Eden and Eliot: diy

Showing posts with label diy. Show all posts

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Reverse Applique and Stenciled Hand-Stitched 4-Panel Skirt with Pin-wheel Design

This is what's been occupying my time for a number of weeks past.

I made myself this cotton jersey knit skirt, 100% hand-stitched with a stenciled and appliqued pinwheel design at the hem. I wore it last weekend, and to my great delight, it was incredibly comfortable and flattering. (Which, I have to say, is an achievement that cannot be overstated given my post-baby figure.)

So here I am, wearing my skirt in the photograph above - taken a la Alabama Chanin style - thanks to their two inspirational books, Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style. I read about their stencil and stitching techniques but figured that if I was going to embark on such an laborious venture, I might as well come up with a design of my own.

Eden & Eliot - right side stenciled and stitched before cutting

It took me one evening to design, cut and stencil, but a good many nights of sewing thereafter. What I gained from all those nights is a lesson that women throughout the centuries have already known - when your hands keep busy, your mind stays calm.

Eden & Eliot - close up of reverse applique, stitched and stenciled

The month of March has been challenging. And I've needed some calm evenings. Its brings me comfort to have something to show for it at the end of this time, however small it may be in the grand scheme of things.

True to my New Year's resolution, I have yet to buy any article of clothing for myself this year. So I'm also glad to have made something I will cherish for, hopefully, a good many years to come.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Monogram Letter Applique Pillows

My good friend, Mel, threw a birthday party for her sweet little girl a few weekends ago, which gave me the occasion to make these letter pillows that I'd dreamed up a while back but hadn't gotten round to doing.

The birthday girl has the initial C, but her older brother's name begins with M. So, I thought why not bring them both pillows since in my house, good things always come in twos.

The pillows have envelope backs (see my post on how to make an envelope closure), and fusible-web applique letters. You can put a whole set together for a nursery, use them to spell a word or just do special letters or dates. Lots of possibilities here - so I daresay I'll be making more of these soon.

But on the subject of birthday parties - check out this party favor that Mel put together.

She saved these baby food jars for months and turned them into favors by adding nifty personalized labels. I totally loved how she found such good use out of an ordinary thing but more so that she was planning and thinking of celebrating her daughter's big day, every day that she would put one of these away. What better way is there to repurpose what you've got than by sharing your efforts with loved ones.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

How to make a Simple Envelope Closure Pillow and Blanket Set


Firetruck pillow and blanket by Eden and Eliot

My new year's resolution for 2011 is to make what I would otherwise buy - which led me to sew this pillow and blanket set for Eden, when her preschool teacher said she needed extra bedding for naptime.

Its a cute little fleece set, patterned with firetrucks, ambulances and police cars (which she helped pick out). But after it was finished, she refused to bring it to school. (You see a pattern here re: my post about the slippers.)

So this has gone to little brother Eliot, who is much more accommodating when it comes to wearing or using the things his mother makes.

This was a really simple set to sew up, and experienced readers will not need any instructions here. But since I've benefited from very basic tutorials - I thought, why not write one anyway for all my friends out there who don't fancy themselves crafty. Children's bedding tends to be expensive, so if you're inclined to make your own - read on, its a cinch.

Materials

Fleece - 1.5 yards (adjust for bigger or smaller sets)
13 inch pillow insert (Ikea carries a really inexpensive one)
Sewing machine & coordinating thread
Ball-point sewing machine needle (suitable for knit fabrics)
Disappearing ink fabric or chalk marker

Instructions

Lay out your fleece fabric on your cutting surface wrong side up, measure and mark a rectangle 36" x 48" for the blanket . With the remaining fabric, mark a rectangle 14" x (14" + 6") for the pillow. The extra 6" will form the overlap for the envelope closure. My pillow insert is 13" square, so the 14" width gives me a half inch seam allowance on each side. If you want a poofier pillow, make the rectangle 13" x (13" + 6"), and it will give the pillow a nice squeeze.

Make sure you mark both rectangles before you start cutting. Since mine was a patterned fleece, and I wanted to make sure I got a couple of the firetruck/car images intact on the front of the pillow, I didn't end up with the most efficient/fabric saving layout.

For the Pillow

With the wrong side of the fabric up, fold in a half inch seam on each of the short sides of the rectangle, pin and stitch. If you feel comfortable, you can start stitching and fold as you go along.

When you are done sewing the seams on the two short sides, fold the fabric over so that it overlaps as shown in the photo above. The wrong side should be facing you, and the distance from the top to the bottom folded edges should measure 13". Secure the side edges with pins.

You can flip open the flap, to check that you have it folded correctly. Take the time to make sure that your pillow front will show the pattern that you want to end up with. The pillow front is the bottom most layer in the photo above. You can adjust the location of the flap to ensure this.

Stitch a half inch seam on the sides, (where you have secured with pins). You should end up with a seam as shown in the photo above.

Flip the pillow inside out. You now have a finished pillow cover, with an overlapping flap as shown (otherwise known as an envelope closure). That overlap is what allows you to insert your pillow and keep it secure without zippers, buttons and what-not so little fingers don't get into trouble.

Flip it over to see the pillow front. If you've checked on the position of your pattern in the previous step, you should end up with a happy outcome - voila! One intact firetruck and ambulance! Stuff your insert and you're done!

For the Blanket

This is the simplest part - just fold in a half inch seam on all 4 sides and stitch. And there you have it - your finished blanket and pillow set all ready to keep your little one snuggly and warm.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

How to make your own stamped hand-printed market tote bag

Hand-printed muslin tote by Eden and Eliot

Sign up for our February Giveaway to win a lovely hand-stamped dish towel with this same leaf pattern here.

Bringing your own bag to the grocery store is all the rage now so its no wonder that every store seems to have its own store-branded recycled "I-used-to-be-a-plastic-bottle" carrier.

For one thing, they are usually not the most attractive bags - the graphics can be screamy and even worse, the news media reported last December that lead was found in some of the bright inks that were used to logo these totes.

I love to bring my own bags, so I thought I would try to make some that would be fun to carry around. Here's what you need:

Materials

Blank cotton bag (I found muslin bags at my neighborhood dollar store)
Rubber stamps of your choice (bold graphics without alot of fine lines will work best)
Fabric inks eg. Speedball Screenprinting ink, or
VersaMagic Chalk Ink stamp pads
Rubber brayer and plate or cookie sheet (if using screenprinting ink)

Instructions
1. Prewash the bag in cold water, and dry without using fabric softeners. You need to wash the sizing out of the fabric or the ink will not print well. Press and smooth flat.

2. Figure out how many stamped impressions you can make on the fabric, mark the center of your design and start there. For the bag shown above, I made two rows of 7 impressions, so I marked the middle and stamped to the left and right. If you are meticulous about spacing, you can mark each spot and stamp from one end to the other, but I find it easier to eyeball it from the middle.

3. Prepare your ink. If you are using screenprinting ink, scoop out what you need with a clean spoon and spread it on your plate or cookie sheet. You'll get better results if you mix at least two colors together and don't use it straight out of the jar. Its an old habit of mine from my painting days, and I know from experience that the color comes out much richer this way. Use a clean spoon for each color.

4. Mix the colors directly on your plate and use your brayer to smooth out a even coat. Apply the ink onto your stamp using the brayer. You should transfer an even coat onto the stamp. Always test on a scrap piece of fabric! Once you have gotten the hang of transferring the right amount of ink onto the stamp, press firmly onto the fabric with even pressure. Do not wiggle. Lift quickly. Repeat.

5. Clean the stamp well before changing colors. For the bag above, I did the top row with Peacock Blue mixed with White, and bottom with Brown and a little Black.

6. When the prints are dry to the touch, put a piece press cloth over it and set a hot, dry iron on it for about 20-30 seconds.* This will heat set the ink and render it washable. Make sure you cover every part of your design.

*Actual heat-setting time will depend on how hot your iron is. You can do it a little longer to be safe, as long as you use a press cloth to protect your fabric.

**If you are using the fabric stamp pads, you can skip all the mixing and brayer action but you will still need to heat set it.

Hand-printed muslin tote by Eden and Eliot

Finally, a close up of my totes. I made a run of 6 bags and was going to put them in my Etsy store but ended up giving most of them to friends. Make a personal label for it, and fill it up with goodies for a hostess gift. Or stamp a bunch of them for birthday party favors. They will also make a fun afternoon activity with older kids.

If you do end up making these, I'd love to hear from you. Have fun!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Valentine Lovebirds Onesie Tutorial - How to make a fusible-web and raw-edged applique

Valentine's Day is just round the corner so I thought I would make a lovebirds themed onesie for Eden, who is always running out of play clothes. While I was at it, I put together a simple tutorial for anyone who would like to try making this. A hand-crafted onesie makes a sweet, personal gift for a birthday girl or new baby.

Materials

1 blank onesie or t-shirt
3 fabric scraps in red, pink and/or red-pink combo
Iron-on fusible web (eg. Wonder Under 805)
Tear-away stabilizer (eg. Sulky iron-on or self-adhesive)
Sewing machine needle for knit fabrics
Sewing machine with satin foot
Sewing machine thread in red
Hand-sewing needle
Embroidery floss in red

The first thing I do is to gather my scraps and put them together on the table to see if the colors will work well together. Since this is a Valentine's Day design, I decided to go with a red bird and a pink bird, with some other accent fabric for the hearts.

Trace the outline of the birds on a piece of iron-on fusible web. (You will draw on the paper side of the web, the other side is the bumpy side which contains the heat-activated adhesive.) Remember that you will be fusing onto the back side of the fabric, and then turning it over, so your applique cut-out will be a mirror image of your drawing.

Cut out the shapes of the birds from the fusible web, leaving a quarter inch surround. Place the cut-out shapes of fusible web onto the back side of the fabric. I like to do this over a light-table or hold the pieces up against the light in order to make sure the outline encompasses parts of the print I want to capture.

Set a hot iron (no steam) on top of the two pieces, and fuse the drawing onto the back of the fabric. Carefully cut out the shape of the bird, along the traced lines. Do the same for the second bird.

Arrange the two birds on your onesie, making sure you mark their position with a pin. In this case, I wanted the two beaks to be close to touching.

Peel the paper backing off the birds, and using a hot iron with a press cloth, fuse one bird at a time. This is to make sure you have one fused in place so that you can reposition the second bird if you need to.

At this point, I decided to add some hearts, so I found a pair of Eden's old shorts with a cute polka-dotted print and cut a few out in various sizes. I played around until I was happy with the composition and pinned the hearts in place. The top three hearts will be fused onto the shirt, as I did the birds. The bottom largest heart, I reserved for doing the raw-edged applique.

Turn the shirt inside out and apply the stabilizer (either iron-on or self adhesive) onto the back of your designs. Make sure that the stabilizer is a large enough piece so that it provides coverage under both the birds and the hearts. Flip the shirt back right side out and prepare to sew.

I have a very basic sewing machine, so I used a tight zig-zag stitch. If your machine has a satin stitch or other embroidery functions, you may want to use a fancier stitch. I love the scribbly effect of a zig-zag because it has that hand-made look, so don't sweat it if you don't stay perfectly on the edge of your shapes. A little bit of a wiggle here and there actually gives it a personal touch. Go slow and always pivot with the needle down.

When you are done, flip over to the back side and carefully tear away the excess stabilizer until you end up with something like this.

Fuse and zig-zag stitch the remaining heart onto a scrap of jersey knit fabric using the same method as described above. In this case, I'm using a scrap of heather grey jersey that matches the blank onesie.

You'll want to make sure the scrap is large enough so that you can securely pin around it. Thread a hand-sewing needle with three strands of embroidery floss, and stitch around the heart with a tight running stitch. You may use an embroidery hoop to help you, but I just sew it with the pins in place.

Keep the stitches even and close together. Hide the knots behind the heart.

When you're done, carefully trim leaving an even allowance around the stitches. Because of the knitted material, the edges won't fray and with washing, they will eventually curl giving it a quirkly, hand-made character.

The finished product! Happy Valentine's Day!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

A New Year's Resolution - Celebrating hand-made, repurposing old stuff and finding new reasons to love what you already own.

My New Year's resolution for 2011 is to make what I would otherwise buy. Granted of course, that I can make a comparable, functional and reasonable version of that particular thing.

I daresay I will be screaming for a shopping binge after a couple of months, but that's what's fun about making a new year's resolution. Its something well-intentioned, not completely thought through, with somewhat dubious chances of success.

For example, take this pair of slippers I made for Eden from a repurposed wool sweater. Its a pattern from Betz White's lovely book, Sewing Green (note: it needed a fair bit of doctoring to get it to a child's size). I found one of my "so-very-yesterday" sweaters, felted it in a hot wash cycle, sewed it up and voila!

But all the good intention in the world won't get those slippers onto my toddler's feet. Eden took her first look at them, and screamed, "No!" and ran in the opposite direction.

Its completely baffling because those are her favorite colors, she loves all kinds of booties/boots, and its soft, cozy and so darn cute. See what I mean about new year's resolutions? You can make them, but then life intervenes.

I had to buy Eden new slippers.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Recipes for How to Throw a Monkey Party

Recipe for Deviled Eggs

7 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
Salt and pepper, for taste
Paprika, for garnishing

Halve 7 eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a small bowl. Mash yolks with a fork and stir in mayonnaise, pickle relish, and mustard. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Fill egg whites evenly with yolk mixture. Garnish with paprika, pickles and pimentos. Store covered in refrigerator.

Recipe for Honey-Mustard Sauce

1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon mild honey
(add salt after mixing ingredients - the mustard may already be salty enough)