Thursday, January 28, 2016

Tutorial Zipper Tassel



Hi. This is so simple, I didn't consider making it a tutorial until a friend of mine said, that's such a cute trick, you need to tell people about it. This trick is how to make a tassel on your zipper pull tab.

Materials:
Zipper
Beads
Cord ~6"
Ribbon Scrap ~4"
  
Instructions:
Thread the piece of ribbon or string by folding it in half and taking the ends through the hole of the zipper pull tab about half way.
Place the cord through the loop of the ribbon.
Gently tug and wiggle the cord through the hole of the zipper by pulling the ends of the ribbon completely through the zipper hole.
Remove the ribbon.
Thread the ends of the cord through its loop on the other side of the zipper hole.
Tug the cord ends until they are tight against the zipper tab. String beads. 
Knot the cord to secure the beads into place.
Easy peasy. Try different variation. Beads or no beads. Leather instead of cord. Go for it. Now that you have all the ingredients to make your very own Easter basket, it’s your turn to make it blossom.

Enjoy!
Sandra

Monday, January 25, 2016

Tutorial Repurpose Pincushion Jar


Hello Friends. In anticipation for my first book, called Scrap Patchwork, I have a tutorial.

www.ctpub.com/scrap-patchwork

Before we move on. I have to talk about Scrap Patchwork. It’s a DIY book on making organized scrappy quilts. I talk about color and organizing your stash. You’ve gotta check it out. Check out some of these yummy quilts.


 
Today, let’s me show you have to make a pincushion out of reusable jars. I’ve been saving glass jars at home with the hope of doing something crafty and magical with them. I’ve seen the mason jar pin cushions, but the jars I’ve save are from baby food, pesto, salsa, spaghetti, and jelly. They don’t come with a hole in the lid. I’d like to reuse the jars to make a pin cushion and place sewing goodies to store inside. In this tutorial we will learn how to make a repurpose pin cushion jar with steel wool.


Materials:
Reusable Jars
Henry Easy Release Adhesive Remover
Grade OO Steel Wool (or polyfil stuffing)
Spray Paint
Fabric Scrap twice as big as the diameter of the lid
Stiff Craft Felt
Ribbon (wide enough to cover the lid’s height and long enough to cover the circumference.)
Embellishments

Tools:
Hammer
Scissors to cut metal
Ruler
Hot Glue Gun
General sewing supplies

Jar Stuffing:
Pins
Needles
Scissors
Buttons
Thimble

Instructions:
Feel free to pick any size of jar you want. I tend to like small and pretty things. Here I have selected an old salsa jar.

To clean the jars, I took a trip to Home Depot to figure out some option to remove the labels and glue from the jars. In the past, I’ve use Goo Be Gone, but it just seems too much work to remove the adhesive. I wanted a product to pour into a bucket, place the jars inside, come back later and yay, the label and sticky adhesive have melted away. This product did the trick.  Also at Home Depot, I picked up the steel wool. I wanted to fancy up my pincushion by using steel wool instead of a polyfil stuffing. Steel wool sharpens the pins as they are pushing in and pull out of the pincushion. This was another luxury I felt was worthy of an investment.



As the adhesive remover is doing it’s thing, we need to cut a hole in the lid. I ventured out to the garage, grab a hammer and nail. I picked a nail that was thick. 

 
 
Then I hammer a hole in the lid. I made three holes in the center of the lid.  I took my scissors to then cut out a circle. Be very careful not to cut yourself with the raw edges.




This lid was quite orange. I didn’t want o risk the chance that any orange would show through my finished pincushion. I spray painted the edge of the lid and under.




Take a piece of stiff felt to trace the circumference of the lid. Cut the circle out. Then trim away about 1/8” of the circle. This piece goes on the back side of the lid to provide a polish look.





Place the lid to the center of the fabric scrap. Measure 2” larger on all side of the lid, making a circle. Cut the circle out. This doesn’t have to be perfect.





Either hand sew the edges of the fabric circle or use your sewing machine. I used my sewing machine and maximize my stitch length to 6.0mm. I stitched around the circumference of the circle with a 1/4” seam allowance. Make sure you start and end with a long tread tail. Set aside.




Open the bag is steel wool. This gets messy. I open my bag inside a box I had laying around. Take a portion of wool out of the bag and begin to pull it apart. Once you obtain the amount of wool you need. Roll is back into a ball. Judge whether you need more or less based on your jar size.




Place the steel wool to the center of the fabric. Gently gather the thread to enclose the wool inside the fabric.



I took a needle and thread to hand stitch to secure the gathering. Though, make sure you haven’t tugged the closure in so tight, that now the size of your pincushion is too small for your lid. Place around with the pincushion to your desire. Flatten it or make it more puffy.




Hot glue the pincushion to the top of the lid. Make sure you glue the edge of the lid to the pincushion.



Flip the lip over. Hot glue the felt circle on the back side of the hole. (Note. I forgot to take a picture of this at the moment and had to come back to it when I had already finished decorating it.)




To finish the pincushion jar, the fun part. Glue ribbon around the circumference of the lid. Embellish. Have fun. Add some fun goodies to the inside.




Screw the lid on the jar. There you have it. A repurpose pincushion jar. Yes. The mason jar with the precut hole would make this project run faster, but any chance I have to reuse already bought items, I’m willing to give that a try.




Now that you have all the ingredients to make your very own pincushion jar, it’s your turn to make it blossom.
Enjoy!
Sandra

Thursday, January 21, 2016

McCall's Quilting March/April 2016

 
 
Friends,

I'm so excited to share two of my quilts featured in the McCall's Quilting March/April 2016 issue. 

Subscription issues began shipping January 12, 2016. By February 2, 2016 the issue will be available on newsstands, as well as in print or digital download format on Quilt and Sew Shop.


The first quilt is called Field of Stars. You can find more about it on the McCall's website here.


Thank you to my sponsors:
Sultan's Garden by Mary McGuire for RJR Fabrics
Warm & White Batting by The Warm Company
Thread by Aurifil


The second quilt is called Picnic In The Park.  You can find more about it on the McCall's website here.

 
Thank you to my sponsors:
Canyon by Kate Spain for Moda fabrics
Warm & White Batting by The Warm Company
Thread by Aurifil


  
Check out facebook for the McCall's video introducing this exciting new issue.

Enjoy!
Sandra



 

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Block of the Week 11


Friends,
I'm so happy to see how my Block of the Week is coming along. Every week, I'm gaining more interest. I would love for people to like, pin, share, and heart, but I see the stats behind the scenes, so I know people are enjoying it. I appreciate the feedback and emails. I've gotten into a rhythm. I create 5 of them at a time, while watching sports in the background. For example, I created the next 5 during the College Football Championship game. It makes the time fly by and multi-tasking is of the essence these days.

Other than this, stay tuned. I'm doing a tutorial for the Sew Mama Sew and We All Sew blogs in a couple of months. I've finished designing the pieces, but now I'm processing the instructions/testing .

Thanks again for your support,
Sandra



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