Waxahachie Junior Service League, Christmas Market Preparations

We had a fun and profitable day at The Texas Country Reporter Festival.

With the help of my grandson Brian and 

my daughter Ginger we sold lots of product, kept the money secure,

and generally had a great time.

I sold out of my full aprons and dolls and moved quite a bit of soap.

Needless to say I've been quite busy replenishing the stock

for The Junior Service League Christmas Market, December 6-7

at the Waxahachie Civic Center.

Halter Style Apron

This style apron, with it's halter top, seems to fit the broadest range of women.

But, I don't want just one style,

 so I'll be working on creating a more diverse selection.

The taggie monsters and ballerinas are getting some notice also.

Taggie Monsters & Ballerinas

Mini Christmas Stockings

I've also been working on my mini stockings,

I market these as gift bags.

Well, there's a lot yet to be done and only 

32 days left till show time.

SO....

Till next time,

happy creating!

Bonjour

Up-cycling an old office chair

New sewing chair

Second hand store, office chair

I found this office chair at my local thrift store for $5.00.

 Pretty ugly wouldn't you say?

But I could see it's potential, a little spray paint, some new fabric

and I would have a great sewing chair.

I took the seat and backrest off, then spray-painted the frame  a gloss black.

Off came the old seat cover.

The foam cushion was still good so all I needed to do make a new cover.

Since the seat frame was metal I couldn't staple a new cover on

 so I opted to sew one.

I cut a rectangle of fabric, hemmed the edges to form a casing, 

 inserted some elastic, 

pulled the elastic tight to form the fabric around the seat and then tied it off.

Kind of like a shower cap.

The backrest was in two parts, front and back, held together with screws.

The leather cover was in good shape so I just covered over it.

I cut a rectangle of fabric for each piece.

Using some embroidery floss, I did a gathering stitch around the edges

of the rectangles, then gathered them up around each piece.

 I also stitched from top to bottom and side to side, 

(kind of like tying up a corset) to get it good and tight. 

After cutting off the extra fabric in the corners,

I screwed the two pieces back together and re-assembled the chair.

I like the vintage vibe of the old steel frame mixed with the modern fabric.

Vintage office chair

What do you think?

Till next time,

Bonjour

Vintage Dresser Redo

Dresser body

 

Drawers



OK, having a few issues with blogger, moving on.....

I found this dresser at my local thrifty several years ago for $50.00.
Although it didn't have any hardware, I thought it was well worth the price,
well made, solid oak, heavy, just needed a little help.
I slapped some pulls on it for the meantime, put it in my bathroom
to house towels etc, and there it stayed, looking forlorn and neglected.
Time for a redo!

After a good clean up, I gave the body several coats of
white latex satin, then did the  drawers in black latex satin.
~~~~Yes, I am painting in my office, library area.
I just put down an old shower curtain as a drop cloth.~~~~

The hardware was an issue...
Over the years I've collected a few drawer pulls and knobs....
You know what I mean, the cheap, falling apart
cabinet or chest by the roadside on trash day?
Grab that hardware!

With what I had on hand, hardware wise,
and a little gold spray paint, I was able to stylishly open the drawers.

Now I have a cute, new dresser in my sewing area to store my fabrics.


Till next time,
Bonjour




Little Girl Apron/Mom Apron and The Dress Form

Where to start?

 

Little Girl's Apron

We had a super show last weekend.

Sold lots of aprons, baby stuff and of course, soap and bath products.

 

WOOHOO!!!

 

 Since I lost my job, I've had more time to focus on my sewing abilities,

and it seems to be paying off.

The little girl aprons are a big hit with the Grandma crowd

and the little boy's/matching Dad's BB-Q aprons seem equally as popular.

The Mom aprons and the garden aprons went over well also.

 

 

~~~~ As to Miss Mannequin ~~~~

 

 

She is un-molded and awaiting her PVC pipe innards.

 

Till next time,

happy creating!

Bonjour

 

DIY Tutorial Making a dress form from masking tape and cheese cloth/Part one

Spring shows are fast approaching and I've been doing quite a bit of sewing.
I purchased this dress form last fall on Amazon, perfect for displaying my aprons.
And it cost next to nothing, using my rewards points.
I want another one, but alas, I have no more reward points to use.
What's a girl to do?

A google search for DIY dress form, of course!

Purchased form/Getting started

There were many ways to go about it....

Tee shirt, duct tape, paper mache.....

I chose trash bag and masking tape.

I purchased two different sizes of tape and got to work.



Taping front/Taping Back
 

I cut a small V in the center of the bag, put it on my form

and started taping the neck area first.

Next was under the bust, then the X from front to back

and then the waist.

I was careful in smoothing the bag over the form's contours and

switched back and forth between the two sizes of tape when needed.



Several layers of tape

My goal was to put on as much tape as possible.

It took me four hours to tape her!!!!

If you look at the first photo you see she's on a tripod type base,

no place to step for holding her in place while taping. 

She and I "danced" around my craft area most of the afternoon.

 

Almost done!

 Let's get that booty covered!

Protecting stand and floor

 

After I finished taping her, I taped some bags at the "hem" to protect

the base from the messy glue job that was sure to follow.

 

I wasn't sure what I was going to use next.

Paper? Muslin?

 

How about a cuppa while I think about it?

 

Then I remembered I had this bolt of cheesecloth.

A freebee from my old job, YES!

 

Glue and cheesecloth

 It's settled then, cheesecloth it is!
 

I started out by cutting large pieces from the bolt of cheesecloth,
and then cutting those into smaller pieces.
Using a paint brush, and starting at the neck,
I applied a bit of glue to the form, laid the cheesecloth on top of the glue,
then painted on a little more glue.
This approach seemed easier, less messy,
than soaking the cheesecloth in the glue.

I just glued, draped, and trimmed my way around,
util I reached the bottom edge.
I gave her one more layer of cheesecloth, top to bottom,
then set her in front of the fan to dry over night.

I felt like a crazy doctor, putting a full body cast on a patient!

Today, she gets more cheesecloth, and I shall ponder,
how to stuff her and how to attach a stand.
There's a few ideas rolling around inside my head,
we'll see.

 Stay tuned for part two.

 

Till next time,

Bonjour

 



Making Link Sausage

Stuffed Sausage Casings

This is how I spent my day.
Started about 8am,

Un-supecting Turkey

Meet Casings!

Added some bacon ends and pieces,

 

 

 

 finished!

How was your day?

 

Till next time,

Bonjour

Free, Bicycle Pouch Tutorial/Gift For Heather

Bike Bags

 I was tooling around the net one "very early" morning

and found this post showing how to make a pub bag.

I liked the idea as a bicycle bag, to loop over the handle bars.

My daughter Heather does a lot of riding so I decided to make one for her.

 

I couldn't make the original instructions work for me,

 so I had to rework the idea.

I didn't like the first one I made, it seemed to long and not wide enough,

so I re-did the measurements to get a shorter, wider bag.

I think this bag would also be super for the farmer's market or thrifting.

 

Here's the re-worked version if you would like to make your own.

So here goes, my take on the pub "bike" bag.

 

Materials

 

 

2 ~ 5” x 8 ½” rectangles for main body (fashion fabric)

2 ~ 5” x 8 ½” rectangles for lining

1 ~ 10” x 5” rectangle for strap (fashion fabric)

2 ~ 4” x 7 ½” rectangles fusible interfacing

1 ~ 12” zipper

 

Method      
(¼” seams unless otherwise stated) Finished size is 4” x 7”
 
Strap
With wrong sides together, fold strap in half long ways, press on fold.
Open out and press each long side in to meet the fold, press. Fold in half and press.

You will now have a piece that is 10” long x 1 ¼” wide. Stitch along all the edges.

Fold in half so you have a piece that is 5” long x 1 ¼” wide. Set aside.

 

 

Body
Press interfacings to wrong side of fashion fabrics, centering it in the middle.

 

Zipper
Lay fashion fabric right side up, lay zipper tape face down with teeth to the inside and "zipper butt end" to the right and pull to the left. (right side of pull will be facing the fashion fabric).
Lay the lining fabric right side facing down over the zipper tape,

align edges and pin in place making a sandwich.

 

Sew in place using the zipper foot.

Open fabrics to right side, exposing other half of zipper tape.
Flip fabric to lining fabric side.

 

 

Place fashion fabric right side up, under exposed zipper tape, place lining fabric right side facing down on top of zipper tape, align edges and pin in place making another sandwich.

(This time the "zipper butt end" will be on the left and the pull tab on the right).
Sew in place making sure you keep the first two sides out of the way.

Trimming
Open out and press fabric away from the zipper. Open zipper halfway.

On your cutting table, line up one fashion fabric and one lining fabric to the left, wrong sides facing and the other two pieces to the right, with wrong sides facing

With your rotary cutter, trim off the excess zipper and true up your fabrics.

 

 

Sides
Lay the two fashion fabrics, right sides together on the left and the two lining fabrics, right sides together, on the right, with the zipper in the center. Sew down each side, parallel to the zipper, leaving a small opening for turning, on the lining side.

Top and strap
Open out your lining fabric so that the seam is in the center, do the same with the fashion fabric.

Center the strap under zipper top edge, between the two fashion fabrics, with the loop to the inside and raw edges even with the edge. Pin all layers in place. You will have a sandwich, two lining pieces and two fashion fabrics on either side of the zipper, ( four layers on either side) seams to the center, with the strap centered in the middle.
The strap should be mounted on the top of the pouch where the zipper pull tab is. That way, when you’re carrying it, the zipper opening will always face up.
Sew through all layers, sew again in a 3/8” seam.

Bottom
On the bottom end of the pouch, line up the fashion fabric on one side, and lining fabric on the other, so seams are in the middle.

Pin and then sew across bottom edge.

 

Finishing

Trim corners and turn right side out through opening in lining.
Push out corners through lining opening with a chop stick. Open zipper all the way out and give each piece a good press, tucking the raw edges of the lining opening to the inside. Stitch opening in lining closed.
Push lining to the inside.

Fill with essentials, hook onto your bike handle and you’re good to go!
No need for that shoulder bag, and where is her helmet? Wait I think I see it....







Thank you to Paula Storm for the great idea.

What have you been sewing?

Till next time,

Bonjour



DIY Craft Show Banner

SEW.....

Time is being spent preparing for the up-coming shows.

Making soap, sewing, all the things that come with running my own business.

This is the latest....

 

I needed a more detailed banner and

funds being what they are, I decided to make my own.

 

craft show banner

 Found the letter templates at

http://chubbiecubbie.com/abc123printables.htm

 

I bonded the letters to my fabric panel with wonder under

and then stitched them down as an added precaution.
 

I outlined the panel with bias binding and

added loops on the corners and in the center top and bottom.

 

 

The fabric panel was what I had left over from making my kitchen curtains.

 

 

The fabric flowers were free from my local thrift store.
The whole project was constructed with things I already had on hand.
 It was a bit time consuming but, worth the effort.

What great projects are you into?

Till next time,
Bonjour

 



Free Baby Blanket Tutorial/What I've Been Sewing

~~~~~~SEW~~~~~~~

 

Handmade baby blanket, bibs and burp cloths

The Great-grand-baby's 1st birthday is coming up,

so I decided to make her a few cute, but useful gift items.

The weather is turning cold here in Texas,

and when I saw this cute fleece at the fabric store,

my mind went to baby blanket.

I bought 1 ½ yards of it, plus some quilting cotton for a ruffle.

The bibs were made out of fat quarters.

 

The thought was,

the blanket could be used length-wise in the crib as a normal blanket,

or, used width-wise to put over the baby seat/carrier.

 

It was quite easy to make, and,

if you would like to make your own, here are the specs.

 

Keep in mind....

It is near impossible to get a decent photo in this house,

the fleece fabric is a pink, brown, blue, yellow and white paisley/floral print, and the quilting cotton is a brown background with pink flowers.

I did my best!

 

Supplies: 

1 ½ yards - 45 wide lightweight fleece/main body
1 ½ yards - 45 wide quilting cotton/ruffle
thread, scissors, cutting mat, rotary cutter, ruler, sewing machine, ETC.

 

Method: 

1. Using the cutting mat, rotary cutter and ruler, square up/trim the raw edges of the fleece.

Trim off the printing on the selvages.

2. Cut 5 - 8" strips of the quilting cotton, selvage to selvage.

Trim off the printing on the selvages.

You will have about 14" of the quilting cotton left over, set aside.

3. Using a small plate as a template, trace a curve in each of the four corners of the fleece. Cut on traced lines.

4. On the fleece, cut down the length-wise fold line so you have 2 pieces. Using a ¼" seam, with a normal stitch length, stay stitch each piece separately, around the edges. Set aside.

 

Rounding corners/cut strips

 

5. With a ¼"  seam, using a normal stitch length, with right sides together, sew 2 of your quilting cotton strips together ( on the 8" side). Continue adding the strips until you have them all attached to each other. You will have a long circle.

 

Joining strips

 

6. Press the seams to one side. Now, fold your joined strips, wrong sides together, making the width 4". Press.

7. Using the longest stitch length, baste ¼" from the raw edge.

(This will be your gathering threads to form the ruffle).

Since this is such a long piece, I chose to break up the gathering threads into 5 sections, starting and stopping between the seamed pieces..

Just be sure to leave yourself enough tail ends.

8. Lay out your ruffle piece around one of the fleece pieces and start gathering.

Make sure you leave extra fabric at the corners so it lays right, I

didn't leave enough, and the ruffle wants to curve inward and not lay flat! Lesson learned...

 

Basting the soon to be ruffle/fitting to the blanket front

 

9. Once you have the ruffle gathered, with right sides together,

start pinning the raw edges of the fleece and ruffle together. (The finished side of the ruffle will be facing the inside/center of the fleece). Use lots of pins!!!!

 

10. Once you have the ruffle pinned in place, take it to your sewing machine and sew ¼" from the raw edge, using a normal stitch length. Take out the pins as you go, you don't want to run over them.

11. Now lay the other piece of fleece on top of the ruffled piece, right sides together, with the ruffle to the inside, and pin in place.

12. At your sewing machine, in a ½" seam, using a normal stitch length, stitch the front and back pieces together, leaving 3" or so un-sewn on one long edge for turning. Again.... Take out the pins as you go.

13. Trim the raw edges, except where you left it open for turning. I like to leave that section alone as it leaves you more fabric for turning under later. 

Give the blanket a few stiff shakes to get rid of any stray threads and turn right side out.

 

Fitting front to back/ turned right side out

 

14. At your ironing board, turn under that 3" raw edge and press.

Press the whole top, pulling the ruffle away from the fleece to get a good flat edge.

15. At your sewing machine, using a normal stitch length, topstitch, on the fleece, ¼" away from where the fleece and ruffle meet. This will close the 3" opening and give you a crisp, clean edge.

Clip away any stray threads, give it few stiff shakes and you're done!

16. Use that leftover, 14" piece of quilting cotton to make a bib or two, or to run down the center of some diapers to make burp cloths.

 

Well there you have it, easy birthday present for baby.

If your in a colder climate you might think about adding some quilt batting also.

 

I hope this tutorial is helpful and if you have any questions/directions weren't clear, let me know, I'll be glad to help. 

 

Till next time, happy sewing.

Bonjour