Wise Craft

what i did this summer. i did halloween, so I should have a party

Way back during the summer, I hinted to you about a photo styling project I was working on. Finally I can now reveal the details of that project. I was contacted by Armstrong Studios, an amazing photography studio here in Seattle, to ask if I was like to come up with some Halloween party and home decor ideas using recycled materials for Value Village and help style a photo shoot using the projects. Um, where do I sign? Honestly, I couldn't wait to get started.

 

So, a dozen or so projects using thrifted, recycled, upcycled materials from Value Village. My mind was racing with ideas. I wanted to use items that could be found any time of year at Value Village or other thrift store, not just during the Halloween season, so I resisted buying Halloween things, that just seemed too easy. The other thing I really wanted to do was to create projects that were "low sew" or even "no sew", the idea being that anybody should be able to jump in and do these projects with materials they find for very little money. The second photo above are the cat and ghost stuffed creatures made from cotton t-shirts (sitting on a $6.99 Value Village chair which I spray painted orange). They are more of a flat shape rather than rounded like a stuffed animal, and are meant to be used as pillows on your furniture during the Halloween season (or, if you're like my kids, you should just hug them and sleep with them). Very soft and easy to sew. The pumpkins in the above (3rd) photo are actually round Christmas ornaments that I spray painted orange, with faces drawn on with black Sharpie markers. They are great to to use for table centerpieces or at place settings. The bottles of "poison" is simple black sand from a craft store poured inside, then drawn on with a white paint pen.

The "sinister ceramics" (above) turned out to be my favorite of all the projects. These are just those terrible ceramic tchotkes (or 'sit arounds' as we say it in the South) you always see at thrift stores. Seriously, if people have one of these, they must have had hundreds! They can be so uninteresting at face value, but spray painted black, with red crystals added for eyes (that was actually Emma's idea), and they turned out to be the perfect thing for our Halloween party table centerpiece. What's so great about this project is how these ceramics went from sweet, colorful little parrots and birds turned into ravens and hawks with a coat of spray paint (one cat with ivy around its neck looked more like it had barbed wire on after it was painted black, it was a great surprise!). Spray painting these things is almost instant gratification.

The entire party scene-

 

Decorated glassware-

 

Another favorite project, silhouettes with sinister little details added (I love the girl in the witches' hat). They are all downloadable as PDF's on the Value Village website. These were just printed out on white paper and inserted into frames purchase at V.Village that I'd spray painted black.

Please visit their website for complete instructions to all these and more. There are too many projects to mention in one post. There are even downloadable invitations and placecards for the table (and just look! at what I did to those old Barbies). (Thank you graphic design team of Story Trading for those!) If you do any of the projects, please let me know (and let me know if you run into any problems with the projects too).

I have to say, Halloween has never been a favorite holiday of mine (I actually dread it), but creating all these projects really got me into the spirit. It was a fun project to learn the ropes of photostyling on (plus we ate a ton of candy that day). Thank you so much to Jane and Scott at Armstrong for a chance to work on a project like this, its the most fun "work" has been in a long time. I love seeing companies like Value Village embracing and showing more of these types of DIY projects on their site. Please let them know if you'd like to see more! Your feedback is important for us to hear.

Here's a slideshow of it all.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

round

 

I made this patchwork quilted piece using some of the fabrics I discharged with bleach a few days ago. With all the squares and stripes in this patchwork piece I thought it might like a round home, and I've had a few round fabric pillow forms in my supplies for a while. A few trials and I could possibly be getting closer to a round shape that actually looks like I want it to, but its frustrating. Why do round pillows stump me? Random things in sewing stump me. Zipper? No problem... Making a king sized quilt? Not a problem?.... Oh, wait, you said a round pillow? Complete Befuddlement. I'll get there.

I did a post today over at nonchalant mom on heading back to school. I'd love to hear what routines and strategies are working for you guys. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to keep them on task. I'm sure going to miss them when they head back next week, but I am looking forward to being a little more productive and focused all around.

And quite honestly Ian could stand to read something other than the Lego catalog. Anything.

Hey, this posting every day thing is not too bad!

altering fabric

This has been on my list to try for a while. This seems like a natural progression for someone obsessed with fabric like I am, and apparently the crafting world at large is thinking the same thing, because there are some fabulous books currently out and soon to be out that can easily walk you through all you need to know to do this (more on that in a minute).

On Sunday, I decided to try bleach discharge. I pulled out a dozen or so fabrics, in a range of shades from dark to light, some blues and greens, some pinks and reds, to see how the different colors would react. I set up shop in the backyard with an empty plastic bin, and mixed a simple solution of 4 quarts water with 4 cups bleach. I added the fabric into the solution in three different batches (not sure this was entirely necessary, but I did), then set the timer for 5 minute increments. (Note I did not add soap in the solution, the bubbles could be from stirring.)

 

I have to say it didn't seem to alter the fabric at all for most of the time it was in the solution (although I'm sure it was), but when I did start to see a change in the fabric colors it happened fast, so my advice is to keep your eyes on it. This batch came out about 15 minutes later, I left the next fabrics in for the same amount of time. Then I ran them all through a wash cycle to remove the bleach, then pressed them out.

Here's the results-

 

 

All of these are quilting cottons, with the exception of the linen Lotta Jansdotter on the bottom right of the last photo. Some fabrics changed quite a bit, some not so much. But fun, right? The most interesting changes are when the dye washes away and brings out some undertone in the original color that didn't show up as much in the original. I think I'd like to play with this some more, adjusting the times the fabrics are in the solution, etc.

 

I started a new pillow, pairing one of the bleached pieces with its original (an Amy Butler print). This is very cool stuff. I am really excited that Malka's book is due out in November. If its anything like her blog and beautiful fabrics, it will only inspire me further. And Amy's book came last week, which sort of sent me off on this tangent to begin with, but more on that tomorrow. I'm going to try to blog every day this week, to get me back in the habit, plus I just have lots to talk about.

Oh! And today I have a interview up over at The Progressive Pioneer (thank you Amy!).

Have a great day!

more patchwork

 

Another patchwork product. Are you tired of these? This time done in a long (28") rectangular pillow. Some accuse me of churning these patchwork things out. I assure you I'm not, it just looks that way, thanks to the magic of blogs. I'm really loving the way little bits of color and pattern come to life when combined this way. The length of the pillow inspired the patterning of the blocks (seen best in the 2nd photo). I didn't think too much about the fabric placement beyond making a stack of pale colors and one of more saturated colors. That's another thing I love about patchwork. You can get crazy specific on it, or just start piecing and see what happens.

We have so so much going on around here, our life is feeling kind of pieced and patchworky. The kids are enjoying the last bit of summer...Peter is preparing the launch of something very exciting and I can't wait to tell you about it (when he'll let me, soon)...and I am soon to be starting a new job, back in the fashion industry, after 11 years. I'm nervous and thrilled! Which means I have to buy some new clothes. I think that anything black (without stains) will work nicely to start with. I'm inspired to make myself a plain black smock/tunic (to wear over  jeans) and do a flower collar on it. Do you guys know of any good basic tunic patterns?

bits of our wednesday

Today is first quiet day we've had in a while. I took the kids with me for a quick visit to our accountant's office, which meant a stop on the way home at the really large Goodwill nearby. My kids zero'd in on an electronic Battleship game, then found a treasure trove of 79 cent paperback books. I, myself was browsing through the other shelves and hit the jackpot on a back wall.

 

I have been looking for a full set of The Family Creative Workshop forever, and it seems my patience has finally paid off. For those of you who haven't discovered these, published in the 70's each volume (I believe there are 23 or 24) is full of craft ideas, covering everything from glassblowing to wire sculpture to quilting to macrame (of course) for kids and adults. I am going to have so much fun looking through these. I talked the manager into letting me have them for $1.99 each (usually $2.99 each). I actually didn't bring home every one of the volumes in the set (because, as an example, although I craft a lot, I don't plan on glassblowing any time soon). Only problem is they smell pretty bad, I don't think they have been opened and aired since the 70's! Does anyone have tips on getting rid of that musty book smell?

 

On a less-smelly subject, yesterday I got the assortment of sunny yellows and orange fabrics I ordered from Pink Chalk Fabrics. Its been a while since I bought a lot of fabric (other than the owls) and when I did the patchwork pillows I realized that my fabric purchases tend towards the greens and blues (a lot of the warmer fabrics in those pillows were actually teeny tiny swatches that just barely made a strip, its a travesty, I know). It was easy on Kathy's site to just click on the yellows and the oranges, and now I feel like I've filled out my assortment. These will probably be going into the Value Quilt that I've started (completely Katie's fault), even though I have one quilt started and another one I was going to start. But I have to admit, if you're looking for a quilt to make and enjoy, and have a stash of pretty fabric (or need an excuse to buy some), make this Value quilt. It comes together so quickly and easily, and it gives people like me a chance to use all those fancy, pretty florals that stand no chance around here on their own. It really does make a terrific light/dark pattern to use lots of different, random patterns and colors. I think this quilt will become a family room quilt, the one we use in there is actually a quilt I made pre-blog and its really embarrassing! Let's just say I had huge issues with quilt binding back in 2004.

If you drive by my house, this is what you will hear us playing right now. Off to make afternoon coffee. Happy Wednesday!

patchwork color study

A few of you clever folks noticed that this menagerie of patchwork became my new summer header.

I had temporarily forgotten how much I love patchwork. Like Goddess dressing to my food, I think everything sewn can be made just a little better with patchwork. Patchwork can satisfy my need to buy smallish cuts of pretty fabric, and it creates a brand new piece of fabric that I never get tired of. Fabric that I only like a little bit on its own is suddenly so much better when grouped into patchwork.

Malka's Tuesday Pillow on the cover of the Spring 09 Stitch magazine set me off on a patchwork tangent that still hasn't quite passed. I follow her blog, A Stitch In Dye, because I love the hand dyed and stamped fabric she creates and love the way she combines them into beautiful quilts and pillows. I misplaced the magazine after I initially read through the how-to for this pillow, so I just did my own thing through most of it, which is why the binding on mine is nothing like her directions (mine came out fine, but different, and I like hers better.) The placement of her fabric strips were based on warm and cool colors, meant to make a "T" shape in one of the corners with the warmer colors. That part I remembered.

To quilt the front, I did a simple straight stitch, starting in the middle of the pillow front, and gradually making larger and larger squares around the pillow front. One day I will plan ahead, make a test piece, and actually give free motion quilting a go. I really like the liveliness of the patterns all together in this one. Ian now owns this one, to prop himself up to read in bed. His room is such an explosion of color, this pillow seems as if it was meant to be in there.

I wanted to try to second version, playing with the color placement a little differently. I cut the strips larger and slightly more uniform for this one, so the log cabin blocks (there are nine of them) came out more uniformly shaped in this one.

And then came the third, just straight strips pieced from light to dark, just me playing with colors. You can see the way I quilted all of these best in this photo (click for larger image).

 Anyone who's been in our house knows that the family room in the back of our house is kid central. Its where toys and art supplies are kept, where the wii is played, books are read, board games are played, beanbags are plopped down on, and puzzles are assembled. The furniture has been laid on and used as a trampoline for far too long, so these pillows will live here, to help to brighten it all up a bit. These are big, 20" x 20" pillows, by the way. Small pillows are meaningless in here. We need big and squishy.

But this is a cautionary tale. If you are thinking of doing patchwork today, beware that your work area will be completely covered in strips of fabric when you're done. Completely covered.

And on another note, I want you lovely people to know that I have been replying to your comments via Typepad Connect recently and just realized on Friday that my comments were not showing up in the comment thread as I had intended (for those who don't know, typepad connect allows me to not only respond to the commenter, but my answer shows up in the comment thread for all to read, which is so great). I contacted typepad and the problem seems to be fixed now.

Just wanted to say I was talking.

Alot.

Like usual.

bloomed

Longtime readers might remember when I started this skirt, from the Alabama Stitch Book. I put it away for almost a year during a time when I had no luck making anything I could wear... nothing fit, nothing hung right (lots of disasters I won't waste time sharing). But it was such an enjoyable project to make, all it took was me cleaning out the studio shelf it was on to remember how much I loved it. I had to finish it! And I did! It only took a few days to, even after realizing I'd cut it too small, at which point I actually had to add a 5th panel, the pattern calls for 4 panels (ahem...). I added the panel, then carefully made all the panels a bit smaller, and that seemed to do it. It was my first adventure with sewing on FOE at the waist and it was so easy (a quick tweet to Ms. Chicken to confirm that I should stretch it out as I'm sewing it on this type of fabric, a knit, and I was on my way). Result? It truly is the most comfortable skirt I own. I was worried that knotting the thread on the wrong side versus the right side (as on this shirt) might be a mistake, but its totally comfortable. I'm actually a little sad its done and I'm ready to start another project from the book. There's something about having a handstitching project available at random times when I can work on it (sitting at night, waiting for the kid's at their classes) makes me feel like I'm getting a little extra done, you know? I've been sewing like crazy. Just tell me I'll have no time to sew with the kids home for the summer and watch me make every effort to prove you wrong. I will share with you this week.

Thanks for all the happy thoughts on the camp stuffy. She had it with her when I dropped her off at camp today. The house feels quiet (although we have Ian here and he is a chatterbox in every sense of the word). We've already emailed her. You moms know the feeling...happy and anxious for her, all at the same time.

camp stuffy

Emma leaves for summer camp on Sunday. Her first time, if you don't count the two camping trips she's gone on with her school, which were short and heavily chaperoned by parent friends who were a cell phone call away. This one is 4 days, and about an hour away. A perfect starter one (for me as much as for her).

I wanted to make something for her to have while she is away (sewing also helps me with the nervous anticipation of dropping her off this weekend). After seeing Maya's travel pillow, it seemed like a great idea to make a pillowcase with some kind of surprise. Emma picked out the owl fabric, which I like more and more as I sewed it up (she didn't know what I was going to make out of it though). I made a basic slip-on pillowcase for a full sized pillow, with fold over on the open end which tucks inside. Its my favorite kind to make. (There is a pattern for one like this in Lotta Jansdotter Simple Sewing book, but really, you don't need much of a pattern if you've got a pillowcase to measure.) I trimmed the front with "E.S." initial ribbon. Because things at camp should be labeled, right?

The back has a surprise-

A stuffed Gracie, printed onto heat transfer paper, then ironed onto basic canvas, stitched around and stuffed firm. Emma's favorite friend, to snuggle with while she's away. I used the heat transfer sheets made for ink jet printers to print out Gracie's picture because that's what I had here on hand, but, I'm not thrilled with how thick and shiny it came out. (Kind of reminds me of a David Bowie t-shirt iron on I bought at the beach one year when I was in middle school, in one of those stores where you pick the iron on and pick the shirt, and they iron it on for you.) I digress... The quality is passable, but not great, and I've seen much better results with printable fabric, which I will use next time. I'm sure Ian will want one when he sees it.

I sewed a simple pocket onto the back of the pillow big enough for Gracie to fit into for carrying. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm making this gigantic stuffed elephant with a blanket strapped to its back, a pattern we saw at fabric store the other day. So, this might be a downer for her.

I just noticed there is a project very similar to this in the new Dorm Decor book, but you crafty people really don't need instructions beyond what I've included (although this book does has some great projects inside).

I'm going to miss that girl.

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Another local sewing class I wanted to let you know about (there's so many great classes right now!). My friend Katie Pedersen is teaching a "Value Quilt" Class at The Quilting Loft in Ballard. I was in there a couple of weeks ago and was so taken with the quilt sample for the class was that I came home and emailed Katie. She's teaching the class on how to make this quilt on Thursday, July 9th from 6-9pm. What nicer way to get out of the house for an evening with some girlfriends, and learn how to make this beautiful quilt? When I last heard, there were still spots in the class. Make it, and then you'll have yourself something gorgeous to sit under this winter.

buckets and buckets, and a question for you

I've wanted a whole family of MayaMade buckets for the longest time. They are so lovingly designed (repurposing old coffee bags into useful things like this is genious), Maya has a keen attention to detail and a great aesthetic. When she made her bucket pattern available as a pdf pattern, I clicked as fast as I could and tore through the house, looking for that coffee bag I had somewhere, but, alas, it has vanished. I do have home dec weight fabric though, and that works for these buckets too. So, I spent today with kids seemingly happy and content just staying and hanging around the house, and sewed up a few of Maya's buckets. OK, five. The pattern is flawless, I know its been tested many times and it shows.

These all were made from fabric I had here at home (some left over Denyse Schmidt and Lotta Jansdotter linen-from one of her scrap bags), and believe it or not, I also had the heavy natural canvas needed for the inside (which gives these buckets nice body to stand up tall). The two yellow larger ones will go in our family room (which could use a dozen more, really), the smaller ones in my sewing room, and the last large one on our stairs, so things that need to go up will go in there...and mom won't break her leg stepping on things.

Which leads me to a question for you all out there with 10 year old'ish daughters. Emma and I are part of a mother/daughter group that meets once a month or so. Our goal is simple...to spend time together, with moms and daughters we love, and find ways to talk about social and emotional issues that are coming up in these girls' lives, as they begin puberty and all that goes with that. Our summer meeting schedule is loose, but we will have two meetings, and we are doing a book discussion format for these summer meetings. Having a book discussion has been very successful for these girls, it keeps the focus off any one real life situation (which can feel uncomfortable at this age) and places the emphasis on the characters we've all read about.

For the first one, we've chosen The Hundred Dresses.  We (the facilitator and myself) are in summer mode, and not ready to discuss many of the books out there for this age group, like Are You There God Its Me Margaret (which I'm rereading right now), but we really want there to be an appropriate amount of discussion of emotional development. We are also trying to be sensitive that these girls have required summer reading to do for next year, so we want to keep it manageable. I would love and welcome suggestions from you guys on anything you think would fit into what we are looking for. I will compile a list and share it here. Thank you!

i do like a big flower

I made a bag. (I made some other stuff too, just need to snap a picture of them.) I had some of Anna Maria's lovely Drawing Room fabric that I bought in Portland and I wanted to make a bag from it, but was feeling zero inspiration the other night until I stumbled onto Ali Foster's pleated bag pattern (she's got a special running on 3 pdf patterns for $9.50, a great deal. I think I'm going to make myself the laptop case next ). It came together quickly, in one evening, which is about all I can allow for personal sewing right now. Plus it satisfied my need for something colorful to carry around this summer. Do you do that? I bet a lot of you feel the same way I do in the summer. Give me a navy blue T-shirt, white jeans, and my leather sandals all day any day, but I feel much happier when I can fling some happy color over my shoulder.

Emma has been getting up each morning and printing out a toy from A Toy A Day to cut out, fold, and glue together. She's amassing quite a collection, and it occurs to me we've really moved to a whole new level of ability at her age. The fine motor skills are sharp and capable, these little cuts and joints are absolutely no problem at all for her little hands. Which reminds me, I have noticed some great summer lists for kids cropping up all over, I think having one from me seems redundant at this point. I was looking at Let's Explore this morning and felt properly inspired in all sorts of new ways. I think I will print out some stationery from their blog post about letter writing and tuck it into Emma's camp bag (her first sleepover camp is less than 2 weeks away). I'm nervous. She's not. I am.

I wanted to let the Seattle readers know that my friend Cheryl Kuczek is teaching kids sewing classes all summer around the Seattle area. Emma took a class from her last year, made some great friends with the other kids in the class, and came out of it a very confident little sewer and had a great time learning from Cheryl. (And I don't want to set expectations too high, but there were baked goods included in Emma's class.  I'm just sayin...) From Cheryl-

Cheryl Kuczek of Paradiso Designs is pleased to announce her dates for Summer Sew Camp this year.  All kids boys and girls are welcome ages 7-17.  Projects are tailored for kids and designed by Cheryl.  Camp price includes project materials and a healthy snack each day!!!  Each 4 day weekly session is $145.00.  Please email paradisodesigns@comcast.net for more information.  Let’s Sew Rama for Kids!!!  Credit and Debit cards are welcome!

Email Cheryl directly to get the complete class schedule and all the details.

Summer is good so far, just what it should be, nothing more or less. Hope yours is too. All we need is some more new music, and that's just a week away.

Thanks for reading my randomness today!