Wallets and Gift Card Holders

I’m expecting a young sewing friend next week and we are planning to make wallets.  I’ve been practicing. I borrowed this pattern from How About Orange and made two oil cloth wallets/gift card holders and one denim one. Flown with success, I tried this pattern and made a denim wallet with a bill pocket and two side pockets.

Now for some measurements
For the oil cloth and denim gift cards the main piece  measured 6” x 4 1/4” , with two pockets 4 1/4”x 2 1/4”. I did have to use a Teflon foot on my machine, but they were simple to do.  I made the denim one the size of the one on How About Orange, and I thought it was too big. It all depends on how much you want to put in it.

The oil cloth ones were so much fun I pulled out some of my “stitch paper” and found some 6” squares I had received in a swap. The back of the stitch paper was not presentable, so I fused some fabric to the back. Stitch paper is made by gluing paper to fabric, allowing it to dry and then adding paint. It is a highly addictive process and it makes a huge mess.

Flown with success, I decided to tackle the wallet pattern I found on Pinterest. The measurements I used for it were: one piece 8” X 3 3/4” (the outside of the wallet) the inside piece was 8” x 3 1/2”. The pockets were 3 1/2” x 3 1/4”. If you are not a member, sign up is easy and you can see my Pinterest boards at http://pinterest.com/susanclayton

I’m looking forward to the sewing session with my friend. We might even make swing bags.

Happy Thanksgiving

No Black Friday sales for this basketball loving family. We’ve been spending our time at the Old Spice Classic basketball tournament at Disney World. We created a banner to display whenever the Davidson Wildcats score a 3 pointer.

What the heck is 3 Gobbles? click here.

I’ll leave it to you to figure out the pun

Draw a Stickman

It’s silly, but fun. Head over to Draw a Stickman and follow the instructions to create a very simple drawing. Your drawing becomes animated and tells a story.

Easy Swing Bags

I loosely followed the pattern at the Better Homes and Gardens website to make a couple of swing bags this weekend. Here is a photo of the inspiration from the website.



And here are the two bags I made. For the black and tan one, I had a couple of d-rings from a junked purse. I also had a strap from the same purse. For the alligator one, I made the strap using a recycled T-shirt. I couldn't find reasonably priced d-rings, so I used small key rings which are about 90% cheaper than d-rings. I found mine at Michael's. I boxed the corners on the alligator bag.

Pink Sewing Machine

I have just cleaned out my studio and had sold or given away several machines and cabinets. I just kept my “pets”.

So I was taking a walk this morning and came upon a yard sale and found this pink Morse machine for next to nothing. It’s label says it’s a super dial and it only sews a straight stitch.

It is in great cosmetic condition. I haven’t threaded it yet, but the interior looks clean and the motor wiring is good. When I plugged it in it ran smoothly. It has a more powerful motor than many domestic machines. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it, probably just enjoy its brilliant pink for awhile, then find a good home for it.

If anyone knows what I have or where I might find a compatible manual for it, let me know.

Just remembered my neighborhood is having a yard sale this weekend. I’d better stay home.

The funeral pall is pieced

By the numbers:

• 72” wide by 80” long. It has 4” extensions on either side of the arms of the cross.
• 338—4 1/2” blocks
• 8—8 1/2” blocks
• 3086 individual pieces
• 100 unique fabrics (table linens, bed linens, silk ties, t-shirts, upholstery fabrics, satin, lace, gold lame, and a sprinkling of cotton quilting fabrics)
• Untold hours of labor by 12 women and one man

Detail

For the quilting I plan to use Hobbs Thermore batting, and Superior gold metallic thread.

For a previous posting on the project, click here.