Hart 2 Heart

Our couches are looking pretty shabby, and now is not the time to replace/recover them, so I decided to spruce them up with a new pillow, especially since my housemates (one grown boy/husband, a tween and 3 cats) have practically shredded our old ones.

In the spirit of recycle, reuse and reduce my mountains of stuff. . . I pulled out a piece of favorite vintage bark cloth, some old striped cotton canvas, and a couple of trims, and got to work. 

I added a piece of upholstery weight leopard fabric from a past project (see the chair here), and used the pillow form from the old pillow.

Here it is in action--before the boys throw it on the floor and sit on it. I added black ball fringe on the side, though I think it needed bigger fringe. The back has an overlapped opening, with button closure. Now, back to business. 

Stylish neck warmer. . .

. . .or clown collar. You be the judge.

Handmade Gift Round-up

Still in Wyoming, hence the western reference above. This is the "real West". California is something else all together. It's all good though.

I gave a few hand made gifts this (last!) year. I'm finally getting around to sharing a few.

This has to be my favorite handmade gift that we made. Emmet has designed several "ugly dolls" in the past. This one he made for his Grandma Helen (whom we are visiting). I forgot to take pictures while we made him, or before we sent him so that's why I had to wait to share. Emmet did the design, made the full size patterns, and cut out the fabrics. I stitched him up and we stuffed him. He came out so close to his original drawing; I should've taken a picture of that. Next time. His name is Mut--short for Mutant, but pronounced like a dog (mutt, get it?). We used fleece fabric for all but the teeth, nose and whites of his eyes, which are felt. He's about 10 inches tall.

I made these zipper pouches out of vintage bark cloth for many of my friends. So much fun to work with the pictorial fabrics. I lined them with printed cottons from my extensive quilting fabric stash.

I REALLY like this fabric. It was given to me by Susan, along with some other beautiful barkcloths, so I made her a pouch too.

I made a couple of these crochet'd cuffs too. I found the pattern on a really cool blog, Creative Yarn.

I had these beautiful vintage buttons in my stash.

    

So you can wear the cuff with the buttons on top . . .

. . . or underneath.

I really enjoy making, giving (and getting!) handmade gifts. I think I'll get started now for next Christmas. I suggest you do the same.

The Perils of a Professional Crafter

Another Sunday comes along, as does another Charity Boutique with the hopes of selling my creations, and helping a wonderful charity raise some funds. It all sounds good . . . riiiight. 

It starts out like this. There is no more space inside, so you are given a spot on the "patio", which doubles as a wind tunnel. This is why I try to avoid outdoor shows. My dresses turn into kites, and I spend the whole time stressing and trying to keep everything under control. Moments after this photo was taken, the spiral rack, pictured on the left, blows over! All of my table cloth dresses get filthy. The "good new" is there were no customers, so no one came to buy a dirty one-of-a-kind dress anyway! 

That's right. The ball was dropped by someone. The venue was great (except for the patio), and all of the venders were lovely. Problem was, NOBODY came to shop! I do lots of charity sales, and the way to make them a success it to bring in the supporters of the charity to shop, and SUPPORT THE CHARITY! Evidently this is easier said than done. 

Knowing the possibility of down time at these events, I naturally brought my crocheting. At least I accomplished something. Sadly, some vendors sold nothing, I was at least able to cover my booth fee, and pay my helper, Paloma, but that is one day I'll never get back. Oh yeah, I missed my son's baseball game too. He went 4 for 4. 

Here, have a button. . . take 2, they're small.

. . . yet another crochet book.

Can one really have too many crochet/craft/(fill in the blank) books? I say no! My husband might say otherwise, though he has his own book obsessions.  Several people wanted to know where I got the patterns for the crocheted flowers I showed a couple of posts ago. So here it is.

It's a book from Leisure Arts--nothing fancy, but very useful. It's called "99 Floral Motifs to Crochet". I picked it up at Joann Fabrics.  It's a great reference book, with clear, accurate directions, so most beginners could follow. It doesn't have any project ideas, but the possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!

A Flowery Day

Just when I'm overwhelmed, trying to drag myself through the muck, a good soul gives me a helpful nudge. Yesterday, Carrie and I met for our semi usual, stitch and chat session. She's kind enough to host us, make pumpkin bread (to die for!) and make me tea. She put it all so well in her post, so check it out. I can't say it any better, but it is a gift when you find someone that you can relate so well to, and then you become friends.

My current distraction from "work" crafting are these crocheted "flowers".  Carrie took the pictures, and of course they are perfect! I'm not telling what they will become--a little suspense here. It might take a while.  I have a few other things to deal with. I'll probably crochet another couple while I'm watching the debate tonight. 

The Jacket

Here it is, as promised. My husband took the photo at 6:30 this morning. We are not morning people, which may explain the out of focus issue. . .and my missing head.

Here's me makin' it.

Broderie Perse

According to Womenfolk.com, "broderie perse" is a French term, meaning Persian embroidery, but it also came to refer to the lovely applique of printed chintz flowers and other motifs onto a solid fabric. 

It's really a fun technique, which I first learned about when I was a quilter, as it's been used in quilt making since the 1700s. I've been incorporating this technique into my clothing for a while now, though I've been using vintage textiles, instead of chintz.

I used a scrap from a vintage table cloth to ornament this blouse I got from

Ruby Republic.

I carefully cut out the desired design, about 1/8" from the image, and then I zigzagged it in place. You could do this with a straight stitch or by hand too.

I've also been using this technique in my fall line for the toddler set. As I've mentioned, I really dig the images on vintage bark cloth. Here is Smokette helping me sort through some of the cool appliques I've cut out for my girls' velveteen skirts:

Sort of. . . helping. . .

The butterfly is really fun . . .

. . . but the flowers are still my favorite.  This is how I use them on my new outfits . . .

Last night I was wearing this jacket that I got on sale at J. Jill. . .

We went to see "Burn After Reading", which really wasn't as good as I had hoped, since I adore

    and   

but I digress. . .

Anyway, I caught a glimpse of myself in the movie theater bathroom mirror, and found myself to look rather, oh, middle aged and frumpy. Is it the lighting or what? So maybe I am a bit m.a.f, but let's blame it on the jacket. It needs a little . . . sprucing up.

Ah. . . broderie perse!  That's the ticket. I'm going to see what I come up with today, and I'll get back to you.

 

Lazy Labor Day Weekend

So, what to do with a long weekend. . . I had lots of choices. . .

. . . there was a mountain of sewing to do. . .

. . . my kitty's belly needed to be scratched . . .

. . . I have more yarn than I know what to do with . . .

. . . and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was playing on ABC Family.

When I was a kid, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was shown every Easter on regular network t.v.  It was a special event, and one of my favorite movies.  So it seemed like the perfect way to spend an afternoon.  Emmet joined me with my balls of yarn and all was good.

I made a new baby hat . . .

. . . two actually. . .

. . . notice the evil child catcher on the t.v.?  Scary.  My son was surprised the movie was rated G! They don't make 'em like they used to!

A lovely way to spend the day. Hope you and yours had a great Labor Day weekend.

Buried Under Scraps

So, yeah. . . I'm under there somewhere. . . 

Actually,  I've been taking a little time off before school starts for some fun with my boys. Of course, I didn't take pictures of those activities. . . Andy's company (Girl Skateboards 15th anniversary) party, Universal Studios (the Simpson's ride rules), and Knott's Berry Farm's Soak City.  It was a blast, and not crowded at all. The good tip is to go to these places at the end of the summer when a lot of kids are already back in school.

I did manage to get out from under those scraps and do some crafting too. I got this great book and was inspired. Fabric baby blocks!

 

I just love the presentation, beautiful photos and overall production of "little stitches".

Amy Butler's fabrics alone make for beautiful backdrops for the fun projects in the book.

I started by cutting (some of) my huge stash of scraps into 4 1/2" squares.

It's fun finding little works of art in my vintage scraps.

  

Next I sewed 1/2 " seam allowances on all but 2 sides of the cube, then trimmed the corners, 

. . . for easier turning.

I've made fabric baby blocks before, but Amy had a great idea for stuffing them.  In the past, I always used fiber fill and it was challenging to make a cube with flattish (new word) sides. She suggests using 4" thick foam.  I used a serrated bread knife to cut it--that was a little tricky.  Amy says that an electric carving knife will work too (better I think).

So, how do you get this. . . into that. . .

Squish away. It takes a little effort, but ta da! 

Next. . . pin, pin, pin!

Finally, slip stitch the seams (while you watch the Olympics, sit outside the skate park, or hang out at the water park.  I love portable crafts).

It's funny, my 12 year old loves these; throws them all over the house. Babies too, find them very entertaining. I brought a bunch of blocks to a sale over the weekend, and adults were like, "hmm, what are those for. . ." Not so easily amused.