Sew what what now?

Well, the Valentine/hearts/flowers/love stuff is over. Fun while it lasted.

Everyone was screaming for the earrings I make out of recycled aluminum cans for Valentine's Day. So I was making tons of pink and red heart earrings.
I ran around to the shops that carry my stuff, to make sure they were stocked up on the Valentine/hearts/flowers/love stuff. I sold some, but...
Now, I have a bunch of these pink and red hearts leftover. That's okay, I'll put them away for next Valentine's Day.
And guess what...next holiday is St. Patrick's Day. So I have to get revved up for that.

And now we are all drinking sodas out of cans that have green on them...
Except my husband who opts for beer out of green cans.
We're all trying to get into the shamrock groove.

So while I'm transitioning, this week I'm highlighting my daughters' blogs:
Dana's blog:
http://www.apairofneedles.blogspot.com/
Betsy's blog:
http://melittaberze.blogspot.com/

Please check them out, they are clever crafters/sewers/knitters/artists!
I'll be working on the leprechaun stuff.

tip of the day:
I went shopping today, and bacon was on sale, buy one get one free.
So of course I bought 4! But I know I can't use all that bacon at once. So what I did was cut the package in half, and froze the individual packs in quart size zip loc bags. So now when I need bacon, I can thaw out 1/2 a package, which is just the right size for the two of us. (what we don't use at breakfast, I make BLT's or bacon crumbles for salad.) Plus, the 1/2 pieces fit into the pan a lot easier than larger pieces.

That's all for this week.
:D

Hey Pin head!

Well, we're back from Montana. And I must say as much as I enjoyed it, I'm very glad to be home. I can work on my blog, and make earrings and...
figure out new ways to make new things from old stuff!

I got back into my studio and started sewing some great purse size/open up to be big bags.  (see my website for an example: http://www.arttowearbydee.etsy.com/ And as I was picking out pins and needles from my pin cushion, it dawned on me that I had today's great project!

This pin cushion is 29 years old, so it may look a bit shabby. It has gotten a lot of use but is still going strong. When my girls were babies (being twins) I used a whole lot of baby wipes. And it was a shame to throw away the sturdy plastic containers. And so I used them for everything from storing their small toys, jewelry, puzzle pieces to...

wet ones/ pin cushion

You will need:

~an empty cyclindrical wet wipes container

~fabric

~piece of foam

~glue (glue gun, spray glue, or our good old 'strong glue' like E6000)
~optional trim: lace, ribbon

Take a piece of paper and fold around the container, this will be the pattern to go around it, leaving an extra inch for overlap.
Measure from the bottom to the where the lid fastens. Cut your paper pattern accordingly so this will be your height.
Put this paper pattern onto your fabric and cut leaving a 1/2 inch border all around. You will be folding this excess under so you have a nice finished edge.

Now take another paper and put under the lid and trace around it. This will be your pattern for the top. You will place this on your fabric and cut around it leaving a 2" border all around. Because this has to cover the top and hang over the edges also.

Use the same pattern to cut your piece of foam. You can get this from a packing box, that perhaps some electronic equipment came in, or from a fabric store. I always seem to have this stuff. Not sure where I snagged it, but I save everything.

Anyway... now you will iron the edges of the main fabric under, so it fits exactly around the container, but no frayed edges are showing. Adjust the ironed edge accordingly. You should have an inch extra to wrap around, so just iron a nice edge on one side. The frayed edge will be underneath.

You don't have to iron the edge of the top circle, if you are using a piece of lace to cover it. If not, iron it under about 1/4" and use your glue to fasten it down. If you can sew, sew the edge under. You can also sew the edges of the main container fabric also instead of gluing. And since you are using this for a pin cushion, I'm assuming you are someone who sews.

Take the glue and spread it around the container and press the fabric onto this. Remembering to start with the frayed edge and wrapping over it with the finished edge.  Use rubber bands or masking tape to hold it securely til dry.

Put glue on the lid and press down the foam. Put glue on the foam and edges of lid and press your fabric circle down on this. If you are using lace add some glue to the lace and press onto the edge of the lid. This should overlap and hang down over the edge of the fabric to cover the raw edge.

I store lots of sewing goodies inside the container, so it does double duty while taking up a small space on your table.

TIP OF THE DAY:
Summer time = swimming. And if you get swimmer's ear (water trapped in the ear canal) from swimming or even in the shower... here's a household solution. Take a cotton ball, and soak it with rubbing alcohol. Drip 4-5 drops into the ear and keep your head tilted so it can dry it out for a couple of minutes.
(If you look at the ingredients of a purchased bottle of Swim-Ear you'll see 95%Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). This is a drying agent.
As always, keep out of eyes.

That's all for today!
Dee