naked 6 cup amsterdam teapot

Matt is moving his studio back to the house, which means that the space I appropriated for sewing had to be returned to it’s owner. I know, poor me. Fortunately, once we got around to moving my stuff back inside the house I was able to set up my cutting table and one of my machines to my satisfaction.

I may break down a little, having access to only one of my four machines. I mean, I think I can make due. If I have to.

fully clothed teapot

At least I was able to get to most of my stuff last night so my teapot need not suffer the embarrassment of not having a new summer ensemble. I used cotton red ticking as the liner, and some printed cotton green plaid for the exterior.

I love plaid.

This is just the prototype, I’m going to re-cut it with a bit of a curve to the bottom so the base of the teapot don’t keep peaking out, but I’m actually very proud of the fit on the top. And the real tea cozy will have cotton batting between the layers.

And I said “Are you sure?”

And she said “I’m just not into it this year.”

And then a month later she calls and informs me that she’s already made arrangements for us to be there and forgot and we’ll be going.

The above pretty much summarizes my childhood experience from age 7 to age 18.

This is not me having woken up bright and early to write and sew. This is me getting ready to go off to bed, knowing that I won’t be able to sleep for more than a couple of hours before waking up and making the kids’ breakfast.

I can’t be grumpy though– look at those fabrics. Could anyone possibly be grumpy handling snowmen and Christmas candy? Okay, some people– but not me.

I’ve been working on refining this pattern since July 2008 (not full time, but when the mood to make small Christmas trees hits.)

These are my Cora Trees (inspired by my Great Grandmother that made much larger and fancier centerpiece versions of this tree.)

Feel free to use this pattern for personal use, and please ask permission if you’d like to use it for commercial purposes. Copyright Wendy Meyer 2009 blah-blah-stealing-is-wrong-blah. (Helpful hint, right click small picture and then choose to open the file in new page– then print, 100% will give you a 5 inch tree when all is said and done.)

1) Cut six triangles of fabric. Make three pairs with fronts inside. Stitch around using only 1/8th inch allowance (if you’re going to sew with a machine give yourself 1/4 inch allowance) leave bottom open for stuffing.

2)Trim corners and iron seams open, turn.

3)Line up triangles and stitch with a running stitch straight down the middle, turning in allowances over the bottom.

4)Stuff with filling (I used poly-fil) Stitch the bottoms closed (I used a hidden stitch, but a whip stitch will work.)

5) Add a trunk or embellish as you wish.

Ojami (Japanese juggling bags)

I love otedama, don’t ask me to do it, I’m just an admirer. I am about as coordinated as a drunken moose. But I can make the ojami just fine which does take a little coordination, but at least when it comes to avoiding needle pricks and sewing my own thumbs into the bag I can manage.

This is such a good craft for using up strips of scrap fabric. Each one is made of 4 pieces. For a western sized juggling bag, about 1.5 by 3 inches stitched with a scant 3/8 seam, and for otedama sized bags just slightly larger (the proportions should be length= width*2) about 2.75 inches wide to 5.5 inches long with a scant 3/8th inch seam.

Arrange the strips into a pin wheel, then sew the face of 4 strips so that they meet. Then sew the each strip down and around the corners (this is easier done than described) leaving one side of the opposite face open to fill with azuki beans, but not stuffing the beans, and then blind stitching the final seam closed. Otedama is played like jacks (at first) so too many beans makes it harder to manipulate the ojami.

Mine are made with batik dyed linen scraps (I didn’t sew the texture, the fabric came like that) left over from a fish shaped pillow that I made for a friend many years ago. The texture equaled fish scales to me, unfortunately it was one of those projects that worked much better in concept than execution but at least I had the gorgeous scraps to play with on a slow rainy Oregon day.

1. Doesn’t take long
2. No shopping for supplies

I made this one with the idea of a light duty tote, something that I take to the library on a rainy day and use to carry home a few paperbacks. I was stumped when it came to attaching the handles (cheapo vinyl tubing) to the body of the tote.

That’s when I resorted to sifting through the office supplies, and found the cherry paper clips.

Here’s a close up of how I wrapped the wire on the tubing and used the paper clip. When heated the coating of the wire bonds to the vinyl tubing. It’s better than using vinyl glue and unlike the glue, using heat won’t yellow the either vinyl.

ETA: Make your own tote!

Which means I can show you this little bag that I was rambling on about last night.

I added the crochet top and yarn handles this morning (the fabric inside had to be stuffed in there otherwise it would have looked like yarn and a weird reflection in the pic.)

Lexi immediately said “Oh my new bag.” and made off with it. (She does this quite a bit with things that I make, that means she approves of the item and I have no hope of ever having it returned to me. Fortunately, Josey brought it back just long enough for me to take a photo.)

But tonight I managed to sew a clear vinyl bag from some clear vinyl that was in the selvage bin at a deep discount because it was ruined.

“You can’t iron it!” The woman at the counter scolded, scolded, me as I scooped it up.

I figured the flat bits would be good enough for wallet windows and clear pockets so no big deal if I had to throw away the wrinkles.

So I cleaned up the sewing area and fickled around for a while trying to think of how I could mess it up again– and a tote sounded like a good quicky project. Then it occurred to me that I often iron things that I shouldn’t, so I cut off some of the vinyl, stuck it between two sheets of paper and ironed the snot out of it. It did grow somewhat, so I cut two pieces for the front and back of the tote to about the size I wanted, then ironed the snot out of those (between two sheets of paper) and lo–! Still a little wobbly but not nearly as bad as before.

Right on. Trim the vinyl back to the desired size.

Next thing I know I have the sewing machine ready with a roller foot and leather needle. Try a few different stitches on a scrap, decide I like one. I stick the pieces together, sew the seams, clip the gussets, sew the gussets– turn the thing inside out and..

Are you ready for this?

A tote bag. Constructed entirely without the assistance of pins; a fact that sort of freaks me out. It was so fast, nothing broke or died, and I didn’t even feel compelled to throw the sewing machine out the window.

P.S. No pictures because the husband has joined a cult that forsakes the convenience of  batteries for digital cameras. It’s rather upsetting.