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. 

Shampoo Bottle Case- upcycling project

I made this little case from an empty shampoo bottle to hold my shampoo bar for the gym. It's super simple to make!
You will need:

An empty, rinsed out shampoo bottle

• craft knife
• 1/2 inch wide elastic
• needle
• thread
• pin -safety or straight pin

Take the cap off your bottle, and cut off the top part, from just under where the shoulders of the bottle start sloping in.

Now cut down the sides, after you've cut off the top, you can switch to strong scissors if it's easier. I think a craft knife is neater. Cut half way down the bottle on both sides, then across to remove the front section.

Flip it to the other side, and cut the flap. You'll want to bring it in past where the sides curve. The top of the flap can be cut however you want. I curved mine.

Cut out slots for the elastic- just over a half inch wide, and spaced at least a 1/4 inch apart.

Thread the elastic through the slots so it goes under the area between the slots and the rest is on the outside of the bottle.

Now close the flap over, and pull the elastic as tight as it needs to be to hold the case closed. Overlap the elastic and pin it, then trim it so there is a half inch overlap. Cut the elastic, and stitch the overlapped elastic closed. 

It's done! Just that easy.

Mine is for the gym, but I'm sure there are lots of other uses for these cases.

Spiral Wire Ear Cuffs

I posted instructions for these spiral wire ear cuffs at Beadwork at BellaOnline.

My wire came from my copper stash, but I stopped and checked the price of copper wire in the same gauge at Rings and Things and found out they charged less than the hardware store I bought my wire at.  *adding copper wire to her next order from Rings and Things*

This is a good thing. My son has learning to work with copper. They carry 14, 16, and 18 gauge which are really nice sizes to work with. 

Turquoise Donut Necklace

I love turquoise. It's the alternate birthstone for December which when my son was born. The greenish blue color of it goes with jeans, to the office and with some dressier clothes. It's down to earth. 

Auntie's Beads sent me these to use for a project. They have a wonderful selection of gemstone beads in all sorts of colors and shapes. The beads used for this project are 

Blue Turquoise Rondelle Bead Strand

Blue Turquoise Medium Nugget Strand with matrix

and the Turquoise Pendant Grab Bag

I also have to admit right now, I have a weakness for grab bags. The wonderful surprises in them. This one had 2 donuts, a pink pendant, a cross, and a blue round pendant. The round pendant has a bail on it that I made from wire for part of another project.

Instructions assume basic wireworking skill like wrapped links and making simple bails.

You will also need chain,  10 inches fine chain and 20 inches of heavier chain, sterling was used in the example. 22 gauge wire, headpins and a clasp. I used a toggle.

Cut 1.5 inches off the heavier chain.

If you take a look at the example above, I attached the clasp in the front of the necklace making it a design element, as well as having it in a place it won't get tangled in my hair. The clasp is attached with wrapped links  to the long chain ends. One side on each end. Then the smaller piece of chain is attached to the jump ring that came with the toggle to the circle part of the toggle. I like the asymmetric look of having the polished smooth rondelles on one side and the nugget on the other.,plus it makes it easier to close the toggle. 

Then the fun part. Make a bail for the donut using the wire and attach it to the end of the 1.5 inch chain. Then cut the 10 inch fine chain into 4 equal length. Cut a piece of wire 2 inches long and turn a small spiral on one end. String on one rondelle, 2 of the chains, 1 rondelle, the other 2 chains, 1 rondelle and turn another small spiral on the other end. This can be modified if the center of your donut is larger. Just add more rondelles to the ends. Thread the 4 chains through the donut. Now, add beads on head pins to the ends of all the chains. Because of the size of the nuggets, they won't pull through. I used nuggets on 2 chains, and rondelles on the other 2. 

The holes on these are a nice size, they aren't drilled impossibly small like a lot of gemstone beads are. Which makes them great for stringing and other projects, but if you find the hole is a little big for the headpin, just put a seed beads or a 2mm round bead on the headpin first.

It's done. A nice necklace with a lot of visual and textural interest that's still very wearable.

Handmade copper buttons

First, the legal stuff. Most interpretations of  the statutes applicable to defacing coins in the U.S.A. are applied to mean if you deface currency for fraudulent purposes. Such as turning a 1.00 dollar bill into a 10.00.  Which is why there are so many penny pressing machines in your local tourist attractions. In other countries, the law varies. These buttons are not being made for fraud. They are nice, primitive buttons that can be used to a nice effect in sewn, knit and crochet projects. For more information, check out this site here.

At the time of this writing, copper pennies, that is, 1981 and earlier, are worth 3¢ each. Copper keeps rising in price. So I'm in the habit of checking all my pennies as they come in and separating out the copper ones. This is also a good idea if you're pressing pennies in penny machines. That way you'll have a piece that's nearly all copper!

To make these is so simple. Using a bench block or similar surface, a hammer, and a metal punch they work up very fast. If you want very shiny pennies, you can shine pennies with a bit of ketchup. Really truly! Or vinegar and some salt, or even toothpaste.

I like the rough way these look. I have my husband hammer them flat very quickly and he hits at odd angles and mars up the surface a bit. With more deliberation they come out rounder without the scars from the hammer, like the buttons on the apple cozies above. I polished the pennies before hammering them and I was fairly careful how I hammered them. So they turned out very smooth and a bit shinier.

So, you put the penny on the block, and hammer it flat. Then comes the fun part. Punching the holes.

Using this two-hole metal punch  from Rings and Things, put the flattened penny in throat for the smaller hole. The throat on the smaller side of the punch is deeper than the throat for the bigger hole. Then you screw down the punch and it punches out a little hole. This works very easily, you don't need much strength at all to twist down the punch. Pull the penny out and reposition it to punch the second hole. For mine, it worked perfectly to put the edge of the penny all the way to the back of the throat then punch a hole, then for the other side, just turn it around and put the opposite edge against the back of the throat of the punch.

Rings and Things also carries the bench blocks, more professional hammers than the one I used, and dapping blocks that could be used to make a more domed button. The also carry lots of copper shapes and sheet copper if you don't want use a penny.

The two-hole metal punches can also be used on pressed pennies to make pendants or keyrings of them.

Delicate Wire and Chain Earrings

If you look at the right hand side of my blog, you'll see a fairly short list of links to sites I like. More links are under the links tab at the top of my page. 

One of those links is Auntie's Beads and it's been there for almost as long as this blog has been up. Because the site has good prices and some of the best "How to bead" videos I've seen on YouTube. Look on the side bar of their page under resources for those. 

So when they asked if I wanted to use some beads and post a project made with them, I jumped on the chance. 

They sent 5 sparkly strands of faceted crystal beads. 

3x5 mm white linen rondelles

4x6 mm crystal ab rondelles

6x8 mm crystal ab rondelles

4 mm crystal ab bicones

6 mm crystal ab bicones

The first thing I made was the pair of earrings above. They are very simple to make, have a ton of sparkle and shine, and the design can be changed up to suit other looks very easily by changing the metal and color of the beads. So if you used gunmetal with jet and metallic plum it would be very dark and gothic. Copper with bright colors would be a great Bohemian look. The earrings are very light to wear and have a lot of swing.

I work with my wire right on the coil or spool so I have less waste. Check out their glass beads page for lots of colors and options.

You'll need:

5 inches of chain

earring hooks

15 inches of wire- I used 24 gauge sterling

2 head pins

beads! 

I used 

4 6x8mm rondelles

6 4mm bicones

4 6mm bicones

10 3x5 rondelles

4 4x6mm rondelles

-basic wire working skills-

making a wrapped loop 

Cut the chain into 8 lengths, 4 at 3/4 inches, 4 at 1/2 inch 

On a headpin, string on a 6mm bicone, 3x5 rondelle, 4mm bicone. Make a wrapped loop on top. Repeat for the other headpin

 Cut off 2.5 inches of the wire and make a wrapped loop. String on a 3x5 rondelle, 6x8 rondelle, 3x5 rondelle, Make just the loop part for the bottom, don't wrap it yet. Add on 3/4 inch chain, 1 decorated head pin, 3/4 inch chain. Finish loop.

Cut off 3 inches from the wire. Start a loop on the end, slide that on one 3/4 inch chain, and finish the wrap. String on 4 mm bicone, 1/2 inch chain, 4x6 rondelle, 6x8 rondelle, 4x6 rondelle, 1/2 inch chain, 4 mm bicone. Hold the beads in place while putting a soft curve in the beaded wire. Because of the shape of the beads, you need some "slack" in the wire or extra space. If you wrap the second loop without curving the wire first, you might not be able to curve it. Start the loop at the end, slide the other 3/4 inch chain on the loop, finish the wrap.

The bottom piece is done with a 2 inch piece of wire. Make a small loop on one end. Slide the half inch chain on the loop, finish the wrap. String on 1 3x5 rondelle,1 6mm bicone and 1 3x5 rondelle. Make loop, slide the other chain on the loop, finish the wrap. Repeat for the other earring.

The basic technique is pretty adaptable and makes a great project while watching tv. If you wanted, you could skip the head pin entirely and add more layers of chain sections for longer, even more sparkly earrings.

The cup I displayed the earring on is part of my personal collection. I love my no handle cups for tea or chocolate on cold days! This one was made by Ember Haynes of Silverbear Sundries.

Bat Cane- art and instructions

This is my spare cane. I picked up an inexpensive walnut cane from the grocery store to have as a back up, and couldn't resist decoupaging it. 

First I measured the circumference of the cane, which was right about 3 inches. Then I created the design. 5 inches long sounded about right to me. Click on the image to download the full sized 300 ppi version.

I printed that on a decorative paper. My choice was a coffee leaf paper that TerraCycle used to make and that I've been hoarding for special projects. A mottled, marbled, or other light colored design looks good for this. After printing, spray the design with a sealer.

Pull out the glossy Mod Podge. Cut out the design and check to make sure it wraps with the ends just meeting or just barely overlapping. Cover the back of the image with Mod Podge and glue it in place on the cane.

Then I cut strips from some of the remaining decorative paper, and glued them on to decorate, and to finish the edges. 

Cover the whole thing with a light coat of Mod Podge, going beyond the edges a bit to seal the edges. Let dry for a bit, repeat, repeat.

Let the Mod Podge cure for 24 hours, then I added an extra coat of sealer to make it very durable. I used a polyurethane spray because the color of the paper means some yellowing won't mess up the design. I sprayed it, let it dry for 10 minutes, sprayed it again,, let it dry for 10 minutes, sprayed it again. Using a high gloss polyurethane, it's very shiny! Let the polyurethane cure for 24 hours.

End result is a Halloween cane for about 10 dollars. If you don't have polyurethane or Mod Podge, it may cost a little bit more initially, but you'll be able to use them on canes for other holidays or canes to match dressy outfits. 

Other recent projects include this tassel necklace. You can find instructions on Beadwork at BellaOnline.

And these copper projects. The ankhs I made last week. The beaded messy necklace I made last night. They are made in copper and darkened with liver of sulfur. I wiped off the excess with a 3m synthetic steel wool pad. First time I used one, if you click on the image you might be able to see a couple bits of fluff I missed, but compared to regular steel wool on wire projects like this, there was very little shred. The size is a nice one for jewelry projects as well. Tiny little rectangle shaped pads!

Tessellations and Butterflies

I posted a tutorial for designing tessellating bead patterns on Beadwork at BellaOnline today.

Lady Helen posted a picture of how she decorated her bathroom using my butterfly outlines in black Contact paper. I love how striking it looks.

Publishing in Kindle format- Formatting tutorial

I wrote a very basic beginners tutorial to formatting an e-book for the Kindle you can find here. For the tutorial I put together a short collection of some of my daughter's favorite recipes. You can buy that here if you're interested.

I also have an e-book for making brick stitch earrings and one that really needs reformatting for baking yeast breads.
I'm also posting reviews of some of my favorite filk music that's available on Amazon. If you don't know what filk is, it's the music of fandom. Sci-fi and fantasy inspired music that can be hilarious, touching and thought provoking.
Favorite filkers I've reviewed so far
Tom Smith's And They Say I've Got Talent
Escape Key's Shadowbeast
Vixy and Tony's ThirteenEscape Key's Michelle Dockrey new group.
Blake Hodgett's Blindsight
Marian Call's Got to Fly
These artists cover Star Wars, Star Trek, Serenity, Alice in Wonderland, Battlestar Galactica, Illuminati and sing about dragons, aliens and mermaids. I'm not done by a long shot reviewing all my favorite filk. But I think this makes a good start. If you find any of the reviews helpful, please click on the yes under the review.

PDFs in Open Office and Snowflake Tags

Most of my printables are at 100 dpi, which makes them nice and web friendly, but when I want to do something with more detail and still have it be web friendly, I create pdf files. It does make bigger files though since the images are so much more detailed so I don't do it often.
You can use all sorts of options to create pdfs for free or low cost. You can use Primo PDF which works a lot like a printer. You install it, then when you have your document or image all set up the way you want, you "print" it and choose Primo PDF as your printer. It's a fast easy option, but it does have some limitations.
I like Open Office, it's completely free and very easy to use. It's what my husband has been using for all his word processing for years.

To create something like my circle tags, first I draw the tags and save them in .bmp format so they will look exactly how I want them to. My circle tags are meant to be cut out with a 2 inch circle punch, so I create my graphics at 300 dpi in 2.10 inch circles so there is a little room for not centering it perfectly.
Time for a little math. The default width for an open office document is about 7 inches. My tags are 2.1 inches. 7/2.1= 3.33(and some change, close enough) which means I have room for 3 columns of tags. If you were making 1x1 inch squares to use for Scrabble pendants and other things you can use inchies for, you'd want at least .25 inch border on all sides, so 7/1.5= 4.66 so 4 columns.
Open OpenOffice Writer which is the word processing program, and go to format/columns

Select 3 columns, and just let it go with the equal widths.

Go to Insert/Picture/From File and insert your image. Click under the image and insert the next one. Continue doing that until that column is full and in the case of my tags,I had just enough room at the bottom to put some text in.
Hit the return key once or twice to get to the top of next column, and fill that one in too.

That's the bottom of my document. The gray lines will NOT be in the finished pdf. They are just guidelines so you can see where the columns are. You can save your template, but it's so quick to set up columns I don't.
When your happy with your layout,save your file so you can adjust it later if you want then go to File/Export as PDF.

Choose lossless compression to keep your graphics very clear.

Pick the name and where you want to save you pdf, and you're done. Do your test print off the pdf, and you can upload or email or sell the pdf as you please.
Open Office is free for any application. If you want to use it for business you don't have to buy a license, and it's ad-free.
You can download the snowflake tags I used as an example HERE and matching printable paper HERE
I hope you find this tutorial helpful.

Paracord Bracelet

If you're interested in purchasing a finished bracelet, my son has agreed to make them for 12.50 each using handmade clasps, or 14.00 dollars using a plastic clasp. Clasp options are brass, copper or aluminum, color options we can get easily are black, gray or olive. Email me at shalasbeads at (nospam) gmail dot com to order one.
It's always hard to make things for young men isn't it? I made my son a paracord bracelet because I wanted to see if I still remembered how to make them. I bought the paracord, but completely forgot the clasp. Whoops. So after I got home with my paracord, I had to figure out the clasp, I did have some 16 gauge copper wire. So I made a clasp with that. William liked his bracelet enough he asked me to show him how, and has since made them for other male family members.
If you don't know, paracord is also known as 550 cord and sometimes parachute cord. It's a very strong synthetic cord that is used by the military. Paracord bracelets are also known as.. well, a lot of things. If you can't understand my instructions, check out this instructable
You'll need:
Paracord- about 8-10 feet worth. I stretched it out between my arms as far apart as they would go twice, and for me, that's a little under 8 feet, for William, it's a little under 10, William's arms work better for bigger bracelets then mine.
Thread or dental floss- this is a temporary part of the bracelet that will be cut off and discarded, so anything thin and strong will do, if you have pink crochet thread handy, that works.
4.5 inches of 16 gauge wire
scissors
lighter
pliers- I used chain nose and round nose, but next time I'm using my husband's pliers for the extra strength and size.
To start with, the clasp since that's really the only thing new in this version.
Cut a piece of 16 gauge wire about 4.5 inches long. I used copper because I had it on hand. You can buy 16 gauge copper wire at most hardware stores by the foot.
Bend the wire in half, then coil each side up to form loops as evenly as possible. Bend the top part of the clasp over the bottom part to form a hook. See illustration.

Set the clasp aside for a minute, and seal cord ends by holding the end of the cord with the pliers with just a little bit of cord sticking out of the top, and singing it with the pliers until it melts and seals. Be careful with the ends right after you seal them. Molten plastic can leave nasty burns.
Fold the cord in half, and wrap it around your wrist starting at the folded end, add a half inch for the room the knots take, and tie your thread around the 2 strands at that point. Thread each loose end through the loops on the clasp, and start tying square knots. The center folded strands are the filler cord, and you tie your knots with the two loose ends. Left side goes over the filler cord, then under the opposite cord, then take the right hand side, and go under the filler cord, and over the left hand cord.Pull tight, that's half the knot. Then take the left hand side and pass it under the filler cord, and over the right hand cord, and the right hand cord goes over the filler cord, and under the left hand cord. Pull tight, one square knot completed. (see illustration) Tie a few more knots that way,pull tight, push up as needed, and then snip the thread holding the cords together and pull it out.
Continue that way down the cord, pushing up knots as needed to make it tighter. When you've got about an inch left of the filler cord, tie the ends together in a square knot (left over then under right, right over then under left, pull tight) and trim and seal the ends (less secure) or (more secure) tuck the ends of the cord under the last knot on the side that will be facing out, and pull tight, hold both ends with the pliers, and trim, then burn the ends to seal them together.
The sealed ends can be cut off and the bracelet can be unknotted if you ever need 10 feet of really strong cord, which is nifty, but for most of us, unlikely.
Paracord comes in a lot of great colors now, but black or olive are most common. Check your local Army surplus type store or an outdoor sporting goods type store for paracord.
Click for a friendship bracelet project I posted up on Beadwork at Bellaonline