the kids love to sew!

Just finished my second week of art camp, this week being "Super Crafty". It was a ton of fun and the kids were truly into the projects, which, of course, makes me easy and happy. The best day was Wednesday, when we did sewing projects. They were unstoppable and didn't even want to take our mid-morning popcorn break. They worked straight through until lunch time on the most adorable and varied collection of stuffies. Some finished more quickly and got busy on hair elastic decorations, bracelets, and even a hat made from a felted sweater that turned out beautifully.



If you are interested in knowing how to make the bracelets, head here- I developed and made these for Family Fun last year and they are so pretty and easy to do.






What you'll need:
felted wool sweaters
paper and pencils
scissors
embroidery thread and blunt needles (we used tapestry needles)
pins
chalk

1) Draw your design on a piece of paper. I told them to keep everything simple and to avoid small arms and digits since they are tricky to sew and stuff by hand and still have them be the way you meant them to be. I encouraged them to think of their stuffies as really cute pillows. A couple kids chose to add felt arms and legs that weren't stuffed and they looked fantastic. Also, many kids tend to draw things that are smallish when given a regular sheet of paper. Encourage them to use at least half of the sheet- it just makes it easier.
2) Cut 2 pieces of wool that are a little bigger than the cut out pattern. Turn them so the right sides are together and pin the pattern to one side so it doesn't shift. Trace around the pattern with the chalk, remove the pattern piece, re-pin, and cut the pattern.
3) Remove the pins again and use felt and buttons to create the face and other details on one of the pieces- be sure to stitch them to the "right" side (the side you would wear out if wearing the sweater). If adding felt arms and legs, cut them out but don't stitch them on yet. When you sew up the stuffie, they will be sewn into the seam.
4) When you are ready to sew up the body, turn right sides together and pin in place. If you are adding arms and legs, sandwich them in place so they are facing in between the 2 "right" sides. The edges should touch the edges of the body so they will be stitched into the seam. Knot the end of the embroidery thread and use a running stitch all the way around the body, leaving a gap of a few inches for stuffing.
5) Turn right side out and stuff with fluffy filling- polyfill, wool, cotton balls. Stitch the hole up.
Cute!

Next time, a whole week of sewing projects.

Printmaking- Part 2

Despite my planning and testing, the silk screens were not the most successful things in this printmaking camp so far. I bought cheap embroidery hoops and it was very tricky to get the fabric stretched tight enough. The girls seemed a little discouraged at first by the results but, I swear, they really began to embrace the imperfections and the feeling was contagious. Today we made stencils out of vinyl sheets and then the girls made furoshiki gift wrap on muslin. Now, this was successful and everyone had fun and loved the results.



And they made little cinch sacks too. Cute!



We also printed on muslin with hot beeswax this morning. I used my vinyl stencil to apply the wax and some of the girls used cookie cutters and the cake decorating tips to stamp the hot wax on. I think it worked, but we will see when it comes out of the dye bath tomorrow. The beeswax smelled so good simmering in the double boiler but the tips and cutters sure got hot.

At the end of the morning, one friend headed out the door to California with a pile of handmade postcards to send back this direction. Here are Ava's:



These were made by using the foam stamp cube we made on Monday.

Printmaking- Part 1

It was a good morning. I had 5 girls sitting at a table ready to go, and there is nothing like that. They were eager and willing to try new things. We started off by designing silk screens that they used drawing fluid to create. Each one was totally different from the others and they are all going to be super cool. Tomorrow we will apply screen filler and pull our first prints.

 

We moved on from the silk screen to making foam stamp blocks. This was so much fun and I love what the girls did. Pretty much everyone stuck to a theme for their blocks- fruit, shapes, cute animals, etc.

This is what you'll need to make them:
- self-adhesive craft foam
-pencils and paper
-craft knives and scissors
-stamp pads

And, this is how you do it:

1) Design the stamps on paper, with a pencil. When you have something you like, press it pencil drawing to the foam and rub the back so it transfers onto the foam.
2) Cut out the shape with scissors or a craft knife.


3) Peel the paper backing and stick to the block. They stick really well.



4) Stamp away!


Here are the blocks they made and some of the things they did with them:




And, this afternoon, my 5 year old sat right down and got busy too.

summertime

Since my kids are now out of school, it is officially summer around here. I think it is going to mean something a little different this summer, as my work projects have increased 10 fold, but we will be getting a great start tomorrow when I begin teaching an art camp in my barn for some fantastic kids. There are 2 weeks planned- Printmaking this week and a Super Crafty free for all next week. My oldest girl will be attending both, which makes this the best possible thing for me to be doing, and my young feller will be dropping by with his babysitter to have a go with the projects too. We are starting with making silk screens tomorrow and moving on to stamp carving, monoprinting, foam stamp making, stenciling, and sun printing- and applying them all sorts of ways. I think it will be a blast.

And, because they are the picture of summer, I will show you a pair of flip flops I dolled up for Ava for graduation night- the older half of her class was graduating (thank God she isn't leaving elementary school just yet)! I made them to match the dress I made for her, but I don't have a decent picture of it (the dress)so I will post it some other time.



They are made by simply wrapping strips of jersey cotton around gluey flip flop straps. I made the flower by cutting out squares and petal shapes and layer them with the size graduating from small to large, sewed it so it puckered up, then sewed it to the shoe. Really, it took 10 minutes and they were more comfortable and cute than before.

I know I have not been posting lately but I do plan to post all about the upcoming art camp projects- so do stop by soon.

xo

the gals wanted skirts

I am so happy to say that Twist was super fun and successful for me. It seems like everyone wanted a new skirt for the warm weather and, well, WOW, how fun is it to see folks walk away with something I made? I've been thinking about which direction to go lately with the whole making clothes thing, and though I'm still not sure, I do know that selling to retail stores seems to make zero sense for someone like me. First, I can't see how I could charge enough to make any money at all, and second, you miss out on what I just described above. I like to talk to people and see them loving something I made. Is that vanity? Probably- and I admit it. But it's more than that too, though I can't quite name it. Now, I just need to decide how many shows I want to do and if I can spend the time needed to build up inventory when I have so many other projects going that require a lot. I'm open to anyone's thoughts. See, I just want more comments- because I'm vain!

Anyhoo, I had a new set-up at Twist which was a vast improvement to the last time, but still needs some tweaking. I decided to make a sign after hearing that it would cost $100 to have one printed! Yea, right. A roll of freezer paper, the font from my business cards (and blog banner), some canvas and some paint was all it required and it was done in an hour or so. A good reminder that i should assume I can make it first, then head further out in the world if I need help. This is what I did:

1) I printed full page letters in my font.
2) I traced said letters onto a long piece of freezer paper so they spelled out "one golden apple".
3) I cut letters out of freezer paper with a craft knife.
4) I ironed freezer paper to white canvas.
5) I applied paint where those cut letters were stuck, let it dry, and peeled off the freezer paper. Perfect!
6) I painted my logo with a paintbrush and freezer paper stenciled the apple on the tree.
7) I machine stitched around the periphery in a meandering sort of way, as I am wont to do.

time to sew

Although I have been sort of insane with preparations for Twist, I have loved sewing late into the night and for so many hours at a time. I actually find it easier to find inspiration with both hours of making things behind me and with the promise of more hours to come. I never find it boring, though sometimes I make stupid mistakes when I get a bit sleepy- really stupid mistakes. I had a few nights of only a few hours of sleep in a row and was very impressed with myself for feeling pretty ok, and then last night my body flipped me the bird and I slept for no less than 12 hours! Any parents out there remember the last time they did that? Me neither. Then I went to band practice tonight and my voice was super rough, though not in that good Lucinda Williams way, and I thought that maybe I'm really not as young as I perceive myself to be (because I'm not) and that I better take care or things will easily head south (as some things may have done already, if you know what I mean).

In short, I love having time to sew or make anything. It has been so sunny and hot and there is a mockingbird who sings through the night, and the flowers on the autumn olive are so sweet smelling, as are the lilacs, and things are looking pretty dang bright. I have good news to share with you next week. I know I keep saying there is news a-coming, but I can almost announce it now, so just letting you know that I can almost tell you something helps me manage my unabashed excitement.

Come to Twist! Buy something pretty. Oh, and have a look at another reason why Spring is so completely fabulous. You saw them last year, these morels from under our old trees. They are so photogenic that here they are again this year. Again, we ate them on toasts with herbed goat cheese and I could have cried they were so good.

Spring Twist Fair

I have simply been too busy to blog about anything, but I do want everyone around to remember that next weekend, May 7-8 is the Twist Fair and I will be showing and selling there. I sure hope you will come on by and say hello. Skirts were the most popular item last time, so I have focused on them- besides, everyone wants a new skirt in the spring- but I will have some dresses, table runners, and other bits and bobs too. I'll try to post a few teasers. xo