Friday, October 24, 2014

Pre-Holiday Sale Announcement

***$$$*** SALE ***$$$***

The Christmas Shopping Season is just around the corner.  To help you get an early start, (for a limited time only), I am offering a 15% discount on your total order at my Etsy shop, Cotton Cellar.  To get your discount, simply enter 15OFF2014 in the Coupon Code box at checkout.
(Custom orders excluded.)

And don't forget to shop at the upcoming Holiday Craft Fairs in your local area also.
Support your local Crafters.  Handmade is best!

Cheers!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

An Aviary Quilt

My three-year-old granddaughter has a new bedroom in a new house and needs a quilt for her new "big girl bed".

 She decided (with her mother's help) on Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 in Lilac collection.  I took the liberty of adding some fabrics from my stash to the mix.  It's a simple quilt, made up of 6" squares, and I used a light pink from Lotta Jansdotter's Glimma collection for the binding.

I found the backing fabric at Needles Quilt Shop and the colors are a perfect match.

I quilted this one on my Juki sewing machine and used an all-over grid-based design.  Kind of a whirly-gig kind of thing.  I was apprehensive about quilting a full-size quilt on a sit-down machine, but by starting in the center and breaking the quilt into quarters, it was really quite manageable!  I stitched continuously in a manner I learned in a class at MQX, so only had to stop when I ran out of bobbin thread.

I used cotton batting, and I washed and dried it when I was finished, so it's a little more puckered now from the slight shrinkage - but this quilt will get lots of use, so I wanted to put it through it's first wash before I deliver it.

Now I'm making a pair of Roman Shades to match the quilt, using the purple fabric with aqua sparrows.  A little "out-of-my-normal-comfort-zone" type of project, but with the help of this tutorial, I think it will work out just fine.

Cheers!

Monday, October 13, 2014

Let There Be Light

If you're like me, you are always looking for ways to add more light to your work space.  My new Juki TL-2010Q has a new improved light over my previous model, the TL-98Q, but all the light is on the left side of the needle, which throws shadows to the right of the needle.  I don't like shadows...

From what I've found, all of the specialty add-on lights for sewing machines are expensive.  So this blog post by Lori at The Inbox Jaunt caught my eye... Lori shows us a clamp-on LED desk light she found at Lowes, on sale for under $20!  It looked familiar when I saw it, and I remembered that my husband has a Grill Light that looks very similar to Lori's find.

Sure enough, I tried it, and it works great!



It has a screw-clamp base that attachs firmly to my table, and it's also magnetic, if you have any exposed metal on your table, but the clamp works great for me.  And the flexible goose-neck allows me to position it right where I need it without getting in my way.  In fact, I realized after quilting for a short while, that I actually forget that it's there.  Whereas every other lamp I've tried always seemed to be in the way of my quilt.

This has lots of bright LED lights so it's bright and stays cool to the touch.  It takes 3 AA batteries, and so far, I haven't had to change them.  I'm still waiting to see how long they last, but that also eliminates the tangle of adding one more power cord to my table.

So far, I'm loving this light!  Hope my husband doesn't decide to grill after dark any time soon...

Cheers!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

How to Replace the Lining in a Bag

This is my favorite bag.

You know, the bag that you use every day, that is "broken in" and soft in all the right places.
The bag that fits you like your favorite pair of old slippers.
The bag you want to last forever.

But, like most bags, the lining tore before the outside wore out.

I thought about making a new bag (afterall, I make bags to sell, right?).  But I have so many other projects started right now, and didn't really want to take the time to make a new purse, or shop for a new one, for that matter..  I have too many other things to do!

So then I thought, "why not make a new lining???".  Great idea!

You can do this too!  If you have basic bag-making skills, then it will be a cinch.  Even if you don't, there are tons of on-line tutorials and videos that will teach you the basics.

First you have to pick your fabric.  I detest the shiny black nylon you find lining most store-bought bags.  Besides the fact that it frays and tears so quickly, it's hard to see inside a bag with a black lining.  It's like looking into a dark cave with sunglasses on.  I can't see a darn thing...

I like to use BRIGHT, COLORFUL, LIGHT fabrics to line my bags, so I found a suitable one in my stash and got to work.  (Here's a sneak peek ahead at the end result.  Keep reading if you want to learn how to do this yourself!)

Here's How:

  • Open the seam in the bottom of the lining, then turn the entire bag inside-out through that opening.
  • Study how your bag was constructed, so you'll know how to put it back together.  (hint - you might want to take some closeup pictures to refresh your memory later!)
  • Remove the stitches that hold the lining to the bag and remove the lining.
  • Separate the front and back lining and press each one flat with a warm iron.
  • Using these pieces as pattern pieces, cut out your new lining from the fabric of your choice. (hint - if the seam allowances were narrow and/or frayed, you might want to add a little extra to compensate.  I could see the stitching lines on my old lining and cut my new lining pieces 1/2" beyond that stitching line, to give myself a 1/2" seam allowance to work with.)


  • If you want to add pockets to your lining, do it now.

I chose to duplicate the pockets that were in the original lining, because they worked well for me.  I already had the skills and knowledge of how to make these pockets, but if you need more instruction, just search on-line for "how to add pockets to a bag lining" and you'll find TONS of tutorials.

I put a zippered pocket on one side...

And a double compartment pocket on the other...

  • Sew the sides and bottom of your lining pieces together, just like the original was constructed, making sure to leave a good-sized opening in the bottom.  You'll need this in order to turn everything right side out when you're done.
  • With your bag still inside-out, sew the bag and the lining right-sides-together around the top, just like it was originally constructed.
  • Turn it all right-sides-out through the opening in the bottom of the lining.
  • Hand sew that opening closed, and you're done!


Cheers!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Elsa Costume

Halloween is coming soon, and I've been busy working on an Elsa costume for my granddaughter.
(I'm sure I don't need to explain who Elsa is, right?  Well, for those who might not know, Elsa is a character in the Disney movie, Frozen.)

She stopped in for a fitting session this weekend.  The sleeves were just pinned in place when I took this picture, but it's now finished and ready to wear.

She loves it, and it even passed the "Twirl Test".

Let It Go!