Poison Pumpkins, Oh My!

Poison Pumpkins!

So, recently I took part in a swap challenge to make a Halloween/Fall related embroidered felt ornament. I thought for awhile & wasn't sure what to make, but after a bit of thought about Halloween & fall, pumpkins & apples, skeletons & skulls I came up with the idea of a 'poison pumpkin' & today, I thought I'd share how you can make one, too :)

Wool felt (stem), wool yarn scrap (for hanging the ornament), pumpkin orange felt fabric (found at  a local Goodwill, stuffing, scrap of vintage fabric, embroidery thread in candy corn colors, sugar skull embroidery pattern from Sublime Stitching (awesome pattern or you can draw your own)

What you will need:
Felt in orange & green
Yarn or Ribbon
Plain Fabric (light colors or white work best)
Thread in candy corn colors
Stuffing for plushies
Embroidery Pattern for skull (this one is from Sublime Stitching there are others or you can draw your own
Bowl (mine was about 6" across) & pencil for tracing
Scissors, pins

Step one: Iron your skull design onto the plain fabric, according to package directions, or draw your own. Embroider in your choice of colors & stitches (I liked the idea of candy corn colors on a sugar skull. My son once made a sugar skull with candy corn colors at a local event & I thought of this as I worked). Cut around the design. I used pinking sheers (some my grandmother had) to prevent fraying of the raw edges.

Step two: Cut two circles out of the orange felt. I used a bowl, large enough to accommodate the sugar skull design, plus enough for a small seam allowance & extra so the pumpkin wouldn't be completely covered by the design, to trace the circles onto the felt.

Step three: Cut out one stem piece. I just free-formed the shape, from some memory. You could make it less curved, as some pumpkins have more of a stump than an actual stem. Leave enough at the bottom for a small 1/4" seam or so.

Step four: Stitch the sugar skull embroidered piece onto one of your felt circles. I hand stitched everything, but you could also machine stitch your pumpkin.

Step five: Cut shallow ) ( into the top & bottom of your pumpkin pieces. These don't have to be perfect, but they should be the same on both pieces, so do both pieces at the same time.

Step six: Sew your stem piece to the top of one of the pumpkin pieces. Mine is sewn to the inside of the ) with a 1/4" seam, leaving most of the stem sticking out. Add a piece of yarn or ribbon for hanging.

Step seven: Sew the 'circles' together, using a 1/4" seam, leaving an inch or so left open to add the stuffing. I've simply left the edges showing, so there is no need for turning & the sugar skull is already on the outside.

Step eight: Add the stuffing. I've stuffed this loosely, for a lighter & more 'squishy' feel, but you can add more, if you want more a 'stuffie' kind of thing. Sew the opening together.

Step nine:  Add hand stitched curved lines, for a pumpkin effect. I've pulled my stitches a bit, to make the sections created by the lines puff out, like on a pumpkin. If you leave out the stitching, you get more of an apple shape, than a pumpkin (which would be cute in red felt, for a poison apple ;)

Have fun! Come back & show us what you've made. SAM

Fixing Old Jeans & Repurposing Stuff

So , for some reason, both my husband and son have decided that their jeans should have giant holes in them. Maybe they didn't decide this, but the holes have appeared anyway. I could have just slapped giant patches on them or maybe they should have been thrown out...I'm kind of liking the current ripped jeans thing (that's been a current thing, many times in the past) & I like the idea of giving things new lives, so I decided to add patches in a new/old way.

When I was a child & my jeans or my brother's pants needed patching, my grandmother would iron the patches in so they were on the inside facing out (usually before the fabric was able to fray in the wash). This made them less obvious, virtually invisible, if done right, than the traditional patches thing on the outside, particulary when we were able to match the paches to the fabric color. I still had some of the outside type of patches, but these were emboidered patches, added for fashion statements & not often used to cover actual tears, especially once I found that they weren't as sturdy as the real thing.
I decided to use my grandmother's technique on my husband & son's jeans in a way that strengthens the jeans & keeps some of the great texture of the frayed fabric, while adding a new textural detail of its own.

Starting with some bits of vintage 60's denim fabric that I had lying around, I pinned the fabric to the inside of the pants & basted around the edges to hold to fabric on straight while I stitched. Any fabric could be used, you could even use lace or velvet, for a pretty contrast. Since these jeans belonged to my husband & son & they were signifcantly damaged, I decided to use more of a matching fabric. If you're trying to strengthen the area, as well as patch the hole/s, I'd suggest matching the fabric to the weight of the pants fabric. If you want to use lace on heavier pants, with large holes, you could try backing it with another fabric first, even if that fabric is sheer, for extra strength & to help keep the lace from tearing, when the pants are worn.

Once the patch had been basted to the inside of the fabric, I started stitching, back & forth across the patched area. This is amost like weaving extra stability into the area. The stitches don't have to be perfect or perfectly even. These patches look great stitched with a more 'primitive' look, it matches perfectly with the frayed edges of the fabric. I used a blue thread (also something vintage that I've had lying around forever), that is similar, but doesn't quite match the patch or the original jean fabric, to make the stitches stand out a bit, for texture, but not too much (for my husband & son). You could use a completely contrasting thread, to add another layer of texture to your design. Sewing the stitches in more than one direction, crossing over each other, strengthens the area, along with adding a design element.
I like how these patches turned out. It takes a while to do patches this way & I used up the better part of a day for each pair of jeans, but I think it's worth the effort. If you don't like hand stitching (I find it kind of relaxing), you could try machine stitching. The effect would be a little different, less primitive, but still interesting. Maybe you could even use different stitches or embroider a pattern over everything...

So, in the end I've saved four things from the trash heap: two pairs of jeans, some fabric scraps & an old spool of thread, plus came up with a technique I think I'll use again & in the process, made someting cool out of old stuff. I hope my husband & son appreciate them, but at least I like them :) SAM

Today I Made...

Today, I made...a great big, giant (about the size of a soccer ball) ball of pretty flowery 'yarn:'

It takes a bit of time, but it's a lot of fun & pretty simple to do. I used a pretty, buttery yellow, flannel sheet, cut/torn into strips along the grain (these vary in size, but a 1.5" width seems to be a good average). The strips were then sewn together (this can be right sides facing together or all strips facing the same way) with a 1/4 to 1/3" seam. Strips can also be knotted together, which will create an even more rustic look to the yarn. This is rolled into a ball & viola, a giant ball of yarn. Done this way, the yarn can be crocheted or knitted using large needles/hooks made for bulky yarn or arm knitted/crochet, if you want to try a fun, new fad...
Now, what should I make with my pretty, new yarn? A little rug, maybe? A bag or tote? SAM
How about you? Did you make anything today? Have you ever tried making your own yarn (beads, etc.)? I'd love to hear about it!