Showing posts with label sewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sewing. Show all posts

Monday, November 18, 2013

You might be a crafter...

...if you have more tools than your husband.

...if your hands look like a Jackson Pollock painting.

...if your philosophy on most things is to try to make it first, then buy it if it doesn't work out. (How hard can it be to build a pallet chair?!) 

...if your local junk shop knows you by name and saves things for you. 

...if you know exactly when the craft store  marks their Christmas items to half price and plan accordingly. 

...if your husband has stopped buying you "expensive" jewelry because you never wear it. (Who wants diamonds when you can wear handmade rolled paper beads?) 

...if you have a room of shelves filled with material 

...if you get excited going to the home Improvement store.

...if you have more scars than fingernails on your hands. 

...if people give you bags of "stuff you might use". 

...if you don't think 3 rooms of supplies is too much. 

...if you sell your work so that you have room to make more.  

...if your glue gun has a caddy.

...if you have had a bag of beads/material for more years than you've had your family pet. 

...if you get the urge to cover things in crochet or knit. 

...if your child doesn't want to throw away a cardboard tube. 

...if you have more plastic tubs/drawers than actual dressers in your house. 

...if you own more than one sewing machine. 

...if you plan Christmas presents at least 3 months early. 

...if you have ever uttered the phrase "I can make one really quick."

...if you actually post photos of your work on Pinterest. 

...if you made all your own wedding decorations. 

...if your friends send people to you because you "might have one" of what they are looking for. 

...if you own a Dremel tool. 

...if you have photos of Martha Stewart projects taped to your bathroom mirror. 

...if you have ever taught someone else how to knit/crochet/bead, etc. 

...if Girl Scout and Boy Scout leaders invite you to a meeting even if you don't actually have a child in the group. 

...if you get volunteered to do VBS crafts consistently every year. 

What would you add? 
You might be a crafter.....









Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Wool soap saver

I am sure you have one of these problems if you use bar soap:
1. The bar of soap slips all over the tub or shower and won't stay in the soap dish.
2. The bar of soap gets all mushy and makes a slime on your soap dish.
3. You have little slivers of soap that end up either dissolving in the soap dish as slime or getting thrown away.
4. Your wash cloth starts to stink like mildew if you try to reuse it a day or two.

I have most of these problems. But one day I discovered that wool is fairly mildew and bacteria resistant and makes a great skin exfoliator.
I decided to make some soap savers from an old felted sweater I had lying around. The wool helped with all the problems I had before. The soap wasn't slippery anymore. It didn't leave a slime everywhere. The slivers stayed put and the wool didn't start to get gross and stinky like a wash cloth.

Here's how I made mine:
I cut a rectangle of an old felted wool sweater, folded the ends up so there is an overlap.
Then I sewed the sides up and turned it.
All I have to do to change or add more soap is fold one side over, drop in the soap and fold it back.

Super simple and easy to do!
Try it!









Monday, February 20, 2012

Upcycled Southern Belle

a southern belle ballgown for under $100
before
For the past 8 years, our local historical society has thrown a reenactment ball to commemorate the battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862 here in Dover. Two years ago I went in a borrowed gown 3 sizes too big and the year before I went in a gown that was only about one size too big. This year, I wanted to do it right, but "right" came with a budget.  I wanted a fancy 1860's ball gown that would cost less than $100, but I'm a bit of a fashion snob and didn't want any old cheap looking gown. It had to be fairly historically accurate, or at least look that way. Since I can sew, I thought about making one from scratch, but new fabric prices had me choking a little and I didn't have enough of the right material in my stash, so the dress from scratch idea flew out the window. I searched for a dress that fit my budget and might be close enough to that style that I could make it happen by reworking.  I found a dress from TreasureChest01 on Etsy that was perfect.
     I took in the waist, added maroon satin from my own fabric stash to the lace at the bottom and sleeves and added bolder bows and buttons (also from my fabric stash) at the gathers. I  lifted the low back up to a more modest level and added a fancy brooch from my collection of vintage jewelry to the waist.  Using an old sheet and the eyelet lace trim from an old pillowcase I created a chemise (underdress). I took some maroon ribbon from my stash and threaded it through the eyelet holes to make a pretty accent to the top of the dress.
     Because of the fabric and notions I already had, I spent a whopping $39 total on a dress that I felt made a huge statement and looked great!  I decided to splurge on a vintage hoop instead of buying a cheap modern made one. The final result turned out to be a beautiful dress that showed up great in all the photos being snapped. I got many compliments on it and just had to brag about how I upcycled it for under $100.
finished ball gown for under $100

Friday, January 27, 2012

I had a customer ask me to make some bird wings. These ones: http://llevoelinvierno.blogspot.com/2011/03/make-alitas.html
I love the look of these but as I am a free spirit and hate patterns, well, I had to do them my way. I have a large stash of thrift store fabrics, maybe bordering on hoarding but that's another blog altogether. Anyway, I cut a half circle that was 44" wide and cut it again in half to have two triangles, just like the instructions on the other blog only a little larger. I free hand cut the feathers from scraps of fabric about 2-3" wide, the only difference from the instructions was I used pinking shears to give it a more textured edge. After I was finished with the wings, instead of adding bias strips for the neck, I made fabric strips wide enough to fit the velcro strips I had and then added the velcro to the ends sewing it all together to make a simple collar and cuffs. I then added 3 buttons to the middle of the collar and one to each cuff. After that, I added rayon cording loops at the neck and arm of each wing so that the cuffs and collar can be buttoned at different points on the wings as the child grows. It turned out great and my customer really loved it. Here's some pictures of the finished product. 

collar and cuffs are easy release velcro

I can do it by myself!

wings overlap while the child is small

buttons on the collar make the wings adjustable