under. Then place a small amount of glue into the center and a coordinating seed bead into the glue. Using tweezers will help in curving the petals and placing the seed bead. These would look cute on a scrapbook page for spring.
I also finished the outfit for my daughter’s doll to go along with her American Girl Kirsten lapbook study she did. She helped to do the project by pinning and cutting out the patterns. I sewed the outfit together in a few hours. She still is not comfortable using the machine and small work. She has posted a few pictures on her blog of the lapbook and her and her doll dressed in pioneer attire. Please stop by and say hello. She would be tickled pink.
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