Saturday, July 14, 2012

Thrifty goodies!

Yesterday afternoon I needed to get out of the house and decided I wanted to hit some yard sales and maybe a thrift store or 2. So after checking with Bill (Bi-polar + spending = asking for permission/cash for said purpose) I headed out the door with $20.

I actually only made 2 stops. My first stop was a HUGE church yard sale, and I scored SO much stuff there, all for $8!!

Then I headed over to my favorite thrift store. Let me just say, I typically only go on half price day, but man is it stocked on regular days!
So. here's my haul for the day..

8 vintage pillowcases, 1 vintage sheet, 2 vintage doilies (1 is actually a runner) 3 vintage towels. 4 trays, a stool, a wooden compote, a wall shelf with a quilt bar, a pair of purse straps, several packs of trims, about 20 or so vintage appliques and a box FULL of fabrics, a nice mix of vintage, newer out of print and new fabrics.

A tree candelabra, empty bourbon decanter (saw these on Pawn stars a few months back lol) and a really cool owl candle.
Also bought but not pictured as they were an additional purchase over and beyond my budget is 9 Dragonlance books in fantastic (almost new)condition. They had the first 2 trilogies for $.90 a book, and Bill was missing a few and his others are in not so great shape (I mean really, He bought them in like 87-88..and they've been around the world with him)


Well, I have one order almost completely finished, 1 to get approval on so I can proceed and 2 more to get started on gathering fabrics for. Plus I want to get My Doc's Baby quilt done before I go to my Appointment on Tuesday so I can give it to her, I mean seriously her baby is like 9 months now, so I'm off to do some more sewing, Later!


In Stitches,

Friday, July 13, 2012

Shooting Star

I just finished up this quilt last night.
It is 44" square now that it is finished. I hand quilted (pick stitch style) stars randomly in the white field.


The back I used the stripe from the wonky star, along with more white..I like it.

I also used the stripe for the binding.


This turned out so sweet. And very soft and snuggily, My youngest boy has now started campaigning for a flannel quilt, after I finish the second star wars quilt he wants...

Time to do some more work on orders so I can play with some Great Grannies!!
In stitches,

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Pac Man fever

Yesterday I finished up this purse and I'm not entirely sure I want it to sell.... 

I do know that I am very, very pleased with the design of the purse, the slightly tapering sides keeps it from seeming too boxy. I'll definitely be playing with this some more.

Bill managed to get my computer up and running, after replacing just about everything (seriously, we kept the original case and hard drive). It will be nice to not have to depend on the laptop, as it is just not up to the amount of graphics heavy use that encompasses my daily computer use, and this will also mean that my embroidery machine will be more than just a paperweight again :)

Coupons this week were not worth getting papers for so I have a free afternoon, I think I will do some more sewing, and maybe work some more on the quilt I've been hand quilting (pick stitch style) I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Fabric envelopes tutorial

Today I thought I'd share how I made my fabric envelopes for my coupons. These could be used for so many other things, the cash envelope system, a savings tool for children, just to name a few that popped to mind at the moment.

Don't be afraid of the number of steps in this tutorial, I will be giving complete step by step instructions so that even the most novice of sewing enthusiasts will be able to whip these up.


What you will need for each 4" x 8" envelope.
Vinyl -  2" x 3" piece (this is usually sold with tissue paper between the layers, do NOT discard, you will need it to sew with.)
Binding- 1.5" strip for binding the edges of the vinyl
Decor bond - 9.5" x 8"
Outer fabric- 10" x 8.5"
Lining fabric - 10" x 8.5"
Velcro - 5" piece
Thread
scissors
ruler
pins
sewing machine
Iron

We will begin with binding the edges of our vinyl window.


 1.  Take your 1.2" binding strip and trim the selvage off one end. fold the top corner down to the bottom edge of the strip (wrong sides together) to for a diagonal end. press.

2. fold binding in half, wrong sides together. press.

3. making sure that the tissue paper is under your vinyl piece, line the raw edge of the binding strip to one of the 3" sides of the vinyl, with the point ending 1/4" shy of the bottom corner. sew with a 1/4" or scant 1/4" seam allowance stopping 1/4" from corner. back tack and remove from machine.

4. fold binding strip up to line raw edge up with 2" side of vinyl hold diagonal fold, then fold the strip straight down. sew along edge and stop 1/4" from corner and remove from sewing machine.

5. Repeat step 4 until you reach the straight edge of your diagonal fold that you began with.

6. trim off your strip and feed under the straight edge. the diagonal fold will hide for a casing for the raw end of your binding, hiding it inside.

7. trim threads and remove tissue paper.

8. flip window over and pull folded edge of binding to the front. it will look like a shallow box at this point.

9. starting with your ending/beginning diagonal fold, fold against the vinyl and sew down. when you get close to a corner, fold the other side down to for a mitered corner, turn and continue sewing next side of the binding down. repeat until all sides have been sewn down.

10. trim threads and set aside.

Now we will work on the body of our envelope.

1. Press decor bond to back side of lining piece, centering so that 1/4" of material "frames" the decor bond.


2. press outer fabric. place right sides together with the interfaced lining and pin around edges.

                       (this is me, not following my own instructions about pinning...I highly recommend pinning!)


3. with a 1/3" seam allowance, and starting on a lower side, sew around the edges, making sure to leave a 2" gap for turning. (helpful hint: when you get to the end of your sewing, turn your fabric and sew across the seam allowance, this will make it easier to fold your edges in after it is turned)

4. trim corners

5. turn right side out, using a turning tool, or blunted point to poke corners out.



6. press, being sure that your opening is even with the rest of your outside edge.

7. top stitch across the bottom edge


8. finding your fold. Now we will bring our bottom edge up, lining sides together, to form the pocket of the envelope. I folded mine so that there were 2" of my fabric piece sticking up to form the flap that will fold over to close. Press the fold.

9. Adding velcro. Here you will be adding velcro to both sides of your fabric piece. On the bottom of your piece we will be working on the outside fabric. Pin fuzzy side of the velcro down along the edge, maching the top of the velcro to your top stitching. Sew into place.
.
(As you can see, in this picture I had already sewn on my window, for the rest of them, I discovered it was a much better idea to velcro first!)
Now on the top edge, and lining side of your project pin the sticky side of the velcro and sew into place


 10 Now that you know where your bottom fold is, place your label window centered between the bottom of the velcro strip and the fold. Sew into place making sure to leave the top edge open for labeling
.
 .
 11. creating the pocket. starting at the bottom left hand corner, top stitch around both side and the top flap. (you can also edge stitch the bottom if you like, it isn't necessary, but some prefer the look) reinforcing the stitching at the top of the pocket.



Print or write out your label, insert it into the window and you are ready to go!





Monday, July 2, 2012

They had me at Granny square

I love, love, love granny squares, which just about figures as my Mom (who is the crocheter in the family) hates to make them, so, I have none :( That is, until I discovered this tutorial!!

This is my all time favorite quilt block. Seriously, I can't wait to make more!

I tried it out last night and made these 2 blocks
The blue and yellow is going to be put aside to be used in a project for me, I'm just trying to decide between a table runner, another pillow cover, or..a couch snuggling quilt.


While I was already sewing binding, I grabbed another project that has been just laying about waiting for me to finish it's binding too. I made this pillow cover last November/ early Dec, but as usual, since it was a personal project, it got put on the back burner.  But it's finished now and will be put to use this Christmas :)

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Craft book challenge 1

Well, I didn't get to my yo-yo pillows this month, but I did make a project from another of my books instead. My Mother In Law's Birthday was this past month, and I wanted to make her something. I've made her many things over the years, including several table runners, but I have it on good authority that she loves them and would enjoy having several she can switch in and out depending on her mood or the season.

With that in mind, I turned to my library and came across this book:

(You can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/87dchmf )
I used the pattern from the cover called a midsummer night's bloom, with a few modifications to turn in into a runner for a table rather than a bed.
Here's my version:
I apologize for the crappy picture, I meant to take my camera so I could get a better one there, but I completely forgot to grab it.

Link up to your craft book challenge finish, and don't forget to come back and check out everyone's project for this month!