Out With The Old

Welcome Spring!

I’ve been doing some spring cleaning this week.  Clearing out closests, sweeping, dusting, polishing, and organizing.  Now I’m going to do the same for my Etsy shop.  I’m marking down almost everything in stock up to 90% off.  All coats, jackets, and capes are marked down.  Also take  a look at the accessories and long sleeve shirts that are now at all new low prices.  If you want them you’d better grab them quick!

Click here to see all these marked down items and more!

Take a look on my etsy page’s Clearance section to see what’s on sale!

Needlework: Crewel Maneki Neko Sewing

I like to embroider from time to time.   I don’t think I’m too skilled at it, but it’s good practice for making nice, even stitches for those times when I have to take needle in hand. I recently came across a thrifting treasure of old crewel wool, so after checking a stack of books out of the library and trying out a bunch of stitches I decided to try to finish a crewel project. This is a design that I actually drew up myself of the Maneki Neko holding a sewing needle and thread.  His little tail wraps around a cute little pin cushion.  cute, right?

Want to look a little closer?

red stitching in ears

Neko’s pincushion and french knot pins

Neko’s thread.  I used some lovely green yarn for this and couched it down with some of the crewel wool.

The entire piece measures about 8 inches wide, and I think I’ll stitch this onto one of my reusable shopping totes so I can carry it around with me.  I enjoyed this project, so I think I’m going to try and so some more crewel embroidery from now on.

Mend it! Replacing worn Cuffs

I’ve got this old sweatshirt hoodie here that I’ve had for a while. When I took it out of the wash this week I found that my “ok, these are starting to wear out” wrist cuffs had exploded into a huge mess. Tatters and shreds! Instead of just tossing the hoodie out, or cutting it up to make rags, I decided to replace the cuffs with some new material to extend the life of the garment and to fight the disposable everything society that surrounds us. It’s a shame that so much of the clothing that’s produced today are made to wear out quickly and then be tossed away and replaced with new disposable fashion. So I’d like to share with you a quick 10 minute or less solution to worn out cuffs. No worn out cuffs around? That’s okay, too, you can use this same technique to add your own style to your sleeves.

Look at those cuffs!

The materials you’ll need are few and easy to get.

You’ll  need the shirt you want to mend, fabric for the cuffs, and sewing tools.  The material you use to replace the cuffs should be stretchy, like a knit or ribbing.  Ribbing is the best and is what you will usually find for cuffs and waistbands.  You can tell if a material is ribbed if it has vertical lines,or bumps.  A flat knit material will work, too, and that’s what I’ll be using for this demonstration.  You can get both ribbing and knit material at most fabric stores, but you’ve probably got an old t shirt laying around that would work just as well, too!

A serger can make sewing knits easier and quicker, but for this tutorial you should be able to use a standard sewing machine with a zigzag or stretch stitch with no problem.

The stretch in this fabric follows the stripes

You’re going to cut two rectangles out of your fabric, one for each cuff.  You fabric will most likely have more stretch in one direction than the other.  The stretchy direction will be our “width” or the way that will wrap around your wrist.  The less stretchy direction will be our “length” or how long you want the cuff to extend from the end of the sleeve.

Marking my fabric rectangles 9"x12"

Here I’m using just regular chalkboard chalk to mark my fabric.  Your rectangles’ width should be about 9″ and the length should be two times the final length that you want the cuff to be.  I decided I wanted my cuffs about 6″ long, so my rectangles will be 9″ wide (stretchy wise) and 12″ long (non-stretch wise).

Right sides together

Your first seams will be along the length of the cuff.  Fold it in half with right sides together and sew the fabric into a tube.

Your tube

Now start as if to turn the tube rightside out, but you’re going to stop halfway.  You’ll want the raw edges to line up giving you a tube half as long, with both cut ends on one end, the folded end on the other, and the seam you just sewed should be hidden.

line up the cut edges

Now we’ll add the cuff to the sleeve.  First cut off the old cuff in a straight line across the sleeve.

Snip

With your sleeve right side out, you’re going to slip the new cuff onto the outside of the sleeve.  You’ll want the cuff to go on folded end first, so that the cut end of the sleeve matches up with the two cut edges of your new cuff.  You’ll be sewing through all three layers to attach the cuff.

An Important note: The cuff should be smaller than the sleeve it will go on.  You will stretch the cuff as you sew it in place.

Now sew around the edge where the sleeve and new cuff meet, stretching the cuff as you go.  Now pull the cuff down and topstitch the new seam if you wish.

Repeat the process with your other rectangle of fabric on the other sleeve, and that’s it!

Enjoy your new cuffs and the knowledge that you have given new life to an old garment or just have fun with it and try some fun colors or designs to liven up a boring sweatshirt.

All new stripey cuffs

yummy argyle

Just wanted to pop up a quick post and share these delicious argyle limb cozies.

My Almost Pollini Alterations

There was a discussion thread over on Craftster for doing a sew-along for the Almost Pollini dress pattern available on the Burdastyle website, available here.  The pattern is adorable, but unfortuneatly only comes in a single size, and it’s not quite my size.  I’d been thinking about recreating this dress, though, so when I saw the sewalong I thought it was time to give it a try and share my process for the other ladies who were thinking about taking on the resizing.  The way I did it was pretty easy and didn’t take too long.

I adapted my own bust sloped to fit the style of the pattern, only changing a few things from the original.  Instead of having the neckline facing be one continuous piece, I made the front facing a part of the front bodice piece, and made a second facing piece for the back. To use my version of the bust pattern pieces you can print out these photos on U.S. letter size paper.  This pattern fits about a 38 inch bust, but be warned! I made the original pattern too long. It will have to be shortened to fit the style of the dress. To fit me, I ended up shortening it to  the bottom of the side dart.  It’s an easy fix, just cut along horizontally to the bottom line.

Click these images to view full:

First, how the pages should layout when you’re ready to tape them together:

And here are the pattern pieces.  There are 8 in all:

Each image should be printed as a full sheet of paper.

The Making of: The Almost-Almost Pollini dress

Ok, assuming you’ve already printed out your Burdastyle Pollini dress pattern (I only printed out pages 8-9, and 14-25 since I wasn’t using the original bust and sleeve patterns. you can set that in the print dialogue) and the 8 images above, it’s time to resize the burdastyle pieces to fit the LauPre pieces.  This is really easy, but here are some images of how I did it.

The key to resizing the skirt is to know that the skirt panel seams should match up with the seams and dart lines of the bodice. Here you can see the original burda skirt panel side back, matched up to the new bodice back piece.  The skirt panel should hit the side seam and the edge of the dart.  The long arrow grainline printed on the skirt piece makes a perfect altering line, so cut the piece in two along this line.   Lay the edges of the pattern in place, and use some scraps of paper and tape to create your resized piece.  The yoke pieces will also have to be made to fit the width of the new bodice.

Remember when you cut out the pieces to add seam allowances to the Burda pattern pieces

I used 2 yards of fabric for the dress, but it was close.  I would suggest getting  two and a third, or even two and a half so you won’t have to do tricky piece cutting.  I ended up not having enough to double my yoke pieces….

anyway, once you have your pieces it’s really easy to put it all together!

Start with the bodice:

Sew the darts.

Fold the facings at the center front of the bust pieces to the wrong sides of the fabric and press.

Place the two press lines together, right side together, and sew a line, using the pressed crease line as a guide

Fold the facing against the crease and stitch along the neckline for each side.  Turn out the corners and press.

Attach the back facing piece to the bodice back.

Sew the front bodice piece to the back bodice piece at the shoulders, being sure to match up the seams for the facings.  Press the seam flat.

Attach the yoke pieces to the front and back.  The original pattern calls for interfacing, so use it if you like. You can see that I cut my yoke pieces extra wide.  I trimmed them after attaching them to the bodice.

Now add the sleeves:

Next you’ll make the skirt pieces.  Attach the skirt front sides to the skirt front center and the skirt back center to the skirt back sides.  Don’t attach the front and back to each other yet.  Instead, sew them into place below the yokes, making sure that the seam lines match up with the dart lines in the bodice.

Match up the right side, from the end of the sleeve to the bottom of the skirt and sew the two pieces together.

For the left side do the same except add a zipper in at the places indicated on the burda pattern.

All that’s left to do is hem the sleeve and skirt, and topstitch the neckline.

I hope this is helpful, feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

Pin Cushion Swap Round 10

I just received my package for the “Another Pin Cushion Swap Round 10″ on Craftster.org. This is my second time doing the pin cushion swap, and once again I’m blown away! Check this out:

This beautiful cushion comes to me from my fabulous partner Nannetta in Germany.  I just love the beautiful cross stitched monogram (I’ve actually never had a monogrammed anything before!) It’s kind of hard to tell from the photo, but the L is done in my favorite color green.  The colors make up a really sweet and warm feeling palette. I found my package in the mailbox just as I was heading out to run some errands and this gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, and that means a lot when you’re headed out to bicycle around town in February!

The edges of the cushion are lined with this beautiful sequin trim with beaded fringe.  It’s so sparkly it never fails to make me smile.  A velcro strap on the back makes it so I can wear in on my wrist while I work at my dressform which is perfect, I really needed one! The extra stap attaches to the wrist strap and fits right onto my sewing machine. It’s so convenient!

Dear Nannetta also included some adorable amigurumi that I could never imagine putting pins into:

On the left is Resisty the resister… so funny! He’s earned a place of honor in my sewing area to act as a resister for stress, haha! On the right is an un-named elephant, but I think I’ll call him Morris.  He’s found himself a job here as well.

He’s helping IDog to protect my sweets box.  That’s where I keep a few  little candies and chocolates on my computer desk. These guys make sure that I don’t sneak any out until I’ve finished my work. Speaking of chocolate, Nannetta also included some delicious candies in my package that I forgot to get some photos of.  Rest assured that the few that made it past me and into the box are well guarded, though. Thanks Nannetta, you were a great partner!

Here’s a few snaps of the items I sent off in exchange.

There is a large quilted pin cushion and thread catcher, a little matching needlebook, and my first attempt at a cross stitch biscournu.

Another great craft swap from Craftster.  I’ll be looking forward to doing another swap soon!

Spoon Ring

This is a project I’ve been wanting to do for a while.  I’ve seen a number of rings made from silverware out and around on the internets, but I wasn’t sure about bending the spoon without special tools.  Luckily, I didn’t need to rely on any special mental powers.  This cheap spoon I found at Goodwill bent easily enough with a pair of pliers.  I tried to keep the spoon wrapped in a towel to prevent marks from the pliers, but it didn’t work perfectly.  I don’t mind a few scuffs and scratches though, I’m really happy with the outcome.

By the time I had gotten the handle shaped into the curve I wanted, the head of the spoon had already been bent back and forth enough that it wasn’t hard to snap it off (this stuff was really soft!).  I used my dremel to grind down the shap edge and buff and shine up the ring.

Here you can see the ring resting on what is left over from the spoon.  See how tarnished it was? uck! I just loved the design on the handle though.  I’m so happy it cleaned up all shiny pretty.

A Couple of Useful Tiny Projects

I spent a nice quiet evening with some needles and felt and made a couple of useful little things, and I just thought I would share them.  The first one is an adorable little bottlecap pincushion.  There are tutorials all over the net for making these, but I’d never made one before.  I like the bottlecap pincushion as a place to keep needles separate from my pins.  Needles always get lost in my big cushion, so a little one like this is perfect.  I’m thinking abou making one with a magnet on the bottom so I can attach it to the magnet board I keep by my sewing machines.

Then I made a cozy for the remote for my new camera.  Hopefully it will help me not to lose it!  I added a little loop to the top, and I think I’ll add a keyring to hang the cozy from my camera strap.  That should do it!

I’m not as comfortable with handsewing or embroidery as I would like to be, but little projects like these can help you build your skills in a way that isn’t as intimidating or stressful as a large project would be.  I think we all know about the satisfaction of completing a project; the feeling of accomplishment you get even with a simple or small item, so don’t forget to fit a few tiny projects into your time!

Cute Paper Beads from Security Envelopes

Closeup on some of the beads I made. Cute, right?

I saw some cute little paper beads while browsing Craftster the other day and thought they were so cute and clever! http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=285330.0 I was instantly transported back to my childhood on one of those long summer days when you just have to whine, “I’m bored!” My dear packrat Grandma pulled out some old craft magazines (like 60’s or 70’s old) so I could find a project to do. I found an article in one magazine on making paper beads and spent the rest of the afternoon with a stack of junk paper, a bottle of Elmer’s glue and a plastic handled paintbrush (to wrap the paper around). I can still remember peeling the glue “skin” off my fingers and stringing the beads onto a piece of yard to make the most beautiful necklace I thought I would ever see.

Hit with that blast of nostalgia, and an evening with nothing to do, I decided to once again try my hand at making some paper beads. I loved the idea of using the insides of the security envelopes so I dug through the recycling and found a few. I used my rotary cutter to slice long strips of the envelopes, then tore the long strips into shorter lengths (the torn ends seal better than cut ones). I opted for glossy mod-podge instead of the classic Elmer’s and thought I’d be mature and apply the glue with a paintbrush instead of dipping and wiping with my fingers. I wrapped the paper strips around a thin DPN and slid them off carefully to dry.

I don’t know how I had forgotten all about paper beads for so long, but now I might just have to make a few more. I started thinking about cute scrapbooking paper I’ve seen and how they might look. I don’t really do much beading, though, so these are just sitting in a little box on my desk for now. I think I might just string a bunch of them together and toss them on my keyring with some pretty glass beads.

(p.s. I ended up giving up on the paintbrush about 5 minutes in. By the end of the night I was peeling off my extra layer of mod-podge skin with a little grin. What can say? Sometimes your hands are the best tool, even when it means getting a little messy.)

“Arctic Blast 2008″

The news people called it “Arctic Blast 2008″.  They sat in their studio all day (for two weeks) and gave us constant updates and clips of traffic cameras and the poor souls not lucky enough to sit behind the desk (Gee, Anna, it sure looks cold out there!) They chatted all day about closure updates, driving tips, viewer’s photos and emails, and the white socks the anchorman was wearing.

Poor Portland, so ill suited for somewhat serious snowfall fell victim to stuck cars, power outages, and impassable roadways.  I stayed snuggled up at home, occasionally venturing forth for a brisk walk on difficult sidewalks.  I watched clueless drivers spin their wheels ever faster with no hope of escaping a drift, and slipping and sliding through intersections, despite their chains.  Portland, I understand why you don’t sell snowshovels, why you don’t have more than what? a dozen plows?… It just isn’t supposed to be like that here.

It started raining again, though.  Big beautiful drops of rain that tore through the piles of slush and snow.  Drop by drop they cleared my back porch, my driveway, and eventually my road (not a single plow would pass down this road).  Once again I can see the lawns as green as ever.  The temperatures rose up from their murky depths to a respectable 50 degrees and the snow continued to recede in an orderly, though sloppy, fashion.  Once again I can don my rain boots and prepare myself for a hopefully unevental rest of the winter season. Rain, rain, and more rain.