Mother's Day Gifts You Can Make - Idea Six

Memorabilia Portfolios




These sweet fabric portfolios are easy and inexpensive to construct. This first example did take a bit more time than most of my quick and easy projects. I finished it today. It took about 2 hours total. I hope to get a little faster with the next two I am working on. I am making one from a cream jacquard and lace and another from black and pink toiles. I will update this post when I complete them. They are a nice way to present any flat gifts you are planning on giving your mother. Stick in the children's handmade cards and drawings, your own Mother's Day card, a gift card to her favorite boutique, perhaps a pretty hankie, some photos, tickets to an upcoming event, seed packets and you're set! Or use it as a way to showcase family heirlooms and memories. Perhaps include her mother's wedding photo, copies of marriage and birth certificates, hand written memoirs, and other memorabilia. Here are the necessary how-to's.

Fabric Portfolio Tutorial

Step 1 - Cut 2 fabrics for the interior and exterior of the portfolio. They should be 12.5 by 18.5 inches. If you're using a thin fabric, you will need to interface them before construction. I used home decor fabrics and did not feel the need for interfacing. Cut a coordinating 5 x 18.5 inches for the interior pocket.



Step 2 - Finish the top edge of the pocket by turn down the raw edge 1/4 inch. Add a bit of lace, piping, rick-rack, etc if desired. You can add as many pockets as you desire!



Step 3 - Line up bottom edges of pockets to bottom edge of portfolio. Be sure the side are aligned as well. Pin and baste raw edges leaving pocket tops open.



Step 4 - Fold the raw side edges into the center of the portfolio. Mark the center of the portfolio with a pin. Mark the fold lines with a pin and then unfold. Use that as a guide to cut the top edge into three scallops. The middle curve will be longer than the two side curves. See photo. Scallop the inner and outer fabrics both the same.



Step 5 - Cut a piece of cardboard the same as the portfolio with scalloped top. Fold side edges to center and crease the vertical folds sharply. Cut on fold lines.



Step 6 - Place inner and outer portfolio right side together. Add piping, lace, trim, etc. to this seam if desired. Sew around the outside on all edges except bottom. Leave this open for turning. Turn and Press.



Step 7 - With washable marking pen or tailor's chalk, make a vertical line from the top's scallop points to the bottom of the portfolio. This is approximately four inches from the sides. Sew on this line turning raw edges at the bottom to the inside. This should result in sectioning the portfolio into two side pockets and one larger center pocket, each open at the bottom.




Step 8 - Slide in cardboard pieces, each into its corresponding pocket. Whipstitch bottom shut with invisibles stitches.



Step 9 - Fill the pockets with ephemera, cards, photos, gift card, seed packets, tickets, etc.



Step 10 - Tie a ribbon sash around the portfolio. You can glue this at the back center if desired or attach it with a few stitches. Tuck in a bit of millinery or glitz up with a vintage brooch if desired. Add a little gift tag.

The Faster I Go, The Behinder I Get

I'm having a busy weekend here! Friday I was at son's school for 3 hours in the morning and 5 hours that night! And am doing a bridesmaid dress alteration today. Church tomm. followed by a friend's Spring Concert (one of my sewing lesson buddies). And I have quite a bit on my Blog To Do List. So...be patient. This is what I will be catching up on....

**Sharing Betty's 12 skirt sets for The Hundred Skirts Project. They arrived last week and they are AWESOME! It was like Christmas opening her box. Even DH was impressed. Do you know how hard it is to impress a man with children's clothing?

**A giveaway in honor of reaching our 100 Skirts goal

**Yesterday's Mother's Day Gift idea which took much longer than I anticipated. It's a cute little fabric memorabilia portfolio. I had seen them in stores, but had no pattern, never made one before. So the first one turned out a little rough and I wanted to make a couple more. So there was no Mother's Day post yesterday, but I'll catch up!! To see the posts to date on this series, click on Mother's Day in the labels section on the sidebar.

**My sewing room progress. We've set up the prototype and I'm sewing and working in it to works out the bugs before we move forward with the next step - wiring and electricity.

**Progress on my lavender quilt. Chugging away slowly at that and will share pics soon.

**A Discharge Dyeing Tutorial. I have everything set up to do a trial run on this new technique before I teach it to my sewing students on Monday. I hope to squeeze it in this afternoon.

I'll get to it all just as soon as I can!!!! :) :)

Charity

Mother's Day Gifts You Can Make - Idea Five

Is your Mom a girly-girl? Papercraft a bit of framed Victoriana! This piece of art was created using bits and pieces found in victoriana type books picked up over the years in thrift stores for the purpose of crafting. To see all the Mother's Day gift ideas in this post series, click HERE.Here are the how-to's...

1) Prepare your Frame - I started with pink, of course! I spray-painted a metal filigree frame found in a...you guessed it...thrift store. These are readily available in a variety of materials and styles. If you're going Victorian, get as frilly as you can find.

2) Prepare your Background - Next, scrapbook paper was mounted atop the cardboard frame insert. I used a gentle mist of spray adhesive and then roll it with a rolling pin to prevent bubbles and wavy sections.

3) Prepare the Pop-Up Insert - For the base of the collaged art piece, I used a piece of mat board cut a few inches smaller than the frame. Using an exact knife, I gave a scalloped edge to the top. I then mounted a piece of pink striped paper and used a gold paint pen around the edges.

4) Add Your Design Elements - Now for the fun part. Using a variety of illustrations pulled from gift books, poetry books, Victorian books, gardening books and such, I built a collage. I cut out the various elements and then shuffled them around until I found the effect I wanted. It looks almost like one piece, but there are dozens of elements used. The center Victorian lady was mounted on about three layers of increasingly smaller papers. This piece was then mounted using foam dots to make it stand away from its background and provide a dimensional effect.

5) Guild the lily - Add sparkle and glitz by adding glitter and rhinestones to key elements. Don't forget the back of the frame. Cover it with a pretty paper or vintage sheet music as well. Add a pretty gift label, sign your artwork on the back along with a Mother's Day Greeting. Add a pretty French wired ribbon hanger.

More Lavendar Quilt

I finished the quilt top on the lavender quilt except for the second border. I didn't have any purple left after cutting the strips for the blocks. Pretty much cleaned out all my purple quilting stash. That's okay. Afterall, this IS the year of trying to make a healthy dent in my 800 yard stash. So...I will need to go to the fabric store today to find a purple print for a second 5 inch border. The quilt is starting to take on a distinct japanese flavor to me for some reason. I think I will look for an oriental print if possible.

I have done some rough cutting and arranging of applique shapes. These are simply to get an idea and not the final product. The leaves need to be narrowed and more defined in shape. I think there also needs to be a floral blossom of some sort, but haven't yet found a shape that looks oriental to me. I may try a fuschia-ish shaped flower. I will also add more leaves and berries. It looks a little bare to me. After I get the final design perfected, I will cut the shapes. It would be quickest to do fuse and satin stitch for the edges, but I think the design really calls for needle-turn. It will be much more time-consuming, but the end result will be more in line with the spirit of the design.

The next decision after that will be how to quilt it. Since it is going oriental on me, I was thinking about doing sashiko type quilting. Something along these lines.



UPDATE - Found the perfect border today! I wanted something with an oriental flair to it, but everything was too busy and too obvious. Lots of geishas, cranes, fans and such. I was about ready to give up and buy a very blah tan tone-on-tone floral when I thought to check the clearance wall. It's usually junk, but there was a very nice mocha and mauve print with a definite japanese tone to it. And the texture looks very much like traditional oriental textiles. It will be a perfect background for sashiko quilting! And best of all it was on clearance for $3. Off to wash it and then attach it!



Charity

Mother's Day Gifts You Can Make - Idea Four

Here's Idea #4 in our series for Mother's Day. Make your mother a beautiful heirloom gift box. These are fun to embellish. Pretty much anything goes! To see all the Mother's Day gift ideas in this post series, click HERE

Materials Needed:

box with removeable lid
decorative papers, sheet music, ephemera, wallpaper, etc.
trims, pearls, beads, buttons, rickrack, buttons, etc.
ornaments for box top such as dolls, teacups, silk birds, florals, etc.
glitter
glue
scissors

Step 1: Trace box bottom and lid top onto paper.
Step 2: Spray box with adhesive glue and adhere papers to top and bottom
Step 3: While glue is still active, wrap paper around box side overlapping ends. Trim off excess with scissors. Repeat with lid.
Step 4: Glue trim, pearls, ribbon, whatever onto box edges to hide paper joints.
Step 5: Arrange a decorative scene on box lid. I have used dolls, silk flowers, birds in nests, teacups, bottlebrush trees, paper cut-outs, etc. If desired, lightly mist with spray glue and sprinkle on glitter or faux snow.
Step 6: Add additional embellishments as desired.

Here are some past keepsake box creations. Some of them are seasonal, but could still give you ideas for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day Gifts You Can Make - Idea Three

Dress up your Mother's closet with a beautiful garment hanger and/or cover. In addition to showcasing a gorgeous fabric, you can incorporate vintage linens as well. There are two versions shown here, a hanger with garment shoulder shield or a victorian lace decorative hanger. To see all the Mother's Day gift ideas in this post series, click HERE.

Garment Shoulder Cover Hanger




Step 1 - Procure a sturdy hanger. I get vintage ones at thrift stores very inexpensively. As you can see in this photo, I found these for a quarter each.


Step 2 - Spray paint your hanger if desired to match your intended fabric selection.



Step 3 - Trace around the hanger to create a pattern. Extend slightly over the ends of the hanger and then continue down another 3-5 inches to make a cover long enough to cover the top of a garment to protect it from dust. Mark an opening for the hanger at the top center. Cut out the pattern allowing 1/4 inch for seam allowance. FRUGAL TIP: I use vinyl wallpaper rolls for drafting craft patterns. I pick them up for about a dollar a roll. They don't tear and it's a ton of paper for the money!




Step 4 - Pin pattern to chosen fabric and cut out 4 pieces, a front and back and a lining front and back.


Step 5 - If desired, cut a vintage hankie, tea towel or corner of an embroidered tablecloth to fit the top curve of the hanger. See photo. Pin to the upper edge of the hanger front. Sew front to back using 1/2 seam allowance, stopping at marking for center opening where the hanger hook will slide through. Repeat with lining.



Step 6 - Place hanger cover and hanger cover lining right sides together, aligning edges. If desired, add a trim or ruffle at this point.Sew around bottom leaving a few inches opening for turning to right side. You could add a ruffle or piping to this seam at this time, if desired.



Step 8 - Turn hanger to right side. Press neatly, Whipstitch turning opening shut. Embellish as desired. Insert hanger. Tie a ribbon or tag around neck if desired.

Here's the first one I finished. I'm still working on a blue and pink shabby chic style hanger that I will add to this post as soon as I finish it.


Victorian Lace Hanger




Step 1 - For this gift you will need a padded satin hanger, a wide piece of decorative lace and various pearls, buttons, sequins, beads, satin roses, etc. for embellishment. Cut a length of lace long enough to wrap around the hanger.

Step 2 - Attach lace to satin hanger with tiny whipstitches.

Step 3 - Cover join with beads, sequins, ribbon roses, pearls, buttons, etc.

Lavender Quilt Progress

I have just finished the blocks and layout for the Nana's House quilt. I just need to assemble them into rows. Then the rows get sewn together, the borders put on and it will be ready to do the applique design. I haven't designed that yet, but have some gentler Jane Sassaman-ish designs whirling around in my head. But I have to set this project aside for the day and get some house-cleaning and cookie-baking done. After that, I will be working on today's Mother's Day Gift Idea. So look for that post later this afternoon.

I'm open to name ideas for this quilt.


Charity

Quilting Again!

I haven't quilted in forever and the bug has bitten me big time. A little extra time fell into my lap today because my sewing students weren't feeling well and needed to postpone today's lesson. So...I got to do some quilting! I started a little quilt for an orphanage in Mexico, Nana's House. I had been wanting to make a lavender and grey quilt, but grey quilting fabric proved to be quite elusive here in my Valley. So I opted for lavender and mocha instead as I had a large supply of both in my stash. This will not be a "matchy-matchy" quilt, but a scrappy quilt where I throw in everything I have in the lavendar/mocha colorway. I am doing a simple rail fence pattern, but will then applique a large contempo-styled flower and vine motif atop the rail fence background. I got all the strips cut today and 16 blocks sewn. I will need about 120 blocks to make the approx. twin size quilt I have planned.

Fabrics to be Used - don't have border prints picked out yet


A start on the blocks


UPDATE: It's 10:30pm and I'm heading to bed, but I got a total of about 60 blocks done today. Almost halfway there. I think I'll just keep making blocks until I've used up all my purple quilting stash. Perhaps I'll have enough to make two quilts. I hope to finish the rest of the blocks tomm. and start assembling the quilt. But I also need to finish up some 100 Projects Skirts, so I'll have to play it by ear. 'Night all!

Charity

Mother's Day Gifts You Can Make - Idea Two

I will be featuring ideas for Mother's Day gifts every day between now and Mother's Day, May 11th. This is Day 2. See posts below for Day One. Today I will be presenting ideas for making two types of sachets. One is made from a vintage glove and the other is paper-crafted. To see all the ideas in this Mother's Day post series, click HERE.

Victorian Vintage Glove Sachet



Step 1 - Procure a vintage glove. These are found in antique stores and boutiques for fairly reasonable prices. I've also found them on occasion in thrift stores.

Step 2 - Stuff the glove's fingers with fiberfill. Then pour in lavendar buds or your desired scent. Finish stuffing with fiberfill.

Step 3 - Hand whip the glove shut at the wrist edge with tiny stitches.

Step 4 - Embellish glove as desired with vintage corsages, millinery, pearls, costume jewelry, ribbon, tags, etc.

Papercrafted Envelope Sachets


Step 1 - Select vintage illustrations, papers, wallpaper, sheet music, etc. to use in papercrafting the sachet. For the ones above I chose to use neoclassical papers by Dover along with vintage illustrations from a children's book of japanese poetry. It seems like an odd combo, but it really worked. Cut your papers to fit the envelope front.

Step 2 - Using spray adhesive secure your papers to the front of the envelope. Embellish as desired.

Step 3 - Fill the envelope full of lavendar buds or your chosen scent. Seal shut.

Step 4 - Presentation, presentation, presentation. Tie a small pile of sachets together with a pretty wired ribbon and tuck in some vintage millinery. Or pile the sachets into a pretty floral hatbox. Add in some bath products for a nice "pamper me" gift set.

Mother's Day Gifts You Can Make - Idea One

I realized today that Mother's Day is only 14 days away! Time to get on top of this. Especially if something homemade is in the works. I'm never quite sure when my Mom might be reading my blog. So I won't tell you what I decided to do for my Mom until AFTER Mother's Day. But I'll be featuring an idea a day for the next ten days. To see all the Mother's Day Gift ideas in this post series, click HERE.

Vintage Illustrations or Wallpaper Notecards




Step 1 - Pick up a pack of cheap blank notecards at your local box store. Or if you really want to be frugal and environmentally conscious, pick up a pack at a thrift store. I am always picking up new-in-plastic packs of notecards at thrift stores for a dollar or less.

Step 2 - Decide on your illustrations. I've used vintage wallpaper, images cut from vintage patterns, children's books, vintage sheet music, even fabric. Cut them to fit your notecard fronts. You may wish to mount your illustrations on a second paper with a little bit of the edging showing as a frame. Decorative edging scissors can add a feminine touch.

Step 3 - Using spray adhesive adhere your illustrations to your notecard fronts.

Step 4 - Embellish cards if desired. You might wish to use colored pencils to add a touch of color to black and white illustrations. Or edge a card with gold ink. Perhaps glue on a rhinestone or a sprinkle of glitter.

Step 5 - Finish your presentation. Tie your cards with a pretty ribbon. Tuck in a sprig of silk ivy and a pretty rose. Add a pretty pin or a pack of floral postage stamps.

Some Inspiration Photos...

Using "The Lonely Doll" illustrations by Edith Dare. Touches of color were added to a BW illustration with color pencils. Then tiny florals, rhinestones and glitter were added.


Using Vintage Patterns


Baby Cards for a New Mother


Vintage Children's Grammar Book (great for a teacher)


More ideas each day till Mother's Day. So stay tuned!

Charity