A little pantry project

It has been a fairly soggy start to summer here. I felt like I was solar powered, because the lack of sunshine was making me so cranky & tired. Sewing was lagging behind greatly ~ just didn't have the energy to do any! So instead I found a faster (and fun) project to try out ~ chalkboard paint!
Oh am I ever smitten with this paint, I had never ever tried it before! A friend encouraged me to buy some chalkboard pens to go with them (which I highly suggest) which lets your text stay put and not smudge but will wash off with soap and water later.

here are my supplies: chalkboard paint, a sponge 'brush', blue painters tape and wooden squares

I used blue painters tape to add some decorative edges to my pieces. And I purchased thin wooden squares to act as 'labels' for my jars I would later use. I taped my wooden pieces down to plastic, painted them over and it says to let them dry overnight. I ended up doing about three coats of paint total on mine.

see the cute edge design? try a scissor with a design on the blade (often in scrap booking aisle)

Once dry you remove the blue painters tape to reveal your design! I added ribbon to this one since it had a hole already drilled. 

pick the correct crafting glue for your project, this was good for wood on glass

Pick a good crafting clue to suit your project. I used one type called 'Goop' and it will work for gluing wood, glass, metal and more. I made sure to let my glued on piece sit over night. You wouldn't want your new chalkboard label to fall off later!

finished labeled mason jars!

I found everything I needed at the craft store. They sell the thin wooden shapes/labels for about 35 cents a piece. The paint is in a big container and will last you for many projects. The pens came in a four pack, they work much nicer then regular chalk. I already had glass mason jars sitting around, so no cost to me on those! I hope you have fun experimenting with a new medium this summer - it's even suitable for the kiddies. 

Summer break

It's summer for us in Kentucky, warm and sunny days ahead. But with this has come about some changes for me. To start, my etsy shop is on hiatus until further notice. Sometimes online selling doesn't amount to much. And I don't want to lose my passion for crafting, arts and drawing to dwindle because I felt it turning into a 'job'. This blog, my pages, will still be active - my etsy shop isn't going away.

time for a healthy break

In other news! I can finally show off the finished product of my friends wedding gift. She and her fella needed something they can wash, use daily but also be appropriate for them both. I decided on thick flannel fabric (in ivory) and cotton print fabric. I did some hand stitching in the sashiko style to the printed fabric. The rest was all machine sewing for lasting durability. I really hope they get years of good use out of these: four coasters and four place mats.

the finished wedding gift

I hope to spend some of my summer learning to sew new apparel fabrics and patterns. I have a few tops I'd love to figure out with some pretty fabrics. And I really want to venture into sewing linen. I have a good summer pant pattern perfect for linen fabrics! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful start to their summer. Stay cool, enjoy some summer company and grilling too. 

Springtime and weddings

For Spring it sure has been warm here in Kentucky. In fact, several days felt like humid Summer already moving in. I really want to start sewing a few pieces of clothing for my wardrobe. But I wanted to start small, by adding to a plain tee shirt.

my pan collar tee shirt

I had been seeing so many tops with these cute collars. I like the Peter Pan style best and decided to freehand a collar pattern on paper. I used a printed fabric with a solid, heavier weighted fabric on the back. 

collar pattern laid out

I machine stitched the collar fabric together. Then to finish I hand stitched it to the tee shirt, to get it just right. I added a large button I had to the center where the collars met ~ and tad-da!

I also have two special projects to start up. One friend recently wed (Omedetou gozaimasu  Di-chan!) and another soon to be. I want to make something useful and washable: cloth napkins and matching coasters. I know, not terribly exciting but they will be used for sure.

I still have my 20% Off SALE in my etsy shop ~ so be sure to stop by! And I hope everyone is enjoying the Spring season and blooming flowers. (sale has expired)

20% off Sale!

Come on over to my etsy shop (here!) for the new Spring SALE! 

sale has expired

Spring time, finally!

I don't know about you lot, but I was getting tired of winter. I love all seasons, I'm thankful Kentucky (where we reside) has all four! But snow, sleet, cold temps? I had enough of that by yesterday *thank you Nature!*. We seem to be readying ourselves for the April showers, which I personally welcome. I have some great multi-season muck lucks (rain boots, willies). They have a removable liner and these super cute owl print on them!

So yes, the crafty stuff! I've been playing with a few things between teaching my JoAnn classes. First, some super simple hair ties and headband.

Green: store bough, Pink dot: made, Red headband: made

I first bought the green one you see above. It's full, soft and attached to a simple hair elastic. I loved it so much but the store didn't have any others. So at the craft store I found the pink polka dot flower piece. It was sold in the scrap book section. But it was easy to apply to a hair tie with a little glue, felt backing piece - that's it! The headband piece; I purchase elastic (mine is gold tone) and just added some large beads, the felt red flower (again, scrap booking supply) and glued it all on with felt backing. 

The store bought one is just sewed on, I think mine is more secure

Natural light shows the true colors!

And of course, I can't go long without sewing something. I swear, I need rehab or something (ha!) I decided on a top from the awesome 'One piece wearables' pattern book. I've raved about it many times, I bought mine online. It comes with full patterns for most of the books projects. And if it doesn't require a pattern (like the top below) it gives very easy to follow instructions on measurements.

I used a soft cotton fabric, bias tape neck

I made this in a few days because I didn't want to rush it. I ended up altering the sides a bit and gave it a boat neck. I used matching bias tape just at the neck opening, the rest was a rolled hem of about 1/4" on the sleeves and 1/2" at the bottom. 

Close up of neck detail

My neck opening was creeping up and bothering me. So to fix this, I just added some pleating! 

Ihope everyone is enjoying a change in weather and seasons. I have some new JoAnn classes to teach come April. I'll be teaching the adult 101 class plus - I'm being brave here (since I don't have kids, I tend to not teach them), but I'll be doing a kids 102 class. No sewing machines this time round *thank goodness!* just hand sewing of a cool Earth-themed fleece pillow. Happy crafting everyone!