January 2008 – Page 3 – the long thread

January 18, 2008January 19, 2008

Yarn Projects

I’m not a very good knitter. I can’t follow a pattern and I am still working on my three-year-old’s baby blanket! So now I’m planning to turn it into a stuffed animal. I’ve decided to knit some small projects and use up my yarn in other ways. I’ll be posting some projects in the next few weeks.

Here is some trim that I made for a jumper. Just a few rows of knitting. I tacked it to the underside of the dress and then sewed it on so it would be secure and stay flat. I think I can wash this on delicate, but no dryer. I made this extra long, so I had to sew it with a wide and dense zig-zag stitch, and then I cut it. I was a little nervous about sewing the knitted yarn, but it worked really well. I am thinking of making a hair ribbon or headband with the rest.

And here’s a jar that I wrapped with yarn. This was super fast and easy. I just used a glue gun to secure the beginning and the end on the back side. Would look great for vases of flowers or flower pots and I think it would be nice in multiples.

January 17, 2008

New Fabric

It actually snowed here in Atlanta yesterday. Neither of my kids remembered what it looks like and they tried in vain to make a snowman from one inch of snow. After a few minutes of piling up snow mixed with dirt and leaves, my five-year-old asked if she could just eat the carrot we brought outside for the nose.

Meanwhile I’m thinking about spring. Here’s some new fabric I ordered from ReproDepot. The girls are really excited about the Wizard of Oz canvas. Not sure what we’ll make yet.

January 16, 2008March 21, 2008

Patchwork and Quilted Pillows

I made these pillows last week in my patchwork frenzy and just finished them last night. I embroidered the flowers and lines and sewed them in with the cotton prints. I used upholstery fabric for the border and backing so I’ll need to have them dry cleaned after the inevitable jelly hands get to them.

After I made these, I found this totally amazing pillow from A Stitch in Dye which is giving my pillows an inferiority complex. You can see her beautiful work on her Flickr page here and more for sale in her Etsy shop. She also has a blog here. Wow, I’m a fan! I am really in love with the hand dyed look, inspired color choices and beautiful free form quilting. These must have taken hours to make and they are really inexpensive ($40 and $42 each).

Here are a couple of other nice quilted pillows:

This one is from Raeburn Ink, $70.

And this one by Neressa Bennett, $95.

All of these modern quilt designs make me think of the Quilts of Gee’s Bend. I felt inspired when I saw this exhibition and I urge you to take a look at the patterns, color and design for inspiration even if you are not a quilter.

January 15, 2008January 15, 2008

Felt Fairies & Flowers

We made these quick little flower fairies over the weekend. It was hard for the kids to keep their hands off them just for me to snap a photo. My five-year-old tells me that baby fairies do not have their wings yet. Interesting.

I saw the photo of these felt flowers in a pot over at b.delicious and wanted to share since it would be a great spring project. I would probably use a real pot, but I love the use of buttons.

January 13, 2008January 22, 2008

Make it Monday!

I’m adding a new feature to the blog called Make it Monday. I’ll be offering free craft and sewing patterns every other Monday (maybe every week, but I’m not promising). This week I’m posting a pattern for my Superhero Cape. This can be made with the fabrics of your choice and used for a superhero, princess, magician, sorcerer, or anything else you can imagine. The cape is lined with a contrasting fabric, appliquéd with a design, and fastened by Velcro so the wee ones can take care of themselves. I used matte satin and a shiny cotton print for this cape. It seems to fit sizes 2-6, but is easily adjustable. It was tough to get a good picture of the cape because Supergirl is always on the run!

Below is the pattern file and the shape templates. I have included a star, lightning bolt, crown and heart. If anyone makes this I would love to see some pictures. I have set up a flickr group here.

superhero-cape.pdf

applique-shapes.pdf

Of course with any of these patterns, they are intended for personal use and not for sale!