A DIY Christmas: Framed floral art

Because money is tight and I like to give personal presents, I've recently started working on handmade Christmas gifts for friends and family, and this is one of the first items I've finished.  

I sewed the flowers with this technique  and secured them to the backing fabric.  (Since I haven't done much needle art, I don't know what the technical term for the cloth is.)  I got a nice chunk of the fabric at  thrift store in a craft bag with some small skeins of yarn for $3.  I cut the flower pot out of some leftover Halloween remnants and sewed it on.  Then I looked at the pattern for my cat wall hanging to help with some stitches for the stems and leaves.  The stems were a stem stitch and the leaves are detached chains.  Then I mounted the picture in a $2 frame from the thrift store.

I love how this project turned out!  It was simple to make and totally different from anything I've made before.  It was also a really fun project because I winged the whole thing and got to use my artistic eye to decide where stitches should go, rather then following a pattern, counting stitches, or measuring pieces.  I can't wait to give this to my friend for Christmas!

DIY t-shirt plant hanger

The kitties have been very naughty lately, chewing on and uprooting houseplants that we have sitting out everywhere.  Then they throw up, and nobody needs that.  I have a bunch of hemp and yarn hangers that I made in the past, but not enough to hold the plants that need to be up.  They're pretty time consuming to make, so I wanted to do something else to protect my plants and animals.  This project only took me about half an hour!

I found this tutorial on Pinterest and modified it to fit my needs.  Here's a simple rundown of what I did:

1.  Found an old t-shirt, mine was tie-dyed, men's size small.

2.  Cut horizontally across the torso region to make 6 inch wide loops.

3.  Cut the loops on one end so you have 6 fabric strips, each about 2 feet long.

4. Fold the strips in half and knot several inches below the fold to make a loop.

5.  Divide the strips into four groups of three.  Braid each of these groups about halfway.  Knot each braid.

6.  Split the braids.  Two strands will go left.  One will go right.

7.  Moving circularly from the top knot, tie sections of three a few inches down, combining half the pieces from two braids.  I know this sounds confusing, but looking at the photo here on the right shows the split braids Always move in a circle as you do this so the strands don't get tangled and confused.

8.  A  few inches below these knots, make one large knot combining all the strands.  Trim any uneven ends.  

Add your plant and hang!  My pot is 4 inches, pretty small, but this size seems perfect for the hanger.  A larger shirt would yield a larger hanger. 

Hope the directions and illustrations help anyone who'd like to try this simple DIY!

Thrift find: incomplete embroidered wall hanging

A few months back we were at Goodwill and I found an embroidery kit in a bag for $3.  I opened the package to find this incredibly gorgeous, nearly completed piece.  I was in love!  I'd been telling myself I wouldn't get more embroidered wall art because we have so many, but I had to buy this.

It sat for a little while, and then I got to work finishing it.  Really, all I needed to do was the basket of flowers, the lines on the floor and wall, and a few other tiny details.  The small bit I did do took me quite a bit of time; I needed to learn stitches and get them looking like they fit in with the rest of the work. You can see some wrinkles from the embroidery hoop that the fabric likely sat in for years, but I haven't figured out how to get rid of them out.

The detail and attention put into the piece by whoever started it is just beautiful.  I wonder what happened to prevent them from finishing.  The copyright on the package was from the 70s, but because the original price tag said $25, I figure it wasn't purchased that long ago BUT since the tag was also from a craft store/ greenhouse that I used to work at that closed nearly ten years ago, it's not too recent.  Anyways, I'm so glad I found this and was able to finish it.   I found a frame at the thrift store for $2 that fit perfectly.

I love the cat on the afghan.  I'd love an identical, full size one like that to curl up with.  I mean, the blanket, not the cat... we have enough felines in our home for now.

I think the cats like the piece too.  I hung it above the bookshelf in our dining room.  Five dollars well spent!

Granny bunting: take 2

So, we had a potluck last night and a bunch of people came, so I had to show off my craft room to our guests.  A friend who was there commented on my granny bunting and how she'd love to hang some in her home.  And boom!  Perfect Christmas gift idea! 

I got to work right away today, and I definitely love my results so far.  I used more standard yarn so the stitches are more defined.  Then I figured out how to edge the triangles with scallops, which really gives them a polished look. 

I can't wait to finish these and give them to my friend at Christmas.  I'm thinking of keeping the whole thing shorter- maybe only five pendants, so it's simple and hang-able in more spaces.  Then, I'll definitely be making more for our own house!

Halloween 2012: Owl style

For Halloween I decided to break in my new-ish sewing machine and lose my typical cat costume.  (Seriously, for at least ten years I've always been a cat, with the very occasional crayon or raver costume thrown in there.)  I did a little research on Pinterest and found this, which led me to this (for the dress) and this (for the wings).  I was sold... I had to be an owl!

The blogs I read suggested using scrap fabric for feathers, but since I haven't sewn much yet and tend to use every little piece of fabric when I do, I needed to purchase my material.  I relied mostly on remnants and a few yards of discount fabric.

The solid colors were remnants on sale between $1-2.  The prints (which I absolutely love!) were each on sale for $2/yard.  I got a yard of each.  I did purchase more than you see in the picture because I realized it wasn't quite enough.  My grand total for the feather fabric was around $10 for about 3.5 yards.  I had just enough to cover the costume. 

The biggest expense for the project was the least exciting, but most necessary part: the plain black base fabric for the wings.  I needed 4 yards, and at $4/yard, it cost $16 plus another $5 for bias tape for edging.  I doubled the layers of the backing to cover up my stitching (I guessed it wouldn't be particularly pretty, I assumed correctly), so it looked good, but also helped keep me warm in the 40-degree weather!

To make my feathers I cut a paper sample, about 4"x4", like this:

I added a little point on my feathers.  Then I got cutting.  Initially I was being oh-so-careful about cutting the edges perfect and smooth, but when I realized how many feathers I'd need, I just started layering the fabric and chopping away three or four at a time. I cut them like a puzzle so I wouldn't waste any fabric:

After I cut them all (around 350 feathers), it was time to sew!  I divided the feathers three ways, with a few extra for the dress, laid them out just to make sure I had enough.  Then I started sewing in layers, beginning at the bottom of each piece.  As you can see, the wings were quarter circles, long enough to reach my hands from the middle of my upper back.  The dress was a bathing suit cover up I already had. 

After all the sewing was complete, I added a tie around the neck with feathers and velcro wrist straps to hold my wings on.  I also made a headpiece with felt, feathers, ribbon, and a wire hanger for shape. 

I absolutely loved how my costume turned out!  I wore iridescent mint eyeshadow with feathery eyeliner on the corners of my eyes, leggings, warm boots, and extra feathers in my hair.  I was comfortable, warm, and definitely in one of the more unique outfits of the evening!   I just wish Halloween lasted longer so I could wear this outfit more!  Oh, well, there's always next year!