Drafting patterns, plans to sew, - aka a little girls request

Not wanting a 1 meter piece of fabric to be chopped up and glued to paper, I told my niece what the fabric was going to be for, (valentines shirts), she said that would be much better, and that I have to make 2 shirts (always thinking of her baby sister of course!), so I am working on a new pattern and meshing a few styles together to create a pretty top - in fact 2 pretty tops with only 1 meter of fabric - tank tops don't work it's a little chilly for that still.

ABC quiet book, features painted

I started working on this book in May of 2009, set it aside in October, and got back to work on it now, when I started the plan was for my nieces to share, well plans change, and I'm keeping this one which they will get to play with at my place, and each of them will get their own smaller quiet book for their house/truck. Next step is to iron the pages... I'm kind of worried about that with all of the different elements. The patterns where from a book called "ABC quiet book" from the 1970's. The books I will be making for the girls will be from my own designs so stay tuned for patterns and instructions

Repeat pattern fabric = new game

I love making games, I even did a self directed study on the use of games in a childs learning, I learned a lot and so did the kids. One big hit with kids is memory, so I used some fabric I had and created this game.

And here's the how to:

Materials :

a)repeating pattern fabric

b)heavy cardboard - slightly larger than fabric

c)modge podge or white glue

d)rotary cutter, mat, and straight edge or exacto knife, mat, and straight edge

Directions

1)Cut your fabric into one big piece, iron it so there are no wrinkles or creases

2)Cover the heavy cardboard with modge podge or white glue

3) Place fabric onto modge podge and smooth out, make sure there are no lumps or bubbles

4)Let it dry overnight

5) coat with another layer of modge podge or white glue (sorry no photo for this part)

6)When completely dry, use a rotary cutter/exacto knife and a straight edge to carefully cut apart.

7)Find a container for storing the pieces

8)Have fun playing!

Nieces first birthday outfits

My niece just turned one, so since I tend to make a holiday outfit for just about every occassion, this was no exception, so I made a complete set for the birthday girl, and a matching top for her 3.5 year old sister.


Pants pattern is just a basic 1 pattern piece pant, shirts are storebought and embellished. Crown was made using 2 layers of fabric with a layer of felt sandwiched between.

To make crown:
select fabric, cut into a crown shape, place on felt and cut the felt to the same size, sandwich it all together and stitch with a zigzag stitch. Add velcro to both ends so the crown is adjustable for the child. Find a princess , or a prince and crown them with birthday glory!

reusable shopping bags

With another one of my frequented stores charging for bags, I decided it was time to use some of my fabric stash, and make some bags. The fabric has been in my stash since at least 1999, has completed 3 moves, hightime it is used. Tutorial for the bags and photo's when they are completed.



Tutorial:

Cut 2 pieces of fabric 16"x19"
Put wrong sides together and sew 3 sides (leaving 1 short side open) with a 1/4" seam
now turn it inside out, press and sew the same 3 sides again with a 1/2" seam.

Cut 1 piece of fabric 4"x24", fold right sides together and sew with a 1/2" seam long edge and one short edge. Turn the tube to right side and cut in half

Pin the handles in place hanging outside and towards the bottom on the open end of the bag, fold top edge over 1/2" and repeat with a 2nd 1/2" fold, sew in place - I used a 5/8" and a 1/4" hemming stitch for added durablity.

Tried out my woodburner...

I tried out my new woodburner today, pretty east to use, and I created a few little projects, certainly will be a fun tool to use this year!

Not much today...

Did a little bit of sewing, a little bit of ironing, and I tried some paper marbelling, another day I will post pictures of the process as it is really quite neat!

The craft room is clean, and I am back to crafting, It took 3 days but I can now find almost everything, and know what I have. Here are some before and after shots for you:)
BEFORE AFTER

One tall cupboard is books, the other is crafting supplies, my rule right now is no more crafting supplies and no more books until I have the cupboards 1/4 empty.

The cleaning continues...

Well I took yesterday off from cleaning and got back to it today, the room is looking much improved, however there's still lots to do. On a plus side - I tackled the big bin of miscellaneous craft junk:) Hope to get the task completely finished by tomorrow.

My messy hobbit hole

I'll share pictures with you later, perhaps a before and after, but my goal is to get my crafting zone into tip top shape before beginning any new projects, wish me luck!

New Year, New Blog

Welcome to Hobbit Hole Crafts,

here's the reason for the name of this blog: for the past 3 years, I have been lucky enough to have my own craft room in the basement of both the old house and the new house, the one I am in now is a daylight basement and is very nice to work in. Being creative, and funny, my Dad nicknamed the room my hobbit hole for my nack of staying down here and working for hours at a time, and because it's in the basement. I read "The Hobbit" in grades 4, 5, and 6, I knew a hobbit hole was "a hole in the ground of warmth and comfort for a hobbit", okay, so I am definately not a hobbit, but my craft room is definately my place of comfort, so I embraced the name!