THREAD - cozy flannel heating pad cover.

Wow - the title of this blog post makes me seem super cool and hip doesn't it?? That's me - the awesome fun person that sits at home talking to the dog sewing flannel covers for heating pads on a Saturday afternoon. Good lord.

Alright - let me explain why this wasn't such a lame activity. First off - I really needed a cover for that damn heating pad. The original one (which was really lame to begin with) got lost in the move and I use it to warm my toes in bed when I am reading. Also - I use it all the time at this new house as I have determined that heat is for "rich people" after paying the first real heating bill of my life (it was always covered in the rent in previous places). San Francisco summers are cold!

Secondly - my sewing room is awesome - full of light with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon - sewing in the sun while listening to music and drinking a spicy bloody mary. It's doesn't sound as lame and sad anymore does it?

Anyhoo - here is what I made and how I made it. Stop judging me.

During my fabric and yarn binge about a month ago I picked up some super soft flannel designed by Anna Maria Horner whose prints I have always adored. Since I vowed to work through my piles and look less like a hoarder - this quick and easy project was a perfect way to move through some of my stash. Flannel is such a great material for something completely designed to be warm and cozy too.

I wanted the cover to have a little color contrast so I used two coordinating fabrics - a blue for the main and a yellow for the accent color. Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance I roughly traced the pad and cut out the pieces. Then I ironed the fabric since it was pretty wrinkled and got to constructing. The only really challenge was creating a place for the cord to go through. For that - I simply hemmed the bottom and left a 2 inch space in the corner for the cord - easy breezy. For good measure I attached two pieces of velcro to the top to prevent the pad from slipping out. All in all - I was done with this project in under and hour and less than one bloody mary.

Now - I'm off to do something outside.

B.L.E.

THREAD - Biscuit's new leash on life.

As you may know - Biscuit had a little "work" done recently. Some would say that he is now less of a man but I like to think that his surgery was more of a transition into the non-puppy stage of his life. Sort of like getting confirmed or having a Bar Mitzvah eh?
To celebrate his move into adulthood - I decided he needed a new leash and collar. I wanted him to have something more grown-up and less puppyish. He needed something to represent his new maturity and perhaps looking less like it belonged on a cat (he already sleeps in a cat bed but shhh don't tell him).

As usual - I gained my leash inspiration in a purlbee posting. In Molly's Sketchbook there was a great tutorial for a cotton leash with alphabet ribbon. It was perfection - from the color (red is Biscuit's signature color) to the preppy monogram. Luckily - it was very easy to do. The hardest part was finding the right hook for the end - I did find an okay one on amazon.com but it's still not perfect.

A few things to note -
1. Since the dog in the tutorial is a giant and Biscuit currently weighs 11 pounds (he'll probably top out at 18-20 lbs) - I reduced the leash length by a few feet.
2. It is really really important to take the time to pin the ribbon onto the cotton webbing every few inches  - otherwise it wont stay centered and the whole look will be off - more sloppy than preppy.

3. The pattern calls for invisible thread but this is harder to find than one would think - neither purlsoho.com or joannes.com had it in stock. I used white thread with a red bobbin and it turned out great. The only places you can see the stitches is at the loops for the handle and hook where the stitching is reinforced for strength.
4. I didn't make a matching collar for a few reasons - the hardware would have been difficult to find and attach, cotton webbing doesn't lend itself to being very adjustable and it would have been a really thick collar for our silly little dog. We did pick him up a nice new red collar from Target for around $7.00. It is thicker than his last one so there will be no more confusion with cat collars!

I hope this inspires y'all to do a little spring upgrade of your own.

B.L.E.

current piles = future projects

Lately I have been on a bit of a bender. All the fabric and yarn shown here I purchased in the last 2.5 months. I think I have self control but I just don't. I think I can stop whenever I want but I just can't. Despite my obsessive watching of Hoarders I continue to purchase supplies for unplanned projects. I buy things "just in case."

The problem truly is that there has been so much great stuff around lately. Beautiful hand dyed yarns in incredible colors from purlsoho.com and my favorite local yarn shop Urban Fauna. Whimsical fabrics in fantastic prints (monkeys and robots and dots oh my!) from Etsy and then there was the gnome incident which led to a fear that if I didn't purchase now I may never get it.

That being said - I now have a wonderful stash of really great fabrics and yarns that need projects worthy of their beauty. This is where you come in.

Friends - I need help. Please help inspire me. I need ideas, projects, requests, patterns, something to get these great materials transformed into fantastical things. So...shoot. I'm all ears. And who knows? Your super idea could very well end up being a present just for you!

Cheers!
B.L.E.

THREAD - I NEED this immediately.

That's right - I need - not want - this fabric. My body aches for it like a junkie in need of a fix. There are at least two dozen products I can immediately think of that will need to be made with this. Of course - it is only sold at Britex (huge San Francisco fabric store although a bit stuffy) and they are having a sale - 30% off and it ends today. I cannot get there before they close because Britex has the worst hours ever. It's as if they only cater to rich older women in need of chintz to redecorate their formal dining rooms with. Ugh.

Pining away at work.

B.L.E.

UPDATE - My dear dear husband risked life and limb and went to the fabric store sale for me. The place was packed with the above mentioned women and a whole gaggle of emo fashion students from San Francisco Academy of Art.  Unfortunately - the fabric - the NEEDED fabric - was sold out.

Being the sweet man that he is (and probably to emotionally justify the trip to the fabric store) he asked for any other gnome fabrics and came back with one yard of 3 different versions. They were - alright - nothing amazing but it will be fun to fuss around with them. One is a large panel piece - 3 gnomes each measuring over a foot tall. I think I will try to make a stuffed throw pillow out of it. This should give a pizazz to the chair in our sun room. Here is an example of the fabric that I found on the internet. I have no idea who this poor kid is but the fabric is pretty cute eh?

And all was not lost with the ideal fabric - I found it on etsy - 3 yards are shipping this week. Phew!

THREAD - inspired by Martha - again.

That Martha Stewart - she just doesn't know how to relax. She has another book coming out - this one about sewing. I usually like the  projects she has featured in her magazine but rarely go back and make any of them. Lately I have been doing my best to purge any crazy magazine piles. This is partly to maintain the fresh feeling after the great closet clean of 2009 and also because Adam and I have been watching a lot of Hoarders lately - which makes me want to throw away everything I own. So... Martha's new book is kinda awesome. There is no need to hold onto old magazines since everything will be in the book. Thanks Martha.

Of course - I already pre-ordered the book on Amazon. In the meantime - Martha has posted a bunch of her favorite sewing projects on her website. Here are just of few the ones I want to make immediately. Along with the 100 other projects I have in the works.

1. Linen trivet - perfect for our new table!

2. Dish towel sewing machine cover. It's so simple and divine. I almost want to replace the one I made last year.

3. Quilted coasters. These seem like the perfect solution for leftover fabric bits. Part of the their charm can be that they are mismatched.

4. Oilcloth lunch bag. Perhaps if I had this I would actually bring my lunch to work instead of making a daily trip to the Whole Foods salad bar?

Alas. I would be so much more sewing and knitting productive if I didn't have a pesky job/career. Hmmmpphhh.

Happy Monday.

B.L.E.

THREAD - more bibs.

I made these a while back on my bib making binge. I just couldn't resist making more bibs. You can finish a whole set in under an hour and baby fabric is just so darn cute. Just look at it - dancing monkeys and baby animals. Precious.

Luckily - everyone I know is having a baby. This may sound like an exaggeration but - I have three friends and my favorite hairdresser all due within two weeks of each other. Four friends - two weeks - how crazy is that? Something in the water...

Since none of these babies were actually born when I was making the bibs - I found my own models. Their names are Owen and Fiona and they are random bunny/rat creatures I picked up at my previous job. No - I did not name them - their names are embroidered on their chests. Odd little dollies.

These bibs were super easy to make. Three layers of fabric and a little velcro - done and done.

B.L.E.

THREAD - comfy cozy sewing machine cover

Even I have to admit that I am getting a bit too 1950's out of control housewifey when looking at this project from afar - but there really is a purpose behind a sewing machine cozy. Really. When I signed up for my spinster quilt class I knew I would be carting my machine back and forth and there were risks involved - dirtiness and damage and such. I looked around for covers/carrying cases for my particular machine and there were two main problems - they were not all that cheap ($29.95) and they were ugly and orthopedic looking.

Thus - I had to take matters into my own hands. With a little help from online tutorials - one from Spool and another from one of my fave blogs Lavender and Limes. I kinda smushed the two tutorials together to make the easiest possible solution. And since I have a fabric buying addiction - I had plenty fabric on hand to stitch up a cover.

Just 30 minutes later and I had this functional masterpiece. It is absurd - I fully admit it - but it's cute huh?

B.L.E.

THREAD - irish linen homemade dish towels

In a very bourgeois effort to go green - I have been slowly trying to wean us off of our paper towel dependence. It seems that we were going through a roll a week - using them for just about everything - as napkins to dish drying to counter cleaning. Mr. Clean Magic Erasers (life changing) have solved many of the issues of cleaning but not the dish drying.

Using super soft Irish linen fabric (1 yard) I bought as a remnant a while back and some scrap woven ribbon I was able to make four fantastic simple kitchen towels in just a few hours. While creating these really requires no pattern (in fact - you could just make a larger version of the napkins I made a few months ago) I got the idea from a great new book Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. The pattern is called good-guests-do-the-dishes dish towels. This book is full of great fast fun projects - I am especially excited to try the smocked sundress for my baby niece Leila as well as the hold everything tote.

A few things to note about making the towels:

Pick a fabric that is soft so it wont scratch glassware.

Chose a fabric that is also absorbent. Basic quilting/sewing cotton will not work because it just wont absorb enough water to actually dry the dishes.

Linen, soft thick cotton, jersey or lightweight terrycloth would work best.

When using a loosely woven linen like I did you have a little leeway with edges and hems - there is a very nice organic look when the hems are a little off - sort of a pretty softness.

Scrap fabric in an alternating color would work really well for the loop - adding an extra pop of color. I used the woven ribbon because it matched and it was just hanging about the apartment (recycle, reduce, reuse).


These pretty towels should make drying the dishes a little more exciting for at least a day or two.

Happy cleaning.

B.L.E.

p.s. - don't you love my pot rack (it's from Crate and Barrel)? The thing is amazing - showing off our pretty cookware and clearing up key cabinet space for important - less pretty things - like the croc pot.

THREAD - BIGGEST project to date!

I've accomplished the biggest project so far as a housewife. First off - no I am not pregnant - I'm talking crafts here - not procreation. It is a quilt and I made the whole thing myself. Even took a class. The class was me and a bunch of old single ladies - I do say - I fit in well with the spinsters.

The final product measures ~4.5 feet of pure sweat and tears beauty. I honestly shed blood over this quilt. Somehow - every time I moved my arm when hand quilting (so about 10,0000 times) I would scrape it across a row of pins. It looked like I got in a fight with a cat and lost - huge red scratches up and down my forearms.

I have no idea who this is for or what I am going to do with it but I find these projects are the best - there is a lot of pressure when making something for someone else - it is fantastic to just play around and be surprised by the final product.

things I learned and key accomplishments -
how to use a ruler - a fancy quilting ruler
how to cut a straight line (measure twice - cut once!)
needles are sharp
I cannot sit still for 3 hours (I pretended I had to go to bathroom just to shake my sillies out during my class)
pins are sharp
how to make bias strips and attach binding
hand quilting does make for a nicer/cleaner finish but it sure is a looooooooooooooong (pain in the ass) process
working with stripes is dangerous - you cannot hide any errors with them - they blow your cover with their straightness and symmetry - bastards

Like a mom with an ugly kid - I will always treasure this slightly wonky quilt as my first BIG project. Lots of time and effort went into it and I learned so much about sewing and determination and I now have a huge respect for people who undertake these sorts of projects. It was also a real lesson in patience for me too - I have lots of fantastic fabric and books and a big list of projects (nice, fast, cute, easy projects) that I was aching to get started on but I really stuck to my guns and would not start anything new until I conquered the beast. The green floral and pink polka dot beast.


Final words of wisdom - quilting is like a home renovation - assume it will take twice as long and twice as much money to complete as you originally planned.

Cheers!

B.L.E.

THREAD - the first of a flock

There are multiple patterns out there for birds and even better - bird mobiles - and I do love a good ride on a bandwagon - especially one as cute as this - bird mobile.

I have been completely tied up with my quilt (which should be finished and posted very very soon) and my upcoming run (tomorrow - wish me luck) once that is complete I will be all about some birds. I do love me some birds.

Look for the full flock soon.

Oh - and Adam thinks this bird looks like a space whale which completely baffles and slightly offends me.

Cheers!

B.L.E.

THREAD - drool worthy baby bib

Since I am now a sewing addict - I needed a quick sewing fix and this was the perfect project. From the first fabric ironing to the final stitch I was done in less and an hour and a half and I am by no means a fast sewer.

I took a few patterns and tutorials I found online and morphed them into this final project. One tutorial had a pdf for the pattern - just need to print, trace and cut. Another recommended adding a layer of flannel in the center for extra absorbency (given baby Leila's almost camel-like spitting issues this is a good thing) so I added a layer thin cotton batting. Finally - there was the issues of ties versus snaps versus velcro for the closure. Obviously - stick-on velcro was the way for my lazy-ass to go.

Since these are so easy to make and friggin adorable - I expect baby bibs to be the new fingerless glove - I wont be able to stop until my hand turns into a claw.

Enjoy -
B.L.E.

THREAD - robot "baby" pillow

For Adam's birthday I made him a mini (aka baby) pillow. I have had one for years - it is perfect for falling asleep and nice for traveling. Since it was mine and not ours Adam has spent the last few years trying to steal it.

Again - I don't like patterns or being told what to do so this is the ideal project. I simply made a quick pillow out of cheap muslin and used standard poly stuffing. The green fabric I had on-hand. I have lots of crafting supplies hanging around the apartment - all leftover from bigger, much more ambitious projects that I never complete.

To make it extra special and Adam appropriate - I embroidered a mini robot onto the mini pillow (got this idea from Sara's tiki man pillow she did for her new chair). Obviously - I do not know how to embroider but let's pretend that adds to the charm.

This was a fun project. All in all it took under and hour to complete and with the exception of the green fabric - all supplies were from Michael's and cheap ($5 tops).

On a funny note - I did the whole damn thing - sewing, stuffing and embroidery - all while Adam was sitting in the living room with me. It is becoming amazingly clear how interested in my crafting he is :-)


Ohh and sorry I didn't bother ironing the pillowcase. It's not that I don't take pride in my work - it is just that the ironing board has fallen victim to the clutter gnomes and is completely covered in Christmas ornaments and papers. Even beginning to clear it off would cause an avalanche of despair.

Happy Valentine's Day Eve.

B.L.E.