Card - Happy Birthday - Night of Navy

A card for my brother who is celebrating a birthday this week.

I chose a beige card base with navy and red accents.

The red layer was embossed with a recent thrift store purchase.  See below.

I punched a navy 1.75" circle and added a 1 3/8 circle greeting on beige cardstock.

I trimmed the embossed layer to place the circle off center, then ran a length of Night of Navy seam binding along the left hand side.

I attached the 2 circles over the embossed circle and held them in place with a navy mini brad.

A quarter sheet insert and an envelope and it is ready to deliver. 

No company branding on these but considering that the price was 2 for $1 and I have all the Stamping Up circle punches and Nestabilities dies which will cut circles I decided that it was a good investment.

One is masculine and the other would work for feminine cards it was a great combo.

There is some room in the embossing folder storage box which is priority as well.

Sewing Project - Picnic Placemats - QAYG Warm Colors

I sorted through my scraps this morning and gathered like colors to see if I had enough to make the front of the picnic placemat. 

I am trying to keep the pocket on the right hand side distinct from the rest of the placemat. I created the zipper pocket like an insert with the brown fabric.

I then cut a 13x13 inch square of flannel to which I sewed the various strips of fabric. 

I chose a beige cotton poly leftover for the back. 

I created ties from the same fabric.

I laid these layers facing right sides together and pinned the ties on the opposite side to the pocket.  I ran a seam all the way around leaving a space to turn it right side out. I top stitched the wavy line to define the pocket then added 2 more similar seams to quilt the 2 layers together.

I am happy with it.

Art Show - AAC - Redux Show 2024 - Upcycled Every Day Carry Bag

This my second piece in the Spruce Grove Gallery - Form Redux Show which opens today.

It is an Every Day Carry Bag which was made with upcycled fabrics from a box of fabric given to me by Michelle at ReImagined Fabrics. You can find her on Instagram #reimaginedfabrics  Other bits were chosen from my thrifted/reclaimed stash as well as pieces collected from the ReUse Center.

I made myself one of these bags several years ago.

Title: Upcycled Every Day Carry Bag

Size: 15.00 T x 13.00 W inches

Medium: Fabric Bag with embellishments

I started with the beige cotton fabric for the main part of the bag.  All the seams are finished inside so no raw edges anywhere.  I added a zipper insert made from a beautiful leaf patterned fabric from this box of scraps and squares with a teal zipper chosen from my stash of reclaimed zippers.

I chose a taupe microfiber for the handles which means they will last a long time.

The bag features 3 pockets. The front pocket was made with the accent fabric and I added a coordinating blue button that I found in my stash. The back pocket is a reused Carhartt pant pocket with a velcro closure. I sewed the pocket to the back of the bag which creates a pocket and added an accent fabric tag to the help with the opening the Velcro on the ginger colored pocket. I added some teal slow stitching to the flap of the pocket.

The ginger heavy weight fabric was added to the bottom to show less dirt and will wear much better than the beige cotton fabric. 

A few pieces of tomato red bias tape was added as an accent color which was again pulled from my thrifted supply.

I added a little bling on the zipper pull which was brought from a ReUse Center donation.  

Inside I added a clip for your keys which again was found at the ReUse Center.

It is on display at the gallery and is for sale.  The reception is Saturday April 27th at 1-3pm.

Information on "My Bag" line:

Binder Cover with Journaling Bookmark

I had a visit with my sister before the snow came down again.

We discussed a lot of creative ideas and I realized that I don't have a central place to document these.  

They may or may not become full fledged completed projects but it was great to have a creative discussion.  It is important, to document the details we discussed so that they are not lost when the idea becomes a possibility.  It may be a spring board to another idea. Who knows.  

That is when I decided I needed a creative ideas journal.  She had returned to me a small binder that I had passed to her a couple of years ago that she had not used yet.  I am glad she kept it.

She sent fabric as well that is headed to the ReUse Center but I thought I should see if there was something there that would work for this project.  The big yellow flower on this fabric spoke to me.  I decided that I would use this.  I chose some beige fabric from the box which was given to me for the lining.  I cut the pieces 22" long and 10" inches tall.  The binder is 9 1/8 tall but I need some room.  I chose a 3/8 inch seam to attach these two layers which was too generous.  I did not have any fabric sticking out to create the top stitch to keep the flaps in place which would slide over the sides of the binder.  I chose to hand stitch the flaps in place with thread.  

I had an extra set of dividers which I bought at the second hand store a while back.  It may be hard to categorize the ideas but I will see how it goes.

She had created a Journaling Bookmark which I just winged the construction of.  I did have to try twice to get at least something that worked.  This means I will always have a pencil to jot notes.

Sewing Project - Pojagi Fabric Bags

I added to the piece of Pojagi fabric I made the other day.  I added some on the length and width.

I then had enough fabric to make 2 reusable bags. They both measure about 12x12 square.  I added handles from scrap fabric. 

For this bag I added handles in grey polycotton blend fabric which will wear well.  It came in the box of fabric I was given so bonus. The strip was cut 2 inches resulting in approximately 5/8 inch wide strip.

I sewed the handles right to the bottom to distribute the weight in the bag along a better distance. In this case I sewed the strip and then turned it inside out which was a challenge being so narrow.

Top stitched it on both sides of the strip on both handles on both sides of the bag.

This one again measures approximately 12x12 inches square.

For this bag I decided to cut down on the work.  I ironed the 40 inch handle strip of navy microfiber in half then ironed in both edges then just stitched it from the top. Folded in the raw edges at both ends before I sewed the seam. 

Then I just used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to sew the handles all the way down the front and back of the bag. Back stitched where the handle meets the top of the bag and at the bottom of the bag.

This took much less time.

These are being donated.

Sewing Project - Recycled Fabric - Everyday Carry Bag

I made a bag from all recycled materials.  The fabrics came from the box from Michelle at ReImagined Fabrics.

The bag is beige cotton duck fabric. 

A beautiful leaf pattern cotton fabric was used for the zipper insert, the tab on the front pocket and the tab on ginger pocket.  

I added a piece of ginger cotton denim to the bottom of the back to improve wear ability and keep it cleaner. 

I chose a small piece of red for the trim on the zipper insert, the loop on the front pocket and the key hook on the inside.

The bag features 3 pockets - the front leaf patterned one, the back ginger denim one, and the space between the ginger pocket and the bag.

It has a teal zipper at the top in the normal for me completed finished zipper insert. 

I used taupe cotton poly blend for the handles and made them as long as I could. They are placed on either side of the pockets.  They are well reinforced in the stress areas.

The the seams are finished which looks smart and there are no raw edges in sight.

I added a tab on the ginger pocket so that it provide better leverage to open the velcro closure. It is center which the velcro was not.

This button is from my stash of recycled materials as well as the teal zipper.

It was the perfect color to match the teal color in the patterned fabric.

I included a keys hook on the inside so they will always be at hand and easy to find in the bag.

The bag measures 12x12 square so it is not a big bag.  I guess, you would call it purse sized.  

For information on the "My Bag" Line

Sewing Project - Pojagi Wrap Beige and Blue

I've been thinking about doing a big Pojagi project so I decided I needed some practice before tackling it.

It does need a change in thinking to do this with the sewing machine - especially if you are using one or two single sided fabric.

I was given a gift of a box of fabric by Michelle at ReImagined Fabrics.  Thanks so much!

I have sorted all the precut squares and many are cotton polyester or all polyester.  To gain the benefit of Pojagi thinner fabrics are best. There are some cotton ones as well but I was focusing on the thin ones.

The beige in this piece is a very thin cotton poly blend and has no right side.  You can see in the photo where the texture of the curtain shows right through the beige. The squares were cut to 9.5 inches. 

The patterned pieces are very polyestery but a bit thicker and does have a right and wrong side.  Gorgeous pattern and jewel toned colors.  The squares were cut at just under 7".  I found this video about sewing Pojagi on a sewing machine.

I decided that I wanted all my double seams on same side or "top" of my wrap.  This video "Rules" of Pojagi Seams by the same person does a good job of explaining this.  I did get one of my squares right side to the back but decided to leave as that was early on and this was just practice. Later, I did undo 2 seams to get one square right side to the front. 

It is very difficult to plan and decide on sizes of fabric needed.  I just started sewing and then aimed to create rectangles and cut the excess fabric away to achieve that.

I just made a turned over hem around the edge with the double lines on top.  This measures 24 wide x 26 inches tall.  It will wrap a gift or can be used as a topper on a table cloth. I did lose track of time but this project took at least 4 hours to complete.

I think my goal would be to create a piece of reversible fabric then make a sewing project from it. Tackling the pajogi and sewing project at the same time would be too much for me.

2023 Sewing Machine Cover

I decided to update my sewing machine cover because the other one was just too tight.  It fit for sure but was not comfortable to put on. 

I had 2 pieces of cotton fabric I had picked up at the ReUse Center. I needed a bit more so I found 2 pieces of beige cotton which matched well enough.

With a window just behind the machine which is left open most of the summer for ventilation the machine needs a cover when I am working on a multi day project like the linen coasters I did recently. 

I started making French seams on my microfiber bags but now I just make them as a matter of course. I like the finish it provides a project.

The beige pieces where placed on both ends of the cover.

The fabric is 100% cotton - both patterned and the beige.  The beige was a small leftover. 

I sewed down the triangles of the box corners down to stiffen the ends.  I sewed tiny pleats on the corners as well to help with it standing up. It ended up a bit taller than was needed to at the end with very little thread left I added an additional hem of about 1.5 inches.  So glad I had enough thread.

Dyeing Linen from ReUse

During my visit with  my sister in March I purchased the fixative recommended for keeping the color once dyed.  It meant a trip to town so we did not have time to actually dye the fabric then.

I was back this week so we went ahead with the dyeing of the oatmeal linen.  This was a large piece of oatmeal colored linen that I had picked up from ReUse earlier this year.  I was thinking of  making a table runner.  I wanted the fabric to be navy.

We followed this process which is documented with the dye bottle.   Rit Dyeing Process

The first thing is to mix your dye in enough water to allow the fabric to float easily in the water.  We added salt because this was a natural fiber and some dish soap.  I believe we left the fabric in the dye bath 30 minutes agitating constantly so we took turn with the wooden spoon.

Then the fabric needs to be rinsed until it runs clear.

Then put back into the pot with the fixative.

The last photo there is a couple of sheets that my sister dyed with what was left in the pot.  She did not care how dark the color was just that it was not pure white.

A very successful project.

I appreciate my sister's help and she has the large metal pots, etc which I don't have.

I have the embroidered and the now navy linen.

The 2 sheets that my sister dyed in the left over color bath.

Card Exchange - Dec - Triangle Trees

These are my December exchange cards.  I used the beautiful screen printed decorative paper again because the colors where Christmasy.

I selected a beige card base.

I cut some triangle trees from solid card stock. For this card it was a warm green then I cut the decorative paper a bit smaller leaving a border all the way around.

I used pencil crayons in browns and greens to create a soft background and for the tree trunk at the bottom. I then adhered the Christmas Tree over top.

I added a red star sequin at the top of the tree and gold ones around the rest of the card.  These are adhered with Bling Zot glue dots.

For this card on the right a very similar layout to the top one.  This time I used a Very Vanilla card base.

Same warm green solid card stock for the tree.  

Again, a color pencil background and tree trunk.  A red star sequin at the top of the tree.

The small stars were punched from gold card stock with my Creative Memories star border punch. This is the largest of the one in the border.  I adhered them with Scotch Quick Dry liquid glue as it has a very fine point on the bottle.

I used the green pencil crayons to add some rays to the stars.

A seasonal insert was added as well as a white envelope and they are ready to go.

R2Go Christmas Kit - Star of Wonder Copper

I chose this wonderful designer paper of stars by FlairDesigns - Star Bright in warm colors of chocolate, beige, rust, and caramel.  It is cut to 4.00 x 5.25 inches.

I paired it with a warm brown card.

I printed the greeting in Really Rust on vellum and clear embossed it.  I ripped the top and bottom edges. I added a strip of card stock under the words to provide the contrast.  The vellum and strip are held in place with 2 tiny copper brads.

I die cut a copper star with the Sizzix Star & Starburts die and I adhered it over the vellum greeting strip.

Card Making with Seniors - April - Measuring Tape

I am making cards with the seniors today.

This is my masculine card for this month. I found a wood background graphic on line.  I then altered it some with photo editing software to make it bolder. I printed it on warm beige card stock.  I was trying to match the measuring tape.  I did apply some color to the background with a pale pencil crayon.  I trimmed it to 4.00 x 5.25 inches.

I cut the paper measuring tape into 6 inch lengths.  I adhered the tape on the diagonal and taped the ends to the back of the background.


I printed greetings onto a kraft card stock and then cut them out with one of the Stampin Up framelits from the Apothecary set.  It was then adhered to the card front with 2 tiny black brads. 

I decided to add a hammer and nails to my sample I put together after the class.  I think that worked out very nicely.

Into card box it goes!