Here's a really fun book of ideas: Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase, by Suzanne J.E. Tourtillott.
You can often buy pillowcases on sale for very cheap prices, much cheaper than buying the fabric. And what to do with your old pillowcases? Well, this book is full of clever ideas including the adorable dresses shown on the cover.
Make the most of your favorite specialty fabric - a great tote cut from just one fat quarter. Pattern and pdf tutorial here.
The most beautiful quilts can be created with just simple squares and triangles. Take a look at this tutorial that makes half- and quarter-square triangles a snap.
I love this idea for fabric bowls - this technique should also work for baskets.
These fabric bowls are so easy to make, and perfect to set on any table filled with Christmas candies and goodies.
These fun Christmas "trees" caught my eye today - very easy to make with your scraps, and will look good anywhere in the house. It's also a great project to get the kids involved. And as I've said before, if you don't want to sew, just use glue. Ribbons and trimmings can be added on for more bling.
I was making pillows and quilts for my dolls when I was three years old. Seriously. And they are to-date my favorite things to make.
Deanna Hogan has a free pattern up for this cute pattern! Stunning yet simple. these folks would make great gifts or stocking stuffers.
These luscious pears look good enough to eat, but do remember to first remove the pins!
The terrifically talented Heather Bailey has created the pincushions with her divine stash of fabrics.
... and I was wonderfully surprised to learn that she is the DDIL of none other than the legendary Elinor Peace Bailey. Looks like they've kept it All in the Family. :)
A lot of times, we admire artists and wish we could study under them (and hope some of their creativity
will rub off on us :) ?!! ). This may not be possible for very many reasons.
Textile artist Linda Misa has found a generous way around this with her new free online class. From all the way down-under in Tasmania, she shares all her wonderful art and craft techniques and tips with fabric artists from around the world.
In difficult times such as these, this class is a wonderful and inspiring gift.
Making templates is an important initial step in quilting.
Once a pattern has been chosen, trace pattern pieces on clear template plastic, or trace on paper and glue the tracing to plastic, cardboard or the reverse side of sandpaper.
For appliqué or hand-pieced patches, trace the seam line; marked cutting lines are optional.
For machine-pieced patches, trace the cutting line, including the seam allowance in the template. Cut out accurately.
Make a sample block to test the accuracy of your templates before cutting the entire quilt.
Some of us never grow up! We finish school, go out into the world, build a career, meet people, get married, have kids, and later on grandkids – but we still play with dolls.
There are those who spend hours (and dollars) on their train sets in the basement, their Barbie doll collections with extensive wardrobes, and the stuffed critters on their beds.
And there are those of us who just keep making them. Of course, for this last group, this is just a way of getting the doll you want without being mercilessly teased by others.
Cloth Dolls have been made for centuries as toys for children to play with. Working with cloth is easy yet fascinating. As a talented dollmaker said - Cloth is a flat one dimensional medium and it is a real challenge to turn it into three dimensional body parts.
There are innumerable possibilities to choose from – Raggedy Annes, Primitives, Fantasy dolls, Critters, Realistic dolls…
Cloth doll making today is a very finely developed and detailed art which brings out a multitude of the artists skills. A doll maker must be a pattern maker, a seamstress, a portrait painter, a hair stylist, a fashion designer, and a carpenter, to name a few.
Dolls vary in size from miniature to life-size or even larger. The bodies are usually made up with fabric, with or without a wire armature to help pose the doll. Joints are built in to facilitate movement. Faces are sometimes covered with clay masks, or needle-sculpted, and then painted. They may also be embroidered. Hair, clothes and accessories complete the process, resulting in a one of a kind creation.
There are several talented, delightful dollmakers all over the world today who share their work, teach their skills and sell their dolls.
The rest of us just keep our dollies and play with them!
