Summer Sky: Learning as I go

Happy Valentine's Day! oh, and it's Bird Week at TMG + Giveaway!

 
Over at The Magnifying Glass, it's Bird Week!  Our contributors will be talking all things bird in honor of The Great Backyard Bird Count coming up Friday, February 18. Plus, we have a giveaway at TMG--a lovely Charley Harper poster--details over there--go check it out.

 

 

Meantime, over here,

felted thrifted sweaters + embroidery floss = a little happiness

D has not said a peep to me about Valentine's Day.  I wonder what he has up his sleeve.

 

What we shared.

I know, I was a bit of a tease with a previous post, showing only a "sneak peek" of what we shared with Leah's family for the Seasons Round {Harvest} Exchange.  We so enjoyed making these items. Some of them, I'm sure, we'll do again as gifts (or for ourselves!).

Anyhow, first up, E and N made this picture for Leah's kids.  E drew the picture, which shows her and her brother picking apples.  N colored the "frame" of the picture.

Next up, I thought it would be fun to make little drawstring bags for collecting nature table items. The bags could sit on the nature table, too, when not in use. So I sewed up two bags, one for Leah's boy and another for her girl. 

For the pattern, I used a great book called Sew What! Bags by Lexie Barnes. (Lexie has a website for the book, too.) The patterns are very, very basic--but I love having a "go to" book for those.

Bags is a great book for the novice sewer. Everything is explained, but particular techniques are described separately so that the steps for any particular pattern are kept short and sweet. For a simple drawstring bag, I loved how finished and clean the result turned out to be.

I used a fabric that I spotted a while ago on Superbuzzythat I couldn't get out of my mind. They no longer carry it (and I can't find it on etsy or ebay now), although you can still get a companion fabric (don't worry, I scooped up some of this too!).

I also had fun with the applique; I cut out linen apples and stamped the childrens' initials on them with Versacraft fabric ink. (Allow me to say I love these ink pads, and no, Versacraft doesn't know me from Adam. The ink works on fabric, paper, wood, even shrinky dinks. Someday I will own one in every color. At least, that's what I tell myself.)

Then I took the apples and machine-sewed them onto the drawstring bags with a very thick thread that resembled embroidery thread. I imagine it is already unraveling, but they sure looked cute right before they went into the package, if I may say so.  I used some pretty ribbon for the drawstring.

The third item we sent was a small felt board, probably 10" by 20" or so, that I made myself with input from the kids. It could be used as a nature table display or for playtime. 

I started out with corrugated cardboard that I wrapped in burlap.  Then I wrapped that in a thin batting (I use a bamboo batting that is 50% bamboo and 50% organic cotton).  Next, I sewed a pillow-case shaped cover for the board out of linen.  I sewed a large pocket on the back of the cover, then pulled the cover over the cardboard/burlap/batting and hand-sewed the cover shut.

 
Front of the empty felt board.

 

 

Back of the felt board, showing the pocket for keeping the felt pieces tidy when not in use. 

Next came the fun part. E and N talked about what they thought we would see as the weather turned colder and the seasons changed, and together we decided to give Leah's family felt pieces that showed apple picking, pumpkins ripening, and an oak tree with acorns for the squirrels. So I set about drawing patterns for all the moving pieces and then cut them out of felt (I try to keep lots of colors on hand).  E helped with some of the cutting. 

It was fun seeing how the kids drew parallels between the human harvest and the animal harvest to prepare for winter.

That is it! We had soooo much fun with this that we can hardly wait to get started on {Light}.

For the record, as much as I am pleased with these little gifts to Leah's family, we definitely got the sweet end of the deal from them. It was so touching how Leah's kids were involved in every component of their gift to us. Definitely something to aspire to.

School sewing, Part A

Things have been a little quiet around here--on this blog, I mean. At home, we are easing into the school routine. E, as I've mentioned, has started Kindergarten. N is in the 4's class at our wonderful co-op preschool and loves being one of the big "redbirds."

We're all still adjusting. E wears a uniform, but there are three variations--one for P.E.; one for mass day (when they go to church); and then the "regular" summer uniform. E takes a snack and a lunch each day (no half-day Kindergarten to be had in our town). She has a water bottle (in its cozy) and she also needs to bring a ticket for milk at lunch.

At first, I was putting the ticket in an envelope labeled "milk," fully expecting the teachers to remove the ticket and give the envelope back to my daughter. Somehow, this has not happened, and it's really too much to expect to continue at this pace, using up a paper envelope, however small, every day.

The ticket is so little, it can easily be lost if I toss it into the lunch box all on its lonesome. At least, that is what I've told myself. Hence, the need--the critical, indisputable, vital need--for a reusable milk ticket envelope. One too cute for the teacher to throw away.

The envelope is made from felt and hand-sewn. I found a little milk carton clip art on-line that was exactly the size and shape I wanted. I used the overall shape as the back of the "envelope," and then cut the clip art into pieces to use as a guide for the front.

The front of the envelope is made of three felt pieces, with the top serving as the flap opening. I also used some interfacing to add the smaller felt details. I need more practice with embroidery, I know. But this was a lot of fun. (E says it was a hit with the teacher, by the way!)

I know she might lose it, or turn it raspberry-yogurt-pink; but that's okay, I will enjoy making another one.

Quick kid decor.

E has been asking, nicely, for a bulletin board of her very own for quite a while. I had separately planned to make one because her art seems to multiply if placed in a dark closet (has anyone else noticed this at home?).

I had some cork board squares for another project handy, and yesterday I just couldn't say no. I let her choose the fabrics herself from a stash of Amy Butler Midwest Modern fat quarters I had set aside. She picked the very ones I would have chosen.  Here is the result--by night:

 

and by day:

I'd say this took about 20 minutes using a staple gun. Just stretch and staple. (You can also fuse the fabric to the cork board with interfacing--see this lovely example--which is probably a better idea, because some cork board is too thin for a staple gun.)

I used a level and a pencil to line the squares up on the wall. That was the trickiest part.

Part of me hoped she would want to keep these pristine and continue to tape her projects straight on the wall (yes, I'm a pushover in that regard). I will try to remember to post a pic once these are crammed with sweet handmade goodies...and you can't see the yummy Mid Mod fabric any more.

Odds and ends.

Now and then there are so many loose ends knocking about that they need to be wrapped up together.

First off, Project FeederWatch is ending April 3 (it starts up again in November).  We've been entering our online data.  I had chosen to fill one feeder with safflower seed, because apparently gray squirrels aren't big fans. After a couple of weeks went by, I started to wonder if birds don't like it either, but since then we've been rewarded with cardinals, titmice, chickadees, and carolina wrens gobbling the seeds. The kids love watching the birds from the window and identifying them on the beautiful FeederWatch chart.

 

A sparrow of some kind, possibly a pine siskin, nibbling some seeds in our window feeder. I had no idea the birds in our neighborhood were so diverse!

Changing the subject entirely, I never did talk about how the Orangette book signing at Ceiba went. It was wonderful!  The signing was in a private room and because I had my (already devoured) book with me, I went in and directly stood in line to have it signed. Molly was so kind, she remembered my e-mails (touching, because I'm sure she's flooded with them), and she graciously signed my book. I then stepped away from the table and met a lovely young woman named Jessica (hi, if you ever come visit here!) and we chatted about Orangette and food and blogging and ate (too many) scrumptious flautas handed around on trays.  The pièce de résistance was a plate of Aunt Bills and Jimmy's Pink Cookies. I kid you not! Jessica and I split one of each so as not to be greedy. 

After a bit, Molly was introduced to the room at large by her brother (one of Ceiba's owners) and Molly took the floor.  She spoke about how her blog came about, a story of course quite familiar to Orangette fans and much touched upon in her book.  She talked about her father (her brother mentioned him too) and the importance of food to their family. She was so genuine and allow me to say, she can give a speech every bit as eloquently as she can write. Then she read the first chapter of her book, which was a delightful experience in itself and made me read as much as I could from her book all over again on the metro ride home.

Jumping from Orangette to sewing might not make much sense, but this post has no cohesion anyway, so here goes! If anyone was wondering, I did finish all the doll dresses. Here's a photo of the first set (I whisked the second set away before commemorating the moment):

 

I wish I had been patient and ordered fabric I loved--live and learn!

 

Next up? I've been working on a couple of kid crafts and my kids are beside themselves for me to finish them. I'm experimenting with some things I've never done (hence the title of this blog), so don't hold your breath.

First up, the seasonal felt tree that's been in The Craft Jar almost 2 weeks.

Because I'm not much of a free-hand artist, I took a clip art oak tree silhouette, scanned it, enlarged it, divided it into quarters in Paint (on anyone's PC), printed off the quarters, taped them back together to make a large tree, then traced the tree onto freezer paper. Then I traced the pattern with chalk onto brown felt. I did some "pruning" when I cut the felt because there were too many branches (which might still be the case). I may figure out a way to upload a pattern to the blog.

Last, I'm working on some kites for the kids. They are a little young (5 and 3) but I want to involve them as much as possible. We bought some rip-stop nylon (available online or at JoAnn's fabric). We shall see where this goes.

 

 

Valentines for the 3-and-under set.

Or, as I renamed them, abstract expressionism Valentines. (Yes, I googled Jackson Pollock to come up with that one.) This Craft Jar item (see column to the left) is perfect if you want to make Valentines with kids 3 and under.

Take some 8 1/2" x 11" construction paper (red and pink, natch), and then have your little one color all over the whole rectangle with a variety of media (we use crayons, pastels, colored pencils, markers, etc.). We stick to shades of pink and red, with a some white thrown in. Be sure and encourage them to scribble in the corners. The point is not to cover the paper entirely, unlike Pollock we try to leave  more "canvas" peeking through.

I really like Silky Crayons for little hands. They're oil pastels, and are much easier to use than crayons for the really young. They are washable (you can use them as watercolors, which I need to try someday), and they come in easy-to-grip tubes that keep mess to a minimum.

Then top it all off with glitter glue if you like. I prefer the kind that comes in small squeeze bottles at craft stores vs. the pens (little hands get the glue out more easily).

When your little artist is done decorating the paper, it might look something like this:

   

Now you can either fold the cards in half, to make extra big cards (for that extra special person), or you can cut them up into smaller cards. If your child is extra handy with the scissors, let them cut away, or if they're not there yet, you can help them out. If you used 8 1/2" x 11" paper, once the glitter glue dries, you can cut it into thirds, and then take each piece and fold it in half:

 

Then cut out a heart shape, leaving the fold at the top. Of course if you aren't careful, you'll end up with two heart shapes instead of a heart-shaped folded card. But that's what tape is for. This one is waiting for N's little scribbles to a pal:

I've been known to cut the little scraps into hearts too to sprinkle in envelopes. Not this year, though.

I know, you could just have them color on heart-shaped paper, but the effect is not the same.

Love to you and yours!

Biting off more than I can chew

Two posts in one day, but it is past midnight here. So "today's" featurette is The Craft Jar. That's what I'm calling my list of current projects. I'm purposely keeping that list short so that I don't get overwhelmed. I tend to think in 50 different directions, scattershot, because I get so excited by various ideas. I'm hoping (hoping!) this blog will keep me more in line.

The first item on the list is baby doll clothes. Now let me say, that E, who is 5, has never been into dolls, particularly baby dolls. My theory is that we already had a "baby" in the house, and that would be N, who is 3, and one baby, in E's view, was enough.  They are only 20 months apart, so I'm not sure that E ever really felt "dethroned" by N when he came along; she has definitely been the little mother to him when she isn't bopping him on the head.

Anyhow, E decided last year that she really really wanted a baby doll (N now being able to speak in complete sentences, and to walk upright). Not just any baby doll; but one that could take real baths in real water. I kept my eye out but didn't see one that fit the bill, until I lucked out and spotted one on sale in the Magic Cabin catalog. (It's not on sale right now, I just checked, sorry!) I am not a big fan of plastic baby dolls but this one is pretty darn cute.

Well, the baby doll clothes in The Craft Jar aren't for E. At least, 8 of the outfits are not. I decided, against my better judgment, to sew 4 dresses for two different school auctions (E's, and N's). Two different dresses in two different fabrics in two different sizes for two auctions. That makes 8. One set is for 18" baby dolls, the other set is for 12" baby dolls like E's.

The first dress is a sleeveless summer jumper. I made one for E's doll last year using McCall Pattern M4338. Here is a photo of the sweet little tucks--I do like the pattern for the details.

 

You can see some little stitching mistakes I made at the neckline, experimenting with an edging stitch on my machine. But it still turned out quite well if you don't look at it this closely.

Here's another view so you can get an idea of the jumper overall:

 

So I'm making 4 5 of these (one for E in the new fabric) for the auction.

But, right now, this minute, I am working on the dress. And it has been a struggle. I naively thought that sewing baby doll clothes would be easier than people's clothes, because they are small. However, the smaller scale has turned out to be more challenging. I've spent (gasp!) a whole week on one dress. (Of course, entire days went by during that week where my sewing machine stayed stowed away.) Still. I am in over my head.

This is my second attempt at sewing the bodice.

 

The first one was so comically twisted (when I sewed in the lining) that I wish I had taken a picture. It was more like a fabric sculpture than the top half of a dress. Note to self: sewing two pieces of fabric together that don't line up like they should doesn't solve the underlying problem, :) In my defense, I'm convinced that some of the pattern's instructions for the "small" doll (11" - 13") are off--like the length for all the trimmings (velcro, lace, piping, etc.). I've had to add about an inch or so each time.

Here is the detail of the lace at the neckline. I am not in love with this fabric or the lace but at this late date it will simply have to do.

 

I am fully committing to the dresses for auction #1 on Monday so I'd better get cracking!