The Last Two Fabric Beaded Necklaces, for now anyway

I'm one of those great sleepers. I generally go to sleep right on cue ... the minute the Seinfeld rerun is over, and sleep through the night. But not last night. I woke up a 1am, wide awake. By 2am, decided enough was enough and just go up.

So, there I was, in my space in the middle of the night working on the last two fabric beaded necklaces. I'm going to try to hold off buying more styrofoam until I determine whether or not these are going to sell.

Yet Another 3Fabric Bead Necklace ... Greens, Blues & Pastels

I pulled another 5 scarves from the 'oblong' container. Think these will finish off the remaining styrofoam balls I have onand. Completed 3 of them this afternoon ... between sorting through the yardsale stuff, sitting in the hot tub, etc. etc. etc.

Creating these are going much better. It's probably a combination of things ... my sewing skills are (I like to think), improving. I attribute this fact to how I'm now longer having long and ugly one side conversations with my sewing machine, and that I have a better understand of what scarves are good candidates of these necklaces. Who'd think that all scarves are not created equal !!!

I keep thinking that I need to order a couple more sets of styrofoam balls so I can make so more, and then my better sense kicks in and I think that perhaps I should wait and see if anyone likes these enough to buy them, and then I find myself thinking about buying more styrofoam balls, etc. etc. etc. Gosh, if they don't sell, I'd sure hate to find myself with 3000 of them in the attic in a couple year, but other the otherhand, gosh, I'm having a good time making them. And, so it goes ....

Fabric Beaded Necklaces in Red & Brown

Of the scarves I'd picked up at yardsale last weekend, I thought three of them had a solid enough texture to use for the necklaces. I'd set them aside for this, versus putting them in the 'oblong scarves' inventory box.

Cleared the beads and general disarray left over from the fiber necklaces off my workbench and set the sewing machine back up. Measured and cut the scarves into the 4" bias pieces, stitched them together and tied the beads into place.

I like all three of them. I think I have enough styrofoam balls to make another 5, perhaps 6. I'll probably work on these tomorrow ...

WB04 -- Red Painted Canvas Wrist band / Cuff

Finished it up stitching on the velcro, finished putting it together and did the topstitching. I learned quite a bit on this piece ... don't use velcro with adhesive, those hook thingies don't rest well and I need some serious practice on top stitching.

This piece is colorful and interesting however. It's not what I would consider sell quality, however, I'd certainly feel comfortable wearing it myself (particularly since this one fits), and that's exactly what I'm going to do with it !

I'll continue experimenting with these canvas pieces .... I love the colors.

WB04 : Red Painted Canvas Wrist Band / Cuff

Selected the red painted canvas (from the set just painted) and paired up with a corresponding piece of the yellow felt brought home from a yard sale yesterday. Stitched together on 3 sides. Selected a couple chain links from a salvaged belt and some beads from inventory. Handsewed the adornments into place from the inside.

Attached a hook clasp .... but, woops ... I don't like the way it connects, so removed and decided on Velcro. The Velcro is sticky backed but want to sew it into place so there will be no concern of it coming loose after some wearings. So, sat to stitch at sewing machine ... But woops ... the glue is super sticky and when the machine needle went through it, it picked up alot of the adhesive, got sticky and sewing, obviously, not successful. Cleaned the sewing machine needle with finger polish remover and started handstitching the velcro into place.

But then, Melodye called me back and Lilly was ready for dinner and other things to do ....

Will finish tomorrow.

WC-03 : A crocheted, sewed & beaded wrist cuff

This is one of the crochet samples I picked up at the yard sale this morning. It measures around 12" long and about 5" wide.

Here I've selected a variety of seed beads in a couple shades of green and yellow and, using elastic cord, strung beads through sections of the crochet. Carefully hand sewed the ends together and then weaved elastic through 3 sections.

The piece is comfortable to wear on my 'between medium & large' wrist. The other piece is still sitting on the side table. I'm thinking of something similar, but different for that piece. I'll probably list this piece, but not until I have a few done and can start a section.

WB02 - 2nd Wrist Band is Better

First thing, headed back to my studio with coffee cup in hand. A couple things I want to do out here today ... create another wrist band (practice makes perfect they say) and try another variation on the beads. So, first the wrist band ...

Still had a piece of the red fabric laying out. (actually this piece of fabric is part of a fabric belt that was in the belt container). Paired it with a silver heart from the metal belts container and two pieces of polka dot ribbon. I used velcro for the fastener.

I had quite a few sewing machine problems and this little piece ended up eating 3 hours. Of course, some of those problems are me ... changed needles and had trouble threading that tiny hole, experimented on scraps a few of the stitches, etc.

The oblong size works much better. This piece didn't turn out great, but much better than the first one. Ironically enough, it turned out too small for my wrist ... needs a size 6 kinda person. I'll hand this off to Shannon or Mary ... see if they will try it out for me.

I like the idea of these; they could easily become little wrist collages and I'm sure I'll be doing more.

Red Hat - Just because it's handmade doesn't mean it's worth anything !

Back in mid December I'd said this hat, although not very great, was finished. Apparently I never sold myself on that because that hat has been sitting on the side table every since. And, since this is 1) the table where I sit the pending ideas or needing thought stuff, and 2) since I'm trying to clean up some of the stuff on this table (since it's almost to the point of overflow onto the floor), I'm back to the hat.

Actually, I didn't quite finish it. It still needs the grossgrain ribbon on the inside seam where the crown meets the brim. I brought out the ribbon and thought that I'd just put it in place with some of that no-sew seam tape. Got the tape and iron, and ironed one side of the tape to the ribbon and then ironed onto the hat ... nope; it's not sticking. Probably because the seam isn't flat. Next inspiration was to glue the ribbon on with fabric glue .... nope; that wasn't very successful either. So ... off to what I should have done to begin with ... put the sewing machine back up on the workbench.

Threaded the sewing machine with red and cut a new piece of ribbon. Sewed the ribbon in place, nicely covering up the seam. So, now the hat is officially finished according to the pattern. But ... it's still quite ugly ! So, pulled out the buttons and selected a nice big white one and sewed it in place right on the center top. Nice ... but, still ugly. So, jumbled through the ribbon/lace container and came out with the frilly white stuff. Cut an appropriate length and, using the machine, sewed it in place ... and there we go ... finished.

But, it's still quite ugly.

So, that just goes to say that just because it's handmade doesn't mean that it's worth anything !!!
I' can't imagine wearing it ... and I certainly wouldn't give it away, but still too good to just throw in the trash. So, I'm putting in the box where I'm accumulating future play clothes for Lilly.

Off the side table and officially finished .... now, on to the next item.

Little Jewelry Bags

Sitting on the side table has been a small stack of fabric remenants that I'd cut down to make little bags awhile back .... when I was going through that giant garbage can of fabrics.

Since I had the sewing machine out, and was lacking on any other motivations, put together 14 of these little bags ... no set size.

I want to use them when I ship small jewelry pieces, so I'll keep with the jewelry that's posted in my shops. There's still several pieces of fabric on the table, so I'll either make a few more tomorrow morning, or just add them to the top of the fabric can. (Fabric can sure sounds nicer than garbage can, eh).

Beau was watching a show on TV this afternoon ... something about Noah's Ark and how it could be out there (not sure where they meant), and I asked him if he thought they meant like at Habitat Restore. He said, no ... probably more like the Green Project. THE GREEN PROJECT. I've not thought about them in a long time ... bet I haven't even been there in two years. So, after a little negotiation (like we'll take two phones and he can hangout at the Burger King ... hope it's still there ... and not have to go into The Green Project ... it was agreed we'd go on Friday). I'm getting excited ... THE GREEN PROJECT ... wonder what I'll find.

Hat 3 -- Finished; going away, but not to the garbage this time !

Hat 3 is finished. It's not an incredible hat, it has a couple of learning. The primary is my lack of experience sewing ... the topstitching on the brim is sloppy. I believe there were some tension issues (need to get to know this machine), as well as the rows as not properly lined up ... kind of like coloring outside the box. But, this one is finished .... my first hat. I'm going to stick it in an envelope and send it to Stella ... This is a small hat ... head size 21" ... child size. Stella loves red and she loves hats, and at 5, she's not going to notice the imperfections. ((At least I'm not throwing it out .... like Hat 1 & 2).

So, I came out here to the Studio this morning and found myself thinking ... why am I sewing hats to begin with ! I don't wear hats, and other than Pam & Stella, don't know anyone who does. I'm not a great sewer, so it's not like I'm going to design incredible hats to make my financial dreams come true. Then I got to thinking that if I'm sewing simple because I brought home those 85 (probably) pounds of vintage fabrics from a yard sale, that's a pretty poor reason. I know that's no true, however, because I bought that box of 240+ patterns at the Flea Market in Winnie so I could obtain the 10 or so hat patterns that were in there. I don't know. I'm going to think on it for a few days. I certainly did not find making hats 1 - 3 overly enjoyable .... just a bit challenging.

Think I'll do something else for a few days.

Hat 3 -Haven't thrown it out ..... yet

A few days back I took off the regular sewing foot and put on a different ... perhaps a zipper foot ... I'm not sure. I went to put the regular one back on today and I couldn't find it. I was sure I'd put it away ... but that was just too long a shot ... not there. It seems I can see it sitting there ... if I could just identify where it is I sat it. I spent a good two hours looking ... cleaned off a couple areas (even found the soldering rod ... which I've also been looking for for several months ... but, alas, not the sewing foot. I offered a reward ... Lasagne ... at dinner tonight if one of the guys could find it. I thought that would do it ... but neither seems to be doing anything out of the ordinary tonight ... Alex surfing and waiting for Mary to get off work; Beau laying on the couch.

Anyways ... I'm sewing with the incorrect foot, and other than periodic tension problems (I've not really learned how to use the machine), it's going along okay. Have the crown and the brim finished ... lining, facing and all. Tomorrow, I'll finish putting it togehter.

2nd Hat ... Still Learning, Obviously

After some thought and several rereadings of the pattern instructions, realized what I had done wrong on the first hat ... it was like a slap ... read the darn directions.

So, picked two shades of red fabric for hat & lining, recut and started sewing. Everything was going gangbusters (I used to have a boss who said that all the time ... not sure what brought it to mind today), until I got to the point where I'm connecting the top to the brim ... uh-oh ... the top is quite a bit larger than the rim.

So, after very little contemplation, I realized they were real serious about those wide margin sewing lines on the pattern itself and in order for (at least this particular pattern) to work, the sewing lines are going to have to be transferred to the pattern.

Well, at least the fabric was really cheap, as once again, tossed it straight to the garbage. I've no doubt I'll start again soon.

First Hat /// A Learning Experience

Hats have been calling me. I've collected a couple hat patterns and thought, with all this fabric hanging around, I ought to give it a go.

Selected the pattern and cut it out. Selected the material and cut it out. Was proceeding right along ... all the way to step five ... and WOOPS ... this isn't quite right. I don't think I've understood the instructions because there is a hole in the top middle of the hat. WOOPS.

Tossed it all out. I've give this another go when I'm ready to be a 'more better' job at reading and understanding the directions.

Blue Detachable Collar Thingie

In my 'scarves' container (actually 2 containers now) I've a good half dozen of these winter (I assume knitted) scarves. I've picked them up for a quarter each (my max for this type of thing) because I like the softness of the texture. One ended up on the chest at the end of the bed where I looked at it in passing for several weeks (yes, behind on housework). Anyways, found myself thinking how these would look as a collar against a black turtleneck.

Moved the blue one from the bedroom to the studio. Cut a section of the circular scarf and then cut it open. Ironed it down onto a piece of fuseable web. Using newspaper, created a simple detachable collar pattern. Cut the blue scarf as well as a piece of cotton lining. Roughly sewed it all together. Didn't go to finish details ... was not worth of that and hadn't really intended it to be a finished piece ... or would have chosen better lining.


Well, it stands a little more thought. The fusable webbing has flattened some of the wonderful fiber effect adherent in these scarves. I also don't like the way some of the fibers hang over the edges ... gives it a 'shedding' look, although they are 'not coming loose.

I'm going to leave this on the sideboard for awhile to give further thought to either this idea, or contemplate what else to do with these scarves.

Pink Applique Scarf ' Lamintated Leaves '

Last month I picked up an instruction/picture book called "Scarves to Make" by Linda Lee. A pretty good book " and I don't give that kind of credit to many.
I'm not really interested in creating scarves from scratch (or rather bulk fabric), but more looking at techniques to alter a few of the scarves of been collecting.
Decided to start on something simple ... a couple pages called 'Laminated Leaves'. Basically, it applique.

• Seleteced a pale pink wrap scarf with silver fibers stitched through as well as a dark pink sheer scarf. Cut some fabric bond to the size of the scarf.
• Cut a sheet of HeatNBond to the size if the darker pink and ironed it on.
• Traced and cut out the leaf pattern. Transferred it 87 times to the dark pink scarf and then cut each of them out ... a quite slow and boring task.
• Layed out the light pink scarf and decided on placement of leaves. Pulled off the backing and ironed into place.
• Selected a few random leaves here and there and cut out the center.

I like how this turned out. The whole idea has great potential. I'm going to wear this a couple times during the week and check out durability. It's going to be a great long ... long scarf end slung over the shoulder while vacuuming ... sweeping ...

Turban 1a

I came across a couple of my inventory scarves the other day that hadn't been put away. Getting totally sidetracked, I then pulled them all back inside, got out the ironing board and iron, mixed some starch and started ironing all of them. Ohhh ... what great colors and silky textures. Which got me to thinking about turbans and bandanas and scarves of other shapes. All or which comes back to the big 'S' word ... SEWING. Now, in the end of my mothers life, she would periodically comment about how hard it was to teach me to sew. But, it wasn't me. It was my sister ... the woman who whips out the most incredible quilts. Although I own a sewing machine, the truth is I bought it to do simple straight stitching on paper. I don't really know how to sew, and I almost always have difficulty reading a pattern. But, motivated to do something with those (probably 150+) scarves in the two storage containers ....

While at Hobby Lobby the other day, I stopped by the Fabric Department to look at patterns. I found a possibility for hats/turbans. It was a possibility in that two of the patterns called for scarf type fabrics. Of course, they didn't have it in stock and I had to go another 3 miles down the road to the only real sewing shop in 20 miles, where I was able to procur mcCalls 4116. The thought of turning out stunning turbans and scarves got me so motivated that I spent two more hours that evening looking at scarf & hat patterns online .... purchased two and they should arrive on more doorstep any day now.

Which brought me to this morning...

• Pulled out the scarf containers and selected 4 of corresponding colors.
• Opened up the pattern and cut it all out ... probably could have just cut the 4 pieces I needed for the selected turban, but what the heck.
• Decided on color order of the scarves, pinned down the pattern pieces and cut-out.
• Changed the machine thread and bobbin to yellow
• Following the pattern, to the best of my ability, sewed the turban.

Now, there was a spot or two near the end when I wasn't quite sure what the pattern was reading, made a couple guesses, and wa-la, finished. And, it looks great perched on top of my iron !

But seriously, I do like it. I'm going to give it a test run and take up wearing it through the next week to see how durable it is ... try washing it, ect. Then, I'll decide if there will be more to follow of this particular pattern. There is one more in the package I'll be trying. Also a turban but of a different style. I am also looking forward to the other two patterns to arrive.