Month: May 2011

Thank you so much for all the kind words. It was especially nice to read them this week when I was in Chicago for work, learning how to shoot video for AP and pretty much feeling like a failure! (Example: the time I approached someone at a bus stop, got her to put on a microphone, did my whole interview and FORGOT TO PRESS RECORD. And then pressed it to “stop” but actually STARTED recording … and came back with 20 minutes of video of me putting the camera in the bag and carrying it around. NICE.)
Anyway, the winner of both the whale pillow and the hairpins is Jessica, who wrote:
“I just love the whale! he would look great in my son’s bedroom. Thanks for the giveaway!”

And…. I’ve decided to give away another set of hairpins since those were so easy to make. I will make a custom set of 4 pins for Stephanie, who wrote: “Oh the whale is adorable, and I LOVE the little bobby pins…hair accessories are my weakness.” Stephanie, let me know what colors you’d like for your set. Obviously, I won’t be shipping them by today, but it should be soon!

(THANKS FOR ENTERING! This giveaway is now closed)

 I hope I’m not the only participant in the Sew,Mama,Sew! Giveway Day who frets about her item not being “good enough.” I was all set to just give away the whale pillow I made for the “Summer with Matthew Mead” magazine, but then I had second thoughts. So at 10 p.m. Saturday night, when I should have been packing for my week-long business trip, I was making a little something to add to my offering.

So, the winner of my giveway will get not only this whale:

I’m also giving away two sets of these hair pins. These are made of polymer clay. I recently bought a few silicone molds from Mold Muse, and they are so easy to use. I have a lot of small bits of clay left over from making all the little clay food charms, so these are perfect. You just squish the clay into the molds and then pop them out. I experimented a bit and found that I liked the look that resulted from using mostly translucent clay with a bit of color. These are glued to bobby pins, and I used a satin glaze on them. I also bought a mold to make buttons so I’m looking forward to trying that out.

Just leave me a comment for a chance to win, making sure there is a way for me to contact you. For an extra chance, leave another comment saying you follow/subscribe to my blog. Since I’ll be gone all week, I won’t pick a winner until Saturday. Good luck!

Here’s a birthday gift for one of my son’s new buddies and fellow Star Wars fanatic. I scanned a page from one of my son’s coloring books and used Photoshop to get rid of the background and color in some areas, and then used my Silhouette machine to cut the shape out of flocked heat-transfer material.  Twice, actually, since the first time, the piece of transfer material shifted when it was 90 percent done cutting and then got stuck in the machine. That obviously was a bit frustrating. And it did take some time to peel off all the parts that weren’t part of the design. But the end result is pretty impressive (though I’m not crazy about giving a child a shirt featuring a large weapon. I tried to steer my son toward Ewoks or R2D2, but he insisted I make a Clone Trooper shirt). I also added the birthday boy’s name and “Seven Years” instead of “Star Wars,” and we picked up a Star Wars book to go with it.

Come back Monday for my Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway!

I finally have my copy (and one to share) of the Summer with Matthew Mead magazine featuring my whale pillow project! The magazine is gorgeous.

Click here to see my previous post with the pattern and instructions.

My son has just started being a bit picky about his clothes and other things in terms of not wanting to appear “babyish.” The space ship motif on his water bottle, for example, was recently deemed “for little kids.” So I tried to keep that in mind in making him the  reversible bucket hat from “Oliver + S: Little Things to Sew”.

His latest obsession is Star Wars Legos, so that was an obvious choice. But I decided if I was going to put in the time to make the hat, the other side could reflect my interests, as well, so I added the logo for my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I’m sure 90 percent of the time he’ll choose the Star Wars side, but he also likes UNC, so maybe I can persuade him to flip it over occasionally.

I used a heavier weight twill (leftover from my whale pillow) for the Star Wars side, and really liked how it made the hat a bit more sturdy. The UNC side features a lighter weight cotton, possibly a linen blend. That caused some puckering and wrinkles but I’m OK with that, it looks more casual/beachy. As I mentioned the first time I made one of these hats, I had some trouble with the final topstitching step, so this time, I basically made two separate hats and then sewed them together, right-sides together, around the brim, leaving a few inches open for turning. Once I turned it right-side out, I did the top stitching on the brim. So there is no topstitching around the band to hold the outer band/top to the lining, but I think it’s OK. If it seems to be shifting around too much, I’ll do a few small tacking stitches to hold them together.

I used the Silhouette machine and blue flocked vinyl for the Star Wars logo. LOVE how that came out. I didn’t have any white heat transfer vinyl so I made the UNC logo out of white fabric. I tried cutting it with the Silhouette but I don’t have any of their fusible webbing. I tried ironing the fabric to freezer paper and then sticking that to the Silhouette mat but it did not cut cleanly at all. So I just cut it by hand (using Steam-a-Seam) and sewed it on.

Mom…… if you’re reading this….. STOP! (everyone else, scroll down…)

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Here’s my latest AP craft story for Mother’s Day:  how to make a family tree using maps that feature your relative’s first names. I made a few of these last year for wedding and Christmas gifts and all the recipients seemed to like them. I just love the look of maps. And you can download beautiful, detailed maps free from the U.S. Geological Survey website.

Click here for the full AP story and tutorial.

The version on the left features the names of my cousin’s five kids. The version on the right is for my mom, and has my parents’ names  in the top row, my sister and I and our spouses, and then our kids in the bottom row. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to find towns, lakes, etc., that  match different names. The only one I couldn’t find for my family was “Gabrielle” but I found a town called “Brielle,” which we use as a nickname anyway.

(UPDATE: One of my commenters makes a good point: some names will be tough to find. As I mention in the AP story, you could always frame a map for Mother Lake, Minn., or Mother Vineyard, N.C. instead for Mother’s Day. Or, this makes a good wedding gift if you group together sentimental locations like Love, Miss., Happy, Ark., or Matrimony Point, Maine.)

I’m a little late picking a winner for the Summer with Matthew Mead magazine … but here you go: Congratulations Christine!

I will send you an e-mail to get your address. I don’t actually have the magazine yet, but should by next week.

REMINDER: You have until the end of the day to enter to win a free copy of Summer with Matthew Mead magazine. Click HERE to go to the giveaway post!

I think this might become my go-to gift for little boys (and girls, maybe!): a fort-building kit! I first saw this idea at Saltwater Kids and have added a few tweaks. The original has ties sewn to the corners and sides of flat sheets, but I decided to use grommets instead, so rope could be strung through the grommets. It turns out, though, that grommets are really hard to insert if you have weak little hands like mine, so after finishing one sheet, I switched to large eyelets instead (1/4″ opening), and that was much easier. But now I’m thinking that I could’ve just made button holes and that would’ve worked just as well.

I bought a twin sheet set on sale at Target for $7.50 and removed the elastic from the fitted sheet to turn it into a flat piece of fabric. This required cutting off some of the sheet, which I then I had to hem, but I think it was worth it. I used the pillow case to make the bag, and the leftover fabric that I trimmed off the fitted sheet to make the drawstring ties. I used my Silhouette machine to make the letters and design out of iron-on flocked vinyl. I know I have been slow to warm up to the Silhouette, but I have to say, this was pretty amazing and I love how it came out!

I was a bit skeptical that this would really be any better than how we usually make forts _ just dragging out some blankets and draping them over furniture. So before sending this off to the recipient, I had my son test it out. Well, it was a big success, and in fact, there is still a fort set up in my living room right now. We found that the suction cups only stuck to windows (not the coffee table or walls, etc.) but that worked great for stringing a line across the room so we could hang the sheet over it. In addition to the long rope, I’m going to include some shorter lengths that can be used to tie the sheets to table legs, etc.

Aside from making the bag, there was more shopping than sewing or making stuff involved in this gift. I got some good deals _ the clips are from the dollar store, the suction cups were on clearance for 74 cents at Target, the little lights were $3.50 for four. The rope was $3 for 50 feet, and I have more than enough for two or three kits, which is good, because a certain 6-year-old in my house would like one.