Slab piecing + Easter cards

 

 

I recently came across the book Sunday Morning Quilts at my public library and can't recommend it enough.  It is chockful of ideas about how to make the most of fabric scraps - from organizing them to incorporating them into new projects.  Although I'm not a quilter, the parish thrift store has baskets of tempting fabric scraps available for a pittance (the fabric for the apron pictured above ran me 25 cents).  Many of the book's projects are built on the technique of slab piecing - putting together scraps or strips to form a "fabric."  Think Log Cabin, but with the strips all different widths to make the most of leftover fabric or crazy quilting on a larger scale. 

 

My forays into slab piecing left me with some small irregular pieces.  I'm the first to admit you will not find me making a postage stamp quilt.  A particularly bold paisley reminded me of Rechenka's Eggs, and I made these Easter cards from fabric scraps and basic office supplies:

 

Supplies
5x8 unlined index cards
(Optional - printer with black ink)
2-3 brown paper grocery bags
(Optional - Brown marker, crayon, or stamp plus ink)
Colored fabric scraps
Scotch tape
Glue stick

Directions
Print or hand write text on to the cards. 

Cut the wide front and back panels off the bags.  Remove handles or areas of double thickness. Fold each panel into a square twice - now you have a square 1/4 of the size of the original paper.  Fold it into a triangle from the center to the outside edge and cut basket (split in half vertically across the diagonal fold) like you would a snowflake - 4 baskets.  If desired, use markers or stamps to add some texture to the baskets).  I found it easiest to cut proportional eggs if I held the fabric in small half square triangles, but there is a lot of wiggle room, as a large portion of the eggs are covered by the basket.  Use tape to position eggs on the wrong side of the basket and then glue in place.

 

Practically free Christmas Decorating

Our front door tends to look a little drab at the best of times, so I decided that some Christmas decorating was in order. We have a juniper topiary in the front yard that looks scraggly if it doesn't get a good pruning every year, and some pine shrubs that were encroaching on my tomato patch, so I spent a half-hour or so with the pruning shears and got 2-3 five-gallon pails worth of foliage. I also clipped some seed pods from my Rose of Sharon bushes for decoration. The only other materials were:

• Cotton twine/yarn (green or brown is easiest to camouflage, of course)
• A spool of galvanized wire
• Optional: A red berry garland ($3.50 at JoAnn this time of year), or any other trims, ribbons, floral picks you like.
• A tape measure, and nails for hanging.
• gardening gloves (A lot of sap in there!)

The process was time-consuming, but really quite simple. Begin by tying the string and wire together (I recommend keeping both on their spools, if possible. lay a branch on the string, and wrap the wire around both once or twice to secure it. Lay the next branch so that the pretty end overlaps your wire wraps, and wrap the wire around the stem end to secure it. 

Since this garland was only going to be seen from one side, I kept everything on the same side of the string, but you should work things around all sides if it will be hung on a banister or other such location.

Add the other decorations as desired, wrapping them together with a piece of the greenery. When I wanted to add the berry garland (cut in halves), I just held it together with the string and made sure the branches didn't hide the berries as I went. I also sorted out some of the more interesting branches (with attractive berries or pine cones) to intersperse with the decorations as well. Give the string a good firm tug every few wraps to make sure you haven't introduced any loops or slack.

The project took a few hours, all told, and I'm very pleased with the result. The same idea works well on a wreath form. You can either purchase one, or make your own from a pool noodle or a couple layers of sturdy cardboard (I wouldn't recommend the latter for anything long term, but it should last as long as live greenery).

A couple of helpful notes:

• I tied/twisted loops in the string and the wire once I got to the corners, for hanging. I recommend stopping a few inches short of your door measurement, because the vertical sections of the garland will stretch once you hang it. 
• For my doorway, I saved the smallest branches for the top section, so that nothing would interfere with opening the door.
• I worked on the front step, since the weather's been so warm, but I'd recommend laying down newspaper if you're working inside, to catch sap and stray needles. 
• If your garland is living inside, mist it with a spray bottle every couple of days to keep it fresh.

Household Tips

I love these kinds of tips!  (So many creative ideas!)

Necktie First-Aid

I have no particular plans to make a tie, but I certainly found this necktie tutorial from the Purl Bee useful when I needed to repair one of my husband's. The back stitching had formed an odd pucker, and it was very useful to see just how that seam is made, in order to redo the trouble section.

Around the world in 48 hours

I followed this decoupage tutorial to give new life to an old wooden folding table that my husband bought his first year of graduate school, and had been loved with ink stains etc since. If I lived in a house and tended to keep things in between craft projects, the only thing I would have bought was the polyacrylic. I painted the table legs blue, and used my old Eurail map as the top (I skipped building a second top, as the piece was unfinished). It’s a great way to give new life to old treasures and a facelift to old furniture.

If I was doing it again, I would:

-trim out the corner squares. My hospital corners didn't look as neat after the polyacrylic.

-dip the whole map in the medium (as one would for wall paper). I ended up with a few wrinkles, despite my best efforts.

Making it beautiful

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

(Keats)

I have been occupied lately with an impending move, that has required packing up my beloved scullery.

In the process, I've come across a number of jars carefully saved. The jars themselves are quite lovely. (I haven't decided whether I buy Inglehoffer mustard for the mustard or the jar- I love their little potbelly shape, and they are the sweetest bud vase for a casual table.) Glass jars are so handy and timelessly beautiful for coralling sundries- but I didn't feel the need to annonce for eternity that this jar once contained creamy horseradish.

That's where my good friend contact paper comes in (and this was nothing fancy in the way of contact paper- my husband picked it up at the hardware store). I traced circles as large as the bottom diameter, then cut rectangular strips the same length as the circumference, and smoothed it all together.

Voila- pretty little jars for pennies. My next project will be to re-cover the lids of my spice jars, which are almost all re-purposed condiment jars, since I buy spices in bulk.

Also check out my new bud vase for larger blossoms (originally a bottle of Redemption bourbon). I like its lines.

Reclaiming the Rag Bag

An impending move has me mercilessly weeding through my posessions, and I came across two bundles of potentiality that had been lingering in the ragbag for many years. T-shirts and other knits get claimed as rags rather quickly, but old garments unfit for donation might have a long stint, as I am not much of a sewer. The menfolk of my kin are hard on dress shirts, and that compromised a large portion of the ragbag's contents.

The shorts (right) are nothing to write home about- I traced a pair of my infant's shorts for the pattern, then sewed an elastic casing to the top. It's nice to see an old shirt of my brothers' passed on to a new generation.

But I am rather proud of the pants. Since I do most of my sewing by hand, I try to keep the original seams in a garment intact. I cut the arms off an old dress shirt, and again used an existing infant garment as a pattern, leaving an extra few inches in height at the waist to make the elastic casing. All it took was two seams- one between the legs and one around the waist. The inseams of the arms are the inseams of the pants, and the cuffs are a darling detail that allow the pants to grow with the child. If someone in your family has an outgrown plaid shirt, those could be turned into darling preppy pair of pants for your little one.

A thought for the weekend

Source: funkyvintagekitchenblog.com via justcrazyjane on Pinterest

Considering this quote in the light of Catholic theology (i.e., that we are all meant to conform ourselves to God, who is the Creator) ought to give you more than enough to ponder for the weekend.

Myself, I've been feeling quite creative lately; something about the change of seasons always does that for me. I have a nearly-finished Father's Day present on my sewing machine, along with a shirtdress for summer dinner parties; several less-worn items in my closet are slated for reworking or embellishing to get them back into the rotation; the sprouts in my little garden are starting to look promising, and I'm hoping to tackle some home improvements in the near future.

What creative things have you slated for the coming week?

Lucy the Chair Lady

"[Rose] had also begged from an old aunt at Beverley Farms a couple droll little armchairs in white painted wood with covers of antique needlework. One had 'Chit' embroidered on the middle of its cushion, the other 'Chat.' These stood suggestively at the corners of the hearth.

"'Now Katy, said Rose, seating herself in 'Chit', pull up 'Chat' and let us begin.'"
[Susan Coolidge, What Katy Did Next]

You really can get just about everything here at Church Ladies- recently, there's been everything from spirituality to college football to needlework to great art to recipes. What can we say? We're women of many interests.

Here follows a double endorsement- both for the Katy books and for taking a stab at upholstery. Let's start with the former.

The Katy books chronicle the life of the Carr family in 1860s America. It is a lovely series about a family living out Christian values and a beautiful testimony to the friendship between siblings. Although the fictional Katy Carr is contemporary with Laura Ingalls Wilder, she has a very life. Katy grows up in a well established small Midwestern town, goes to boarding school out East, and travels to Europe; her siblings are a part of the great expansion of the West. I think the Katy books would make for delightful family reading- they are wholesome without being moralizing, like most literature branded Christian fiction.

Now for the heavier topic. Yours truly has a big heart.... especially for lonely chairs. It started innocently enough. I needed an extra chair for living room. Enter a nice chair from the consignment store. Then came the Holy Rosary parish rummage sale. It took 3 trips with my compact car, but I hauled 5 hand-carved cherry chairs home... for the grand total of $25. Another one of my collection, found on a street corner in a college town, is the most historic. When re-covering it, I discovered a manufacturing sticker dating the chair's construction to Matoon, IL, 1912 and freighted to Boise. I can only image the stories it could tell. And over Memorial Day weekend this year, I found a solid cherry captain's chair on my way to the market.

Changing the seat cover on a chair is one of the easiest skills. My mother taught me how when I was 5. All you need is a screwdriver and a staple gun (with staples at least 1/2" long).

If you are starting with a reclaimed chair, wash the wooden portion with oil soap. Dry it, then unscrew the pad. This is also a good time to rub the wooden frame with Old English scratch cover, in light or dark wood as appropriate.

Examine the condition of the chair cushion. If it's intact and clean, you can cover right over it. However, if the cover is in poor condition or has holes with padding exposed, you'll need to re-cover it with vinyl (more later).

Now comes the fun part, the trip to the fabric store. Don't panic- upholstery fabric can be expensive, but 1/2 a yard will cover 2 chairs, if lining up a motif isn't necessary, and some of the chains often have 50% off sales on decorator fabric. Also, check out the clearance/remnant section. Apparel or quilting fabric alone really isn't strong enough for upholstery, but if you find a print that's absolutely perfect, you can fuse it to a heavy-weight fabric, although it will be more prone to stains, since it isn't scotch-guarded like upholstery fabrics. If the original chair pad is a bright color or in poor condition, you will also need some lightweight vinyl in the same quantities as the decorative material.

If you are a handy needle-woman, you might be interested in embroidering or knitting a cover. Napa Needlepoint has some helpful guidelines for material & design selection for embroidery; here is a delightful knitted seat.

Re-covering the seat is as easy as can be. You use the same technique whether you are starting with vinyl or decorative fabric. Cut your fabric into a rectangle about 6-8" bigger than the pad, with the motife located as desired. Put the chair pad on the ground face up, then use a few straight pins to put the fabric in place. Flip it over, and pull a side taught, then staple in place about 1" from the edge, and again 3" from the edge. Repeat all the way around, taking care at the corners, then trim the excess. Screw the pad back in place, remove the pins, and you're done!

Lucy Learns to Sew: Project 3

Pattern:
None, really

Fabric:
XL Skirt ($4.50, Goodwill)
Small amount of navy batiste (sunk cost from another project)

Other Notions:
Zipper (re-used original)
Interfacing (.50)
Hook and Eye: (1 @ $1.29 a dozen)
Negligible amount of white and navy thread
Sash from summer dressing gown (free)

Total Cost: $5.13
Time: About 2 hours
New Sewing Techniques: adaptive reuse

I found a brand new Coldwater Creek skirt at the thrift store awhile ago. It was made from an excellent quality fabric, but was too wide at the waist and too long.


I originally planned to turn this skirt into a tiered skirt, but after I trimmed off the beads and cut the skirt yoke pieces, I realized there was more fabric than I needed for a skirt and a lot of nicely finished seams. As an architect, I have long been intrigued by adaptive reuse. I saw the potential for a maxi dress- perfect for summer road trips and barbecues.

I turned the yoke upside down (the hips now became the bust). I cut out about 1/4 of the remaining fabric divided evenly over one seam, then gathered the remainder gently. I liked the current hem length, but needed a few extra inches at the top, so I raided the scrap bag for some navy fabric, echoing the skirt's original waistband. I folded it double and reinforced it with interfacing in between the fabric layers. I attached the band to the bodice and the assembly to the skirt, and worked in a few back darts. I sewed the new side seam, replaced the zipper, then made straps from the surplus skirt fabric. A few sash loops, a hook and eye, and this project was ready to go!

If you are starting without a pattern, this helpful tutorial demonstrates how to turn an ill-fitting skirt into a dress; the book New to Old is also full of adaptive reuse ideas with minimal sewing- always key in my book!

Lucy Learns to Sew: Project 2

The progress continues,

Pattern:
Simplicity New Look 6872, Option B ($3.99, Joann)

Fabric:
2ish yards, won at parish raffle

Other Notions:
Interfacing (1/2 yard @ .99)
Red thread (1/4 spool @ $2.29)
2 yards of 1 1/2" Ribbon ($1.17)
Hook and Eye: (1 @ $1.29 a dozen)

Total Cost: $6.22
Time: About 4 hours, at least half of which was because I sewed by hand
New Sewing Techniques: interfacing, zipper

Comments: I picked a trendier cut for this skirt because the fabric looks very dated, so my net effect is "vintage."

A Dress a Week

Goodness, there are some ambitious bloggers. First, there was the lady who cooked a crockpot recipe every day, and now, via Betty Beguiles, I find this lovely new blog, Sew Weekly. And not only is the blogger finishing a new dress every week, but, so far at least, they have all been from vintage patterns!

Enjoy!

Old Sweaters for New Yarn

That was then

This is now

There is a whole new world of beautiful, inexpensive fiber at your local charity shop (or the back of your closet). I (sneeze, itch, repeat) was forced to pass up $5 cashmere and merino sweaters, but they are still waiting for you lucky Church Ladies out there who are not allergic to wool.

I didn't leave empty handed- I found this lovely linen-cotton blend sweater (at the cost of one skein), and recycled it per the great instructions of Dawn Prickett, who "[has] have probably wound enough yarn to wrap the world and have handled almost every type of fiber and weight of yarn."

Recycling sweaters is great, because you can see how a sweater has held up after wear, before you invest the knitting time.

I would add my own tips:
-For your first reclaiming experience, pick a pullover in at least sport or DK weight.
-Check the men's section too- there are a lot of nice burgundy, slate blue, and olives there
-The buttons might be worth the cost of the garment
-If the yarn bleeds dye, add a cup of salt to the water

Happy hunting!