Thrifty Sewing Fun

I haven't been out thrifting as much as usual over the last few months - weather and a busy schedule have both affected my shopping time! But I got out to my favourite thrift stores recently, and have some wonderful new finds to share. 

I have been lucky with some greens -- the solid green is a linen blend, quite soft and with a blue/yellow shimmer. I'm thinking a summer dress. The bottom fabric is a quality jersey, just enough for a nice soft tee. Probably the Kirsten Tee by Maria Denmark, as I've made it before and it is a great staple. 

And I found some sewing patterns! Harder to find at the thrifts lately as my favourite shop has inexplicably decided they are not putting out sewing patterns in their craft section any more. :(  Found these ones elsewhere. 

My luckiest find lately, however, is this really fun lapel pin! I love brooches and this one was irresistible, for obvious reasons. So cute. I'm sure I have many things to wear this with. 

And adding one more bit of fabric...I just came across this fab sheet in the linens aisle on my last thrifting trip. I don't think it has ever been used. And it's so very 80s I couldn't let it go. Had to buy it and will now have to figure out what to do with it. But I love this print! It's so much fun finding odd bits while thrifting, even if I have slowed down with how much I can bring home with me. I really enjoy this part of my sewing life :)

Weekend Review: Making Fabric Jewelry

Making Fabric Jewelry / Marthe Le Van
NY: Lark, c2012.
144 p.

This month I'm going to be featuring some craft books with quick, easy, but also nice last minute gift potential projects in them. This is a book I've had on my shelf for quite a while, and I think there are many fun ideas in it, from extremely simple to a bit more complicated. 

You can start with the covered button bracelet, which is exactly what it sounds like. (image on the 20+ projects bubble on the front cover). Get a bunch of button forms, cover them with adorable scraps, and string them together into a bracelet. 

Or go a little bigger with a wire wrapped teardrop earring which requires more materials and more expertise with wire work. 

You can even transfer images to fabric and use those to make brooches and gewgaws! I'd love to try that one. 

There are some familiar ideas, like a fabric wrapped wooden bead necklace (which has been on my list to try forever!) and some more unusual ones using more unusual fabrics and techniques. I think anyone with a sense of adventure could manage to make all of the items in this book if you were interested in them. 

And a lovely, personalized piece of jewelry that reflects the recipient's tastes, uses up some of your fabric scraps, and isn't too difficult to attempt making sounds like the perfect small gift or stocking stuffer. 

If you can find this one at your local library or a second-hand bookstore go for it! It has clear photos of all the projects, good step-by-step instructions, and a nice variety of projects to choose from, each contributed by a different artist, which allows for a mix of aesthetics to shine. 

I know I've earmarked a couple of these ideas for my own holiday extravaganza ;)

Pensive design

Sharing one of my very favourite "makes", a set of earrings from 2011's 30 Days of Creativity Challenge

I wear these a lot. I love them because I love fountain pens, calligraphy, stationery, and all related things; I teach journaling as well. These particular nibs really appealed to me because of the shape of the cutout for the ink reservoir -- the excitement of a tiny exclamation point was too much to pass up! They were fairly easy to make: I laid them one inside the other so that the holes for the jump rings would be even in each one. Then I taped them down to a block of wood (curved side down) and drilled the holes. Actually, I had a friend do the drill thing for me... he knows what he's doing ;) We broke the first drill tip but were more careful with the second and all was well (good thing he was wearing safety glasses -- remember, safety first!)

If you have a bag of earring hooks and some jump rings you can make almost anything into earrings. Pick an object that makes a statement about who you are, or simply something that you like the look of. Attach to a hook and there you are. Makes wonderfully personal gifts too.

Here's another example, a set of earrings I made out of fishing lures (no hooks of course!!!)

The only problem now is that I can't stop looking around the house for more earring material...