Felt Coin Purse Tutorial

I have barely entered the world of crafting with felt (lack of materials makes a project rather difficult!), but  upon being given a few sheets of brown felt this afternoon, I excitedly began sifting through ideas of what to make.

This was the result:




Materials

3" x 4" piece of felt
Embroidery Floss
Needle
Zipper





1. Embroider your design on one or both sides of your felt. Folding it in half helps with placement of your design. I just free-handed mine, since the felt was so dark. I don't really know if there's another way to do it.




2. With your sewing machine sew back and forth across the zipper to shorten your zipper so that it is just a little longer than the short end of your piece of felt. Cut off the excess.




3. Place one short end of the felt over one side of the zipper. Using the embroidery floss, sew the felt to the zipper with a running stitch.




4. Fold the other end up to meet the zipper as well. Again, using a running stitch, sew the felt to the zipper. Now you should have a nice tube-shaped piece.




5. Flatten the tube, and once more use a running stitch to sew up both sides of the purse. On the second side it is helpful to unzip the zipper to finish.




Hooray! Now you have a cute little coin purse, easily customizable to suit your tastes, or that of a friend's.

Quilts and Honeybees

Yesterday we went and picked up our bees. We've had a hive for a while, but now it is occupied!

I started a new project this afternoon. I've wanted to make a quilt for a long time, but have either failed, or never had the patience. Today I sat down and picked out the pieces from squares that my great-grandma had cut out. I trimmed them all down to the right size, and began sewing together my blocks. So far I have five out of twenty completed. It won't be a huge quilt, but I'm very excited about it!




As I begin each new block, I start to worry thinking "Oh, I shouldn't have put these colors or patterns together! They'll look awful!" Once I finish the block, however, I am always quite pleased with the result. I can't wait to see the finished project!

Simple T-Shirt Refashion

Wow, this is basically my first tutorial, and I'm really excited about it! I was looking around online for a simple way to transform a boxy t-shirt into something a little less...wide, and wasn't finding a whole lot for what I wanted.

Please understand that I am just a DIY wanna-be.  If there are ways I can improve this incredibly simple tutorial, I would love to hear them!

So, here it is!


My attempt turned out a little smaller than I expected, so make sure you give yourself a little extra room!








1. Figure out where you want the narrowest point of your shirt to be and place a pin there. Cut in a large, shallow curve, leaving 5/8" seam allowance.





2. Lay one sleeve flat and trim it slightly it in a curve to create a cap sleeve. Sort of.




3. If you want, re-sew the shoulder seam. I did mine with a 5/8" seam allowance, and it did what I wanted it to.




4. Trim the seam, and use a zig-zag stitch to lock the edges.





5. Turn the edge of the sleeve under, and pin a lace or trim of your choice to the turned edge. Sew.
6. Sew shirt sides. Trim. Zig-zag stitch to lock edges.





7. Enjoy!

Bear-Paw Quilt Block

Last month I was very excited about doing following a tutorial for a quilt block, and I have done it again this month!  Over at Penelope Waits, the blog author and her friend have been challenging themselves every month to pick a picture, pick a quilt block, and then use the colors from the picture to create their very own quilt block.  I have been doing it too.







I picked my picture (a baby room in blue and green pastels), and set to work, carefully cutting out my pieces. I set to work, following the instructions, and finished with a block!






I would really encourage all of you crafty and not-so-crafty girls out there to try these tutorials over at Penelope Waits.  They are really easy to follow.  I have hardly ever sewn a quilt block in my life, and now I have two completed!  Not to mention they are very satisfying to finish.





Granted, my two sweet, little blocks aren't perfectly straight, or beautifully photographed (I used my cellphone!), but they were fun to make.

What crafts have you been working on lately?  If you decide to try out the tutorials from Penelope Waits, let me know, because...well, I'd just love to know! ;)

Lace on a Wet Foam Block and Other Tales of Crafting

Life seems kind of...well, like life, right now.  I wouldn't say that life is like a chair of bowlies, but things keep moving despite me, who is currently a stick-in-the-mud.  I'm sick.

I have been working like crazy on a conglomeration of projects.  The picture above is actually a sneak peek of one of those, which I am VERY excited about, and is currently being blocked on some foam puzzle pieces. (Hey, a knitter has to do what a knitter has to do!)

For another project, I have been hired to crochet two baby blankets for twins, and I am a *smidgen* away from being done with the pink one.  Yay!  Now I just have to finish the blue one before I get home next week!

The reason I am going home next week, is because one of my good friends is hosting a homeschool, historical ball!  I really wanted to go last year, but being clear across the U.S. was a little bit of an obstacle.  This year, although I live in a different state, I'm ready for it! I am going to wear a pretty lace dress that I have. It's not historical, by any means, but it will be pretty and special enough to wear to the ball, I guess.

I've been sewing on a rather large project recently, and then occasionally trying to work on stuff for Classic Kniterature, but it's a little hard when there are so many other pressing projects to be worked on!  Ah well, all things will work out eventually.

Anyhoo, that's what I'm about lately, so if you drop by, don't be surprised if you see me furiously crocheting/knitting/sewing away, or at least bumming around with a tissue box.

What projects have YOU been working on lately?

My First Quilt Block

I absolutely love browsing crafty blogs.  They fill me with inspiration, give great tips, and share fabulous tutorials!  A really cute craft blog is Penelope Waits, and she is always sharing pictures of her projects, and occasionally a sweet tutorial!  That's where I found the tutorial for this lovely quilt block, "Square in a Star".

In a previous post, the author of Penelope Waits shared that her and a friend had decided to challenge each other to pick a photo for inspiration and a quilt block pattern, and each come up with a quilt block based off of the photo.  I thought this was not only a fabulous idea, but something inside me was just itching to make a quilt block.  I've never really made one before, so I am super excited about this!




I based my color scheme off of a picture from a paint chip booklet that you can see in the upper corner.  Yellow and Blue has long been a favorite color combination of mine.

I have no idea what I am going to do with my quilt block yet, but at least I have it to use if I want it!

Crafty Collection ~ Episode 1

Sometimes (when I keep up on reading blogs, or looking for patterns), I come across so many nifty and darling tutorials that I want to share! A blog post containing links to such patterns? It's a no-brainer! Here is the very first episode of crafty loveliness that caught my eye.

Softies

• Pointy Kitty
• Chibi Kitty & Rabbit
• Stuffed Mouse
• Little Lambkin
• Scotty Dog ~ I'm absolutely in love with this guy!
• Socks Owl

Accessories

• Ruffle Checkbook Cover
• Fabric Watchbands

Home Decor

• Patchwork Pillow
• Butterfly Wreath

Other

• Fabric Labels Tutorial
• T-Shirt Yarn

I didn't mention it before, but this is also a great way for me to keep track of patterns I love, without loosing them in my bookmarks. Shhh! It's our secret!

Oh, and yes. I love softies.