How To Make An Art Smock or Bib!

Well its that time of the year!  Back to school!  One of my younger grandchildren needed an art bib.  She is "Hello Kitty" crazy, so I had to find special material.  I made a simple bib and she was so excited.  I drew up a bib by using the top of a pattern for a shirt or dress and then just sort of changing the bottom to make it into the bib part.

I ironed some fusible light weight plastic over the front of the bib.

On the back of the apron, I cut out two layers and sewed them back to back to give it a little more weight since the front of the bib had the plastic on it.  It pretty much made things even. 

 I then used my coverstitch machine and added black extra wide facing all the way around the bib.

  

Next, I created two elastic tabs to attach to the front and back sides of the bib. This way she can just pull it over her head and it won't slide off of her. 

 

Here is her finished bib!!

She also had to have her name put on her lunch box and back pack.  What I do here is cut off part of the straps on the back pack because they are always so long.  Then I took a lighter and singed the edges of the parts that I cut off and that keeps them from unraveling.  I then used this extra part of the straps to make name tags. so I added a little something to her zippers!

 

Janome Ruffler Foot Coupon

If you have a Janome sewing machine and watched my new Ruffler foot video, you might be interested in this coupon.  Janome just posted a 20% off coupon for the Ruffler foot.  Here is the link:

http://www.janomespecials.com/coupons/fb.htm

Starching Petticoats!

  I received this post by email from Joy and wanted to share it with everyone: I would of loved to see these petticoats floating in the wind.  I would of been a youngester at that time.

In the late 50's we wore petticoats that we wanted to stand out as much as possible. We washed them by hand in sugar or plain non color gelatin(like jello) and then we hung them on the outside clothes line between out stretched on several lines.
I don't remember the recipe. Maybe some one else who is 70 to 75 remembers the recipe. I would also love to have it.

I wanted to check again to see if anyone else remembers this recipe.
I found this on the internet:
Sugar and water solution is my favorite. I've not had any problems occur using this mixture and I've lived in Hawaii, Nevada, Florida and California, high dry deserts to humid sea level conditions. Nor has any piece shaped using this solution been attacked by insects. I recommend using Mod Podge Matte Mat finish on your piece if you'd like to protect it further from moisture. This will produce a permanent finish. I apply two coats using a sponge allowing the piece to dry between applications.

Recipes (2 methods):

Bring equal portions of sugar and water to a rapid boil, remove from heat and cool slightly.
Bring water to a boil, and add sugar. Return to a boil and boil for a few minutes, or until like thin corn syrup. For best results in molding, boiling time may vary. Try experimenting in 2 minute increments for the best time for your climate and area. General rule of thumb, less boiling time results in longer drying time, while boiling too long may result in sugar crystals forming
Procedures:
Dip piece in solution, gently squeeze out excess being careful not to twist or wring the piece. Shape according to pattern instructions.
Cool the cooked mixture slightly and dip piece in solution, gently squeeze out excess being careful not to twist or wring the piece. Shape according to pattern instructions.  
Results:
This produces a non-permanent hard finish which allows the natural feel of the crochet to come through.

Starching Kitchen Curtains!

Now that I have my bathroom and bedroom finished, the rest of our house needs a good cleaning.  That dust from sanding just travels everywhere.  So I am spring cleaning in the fall.  I just washed and starched my kitchen curtains and thought this might be something good to talk about.

My curtains were not that expensive but I thing they look wonderful.  I wash them and then I dip them into straight liquid starch.  Hand wring them out and let them line dry.  They come out almost not even needing ironed, but I did to get the points nice and straight.  The liquid starch is getting harder and harder to find but I still had some on hand.  I would like to get another bottle, so if anyone sees it anywhere, would you please let me know what store carries it? 

Now when you dip your curtains into the liquid starch they will look like they have a tint of blue to them.  When they dry this disappears and you would never know.  Here are the pictures of my curtains.  They hang so pretty and are very stiff and won't even move out of shape.  This was a technique that my grandmother Mergel use to use for crochet.  She made all kinds of things, but I remember a pair of little tiny high heel shoes the most.  They were green and white and oh so cute!! I use to love looking at them when I was small and dreamed of wearing them.  Isn't it something how little things stick into your mind and stay there your whole life.  She also use to mix up sugar and water, I believe, to also stiffen things.  Does anyone have the recipe for that? 





You can click on the pictures to enlarge for a closer look.  At least I can on my computer!

A New Technique Using Your Ruffler Foot and Oh So Beautiful!!

I have my new video finished and it is my new technique using your ruffler foot.  I saw a pillow in a magazine that I just fell in love with.  I wanted to try and recreate something similar.  My first plan was to use Floriani's new product called Heat N Steam.  You iron their interfacing to the back of your fabric, do some quilting or stitching, and then steam it and it shrinks up.  Looks really pretty!  I looked at JoAnn's for it and they didn't have it, so I looked on line and it is very pricey!  It was $20.00 for a small sheet!

I then decided to play around and see if I couldn't do something on my own that would look nice.  I don't know what made me grab the ruffler foot, but it just seems like this giant foot should be able to do something besides make a simple ruffle.  Then I hit the jackpot, and created row after row of ruffles on a single piece of fabric and it is beautiful!!  It also is very easy to create.  I took something that looks like it would take days to create and did it in 45 minutes.  You must watch my video and see how I made this pillow.  I Love It!! 

Here is the link:

http://youtu.be/5FPOAk7r8Js

Lining For Baskets!

I made some liners for my baskets over the weekend.  They will be going into my bathroom.  My new cabinet is open under the sink and my plan is to put these baskets on the bottom shelf and I measured and they just fit perfectly.  On the top shelf, I am rolling bath towels to keep there.  I don't have enough and the store where I purchased them has been out of them.  They told me they would be in last Tuesday and they didn't come in.  I checked yesterday and still no towels.  It is making me a little nervous.  I want them all to match!  Here are the baskets that I covered.

 

I also have been working on a new video and I would like to finish that this week!  So you can watch for that!  Cynthia

How To Custom Fit Your Bath Mat!

Well, I am still buying bits and pieces to finish my bedroom and bath.  Today I purchase a new microfiber bathmat.  Oh so soft and cushiony when you step on it!  The only problem I had was with the fit.  As you can see in the following picture, it just did not fit where I wanted it to go.  It was just a little to large. 

What I did was I took my seam ripper and removed the stitches that held the binding on in the area that I was going to remove.  I did not cut the binding or rip out stitches any farther than was necessary.

I marked the area that I was going to cut out as you can see the purple line.  I trimmed a little at a time to get a nice tight fit.

Now here was the hard part for me.  I had to finally learn after all these years the necessity of hand basting.  This was one of those projects that the hand basting was necessary.  I did the hand basting on the top and bottom of the binding to replace it on my new cut edges.  This was necessary to hold the top and bottom  binding in place while I sewed.  For some reason, I just don't like to take the time for this step, but I am learning how much this step helps in these tricky sewing projects.

I have the binding all sewed back on.  There was a rubber substance on the bottom of the mat, so to sew this, I placed a piece of tissue paper under the bottom of the mat.  If I did not use this, it would drag on the sewing machine and be unable to advance to sew.  This is what the rubber substance is for, to hold the mat in place and it did a really good job of that. The tissue paper enabled me to sew easily. After sewing, I just tore away the tissue paper off of the back side of the mat.

All Finished!  Here is what the mat looks like now!  A perfect fit!!  What do women do that don't sew!!!  I just can't imagine!!!