Holidays: October 2007 Archives

The holidays are swiftly approaching, which means a lot of us are on the hunt for presents.  As I sat in my sewing room this past weekend making my (overwhelming) "gifts to make" list, I glanced over at my bookshelf and had an idea.  Not only are craft books a great source of handmade-gift inspiration, but they can also be great gifts themselves!  I know some of my favorite gifts have been books, and I thought I would share a few of them here. 

Generation T: 108 Ways to Transform a T-shirt by Megan Nicolay (Workman Publishing) 
When I found out there were entire books dedicated to T-shirt makeovers, well, my little creativity-cup not only overflowed - it nearly erupted.  Although definitely aimed at a younger audience, this one is my favorite of the few t-shirt books I have seen.  Using primarily T-shirts as your materials, projects range from simple top renovations to skirts to swim suits - even a complete wedding dress!  There are even a couple projects for men's shirts, and t-shirt trivia throughout the projects is a fun distraction.  This book is perfect for any crafter whose style has a bit of edge to it. 






Sew What! Skirts: 16 Simple Styles You Can Make With Fabulous Fabrics by Francesca Denhartog & Carole Ann Camp (Storey Publishing)
This book has just about everything you need to know about making a skirt without a pattern, and then some.  It starts with a pretty thorough guide to the basic techniques needed when starting a project.  The writing was detailed enough for a beginner to understand, but still informative enough to give an experienced sewer a refresher without boring them.  Once you take a few measurements (the book shows you which ones) you can begin whipping out adorable skirts that are tailored to your taste, without the hassle of confusing patterns or aggravating tissue paper.





Making Vintage Bags: 20 Original Sewing Patterns for Vintage Bags and Purses by Emma Brennan (Guild of Master Craftsman Publications) 
This book is perfect for the handbag enthusiast.  Using clear instructions and photographs, this book shows you how to make handbags fashioned after trends from the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's.  Many of the bags have smaller matching purses, all of which you can find the pattern for in the back of the book.  Even if you aren't making of the bags featured in the book, the instructions and photographs make it a great reference for techniques and styles that can be used in your own creations.






 Amy Butler's In Stitches: More Than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects by Amy Butler (Chronicle Books) 
Ever a Fabric.com staff favorite, Amy Butler's book appeals to a wide audience with its varied projects.  There are projects for just about every room in the house, but don't be fooled into thinking that this is a strictly home décor book.  The "Bedroom Projects" section has instructions for an absolutely beautiful duvet cover, as well as some for comfy and stylish wide-leg lounge pants.  This book works well as an inspiration for gift making, but would also be a welcome gift in and of its self.   You can even see a couple of the projects on her site.  I personally cannot wait to find the time to make the patchwork handbag on page 162 - too cute!  But, hey, it's Amy Butler; how can you go wrong?


Happy Stitching!
Melanie

Another fun and creative project by our graphic artist, Moniqa. I love her projects because they look so stylish and rich but usually take no time, with scraps of fabric you have hanging around from your apparel or quilting projects. This month Moniqa has been bitten by the autumn bug and is getting ready for an influx of family visits for the holidays. She is focusing on the center of the holiday festivites, the family table. Bring in the warmth and color of fall for your table with this super simple Burnished Leaves Table Runner. All you need are a leaf pattern (provided by us or nature), fabric marker, and fabric scrapes in fall colors or spring (depending on when you can finally fit this project into your busy schedule). Moniqa used Dupioni silk; this is prefect for our Dupioni Check Swatch set or just 2 or 3 1/2 yard Dupioni colors. You can also use quilting cotton, wool or felt. Don't forget to embellish with some fancy embroidery stitches; check out these embroidery tutorials by Crafty Daisies if you need ideas or tips!  

1. Determine the shape of the leaves you desire. Any basic leaf shape will do but here aresome to get you started. Moniqa's leaves are 7 inches long and 3 inches wide. Trace your free hand leaf shape onto some posterboard or cardboard (you can use that cereal box full of crumbs that someone stuck back in the pantry), and cut it out. This is your pattern.
2. Determine the length of runner you desire. Lay your Leaf pattern at an angle and in that postion measure from top to bottom. Divide this measurement by your total desired length (Example Your desired length is 50'' and you leaf measure ment is 5'', You will make 10 pairs of leaves). The difference will be the number of pairs of leaves you will need (Rounding up or down is up to you). Moniqa's leaves are 4 inches on the diagonal and the Runner is 48 inches long. That is 12 leaf pairs!
3. Cut! Using your pattern cut out 24 leaves in various colors for the top side (lays face up on the table) and 24 leaves for the underside.
4. Pin! Pin your topside leaves to your underside leaves, RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER. Stitch together with 1/4 inch seam leaving an opening to turn out. repeat until all leaves are complete
5. Press! Turn out all your leaves and press flat. You can slip stitch the openings closed but they will not show if you leave them open. If you do leave them open, you can leave secret holiday messages or candies in there for the little ones!
6. Hand stitch your leaves together. Take 2 leaves and lay them end to end angling up. Hand stitch the end together. Repeat for all leaves.
7. Stitch pairs together. Fit a pair of leaves above the first and stitch together wherethe leaves meet. Repeat this step until all pairs are united
8. Give yourself a pat on the back and listen to the "Oohs and Aaws" from your appreciative family as they delight in your festive holiday table.

Don't be afraid to change it up or embellish. You can bedazzle this runner, add buttons, or beads! Moniqa did not pair up her top 2 leaves but stitched one on top of the other to make the top 2 tiers singular. This reminds me of a vine and really catches the eye.


I am amazed every day with Moniqa's creativity and am so glad to share it with you. Enjoy and don't forget to show us your take on this project in our Sew & Tell Gallery. We really look forward to seeing everyone's projects and love to get together and check them out!

Tara Miller for Moniqa

This weekend I felt the first crisp, cool breeze of Autumn. Autumn has arrived ushering in visions of falling leaves, apples and pumpkins, sweaters, football games, walking through drifts of gold and rust colored leaves. Not to mention great food! Halloween is coming, then Thanksgiving. This is my most favorite time of the year.  I know there are people out there who have already completed their Christmas shopping. I do not intend to rush this season to get Christmas done.  I am doing some planning for Christmas, but I will fully enjoy the moment. To help you, I have provided some easy projects to help you celebrate this season. 

My first project is a no sew project, involve the children also.  I call this my "Potato Chip Project" because you cannot do just one.  This is a wacky leaf project.  This is also suitable for charm packs ( I used Acorn Hollow which has 39 fabrics in the pack) To add some spice I used some fabric from the Harvest Spice collection.

You will only need 2 different fabrics, freezer paper, Misty Fuse, scissors and an iron.  For very young children- you can use comstruction paper.  Draw a free form leaf patterm onto the non-glossy side of freezer paper.  You can free hand as I did,  use cookie cutter shapes, an actual leaf, a stencil,  or a  color book.  You might also find some shapes online or in a magazine.  Prepare a fabric sandwich.  ( 1 top fabric with the right side facing out, misty fuse and the bottom fabric with right side facing out)  Using your iron, apply heat to the sandwich.  Allow the sandwich to cool. Your fabric will be bonded together. This the first time I have used Misty Fuse and I was impressed with the weight.  It is not a paper backed fusing agent, so it is a one step operation. Iron your freezer paper onto the fabric (shiny side down).  You can reuse your freezer paper several times.

You can use these leaf shapes any where.  You can sprinkle them like confetti across a table. Paste them to a lampshade or a mirror.  Tuck them into a wreath.  Create a place card by pasting a small piece of cardstock onto the leaf and writing  your guests name on it.  I am hanging mine with fall colored ribbon and hang from a chandelier.

My next project is a simple tablerunner ( I have made it in the Butternut Farms collection and Harvest Spice) ,  This can be done in 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. No patterns required.  Determine how wide and how long you would like to make it. For example ,14 inches wide x  54 inches inches long.  Cut 2 strips of fabric 14.5 inches wide by 54.5 inches long and a piece of batting such as Warm and Natural. This is also cut to the same dimenions.  This is also great to use left over battng  Create a fabric sandwich by layering the 2 fabrics right sides together and placing the batting on the top. Pin in place.  Stitch around all edges 1/4  inch to 1/2 inch. Leave an opening wide enough to turn - about 3 inches.  Turn inside out and using a pencil - gently push the corners to make a square end.  The cotton batting should be in the middle. Slip stitch the closing shut. The same basic table runner will look different depending on the fabric you.  The Butternut Farms fabric collection is a rich, traditional fabric with accents of gold.  This is a classic fabric.  It is so beautiful, you hate to cut it.  Very good in a formal setting. If you are not afraid of color- Harvest Spice is for you.  These sun-drenched colors are so rich that you can almost feel that if you wring it out, the colors will drip like droplets of colored rain.  I call this "Whimsical Tuscany". You cannot be sad around these colors.

 
Additional projects:

Reversible napkins (I used the Harvest Spice-- sew easy project, just cut 2 squares of contrasting fabrics the size you would like your napkins to be. Layer the fabrics right sides together- sew around the edges leaving an opening wide enough to turn. Turn, using your pencil to poke the corners out.  Press.  Slipstitch the open edges together:

 

 

I also created a hot pad for my casserole using the Harvest Spice Stripe.  Cut 2 pieces of fabric the dimensions you would like your finished hot pad to be plus a 1/2 inch for seams.  Cut 2 pieces of batting and Insul-Bright.  Create a fabric sandwich by placing the top and bottom fabrics right sides together.  Create a layer of batting, insul bright and batting. Place the Insul-Bright sandwich on top of the fabric and pin.  Stitch around all sides 1/4 to 1/2 inch leaving an opening for turning. Turn inside out . Use a pencil to square up the corners.  Slipstitch the closing.

I hope these easy ideas will enhance your joy in the new season.
Vickie 

Next month: Get your Moda runnin, Christmas is comin

I've been looking at all sorts of websites and magazines about Halloween the last couple weeks.  Among the pages of kids' costumes and pumpkin carving techniques, it's hard to miss the tempting images of Autumn inspired baked indulgences.

One of my favorite fall recipes is my great grandmother's pumpkin cookies.  I'm not a huge sweet fan, so I love how these lovely, little, bite-sized morsels have such wonderful flavor without putting me into sugar overload.  I particularly like them topped with a dark or semi-sweet chocolate ganache (which I have included here), but I also found a pretty good cream cheese frosting recipe that compliment's them well (Laurie's idea).

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My Great-Grandma's Pumpkin Cookies
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degree.  Mix dry ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Next, add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix well.  Slowly add dry ingredients until fully mixed.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and drop cookie dough in blobs about 2 inches apart.  Grandma's recipe called for "teaspoon-sized dollops" but I am impatient so mine were more like "Tablespoon-and-a-half-sized dollops."  If you use Granny's way, bake them for 14-16 minutes; 18-20 minutes my way. They should be firm and slightly golden (don't over bake them or they will become dry).

Grandma's way yields about 5 dozen or so smaller cookies.  My way gets you about 3 dozen (try not to eat too many between batches).

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Chocolate Ganache
(this recipe will make enough to cover all your cookie and then some)
1/2 cup of heavy cream
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate (chips work fine, but you can be decadent and use one of those fancy bars, too)
1 tablespoon butter
Put your chocolate and butter in a bowl.  Heat the cream up to boiling and pour it over the chocolate.  Stir until smooth.

(Note: while certainly not the most healthy idea, you can mix a couple spoonfuls of the leftover ganache into some heated milk for an absolutely sinful cup of hot chocolate)

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Cream Cheese Frosting
2 packages of cream cheese (8oz.)
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
Blend the cream cheese in a mixer until fluffy.  Mix in the powdered sugar, and then add the milk and vanilla.  Mix everything until smooth.  If the frosting is too thick, add more milk a little at a time.

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For the chocolate ganache, the best way to apply it to the cookie is to just dunk the top of the cookie in (giving it a swirl for good measure).  You can do the same with the cream cheese, or you can use a spatula or pipe it on.

Enjoy!

Melanie