Posts tagged ‘sewing’

and a pile of possibility. I spent the afternoon carefully removing shirt pockets. And then carefully pinning them back to the shirt from which they came so that I can do some shirt rehab on Friday afternoon. I am planning to take them all up to The Market Path to see about consigning there. I chatted with one of the employees on Saturday at the Home and Garden show, and she encouraged me to stop in. Hopefully I have what they are looking to stock in their store.

It’s encouraging to me that there are so many people interested in handmade items right now that there is a greater outlet for displaying/selling them. It’s not just craft fairs and etsy, although I LOVE those venues, but even brick and mortar stores are interested in carrying one-of-a-kind handmade items in their shops.

In other news, Colleen and I have talked about slowing down on the tutorial frequency. Once a week  is a lot of crafting. And though we have a ton of ideas for how to repurpose things, we are running out of time to actually do them. Just today I spent two hours ( yikes! ) cleaning out my craft room because I only have time to work in there, and never have any time to clean up after myself. I still haven’t put everything away yet! So, look forward to 2 monthly tutorials from Clever Nesting in the future. We still love you, we just also love our sanity.

I made some soup for the Church potluck this Wednesday. It wasn’t until I was almost finished making the soup, and had announced on Facebook that  I planned to bring the soup, that I realized I had no way to transport hot soup without spilling it or letting it cool off.

Hense, the crockpot cozy. I had seen a casserole cozy on the interwebs somewhere (if anyone can remember, or was the maker of this please let me know because I didn’t bookmark it) and it came to mind as the perfect solution to the conundrum I was in.  It was also the perfect excuse to use my new serger because I needed to make it fast.

Essentially this is just a 22″ by 22″ un-quilted quilt, no binding, with over-locked edges. To make it all transportable I made some straps from upholstery weight fabric (over-locked again) and stitched them to the middle of the bottom of the cozy in an X. Then I folded up the corners of the cozy over my crockpot stoneware insert and tied the straps.

It’s machine washable, quick to make, very gift-able, and it kept my soup warm and unspilled all the way to the potluck!

It’s not really a toy. It’s an awesome tool. I bought a floor model Pfaff 4852 at Barnes Sewing Center on Saturday after the swap. I’ve been saving up for this purchase for a while. Now it is mine.

I don’t have a photo, since everything I’m sewing with it right now is ugly. And my sewing room is truly a disaster, so there is no photo of that either. I guess this promotional photo will have to suffice. If you don’t see me in a few months, I have crawled into a sewing cave, and I might not come out any time soon. At least until I learn how to serge a curved seam. Yikes!

And by the way, if anyone is in the market for a serger in the Akron area, Barnes has a Huskvarna for $200 that I almost bought. It’s still there….

Since I don’t have a boy around to model for me, Cressida is playing stand-in.

I really have to thank Cal Patch for her book Design it Yourself Clothes for making this draft so easy. She gave me the rules to follow where I was taking educated guesses before. So although there are no youth patterns in her book the explanations included are pretty universal.

This is just a first draft of the romper. I did not take into account how big a diaper is, so the rise is about two inches off. I’m going to adjust my pattern and make one out of a men’s shirt I really like. Wish me luck!

With Clementine Season reaching a close we have accumulated at least 6 crates. Those wooden boxes are so wonderful, and I never throw them out. At the moment I am using them to hold individual projects-in-the-making in my craft room, and will probably continue to use them for that for a while.

There are other ways to use the clementine crates though. I have used them in the past as drawer organizers, since they are so short. I keep my cookbooks in one in my kitchen on top the fridge. And I know that Colleen used them for craft room organization in the past. Since I have more than I need this year, I will probably use the two extra I have for kindling in our fireplace since the wood is nice and dry and should catch fire quickly.

But all of those crates were easy to find purposes for. The challenge for me this year was what to do with the orange plastic nets that are on the top of them. Well, I zigzagged two of them together and sewed a strap onto it. Now we hang all of the bath toys in it for draining. But that only used two! Does anyone else have a creative use for them?

Olivia has been asking for a “kid sewing machine” for a year, ever since she saw one at JoAnn’s around Christmas time when she was 4. I told her she had to wait until she was older, mostly because I didn’t want to buy such an expensive toy, not knowing if she’d really want to use it.

Well, on a routine Thrift Store Trip this past week we saw one in the toy department. Olivia was the first to notice it and into our cart it went. I would have paid $30 for it, even second hand. But this glorious find was a remarkable $1.50! I was certain it wouldn’t work but at that price it was worth the gamble.

We took it home and popped two size C batteries in it and it just chugged along just like it should. It works! It is a chainsitching machine, so it has no bobbin to get messed up. The stitches are not the most secure but it really sews. But the most valuable thing of all is that it has an advance wheel, presser foot with arm, and a foot pedal, all which work exactly the same way as they do on a larger machine. So as Olivia learns to use this little machine, she will be gaining the basic skills needed to use a real machine when the time comes. And with the enthusiasm she is showing for this little toy machine, the real thing is probably right around the corner!

I know this update is a little last minute, but I wanted to post about my class at Craft Akron tomorrow. I have been finding time to put the kits together, but not to write my post!

Tomorrow in class, using silk, ribbon, lace, wool and jewelry scraps we will make attractive and versatile head pieces called “fascinators” in time for your Valentine’s Day date. Kit will include everything you need for your project. If there is something you’d like to use for your piece, please bring it to class.

Date: Saturday, January 23
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Cost: $20 plus $5 kit fee.

In the spirit of a new year & reflecting about Clever Nesting’s previous year of blogging, I thought I’d share my favorite 2009 tutorials that Devona’s written.

Do you ever find beautiful sweaters at the thrift store but realize they’re too stretched out or shrunken to wear?  In Knitting with an Old Sweater Devona shows how to unravel those sweaters and reuse the yarn for new projects, so that pretty yarn won’t be wasted.

In Throw Pillow with Piping Trim, Devona teaches how to use strips of cut t-shirts for the piping on a pillow.  You’ll save money on expensive piping and have a way to use those stained or stretched t-shirts besides for rags.

And here’s an idea reusing ties when the fabric’s great, but the men in your life will surely never wear them!  Devona teaches how to Make a Composition Cover from an Old Tie.

And finally, let me just say I’ve loved working with Devona on the Clever Nesting blog this past year!  She’s so innovative with her crafty reuse & recycling ideas.  She’s also a wealth of information about a variety of crafts & thrilled to learn more.  Plus she’s an idea queen…you should hear all her ambitious plans for the next few years!

I love the holiday rush of making things for other people. It is the one special thing about being a Maker, giving one of a kind gifts that are specifically tailored to the recipient. But, it can also be exhausting to do all of the planning and making on a schedule. It is such a relief when the holidays are over and I can get back to making things for myself or others at a leisurely tempo.

That’s exactly what I’ve been spending this past week doing. Cutting out and sewing up projects that have been on my mind for a long time. The first one I finished up was this plum dress I had planned since I wrote this post. I had intended to change the pleats to box pleats, but decided to do the original pleats at the last minute. When it is all said and done I think I’m going to make it with box pleats  next time. I think the skirt will lay better that way.

I also made this skirt from fabric Colleen gave me. I love it. I kind of messed up the invisible zipper (that’s what I get for thinking I’m so cool) but otherwise I am really really happy with the outcome. I am considering putting elastic in the waistband, but for now there is a good chance I will be wearing this skirt every time I am to be seen in public.

And, one more thing. I am trying out this socks-over-tights look that Emily from the Black Apple and Some Girls Wander is always sporting. Is it too much for me? I love it on her, but I’m looking for some encouragement before I show up at Acme with them on. Be honest.

This tutorial might be a little simple for many people, but three times in the past month I talked to people who had lost coat buttons. This reminded me of my mom who always says, “You girls (my sister and I) are just so good at sewing… I can’t even sew on a button!” And for a while neither could I, at least not properly. If you sew on a button properly your fabric will hang well, and your button is less likely to pop off again.

This projects requires a needle, sturdy thread (I am using nylon) and the button to be replaced. Thread the needle so that there are two untied thread ends on one side of the eye, and a u-shape to the thread on the other side of the needle. You’ll also need a spacer, such as a toothpick, another needle, or in my case I used a match stick.

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