Bobby Pin Pom Poms

It is all about accessories sometimes especially when it comes to an outfit I am putting together and a costume is no exception. (Is there ever really an exception?!)

Using to large bobby pins and a some lace scraps leftover from the lace leggings I made two little pom poms for my hair to add to the green veils I made.

I cut the piece of lace into little strips and put them in a bundle that I tied together at the center then attached to the bobby pin ends, securing with a few dabs with the hot glue gun.

More accessories at a nothing cost and I can use for this project and other outfits to come.

Total supplies used: two bobby pins, lace fabric scraps, hot glue gun.

Green Veil Combs

As I continue to to work on this year's Halloween costume I needed something fun for my hair and came up with this idea using a couple plastic hair combs, some green tulle I had laying around, a few seashells, and some glitter.

The whole project was super easy and went together in no time. They look perfect with the costume! (And don't we just love accessories like that?)

Supplies:
Two plastic hair combs
Tulle (I used green) - to desired length
Small Seashells
Black spray paint
(Opt.) Needle/Thread
Craft Glue (that will dry clear)
Green and silver glitter

Using my handy dandy hot glue gun (my dear friend) I placed a strip of hot glue across the top of the plastic hair comb then gently placed the crumpled green tulle and secured. It only took a bit to set the glue. Just to make sure everything was secured, I also to a needle and thread to lightly stitch around the top edge of the tulle to the plastic comb.

I then took a selections of small seashells I had in my craft stuff and painted them with black spray paint and let them dry. (I prefer to put things I am spraying with spray paint inside a box or other container to keep the overflow contained.)


I secured the black painted seashells to the tulle covered plastic comb with more hot glue. Be careful not to burn your fingers when doing this.

Once the the shells were secured to the plastic combs, I dabbed bits of craft glue on them then sprinkled with green glitter. Then dabbed a few more bits of craft glue and repeated with silver glitter. (Make sure after glittering to shake the excess off.)

Then I let everything dry before wearing.

Black Lace Leggings

While working on piecing together a costume without a pattern, I realized that I needed a little extra flush underneath, but did not want to add a lining or under traditional under skirt. They say necessity is the mother of all invention - this was true as I came up with an idea for something a little different - I took a different twist on leggings with some black lace I happened to have on hand. I am sure to find other uses for these unique leggings.

A Little Drawing

A little drawing I did ----

Baby Blessing Quilt: Part 8 (Putting It All Together)

A lot of time and heart has gone into this project, but now that it is finished I am very happy with the end result of this Baby Blessing Quilt. (I hope the new mother agrees.)

To be honest I have never seen or hear of  a Baby Blessing blanket before, but it was an idea I came up with a blessing for the new life and the friend who is now a new mother living a few states away. I couldn't be there when her daughter was born, but hopefully this will be something special to her.

Here is an  overview of how it all came together.

Embroidery Work of Five Pieces
Piece 1 (with short colorful blessing)
Piece 2 (with baby girl's name and birth date)
Piece 3 (with my own blessing)
Piece 4 (with Irish Baby Blessing)
Piece 5 (with Jewish Blessing)
 

The pieces were then sewn together using my trusty sewing machine and ironed. (See Step 6.)

I then added more embroidery and more fleece hearts. (See Step 7.)

I sewed the front to the back (wrong sides together) all the way around leaving a seam to be frayed. I chose a pink and white checked flannel for the back side. (Design choice.) Then using my machine I added swirls all the way around randomly to secure the two sides from creating a pouch inside.

It took awhile, but I then frayed the edges all the way around. This takes a lot longer then a more "finished" edge, but it was what I wanted for this project.

Finished and pressed it's ready to be packed and mailed to the mother and child.

Cross Stitched Feminism Pillow

We can find power and celebration in many things. We can turn old fashioned skills and arts into an expression of something else. I find some sort of strange comfort from turning something that used to symbolize much of a woman's bonds into something that can symbolize what we are capable. A woman doesn't have to reject the arts of her grandmothers to embrace the ideals of equality and feminine power.

For this project, I used the female symbol, cross stitched in black and red to embrace the ideals of feminism and equality.

I started with a template made on graph pattern for the pattern. The lettering and phrases around the edges were mostly just to get a template for the letters not for the final placement.

Using black and red embroidery thread, I cross stitched my female design with phrases around the edges that emulated the theme. "Never let the hand you hold, hold you down." "History and Herstory." "If your not outraged your not paying attention." "A woman's life is a human life." "I am not your Barbie Doll." "The meek are ready." "Proud to be a feminist." "equality.""I resist." And so on. I then embellished the sides.

When the needlework was completed I cut a square of a red velvet-like material (seen in a few other projects) for the backing. Instead of sewing them right sides together, I opted to sew them wrong sides together.

Wrong sides together, I pinned the edges securely, especially taking into account the stretchy nature of the red backing fabric. Then, using a strong backs titch hand-sewed the two sides together with black embroidery thread, using the stitches along a clear straight line as part of the overall design, but making sure to leave a small gap to stuff.

Using the opening I left, I carefully stuffed the pillow to the desire fluffiness with some poly-fil I had on hand, being careful not to rip open the stitches around the opening.

Once full, I pinned the opening (once again being mindful of the stretchy nature of the red fabric for the backing), and sewing it securely shut with black embroidery thread and the back stitch. I pulled the loose thread from the fabrics to give a fringed edge to the small square pillow.

A pillow to make any feminist proud. (Take ye inspiration where ye may.)

Needlepoint Bookmarks

Need something to hold your place in that book? Or mark your favorite poem? (Especially helpful since April is National Poetry Month.)

You could use a piece of scrap paper (we all have them and we've all done it), or bend down the edge of the page (the shame!), but I made these bookmarks using cross stitch techniques and colored embroidery floss to use in my large collection of books. (I love books... the way they look, feel, smell, and the stories they hold. It's a love story, a seduction, an addiction. Old or young, they are beautiful and magical.)

The hot air balloon pattern was approximately from a pattern in a book of bookmark designs (with some adjustments for my personal preferences). It's a good pattern to play with colors and combinations.

The second bookmark is my own psychadellic pattern using a swirling rainbow of colors and bits of leftover threads from other projects that there isn't enough for other other things. (Anyone who does a fair amount of needlepoint probably has a collection built up.)

Even the edging on these was hand done.

Demin Purses (from Re-purposed Jeans)

 Don't throw away those old worn, torn, beat up, unfixable jeans! Oh, the possibilities...

These little purses were made from scraps of denim from old jeans (I use as many of the pieces as possible for bags, rugs, or other projects), scraps of other fabrics, and yarn (depending on what I had on hand at the time). There was no pattern, just the piecing of the things as I went along.

I paired some smaller pieces of discarded jeans with scrap fabric I had on hand to make these little purses. Of the four purses pictured, one is made from a front side pocket (the lining and back from leftover fabric); for one I took the zipper from the tapered pair of jeans to make a side pocket, the unzips; and one has a smaller piece as a pocket along the bottom. Two of the straps are made from braided yarn and two of the straps are made from the side seams from the legs of of jeans. They are are all lined with fabric.

You can find find ways to reuse and re-purpose all sorts of things into something usable and cute.

Pieced Denim Skirt

What do you do when you have a pair of jeans that fit around the waist, but the legs are falling apart? Make them into a skirt... of course. (Waste not, want not, and all that stuff.)

This pair of jeans was literally falling apart at multiple places on the leg, but they still fit pretty good. Piecing the salvageable parts of the old jeans with a light weight red fabric and side panels from the legs of another pair of scrap jeans I patched this denim skirt together into a wearable piece of art. Patches, yarn, and embroidery floss were used to decorate,  stabilize weak places, and cover holes or tears.

Some of the pockets were in really weak condition and patch work had to be done by hand with patches or stitching. It was very much a labor of love using both the machine and a lot of hand work to secure and reinforce. (I guess lucky for me I learned hand work first and for many years preferred it almost entirely over the use of the machine.) The bottom edge has a straight stitch sewn all the way around around about 1/2 inch from edge, the the outer edge left raw.

Backside

I wanted a longer skirt (this one coming to about mid calf) that was comfortable, easy to wear, and unique. I love the contrast of fabrics for spring or summer days. Instead of going out to buy a new skirt, I got want I wanted by my own hand and I got to bring new life to something that might have otherwise been thrown out. Be who you are and who you want to be - express you.

More Rugs

Updates!

I love coming up with new color combinations and new patterns of braided rag rugs from my selection of scraps and rags. Plus, this is one of the ways I keep my hands busy during quiet nights or while watching a movie or TV show at home. (Multi-tasking is a way of existence for some of us.)

I am now running low on scraps (again). I guess that means I need to get back to working on my other sewing projects and shredding some of the discards I have set aside for the rug bin.

When my grandmother first saw the rugs I was making she told me about how her mother-in-law (my great grandmother and a skilled seamstress), used to cut scraps of rags to be made into rugs and how how proud she would be to know that the creative genes have been passed down. My grandmother now has three of my rag rugs and my aunt has two. (Grandma wanted them for in front of the chairs, especially when the boys come in in their boots and sit down.)

I really believe you can find a project for so many of the things we might otherwise throw away. My rag rugs are a perfect example. The only cost I have in these are time.

Remember - Earth Day is coming!(April 22, 2011)

Poetry is My Bag

Poetry is my bag... or all over my bag, as the case might be. Check out my bag just in time for National Poetry Month (April), complete with the poem "Phenomenal Woman" by Maya Angelou embroidered on the side.

It took me a few evenings of embroidering the black lettering and the red female figures. while watching 'Bones' and 'Criminal Minds'. The inside is lined with a velvet-like red fabric (both fabrics leftover from other projects) with a braided red and black yarn strap sewn into the layers. Sewing the pieces together took less time than the actual needlepoint, but sometimes that's the way it goes.

Phenomenal Woman

                             Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s seize
But when I start to tell them. They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet,
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed,
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s In the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
The palm of my hand,
The need for care,
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal Woman,
That’s me.

Easy Sewn Clutch with Geisha

This Easy Embroidered Clutch was made in one evening and made from scraps of material I already had on hand. The exterior was made from a sturdier material (leftover form place mats I made my sister on year). The lining was made a a velour-like red (leftover from a Mrs. Santa type costume I've been working on). The button and red bias tape loop were both from my assorted notions.

The Geisha was embroidered with black embroidery floss BEFORE the pieces were sewn together. I used a simple running stitch to hand embroider her.

It was super simple, but I still included the basic instructions. I've been wondering if my needlepoint gets enough use for things that are more personal to me. See, needlepoint isn't just for your Grandmother. (Actually, I don't think my one Grandmother has ever done needlepoint.)