I Made a Neck Tie! Thanks Molly!

Using a tutorial by Molly at The Purl Bee I was able to make a Neck Tie for my grandson.

Because I had to use a piece of fabric that wasn’t large enough I had to double the pattern and cut it flat instead of on the fold. I needed 54 inch wide but could not find any like I wanted in that size. The original pattern is on the top in the photo and the new one I had to make is on the bottom.

Then to make sure I had the heros lined up mostly in the middle of the tie and the ones that I wanted showing I taped the material to the window on the back door so I could see through the pattern to adjust it properly.

Before this I had no idea how to do the slip stitch or the ladder stitch that she used to close up the tie. I was quite impressed with both stitches. My eyeballs felt as if they would stay crossed forever but they didn’t. So now I can make more ties! My nephew needs one too.

This was a huge help in the process 🙂

I never even thought about making a neck tie. They are something you go to the store and buy. I love that I learned how to make one for my grandson. He was so excited to have a “real” tie. Thanks Molly.

How To Sew a Box Corner on a Bag

I knew that I wanted to try to make a tote bag but I did not want a flat bag. I did however want it to have a flat bottom. So I used some scrap fabric from a skirt to make a practice bag. A tiny practice bag. It was almost too small to work with.

Sew your seams around three sides. Then pinch the fabric into a triangle shape so a side seam will be facing you and running down the middle.

While holding the seams look inside to make sure your seams are perfectly lined up, good luck.

Next take a pin and stick it exactly through the seams, better than I managed to do 🙂

Next measure how far in you want your cross seam to go. Mark it using a water soluble pen. That will determine how wide the flat bottom of your bag will be. So you have to eyeball it and not make it larger than your bag. Unless you want it that way.

Then of course mark all the way across and sew over that line making sure to lock the stitches at both ends so the seams won’t unravel.

And there you have it a bag with a flat bottom. Ok well the bag isn’t finished yet. More on that later.

See why I said good luck. I tried to be very careful and I still did not manage to get my seams lined up exactly right!

From a Skirt to a Soft Doll

I used Liquid Stitches to give the seams extra strength since the black hand stitching was mainly for decoration even though it is a backstitch. I had never used Liquid Stitches before and I think I like it. It did not flow out of the bottle very smoothly though so that part was a little aggravating. However it did a great job of binding the fabric. The label says that it i machine washable and dryable. So I am looking forward to using it to hem a pair of jeans. It also says that it is non-toxic. I was thinking of the doll for a child but I wouldn’t want them to such on the fabric with glue in it. So maybe it would be ok.

Beaded Sparkly Patch

This is one of the patchs that I pulled off of the Satin Prom dress. I am going to turn it into a bracelet cuff.

Beaded River Fractal

I made this picture with a program called Fractal Forge. I know this isn’t a skirt or even part of a skirt but I could cut pieces from a skirt to make this into a quilted piece. The river running through the middle would take so long to bead. I shall think upon it. If any of you are faster than me and give it a try, I would love to see it.

I didn’t expect to take so long working on this piece. It took me awhile to figure exactly how to put it together. I had to rip most of the seems out and the waistband off. I was in such a ripping frenzy that I ripped one too many out. My daughter who is out of town right now has my sewing machine so this will have to wait. I also cut off all of those sequins as many of them were lose. I decided that I could more easily glue them back on later as opposed to sewing them on.

The Little Blue Bucket

I found this little leather like blue bucket at Goodwill yesterday and I knew immediately that it was going to be the bottom to go with my white and flowery skirt! I couldn’t believe my luck.

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As Grover from Sesame Street would say, "Near"

“Far”

Luna inspecting matters.

So I plan on making a bucket bottom purse. You may or may not know what I am talking about if you were alive in the 70’s 🙂

Little round fruit baskets were used to make a purse. They were painted pretty colors and material was attached to the top inside of the basket and I think they had a drawstring closure. Not sure I could be wrong about that. I had a white basket with a green gingham top.

I can’t decide whether or not to leave the handle on this bucket to use as a strap or remove and do something else with it. Hope to have some progress pics for you soon.

Teal and Flowers

So many ideas have been floating around in my head as to what to do with these two items of clothing. I would love to find some teal leather like material to add to the flowered skirt material and make a backpack. Or I could make a purse out of the skirt material and line the inside with the satin. I think using teal thread to crochet granny squares to make the top part of a shirt made from the skirt would be gorgeous. This will take awhile for me to decide. So while I think I rip it apart. I will use the sparkly patches as bracelets and a necklace.

A Skirt Wearing Lamp

Yes you read that right, a skirt wearing lamp. I bought this gorgeous skirt a Goodwill and it was too small for me. I had to have it because the material is just so beautiful. I knew that I could use it for something. For right now its going to dress the plain brown paper bag looking shade that I have been meaning to cover with a map. The skirt is so much quicker. I’d like to redo the entire room in the colors from this skirt so leaving it there will be an inspiration. I need to find a great finial for the top of the lamp.

The end table is waiting to be turned into a pet cubbie. It will get a coat of paint, have the doors removed and a nice soft bed set inside of it. I also hope to re-upholster the couch sometime soon.

At night it’s really pretty.

Ignored

So sorry I have ignored this blog for over a year I think. I really would like to get back into the swing of things with this one.