My friend Helen has a farm called Ladybug Farms. She sells her veggies at local farmer’s markets. I made her a cloth grocery bag for promotion.
I think the buttons are a cute touch.
All of the material except for the thread is recycled.
She liked it and I’ve made her some more. It’s nice to be sewing again.
Flying ant season has started so we’re sleeping under our mosquito netting for the next few weeks. Prana sleeps under it too. Doesn’t he look spoiled?
I’ve been working on my mending pile. Normally it’s not that thrilling. But sometimes it’s fun.
I got this teddy bear for Sieben from the free pile. He chewed the nose off so I patched it up.
Sieben was happy to get his teddy back.
Though normally he looks like this while playing:
I finished Sieben’s dog bed. The crochet and knit versions didn’t work but the sewn one turned out great.
To challenge myself I decided to use as much recycled materials as I could. Everything but the the sewing thread is recycled.
I cut up sweatshirts for the top.
Jeans were used for the bottom and sides.
Scraps of linen and muslin fabric were used for the pillow lining. I wanted to make the outer layer washable so the stuffing needed to be made into a pillow.
Old pillows are great to reuse for stuffing. I figured Sieben would like it if his doggie bed smelled like his humans. Prana helped out.
The pillows weren’t big enough for the bed. I pulled them apart to puff them up.
To prevent the stuffing from shifting I sewed in some dimples. This was the hardest part.
The stuffed pillow:
All done. It’s nice and thick and very comfy.
I put a zipper on one end to easily take off the cover for washing.
How does Sieben like it? Very much!
Pattern: Sieben Dog Bed
Source: custom
Materials: recycled sweatshirts, jeans, linen, and muslin fabric, recycled pillows and zipper
Size: custom
Started: April 2010
Finished: May 2010
Frances G wrote me to share the draft blocker she made from my tutorial. Check it out:
She did a great job!
I love my Singer sewing machine but the plastic cover was boring and was starting to wear out.
I made a patchwork cover to replace it:
This is some of the last of my upholstery samples. That box of samples has served me through so many sewing projects.
It fits really well and I think it looks adorable.
My favorite part is the opening I made for the thread spool. That way I can leave it on when I put the machine away.
I made a cozy for my Swift out of a pair of old yoga pants. Prana wanted to be in the photo shoot.
Basically I cut the pants in half and used one leg for the cozy. I sewed up the bottom and made a hem at the opening.
I sewed a little tie for the end.
The pants had cute embroidery on the bottom. The flowers are on both sides.
This one is from 2004. Prana was a youngster back then.
This winter I put plastic over the windows to keep out drafts. Prana wasn’t too happy about this since it meant he couldn’t sit in the windows. So I made him a cat shelf. Everything’s recycled except the brackets.
I started with some scrap plywood, quilt stuffing, salvaged upholstery squares and shelf brackets. Upholstery worked best since furball has razorlike claws.
Sew the upholstery squares together big enough to wrap over plywood. (Prana is already showing interest.)
Next staple quilt stuffing onto plywood with staple gun.
Wrap upholstery around plywood and staple underneath.
Screw brackets to bottom of shelf and to wall.
Cat tested and approved!
Another one from the vaults.
Wine Bag
I made a wine bag as part of a Christmas present for my mother in law and her new husband.
Their present was some local New Mexico wine, the wine bag and two wine glasses I glass etched hearts onto.
To make the wine bag:
Cut out two rectangles that are a bit taller than the wine bag and overlap around it. For the outside I used scrap upholstery fabric and used silky fabric for the inside.
Sew together three sides inside out. Turn right side out. Sew long sides together to form a tube.
For the bottom cut two squares out of the fabric slightly larger than the bottom of the bottle. Sew together right side out, leave raw edges sticking out.
Sew square to the end open edge of the tube.
Trim off the square corners making the bottom piece circular.
Turn bag right side out. Braid a tie out of matching yarn and hand stitch at seam.
Slip wine into bottle. Voila!
In my pre-blog days I put up a few tutorials on Craftster. I want to have my free tutes all in one place so I’m reposting them here.
Cloth Grocery Bag
One of my favorite projects is making cloth grocery bags. I came up with the design. They turn out quite strong and easily hold heavy items such as two six pack sodas.
I like to use thicker fabric, often upholstery, for the outside and thin fabric for the liner. When sewing upholstery fabric make sure you use a heavy needle on your machine.
I tried to have as little folds as possible because the outer fabric is thick enough as it is.
The body of the shell and liner are both 18″x36″. The bottom piece is 6″x13″ each
The shell and liner are made separately. Attach the ends of the large rectangle to form a tube and sew ends together. Sew one end of the tube to the bottom piece.
Make two handles that are 6″x15″. Sew long-wise inside out then pull them right side out.
The handles will be in this shape when you sew them to the bag.
Pin shell and liner together. The liner is on the outside and shell is on the inside with right sides touching. They are sewn inside out for an invisible seam and to minimize folds. The handles are sewn in at the same time.
Note: At this point it is easy to make a mistake with the handles. I put them in wrong while making this bag. On the up side I have a picture of my mistake to warn you. ; )
Since the bag is sewn inside out the handles are tucked between the right sides of the shell and liner. Here’s how I messed up:
Here’s the correct way:
I sewed two rows of straight stitch to join the bag. The extra row is mostly to secure the handles in place. My fingers are showing the open space that I use to turn the bag right side out. After righting the bag hand sew the hole closed.
The finished bag:
A peek of the lining (lining is fabric from an old pillowcase):
A patchwork version out of upholstery samples.
I participated in the Glam Trash Fashion Show this year. The above photo is from the Taos News. They have a slideshow of the event and video and I made it in both. Woot! The below photos are mine.
I got a man’s wool sweater and cut off the sleeves. I then cut the body into a cocktail dress shape and felted it. The sleeves were frogged to reuse the yarn. I crocheted straps and added several inches to the bottom of the dress, making a slit up the side. After sewing on keys to the bottom I decided to sweep the keys up one side to the bodice.
I then crocheted two wristlets and sewed keys onto them. Before the show I put three braids in my hair with wires in them. I made circles with the braids and sewed keys on them. To complete the outfit I wore fishnet stockings and my stripper shoes.
While I didn’t win a prize I did have a ton of fun. There were so many inspiring and arty outfits. And what fun to hang out with so many creative artists.
A close up of the dress.
This was inspired by the shag/fringe dresses from the ’60s.
And a close up of the key fringe.
When I shook my ass on the runway I jingled! 