Tag : sewing

152 posts

201608/28

DIY workstation ironing board

Lately I’ve been feeling the urge to make another quilt. A fun, random scrappy quilt. A real scrap buster quilt. I have several totes full of fabric. I’d say about 1/3 of it dates pre 1980’s. Of course not old enough to be really cool retro fabric…just that awkward 70’s fabric that really doesn’t mesh well with today’s patterns. However I do believe it will work well in a scrappy quilt because it will be small pieces and hey, its scrappy.

One of my main issues with quilting in my current space is that I don’t have room for both a cutting station and small ironing board. It’s one or the other so usually I set up my tabletop ironing board on the game table and am constantly walking back and forth.

Marvin is also an issue. He is not good about obeying the rule of no cats on the table. It’s a constant battle with him. I’m afraid he’s going to either burn himself or knock the iron down and have it burn the carpet. Either way it’s bad.

While browsing around at Goodwill I saw this wooden TV tray for $3.99 and was inspired to create my own ironing board that is perfect height for ironing while remaining seated and folds away when not needed.

I knew I needed special batting for this project. I researched a bit then found the product I needed on Amazon.

At this point I turned my TV tray upside down onto the batting and traced around. I then cut another piece of batting about 2 inches bigger so it would wrap around the outer edge of the tray. I then cut a piece of vintage tablecloth about 3 inches bigger than the previous batting piece. I just eyeballed all the pieces….you know me, I hate measuring.

I used a staple gun to attach it to the underside of the TV tray in the same way you’d upholster a chair seat. You basically alternate stapling from side to side pulling the fabric tight as you go leaving the corners for last. The corners are mitered by folding then stapling. There are lots of tutorials and how-to videos out there for this if you’ve never done it before.

After getting the fabric stapled down good and tight I used my scissors to trim away any extra. The underside isn’t really ever going to be seen so I don’t care if it’s perfect.

Ta-da! Now I have my new work station ironing board and no excuse not to get to that scrap busting quilt.

Or have I just made an upholstered cat stand? What a turkey!!

Blog | Creativity

DIY, sewing, tutorial

2 Comments

halleday

201608/09

T Tuesday: domestically inclined edition

Hello there…you came back for yet another edition of T stands for Tuesday! Thank you! For those of you who are new to my blog, WELCOME and let me tell you a little about T stands for Tuesday. Elizabeth aka alteredbooklover hosts a weekly link up or virtual tea party, if you will, where we share what ever the heck we want for the week as long as we can somehow tie a beverage or beverage related item into the mix. Pretty simple huh? So lets get on with it, shall we…

This week I’ve been a mix of artsy and domestic. I’ve previously posted a couple of artsy things so now you get to see some of my domesticity. Last week…no, two weeks ago (geez where does the time go) I shared our “new” hutch for T stands for Tuesday. I mentioned that I need to make a curtain to cover the wine rack shelf. I went searching through a box of vintage linens and found the perfect solution.

Simple beauty. These were my Grandma’s as well. Or perhaps her sisters…a cousin of mine just told me a story that my grandma talked her sister out of a bunch of linens saying that she needed them more in the parsonage than her sister did on the farm. Hmmm…

I’m guessing these were purchased by my grandparents in Minneapolis if the stickers are to be believed. Dayton’s became a upscale department store here in the midwest and started the discount chain Target.

After ironically running to Target to pick up a tension rod, I realized that I wouldn’t even have to cut these linens. I folded them in half and ran a straight line of stitching an inch from the fold.

This gave me a double layer of fabric providing more light blocking which was exactly what I was going for with this project.

The linen curtain makes this piece feel more Scandinavian. Marvin still loves his spot by the door and really could care less about the curtain.

I did a bit of canning and baking as well when the weather cooled down.

I made spicy beans, zucchini bread and pumpkin bread. I like having a little bit of baked goods in the freezer just in case we are suddenly having company and I was completely out.

I also have to share a day that Mini-me and I had about a month ago. I keep meaning to share but it just hasn’t worked out. She’s been wanting to dye her hair…not all of it but some. A streak or some underneath. She just couldn’t decided so we waited. She finally decided, so we did it.

It’s faded now quite a bit so we are going to redo it likely in the next couple weeks before school starts.

We went out to eat at Old Chicago to celebrate her fun new hair. It’s one of her favorite restaurants.

Well that’s it for today. I’ve got another busy Tuesday ahead of me but I’ll be around eventually to visit.

What are you doing today?

Around home | Blog | Crafts | Creativity | Kitchen

baking, canning, kitchen, Marvin, sewing, T Tuesday

15 Comments

halleday

201605/23

Refreshed flags

Several years ago I made a banner for the deck rail. It added a bit of whimsy to the deck box garden.

When we added a second garden I made flags for that as well. Over the years the elements have done a number on the flags. Up until last winter I always took them down at the end of each fall. Knowing that they really needed replacement I left them up to continue the whimsy throughout the cold months.

Today’s version of the flags are single sided. They still blow sweetly in the breeze adding a fun element to an otherwise boring fence and deck rail.

Next is the planting….

Around home | Blog | Crafts | Creativity | Outdoors

garden art, scraps, sewing

2 Comments

halleday

201605/11

The lost art of bartering

I don’t know about you but I love it when I am able to barter for something. It truly is becoming a lost art. People now days just go buy or hire someone when they need something. I feel it stems from our lack of community. People don’t know their neighbors. They come home, park in the garage and never step into their yard except to perhaps finely manicure the grass. We are lucky here as we DO know our neighbors and have a good sense of community at least on our block.

So with that in mind, a friend is finishing off their basement and is starting to buy accessories to match the rustic style of the decor they’ve chosen. She’d been telling me about wanting feed sack pillows for the couch but was overwhelmed by the price on Etsy. She purchased feed sacks at an antique store but then was stuck. She was afraid to cut them plus she didn’t have a sewing machine. I told her to bring them on over and we’d get it figured out.

Marvin decided he really needed to “help”.

After getting him interested in some toys we were able to cut them down and stuff the pillow forms inside. I left the hand stitching to my friend to do at home.

Look how awesome they look!!

So what does this have to do with bartering…well they had leftover stone veneer from their fireplace. I got to take it home.

I’m hoping that I’ll have enough to build a fire pit. The rain is supposed to clear out tomorrow so then I can lay things out to make sure before buying the materials to complete my project.

Around home | Blog | Crafts | Outdoors

A second look: Upcycling Projects

Since it’s April and this month is Earth Month I thought I’d share a second look at a bit of upcycling from a few years ago.

Oct 6, 2013

Upcycling Projects

We all know how to recycle and I’m sure most do it daily. Newspapers, cardboard, glass and plastic are all readily recyclable in most cities, at least across the USA.

This is wonderful! But I’ve been really focused on upcycling lately. Finding a new use for something that would ordinarily be tossed out. Wine corks, bottle caps, worn out clothing, stained linens, broken plates…you get the idea.I showed a sneak peek of these a while ago. I made a wine cork tree last year but this time I decided to change things a bit. I used a Champagne cork cut in half for the trunk. I think they turned out really cute.

I’ve also been using some scraps from previous projects such as the denim remaining after completing a quilt or two. As well as the remainder of the dress shirts that I made wine bottle gift bags from.

In addition I’ve been making a bunch more cards. I’ll show more of these last two projects at a later date. The cards have much less upcycling in it’s truest sense but I am still attempting to include elements that might otherwise be considered unusable such as tiny scraps of fabric and yarn. As well as photo trimmings. I have a cigar box full of photo trimmings…they have such vibrant colors that it’s a shame to toss them out.

It doesn’t have to be Earth Day to be a little “green”. Do a little more every day to be kind to our planet. Last time I checked…it’s the only one we have. :)

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If you’d like to see more recycling and upcycling projects please use the tag cloud on my sidebar.

Art | Blog | Crafts

Christmas, fabric, greeting card, scraps, Second on the 2nd, sewing, upcycling, wine corks

6 Comments

halleday

201603/02

A second look: Productive Wednesday

Let’s take a look back at a post from 2 years ago. Typically I go back further for Second on the 2nd but as I was looking back through posts I remembered how much I liked (and still do) this journal page. I also remember that my creativity was running in high gear at the time. I was loving every moment of it.

4/24/2014

Productive Wednesday

I had so much fun making the first journal spread yesterday, I went back for another.

Once again I worked in my white journal. Boy, I just realized that I have 4 journals going at once. And I have an idea for yet another. I should probably wait on that idea at least until I fill one of the currents to capacity.

Tissue paper was used as a start for this page as well. It had been crumpled over and over again. Lots of tiny little creases. It started out very purple…or maybe violet. The color was a little too “in your face” for my taste. I used a couple of mists around the edges to tone it down to a dull roar.. The aqua washi tape begged me to use it with the new deeper shade of purple. The black and white just helped everything else pop on the page. I have this thing about circles…I use them all the time. They just make me happy I guess.

So last evening I still hadn’t had enough creativity for the day. My sewing machine was still calling me. I grabbed bits and pieces of fabric, paper, fiber and trims to sew together for collage cards. I didn’t give it much thought…just went for it.

I made 21 mini collages that will eventually become greeting cards. Some will be left blank…others will have sentiments…some collages may not make the cut. Who cares…it was all scraps and bits laying around.

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Some of these mini-collage cards led to being asked to write an article for Sew Somerset magazine. That could be another reason I like this post so much.

Thanks for taking a walk down memory lane with me today. Do you have a favorite project from the past?

Art | Blog | Crafts

art journal, greeting card, Second on the 2nd, sewing, white journal

5 Comments

halleday

201602/09

T Tuesday: pattern making edition

Good morning and welcome to T stands for Tuesday.

I finally caught the cold/virus that Big J was suffering with all last week. Bummer! Hopefully we won’t continue to pass it along to the rest of the family.

Before I started feeling cruddy I was asked by Mr. G to make a cover for his new gadget…a 3D printer.

Halle's Hobbies

A peek into my eclectic life

Tag : sewing

DIY workstation ironing board

T Tuesday: domestically inclined edition

Refreshed flags

The lost art of bartering

A second look: Upcycling Projects

A second look: Productive Wednesday

T Tuesday: pattern making edition