Mens Bi-Fold Wallet

It seems I always have trouble with gifts for the guys at Christmas! So, I found this project at:
http://sewing.about.com/od/bagstotespurseproject/ss/menswallet.htm
and I decided to go for it with the "teenage friendly" wild fabric choices. I did have great fun with this project and only pulled a few hairs out when it came to putting that bias around the project. I ended up putting a few dollars in each purse and seemed to satisfy each grandson with something different.

Well, let's just say it went over better than the year I made them "ROCKS" out of flour and they looked at the rocks and at me and time stood still! LOL Little did they know that I had inserted money in their rocks and I did not tell them so I wondered how long it took for them to figure it out.

Checkered flag cap

After my daughter-in-law had me work with her to make her daughter a "Checkered flag" fleece jacket my granddaughter asked me to take a small piece of fabric that was left over and make her a cap. She is a real "racing fan" , and I had to laugh because I told her Mama that at least she could find her in the store because nobody else had a jacket that stood out like that. LOL

I really did enjoy this project because it was just a very few pieces and it was so nice and soft on your skin.

Sewing Machine Potholders

While I was on my search for Christmas presents I was pondering what I could give my teaching friend? She can sew circles around me , but I wanted some way to show her that I was learning thanks to her , and I wanted something that she could use .



I know there are a million ways to make potholders and that is one of the things that makes them so special. I have seen so many beautiful ones that you "quilters" have come up with -thanks to all of your quilting patterns and I really love that idea also.



But when I ran across this remnant with the sewing machine on it - my eyeballs popped out and I thought this would be absolutely perfect.


I cut out the size I hoped would be ample and sewed right sides together along with a triple piece of old towels that had been cut to fit. That way I knew it would be soft and easy to manage while trying to wrap it around pot handles as I hate potholders that are too stiff to use . Then turned the pieces back right side out and top stitched around, plus some quilting to make everything stay in place. I think she really got a kick out of her dumbest student trying to express how much I love and appreciate her.

A wonderful give-a-way

http://imjustaguywhoquilts.blogspot.com/2009/08/its-giveaway-time-again-2010-sewing-day.html

I just visited Ryan's blog and he is having this wonderful give a way of a sewing calendar. Can we ever have too many ideas for sewing?? Not me - that is for sure.

Just thought I would share it with you.

Did you guys know that Micki from the Irish Muses took a tumble and she is recovering, but stiff and achy. I hate for my friends to get hurt because we just don't have enough good time as it is. ~smile~ Get better real quick Micki so you can keep on inspiring us!!!!!!!!! You are truly one of the flowers in our "Blogland Garden"!!!!!!!!!

Blanket for Granddaughter

Have you ever noticed how lovely fleece is and how many varieties of colors there are to call to you? It seems to whisper - how many projects can you work with me???? At one time we had a Hancocks Fabrics in our area and I used to love to go in their store because they had a two tables piled high with fleece of every description and I would stand and let them all whisper to me. Lovingly I would let my hands caress each bolt like a beloved friend. When someone told me that fleece was manufactured from plastic bottles it really blew my mind - how in the world could anything so soft come from something so hard? Well, I have an answer for you:

How Plastic Bottles are Recycled to Make Fleece by Michelle Miley


Preparation
Plastic bottles that are going to be recycled into fleece are first sorted by color and type of plastic. The sorted bottles are then examined, and any debris mixed in with them is removed. The bottles are then sterilized and run through a machine that chops them into small pieces and then puts the pieces in water. The water clean the plastic flakes and removes any dust from them. The bottle pieces are then run through a blowing dryer that blows off any dust or remaining pieces of the labels that were on the bottles.
Melting and Mixing
When they are dry, the plastic pieces are melted in an oven. The plastic must be heated to 250 degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) before it will melt. The melted recycled plastic is mixed with new melted plastic that has not yet been used to produce anything. This new plastic is called "virgin plastic." The melted plastics are forced through a device known as a "spinneret." A spinneret is a metal disk with holes in it. Then the plastic is forced through the holes it is shaped into threads. These threads harden when they come in contact with the air as they leave the spinneret.
Drawing and Finishing
The plastic threads that emerge from the spinneret are referred to as "tow." The tow is wrapped around a warm spool and is then run through the drawing machine. A drawing machines is a device that stretches the strands of tow until they are over twice as long as they where when spooled. Drawing the tow makes it longer and increases its tensile strength. The longer threads are now dried and cut to the desired length. The process of drying the threads changes the texture of them to a texture more closely matching that of wool than plastic. The finished strands of plastic thread are rolled into a bail and then woven into other strands of thread to make yarn. This yarn is dyed and then used to make fleece clothing.

How is that for blowing your mind- take junk and turn it into a useable product. For once something is not being wasted!

So, I decided to try my hand at a blanket for my granddaughter. One of the features I wanted to learn how to do was to be able to use "Decorative Threads" in my serger- so I got my wish in this project.

I also found a wonderful site with more information on this for you:

http://www.linusidaho.org/finishafleeceblanket.htm
One of the tips I really liked was the feature they called a "rabbit ear" way of doing the fringe! They also spoke about a "hounds ear" by cutting the fringe just a tad longer! I can never get over how people come up with these wonderful ideas. Can you tell that anything sewing just makes me glow with enthusiasm?

Customizing Jeans?

I was feeling the need to "stretch some new brain muscles" , so I decided to tackle a new project I had never attempted before.

I have granddaughters and all of the young ones I know are into jeans, so I bought a pair and had my first attempt at "ripping" out the side leg seams so I could get in there and attempt some embroidery work.

I decided Jeans fabric is really fun to embroider on and had really good luck with this project. I wasn't too thrilled with sewing those side leg seams back up , but I got it pulled off and it turned out to be some of the kids favorite gifts.

Magic Pillowcases

This was a project that I discovered online . They had talked about making pillowcases for gifts and how you could customize the colors for the individuals. The thing that REALLY got my attention was when they began to speak about your would make the cuff and you rolled the entire pillowcase up in the cuff and then when it was all sewed together you would turn the cuff inside out and the project would be completed.

This is the link and it is a pdf download.To me , it is amazing.
extension.usu.edu/files/.../FL_ST_Construction_2006-102pr.pd

I really thought they were dreaming so I decided to give it a try . I was very careful as I rolled the body of the case up into the cuff before sewing it and then when it came time to turn the cuff inside out - JEEPERS - it worked like a charm! It was a miracle for me BECAUSE it really worked and it worked for ME! I was so thrilled. Now that was what I called a great , fun project - something that was useful and it actually worked FOR ME! No blood , sweat or tears and no waste of fabric and threads. It was amazing and I was thrilled - Talk about a high!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had one post that said the link didn't work , so I looked it up again and hope this works better!

http://www.ecqg.com/Regular/PDF%20Files/UtahStatePillowcases.pdf