Sunday, July 22, 2012

Felt flower fun

I am really trying to keep busy with crafting as the summer winds down. I only have a few weeks before school starts back up and my free time disappears. Between working full time and taking a class, I fear the creative juices will be bottled and shelved for the season. I am trying to get in the habit of brainstorming a craft for the day first thing in the morning. Some days I am just too pooped after work to act on my ideas. Others, time will simply get away from me. So, there I sat Sunday night and without having created much more than a to-do list on the craft front. I decided to try my hand at a felt flower headband while watching my Masterpiece Mystery. I enjoyed both.

Last time my friend Tracey and I were at the mall, she said she wanted a red flower for her hair. We saw a few and the were just not attractive. No one looks pretty with a plastic flower straight off a cheap dinner's table in their hair. So I told her I would whip one up.

I made this first attempt from beige felt with some great white elastic lace for the band. It isn't too bunchy or too springy, just the right amount stretch to stay put while being pretty peeking through the hair. Now I just need to crank the red one out. The only difference will be black elastic lace for that band.




Thursday, July 5, 2012

A for effort, F for blogging

Man, this blogging is harder to keep up with than I initially feared.  I swear I have been crafting it up, honest.

Like last weekend I made myself a new wristlet.  This pattern is about twice the size of my first.  I would call this one a purse, while the other is more wallet.

I absolutely love the fabric's owl design.  Have it in a few colors so you may see it again...  Also loving the lining choice.  It is cut from one fat quarter.  Had just enough fabric for two inset sipper pockets, 6 card tabs, one bill tab, and the body.  Awesome.

I used to look at fat quarters as never being quite enough meat to work with for my designs.  I was thinking too big.  Then it dawned on me that I could take those fun, inexpensive cuts of fabric and use them as liners.  I am a big fan of colorful lining.  Many bags that use poly lining fabric are just so blah on the inside.  Super cute outside but there isn't much going on inside.  I like it to be functional and fun.  Don't get me wrong, I match my lining when it counts; dresses, skirts, etc.  But say I make a cute monotone blazer, and "Oh, is that my phone in the inside pocket going off?" Open the jacket and blah-blam!  A little sunshine, springtime, color me fun liner.  So, those little cotton gems I avoided for years are now working their way into my regular impulse buying at the fabric and craft shops.  I try to buy two of the same design in case one wont cut it.  And that way, even if I make a bad or wallet with the same outer material, I can change up the liners to make them unique.


I have also been wrestling with my first pattern for purchase.  I have it all drawn and divided up for scanning but the dimensions are a bear.  Last weekend I had that light bulb moment.  Now everything seams to be printing out in the proper dimensions.  Of course when I coverted it from a doc to a PDF it will blow up, but as the wise Wendy pointed out, "That is why we work in a library."  The resource lab techies can come to the rescue.  Ha. Lucky for me I know to ask Google before throwing in the towel completely. So simple. Just save the darned thing as a PDF on my Mac instead of running through a doc converter. Then condense the file when Craftsy says it is too big to upload. Victory! So, though no one is likely to buy it ever, at least I am trying to sell my creations. Next is the Etsy shop for clothing and felt creations. My summer of productivity continues...