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I can (and often do) market the stuffing out of my friends’ creative endeavors. I’m the person with a nice word, the pat on the back, and the confidence building admonitions. But when it’s something I do, something I made, something I’m invested in I lack any kind of confidence. Oh sure, I act like [...]

I bought Barbara Schoenoff’s In the Style of Queen Anne pattern as a birthday gift to myself (two birthdays ago, at least, maybe more) and although I’ve admired it greatly I haven’t gotten around to giving it a go until now. I don’t know why I have this freak-outedness that goes with doing someone else’s pattern [...]

I ran out of poly-fil. I managed to exhaust what was left making persimmon shaped bunnies in my attempt to use up all of my remaining holiday fabric. Using a whole bag of poly-fil is quite the accomplishment for me, because I’m pretty sure that like wire hangers and those little plastic bread bag clips if [...]

I designed these babies a while back after finding a nice big remnant of Berber fleece fabric at a thrift store. It screamed “Sheep!” at me, and for once I listened. The legs and face are plain black poplin and the ears are craft felt. I put a few in my booth over at Keeper’s Corner but Deb also [...]

Here’s another yard sale booty inspired project. Red-heel socks, and a bag full of random eyes. I particularly liked the more animal looking yellow eye, it reminded me of something. Yeah, that’s it. 28 Days Later starts with an infected monkey. 28 Weeks later heterochromia iridum figures heavily. Got it. Now add this: Suddenly the [...]

In the past I’ve gone on about my mother’s hoarding collecting of craft supplies (and more recently Beanie Babies, but I’m going to focus on crafts right now.) One of my favorite things to do was to sneak into the boxes she kept stashed in my closet and think about all the cool things I [...]

Without cutting sew the shoulder and side seams using very small stitches. Then I cut away the excess fabric, making sure to leave enough to turn the raw edges of the neck and arm holes down for finishing. I finger press or carefully iron the seams open, trying not to cause more fraying at the [...]

Cleaning up patterns the first time around can be a little intimidating, it really is just a matter of going through the right steps with the right tools. The muslin pieces are so small and floppy they need to be stiffened up in order to facilitate tracing. Fusible interfacing works, so does buckram and fabric [...]

I usually find hard plastic travel dolls for $3-5 a piece, up to $10 for the 10 inch tall ones. I’ve yet to find one that is horribly expensive or rare but still I look for ones with messed up hair and clothes so I don’t feel guilty about ruining an original in good condition. [...]

It’s true. I’ll be teaching impressionable young minds every week, on Thursdays at Come Yarn Over here in Klamath Falls Oregon. I’ll be alternating basic small loom weaving and making sock animals. If your child happens to be conveniently located in or near Klamath Falls on a Thursday in August they will no longer have an excuse for [...]