Monday, March 20, 2017

Spring Wreath

Yeah! Today is the first day of Spring! And to welcome the season I have an easy Spring Wreath for you to make. 


It was made with items that I already had on hand...so more or less for free.


I purchased the tulips several years ago from the dollar store. I think that I bought eight bunches at a dollar each, then snipped them apart using some old tin snips.The grapevine wreaths I've had for about ten years...and keep changing them to suit my mood and season. The ribbon I got at Walmart two years ago at an after Easter sale for just a dollar. There was fifteen feet of ribbon on the roll and I used it all except for about two inches. Shown in the picture below are two pipe cleaners (chenille stems) one for each wreath that I had on hand from another project. Divide the tulips and start weaving them into the grapevine base. I used seven per side, leaving about two inches for the ribbon in between (fourteen for each wreath, twenty-eight total). No glue needed!


Cut the ribbon in two equal pieces.  Make four loops of ribbon to make the bow, then cut the ribbon,  take the rest of that piece and use it for the tails on the bow. Wrap it around the loops (two on each side) and secure in the back with one pipe cleaner. Secure the pipe cleaner to the grapevine wreath. Cut the ends of the tails on the diagonal and tweak the ribbon to show some movement.



Here are the finished wreaths guarded by Tilly my Havanese guard dog. She might lick you to death! So quick and easy!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the road rise up to meet you...
I love St. Pat's day...do you? Maybe I'll eat some potato soup or not. The only day of the year when I'm very Irish and so is this teapot - a little wear'n of the green...



Use a felt tip marker to draw a shamrock or other Irish design (a Celtic Knot?) on a porcelain dish or teapot. Make the design as simple or fancy as you would like. Remove it with a cotton ball dipped in denatured alcohol and you are ready for your next work of art. 




I machine embroidered two kitchen towels this year. The design "Shamrock Bow" ATG2517 is available at Ann the Gran - changed the red bow to a blue-green to go with my kitchen better. These will be used for spring and maybe summer, too.

That is all I did for St. Patrick's Day. Still makes me smile.


Saturday, March 11, 2017

Make your pillow shams look more expensive...

Have you ever purchased one of those mini duvet cover sets and been disappointed in the pillow shams? Especially the micro-fiber ones. They have a tendency to droop and look old even when new. If you can sew a straight (or almost straight line) here is a tutorial for an easy fix.

Before...



Now after...



And a side by side comparison. Right sham transformed! 


All that you need to do is add some batting to the inside.

Items needed for this easy fix:
Pillow sham in need of a make-over
Thread to match the pillow sham
Sewing machine
Batting
Scissors
Iron
Ironing board

Here is how:

Start by ripping out the stitching that creates the flange of the sham. Usually about two inches from the edge of the sham.



Rip it out - all the way around the sham. 

Then turn the sham inside out and press. 



Proceed by measureing the size of the sham. Mine was 30 inches by 25 inches. You will need to cut batting to fit whatever size your measurement is.  


Choose your favorite batting...a crib size should be more than enough for two shams. 





Place your cut batting on the inside front of the sham (on top of the front side when it is turned inside out).




Sew around the sham completely, just shy of the stitch line that holds the sham together. I recommend using a larger stitch (basting type). Turn the sham right side out and press just the edge.




Now sew the flange line (the stitch line that you ripped out in the beginning). You should be able to see where the stitches were and sew over the original line. Use a smaller stitch similar to the one you removed. Pop your pillow in and you are done.

Here is the finished project again...