A Handmade Christmas Part 1: LeMoyne Star Tree Ornaments

 

Growing up we had an artificial tree most years. I remember one Christmas we had a live one and it shed horribly. I was given leg warmers that year (it was the 80s) and I still remember putting them on after leaving them on the floor and being pricked by what seemed like hundreds of tiny needles. It took forever to get the pine needles out. 

My mum dressed the tree every year and the process was always the same. Lights were first and had to be tested. Ours were coloured with spikey lanterns covering the bulbs. Invariably there would be a loose bulb which caused the whole string to not work, thus began the tedious task of twisting every bulb to find the offending one. After that was tinsel. Tinsel first then the lights, so the lights didn't cover the gaudy sparkly garlands. This seemed to take a while because my mum was a real stickler for making sure there were no gaps. Then came the fun bit, adding the ornaments, but there was a system to this as well. Larger ornaments at the bottom, smaller at the top.

I decided to rebel at little when dressing my tree and put the ornaments on before the lights. I could almost see my mum sighing and shaking her head as I awkwardly pulled the string of lights around the tree, knocking off my carefully placed baubles. There was obvious method in her madness!

In years past our tree was inspired by peacock colours which meant deep teal, magenta and I even added peacock feathers. But this year we decided on a mainly red and white colour scheme. I have to say I prefer it. Concerned I wouldn't have enough ornaments in the right colours, I decided to make some and chose the lovely traditional LeMoyne star patchwork design. I made this using my favourite paper piecing method since they are quite small and they really don't take long at all to make this way. 

You will need

LeMoyne star template (to be added!)

Fabric in two patterns

Stiff cotton canvas or heavyweight stabilizer

Matching ribbon cut to 4 inches

Card stock

Scrap paper

Glue stick

Pins

Multi-purpose thread in a contrasting color to the patterned fabric

Sewing thread in a color to match the patterned fabric

Needle

Pinking shears or regular scissors

1. Cut out the template and glue onto card stock to make a re-usable template
2. Draw 8 shapes onto scrap paper and cut out
3. Pin 4 of these slanting to the LEFT to the wrong side of ONE of the patterned fabrics allowing about 1/2 inch between each shape and the edge of the fabric
4. Cut around the shapes with a 1/4 inch seam allowance
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 with the remaining 4 shapes point to the RIGHT with the other patterned fabric
6. Fold seam allowance over the paper shape and tack stitch the seam all the way round with the contrasting thread
7. Do this for all eight
8. Take one each of the shapes in different patterns
9. Put the front sides together (so if you flip them either way you can see the seam allowance and paper underneath) and sew a long edge with matching thread using whip stitch
10. When done, take another shape and sew it to one of the of the short edges of the two shapes, ensuring the pattern is alternating (see the photos above)
11. Do this for FOUR shapes so that you have half a star with a straight edge
12. Repeat steps 8 - 11
13. Sew the long edges of the two halves together with the right sides facing each other, using the matching thread and whip stitch
14. Remove the tacking stitches ad papers (save them for your next star!)
15. Pin the wrong side to the canvas or stabilizer, with the seam folded under and sandwiched betweed the canvas and star
16. Fold your ribbon into a loop
17. Pin between the star and canvas (see photos)
18. Sew with running stitch in matching thread, I intentionally made the stitches long to give the stars a primitive look
19. Trim the excess canvas or stabilizer with pinking shears or normal scissors
20. Hang on your tree or wreath!

A Handmade Childhood : Stroller Blanket

It is alarming how fast time is going, already I am entering my third trimester. Every weekend is taken over with getting different chores and tasks done before the baby arrives. It also means I need to get some baby projects under my belt. This week I made this stroller blanket that was wonderfully easy to do and a great asset considering similar blankets sell in baby stores for at least $45. It is one piece of quilting weight cotton backed with fleece. The baby is scheduled to arrive in February and a cold winter  has been predicted so this will keep her cozy. I love this pattern and I love that the blanket is not ultra girly or cutesy.  The finished size is 30 1/2" x 30 1/2" and the fleece makes it lightweight but soft and warm. I will give you one warning, fleece can be quite stretchy. If you use a sewing machine, loosen the tension a little and pick a longer stitch or zig zag, having a larger seam allowance, as opposed to the tradition quarter inch helps too.

I got the cherry blossom fabric from 'Gather Fabrics' on Etsy. She has a lovely selection of patterns including child friendly designs. Here are some other fabric suggestions, I've got to admit it took a lot of willpower not to buy them all myself.:

Follow Liz's board Stroller Blanket Fabric Ideas on Pinterest.

You Will Need

31 inch square of patterned fabric in cotton poplin/quilting weight cotton or linen

31 inch square of fleece OR cotton batting for a lighter blanket

Thread

Sewing machine

pins

• Pin the right side of the fabric to the less fluffy side of the fleece
• Sew with a half inch seam but leave a couple of inches not sewed so you can turn it the right way
• Remove all pins!
• Turn right side out and use a broad knitting needle or stick of some kind to poke into the corners to make them sharp
• Iron the blanket
• Fold the seams of the fleece and cotton in where the opening is and pin together
• Sew this up
• You're done!

This was a quick project but you could make one with a patchwork top or simply applique some fun shapes onto the fleece itself. I am thinking of making one with lighter cotton batting for the warmer months.  It could be a great gift too: make a bigger one for a bedspread or a lap blanket.

A Handmade Childhood: Hipster Wall Art

I know I said I was taking a break from the sewing projects while we painted the nursery, but I did want to share this project that I originally did ages ago and for some reason can't find as a blog post.

Since we live in Asheville I felt it was more than appropriate to add some hipster art to the baby's nursery. The plan is to eventually have a wall devoted to appliqued, embroidered etc. art in embroidery hoops of different sizes. I think it will look fun and hopefully will be visually stimulating for the little sprout.

This applique project is made easy by the fusible bonding that keeps the shape in place. If you are not much of an artist, then look for some silhouette clip art that you can print and trace. These would also make very cool patchwork blocks. Look for retro background fabric for a true vintage loving hipster effect.

I chose to make this tutorial as a video as an experiment on a snow day earlier this year.
You Will Need:
 - Embroidery hoops
- Fusible bonding
- Plain cotton
- Patterned background fabric
- Thread in either plain color of cotton or color of background (see photos for the different effect)
-Iron
-Needles or sewing machine
Get everything you need here

Creating a Handmade Childhood: Make a Thick and Cozy Throw

I am not an accomplished knitter. In fact I can knit squares but don't understand knitting patterns at all, something I hope to change because I honestly enjoy knitting. It has the advantage of being something I can do sprawled on the couch watching TV and it assuages my guilt, because I feel like I am doing something constructive.

The throw is quite heavy and thick which will be perfect for laying the baby on and cushioning her from our concrete floors. As you can see, Pablo approves greatly of it.

A friend of ours came over at the weekend and saw what I was working on. He went on to describe a quilt he still has from his childhood, that his mother made for him. He talked about sneeking upstairs when everyone had gone to bed (his room was downstairs) with his quilt and sleeping in the hallway because he felt safe.

It occurred to me that these projects are not just about creating objects, but about creating a world for our own child. A childhood of patterns and soft heavy throws, of helping her carve out a place in the world that is all her own.

Make a Thick and Cozy Throw
This is an ideal way to get started with knitting. You are using one type of stitch and chunky wool which is much easier to work with when starting out - trust me!
To make this throw, I used:

• 15 mm knitting needles
• Lion Brand yarn from the Homestead Collection in Seattle Sea Mist, Dallas Grey and Cape Cod Tweed
• I screwed up and didn't buy enough of the colors first time around which led to the strange color combo. You need about 2 1/2 skeins for each rectangle
• A darning needle

Steps:
If you are new to knitting
Go here for how to cast on
Go here for how to do the knit stitch
Go here for how to cast off when you are done with your knitted square

1. Choose your color, each square is done in one color
2. Cast on 50 stitches
3. Knit 70 rows
4.  Cast off
5. Repeat for the other 5 squares
6. When you are done, take some of the yarn which you should have left over, cut a length of about 10 inches
7. You will see the yarn is made up of four strands. Split the strands into two 
8. Take two strands together and thread your darning needle
9. Sew the squares together as shown here

Repurposed Flour Sack Laundry Bags

This project is so easy and requires so little skill, I am not even sure I can call it a craft project. Yet it is the simplest ideas that are often the best. These laundry bags are the perfect size for baby clothes and because they hang up save you much needed space.

I have a love of vintage flour sacks, the designs are usually fun and random, I mean look at the ones below. I bought these at a local vintage store for $7 each, but you can get them cheaper (and more expensive!) from EBay or Etsy. I personally would never pay more than $10 for one and even then it would have to be a pretty special flour sack!

You also need an embroidery hoop. I used an 8 inch because I happened to have one lying around. You could easily stretch to a 9 or 10 inch.  These sacks were  inches in width.
Ok here's the hard part :)

- get you embroidery hoop and separate the two pieces 

- put the hoop over the sack at the top

- open up the sack and fold a couple inches of the opening over the loop

- play around with how it gathers so that you can see the picture most clearly

- put the outside piece of the embroidery hoop over the opening with the screw at the back

- tighten the loop

I found that the screw sat perfectly on my door hook but you might need to add a loop depending on where you hang the bag.

You may wonder once it's full whether the bag might slide out of the hoop. I checked, it doesn't. The friction of the cotton and wood from the hoop create a nice grip and you just have to make sure you fold enough of the opening over. See below.

I plan to make a second one so that I can divide light and dark laundry. I will post more ridiculously easy flour sack projects soon!

Creating a Handmade Childhood: Patchwork Baby Quilt

The first baby project to be completed! It's a crib 'quilt'. Technically it's not a quilt because I didn't quilt it. It's a good feeling to create something for the little sprout, it's as if we are building a welcome for her.

The pattern is from Joann Fabrics. I will warn you that the instructions are a bit vague so if you're new to quilting, it may be difficult to follow. I used a natural grey linen to incorporate the zakka aesthetic I want for the nursery. I will be using the same linen for throw pillows and other accents which I hope will give the nursery some feeling of unity while allowing for me to play around with prints and patterns.

The fabric came from all over the place, Etsy or Fabric.com are good places to find some that may either be similar or indeed the same. The design of multicolored Spirographs is from Ikea. Once the quilt was assembled, I backed it with a type of quilting batting that doesn't need to be covered, you can get it here. It's beautifully soft and makes for a lightweight quilt.

How to Friday - Reverse Applique

This is a great way of doing reverse applique if you have a non-fraying material like felt or jersey. It is so simple, will defnitely try it. Click on the picture for the tutorial from That Darn Kat. For more of her patterns, check out the Etsy shop

New Blog Guys!

I have been gathering various how to projects off the internet for a while and decided that maybe I should share them with you crafty people. Hence the birth of Craft Digest, I have been trying to add tutes at least once a day. So far there have been stitching tutes, bookbinding and there are more coming.

Clutch Bag Tutorial Part 2

Sorry for the wait! What with getting married, working and trying to get my Etsy shop up and running, I barely have time to actually do any crafts these days! But things will calm down in August, I hope.

Anyway, here's the second part of the clutch bag tutorial. This will take you up to sewing the layers together. Part 3 will deal with fitting the zip.

After sewing your two halves together, your bag should look a bit like this.

Next, you need to add the centre piece of fabric. Put the open hole over the wrong side of the fabric you want to use and draw a circle. Cut this out with a 1/4 inch seam and pin to your bag.

Turn over and slip stitch tiny stitches all the way round.

When this is done, remove the papers from the fan (these can be used again if you are careful!),make your quilting sandwich using the batting and lining fabric. Allow excess for batting and lining, it comes out smaller after quilting.

You can now pin the layers together for quilting. Either quilt straight lines throught the fronds of the fan or 'in the ditch', following the seam.

Next, fold the lining and and outside patchwork edges inwards a few millimeters and sew the layers together using whipstitch. Or you could add bias binding and machine stitch.

You now have a disc ready to fold in half to add the zip!