Button Storage: Day 152

A Make-Up Day

As you recall, my camera took a day off yesterday. Now we are back on track, Camera and I, so here goes the Catching-Up-For-Lost-Time-Blog...and of course a project for today, too!

Yesterday the project was inspired by a tutorial of Martha Stewart's called

Decorative Jar Lids. 

The idea is to cover containers (jam jars, etc) for your crafting supplies so they will look great and be aesthetically pleasing, being more than just a Plain Jane container. Her version calls for woven fabric.

My version, OF COURSE, must be Felted Sweater Fabric.

And my story of the tutorial is as follows:

For the pattern, draw around the lid you want to cover, then allow for an additional  amount to lop over the edges. I used a baby food jar for my project, but you may cover any lidded jar with this technique.
 I couldn't keep a photographic record of the process for you, but I took photos today of the outcome.

The next step was to choose the fabric and cut it out. Pretty straightforward.

"Is the glue the same as your previous project, the Sweater Rose?," you ask.
YES! :-]
I spread the glue on the lid, then placed the lid in the center of the blue sweater circle. Before covering the edges of the lid with the overlapping fabric I cut from the outside edge of the circle every 1" so the fabric would lap over itself and lay flat on the lip of the lid.
Once that was done and the overlap adhering nicely to the lip, I cut around the edge to remove the excess. (You can see the cut off pieces here.) Now the jar lid is fully covered.

I stitched a button to the blue circle before I glued it.

The orange buttons in this jar are so cool...just had to show you!

Now it's THE NEXT DAY, Monday, June 20!

My project for today:

This has also been inspired by Martha's Decorative Jar Lids, but I am now off on a bit of a tangent.
Here is a plastic box that contained a pincushion that I purchased a while back. Couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I'm such a fanatic re-user of things, and can't stand to waste anything that might be of use in the future...however far distant that might be. :-/ Eeeeekkk!

I wanted to cover this label. I measured the label and drew a circle with my compass for the pattern.

Actually I tore as much of the label off as I could so there would be less space for the box embellishment and more space for the contents to show.

A button stitched to the circle...a little fuzzy, sorry.

Glopping the YES! glue to the sweater piece.
This was quite the tricky and fuzzy mess trying to keep from sticking everything to my hands and fingers before putting it where I really wanted it.

Success...the blue circle has found its home on the plastic box. And my white buttons have a new home where I can see them and get some inspiration for future projects. The good thing is that there is plenty of room for more White Buttons. I haven't yet rounded up all of them in my sewing area.

And here is my Happy Button Container on the shelf.
Some of my treasured toys are admiring it.

Tuesday is almost here. Have a good one!

A Project Delayed: Day 151

A Glitch In The System!

No photos tonight, My Friends.

 I am sorry to announce that my camera took a non-preauthorized vacation day stating, "My poor battery doesn't feel good and I need a day off". "Not again", I'm thinking, but don't say it to Camera. I suppose I must acknowledge the problem and just take a deep breath.

The Project was started and finished, but without the photographs to help "see" it. Just words would not be enough...and a bit boring as well...so I will continue with follow-up tomorrow. 

I was planning to make more of these anyway, so will just have tomorrow be 

a make up day!

See you then. 

Happy Monday 

A Celebratory Day: 150 Days...and Counting!

I'm Making A Cake Today

For Saturday, June 18, 2011

Well, really just making a Piece of Cake. :-]

Today is a Landmark Day. I have worked projects now for 150 Days.

Let's Celebrate!

The Recipe I'm using is for 

Hummingbird Cake.

If you haven't heard of this, now is the time to try it.

My friend Pamela made this cake and offered me a piece on Thursday...

Heaven on Earth! Thank you, Pamela.

The cake is most delicious. Eco-friendly to hummingbirds since there are NO hummingbirds in the cake.

When I first heard the name of this cake my mind conjured up an idea that when the cake was first made it was put outside on the table awaiting the party guests who would be arriving to eat cake. But before they arrived the cake was surrounded by hummingbirds who were so attracted to the sweetness that they couldn't resist but to taste it.

How do you think the name was initiated? 

It seems that there are conflicting stories. Google it Right Here! and you will see.

Here is My Piece of Cake:

The Batter!

Lambswool, 94%
Nylon, 5%
Spandex, 1%

The Icing!

Lambswool, 70%
Angora Rabbit's Hair, 20%
Nylon, 10%

Paper patterns for the cake and the icing.

Time to get out the scissors.

In order that my cake has straight sides instead of bulges I am going to stitch the cut sides to make it square. (The pins indicate the corners of the piece of cake.)

Choosing a floss color to match the batter.

Ready to sew the first side.

A miniscule blanket stitch to form the edges. All sides are complete here.

Now I have a nice square cake. Empty calories!!! Did you notice?  ;-]

Cutting up some pecan pieces!

What a delicious looking piece of Hummingbird Cake.
The chopped pecans add flavor as well as a pleasing appearance to the icing.

My Piece of Cake won't last long looking so yummy!

Help me celebrate by making a REAL Hummingbird Cake.
Paula Deen has a Great Recipe HERE.

Happy Father's Day to you.
Enjoy your family!

A Posie: Day 149

Flower Brooch...

Keeping With A Theme

For Friday, June 17, 2011

In my head--still thinking about flower projects!

Something from my Scrap Basket tonight.

Looking and thinking about what to make. I gleaned some ideas here.

The chosen scraps.

Pink ribbing gathered into a circle for the large part of the flower.
Yellow ribbing cut into sections and added as part of the center.
Small blue square to layer atop the yellow piece.

And a few beads for stamens.

Plan for the backing:
To make a brooch I will add a pin covered with this light pink circle.

Two very small slits cut in the pink circle to accommodate the safety pin and keep it in place.

The back is complete.

My Flower Brooch...or Posie.
To accentuate the orange beads, I stitched three times through the hole in 2 of them.
Interesting outcome.

Have a Great Weekend!

A Completed Blue Rose: Day 148

One Long-Stemmed Rose

For Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lots of photos for you tonight.

"A picture is worth a thousand words", so here are 14,000 words, plus a few of my own.

To finish the Rose that I began last night, a bit of fine tuning needed to be done. 

A rose needs leaves, so I drew a pattern and cut out a few. The ribbing of the sweater used for the wrapping seemed like a good idea, as the ribs reminded me of the veins of a leaf.

Here are the 4 leaves that I cut out. The width of the ribbing was perfect for the size I wanted.

The Rose as I left it last night with a pin holding the wrapping in place.

I take a deep breath as I unwrap my work.

The bare rose with the chopstick exposed again.
I am now embarking upon a mission to glue down the wrap.

Glopping up the base of the rose.

Now pulling the green sweater strip over the glue.

Down to the chopstick...glop that up, too!

The beauty of this glue, called YES!, is that it dries slowly, allowing time to carefully place the strip where I want it. There is the option of pulling off the strip to reposition it also.
I considered using hot glue, but that dries fast making it necessary to do the work very quickly. Better to be able to take time and do a neat job, I think.

Here goes the first leaf into position; layering glue over the base so the strip can be wrapped over it.

Continuing down the chopstick.

The third leaf...I didn't use the fourth one.

And finishing to the end of the stick. Some sticky, glue-laden fingers here.
But the glory of this is that the glue is water-soluble. Hooray! 

The wrapped stem posing with the YES! glue.
Did I mention that I also have a love affair going with this glue?
Now the list is getting longer...not just My Favorite Knot!

My finished Rose.
Even though I didn't make miniscule serrated edges on the leaves, they really look like true rose leaves. That is a happy accident. :-]

Take time to smell the roses!
A Happy Friday to All

Sweater Rose: Day 147

Inspiration From Last Friday's Craft Night

You may remember the Crepe Paper Roses* that I made at the Etsy Craft Party June 10.
*Thank you to Sammy for her great instructions and help at the Craft Party!
She has an etsy shop HERE where she sells her flowers and crepe paper...make a visit to her shop. :-]

Tonight I was inclined to make a rose like that one using sweater fabric.

Here are the results:

Paper heart pattern that I cut. 
Just like in grade school: fold the paper, then cut half the heart, and voila a symmetrical pattern. This sweater is fairly lightweight making it flexible and pliable to form the rose.
The dimensions of this pattern:
Center top "dip" to bottom point--2 1/2"
Widest point--4"
Top "bulge" to bottom point--3 1/2" 

Four hearts are cut from the fabric. The fine wire at right will be used to wrap the petals to the chopstick that will be the stem.

The first heart piece is wrapped and wired to the chopstick.  The other 3 pieces will be staggered around this base and then also wired.

Near view for details.

To make the stem I will cut a couple of long strips from this sweater sleeve.

The strips are 3/8" to 1/2" wide.
No need to be too careful about this. These strips will be like florists tape on the paper version.

The rose itself is complete, and the stem/chopstick has been wrapped with the green fabric.
I secured it with a pin for now, but I need to figure out what to use ultimately so it will stay in place.

The blossom.

Crepe Paper Rose and Sweater Rose.

A good start for a rose bouquet!

To be continued...