greetingarts

my favorite sewing tip - turn that tube

Sorry I haven't been around lately, I think this is the longest I've gone without posting ever since I started this blog a little more than four years ago (yep, I missed my bloggiversary).  I've been crafting up a storm, sewing, embroidering and knitting, but it's all been testing patterns for designers so no pictures yet until they give me the go ahead.

But while testing the sewing pattern, I had a 2" x 50" tube that needed to be turned right side out.  And after the requisite swearing, trying various sized crochet hooks, and searching in vain for a safety pin, I finally found a quick and easy method to turn that loop.  With a tool I have plenty of, readily available.  If you have early elementary school-age kids, chances are you have them laying around all over the place, too.

 
Take your sewn skinny tube and start turning the edge right side out.  Using your pinky or whatever, you can usually get about two inches turned before the cursing starts.

 
Now, grab your pencil, preferably with a new, pristine, unused eraser.

Insert the eraser end into the tube, and hold onto the layer of fabric that is already right side out.  Using the friction between the eraser and fabric to your advantage, put gentle pressure downwards and ease the pencil back out.  Since I'm right handed, I'm holding onto the fabric tube with my left hand, and pulling the pencil out towards the right.

 
 See what happens?  I easily turned this loop in under a minute.

Here's another photo (different pencil, same tube - don't use a mechanical pencil, duh!)where I think you can tell I'm pressing down while I'm easing the pencil out.

Hope this made some sort of sense, I'm afraid my photos made more sense to me as I was doing it than it does now that I have them all laid out.  If you're ever in a bind though, give this a try, it worked like a charm.

Edited on 5/2/2010 to add: Check out this post on Sew, Mama, Sew! for more great sewing tips.

fortunate to have a sewing machine

In case you're wondering what I've been doing for the past few days, I have proof of craftiness for you right here.

With Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year's falling on the same day this year, who could resist the lure of the felt fortune cookie?  Certainly not me or Rebecca.  So with the help of my trusty Ellison machine (I have the now retired XL LetterMachine, similar to this) and a 4.5" circle die, I cut out 57 of these babies in no time flat, out of wool blend felt that I had in my stash.  I bought one roll of cute conversation heart satin ribbon from the craft store (99 cents), and in the back of a desk drawer had (for whatever reason I don't know) two boxes of steel ring key tags which I cannibalized, removing the split rings to use in this project.  Of course, me being me, I grabbed my needlebook, perle cotton and favorite scissors, settled in front of the television after my babes were in bed, and started sewing them by hand. 

About 21 fortune cookies later, as Wednesday evening rolled around, I realized this might not be feasible.  Hence, the title of my post.  There are at least half a dozen wonderful tutorials for felt fortune cookies out there on the internet, so I'm not even going to get into the construction here, but I do have a few tips.  When stuffing, I divided the filler into two small clumps, to make it easier to make a nice definition in the middle when you bend the cookie into place.  Also, it looks more realistic if the cookie is joined together more towards the middle, rather than too close to the tips.

By one o'clock Friday morning, tagged cookies for Rebecca's classmates, teachers, administrators and librarian and Jessie's classmates and preschool teachers were all present and accounted for.  

Tonight we're going out for dinner with my in-laws for Chinese New Year's Eve.  I'm looking forward to it, lots of good food that I don't have to cook, and the girls in fancy dresses.  I wonder if we'll be seeing any of these for dessert...

what's cookin'

The girls had a birthday party to go to this weekend, a cookie decorating event with a really sweet (ha!) 8 year old.

I had this great Michael Miller's Kitchen Gadgets fabric (bought quite some time ago), and using Joanna's very simple Chef's Hat tutorial (the link makes my computer crash, but she so graciously emailed me the .pdf file) and improvising on a kid-sized oven mitt lined with Insul-Bright, we packaged this up with a set of nesting metal cookie cutters, some frosting, and fancy sprinkles.  Of course I also wanted to make the birthday girl an apron, but didn't since she already had her personalized one from Rebecca's art party.  Two chocolate chip cookies that I crocheted (whoops, forgot to take their picture) were tied to the gift bag as the finishing touch.

The gift was very well-received, and I felt so good knowing that everything came from my stash.  The only thing I had to go out and buy was the Velcro to make the hat adjustable.  Only .99 and I even had the audacity to use my 50% off coupon on it.  Can you believe it?  What a cheapskate frugal woman I am, eh?

handmade for teachers

At the beginning of the year, I envisioned stacks of cloths, Snowbabies and Santas, maybe a few Christmas Stories, too, piling up and resulting in easy gift giving for the end of the year.  Well, I managed to make... nine.

Paired up with little Mary Engelbreit soaps I've collected, and packaged in decorated cellophane bags with pretty ribbon and tags, Rebecca's teachers, principal, administrators and librarian were all taken care of.

 I used another of KrisKnit's patterns, Christmas Cloths Set 2, for some of the gifts.  They were small and simpler to knit quickly when I was down to the wire.

And then Jessie's preschool teachers got little sequin and felt ornaments I made, wrapped up all pretty in Mary Engelbreit boxes.

I might have to keep this one in mind for next year, they came out nicely and are good gifts.  Meaningful and thoughtful, but not over the top, where the recipient feels like it's too much.

There's more handmade to come, but for now... here's hoping 2010 will be good to all of us, and that you're ready to put 2009 behind.  Happy new year!

for Buffalo, NY

The earliest recollections I have are of my life in Buffalo, NY.  I know my parents couldn't wait to get out of there, and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for my mom, caring for two little ones by herself during the day with no car, not speaking English very well, no Chinese supermarkets, in the middle of winter blizzards and no school Snow Days.  Not fun.  But I have great memories of our house with a checkered tiled basement, attic bedroom, backyard with a climbing tree, pussy willows and a sun room.

Well, anyway, all this is to say that when Lynne asks for something for the people of Buffalo, I feel compelled to help in any way I can.  For the last three (wow!  You don't realize how time passes until you go back and look!) years my knitting guild and I have contributed mittens to her Hearts to Hands project, and this year her call was for drawstring bags for a women and children's shelter.  I finally managed to find some yardage (I have a lot of fabric, but I guess I'm usually a half or one yard type of gal), and made these three bags in half an afternoon, using Lynne's simple tutorial.

The bags went off in the mail this morning, and my baby hats and the scarf I made for a local women's shelter were dropped off at my knitting guild to be distributed last week, and now I can concentrate on knitting, crocheting, sewing and embroidering for family and friends.  I do so love this time of year.  A tad overwhelming, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The drawstring bags (of all different sizes) would be great for gift giving.  I'm not going to buy any more wrapping paper from now on.  Actually, I don't think I've purchased any for a few years now.  I still have a few rolls left (Santa has to wrap stuff, I guess), but when those are done I'll just wrap with fabric or reusable bags.  I might even make the recipients give them back to me before they leave the house, ha!  I hadn't realized how big 18" x 24" was...  Jessie could almost be stored inside one of those bags, don't you think?  

it all got done

Somehow, we managed.  Target didn't have any plain white knee high socks or tights in Rebecca's size, and on Wednesday night I was kind of panicking when I remembered an old pair of the girls' footless tights that had a teeny paint stain on them. I'd dumped them in the box designated for charity, so I pulled those out and with some pinking shears, fabric marker, a can of Sprite and tape, I transformed them into Pearl the Cloud Fairy stockings.

With pinking shears, I cut the legs off as long as possible, then stretched one over a soda can.  Using tape as a spacer and to mask off the areas I didn't want painted, I just colored stripes with a pink fabric marker that I had left over from Rebecca's birthday party.  The tops rolled in on themselves, didn't need hemming at all and it was pretty perfect.  I didn't spend a dime, and it was very MacGyver-ish of me, don't you think?  I don't think my husband or Rebecca was sufficiently impressed.

And on Thursday I only stayed up until a little past midnight finishing up 26 of these candy corn bags for Rebecca's classmates.  See the little tag on the right?  Made by printing this adorable design by Babalisme onto cardstock (sorry, I don't think it's available for download anymore).  Jessie tried to help Rebecca sign her name on the tags, since they all had to get done at breakfast the following morning.  Cute, huh?  Rebecca was not amused.

And speaking of Jessie, here's the only sharp photo I could find of her in the hat.  

Trust me, it looked cute, and with a Hello Kitty Halloween T-shirt and the skirt I made last year, she was stylin' during trick-or-treat.  I also made some quick, reversible treat bags from the glittery ghost fabric seen in the background of the first photo and some Halloween Hello Kitty stuff I found at Joann.  Of course they wanted the HK facing outwards.  

There was plenty of loot for all... I'm off to sneak some Reese's cups.

roundabout babies

I've been meaning to blog about the Roundabout Burp & Bib pattern I tested back in August for Michele of calicodaisy, but the days totally got away from me.  Where the heck did September go?  Every day is a mad rush of school, volunteering, library, knitting, shuttling people around, cooking, cleaning, laundry.  Homework, groceries, baths, teeth brushing, storytime.  I feel like I don't sit down unless I'm in the car or in front of the computer.  Anyway, I'm not complaining, our days are full and happy.  I'm just... explaining why friends and family rarely hear from me anymore.

So anyway, the pattern is a great one, and I think it took me only a little over a half hour (?) to make this.  The back is a super soft fleece-y material I had on hand, and the patterned fabric is a flannel from Jo-Ann.  I haven't put the fasteners on yet, don't know whether my sister and brother-in-law will prefer Velcro or snaps.  I remember having a very strong preference for Velcro when my babies were in the bib stage, but I thought I'd ask first.

The idea behind the pattern is that it's two things in one... a large bib to protect baby's clothes while feeding, and then later, you sling it over your own shoulder to protect yourself while burping the baby.  It's a generous size, about 22" x  8".  With all these baby items I'm making lately, you'd think *I* was pregnant! 

No, I'm not.  Very, very not.  One night my husband looked at the kids sleeping and remarked how big they were getting.  I agreed, and he joked, "So when are we having another one?"  That's the first time he's been the one to say that!  They really are growing up so quickly, and it does make me a little sad sometimes.  But then I think about potty training.  And this post, and I'm grateful for the moment I'm in. 

My husband and I will just have to borrow my nephew on occasion, and I think we'll be fine...

purple pencil eater

The week before school started my girls were invited to an 8 year old's birthday party.  I had to whip up a last minute gift, appropriately wonderful and stylish.  It didn't take me long to decide what to make.

Kathy's amazing 12-pocket Pencil Roll, of course.  Rebecca helped pick out all the fabrics to match each of the colored pencils, and they were all fabulous choices.  Look at that turquoise!  Perfect.  And the cherries?  So cute.  All the rainbow colors were from my scrap bins.  Actually, every single thing I needed for this project came from my stash. 

The pocket and flap were cut from fat quarters I had, and the exterior started out life as part of a brand new set of restaurant-quality dinner napkins I thrifted over a year ago.  A durable, almost canvas-like material.

Even the Hello Kitty button was one I had on hand, and the ribbon tie (though I sewed it on backwards, oops) was stash, too.  Then I used another napkin for the gift bag, used fusible web and leftover pocket material for the initial, and covered a drawing pad with scrapbooking paper and a sticker.  I tied the notepad and pencil roll together with thin satin ribbon, and tucked them inside the bag with a teeny bit of tissue paper, that was it... almost no wasted gift wrap whatsoever.

I enjoyed every bit of this project, and I think the birthday girl really liked it.  Her favorite colors and her initial, I hope it made her feel special.  I had the foresight to piece together a second rainbow panel to make another pencil roll for Jessie.  When I finally get around to it, half the work will already be done.  I know she'll need one for the second grade, because Rebecca just brought hers to school, and checked that off her classroom materials list.  I sincerely hope it doesn't take me three years to get Jessie's finished.  But with me, you just never know.

first day second grade

Rebecca started the second grade today, and I've been feeling ridiculously anxious about it for over a week.  Also, lately, there have been some worries regarding relatives on both sides of the family, so I crafted up a storm to distract myself. 

 

Rebecca  needed a new lunch tote, so after *much* time spent looking at my books,  magazines, internet bookmarks and saved files, I finally settled on the oh-so-awesome Vintage Pillowcase Lunchbox tutorial from Oh, Fransson!  I skipped the iron-on vinyl, and instead of a vintage pillowcase and fusible fleece, I used yardage I had on hand (look familiar?) and some insulated batting from an oven mitt project I never got around to. 

Shoelaces (washed, of course!) from a pair of sneakers I just threw away serve as the drawstrings, and I rubber stamped her name with a fabric inkpad on twill tape, hand tacking it to the interior. 

The lining was also hand sewn into the exterior, while sitting on a quilt under a tree in the park, watching the kids ride bikes and have their scraped knees and elbows tended to by Daddy.  Rebecca loves the bag, and it's quite roomy.  This was just the trial run, actually.  She (and Jessie, too!) has fabric picked out for her "real" one.  Next time, I'll probably add a small pocket just below the name label, a safe place to store the notes I include with her lunches.  She told me she and her friends love reading what I write, so "please keep doing it but nothing too mushy or embarrassing, okay?"

I also wanted to give her another first day mascot, so I sewed up two teeny little softies, one for Jessie, too.

 

 

I used this amazingly adorable fabric I got on clearance at Hancock's of Paducah a while back.  It's by Timeless Treasures, and was unbelievably cheap so I bought like 5 yards.  I cut out two of the same kitties (they aren't mirror images, but pretty close), held them up to the light and lined them up with right sides together, and then just hand sewed them together with a really small running stitch with the occasional backstitch thrown in for good measure.  Left an inch open, turned it right side out, stuffed with the teeniest bit of batting, slip stitched the opening closed, and the softie was born.  You could add a little ribbon loop for hanging, too, if you wanted.  I made both last night watching TV and putting positive thoughts into every stitch.  It did the trick, soothed me... and of course Rebecca had a great day today, as expected.

 

 

Spoonful of sugar?

the art party

Rebecca had her birthday party over the weekend.  She'd requested an art party long ago, and I was only too happy to oblige.

The invitations were easy enough, just blobs of colored construction paper glued to a quarter sheet of cardstock.  With rounded corners, of course.  The pertinent info was  first printed on the backside.  I was super diligent on the RSVPs this time, because I needed to know exactly how many kids were going to attend.  I had the brilliant idea that each kid would get a personalized apron as they walked through the door. 

Seventeen kids later, I wasn't quite so keen on my idea, but I managed.  I even finished everything up before midnight on the eve of the party.  Final count: 5 As, 4 Js, 3 Ms, 2 Ks, 1 H, 1 P, and 1 R; 68 straps; 34 plastic rings; 8.5 yards of fabric; 2 sewing machine needles; and at least 21 meals eaten on the coffee table, since all the sewing stuff was strewn all over the dining room. 

I didn't have a pattern, just made it up by studying some of the aprons I own, and using what I had.  I would have liked having D rings for the adjustable neck straps, but they were too cost prohibitive, and anyway I had these plastic circles I'd gotten years and years ago from an estate sale purchase of a box of knitting supplies.  They worked fine for my purpose, and I still have some left over.  These aprons are fully reversible and adjustable, and highly customizable.  I hope all the kids liked them, I'm proud of the way they turned out.  I've never sewn seventeen of anything at one time before, and it was quite an experience.  I know there are a million apron tutorials out there, but if anyone wants to know how I did these particular ones, I'd be happy to put together a show and tell.  I took a ton of pictures along the way. 

So anyway, back to the party.  Everyone got an apron as they arrived, siblings had their initials in matching fabrics.  There was even a mini apron for the youngest guest, only 18 months old.  Our first activity was cornstarch clay, using this recipe which produces the smoothest, most non-sticky homemade dough I've ever had the pleasure of playing with.  Jessie kept inhaling it, saying it smelled like rice.  Nothing caustic, unbelievably inexpensive, and comes together so easily.  It feels amazing.  I recommend turning off the heat the instant the dough starts forming, while it's still easy to stir.  Remove it from the heat, you don't want a crust to form at the bottom of your pan.  I skipped the food coloring bit, planning to use watercolors instead, but the kids were fine with just the white clay, so I figured why complicate things?  On the tables I had plastic cookie cutters, texture plates and Play-Doh tools, along with some straws. I made six batches for the seventeen kids, but four probably would have been more than enough.

Then we moved on to fabric softies.  Totally pinching Louise's idea, I made seventeen randomly shaped stuffed things and set out buckets of fabric scraps, ribbons, yarn, buttons, beads, fabric markers and fabric glue.  These are just a few of the amazing creatures that were born.  I didn't go with needle and thread because of the mixed ages of the kids, but I could totally see revisiting this idea in a few years.  Wish I'd taken some before photos, I liked that bucket full of chubby shapes.  Some had yarn appendages, some didn't (mainly because I just forgot to include them before I started stitching).

Then the kids had some snacks while we cleaned the tables and set up for the final craft, painting.  I found some wooden frames and keychains at Michaels, and along with some cheap paintbrushes and a couple dozen bottles of acrylic paint I had in my stash (yikes!), the kids really got to make a mess and play with color.  It was so much fun watching everyone thoroughly enjoy themselves.  Even the parents were getting into it.  And, oh, in case you were thinking I was completely insane, this was all done in a rented clubhouse, *not* in my living or dining room.  Ha.  I'm not that crazy.

My sweet, sweet baby is seven today, she hasn't seemed baby-ish in quite a while now.  All arms and legs, skinny and so grown-up.  She reads Roald Dahl with legs hanging over the arm of the couch, and wants to check her email at least once a day.  She plays a mean game of Dots, and puts away all the utensils as they come out of the dishwasher.  Happy seven sweetheart, I'm glad you had so much fun at your party with your friends.  I hope the next year is your best yet.

Great, great times, and I even had help cleaning up.