Cute Little Zip Case- hand sewing project

 

This little zipper case may seem a little complicated, but it's really, really not. Best part of it is that it's made from scraps and recycled materials, and it's good hand sewing practice. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos while making it because I made it a few months ago after getting proofs of some of my Spoonflower fabrics. I didn't really plan to post the project, but TG asked "Why not? It's cute!" This case is inspired by Japanese macaron purses, but instead of using a domed plastic shape for the sides, it uses milk jug plastic with felt to soften the top.

So you will need:

• fabric- 4 pieces, they can be different patterns, but at least 6x6 inches if you are using a 7 inch zipper. 
• zipper- this can be recycled if you pick out the stitches from the tape carefully and the tape is intact
• clean empty plastic milk jug- I love milk jug plastic
• ribbon- a 1/4- 3/8th inch satin ribbon is a good choice, just a few inches
• needle
• thread to match the zipper
• a 6 inch piece of craft felt (if you are using a 7 inch zipper)
• glue- tacky glue works well.
• scissors- one pair for plastic, one pair to cut fabric. Please don't use your fabric scissors on plastic.

To start, overlap the ends of the closed zipper, and stitch them together. Stitch across the top bar of the zipper where it separates to close it securely at the top. Knot off thread on the right side of the zipper. It's going to get covered with ribbon so the knot doesn't show.

Make a small loop with part of the ribbon and sew it on so it goes the same direction as the zipper pull.

Now take another piece of ribbon and wrap the overlap with and sew it into place keeping the zipper flat. Don't let it gather or bunch up!

See how it's sewn? Also the open photo will hopefully help make the following instructions clearer.

So now that you've got your zipper loop, cut out 2 pieces of plastic in a circle that's about 1/2 inch smaller than the zipper loop. Which would be about a 1/4 inch all the way around.

Set the plastic pieces aside for a minute. Now it's time to gather up the zipper. Close to the edge, make basting stitches on one side and leave ends to pull. Repeat on the other side. Then pull to gather.

Now you'll make the inside. For that, cut 2 circles of fabric that are twice as big as the plastic. Stitch a running basting stitch all the way around, put the plastic in the middle on the wrong side of the fabric. Pull stitches tight around the plastic and knot off.

So now the insides are ready to be stitched to the inside of the case. Since the whole thing is going to be covered, you do want your stitches to be strong, but don't worry about how the knots look. Open the zipper, which should have a clamshell look with the gathering. Set one fabric covered plastic piece inside one side of the "clam shell" with the gathered sides together. Stitch it into place. Repeat on the other side.

Now it's time to make the top. For this side, you want it just the same size as the zipper loop. Cut 2 circles from the milk jug plastic the same size as the zipper loop, then 2 pieces of felt that are 1/4 inch bigger all the way around. Glue the felt to the plastic pieces. 

Cut 2 pieces of fabric in circles twice the diameter of the plastic circle. Do a basting stitch all the way around, then set the plastic circles on the wrong side of the fabric with the felt sandwiched between the fabric and plastic. Pull to gather the stitches. Knot securely.

Now all you have to do is stitch the outsides to the rest of the case, and it's done! 

These are so easy to make, and are super cute. Because the inside is very flat, it won't hold a lot of change, but it will hold a couple small treasures or keepsakes. 

Book Review- Fabric Surface Design

I haven't done any silk or fabric painting in quite a few years and this book is so timely because I've been wanting to paint some silk shawls lately. Since it was never a subject that I knew much about, reading this has given me a lot more insight into techniques and tools.

It starts with an introduction to materials, the author talks about choosing the fabric paints, how they work and has a good chart to refer to how different paints can be used. She also discusses fabric types and how to choose and pre-treat your fabrics. The introduction to fabric surface design also explains the basic tools you'll need. How to make a good work surface and how to stretch fabric if it needs stretching.

Then it's into the techniques, and this is where this book shines for beginners or people like me who are getting back into fabric painting after years. She explains different methods in detail with clear photos and product suggestions and reviews.

You will learn how to:
painting fabric
using resists like wax or gutta
use salt in fabric painting for neat effects
how to paint things in ombre shades
2 methods for marbled effects
printing fabric using all sorts of methods
doing transfers
fake tie dye effects with a gorgeous watercolor look
Spot effects like using oil crayons and embroidery
foiling using a few methods
stenciling

Along with all of this are some great artist profiles and photos of finished pieces as examples. The book finishes with an explanation of color theory to help you with palettes.

She doesn't give you step by step projects, just all the information you'll need to create the fabric of your dreams. I was originally planning just to paint a couple of shawls, but after reading this, there are so many more ideas I want to try.

There is a good resources section at the back for finding the supplies she suggests using, a suggested reading list, and a good, complete index.

If this is a topic you have an interest in, I absolutely recommend it.

And yes, when I do paint those shawls, they will be posted here.


I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, I received no other compensation, and my review is my honest opinion of the book. You can read more about my review policy here.

Easy Quick Fabric Clock Project

I love clocks that tick. It's soothing, especially when I'm going to sleep. I'm less fond of chiming clocks but you could do this with a battery operated chiming movement as well.

You will need:

• 8 x 8 inch square of fabric with pinked edges 
• 6 x 6 x 5/8 inch canvas (I got mine here)
• Quartz clock movement (I got mine here)
• Hands that are less than 2.5 inches long
• staple gun (there's a link to the one I use at the bottom of the project)
• ruler
• pencil
• Mod Podge matte
• Foam Brush
• button for 12 o'clock spot
• thread and needle
• Scissors or craft knife

The first part is super easy and makes a great way to showcase Spoonflower swatches as well (oh! Or use a Spoonflower swatch to make a clock!)- You're going to wrap the canvas with the fabric stapling it in place on the back of the stretcher bars. Fold the corners in for nice neat corners. Which turned out less than perfect on my clock, so if you have fabric that wants to get bulky or balky, trim the corners a bit before folding the corners in.

You need to mark the center for the shaft of your clock movement. To do that, use a pencil on the back of the canvas. Using a straight edge, draw a line from one corner diagonal to the other corner, repeat with the other two corners. Then you'll line the ruler up square with the middle which is where the diagonal lines meet, and draw lines vertically and horizontally.

Do you see the bit of thread peeking on the right hand side? That's the 12 o'clock mark. Center your button over the vertical line on the front of the canvas, on the inside edge of the stretcher bar, and stitch into place. I found the easiest way to make that knot tight was leave a long tail, and then tie the tails in a square knot using  2 strands of embroidery floss to stitch the button in place.

(please ignore the hole, I took the photos AFTER this step)

Using the foam brush and a firm touch to really work the Mod Podge into the fabric, paint Mod Podge over the front and sides of the canvas. Let that dry for an hour, then put Mod Podge on the back of the canvas. Let both sides dry completely. This step makes it easier to clean and it seals the fabric so the hole you cut for the movement won't cause fraying.

Cut a hole using the guidelines on the back that's big enough for your clock movement shaft. 

The movement will come with instructions, so follow the instructions to install the movement. If you click on this image, you'll see the shaft of the movement I used poking up from the center of the fabric.

Put a battery in the movement, hang and enjoy!

You can also staple Spoonflower 8x8 swatches to 6x6 canvases for quick art work. The two shown are from my fabric collections at Spoonflower. 

The clock movement I got from Klockit is the #10043, there are price breaks for quantity. The size fits in the space between the stretcher bars of the canvas very well and the profile is the same depth as the canvas. Klockit does use SmartPost for standard shipping so if you're in someplace like Alaska, you could wind up waiting very impatiently and wishing very much you expedited shipping. They do have a great selection of movements, hands and second hands!

Sewing Cubes and Tetrahedrons

Yay for Platonic solids! Platonic solids are polyhedral shapes made of regular, symmetrical shapes, and there are only 5 of them. If you play or love someone who plays tabletop RPGs, you're very familiar with them. They make up the dice for those games. Cubes and tetrahedrons are very easy to sew, especially if you start with a fabric that has tessellating squares or triangles. The above models were sewn using swatches from a new collection I have up at Spoonflower. Any square or triangle fabric will work, or you could do them in patchwork shapes pretty easily too with a few more seams.

I did these with hand stitching because of their size.
Sewing the tetrahedron- 
A tetrahedron is the shape you might know as a 4 sided die, 4 equilateral triangles that form an almost pyramid like shape. It's the shape used in pyramid tea bags as well.

If you're making a large one with various fabrics, you'll cut 4 triangles at the right size plus seam allowances. If you're handstitching a little one like me, you'll cut out your fabric like this-

First, find your 4 triangles, you want a multi-directional design if there is a design in them, and you'll be cutting out a strip with 60 degree angles on the sides.

Add your seam allowance. For me, it was about 1/3 of an inch since they are hand stitched. Chalk in that line, or use a permanent marker, they will be inside the seam so it won't show.

Cut out including seam allowance, trim the corners to reduce bulk.

See the arrow? That's where you start stitching. But you'll need to pin it first because the second seam can be kind of a pain. With the right sides facing each other, pin A to be, C to F and E to D on the corners and in the middle. It's going to look a bit screwy because of that odd direction seam, it will work though. Starting at the arrow, stitch the A-B seam, then the F-C seam, take out all the pins and turn it right side out. Stuff it as firmly as you prefer. I used polyfil to stuff mine. Then slip stitch that last seam to close. 

If you're using separate triangles, you'll make a strip as shown above, then stitch that final seam as described, leaving a gap for turning, then slip stitching that closed after stuffing. Tie knot in thread, and bury the thread end in the finished shape.

Sewing the Cube-

This is a lot easier, especially for anyone who is a regular reader of my blog! Because it goes together a lot like a box but with closed seams.

In my fabric, the knotwork squares are set up on a diagonal, so finding my base shape looked kind of like this-

Add seam allowances, cut out including seam allowances and clip corners.

Now it's time to stitch it. This will be done in a couple stages because you'll need to knot off the thread and start sewing from a different place.

So starting on the inside corner: A-B, C-J, D-E, which brings you to the bottom corner of D-E. Knot off thread and cut. Then from the inside corner, G-H, I-F, knot off thread and cut. From the inside corner, L-M- turn right side out and stuff, then slip stitch K-N to close. 

These can be used as ornaments, toys, a little bigger than my models, juggling balls. 

I have markers!

Years ago, I found a white and black patterned fabric that was incredibly busy. I loved it and bought a yard which became a purse that got used until it fell apart. Part of the fun of it was coloring it in with permanent markers while waiting for an appointment or at restaurants.

I still love the idea of it, and that purse inspired the design above which is available on Spoonflower here. The markers are Sharpie brush tips. Love them so much for fabric coloring because you can vary the angle you hold the pen at to do larger sections, then use the tip for the finer sections.

The tip isn't quite fine enough for a lot of my more involved coloring pages, but for the fabric designs they are perfect!

If you'd like to color the design, but don't want to buy the fabric, here's a coloring page. Click, print, color!

Here's a picture of another one of my fabric designs. A tiled design of a skull with a chef hat available in several colors here.

Book Review : Making Fabric Jewelry

Marthe Le Van's Making Fabric Jewelry is the book for people who save fabric bits, buy Spoonflower swatches or have scraps from favorite clothes that are too small for quilts. Since some of the projects only use 2 or 3 square inches, they could also be made with charms.

It starts with nearly 20 pages of basic information for getting started. It covers fabric, sewing techniques and basic jewelry making techniques. It's written well for people who are learning new techniques such as basic jewelry making techniques. While some of the projects use a sewing machine, a lot of them don't, which I appreciate. I like small projects that aren't noisy while watching television with my family.

The projects are varied, showcasing fabric bits in a myriad of ways to fit the material and your personal style.  There are many designers for lots of looks and techniques. Every project in the book uses techniques that can be easily adapted. It's all in full color with well written and photographed instructions.

It's a natural for upcycling. Some pieces don't even need sewing. Like Deborah Boschert's Circles and Squares necklace which is done with fusible interfacing. That's one I plan to make using one of my Spoonflower swatches.

My favorite project in the whole book is pictured on the cover, Miyuki Akai Cook's Kaga Earrings. They use a neat thread weaving technique and vintage fabric over a handmade paper core.

I also love Anika Smulovitz's Jelly Fish pendant which uses scraps in a whimsical, fun way.

There is a gallery of images for inspiration and eye candy throughout the book which show how many ways fabric can be used to make jewelry.

Just a wonderful collection of projects, and I do recommend it. The range of projects will appeal to a wide range of people, and making jewelry with fabric is a great way to use a small scrap of something with lots of sentimental value or that's just too pretty to wind up as stuffing. Imagine turning a favorite concert tee that's just too worn to wear into a bracelet, or possibly a pair of earrings, or using old baby clothes to make a special pendant for a grandmother. This book will have great ideas and instructions for doing just that in a stylish way.

Published by Lark Crafts.
I received a complimentary copy of this book to review, my reviews are always my personal and honest opinion. You can read more about my review policy here.

New Fabrics for Sale

I got my first set of Spoonflower swatches! I'm currently in the process of stitching up some of the toys before photographing everything, but I did post some of the new designs for sale. You can find all my Spoonflower fabrics that are for sale here.

I did 7 different colors of the Chef Skull design, and they all turned out very well. Here's an example of the colors. There will be photos later so you can see how they turned out printed.

One of my favorite is one of my knots in rainbow colors. I got it printed on silk just to see how it would look, and plan to order enough yardage to make a shawl with.

Now, back to stitching!

Easy to Sew Flower Project

If you follow me on Pinterest, you've noticed that I've been posting a lot of Japanese and Chinese links, including a bunch for sewn flower projects. This hair comb is inspired by those projects. I first saw the technique on a sunflower.
Since I couldn't get to my large fabric stash, I had to work with what I had on hand, which was some jelly roll strip that were on my desk, so that limited the size. This is a largish flower sewn to a side comb.

You will need:

• 3 colors of woven fabric
• a scrap of felt
• stuffing
• needle
• thread
• scissors
• hair comb or pin back
• chopstick or knitting needle to turn

Because it takes only a small amount of fabric, charms and jelly roll strips work great,  or scraps from sewing projects or salvaged scraps from old clothes.

All the pieces are built off of circles. Because the width of the jelly roll is 2.5 inches, that was the radius of my semi-circle for the petals and leaves. If you're using wider fabric, you'll cut 3 5 inch circles, and cut them each in half for the petals. For the leaves, you only need 1 half circle. The center is 2 inch diameter circle. The piece of felt to sew all the pieces to is 1 inch diameter.

Fold the petals in half, right sides facing each other, and stitch the straight edge. Knot off. Turn right side out using the chopstick to get the corner out completely. Do a running stitch along the rounded open edge, and pull tightly to gather. Repeat with the other 4 petal pieces.

Now stitch the 5 petals together into a circle, pull tight! Tie a knot.

Next you'll do the leaves. Cut the half circle for the leaves in half to make a quarter circle, fold right sides together, and stitch down the straight edge. Knot off, turn right side out, and stitch and gather the round bottom edge.

Now to do the center. It's just a little puff in the middle. Do a running stitch around the center circle, pull to gather just a bit, put in a small amount of stuffing, then pull it tighter. Knot off and stitch the center on top of the flower petals. Try to enclose the raw edges of the flower center, and cover the raw edges of the petals.

Flip it over, and stitch on the leaves.

Then you'll sew on the felt circle on the back to cover all the raw edges. Attach to a hair comb, pin back or barrette!

Looks like spring if you're as a eager as I am to start seedlings for summer gardens. We've been getting so much snow that my husband doesn't understand why I'm looking at seed catalogs and sighing happily!

Product Review-The Button Factory

I was thinking of doing a gift guide of some of my favorite things that I've gotten and used in the last year. This will absolutely be on that list,The Button Factory: Everything You Need to Instantly Create 25 Fabric-Covered Pins!

The kit comes with the parts to make 25 pins, backs and tops. You cut out a circle of fabric and put it face down and centered into a soft rubbery feeling mold, then put in the button top, dome side down and fold the fabric into it, then the pin back and use a plastic piece to push the pin back into the pin top, trapping the fabric  edges neatly between the two and you have a fabric covered pin! You can embroider the fabric for a nice hand made detail, or stencil or stamp the fabric. 

I embroidered over prints in the purple and rose fabric above. Just tracing the elements in the fabric, then cutting out the circle and setting it in the pins. If you're a fabric addict, these can be made with very small scraps. A 2 inch square is all you'll need. 

Because these go together so easily, they are a wonderful project for parties. If you're so inclined, you and your friends, or your daughter and her friends can embroider small designs and set them in pins. If counted cross stitch is what you like best, these won't work with standard 14 count fabric, it's a little too thick, but I think they will work fine with even count linen. 

Also included in the kit are 2 strips of fabric with 2 small scale designs on each strip and a booklet with the template for cutting the fabric circles and ideas for making and packaging pins.

 Here's a photo with a penny for scale to see the button size.

You can get The Button Factory: Everything You Need to Instantly Create 25 Fabric-Covered Pins! directly from the publisher, Chronicle Books or by clicking the Amazon.com affiliate link below.

Amazon.com affiliate links don't affect your cost, and provide extra income to me personally, which helps support my book addiction.

You can get more information about my review policy here.

The Doctor Who fabric is Studio Fibonacci's Doctors, Monsters and Friends available on Spoonflower. The purple flower and the forget-me-not are from my own Spoonflower designs.

Tuna Can Baskets

These are so very easy to make. If you're doing them with small children, you'll need to drill or punch the holes in the cans and bend the wire. Lots of ornamentation possible. Get out the button box, plastic beads and stickers! These are plain. 

To make them you'll need empty tuna cans that have been washed well. Hopefully you're already using a safety can opener for all your cans. I love mine so much. The kind that breaks the seal instead of cutting the can so there are no sharp edges?

This will also work with wood brie boxes to make more shallow boxes.

To punch the holes in mine, I used a two hole metal punch, but I also tested with my hand operated craft drill and that went through just fine. A motorized rotary tool will work as well, but as much as possible, I prefer using human powered things. 

You will need:

Tuna can

punch, drill or nails to put holes in the can

paper, fabric, ornaments, braid, anything you want to decorate your can with

scissors

1/8 inch hole punch for paper

glue of some sort- heavier fabrics like the pink paisley do best with hot glue, which my daughter also used as a design detail. A bit of glitter makes it shiny, with the paper version I used PVA glue which adhered fairly well. More on the flowered version in just a bit.

12 inch piece of wire- the kind I used is aluminum 17 gauge wire. (see note at bottom)

wire cutters

pliers

cylinder form of some sort, I used a salt container.

If you're using fabric, you'll wrap it around the can and cut it to fit. 

To put the seam in the back and the wire handle in the middle between the front and the back, you'll fold your fabric to find the right spots. Fold it in half, then fold each side down to meet the fold in the middle. Those second folds are where you want the holes for handles. Mark them, and pierce holes. If you're using a two hole metal punch like I did, make sure the holes aren't too far down for the throat of the punch.

If you're using paper, just print my template. It's 300 dpi and 10.5 inches long, so you need to print it at exactly 300 dpi with 1/4 inch margins. Punch the holes and use it as a guide for your scrapbook or hand stamped papers.

Glue the fabric or paper around the can, then use the holes you punched as guides for where to pierce the can using the drill or metal punch. If you're using a nail to punch the holes, you'll want to punch them before you glue the paper or fabric into place. To do that, wrap the fabric or paper around the can and use a permanent marker to mark where the holes are. Punch the holes then very carefully line up the holes on the paper or the fabric and glue it into place.

To make the handle, curve the middle of the wire around your cylinder form, and turn up the ends of the wire at 90 degree angles about 2 inches from the ends. If you want to add beads, now is the time. Don't bead the whole wire though, you'll need about an inch of bare wire on either side.

Now put the handle into the can, and put the ends of the wire through the holes to the outside. Use the pliers to wrap the wire ends around the wire.

Add whatever decorations you'd like, and I used tulle circles leftover from another project to line the baskets when they were done.

Click the images for the full sized versions. I printed out my example on card stock because it's not as sheer as paper. The first image is the template.

Printable! I could fit 4 on one page easily, so I did. And a black and white version for Liberty, or for anyone who likes the scrolly swirly design but wants to color it themselves.

Notes: The flowered version was the easiest. I used Japanese self adhesive cloth for that one that Abigail from Abigail's Crafts How To sent me a few months ago. I've been hoarding it. The fabric punches easily with hand punches and there are some people on Etsy who sell it. Really awesome stuff. The back is marked with a grid in centimeters which makes it easy to cut very straight, then you peel up the back to apply it.

The wire comes on a 250 foot spool. If that's too much for you, you can usually find smaller spools of different kinds of wire at the hardware store, ask the clerk. However, you may find you use it as much as I do. The stuff is perfect for quick wire crowns or to make bubble wands with. It's also made quick sword holders for costumes, and gets used as armatures in dolls. Plus my husband has a habit of asking me every so often if I have wire he can use for something and aluminum costs a lot less than copper. 

Calico Lace set- recipe cards and box

A small set, some note or recipe cards with a matching folder to keep them in, and a 3x3x1 box. All at 100 ppi. Click on the images for the full sized versions. The theme was inspired by A Prairie Girl's Guide to Life.