Sew I See!

More pincushions from right here on the homestead! Yee-haw! It's a pincushion round-up! (Wait. That didn't really make much sense, did it? You'll have to excuse me. I may tend to go a bit wild on this blog, from time to time, since I don't think many people are actually reading it. As opposed to the ten or twenty souls who read my personal blog. (g)) So. As I was saying. . . I don't believe I ever got around to posting a photo of this "girly-girl pincushion" before. It's "girly-girl" because it's so pink and purple, of course. It's inspired by those penny rugs that had such a resurgence in popularity a while ago. I topped it off with one of my handmade polymer clay buttons. (I do so love to work those into my little sewing projects!) While I had the camera warmed up, I snapped a couple photos of one of my first, simplest pincushions, which is now serving in the capacity of a needle-cushion. (I suppose I ought to make mysel...

I'm still obsessed with pincushions! --Jen Segrest's Flickr tutorial for making a "basic bottlecap pincushion" (which can be adapted and/or decorated however you like). She also has a blog , with lots of pincushiony goodness. --Bella Dia's "Little Houses" on Flickr. They're a charming set of pincushions made in the shapes of houses and mushroom homes (for fairies, I presume). (Actually, I'm not sure these are strictly meant as pincushions, but that's what I see when I look at them.) -- "The Adventures of Henrietta Hedgehog (Pincushion)" (Very cute!) --A Flickr group for pincushion photos . (Have I linked here before? Oh well...) That'll do for now. . . Hope you enjoy those sites as much as I have! :o)

Don't worry; it's not real! ;o) Some time ago, I came across a pattern for a very cute mouse pincushion -- one that I only recently got around to trying. I changed a couple of things, as you'll probably notice if you clicked over to the tutorial. The most obvious difference is that I made my stitches visible. (I used the whip stitch in a color that contrasted with the felt.) I also stitched around the ears and used teensy-tiny buttons (that I made myself from polymer clay) for the eyes. My stitching skills could use some polishing. I imagine this is another instance of "practice makes perfect", and as such, is a great excuse for making a few more of these little felt mice! (I stuck this one in with a gift, so my sewing box is still mouse-less.) Hm. What colors should I make the next one. . .? I love these pincushion projects-- just enough hand stitching to let me play around with thread and needle, but not so much that I get impatient with my lack of skil...

Yep, my plastic grocery bags now have a home. ;o) I basically followed the tutorial that I linked to in my last entry, though I did tweak it a bit. I didn't start with quite as wide a rectangle as in the tutorial, because my fabric wasn't wide enough (more on that later). I think my rectangle ended up being about 14 inches wide. Also, I didn't have any elastic on hand, so I came up with another solution. I sewed the "tube" at the bottom, fed a piece of yarn through it, gathered the fabric up to tighten the hole a bit (but not too much), and knotted the yarn. Unless I'm missing something, I think this will work just as well as the elastic, and it's free (assuming you have a little bit of yarn or string lying around the house). I used fabric scraps I happened to have on hand, because I hate wasting nice, new fabric on a project before I know how it'll turn out. (Besides, this is going inside the pantry, where hardly anyone will ever see it.) Actu...

Ok, I'll admit it: The perceived usefulness of these links will vary greatly from person to person. I've gotten by for years just using one plastic grocery bag to hold all of the rest. Or, actually, several plastic grocery bags crammed to the bursting point with the rest. I take them back to the store to be recycled, but most of the time I forget, so I end up with lots of them stuffed on the bottom shelf of the pantry. However, "getting by" and doing it with style are two very different things. ;o) If, like me, you're tired of looking at plastic bags, you may want to give this grocery bag dispenser tutorial a look. It seems like a very quick and easy project-- and if I had some elastic on hand, I'd probably give it a try right away. (I have an idea that might allow me to do it even without waiting for my next shopping trip. We'll see. . .) If you're less interested in the looks of the thing and happen to have an old sweatshirt destined for t...