Happy Halloween :: Prayers for all touched by Hurricane Sandy

This little guy is about 24" tall and he is made of cheese cloth and a bit, or well, a lot of starch. Go here to find the tutorial.

Happy Halloween!

First, prayers, hugs, and thoughts of encouragement go out to all those touched by Hurricane Sandy this weekend.Our family was lucky enough to be spared and we are giving thanks. May God help the courage, strength and souls of those picking pieces of this world in these moments as I type these words. It can't be easy, but we hope that with the hope, love and compassion of all in this great Nation that we call all rebuild together.

Light is shining through the wet dark bare branches of the trees this morning. It is cold out, and a bit raw. My government working husband is tele-commuting today since we don't know that public transportation will be able to get hime to and from his office safely. I am breathing a sigh of relief that I can actually have a moment of time to breath deep and write the words that come this morning.

I found felt bags just like these in our local grocery store. The kiddos demanded we bring some home, but Mama of course said, I can make those!! A bit of felt, embroidery floss, a sewing machine and those pictures I took with my phone, these replicas past the kid-test.

I've been working on things as of late. Just as the winds and the rains swept in fear and humility to nature, they also swept in my artistic streak and so putting pencil in hand, I started preparing for the Advent season that will soon be upon us.

Just a peek...More to come and of course a little sharing. :)

Hugs and Prayers,
Abbie

Felt Coffee Cup Sleeve Tutorial - Flower Pattern

This flower pattern was actually the primary inspiration for this felt coffee cup sleeve run. After finishing a simpler pattern, I decided to give this original, more complicated, flower petal pattern another go. Reverse applique is sometimes a little tricky. But since we are in the spring season, and flowers are coming out all over to greet us, and allergy symptoms are flaring up, I felt this tea-time sleeve is still worth a go.

Last week a stumbled upon a wonderful embroidery technique called Sashiko. It is a Japanese quilting stitch actually and I've seen, and fallen in love with, all kinds of crafts that showcase this wonderful design style. I've even tried stitching a couple of designs myself. But to get that stitch length just right is harder than you might think. And so, instead of stitching a Sashiko coffee cup sleeve, I created this flower design in the same colors as those beautiful traditional Sashiko designs. Navy and white of course. After all, I would suspect, not being Japanese myself, that there might be more tea drinking in Japan than coffee anyway.

Materials

• Felt in two contrasting colors (This is 100% wool felt I found here. A poly blend wool would suffice as well.)
• Printed Blue Flower Coffee Cup Sleeve pattern (download here)
• X-acto knife and thick magazine to cut on
• Disappearing ink pen
• Sewing machine
• Coordinating thread
• Fabric scissors (a very small pair would be helpful to cut out the flower petals.)
• Sewing needle - for hand sewing
• Wide mouth mason jar, 16 oz size

How To

 

1. Download and print pattern. 

2. Transfer pattern to felt fabric top layer. I chose white as my top layer. I also chose to cut out the petals around the solid lines with an X-acto knife and then trace inside the cut outs onto the white felt with a disappearing ink pen. If you have another method of pattern transfer, please feel free to use it.

 

3. Machine stitch around patterned lines and around the entire perimeter of the sleeve, back-stitching at the end. (Start stitching at the center of the pattern to keep the felt pieces straight. Cut the threads close to the fabric each time you finish a petal. This way, they don't pull the felt out of whack by "stringing" the thread between the petals, and the "tails" don't get caught in the next seam.) Your petal seams need not be perfect. Don't worry. I did worry and then I told myself to stop worrying and it all came out looking great anyway.

4. Carefully, with the tip of the fabric scissors, lift the top felt layer and snip a small hole. Then insert the tip of the scissors and cut out the petal shape just inside the stitching. Be careful to not snip through the bottom felt layer, or through your stitches. This will create the reverse applique look.

5. Fit the sleeve around the mason jar and whip stitch the edges together by hand so that they lay flush and do not overlap.

6. Put your water on to boil and take out your tea leaves. Pour, dunk, and brew yourself a nice cup of tea to enjoy useing your new blue flower coffee/tea cup sleeve.

Felt Coffee Cup Sleeve

I don't recall where I saw something similar to this craft I am sharing today. Someone's blog, somewhere, at some point in time...I remember their design was different for sure, but the idea of a coffee cup sleeve for a mason jar is unabashedly the same. So if you are that blogger, and I gleaned that idea from you, please do drop me a note, so that I might acknowledge your wisdom here.

Hands. I believe they are for doing, for learning, and for creating. I feel blessed, and lucky, to possess two that work well. Each day I try to do as much with them as I can in anticipation of the time that they tire and will want to work no more.

What is more amazing to me is how baby hands develop. Fat fingers start out slow and clumsy. Aiming and grasping are tiresome and challenging tasks. Accuracy and firmness of grasp aren't yet refined. The delicate is smooshed. The thin is impossible to lift. And then fingers and hands learn. They get stronger, agile, and adventurous.

Hands and fingers are personifications of personality I believe. My mother's family all had the same hands. They all looked the alike. To this day, I have to think twice when I call my Aunt and just be sure I am not calling my mother. I look at my boys and they have sturdy hands, with wide fingers and broad palms. My little girl has delicate hands, with long slender fingers. And her hands are the perfect size to hold these mason jars.

This sleeve pattern fits a 16 oz, pint sized, wide mouth mason jar. I tested this sleeve around the thick glass mason jar filled with boiling water and the felt fabric aptly insulated my tender fingers and the glass proudly withstood the high temperature.

Materials

• Felt in two contrasting colors (I used 100% wool felt found here. The regular craft store poly-blend will do just fine too, or you can use a felted wool sweater deconstructed.)
• Cotton embroidery thread in complementary color (I used regular DMC floss in ECRU)
• Paper scissors
• Fabric scissors
• Pen
• A simple sewing needle
• Sewing machine and matching thread is optional
• Printed Felt Coffee Cup Sleeve Pattern (download here)
• Wide mouth mason jar--16 oz size 

How To

1. Download and print out Felt Coffee Cup Sleeve pattern.

2. Cut out the pattern along solid lines with a paper scissors. Lay the pattern on the felt fabric color that will be on top and cut away. Trace the hand cut-outs with a pen.

3. Cut the top felt fabric along the pen lines with a fabric scissors. You can turn over the cut out fabric if there is still pen lines that show.

4. Lay pattern on the felt fabric color that will be the bottom layer and will show through. (In this case the red felt.) Trace around the perimeter of the pattern and cut it out. This second felt piece should be almost rectangle and solid.

5. Overlay the layers of felt fabric and begin stitching. (The layer with the cut outs should top the rectangle solid layer.)

6. Use a running stitch and stitch around the felt cut outs.

Note: I hid my beginning and ending knots between the layers of felt. Edge stitching around the perimeter of the sleeve later will hide everything nicely.

 

7. Stitch around the perimeter edge of the sleeve with a sewing machine, or hand stitch.

8. Pre-fit the sleeve around the mason jar and make sure the edges come together. (If there is a small gap don't worry, the felt will stretch a bit and the edges will come together.) Whip stitch the edges together with embroidery floss so that they lay flush, without overlapping.

9. Now brew your favorite cup of coffee, or tea in my case, slip the sleeve around the mason jar and pour yourself a cup and enjoy.

Outtakes:
This is what happened during our first shoot...little fat adventurous baby hands happened...

Felt Butterfly Clip Magnets - Tutorial

More butterflies. Ah yes, more. This time in fuzzy felt in some uplifting spring colors. These are easy and quick to make. And in this household they are very much needed.

For years we've had kiddie magnets on the fridge. And some random magnetized cars that "crawl" up anything metal too. These kiddie magnets migrate around the house. They become walking hazards, wined up in the wash, and like-wise lost in this abyss we call home. So, I felt a need in my inner-being for some grown-up, crafty, magnets for my portion of the fridge/freezer that no small hands can touch.

The other problem, besides the juvenile nature of our message keeping, is that the magnets available don't always stick well. A take-out menu sometimes requires two or three magnets to keep it safe from the floor and the mouth of my 10-month-old-paper-eating-mischief-maker. These actually stick and they hold paper in their cute little clip. And I am proud to say, these are a bit more "elegant", if you would, than the I-Iguana magnet I am staring at right now.

Materials:

• Felt in varying complementary colors (I used 100% felt here. But the poly kind will do just fine too.)
• Sharp fabric scissors (and a pair of sharp smaller scissors is useful, though not necessary)
• Regular scissors (to cut through the magnetic tape...never, never, use your precious fabric shears on things other than fabric, like, say, fritos bags, like my husband does.)
• Pen (ball point will do)
• Butterfly pattern - download here
• (2) kinds of glue (Use Elmers or something else runny for the felt-to-felt part. Fabri-tac will do too. And use something creamy for felt-to-wood.)
• A small dish
• An old paint brush (for the glue)
• Small clothespins (these are 1 3/4 inch)
• Magnetic tape (or you can use round magnets too, or any other type of magnet strong enough to hold up the clip, the felt and some paper.)

How To:

1. Print out and cut out the butterfly pattern. (I transferred mine to a piece of cardboard for durability, but this step isn't necessary.)



2. Choose two contrasting colors of felt and trace around the butterfly pattern onto each piece of felt. Use the fabric scissors and cut around each tracing.



3. With a pen, draw in the lines on the wings onto the felt butterfly that will be applied on top. (I just eye-balled this. You can too...alter the pattern if you want.)


4. Use the fabric scissors and carefully cut out each pen line. Bend each wing piece and used the tip of the fabric shears to snip a small slit along the pen line. Open the wing back up and insert the tip of the fabric shears into the slit and cut out the pen line.


5. Decant about 1 teaspoon of runny glue and add 1/2 teaspoon of water to the small dish and mix to combine with the paint brush. Brush the entire surface of the felt butterfly with no holes with glue. Apply the other felt butterfly piece on top and press gently to adhere. (The glue here will help the felt stiffen a bit, which will help durability.)

6. Add a dab of craft glue (the more creamy stuff) to the middle of the clothespin and press the felt butterfly on top to adhere.


7. With the regular scissors, cut a 1 1/2 inch length of magnetic tape and cut it again in half lengthwise. Remove protective paper and adhere to the back of the clothespin. (If you are working with regular magnets, the craft glue will come in handy here.)

8. Let the piece air dry and then hang it on your fridge and clip your latest and greatest note!