And Now For Something Completely Different: Yarn Edition!

I've enjoyed crocheting over the years, but put it aside for quite awhile because my toddlers inevitably wound themselves in my yarn and made it difficult to accomplish much!  Recently, I got this big urge to pick up my crochet hook again, and figured the girls are old enough now to stay untangled. 

I want the chance to crochet, but I don't really have anyone to crochet for, so I decided to focus on blankets for babies and small children.  I plan to donate them to a local food and clothing bank when the cold weather comes back again.  I am guessing that I will have a nice little stack of blankets by the fall, and my mother is joining me in the project, so that will double our donation.

Right now I am working on two blankets at once.  Once is a bit coarser variegated yarn, where one color changes into another color along the strand:

The other is a super-baby-soft yarn in cream and light green; I still have several more squares to add for this one to be completed: 

My favorite part of the process is crocheting the squares.  A little less fun, but still satisfying, is sewing the squares together.  My least favorite part of the process, and the part I haven't started tackling yet, is hiding all those crazy yarn ends!

One great thing about crocheting as a creative outlet is that I can put all my needed supplies in one little basket, and take it wherever I want to work on it.  My six-year-old took this picture of me crocheting in my favorite corner of the family room, but I also like working in a chair across the room from this sofa, as well as upstairs in Studio 791.  Have crochet hook, will travel!


My crochet companion is Stella, my 18-year-old kitty.

For another recent yarn project, I made my own wool dryer balls.  Dryer balls take the place of fabric softener, which contains all kinds of toxic chemicals that have no business on my clothing and thus on my skin.  Several of the chemicals in dryer sheets are on the EPA's list of toxic hazardous waste, and have been tied to central nervous system disorders, cancer, and respiratory disorders.  For more details, I invite you to do your own search of "fabric softener chemicals" to find information from sites you trust.  In place of my old Downy and Bounce, I found Woolzies dryer balls in the Isabella catalog.  I asked for them one Christmas and have been using them for years--long after their intended life span!

When it became obvious that they were ready to discard, I decided to make my own, using skeins of real wool from the craft store.  I had clipped a couple of magazine articles with directions, and also watched a YouTube video that demonstrated just how simple the process is. 

I chose to wind the yarn in a small ball, then felt it inside a sock in a hot washer and dryer before winding some more to create a bigger ball, which I then felted again to make it ready for service.  (There are a couple of versions of directions for making these.)

The balls work even better than the Woolzies brand in my opinion!  I'm only using three rather than six.  They truly cut the drying time of my clothing, and if I don't run too long of a drying cycle, static cling is not a big problem.  Clothing comes out very soft whether I'm using the store-bought or handmade dryer balls. 

If I want scent, I can add some drops of essential oils to the balls and they will infuse the smell into my clothing.  I have gotten used to "clean" smelling like nothing rather than a manufactured scent, so I haven't bothered to try this. 

I used three skeins of wool yarn ($10.99, but I used a 40% off coupon for each of them) to make ten balls.  I gave three to a friend as a gift, am using three myself right now, and have some in reserve for the future.  It's a much better buy than store-bought, and I had the mindless therapy of rolling the yarn balls to boot!

Patchwork Paper Postcards

I am not usually a fan of "cutesie"-style illustrations, but I picked up a little book from a recent book sale entitled Who Finds a Friend Has Found a Treasure (and other proverbs) published by Laurel Library.  I savaged the book for collage fodder before taking note of the author or illustrator. 

In this case, I was drawn to the "cute" little children offering each other tokens of friendship, with platitudes to match.  I created stitched patchwork background, and added the illustrations to create these patchwork paper postcards.

I enjoyed going into my paper stash to find colors and patterns that matched the spirit of the illustration and looked fun together.

And, of course, I always love an opportunity to "go to town" with my sewing machine!

Looks like I have some postcards to address and get out into the mail!

Stitched Postcard Swap

A couple weeks ago, I shared the postcard I sent to Fay in the UK for the Great Big International Postcard Swap.

I had to apologize to Fay:  we were supposed to make a postcard to fit the theme "Celebrate."  As usual, however, as soon as I got started on my stitching, I completely forgot that I was supposed to be creating to a theme!  I could try to rationalize it, and say that having an "object of my affection" in the first place is a cause for celebration.  Or I could just apologize, and hope that Fay didn't mind.  Thankfully, she didn't seem to mind at all.

In return, I received this fun, theme-appropriate postcard from Fay:

She wrapped it in lovely tulle and ribbon packaging.  There are beautiful beaded highlights in the champagne spray, and fun details like the red ribbon and sequin on the champagne bottle.

I am so impressed by the way Fay stitched the word "celebrate" at the top of the card; it makes me want to head straight for the sewing machine to see if I have a prayer of writing in stitches.

Many thanks to Fay for the beautiful postcard, and for Beth at Do What You Love for hosting the swap!

Scrappy Bookmarks

What's a stitch-happy, scrap-collecting, book-loving girl to do when she finds herself with a table full of fabric scraps after making stitched fabric postcards?

Why, make a set of scrappy bookmarks, of course!

I must truly belong to the tribe of "Never Too Many Bookmarks," because my collection just continues to grow and grow.  (I hate to admit how many times I STILL tear off a piece of paper or use a sticky note to mark my page when my house is FULL of handcrafted bookmarks!)

To make these, I assembled my scraps and stitched through them using various styles of stitches, then used a straight stitch to attach a second piece of paper; that way I could hide all of my crazy wrong-side stitching from view.

Back view of bookmarks

I have read some other tutorials for making scrappy bookmarks that sounded interesting.  In one project, the woman stitched fabrics to both sides of the bookmark, and I LOVE how hers (actually her young daughter's) turned out, but I really don't like my messy stitching showing through on one side; I haven't mastered NEAT machine-stitching yet!

And the other had me lining the fabrics with fusible interfacing, and even though I have some in my supply stash, I just couldn't bring myself to be bothered when I already like how these turned out.  But I have linked to both of these other tutorials in case one of them suits you better than the approach I've used here.  (Both are on my Fabric and Sewing Projects board on Pinterest.)

Happy scrap stitching!

Stitchy Vintage Collage

After working on my fabric postcards for the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap, I moved away from fabrics and back to papers, creating a series of collages with mostly vintage materials.  They are 4"x6", perfect for either sending as postcards or framing as collage art (or both!).

This postcard features vintage seam binding, business envelope liner, postage stamps, music, a bill of sale from the 1890s, and an authentic photo...all original materials.

I love it when the colors come together perfectly!  That's when it just really feels like all the ephemera is falling into place.

And that original 1890s handwriting:  Swoon!

I love the image on this next postcard:  It comes from a gift book filled with images and quotations related to mothers and their children.  In this one, a mother looks on a bit reprovingly as her teenage daughter talks on the telephone.  Such a class image!

Everything else on the card is "authentic vintage ephemera":  postage stamps, musical score, bill of sale.  I really like how the postage stamps create a backdrop for each figure's head.

For my "Musical Zoo" postcard, I used a scrapbooking embellishment:  a paper frame that I had stashed with my "baby" themed scrapbooking paper.   The shiny flower embellishments came from dear Miss Mary.  The little girl came from the same gift book as the image above, while the music papers and postage stamps are "authentic vintage."

You can see the influence of my Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap postcard on this last one:

I used Distress Ink to stamp on the seam binding, which I then machine stitched across the card, and I hand-sewed buttons in the corner, similar to my fabric cards. 

I also included another image from the "mom book" and another scrapbooking frame.

And so the scrappy stitching continues!

Happy Fall!

Feeling Stitchy

My stitched postcard for the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap is due, and this weekend I sat down to give the project some serious consideration.

I was greatly inspired by an article in the Handcrafted publication (Volume 8), entitled, "Quilted Love Notes," by Jen Osborn.  I loved her layered fabrics, rough edges, primitive stitches, vintage photos, attached buttons, and printed ribbons.  My own fabrics, photos, ribbons, and stitches fell into place so naturally that it felt like a project that was definitely meant to happen!

I have a tendency to demand a certain perfection to my projects.  That is not to say that I think I am so great and so perfect; it is to say that I think all edges must line up, and paper must not rumple or tear, and stitches must align perfectly.  And it is to say that I toss things out in frustration that do not fit that standard.  For whatever reason, I felt blissfully freed from those requirements with this project, and I love the overall floppy, off-kilter, primitive feel of what resulted.

Rather than using hand-dyed fabrics, as Jen did, I scrounged around in my fabric stash for some likely candidates for my postcards.  My stash consists of old blue jeans, an old pair of off-white corduroys,  and a huge stash of my kids' outgrown clothes that seemed to have nice patterns or designs.  And rather than using the custom-printed ribbons by Anna Barrow that Jen mentions, I took old seam binding from my grandmother's stash, and used blue Staz-On ink and some rubber stamps to make my own custom messages.

The actual placement of elements felt easy and natural.  The most challenging task was just figuring out which layers to stitch together first so that any hand-stitching of buttons or photos did not require needle-breaking work through too much fabric.

I even got to raid my modest button collection for a few appropriate embellishments for each postcard.

I had so much fun putting stitched postcards together, that I ended up with three possibilities to choose from for the swap.  I have decided to send "Object of My Affection" to my swap partner, because I have found appropriate homes for the other two.

This stitching project kept me reaching into my fabric, binding, and paper stash all weekend, so I have a few more projects to share with you in an upcoming post.  And to all those wonderful people who have sent me mail art over the past few months that has gone woefully un-reciprocated:  I promise that there will be something fun in your mailbox SOON!

Christmas in September: Paper Stockings

After a four-month hiatus from my Christmas in [Insert Month Here] series, I am returning to it with a very fun project creating paper Christmas stockings.  These can be used as decorations, as package toppers, or as gift card holders.

The idea comes from Volume 8 of Handcrafted, a Stampington & Company publication from 2012.  I made several changes to Catherine Matthews-Scanlon's techniques:  First, I chose to keep the edges of my stockings straight rather than using pinking shears, simply because I liked the look of it.  Second, I used paper exclusively, rather than bonding fabric to paper using a product called Heat 'n Bond Lite, because I wanted to use what I already had rather than purchasing any new materials.  And finally, I created ribbon loops for hanging the stockings, rather than using wire, because I thought the wire would surely tear my paper creations.

The first thing I did was create a stocking template from white cardstock.  You can use online inspiration for the shape of your stockings; just do a search for "Christmas stocking templates."  I then used the template to cut paper stocking shapes from various old books, including musical scores, a typography book, and, appropriately, an old Christmas publication.

Then the creative and fun part begins:  determining embellishments for the front of the stockings!  I chose ribbons, lace, and buttons as my embellishments, and used a combination of Fabric Fusion, gel medium, and stitching for adhering items into place.  Here are a couple "work-in-progress" shots of my tabletop:

After I have the embellishments in place, I take the front and back of the stocking over to my sewing machine, and stitch around the edges, leaving an opening at the top, of course.

An evening of playtime has given me six fun Christmas stocking creations to use when the holidays roll around.

Now that it's just about October, we all know that Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye!

This project made a delightful mess in my art space.  I thought I would show you the un-retouched mayhem of my table when I finished these six stocking last night:

It only took about five or ten minutes of tidying to return my table to its normal state:  workspace open in the middle, controlled chaos on the outside perimeter:

*********************************************

Have you gotten your holiday preparations underway?  What is the first thing you try to take care of?  Share with us in the comments.  And take a moment to visit Patty, over at Patty's Pretty Things, who has managed to keep up with her All-Year Holiday preparations much more diligently than I.  She's been posting some wonderful Christmas crafts every month this year!

*********************************************

To see previous Christmas in [Insert Month Here] posts, check out these links:

January:  Recycling Christmas Cards

February:  Book Ornaments

March:  Book Page Ornaments

April:  Confetti Tags