Thrift Store Finds!

It’s time for another edition of Thrift Store Finds. For awhile there, I was getting disappointed because there didn’t seem to be much out there for a few weeks. One weekend I visited all my usual thrift stores and a few garage sales and I couldn’t find one thing! However, that all changed last weekend – I hit the jackpot!

The first stop was a local thrift store that’s open only on weekends. For about $10, I walked out with several pieces of vintage fabric, some vintage hand embroidered table linens, a spice rack, and two super cute vintage aprons!

Embroidered Springtime Topper — Embroidered Springtime Table Topper

These embroidered toppers need some TLC, but after I wash and starch them, they should look pretty good.

Black checkered Apron — Vintage Black Checkered Apron

Grandma Red Checkered Apron — Grandma's Red Checkered Apron

I was especially pleased with the red apron. When I was little, my grandma’s main form of discipline when she was watching my brother and me was to say, “Don’t do that, or I will have to put on my red-checkered apron.” To this day, I have no idea what would happen if she actually put it on – but in my mind I envisioned her chasing me around the house with a rolling pin and swatting my bottom with it. Needless to say, my brother and I were always concerned when she said this and usually stopped whatever we were doing and snapped to attention. Of course, when I was little, I never actually saw this apron (although I certainly tried to find it). I remember asking my grandma one time where she kept it and she said it was hidden in the kitchen. Well, guess what? I found it!

One other treasure I also was excited about was a hand-pieced quilt top. The piecing is almost complete, it just needs a few more diamonds added to the outside border. I plan to finish this and use it on my kitchen table. You can’t see it very well in the picture, but the fabrics are vintage and quite lovely. Luckily, the fabric scraps were also included, so I can finish it up with the original fabric.

The next stop was a local yard sale. The owners were cleaning out the attic of all their children’s toys. They had tons of vintage board games and toys from the 60’s and 70’s for dirt cheap! She even had an Easy Bake oven (with box!) – which I thought would look cute displayed in my kitchen.

The last deal of the day was this Kenmore Sewing machine. It’s about 10 years old, but hardly ever used. You can always use another basic sewing machine. Also, I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing offering sewing lessons and this would be great for teaching beginners.

Keep it thimble!

Blast from the Past!

I was sorting through some things in the kitchen yesterday and I came across my first quilting project ever! I started sewing about 6 years ago and one of the first things I made was a set of placements and napkins.

02_First Placemat — First Sewing Project Ever!

The fabric was something that I bought a years ago (while still in college) for project that I can’t even remember right now. The bright yellow and hot pink fabrics really grabbed my attention at the time, but for the life of me I can’t remember what I bought it for in the first place.

When I received my first sewing machine for Christmas in 2003 (thanks mom!), I wasn’t quite sure what to make with it, so it sat in the closest for almost two years (hard to believe that now)!! One day, I saw a booked called “Quilting 101” and it had directions for making these cute patchwork place mats – finally the perfect project for the yellow and pink fabric. There was not enough fabric for backing, so I just used plain muslin. The binding is not one continuous piece, instead each edge is bound separately (so the corners are now fraying and uneven).

Once I got the place mats sewn and quilted, matching napkins were in order. Believe it or not, Jo-Ann’s had something that matched perfectly! I was so proud of my first project and am looking forward to using them again this spring!.

What was your first sewing project? Or what project made you catch the sewing bug?

Keep it thimble!

Gracie Handbag

Here’s a fun bag called the Gracie Bag from Lazy Girl Designs. It’s very easy to make and it’s something even a beginner could do. The Lazy Girl Design patterns are great because they are well-written and have lots of pictures. You could complete the purse just by looking at the pictures (although I wouldn’t recommend it).

The classic style and details on this bag make this a fashionable bag for most any occasion – it definitely does not look “homemade.” I rounded the tab on my bag for a more finished look. I also used a different color top thread and bottom thread so that that edge stitching on exterior and lining matched the fabric appropriately. This is a small thing, but these details can make a difference!

17_Grace Bag Fish — Gracie Handbag - Koi Fish

In other news, there are a few things in the works for this month:

Free Pattern (it’s a surprise, but a quick easy one, perfect for summer)
Giveaway (sometime in the next two weeks)
Reader Survey (I want to get some information on what you’d like to see on the blog).

Keep it Thimble!

Spring is Here (I think)!

The birds are chirping the flowers are blooming, and spring is finally here (I think). Last week we had a blast of winter weather and we are supposed to be in the 30’s tonight. But after that, it is supposed to be consistently in the 60’s and 70’s for spring!

Here’s a cute spring project – a nest of Easter Peeps! The original pattern from Liberty Rose was a much larger chick that could be used for a pincushion. I downsized it and stitched it up in some yummy spring colors! You could also make some cute Easter Rabbits and use brown floss to add in the distinctive Rabbit Peep face – 2 small dots for the eyes and one for the nose (note: writing this on my to do list).

This spring pillows were also inspired by Liberty Rose! These are really easy to stitch up and are great accents for your spring decorating. Pick out a few vintage images (we used postcards) and then transfer them to fabric. You can buy the photo transfer fabric at Jo-Ann’s (bring your coupon). Cut out, sew on a backing, and stuff – viola! The neat thing about this is that you can use any image – there are lots of goods ones the internet, just do a search for “vintage ____ images”.

Happy spring and Keep It Thimble!

Miranda Day Bag

The Miranda Day Bag by Lazy Girl Designs is great for toting around sewing projects, books, magazines, children’s toys, or anything else you need to take with you on the go. The handles on the bag give it a very elegant look and you can dress is up or down depending on the fabric used.

55_Miranda Bag_1 — Miranda Bag - Exterior

This version uses the Heritage line from Collections for Cause by Moda. It is one of my favorite fabrics! The birds were fussy cut for the best placement. I love how this little guy is all alone and is looking off into the distance at something.

55_Miranda Bag_2 — Miranda Bag - Interior

The bag is very sturdy – the exterior is quilted and fusible fleece is used on the interior. This helps the bag stand up so you can easily put things in and taken them out of the bag. The interior includes lots of pockets so you can keep everything organized!

Lazy Girl patterns are really easy to use. The designer includes a photo of each step in the picture, as well as detailed cutting instructions. You can practically make the bag just by looking at the pictures (however I always encourage you to read the instructions too)! The true definition of “keeping it thimble.” (Couldn’t resist that one).

Book Review – Allie Aller’s Crazy Quilting

As someone who loves crazy quilting and is always looking for new ideas, I had to get Allie Aller’s Crazy Quilting book. First, it has one of the best subtitles for a quilting book: “Modern Piecing and Embellishment Techniques for Joyful Stitching” (italics emphasis mine). What a great way to remind us why we sew and quilt in the first place!

The book is divided into seven sections that cover all aspects of Crazy Quilting:

Collecting Your Materials and Tools
Creating Your Own “Fabrics”
Four Ways to Build Crazy Quilt Blocks
Eye Candy: Embellishment!
Gallery of Inspiration
Projects
Work in Progress – A Crazy Quilt from Start to Finish

The author does an excellent job explaining all her techniques and augments this with lots of photos. For example, in the tools section she discusses all the different types of threads you can use, and provides many photos of various samplers that show how the threads look when they are used in stitching. This is very useful when trying to figure out what threads are needed for the look you want for your quilt.

Likewise, the embellishment section contains numerous photos of embroidery stitches and ways to use them in the quilts. She discusses how to use beads, lace, and other types of trim, as well as how to create three dimensional effects (flowers, leaves, insects). You won’t want to throw out scraps of anything again!

Part of the fun with crazy quilting is using all the scraps of fabric to create a unique foundation for your embellishments. There are tons of options for the types of fabric you can use and what you can do with them – Allie discusses all of them! In addition, she provides step by step instructions for how to use photo transfer to create unique fabrics — even without buying the expensive transfer paper or fabric sheets from Jo-Ann’s! (hint, think freezer paper).

Four different techniques for creating foundations are shown. I found this section extremely useful because I was looking for ways to create foundations that didn’t look like some type of modified log cabin (a piece in the center with other scraps radiating outwards in a loose spiral). One of the methods, called “Chunk Piecing” gives you a lot of freedom and enables you to use all those oddly shaped scraps that you couldn’t use in one of the other traditional methods.

FloralSampler — Allie Aller's Floral Sampler

Finally, the part you’ve been waiting to hear about – the Projects! There are six small and creative projects in the book – perfect for getting a taste of what crazy quilting is like and leaving you wanting to do more. What’s great about crazy quilting, is that once you have these instructions, you have the tools, know-how, and inspiration to make an endless number of projects that are unique to your tastes and themes! The picture above is a floral sampler that uses large floral fabric as the base for a beautiful flower garden (perfect for my April Cornell Barcelona fabric!). This is also the project used the example in the “Work in Progress” section.

The Dreaming Maiden is another creative idea and perfect for those who aren’t really interested in doing a traditional, rectangular quilt. You can make the maiden look like the favorite girl in your life – what a great gift!

In summary, Allie Aller’s book is an excellent reference for aspiring and experienced crazy quilters. She provides a lot of inspiration and ideas on what you can do with it. You certainly will have a lot of fun experimenting.

Keep it thimble!

Emery the Sewing Mouse

Brenda Gervais has a cute little pincushion called Emery the Sewing Mouse – perfect for any sewing room! I couldn’t resist him , especially with that little thimble hat!

This is a fun afternoon project that requires a bit of this and that. You cut out the mouse body in wool, stitch around the body, arms, and legs and turn these all inside out. The arms and legs are especially challenging since they are so small. Hemostats are great for turning these small pieces since you can working the tips into small openings and get a good grip on the fabric to turn it.

You also do a lot of handwork on this. You stitch the arms and legs on by hand, and then use embroidery floss to create his beady little eyes and pink nose. I added a little mouth as well, so that he has a crooked little smile.

The thimble is glued one (Allene’s Quick Grab is good for this), as is his tail (which is a rusty piece of wire twisted into a tail shape). The strawberry is sewn on the machine and stuffed with a filling of sand, sawdust and fiberfil. Once stuffed, you tack on the green cap by hand. The project is finished when you stitch Emery down on the strawberry. How cute is this?

Keep it Thimble!

Miss Emily

Here is my first attempt at making a primitive doll – Miss Emily. I made her in cottage style fabrics, so she doesn’t really look prim – but I like the general effect. I might end up staining her with a walnut crystals as she looks too clean :).

I can’t remember who made the pattern, but it was easy to follow. Dollmaking is a little bit different than I thought it would be (actually easier). For one thing, you don’t cut out the pattern pieces and then sew them together. Instead, you trace the pattern onto the fabric, and then place the fabric right sides together, and sew around the line you traced. This eliminates the problem of the cut pattern pieces sliding around as you are trying to sew around curves.

She is a basic cylinder with arms and legs sewed on separately. The arms and legs are filled partially with sand so you can pose her easily (she looks great sitting on top of the fireplace). Her hair is made from doll hair (you can get this at the craft store). I decided to give her bangs since she has such a high forehead, but may end up redoing her hair with thin yard instead.

The dress is simple to construct. The shirt is “flat construction”, meaning you cut out the front and back of the shirt and sew it together. The neckline and the sleeves are finished by simply turning the raw edges to the inside. The skirt is a long rectangle that is gathered at the waist. The apron is a rectangle hemmed on 3 sides, with a small waistband. Overall, her outfit turned out really cute!

Keep it thimble!

Brown Bag Sewing Scrapbook

First, a big Happy Birthday to my friend Sharon Stewart at Liberty Rose. Have a great day!!

Second, Sharon was the master mind behind this project – a Sewing Scrapbook made out of paper lunch bags. She offered this as a one of her scrapbooking classes and I fell in love with it (I hardly ever scrapbook) so I had to take the class.

Sharon always does a lot of prep work for her classes and this was no different – she provided all the goodies for each page in the book – including the antique buttons. I added a few more embellishments when I got home – there are tons of great sewing images you can download for free from the internet!

Once you have a collection of images you want for your theme, you can use a color printer to print them out on cardstock. We used off-white and brown kraft cardstock, which coordinates nicely with the paper bags. Once the images are printed, you can cut them out, distress them, and place into the book. You can use this for tons of different themes (I have a few ideas) and they are a great craft for kids. Use colored pencils to add a dash of color to some of the drawings, and scraps of fabric and trim are put to good use as well.

We also used some of the paper from old patterns to add some texture and visual interest. For the pockets, you create square cards, print an image on them, add a tab, and have a little surprise in the book (see Interior 5 for an example, the little girl on the right is one of these tabbed cards that goes inside). Sharon used images of embroidery stitches we would have a handy reference for how to do some basic stitches.

They are very easy to make. Start with three brown paper lunch bags and fold them in half. Stack them by alternating where the opening is placed so there two openings on side side and one on the other side (also make sure the bottom bag flaps are on the inside pages, not the front and back covers), and then staple down the middle.

Once you have your little book – you can decorate it however you want! I have made a few of these for my son already. He enjoys drawing pictures on each page and using rubber stamps and stickers to embellish them.

Keep it thimble!

Jack Bauer Messenger Bag

It’s hard to find bag patterns that are suitable for men, so I decided to create a replica of the trusty bag that Jack Bauer always carries on “24.” Jack’s bag is basically a green canvas army surplus bag (although in later seasons he may have upgraded to something leather).

I haven’t written up this pattern yet, but I have all the notes for it (someplace). This is one of the first patterns I plan to write up to include in my line of patterns I am developing. This bag has several exterior pockets, roomy interior, and a small zippered pocket in the lining. I plan to revise the pattern so that the handle is adjustable, and maybe add two front closures to it (instead of just the single one).

Messenger Bag Interior — Messenger Bag - Interior

This bag is made out of black canvas, and I used a light black cotton for the lining. I broke at least two needles sewing the bottom seams where all the pockets, lining, etc. come together (the thickness is about 8 – 10 layers of fabric).

Messenger Bag Side — Messenger Bag - Side

This would look great in leather or any type of canvas. If making for a woman, you could even use some of the funky oilcloth with the super-saturated colors. I hope to have the pattern written up sometime in the next few months – so stay tuned!

Keep it thimble!