I lost but here’s my craft…

As you may have noticed I am no longer in the competition for So You Think You’re Crafty.  Since I didn’t get very many votes I’m not going to post a full blown tutorial but post about some of the tricks I learned while creating my front entrance ensemble.

First trick recycling toy containers:

            How to get this:                             to look like this:                 

The picture was sort of painted on the container so I used lots of this to get it off:

The next trick I learned was if you are going to have something much taller than your basket coming out of your basket you need to put some weight in your basket.  I used rocks, but on the really windy days that was enough so I then used a bunji cord to secure it to the pillars (if that’s what you would call them). 

The last trick was that the weeds from the empty field next door make for great fillers (and pretend swords).

That’s it and thanks to everyone who voted for me.

(This is a picture w/o the FALL ornaments I made)

Happy Halloween

Here are my Kiddo’s costumes…

My Princess (made her dress from one of my Prom Dresses)

and My Pirate (all of his outfit was made with t-shirts except for the flashy red flames)

Collage Fabric Picture

I was inspired by Care over at Obsessively Stitching for this design.  She did an I-Spy Fabric Swap which I participated in and she sent me one of her I-Spy cards with my fabric squares.  So as I was doing some rearranging of my office again I found two frames that needed a purpose.  So I decided to use her I-Spy idea to whip up a couple of fabric collages to go inside the frames.  I used fabrics that I’ve used for projects for my two kiddos in the past and then some new ones that I plan to use in the quilts I’m going to make them for Christmas. 

 

Start off by drawing a square the size of the inside of the frame.  Then cut about an inch from that line.   You will use the line as a guide to where the fabric needs to cover.

Then just cut out random pieces of scrap fabric and arrange them so they fill the entire square area.

Pin the pieces down and then sew away.  I first sewed along the border and then just did random squiggles and loops all over.

Close-up of the stitching

Now cut out a piece of cardboard so it will fit in the back of your frame.  I then just used a little tap at each corner to attach the back of the collage to the cardboard.  You could also use a glue and permanently attach it.

  

I then trimmed the excess off.

 

Pop it into the frame and hang it on the wall.  Tada!!!!  It took me maybe 2 hours to do 2.

 

Make your own Chenille Strips or “Fuzzy by the Foot”

I based my method of making these Chenille Strips or “Fuzzy by the Foot” off of this tutorial here.

There’s two ways you can prepare the squares to cut.  The first way is illustrated in this picture.  Fold the fabric in thirds and then draw a straight line along the bias of the fabric.  Then cut a straight line from the end of the line you just made to the other side of the fabric creating a square.

The Second way is to just cut three squares of fabric all the same size and line them up on top of each other making sure you have the bias grain going the same way.  Then draw your line connecting one corner of the square to another dividing it into two triangles.

With all three squares together make your first straight stitch down the line you made.  Then line the last stitch up against the left side of the presser foot.  Now depending on how wide you want your strips to be is where you want your needle aligned.  I had my needle in the middle for mine and that made them 3/8” wide once cut.

Now keep going rotating from once side to the other making lines always lining up your last stitch to the left side of your presser foot.

This is what it will look like when you are done sewing all your lines.

Now cut down the middle between each of your stitched lines.

Here’s what one strip looks like

I used my strips to go around my appliqués for my Rock-A-Bye Quilt.  Find a starting spot and start pinning your strips on.  I only pinned the starting point of a new strip and then lined the strip up as I sewed.  Attach the strip by sewing down the middle (you are sewing over the stitching that is already there).  When one strip ends just line a new strip up against the last strip and keep sewing (pinning at the beginning of the new strip will keep it from sliding on you as you keep sewing.

Here’s what it looks like at the end of one strip and beginning of another.

Now take a comb or rough bristled brush and fuzz the strips.  This makes a little bit of a mess, but is so worth it.

Here’s what it looks like after a little fuzzing!

I had so much fun doing this and it made my quilt look so much better.

Before

After

If you are uncertain about any of the steps or I skipped something that you feel is important to help other’s understand please feel free to leave a comment or contact me by e-mail.

Sock Animals

I have a group of girls that I get together with and we do a little craft. We just started trading off who's going to host it and basically they come up with the craft that we are going to do and then let all of us know what we need to bring. This last week we were getting together to make sock monkeys. I decided to give it a try before going and as I was making one out of a green pair of socks I decided I wanted to try and turn it into a sock frog instead. So here he is:

Basically I just followed this sock monkey tutorial here on Craftbits.com, except after creating the legs I did this: (Sorry I didn’t take any pictures so you’ll have to settle for my beautiful drawing)

I then used DMC floss and an outline embroidery stitch to create the mouth and attach the felt tongue. For the eyes I embroidered white felt circles and then I just made a few loops from top to bottom near the center of the circles.

After I finished the frog which was for my son, I asked my daughter what animal she would like and she said giraffe. So I went searching online for ideas and I found this one here and used it for my inspiration. Here’s how I made him:

Create the legs just like in the Sock Monkey tutorialThen find some yarn, thread it onto a needle, with the yarn doubled tie a knot in the end and insert it through the hole between the legs. I followed the crease line that was already in the sock and near the top of his head I pulled the yarn through. Then I cut the yarn about 1 inch from the sock. Now tie a knot in the yarn that is still attached to your needle and do it again. I created 2 rows one on each side of the crease line.Then on the other sock I made the tail similar to the monkey tail only shorter and I gathered about 6 yarn strands that were about 4 inches and tied a knot in the end. I then inserted the strings in the bottom of the sock so the know was sticking out. Then I stitched it. Here’s a close-up of the knot sticking out. What the tail looks like after you turn it inside out. After cutting the tail out of the sock this is how you will cut the remaining pieces. Follow the sock monkey tutorial for creating his arms. We are not using the heel for his nose instead we are using to toe portion of the sock. This makes for a larger snout.I created a half circle out of felt to go above his nose. I used DMC floss and did a quick embroidery stitch to hold it in place. Then I pinned his nose in place. *Pinning the items in place really helps keep them where you want them as you hand stitch them down. **I also hand stitch around all of my pieces twice. It makes for a more finished look and also holds them on better.** Here’s the ear. You make these out of the same section of sock as you would make the ears for the sock monkey. I can’t seem to find my template, so I’ll draw up a new one and post it. Tim the excess off. I didn’t put any stuffing in the ears. I liked the more floppy look. Pin them in place and hand stitch. Attach the arms and tail. I made little horns out of two pieces of felt sewn together. I then stuffed them a little and then stitched them on. I just used the same stitching method to create his eyes as I did for the frog. You can also use buttons but I prefer to embroider them on so there’s no choking hazard.

I am currently working on creating an elephant, but his trunk isn’t looking quite like I want. I also have planned to make a zebra, horse, dinosaur, pig, and a dog.

I’ll be posting pictures of my other creations later.

Technorati Tags: Sock,frog,giraffe,monkey,animals

Baby Doll Diapers

We went for a visit to my parents' house a couple of weeks ago. The kids were able to spend some time with their cousins including the smallest ones which were 8 months old. Before the trip Ari didn't really play much with her dolls, but after spending time with real babies she wanted to play mommy with her babies. I had a sample newborn diaper that I let her use to pretend to change the doll's bum. I knew the diaper wouldn't last very long before it wouldn't work anymore, so I laid out a diaper and did a rough draft of a pattern to make a cloth diaper. It took a couple of tries and a few alterations before getting one that would fit right. Now Ari has several diapers to use and I have some to sell in my shop, KraftyMum's Specialties.

Even Baby Jasmine is sporting a Diaper!!!
Here's Ari hard at work!