Lacing Cards -- TUTORIAL

My son is obsessed with my pincushion. Always has been. His most recent favorite project is to take whatever randomly threaded needle that has been left in the pincushion and "sew" it through my pincushion, using every last inch of thread, until it's so tight that the end of the needle is left barely sticking out. Time for a project that will be more fun and rewarding:

Lacing Cards!


What you'll need:

~ something to lace -- there are lots of possibilities at the dollar store!
~ drill with 1/4" or 3/16" bit
~ shoelaces or ribbon


I started with this dollar store door sign, removing the wire first.

I first drilled through the original holes that the wire was threaded through, making them larger, then continued around the edges of the flower.

I gave the backs of the holes a quick little sand.

Then I busted out my dollar store shoelaces (8 pair of assorted lengths for a buck!) and let my boys go to town.

Here's another version -- a "paint-your-own wall plaque," also from the dollar store.

Same method, except I first had to remove those tiny little rivets.

There are lots of ways to lace these cards!
(I considered -- briefly -- painting this one, but ultimately decided I liked the simpleness of the plain wood. Besides, the laces are the decoration!)

You could always bust out your Sharpies to decorate your shoelaces, if you want a little more color.


Or, break out some grosgrain ribbon and wrap the ends with packing tape!

I tell ya, these little cards are addicting! It's fun to try and make shapes or letters by crisscrossing the center!

These are definitely going to come in handy on road trips or at church!

Mojo -- Gone Again!

I'm really struggling with motivating myself to work on any sewing projects lately. I suppose this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just very different from what I am used to. Normally, I want to spend every spare second I can on my sewing projects. Lately? Not so much. Can't remember the last thing I sewed, but it's been more than just a couple days. And I'm actually just fine with that!

Thinking back, I now realize I go through cycles where I feel my "sewing mojo" has gone missing. This time feels a little different somehow. I don't feel panicked about it, like I "should" be working on something. That's probably good. One shouldn't feel obligated to work on fun projects!

There are some big plusses to the situation: {1} I've been excavating some of the "piles" in my house -- doing a lot of chucking, donating, and general "spring cleaning." This is very good for the soul! (It also makes Mr very happy!) {2} I've done some really great (non-sewing related) projects with my boys this week. They love it and I love it, and it's been a lot of fun for everyone!

Well. We'll be leaving on a trip in the near future, and I hope to do a lot of relaxing and hanging out with family. I've got a long list of really great project ideas, and I hope to get cracking on them when we get home!

Flashback Friday -- U.S. Map Quilt

This quilt, completed a few years back, is a triumph for a few reasons:

#1: I got this cute panel for practically nothing because a very small portion of Canada was cut short. Since it's a U.S. map, that was fine with me!
#2: Even though the colors in the panel are somewhat unique, I still had fabrics in all the same colors on hand!
#3: I pieced the batting from some large batting scraps.
#4: I had the backing fabric on hand too -- little all-over Earths!


That means this quilt was practically freeeeee!!

I quilted it by sewing all the state lines -- great free-motion practice.

One of my favorite parts of this quilt is the border. I free-motion quilted the names of all the states, alphabetically, all the way around. Too fun!

My four-year-old is very interested in the states and where each one is. I'm excited to break this quilt out again and look at it with him!

I-Spy..... Swiss Cheese!

After a little distance and time away from looking at or thinking about my epic i-spy failure, I decided that since I'd spent years and years of collecting it was absolutely worth my time to free my favorite and most irreplaceable squares from their little green prison cell blocks.

So, last week I sucked it up, bought a brand-spanking new seam ripper, put in a good movie, and started going to town on this puppy:

Once I got going and established a rhythm, I actually got quite a bit done in just one movie's worth of time -- and you know, secretly, it really wasn't all that bad.

Then the next day my sister-in-law came over and did tons more for me while I quilted her fated quilt (the one I sewed my finger doing!). I would definitely call it a fair trade, injury and all!


Now that my precious little squares are freed from their ugly fate (ha ha!), I've put them back in their box next to their hundreds of friends, where they will wait until I come up with a better plan.

And they will have to wait until after Christmas!

Talking While Quilting....

So last week I was gabbing away with my sister-in-law as I was helping her quilt a baby quilt she made, when suddenly -- KA-POW! I sewed my thumb!

(If you are squeamish or easily grossed out, you may not want to read on!)

Now, you must realize that I was not going too fast, I was not being reckless, and I really was paying attention to what I was doing. I don't know what happened! I guess it must have been the blabbity-bla-bla-bla that did it.

I've done this once before. In and out through the edge of a finger -- no big deal. The needle didn't break, and it didn't really even bleed much.

This time the needle broke. I looked at my thumb, and the end of the needle was sitting on top of it. Then I looked closer. There was a thread sticking out the hole on the other side of my thumb. Gross.

Lucky for you I didn't think to stop and grab a photo of THAT.

I pulled on the end of the needle and the thread came right out. Super gross.

Yeah. I was sewing with white thread. Ha ha, hope you're not gagging now!

After I cleaned my thumb up and stopped bleeding, I went back to the sewing machine. The end of the thread coming out of the machine was pink! Super DUPER gross!!

But I managed not to bleed on Susan's quilt. And my thumb is fine.
Moral of the story? No blabbity-bla-bla-bla while you're free-motion quilting!!!

Pillow Cover into Dress-Up Purse -- TUTORIAL

I made two of these cute little girls' dress-up purses out of...


...this pillow cover I found at the dollar store!

(This looks like a lot of steps, but believe me -- it took longer to write this tutorial than it did to make both purses!)

SUPPLIES:
~ pillow cover
~ ribbon, cording, or chain for strap
~ vintage button or other embellishment

STEP ONE: Remove the zipper. This is one case when shoddy construction is your friend -- super long stitches are easy to rip out! I thought about reusing the zipper in my project, but decided against it and added it to my zipper stash.


I toyed with a few ideas as far as style and construction, but settled on this fold-over flap style. Not only is it super easy to construct, but it will be easy for little hands to open and close without worrying about zippers or buttons.


STEP TWO: Turn the pillow cover inside out, then fold it approximately in half. Use an iron to crease the sewing line. No pins, no marking!


STEP THREE: Sew right along the crease, leaving a small opening toward one end. Stop and backstitch, moved the foot down a few inches, backstitch again and continue. Don't clip that connecting thread! When you turn your purse right side out, that thread will prevent you from stretching and distorting the fabric.
(I also re-sewed over the rest of the lines to ensure they wouldn't pop out.)


STEP FOUR: Mirror your stitching line on the other side of the pillow cover. I left an extra wide seam allowance, since this particular fabric frays quite easily.


STEP FIVE: Cut your pieces apart and turn them right side out.

Be sure to poke out those corners. I use my handy-dandy chopstick for this!


STEP SIX: Press your edges to make them nice and sharp.

Press your opening as well.

STEP SEVEN: Fold your purse how you want it to look with the wrong (lining) side out.

Make sure your opening is on the side seam, not on the flap.

STEP EIGHT: Tuck in the ends of your purse handle as shown. (Mine is some kind of braided cording I had on hand.) Stick the ends out the side seams, with the rest inside. Pin in place.

STEP NINE: Sew! You are attaching the handle, sewing the side seams, and closing up your turning hole all at the same time!

I sewed back and forth where the handle was attached for extra security. (I also knotted the ends of my handle before sewing them in to ensure they wouldn't unravel.)

Trim.

STEP TEN: Turn right side out!

STEP ELEVEN: (The fun part!) Choose an embellishment for your purse. I chose to handsew a vintage button to the flap (these are the ones I was trying to decide between!), but a fabric flower would be really cute too!

If your dollar store doesn't carry pillow covers, you could certainly do this same process with a couple pieces of fabric instead. I just really liked the fancy, shiny, girly look of this pillow cover! And who can beat two purses for a BUCK?

Christmas Fabric GIVEAWAY -- Winner!!!

Thanks, everyone, for entering my little giveaway. I really enjoyed reading everyone's ideas for Christmas projects. Makes me itch to start some of my own!!

Okay..... The Christmas Fat Quarters are going to:

Who is:

I will be emailing you shortly, Amy! Congrats, and enjoy!!