Current Mood : Pleased with Self
Spent on crafts : $3.23
Spent on dolls : 50c
Getting the vacuum back after a warranty-paid repair : priceless
Well, today I ran out of excuses. After picking up our warranty-repaired Hoover vacuum and hitting a yard sale (more later), I decided to visit Hobby Lobby - heck, there was still more than $15. in Checking, so it wouldn't hurt ! I've dawdled around until my 40% off Hancock Fabrics coupon has expired, but I could still use the website print-out one for HL. There were sales to check out, and there was just one little thing keeping me from trying to embroider on honest-to-goodness us clothes.
Cloud cover. I'm not sure if that's the brand name or nickname, but basically, it's a lightweight iron-on that goes over the backside of embroidery, to keep threads and stabilizers from scratching and irritating bare skin. I wasn't able to find any locally, and I know Dearest Son's skin is hyper-sensitive, so that was my excuse - if I did embroider anything, he wouldn't wear it due to the itch factor.
You can order the stuff from various embroidery supply websites - but shipping invariably doubled the price. And I don't think we have enough clothes to justify buying ten yards of the stuff. I wanted to find something local. But first, I looked at the Clearance rack, checked out the half-off travel mugs and snow globes you can add your own images and such to, picked out three or four miniature dress forms I'd love to have in Home Décor (and put them all back), found the pin backs I wanted for the ‘Grammar Police' badges, checked out magnets. The only problem with Hobby Lobby's magnets is that they either barely hold an eighth of a sheet of paper up without falling off your fridge, or you need a jackhammer and a prybar to lift it. Prices were good, though. Still, I wanna check Harbor Freight tomorrow, since they're often reasonable on small stuff like that.
Got to the fabric section and poked around some. Found some iron-on interfacing that was very soft. $2.79/yd, Pelleon. Everything else was either non-iron-on or stiff. Figured I'd use my coupon to get a half yard on the way out, but first, I had to check the remnant section ! Saw a gorgeous tiny pink hibiscus flower print that'd look sooo good on dolls. But when I did the math, I soon realized that the yard in the pack was the same price as a yard minus the often-issued 40% off coupon would be... and I really didn't need a whole yard. So I decided to wait, snag a half-yard later. Basically, I just enjoyed looking at it all. And waaaay down in the bottom of the remnant bin was... fusible interfacing ! Not sure why, but here was a yard of Pelleon fusible interfacing, listing the regular price as $1.99. But with the remnant discount, it was just $1.19 ! Whee !
I used the coupon on the pinbacks, so I got both it and the interfacing for $3.23, pretty much exactly what the pinbacks would have been without a discount. So it's like the ersatz cloud cover was free. But that really meant I was out of excuses when it came to decorating clothes. It was time for me to take a breath and just do it.
So I did. After lunch, when Beloved Hubby went back to work, I decided to put another green striped Disney D on an older white t-shirt. I didn't fuss around much with centering the design, just folded the shirt and marked the middle front with a pin, and aligned the hoop with that. Cut out some of the new cut-away stabilizer, and curled the shirt around the hoop, so it wouldn't get in the way. EmbroideryLibrary.com had a great idea - use hair claws or those old banana clips to hold the material away from the hoop, so it doesn't get in the way and throw off stitches. I can look for those at Dollar Tree and thrift stores.
It stitched up beautifully, and isn't too bad - next time, I'd like the design up a bit higher, and it's not as straight as it could be, but for a first effort, I'm pleased. I cut away the excess stabilizer and tried it on... and in ten minutes, the threads and such were buggin' me. So I got out my ‘free' interfacing, and read the directions. I like Pelleon. Every product in their lineup that I've used have been well-made and dependable, as well as reasonably priced. But I hate how they give instructions for ten different products on the same plastic strip insert ! The Peltex was the same way - it had directions for three different kinds, and I wasn't sure after reading them which one I had. Same thing today - the plastic directions strip offered tips on this kind going with that fabric, and how many seconds each needed to be pressed to work. Um, I bought this as a remnant. Aside from Pelleon Fusible Interfacing, I have no idea which texture or weight I have. Well, again, nothing for it but to do it, so I went right down the middle and used those directions.
Worked. My skin barely registers the interfacing, but it does show through a bit on the thin white shirt. Oh, well. It doesn't itch anymore, so that's all to the good. I hope to wash it a couple times after I wear it, see how it holds up. I'd show a picture, but it's just like the last striped D, just on white knit instead of a beige-y woven cotton. And that's one more crossed off the ‘Schedule of Efforts' list ! All that's left is trying the wash-away stabilizer again, embroidering some doll clothes, and finally working up those Sophie Sews tutorials !
With that success flush in my head, once Dearest was home, I took a nap ! Then I made a bird. Yup, the one up there. Very simple pattern, directions and all print out on one page. I like how he sits unaided, but if I wanted to use a hair claw as feet, he'd fit in the clasp part just right. His tail started to fray while I was stuffing him, and at first, I thought I'd just turn that to the inside. But then it looked like feathers to me, so I frayed it more. I think the next time I work this one up - there's lots of people I can give the bird to ! - I'll make the tail a bit longer so I can fray it further, and not stuff it so full.
I found it on this page - scroll about halfway down, and you can see what they're supposed to look like ! ->
http://thelongthread.com/?page_id=2465
Lots more good ideas and patterns there. But if ya wanna, you can go straight to the printable PDF, and save a copy for later.
http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/birdpattern1-1.pdf
Beloved Hubby's working late tonight - as he has all week - so I'm not sure if I'm gonna laze the evening away with Dearest Son, or sew another bird or something.
Oh, and the yard sale today was OK - they had one of those rack and bin toy organizers for $7. that was tempting, but I have no idea where we'd put it. So all I got was a pair of princess slippers - pink with yellow crowns around the ankle and embroidered ‘jewel' necklaces at the toes - that'll fit the My Size Barbie girls for 50c. According to the soles, they were from Old Navy. I may venture forth for more sales tomorrow, if it doesn't rain, but I have lots of sewing to do this weekend.
It's gonna be a busy one. I'm gonna put two new designs on Brody - one small enough for doll clothes, and another Free-Standing Lace one, probably the sewing machine freebie I snagged. I'm hoping to get those worked up and I have at least two more ‘Grammar Police' badges, possibly more. Our old friend Sharon may be coming by Saturday, and I know she'll want one !
Gonna wear my ‘new' shirt tomorrow. Wonder if anyone will notice ?
Edited to add : if you decide to try your hand at The Bird, you only need to cut one bird body (on fold) and one bird belly. It's a bit confusing since the pieces read 'cut from fabric 1' on the body and 'cut from fabric 2' on the belly. They just mean use two separate contrasting fabrics, not cut one body and two bellies. I swear, you'd think I was an English major, the way I can misread simple directions ! I always over-think simple things...
