Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

Enter to win a  Clover Template Trace N Create Zieman City Bag! In addition enjoy the Clover Yo-Yo Maker in Large, Extra-Large and Jumbo. Use these products to create one-of-a-kind bags!

The Clover Nancy Zieman Trace N Create Templates will help you create projects that will give you the status “designer” among your friends. Talk about versatile, these collections have style options from sophisticated to fancy. Choose your favorite fabric, gather your notions and sit down to enjoy the process of creating. The sewing is simple; the results are very rewarding!

Leave it to Clover to create a tool that makes it quick and easy to produce nicely shaped yo-yos. This new plastic tool helps you make evenly spaced stitches to create gathers that in turn lead to lovely circular and beautiful shaped yo-yos. A great way to create decorations, accessories and home decor projects.

Every Friday we’ll post a giveaway on Think Crafts and all you have to do is comment on the blog post answering the question of the week. We’ll pick the winner and contact them via email. Deadline is midnight tonight and the winner will be announced Monday. One entry per person please.

Question of week: With summer winding down, what was your favorite thing you did this summer?

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I’m kind of an opinionated sewer. And I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad one. I have my ideas on when you need to follow rules and when you don’t, what you must have and what you can frankly do without, and I have serious opinions on patterns. Mainly that most of them are terrible these days.

I’m not sure who the pattern companies think they are making patterns for, but many of the ones I’ve run across in recent years are so garbled they would confuse even advanced sewers. I bought one for a simple elastic neck dress for my daughter last fall that seemed to have been written in some language other than english and then badly translated three or four times before it got to me. Awful.

So when I do find a good source for patterns that are well made, and that make great garments, I’m pretty jazzed. For grown up girl patterns you can’t beat Wendy from Built by Wendy. But for little bugs I think some of the best patterns available come from Oliver + S, like this Ice Cream Dress.

First off, they are unbelievably cute. As in, I would dress my child in nothing else if I had time to make them all cute. Secondly, they are obviously made with kids in mind. No tight closures or seams in weird spots that are likely to itch. They are most definitely designed to be comfortable and long lasting.

Now, obviously they don’t sew themselves, and they aren’t necessarily beginner patterns. But they are well written and well illustrated so if you are a reasonably competent sewer and you read the directions carefully, you’ll turn out a beautiful outfit for your kiddo. At our house we’re part way through making a second Ice Cream Dress (the first get A LOT of wear) as well as a Birthday Party Dress which I’m finding equally satisfying to sew. One note I’ll make is to be sure to pre-wash your fabric. I know, I know, I hate to prewash too, but your kids will love these clothes, and it would really be a shame to have them shrink up all funky on that first wash. So Pre-wash, and then sew away!

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills.

So I bet you’ve probably have been to one or thrown a bridal shower. My best friend is getting married later this month and I wanted to send her into matrimony with the best shower ever! The other bridesmaids and I were brainstorming ideas to add a little something something to the party to make it fun. That’s when it came – themed bachelorette party. More specifically a Kentucky Derby themed bridal shower party!

The most important part of the Kentucky derby (while besides the races I guess!) is the fashion. And the HATS! I started with a fun, big, bright red floppy hat. I choose some ribbon, feathers and flowers that matched my red hat.

What you need:

Wide, big brim summer hat
Ribbon
Silk Flowers
Hot glue gun and lots of glue sticks
Wire Cutter

Optional: Rhinestones, Gems, and Feathers

I wrapped a 1 ½” ribbon around the base of the hat. I choose this red and white polka-dotted ribbon because it’s obviously very cute.

Next I added a sheer white ribbon to the side; I looped and glued it 4 times to add some shape.

I arranged the flowers a few different ways before gluing to see what looked best. I glued on 2 silk hibiscus flowers after cutting off the wire stems. I liked the large hibiscus in the center, and the yellow forsythia and other branches around it. When gluing down the flowers stems, remember the glue gun is your friend!

Once you have finished gluing everything down, pat yourself on the back because you are ready for the Kentucky Derby! (The Kentucky Derby is usually the end of April beginning of May)

Check back later to see how I made a Bridal Sombrero for the “Margaritas and Senoritas” bachelorette party!

By Sewing Contributor Jessica, from the blog “Life Sew Good”.  

My friend Summer lost her dad a little over a year ago to cancer.  After she heard about a program that is trying to collect 1 million pillowcases to be donated to various hospitals, she jumped on board.  Patients like to have pillowcases that are their own when they are in the hospital for long stays.  I definitely wanted to be a part of this, and I thought it would be a fabulous idea to have our ThinkCrafts.com friends join in!  Summer’s blog, has all the info you need on where to send pillowcases, as well as the story behind her motivation for doing this.  All the pillow cases collected will be sent to St. Jude’s, a children’s hospital.   I’ve provided you with a simple tutorial to make a sweet standard pillowcase.  Please send pictures of the pillow cases you make and I can include them on a future post.

You’ll need:

1- 1 1/3 yd. main fabric—flannel or cotton
¼ yd. coordinating fabric—flannel or cotton
Measuring tape/ruler
Fabric Pen (optional)
Scissors
Thread
Pins

Preshrink your fabric using HOT WATER ONLY (no soap!).  This is important if you are making the pillowcase to send to children in the hospital.

1. Cut  1 piece 27” x 42” main fabric  (piece “A”)
2. Cut 1 piece 8 ½” x 42” main fabric  (piece “B”)
3. Cut 1 piece 5” x 42” coordinating fabric  (piece “C”)
4. Take piece B & C, fold in ½” length-wise and press.
5. Lie piece C on top of piece B, raw edges together

6.  Lie piece A on top of piece C, lining up the raw edges and pin in place.

7. Sew ½” seam along raw edges.  Back track on each end.

8. Serge or zigzag edge. Open so that you can see all right sides.  Press piece C so that it lies on top of piece A.  Turn the case over to the wrong side & press seam up toward piece B.  Top stitch.

9. Fold pillowcase in half, right sides together, finished edges together.  Sew ½ seam along all raw edges.  Sew ½” seam along raw edges.  Back track on each end.

10. Serge or zigzag edge. Open so that you can see all right sides.  Press piece C so that it lies on top of piece A. 

11. Turn the case over to the wrong side & press seam up toward piece B.  Top stitch.

12. Fold pillowcase in ½, right sides together, finished edges together.  Sew ½ seam along all raw edges. 

13. Serge or zigzag edge.

14. Turn right side out.

You did it!!!  Now make a few more & send them to Summer, along with a personal note with a prayer or special message for the unknown recipient.  You will be part of a huge effort to bring specially made pillowcases to children at St. Jude’s!

Congratulations to TishSch who was randomly selected as the winner of Free Stuff Friday and this complete apron making kit put together by The Apron Lady herself!

The Apron Lady Little Flirty Skirty Pattern - Named for the way the front and side panels of this bib apron, curve with the body. Girls of all ages will love the sassy fit of this apron, with 2 pockets, and the flattering way it ties in the front. Also featured in this pattern is the adorable Half Apron, with an old style Hollywood Waistline. Patterns are sizes 2 through Preteen. Look for the adult size so Mom and Daughter can have matching aprons while they present their holiday creations.

The Apron Lady Hoot Owl Apron Pattern – Your little one will love all of the 4 projects included in this pattern, each with an owl theme. Projects include the apron, a purse, a pillow, and an adorable stuffed “owlette”. And “Whooo” knows, if you make her the apron she may want to help in the kitchen. Child sizes 2 to 8. Includes instructions, diagrams, and paper pattern.

TishSch’s winning answer to ”What is your favorite project that you’ve made?” was…

“My favorite craft projects are my scrapbooks. They can tell my family things that simply words cannot, and hopefully they’ll be here to remind them how much I love them even long after I’m gone!”

By Sewing Contributor Jessica, from the blog “Life Sew Good”.  

First off, you should know that I am under no obligation nor do I get paid to write anything for these companies, but love to give you some product review so that you can enjoy the little pleasures in life that I have discovered! 

Valori Wells is not only a fabulous fabric designer, she also creates beautiful patterns.  I ran across the Little Wallet pattern at her store in Sisters, Oregon,  Stitchin’ Post, when I was there in May.  The pattern was so simple and fit on a card the size of greeting card.  Easy to read, easy to follow directions made this pattern so fun that I decided that more people needed to know. 

Last week, I taught a class on how to make the Little Wallet to a group of 17 women, ranging in age from middle school girls to middle-aged moms.  There are literally 5 seams to be sewn, so it is a very simple project for beginners.  In fact, if you don’t own a sewing machine, it would be simple enough to sew by hand. 

One of the best things about the Little Wallet is that you can use your scraps!  Although it indicates using a main fabric and coordinating fabric, you could easily use 5-8 different fabrics and end up with a super cute product.  It’s also a short enough project that you can make quite a few on both little time.  I love that!  Finally, although it doesn’t say so on the pattern, you could embellish your Little Wallet with buttons, flowers, yo-yos , or whatever fits your fancy. 

What would I do if I were you?  Get a pattern for yourself, make a bunch to give away as gifts, and get a bunch of the pattern cards to stick in birthday cards!  I also think it would make a unique and functional gift card holder. 

I would love to see links to wallets you make!

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

Aside from my wedding ring and my grandmother’s screw on (i.e. can’t fall off) diamond earrings, the only jewelry that I wear on any kind of regular basis are bracelets. I love necklaces, but about a week after my first child was born I realized that kids and necklaces don’t mix. Or at least my kids and necklaces don’t mix. Although now that they are 4 and 8 I’m probably safe to wear them again. But I’m out of practice. My jewelry box is full of bracelets.

Or I should say it’s full of lots of broken bracelets and a few hearty specimens that have survived where the others failed. I break bracelets all the time. Part of this I can blame on the kids, but most of it is all me. I spend a lot of time at the computer and I am constantly putting on and taking off my bracelets, and eventually, they break. Recently I moved most of the broken but-I’ll-fix-it-someday bracelets to a bead jar on my desk and in the process I realized that in most cases I don’t have all the bits and bobs from the originals, so returning them back to that state is probably not going to happen. Enter Stretch Magic.

If you are a veteran of jewelry making, you know all about this stuff, but I’d never tried it and I was so excited to get my hands on some and start turning my jar-o-beads back into wearable jewelry again.

Before you start, think about the size of the holes on your beads. Stretch Magic comes in a variety of thicknesses and several colors. Most of my beads had larger holes and since breaking has been an issue in the past, I chose the 1mm clear for my projects.

If you don’t have any broken bracelets or necklaces to start with (lucky you!) you can always peruse the many options that are out there just waiting for you to make something from them. I know I could go absolutely overboard buying different beads and charms in the jewelry making section.

Cut a good four inches longer than your wrist is around and start sliding on the beads, thinner Stretch Magic may require a needle but I had no problem using it straight with my larger holed beads. Once you have arranged your beads the way you want, tie the ends together using an overhand knot or two to secure the two pieces together without slippage. Trim the ends and enjoy your new (old) jewelry!