I finished my scrappy coasters. Here they are in the latest vintage find, a fantastic Pyrex dish. Totally in love with this one, it’s like I saw it from across the room and time stopped. And it was Thrifty Thursday and everything in the Goodwill was 50% off!
I’m going to fill one side with guacamole and the other with chips to dip!
I guest posted over the weekend at amy is the party where she featured a bunch of fun summery projects, like cupcake fondue!! Plus other post by some superfunawesomecool people including Thursday and Crafty Minx. So head over there and have a peek!
Ok I’m going to show you how to turn a hanky into a fun hair accessory for the summer. It’s a super quick project that you can make with thrifted materials and probably things you have on hand, scraps material and a bit of elastic. I’ve burned my scalp already this summer and I’m hoping this is a cuter alternative to hats.
You will need
– a hanky you like
– a piece of elastic (mine was 7″)
– a strip of fabric (3″ x 15″)
Other handy items – safety pin, turning tool,
I picked this one because it has a great pattern on one corner which is perfect because you’re going to fold the hanky diagonally.
First fold the strip of fabric in half and sew down one side with a 1/4 inch seam.
Turn it right side out. This part was a bit tricky, I used my handy little turning tool, this long metal stick thing with a hook on it. Once you have it turned right side out take the elastic piece and feed it through the casing. Sew it in place at one end. Then pull the elastic through so it’s sticking out the other side. It’s easy to guide through if you put a safety pin on the end first.
The casing fabric should be all gathered up like a hair scrunchie.
Fold the hanky in half diagonally and sew the stitched up end of the elastic to one corner of the hanky.
Chceck to see how it fits on your head. I had to trim about an inch from the scrunchie piece. Once it’s a comfortable tightness at the back of your head stitch the other end of the scrunchie piece to the other hanky corner.
And voila, a great cool summer alternative to hat head!
Here’s my ‘I’m not ready for a photo’ frontal shot. Sorry for the sunny bit.
Posted in DIY, repurposing, scraps, sewing
Well I did it again, stayed up way to late but, also again, it was for a good reason!
I made myself this sewing machine cover. I got on a roll and was inspired. I’m in some craft swaps so I was being a bit of an assembly line into the wee hours and working on a few different takes on this general idea.
I took inspiration from I Love Patchwork by Rasida Coleman Hale and Fresh Quilting by Malka Dubrawsky.
I didn’t add any straps or grommets or anything like that to mine, so it just drapes over the machine. I figured that way it’s reusable as a table runner or something else if I ever change my mind. At least it keeps dust off the top.
I love how it turned out! Pardon the poor pictures but it’s hard to take shots in a windowless basement corner. It’s my cozy little nook.
Posted in crafty books, scraps, sewing, vintage
Tagged feedsack, scraps, sewing machine cover
I make up words. Have you noticed?
On Friday I was super lucky to have 2 fun packages in my mailbox. I had a busy morning so I tossed them in my bag on the way out and ended up opening them at work at the very end of the day. I was dying to open them while on lunch time yard duty but I figured I should watch the kids instead.
First my scraps from my scrap swap. They came all the way from the Netherlands, and thanks to Wendy for playing twice. I didn’t realize until I got her address that she was so far away but then I was really excited to see what sort of different stuff I might get.
The other package was one of my prizes from the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. I didn’t enter all of the giveaways, there were sooooo many. I did click on fellow Canadians to see who’s in my neighbourhood being crafty and bloggy. I also clicked on anyone international because if I was going to win something I wanted it to be all exotic and cool. Even just clicking on a slimmed down list I was still bogging down my browser with tabs and spent the whole holiday Monday clicking around the internet. It was crazy.
Ok back to my story. I won these 2 charm packs, some more fabric scraps and there was some lovely tea in the package as well. Canadian Ice Wine tea, the entire box smelled so lovely. Thanks Steph for all the goodies.
AND I forgot to share this one before I tore it all apart and spread the pieces here and there in my workspace but these are some of my favourite scraps from the pile I got from Janee over at Yellow Bird, Yellow beard.
I needed a quick new something to whip up the other night for a break from my usual projects. DIY is coming!
I turned to some of my scraps that are already cut into little squares and got inventive and made some coasters. It’s always annoying, especially in the warmer weather, when your nice cold drink sweats all over the table and leaves a big wet ring. With a 4 year old and 2 year old we’re not ready for furniture big leagues yet, most of our stuff is from IKEA but still, won’t hurt to keep it pretty.
These cute little fellows reminded me about my blog. Hi there!
I made this.
It’s stinkin’ cute.
Yeah, I’m kinda bragging & sort of sharing.
I achieved that ‘Oh I just threw some scraps of fabric together’ nonchalance I always see in other peoples projects where it turns out freaking amazing, with fabric pairings I’d never think of myself.
Oh I thought of them.
It appears I’m pretty awesome too now.
Here’s a peek at the bunnies I made for my little bunnies.
They’re really easy to make so there’s still time to make one for the somebunny special in your life.
You can get the pattern here.
Now that everyone has their lovely scrap swap bits I figured it was time to start sharing some scrapbusting ideas. I made these fun little eye pillows over the weekend. For one I used my pre-swap scraps that are all cut into 2 x 2 pieces. For the other I pieced together 5 2 x 4 pieces. Either way the math is the same and the finished pillows are the same size, perfect for laying across your eyes and having a quiet moment to yourself.
Here’s what you need. I suppose you could use some other smelly scent but I like lavender and so I just broke open this drawer smelly thing I had and used the bits from inside.
I joined the pieces together and then cut a piece of batting for the back and did some accent quilting. Then I cut a piece of my nice soft natural cotton for the back. With right sided together I zipped around and left a little opening to pour in the filling.
I fashioned a little funnel out of paper and poured in flaxseed and lavender until the pillow was full but still floppy enough to curve nicely over my nose. The last step is sewing up the opening, and voila you have a relaxation aid!
I created a Flickr group where you can post things you’ve made with odds and ends of fabric. If you make something using one of my tutorials I’d love to see it there.
Posted in DIY, gifts, scraps, sewing, tutorial-ish
Tagged DIY, eye pillow, flickr, quilting, scraps
My giant envelope of Scrap Swap goodies came earlier this week. We sort of accidentally conducted a little experiment too since Jessica and I mailed our packages on the same day. Mine got to her waaay before hers arrived here. So apparently Canada to US is faster than US to Canada. I’ll have to test again with the next scrap swap!
So here’s all the fantastic goodies Jessica sent. Complete with a moose, you know because I’m Canadian.
Fabric, fabric, fabric! Turns out destashing is almost as addictive as the stashing.
Little doilies, which are awesome because I’ve wanted to either learn to make them in funky colours, or collect some and dye them. She also sent these fantastic vintage buttons that belonged to her grandmother, such a nice thing to give.
And a ton of corks that I can get inventive with. Her hubby is a bartender so she said they’re buried in corks.
Ashley Ann hauled in this fun load of stuff. Jessica made an adorable stuffed animal with the bits and pieces I sent her.
I am going to organize another one of these, it was super fun and getting a giant package in the mail is awesome.
Perhaps in March, sort of a spring cleaning type thing!
