Crafter's everywhere love their epoxy and no epoxy is
better, more universal than e6000. It is the work horse of the craft world. I
have used mine to fix shoes, repair jewelry, affix candlesticks to create works
of art and bring countless toys back from the dead. When I am not feeling the
sewing love and just don't have the time to knit and want to make something,
well, pretty for me, I always grab the e6000. It can do anything that you need
and it is the one glue I have found that dependably glues felt to felt.
Here are some amazing DIY I have found that highlight e6000.
Grab a tube and make your favorite.
Jcrew-inspired
Bubble Necklace
Finish
off your kid's Halloween Costume
Here is a chart
that lays out which fabrics e6000 works well on and not so well.
I go through a tube at least every 6 months because it gets put to good use on (and well-intending if not so successful) craft projects. I hope that you gain as much enjoyment as I do every time I pull out my e6000. I feel like I am taking a really good short cut.
Mes amis, it has been a long, cold winter for most of us. The winter cold has extended into May making us wonder if spring was ever coming. Finally, I feel the first signs of spring- the first Braves game, warm days with gentle breezes, birds singing in the morning, daffodils and young people graduating from high school. I am like the groundhog when I feel spring it is time for me to leave my kitchen at the Redneck Cafe to create some outdoor dishes. This old chef is looking at my backyard. I need to make it party ready for barbecues, block parties and more. Of course I think about the great food I will prepare. I will leave my wife in charge of decorating. She is already planting flowers. She has placed beautiful planters around the perimeter of the patio. She is working on making new outdoor cushions for the furniture. I have plenty of barbecue recipes but I need to create a new dessert recipe. I know that brownies and cookies are very good, but I want something different. I have created dessert in a jar. This is easy to make and very good. For children, I would suggest using plastic cups instead of the pint mason jars. If you do not have mason jars, use old jelly jars.
Here is my recipe for no bake cheesecake in a jar:
No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake In A Jar:
Ingredients:
Cheesecake Batter
1 ½ cups (8 oz. bars) cream cheese at room temperature
3 Tbs granulated sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1 Tb fresh lemon juice
Other ingredients:
8 graham crackers, crushed (1 cup)
12 oz. fresh strawberries
½ cup strawberry jam
8 (8-oz. glass jars)
Directions:
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Reduce the mixer speed to low, add whipping cream slowly. Increase the speed to high and beat until thick and stiff about 2 minutes. Beat in the lemon juice.
Spoon in graham crackers into each jar. Alternate layers of cheesecake batter, strawberries, strawberry jam and graham crackers. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Dollop with whipped cream and strawberries as desired.
Is your passion chocolate? Eliminate the lemon juice and add ½ cup Nutella. Follow the instructions as written above.
As you sit on the patio enjoying pleasant conversation with your neighbors and watching the children chase lightning bugs, this dessert will be the perfect ending to a perfect day.
My first step was finding images of carousel horses that would be easy to trace as silhouettes. Here's a fun tip if you have a tablet device: You can use the screen as a tracing board. Just put your paper right over it and trace -- the illumination of the screen will make your image glow through the paper so the lines are easy to see. You may have to adjust your image to get the right size, but the pinch-to-zoom feature on most touchscreen devices makes that easy.
I decided to use Simplicity It's So Easy Pattern 2410 so I would have six panels. Once I had three different horses traced (I used each horse twice), I retraced them onto Heat'n Bond. Then I ironed the Heat'n Bond to the cotton prints I had selected and cut out the designs. 
I set my horses aside while I cut my skirt panels -- I used Lovely Lace Damask Champagne cotton print. Then, I sewed a striped ribbon down the center of each panel to serve as the horses' poles.
I also cut framing pieces for the tops of the panels. (I cut the yoke of the skirt out of this same framing fabric for continuity.) I didn't use fusible interfacing to attach these. Instead, I basted them into place using a long machine stitch, then satin stitched over the basting.
Next, I played with arranging my horses on the panels. I decided that they needed saddles, so I prepared those with Heat'n Bond the same way I cut out the horses. Once each horse was in place, I ironed it down, and then satin-stitched around all edges. I also added ribbon details to the saddle. The stitching of the appliques was easily the most time-consuming part of this project.
After all the horses were appliqued onto my panels, I assembled the skirt according to the pattern. Here is the front panel of the skirt. (The back is an exact duplicate of the front.)
Once the skirt was assembled, I made an exterior facing for the hem by cutting pieces to match the bottom edges of the panels and sewing them together into a loop. I folded down 1/4 inch of the top edge of the facing and pressed it into place. Then I stitched the right side of the hem facing to the wrong side of the skirt.
Next, I flipped the facing to the outside of the skirt, pressed it, and stitched along the folded edge to finish the hem of the skirt and create a lower frame for the appliques.
While my skirt is adult sized, this project could easily be scaled down for a child size, and there are a million motifs you could play with other than a merry-go-round. How cute would fairy silhouettes be on a pint-sized version? Or a parade of safari animals along a hem? If you want to go edgy, you could consider flames around the hem of a dark skirt. Whatever your mind can conjure can be adapted into a fun and unique garment, so get creative!
Make your own Organic Chevron Grilling Mitt. This mitt makes a great
father's day present. Here's what you will need to make 2 mitts.
1 yd. of each yellow, cream and gray organic Pure
Organic cotton fabric
1 yd. Therma-Flec
Batting
Sew4home's
Father's Day Oven Mitt Pattern
(All seams are ½'' unless otherwise stated)
First off, fold each piece of cotton in half matching the selvedges
and then cut 3 strips 3'' wide across the length. This leaves you with 9 strips
in each color. Cut one more from the cream for the cuff and binding.
Next, pin and stitch strips together in this order: Grey,
Yellow, Cream. Continue until all strips are stitched together. Next, fold your
newly sewn strips in half lengthwise and then again. Press and open it up and
cut along the 3 press lines making 4 rectangles. Stack these rectangles up in
this order: right-side up, wrong side up, right side up, wrong side up. Cut
from corner to corner along the diagonal.
Now will reassemble the rectangles using the opposite
triangles. This will create the chevron design and also only the yellow strips
will match up creating an interesting and fun detail. Pin and sew. Press seam
open.
Trace the oven mitt pattern and cut out. Pin the extra cream
strip to the bottom and stitch in place. Trim to match up edges. Repeat for
opposite side of the mitt. Trace the mitt onto the batting and cut it out with
scissors. Pin the batting onto the cotton with the tan side facing out. Using
stitch in the ditch, sew in between each strip, quilting the chevron pattern in
place.
Now is the time to embellish the cream band. Print out your
desired design or, like me, just write "hot "onto a sheet of paper. Trim it up
and pin it in place. Sew over the design using a small stitch and a contrasting
thread. The paper will be perforated and peel right off when you are done.
Then place right
sides together and stitch the 2 sides of the oven mitt together, leaving the
bottom open. Clip curves and trim the seam to reduce bulk and turn right sides
out. Finish off the mitt with the remaining cream strip as binding. Fold it in
half widthwise and press and open it out and fold the outside edges toward
center crease and press again. Pin raw edges together on the bottom of the mitt
and stitch around the outside. Fold under ends as you come to them. Fold trim
over raw edge and topstitch in place. Repeat for second mitt
You are done. You can a) use your new grilling mitt to cook
up something tasty for dad or b) gift them to the best dad in the world
instead!
Create Kids Couture has blessed us with another delightfully
feminine sewing pattern: Allison's
Ruffled Pillowcase Dress. They have put a very ruffley spin on the classic
pillowcase dress. I love the details that have been added to this favorite
dress pattern. A hidden elastic neckline disguised with a fabulous bow that
looks like a tied neck. There is also a banded hem and oversized neck ruffle
that will delight any aspiring princess.
As always, I put my own spin on it to reflect my love of
graphic fabric and bold colors combined with my little girl's love of simple
dresses. While I adore the pattern as designed and would swoon to see my girl
twirling around in it, getting her into it would have been like wrestling a
greased pig. We don't always agree on wardrobe. I lean towards "Oh, this would be so cute on you" and her retorting "but I can run around and climb
in this" or just simply "No". I decided that this pattern could fit both of our
desires with a few tweaks.
First, I slimmed down the dress and made it into an A-line
by taking off 8'' total off the top on both front and back pieces and then
angling down to the original hem. I then lined up the armhole pattern pieces on
the angle and then free-handed the remaining ½'' or so to the top.
I cut wider bias trim
(4'' wide to be exact) for the arm holes in a fluorescent yellow (remnants from
my Sewing with
Voile post). I also scaled down the ruffle to 3'' wide and twice the length
of my new neckline. The ruffle was cut from an organic
jersey knit so which is 100% cotton and has a softer drape than the
quilting cotton used in the original. A small serged edge was added (just like
a rolled hem I removed the finger but did not set my machine settings to rolled
hem). I also left one end of the
elasticize neckline open to accommodate the loss of the extra fabric. Without
this extra fabric my daughter's head would not fit in. So I left the elastic
which I loved and made the faux tie useable by first running the elastic into
the neck line and then pinning each end 1'' away from the edge and topstitching
in lace. This left room to tuck in the raw ends and the ties (which I also made
smaller with the finished ties being 10-12'' each) and topstitching in place.
Lastly, I only used one row of shirring because I had
already slimmed down the dress and didn't want to make it too tight in the
waist. Oh, and I also eliminated the band at the hem and made the neck edge the
same material as the dress because I felt with my color choices added something
else at the neck or hem would have been too much. I hope you enjoy my changes
and the original whether you have a girly girl or a less ruffled girl like mine
you can get the perfect pillowcase dress from one great pattern.
The hubs has some definite requirements in the cut of his shirts, and most retail versions do not pass muster. He likes the sleeves a little longer than they normally are cut. He likes the side hem slits to be shorter than most. But really, I think he just likes picking out fabric.
Through the years, I've made -- no joke -- dozens of shirts for him. Birthdays, Father's Day, special trips, holidays -- he usually knows he'll get at least a few new shirts each year.
Some of them are fairly standard Hawaiian fare:
But I make a lot out of licensed fabrics:
We are both big Star Wars fans, so there are a few shirts in his closet that feature a galaxy far, far away.
And Halloween always calls for something fun. My beloved grew up loving Peanuts comics, so when we spotted this fabric years ago, it was a done deal that it had to be a shirt.
Do you have someone in your life that would love a custom shirt or two?
I found this month's blog on Pinterest. I enjoy cruising the DIY & Crafts section while putting my littlest babe to sleep. One particular night I came across a pin that promised to fix the waist gap in your jeans without major alterations. I clicked. I discovered Cheri's blog and all the DIY goodness it beheld. "I am Momma Hear Me Roar" is a fantastic blog for mommas and all those people who interact with children on a regular basis. Cheri's tutorials are sewing based but most are recycle/upcycle/reinventions so you can go through that Goodwill pile and maybe pull out those few items you were looking for an excuse to save. She also creates some very cool, very inspiring paint projects like the Paisley Tee for Me and the Cloud Nursery Sign (My personal fave!)
Cheri's Tutorial page
also includes a nice selection of No Sew projects for those days where you
really don't wanna as well as boy/girl/momma projects and home décor/organization
ideas. It is a great selection. You can also find her blog schedule
which shares what posts she will be featuring and when. Mondays are fun kids'
projects that Cheri completes with her 2 boys. Tuesdays are craft days.
Wednesdays are "What I Love Wednesdays". These rest you will have to check out
for yourselves.
Cheri also has a special navigation tab highlighting some
really great charities
that you can explore and choose to help as you will. It is great that she
chooses to set aside a little blog space to spread the word for these
charities.
Lastly, you can find some important FAQ's that have been
asked over the years concerning many of her most popular posts. Don't forget to
visit this page
since you will want to make many projects from "I am Momma Hear Me Roar" and
you will find this info pertinent to success.
I hope you enjoy Cheri's gorgeous, amazing and fun blog as
much as I do and don't forget to spread the word.
The Tailor's Daughter by Janice Graham is a novel that takes
place in Victorian England in which a young girl deals with disability, death,
her place as a woman in 19th century society and her calling as a tailor following in the
footsteps of her father. Janice Graham goes into great detail in the backroom
goings-on of a tailo,r throwing out jargon like she, herself, grew up a tailor's
daughter.
Superfine wool: (see red coat above) This is a type or degree of Merino wool. The
term Superfine is used to describe diameter of each wool strand and not the
quality of the wool itself. Superfine is a thin, soft wool fabric typically
used in evening or special occasion gowns which is why Veda decided to use it
for Mrs. Truelock's mourning gown.
Crape: (also known as Crepe) is a thin, opaque fabric that
resembles gauze but is most often made from wool and silk and lately polyester and
blends. In the Victorian period crape was most often made into dresses or
formal wear for mourning or feast days. Crape has a great deal of body and had
some stretch but also wrinkled very easily which was why it was reserved for
special days and the wealthy.
Moire: Although typically linked with silk, Moire is a
treatment and not a type of silk like Dupioni. Moire gives a water like effect
on the surface of a fabric. It can be applied to cotton, linen, silk, taffeta.
There are two methods of achieving a moire. The first, changeable, is not a proper
moire but gives a good enough imitation to be called moire. It is the process
of weaving the warp one color and the weft another color so that the color
changes in the light and the watermark effect is more noticeable in the sheen.
The second is called Calendaring and is an actual treatment, not a weaving, in
which the fabric is folded in a specific pattern and pressed with ribbed
rollers to produce the water streaked effect. Moire silk is highly prized
because of this expensive treatment.
To make your own fringe hand towel you will need 1 yd. of
medium weight linen for 2 towels and a skein of cotton or washable yarn and a
crochet hook in a size to fit your yarn (check your ball band for the size) and
the same size knitting needle.
Finish your hand towel but either hemming or serging. Measure and mark where you want each fringe; I spaced each fringe about ½'' apart. Using your knitting needle poke a hole at each mark about ¼'' from the edge. Twist it to make a big hole (it will close a little as you work) and then keep poking until you have all your holes. Using your crochet hook, work a row of *single crochets, 2 slip stitch* working each SC in a hole and the slip stitches (SS) in between. Work one slip stitch then turn.
* Work one SC in the first space and
pull the loop out until it is about 7'' long. I use a 7'' long card in the loop
to help me measure. With your hook at the top of the loop, start turning
clockwise about 25-30 times. Then fold the twisted loop in half and allow it to
untwist. It will twist on itself and create one dangly fringe. If your fringe
gets twisted in the wrong spot just gently pull down on the loop to straighten
it out. Stick your hook back in the same space and work one SC. Work one SS
then repeat from the * to the end of the row. Cut a long tail and weave in your
end. It is pretty simple but tedious. Pop in a good movie because you will be
there for a while. To work my fringe over 16'' took me about 2 hours for just one end of the towel.
This is a great project to work on a road trip, at the beach
or in the carpool lane. It is not big, no need to remember where you are in the
pattern and if it gets dirty from being in the bottom of your purse for several
week; its washable. The results will be amazing and justified. If you are
looking for longer fringe then just keep adding to your original loop
remembering that the finished result will be a little less than half (7'' loop
is results in a 3'' fringe) and keep twisting until the loop gets tight and
snug on you hook then fold in half.
To start with, I wrapped a firm board with plastic. Mine's just a backing board from a scribble pad. I just slid this board into my shirt under the area where I wanted to "draw" my design.
I decided to use a stencil for my
project, because my free-hand drawing is usually nothing to write home about.
Several years ago, I bought a set of princess stencils that's been sitting in
my sewing room waiting for a project ever since. This seemed like a good time
to pull them out.
Once I got Snow White arranged over the area on my shirt I wanted to decorate, I started applying glue. I was pretty generous with my glue layer here.
I left the stencil in place for the first eight hours of dry time. I didn't want to mess up the design pulling it off.
In
total, it took more than 24 hours for all my glue to set -- much longer than I
had anticipated! (Even though I had read in other people's project descriptions
that it took a long time to dry, I think I somehow thought my house was a
magical place where dry time would be reduced.)Once the glue was absolutely, completely dry, I layered an empty trash bag inside of it and set it on top of another trash bag in my tub to prep for color. I am lucky enough to have a tub set aside for dye projects -- you could also do this outside on a table, or in any space that's well-protected. I put the plastic bag inside the shirt so that the dye that I apply to the back side of the shit wouldn't prematurely dissolve my glue design.
Then
came the messy (read: FUN) part! The iDye products are unique in that you don't have
to pour out pigment powder into water -- you throw the whole packet in, and it
dissolves. I put the packet directly into a squirt bottle with warm water and
shook it vigorously for a bit. This worked like a charm, but it was the last
project that water bottle will ever see. I tossed it after this.Then, I squirted away! I like a little bit of splatter and uneven finish, so I didn't make any effort to smooth out my color. I flipped the shirt over after an hour or so of dry time and did the back. My tub looked like carnage city after this, but it cleaned up nicely.
I
gave the shirt about six hours to dry. After that, I hand rinsed it in the tub
to get the first batch of pigment out, and once the water was running a pale
pink instead of fuschia, I tossed it in the washer for a regular cycle and then
(after checking that all the glue had been washed away), it went right into the
dryer.
The end result makes me want to do more projects with this technique! It's super fun (great for working with kids) and really opens up some creative possibilities. You could create watercolor blends by using multiple colors of different dye concentrations, or add in additional embellishments like rhinestones or embroidery.
Since my stencil wasn't super detailed, Snow White isn't a delicate, finely-lined design. I'm not sure that I could get a whole lot more detailed with this technique, but that speaks more to my sloppy drawing hand than the possibilities. And I can't WAIT to try this on fabrics to incorporate into other projects. Remember, iDye comes in a formula for natural fibers (I used that one for my 100% cotton T-shirt) and a formula for synthetics, so you can try this on almost anything.
