Tuesday, August 29, 2017

September Issue 3 of Stitch Cafe is here!


Just listed this morning: Issue 3 of Stitch Cafe is in the shop.

Issue 3 of Stitch Cafe digital magazine includes 6 original sewing and embroidery patterns, one tutorial, a printable recipe card, and articles. Meet the Maker: Lisa Neri of Cucicucicoo.

Patterns for tribal adventure embroidery, retro typewriter tablet or Kindle case, embroidered fabric journal cover, squirrel toy stuffed animal, paper doll zipper pencil case, and the Solar Dryer clothespin bag.




In a world full of mass-produced goods without any heart or personal touch, another handmade magazine is definitely a little piece of humanity heaven.

Stitch Cafe includes no ads or affiliate links. All links and resources shared are for the purpose of education and sharing topics of interest.

 

Enjoy and happy stitching!

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Eclipse: shadow play


My parents live quite close to the area of totality of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse. Huge storms early in the day left a number of broken branches in the yard, but by the time the eclipse occurred, the day was quiet and the clouds high and intermittent.

The good news is that the sliver left by 98% coverage could be seen beautifully through the clouds. Camera settings allowed me a few good photos as the moon passed across the face of our bright star. 

It was not as dark as the photos suggest. The dark in the clouds was due to camera settings. When that sliver peeked out between the clouds, it was too bright to photograph with clarity.

The shift in position of the sliver of solar light is a chronicle of the passage of the moon across the sun's face.





 

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Tutorial: Adventure Embroidery


Oh no. Just no.

Summer is not over! But even when that time comes, the weather turns non-sweaty, cool, and brisk which is perfect for hiking, camping, relaxing by the lake, and having the beach to yourself.

Personally, I'm a indoorsy gal. But I do love driving the countryside and taking in the vistas that only being out of town can bring on.

Embroider these adventure themes and express your wish for wanderlust. Use the finished stitching to make sew-on patches for backpacks, jackets, and caps. Or do what I did and make refrigerator magnets to remind you that a vacation is a necessity, not a luxury.

The set includes a mountain, tree, feather, and compass.



What you need:

free downloadable adventure pattern
small scraps of linen or cotton fabric
small scraps of cotton batting or flannel fabric
embroidery thread in white and a darker color (brown/ black)
embroidery needle
sewing machine or hand sewing needle and thread
iron

Optional supplies to make refrigerator magnets:
strong magnets
scrap cotton fabric

1) Download and transfer the pattern to the right side of the scraps you'll be using for the front of the embroidery. 


2) Pin a piece of batting to the wrong side of the embroidery fabric.

3) Working through both the fabric and the batting, embroider the designs using back stitch, straight stitch, and french knots (compass letters).


4) Place the embroidered work right sides together with a backing piece of fabric. Stitch around the design leaving a small opening for turning.

5)  Trim the excess fabric down to within 5mm of the stitching and trim the batting further to reduce bulkiness. Turn right side out and press with a iron.



6) If you will be making fridge magnets, cut circles of fabric larger than the magnets. Sandwich a magnet between the two circles and hand stitch around the magnet edges. This traps the magnet and provides an insert that won't slide around and mess up the shape of the magnet. Place one magnet in each adventure pocket.


7) Hand stitch the opening closed.

IDEAS FOR USE:

Brooch: Sew a pin back to the back of the work. 

Patch: Place the work on a jacket, your passport wallet, or your backpack and sew it on using a straight stitch or blanket stitch.

Tote: Enlarge the pattern and stitch four squares. Place them on a tote bag to make a patchwork of four pieces and stitch them on.

The designs are very simple and versatile. Have fun and with all the best intentions I say - go take a hike!



Did you know there is a new digital craft magazine in town? Stitch Cafe is a monthly magazine with 4-6 original patterns, plus tutorials, articles, and printable recipe cards. 

Issues 1 and 2 are available now and Issue 3 will be out at the end of August. Want to know when these issues are available? Keep in touch via the weekly newsletter.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Thrift Score: 1950s Toy Sewing Machine


Question of the week: what do you do when husband banishes you from the house?

No, not a fight. Just some work that was going to create some dust so he suggested I find something to do. Hmmm....that's never really a quandary for me. 

I spent an hour in the library reading Kurt Vonnegut and then another hour at my favorite antique store in town, Treasure Hunt, owned by Carol Reeder.

I bought the little Brown Betty salt and paper shakers while I was in there but snapped pics of a few 1950s to 1970s finds to share. Some of these were like things I grew up with. I had a Wonderhorse rocking horse and I definitely remember these tissue tins in the bedrooms.







The Bisquick tin would be great for homemade baking mix!

Later in the day, we drove to Pittsburg, Kansas to return a rented tool and found some lovely exposed history. 



The tile was exposed on a building site on the main street of town. I hope the rest is recovered and restored.

The wall was found by a couple who bought an old building for an old-fashioned grocery store they want to create. When they bought the building, it came with all the contents stored there so they were selling them off and I found this 1950s Singer Sewhandy 20 toy sewing machine.


The needle is broken and it's missing a couple of (not completely essential) pieces. The sewing machine should work, once I clean it up and buy the needles it uses. There is no bobbin. There's a "looper" under the plate that creates a chain stitch to sew fabric together.

I did some research and though this was a children's toy made from the 1910s to the 1970s, I read many young women would take this off to college to make simple repairs. It's only about 5" tall!


It's a hand crank sewing machine. It looks like the thread spool pin was replaced ages ago with an old screw whose point was clipped off. The little depression in the front of the base was meant for a C-clamp that would hold it to a table.

I learned to sew on a Singer cast iron machine that had once been a treadle but electrified for factory work. My grandfather owned a vest factory and put it in a beautiful cabinet and gave it to my mother. Leave a comment below: what kind of machine did you learn to sew on?

Monday, August 7, 2017

On the worktable - typewriter, squirrel, and armadillo, oh my!



The weather fairies are working overtime to confuse me. It's August. It's Kansas. And it's cold?

I'll take two!

The weather was gorgeous and cool so I grabbed the squirrel softie I had just finished and headed to the oak trees in front of the house for photos.

I actually can't stop playing with this squirrel. He has a little shaped face and I've embroidered a little white fur inside his ears and on his tummy. His pattern will included in the next issue of Stitch Cafe magazine. 





He needs a name though, don't you think? Hmm.....that gives me a contest idea. More about that in my newsletter next week.

It's almost back-to-school as vacations wrap up by the end of August and school supplies are gathered. I feel a rash of back-to-school projects coming on for the magazine and the blog. This is the only rash I have that doesn't itch - what with the poison ivy in spring, the mosquitoes in summer, and now the chiggers with autumn in view.

This project is hot off the presses as of yesterday evening. Got a tablet or Kindle? You can measure any similar device and make your own retro typewriter case for it. The flap even look like paper when it's open!



The inspiration came from a vintage typewriter-look laptop case Mr. True Love got me for my birthday a couple of years ago from Typo, my favorite stationery shop in Australia. Who knew the millions of pearly white buttons in my button tin would finally be perfect for one of my projects?


Making a lined case is actually really easy if you know the simple trick. I've explained it in detail in the pattern instructions in the magazine - yes, I'm already writing Issue 3 for September!

As I was putting the finishing touches on the case, I heard a tap at the window and hubby was waving and pointing to the back yard. I grabbed the camera when I saw who it was.

No, not Robert Downey Jr. this time. It was a little armadillo digging for his dinner. I shot the photo out the window. It's a dirty window. I don't do windows.


It's cool again today and I'm thrilled. I've got another project waiting on the worktable and I'm on a roll. You could say I've gone nuts with creativity!



If you haven't picked up Issue 2 of Stitch Cafe digital craft magazine, head over to the shop and get yours now. There are 5 patterns, 2 tutorials, a printable recipe card, and resource articles in this issue.

And if you have yours - send some photos of what you're making. I'm collecting them for a "reader maker" post!

Saturday, August 5, 2017

The happy spiders in my home - and a creepy lesson


The spiders in my home are obviously well-read and crafty. While moving a bookshelf a couple of weeks ago, I found a brown recluse spider (venomous) crawling out from the book pile I had placed on the floor.

I was sure it had come from the floorboards since they tend to hide and are very shy. Luckily, I caught it before it crawled under my comfy armchair and took up dangerous residence there. But now, I'm thinking it was actually hanging out on the shelf.

Today I found another one, this time hiding in a stack of vintage linens on the top shelf of the small bookshelf in my sewing room.

I can't blame them. Who wouldn't want to hang out with books and fabrics for a lifetime of joy?


Brown recluse spiders are rather specific to the US south and lower midwest. They don't get bigger than a 25 cent coin and have this upside down violin marking on their backs. It's rather difficult at times to get close enough to see the violin clearly. If you have spiders and suspect it's a brown recluse, one of the best ways to tell immediately is that you won't find it in a typical ceiling corner web and its legs are all the same length so it's stance is rather round compared to the hobo spider, wolf spider, or pirate spider which are often mistaken for the brown recluse but have longer and shorter legs.

My favorite identifying advice is that they have 6 eyes, not 8. Seriously? I'm not looking it in the eye(s). 



And with that, let's just say - creepy lesson over. You have my permission to reach for a sedative now.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

I Spy In My Little Yard


We received an unusual amount of rain in the spring and because our lot is graded so poorly, the rain has a tendency to wash the topsoil downhill. 

The bad news is this is a problem as much of the water has collected over 125 years on the north end of the house causing it to sink about 5 inches.

The good news is
  • every rain uncovers a layer of buried treasures - broken bits of old pottery and crockery, buttons, rusted toys and tools, and
  • because hubby has been digging out under the house, there is also an additional mountain of dirt to sift through for these treasures.
So we get to play I spy every week with the gifts left to us by four generations of the Allen family who owned this property since at least the 1880s. It seems they were happy to use the backyard as a dump for broken dishes although some of the pattern points to a more creative use. 

Did you see the little 1960s baby and the 1930s button? The rusted lock and broken scissors intrigue me. I want to know their stories.





It looks like some of the glass and pottery might have been purposefully placed in the flower beds. There are also bits of modern embellishments like colored vase-filler flat marbles and larger seashells. 

Was there a loose mosaic by design in that yard at some point?

One of my favorite early finds was an old metal Slinky. Does anyone else think this should be paired with the other metal items found for a found object garden mobile/chime? 

We also have lots of bulbs growing and these just came up in the last few days. It makes me happy to have Naked Ladies flaunting themselves in this conservative Kansas town. Just a little of the old lady rebel in me, I guess.





Okay geology buffs! If any of you can tell me what these are, I'd love to know. We've started finding tooth-like rocks in the last week. We have no idea how a rock can look like that naturally. Any explanations would be most welcome.