Showing posts with label embroidery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label embroidery. Show all posts

Monday, April 16, 2012

Floss Keepers

I was starting the get a huge tangled mess of floss this weekend as I have been embroidering all of the faces for my new line of PDF Doll and Animal Sewing Patterns. 

Instead of letting it get to the point where I just give up and throw out all of the floss, I decided to make up some floss keepers.  I cannot even remember where I saw this but someone used clothespins to organize their floss. 


Basically, you put the tail into the pin, wind it around and clip the other tail into the pin.  This is so useful.  It really keeps the floss organized.  But I wanted something less plain.  I started thinking about these altered clothespins that I always see on papercrafting sites.  I never made them because it seemed like something pretty useless.  Now I have a reason to make these altered clothespins. 


 I started with a couple of scraps of scrapbooking paper.  I cut the paper down into little sticks the size of the front of the clothespins. 

Then I applied double stick tape to each clothespin.

 Then, I attached the paper onto the clothespins and wound the floss around each pin. 
 I threw a few extras into my sewing basket for the scraps of floss.

I thought that this would make a great gift.  Clothespins are $1.00 for 30.  So, you can make up several sets for under $5.00.  This might be a nice craft show item.  Also, my niece just made up a friendship bracelet kit for one of her friends and she wound floss around business cards or something like that.  This would be much cuter.  Some spools of floss, beads, safety pins tucked into a little makeup bag.  That would be a sweet and affordable gift.

Because I already had everything out, I wanted to make up a set for my sister's birthday.
 I've seen photo puzzles with clothespins, so I decided to make up a set of the floss keepers with a photo of my niece.
 I just sliced up the photo and taped it onto the clothespins.  I think that it would be a cute gift for a birthday or Mother's Day.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

E is for Embellishment: Tips, Tricks, Tutorials & More

Part of our sewing series is going to be E is for embellishment.  I was thinking about doing elastic, but that is so much less exciting than embellishments. 

When it comes to sewing there are MANY types of embellishments.  I would recommend that you look at my A is for Applique post and free applique tutorial as a starting point.
Flowers

Also, we have a free tutorial on layered felt flowers that are a great way to embellish sewing projects.  There are so many great flowers you can make.  If you don't want to make flowers, try buying a premade flower and adding it as an embellishment.
  I added ribbon roses and bows to the front of this Halloween costume to give it that over the top look. 

Check out our fabric flowers tutorial round up for lots of free tips and tricks on making fabric flowers.


Ribbons & Bows
Some of my other favorite embellishments are ribbons and bows.  A simple little bow can make a huge difference on a project.

Our tip to making bows - seal the ends with a lighter.  You just barely pass over the end and the ribbon will heat seal to prevent fraying.   

I added a simple bow to both of these projects just to make them slightly more feminine. 

Check out our tutorial on hair bow holders for bow making tips and my free mini tutorial on making corker ribbon. 

Appliques
Our A is for Applique tutorial roundup featured our very own mini applique workshop and lots of great ideas for using appliques. 

BTW, Lisa will be launching a companion applique line to compliment our sewing patterns in the next week or so.  We are really excited to be able to offer some great applique designs that anyone can use to make wonderful gifts for the Christmas Season. 


Check out this adorable pair of applique baby booties.  I am going to be making the pattern in larger sizes this week for children's slippers.  Mostly because every time Kamille sees the sample booties she starts to demand a pair for herself.  I'm not going to lie, I would wear a pair of these around the house in the winter.  The larger pattern will have no skid bottoms sewn on. 

Really there are so many embellishments from buttons, to trims, to appliques that it is hard to cover everything in one post.  I will leave you with our newest etsy treasury full of really great handmade and vintage sewing embellishments that are very affordable and available on etsy.  I personally would rather see my funds going to other crafters than to giant corporations where I can help it. 





'E is for Embellishment' by c1h8r9is

I wanted to create a showcase for my blog to promote craft supplies on etsy. I think that there are many people who don't know that you can buy extremely unique supplies on etsy at really affordable prices. www.boutiqueit.blogspot.com.

Mini Wool Felt Aqua...

$5.00
Stamped Muslin Ribb...

$5.00
New- sweet vintage ...

$6.85
30 Handmade Crochet...

$7.25
Farm Fresh BAKERS T...

$3.25
Robots and Owls BUT...

$4.50
PINK AND BROWN FLOW...

$3.50
Moda Wee Play 42 Fa...

$128.00
Handmade organza, s...

$9.99
RECLAIMED FABRIC 6 ...

$6.00
New Handmade Polyme...

$4.00
B3G4TH FREE NEW-Sch...

$4.00
10 pcs of 25mmX50mm...

$5.00
Pink Chiffon Roses ...

$10.00
20 Handmade 2 Inch ...

$5.25
BEAUTIFUL TRIM RIBB...

$0.50

Happy Crafting!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Our Favorite Back To School Ideas

Fall is my favorite time of year! School is just getting under way for most of us. The weather is pushing our kids indoors. It's the perfect time to put on our crafting hats and get creative. I tought I'd give you all a head start by compiling this modge podge of some of my personal favorite back to school ideas.
So here we go!!

Family Fun knows back to school!!!



For the best in easy and fun back to school ideas check out Family Fun



Crafts, recipes, party ideas, and so much more. It's a go to site for me!! Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments box!




Leave it to Martha Stewart!!!
Love her ideas always but this one is sure to get a smile from your little ones. She has created this FREE printable for these super cute little lunch labels/stickers. She's got about 18 new back to school ideas to browse through!




My kids use a reusable lunch bag at our house, so I just printed the labels out on card stock and used the back to write a little "I love you".  My oldest daughter loves to find a surprise in her lunch, I think it helps with the home sickness kids can feel during a 7 hour school day! Find another use for this great freebie? Tell us in the comments!!


School Lunches
So my favorite site for back to school lunches is Weelicious. Now this is kids food at it's finest! She even has a recipe for homemade graham crackers.

This site has made it into daily browsing habits by focusing on healthy and homemade alternatives to the processed convenience foods that we find our kids asking for daily.   She makes the recipes easy to find by breaking them up into food groups or just simply by searching her recipe tab at the top of the blog. Like weelicious on facebook for updates on her son's bento box lunch. I love to see what she'll pack next. The use of a bento box really gives your kids a wide variety of things to eat with smaller portion sizes. Love them!!!

Go Green all the way to Back to School

If you have a preschooler at home (or even an elementary aged child) this fun supplies box is simple to make and FREE if you use items that you already have around the house. And best of all it's a GREEN craft!







The holes in the box top are made by poking a hole with a pencil so your child can feel super independent doing this craft. Try using all different containers for this activity. Instead of a shoe box seal up the ends of a cereal/pasta box for a different shape. Give the kids some fun alphabet stickers and let let them spell their name or the contents of the box on the side.

Just follow the link under the picture to head on over to Preschool Rock  to check all of the other awesome preschool crafting ideas they have!

The Long Thread
The peeps over at The Long Thread are forever coming up with wonderful handmade ideas for every occasion. Follow the link below to find a round up of 20 back to school ideas including the ones pictured below.
Apple backpack from Alpha Mom

Reusable Snack Sack from Reprodepot

Free Embroidery Patterns from Sarah Jane Studios



Good luck to all of you back to schoolers!!!
Happy Crafting!













Working with Cork Fabric

So, I am not an expert in this - based on using it for one project.  However, I did a lot of research before buying it and watched quite a f...