By General Crafts Contributor Amy from the Etsy Shop DangerousRainboCraft.
Sweeten up your back to school gear with this toaster pastry pencil pouch. Perfect for teens looking for a great back to school diy project for unique school supplies.
Even though I’m from Portland, I’m not a fan of any weather other than blue sky. In the summer, I can be a little more open to the idea of clouds in the sky. I still prefer these little felt clouds to the real thing, though.
In celebration of National Craft Month I thought I’d compile a big list of inspiring and helpful craft tips from Craft Experts like you!
Sew Many Ways has brilliant tips for organizing your Sewing and Craft Room. Check out this blog for some crafty inspiration! One of my favorite ideas I found on Karen’s site is this tutorial on how to File Your Fabric.
File Your Fabric – Sew Many Ways
General Craft Tips
“In the spring – I take all the scraps and thread that come from my serger and put them outside along with used dryer sheets and lint and bits of yarn – there are many colourful bird nests in my neigbourhood.” – Susan M. from Gatineau, Canada.
By Kid’s Crafts Contributor Stephanie, from the Blog A Geek in Glasses.
This is a simple and fun way to teach a very basic idea of using a needle and thread. The stitches are not technical, they are experimental. It helps a child feel confident and not afraid of a needle, as mine was. That was the first hurdle we had to jump, not being afraid of the needle. The second was it will not be perfect the first try. Once we got past those, this project turned into a cute wall hanging we are using for Valentine’s Day.
Supplies:
Start off by having the child lightly draw a design on the muslin or fabric. We chose to do simple hearts. Once the design is on the fabric, place the fabric in the hoop and pull the fabric taut.
Decide on the colors of floss the child is going to use. Cut a length of embroidery floss and tie a knot on the one end and thread the needle with the other. The biggest thing the child has to remember is up and down. The needle starts in the back and ends in the back in an up and down motion. There are many different types of stitches that they can try. The simple one is the running stitch, which is a simple sewing stitch that goes down and up evenly through cloth without being looped. In our pictures my daughter tried her hand at the chain stitch for the heart outline. The chain stitch is a looped stitch resembling chain, a stitch in which each stitch forms a loop through the forward end of the previous one to resemble the links of a chain.
(Remember the string moves up and down through the fabric, never around the edge of the hoop.)
Using whatever stitch style the child wants have them stitch the drawing to the best of their ability.
Once the stitching is done, trim the fabric and tack it to the back of the fabric or hoop and hang the beautiful piece of art.
I hate it when I accidentally put a wool sweater through the dryer. It happens a lot more than I’d like to admit, so I’m glad I’ve finally found a way to reuse my little laundry mistakes by creating these useful and personal hand warmers. They’re great for the chilly winter days that are up ahead, and are so easy to make, you’ll have some for the whole family in no time.
What You Need:
How to Make it:
I’m new to the whole world of embroidery. To be honest, I spent a lot of years avoiding it like the plague, thinking it was old fashioned and not my style. But over the past two or three years I’ve fallen head over heels for the craft and have been working my way through learning different techniques and stitches. My current favorite? Sashiko. I wish I’d found it years ago. The simple, sparse lines appeal to my sense of style in a big way and even beginners (like me) can make some pretty stunning pieces. Sashiko is a style of embroidery from Japan that uses simple color combinations like blue and white, and basic, even stitching to create amazing patterns and textures. Great for stitchers of all ages, here are a few of our favorite sashiko projects and patterns.
Reversible Sashiko Placemats – The Purl Bee
Beautiful! Am I right? I love these reversible placemats with their simple cross sashiko stitching. While you could certainly make your own placemats from scratch to stitch onto, this would be a fantastic way to personalize a set of store-bought ones for a gift. I love the neutral tones there but these would be just as beautiful in the traditional navy and white, or maybe go for a color pop with red or green!
Sashiko Sampler Potholders – Design Sponge
And speaking of color! Look at these pot holders! Who wouldn’t want these hanging on a hook in their kitchen or gracing their table to protect the surface from hot pots? The amazing thing here is that, other than the border, each features just two colors. One for the thread, one for the fabric. And yet, they have such a modern, colorful look. These are at the top of my to-make list right now!
Sashiko Embroidery Tutorial – The Purl Bee
The secret to sashiko seems to be even stitches and spacing, especially when it comes to places where two lines meet. This diagram (and also this fabulous pattern!) are pushing me to up my game with sashiko and get some good stitching practice in.
Sashiko can be applied to so many projects – bags, clothing, knee patches, table runners – almost anything with a solid fabric for a background can be transformed with this beautiful style of embroidery. Have you tried sashiko yet? Send some photos of your projects our way so we can see what you’ve been up to! And check out these and other images on our Craft Trends Pinboard.
By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and is always looking to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!
I hate shopping for wedding wrapping paper. Finding great wedding wrapping means handing over a lot of money for fancy glitter or foil accents and I can never settle for not-so-great wedding wrapping. When I was getting ready for my friends Mike and Laura’s wedding, I knew that I wanted to do something special and personal. I love the idea of monogrammed wrapping paper so that you don’t have to use gift tags, and I wanted to add a little something extra for Mike and Laura’s big day. This idea would be great for Christmas too. A little monogrammed letter in the corner in lieu of gift tags will add a special personal touch to all of your gifts!
Here’s What You Need:
