Summer Sewing Project

This is such a cute top and just in time for our hot weather. I remember wearing tops like this in the 70's....yes, I believe that is dating me. Oh well, they were cool and comfortable which is just what you want when it is hot outside. I grew up in Oklahoma and the Summers would get to 100 degrees for days and 90's was the standard. Now living in Washington State if it gets to 80 we think it is hot. I guess it is all relative, but I couldn't live with that kind of heat every day anymore.

Try sewing this simple top with this free pattern from Sew, Mama, Sew to keep comfortable for the rest of Summer. If I ever get my sewing machine back from my mother, then I might just start sewing again. This top would be really cute with gathers vs. the pleats also.

Stay cool.

Yummy Yarn Free Scarf Pattern

Do you knit? This pattern of scarf makes me want to learn. Isn't it just lovely, so delicate and I bet warm. I crochet, so that is why you will find mostly crochet patterns here, but I couldn't resist posting this one. I think our local craft store offers classes in knitting so I may have to check it out and whip some of these up for Christmas gifts.....something different than my usually gem trees that they get each year. They don't complain.

Yummy Yarn has several free knitting patterns so go check them out and find something to knit up for your winter.

Pet Collar Slipcover

This is so cute. I'm sure I will have to make one for each dog in their own tie dye fabric. They love to wear their sweaters in winter and this would make a great addition to their wardrobe.

Isn't that funny that we talk about our dogs clothes and fancy collars with jewelry? My dogs do wear sweaters in the winter and the spaniel loves to wear his bandana. So check out this free pattern from Penny Sanford HERE is her blog about it and HERE is the pattern. Let me know how yours turns out for your little one....or big one.

Leather Fringe Necklace

I'm not sure what I was reading or where I saw it, but it was a fantastic leather fringe necklace. I wanted one for myself so since I have a vast supply of beads and leather, this is my take on that necklace. I'll write a tutorial for it if there are enough requests.

You will need at least 18" of 2mm leather for the necklace and about 3 yards or .5mm leather in the same color or coordinating. I just adhered the .5mm leather pieces (I randomly cut sizes to start with and then trimmed at the end) to the necklace and then tied knots and added beads. Presto a new necklace.

Vacation Keepsake from Martha

Are you traveling this Summer on a wonderful vacation? Are you like me and bring back maps, postcards and anything else you can grab to remind you of the vacation and then once home don't know what to do with it? Martha Stewart.com has a great idea to keep all your vacation memorabilia safe and in one place while traveling.

You will need to take a loose leaf ring and hole punch with you, but other than that, no other supplies are needed until you get home and want to embellish. One of the comments on the web site indicated that she used it for her daughters valentines she received in school.

I'll have to try this out on our trip to Montana here in a couple of weeks. HERE is the link to the post on Martha's site.

Make an Accordion Photo Album

Here is a great podcast video from Curby.com on how to make an accordion album without tape and glue. I can see making several of these for holiday gifts as well as an idea for me to showcase jewelry designs with prospective customers.

Create your own little mini album for whatever use you need. Check out the video HERE.

Cool Purse Tutorial - Free Pattern

Lazy Girl Designs has a new tutorial for a cute purse that they call Sew Sweet Satchel. This picture doesn't do it justice. They also have a few other tutorials that you might be interested in such as Yo Yo's and a Tote Bag. The tutorial is in a .pdf format so you will need to have Adobe Acrobat to download and view.

Craft News - Upcoming Shows in July

Here are a few shows that showcase handcrafted art in Washington for July.



Kent Cornucopia Days - 7/9-12
Yakima Folklife Festival - 7/10-12
West Seattle Summer Fest - 7/10-12
Westport Kite Festival - 7/10-12
Puget Sound Bead Festival - 7/10-12
McCleary Bear Festival - 7/10-12
Pacific Days - 7/10-12
Hoquiam River Festival - 7/11
Ritzville, Blues, Brews & BBQ - 7/11
Art by the Bay, Camano Island - 7/11-12
Wedgewood Art Festival - 7/17
Raspberry Festival - 7/17-18
Battle Ground Harvest Days - 7/17-19
Bite of Seattle - 7/17-19
Darrington Bluegrass Festival - July 17-19
Sequim Lavendar Festival - July 17-19
SeaFair Indian Days Pow Wow - July 17-19
Art Walk & Wine Gala, Prosser - July 18
Gig Harbor Summer Arts Festival - July 18-19
Art 2 Jazz Street Fair, Blaine - July 18
Sweet Onion Festival, Walla Walla - July 18-19
Birch Bay Discovery Days - July 18-19
Vashon Strawberry Festival - July 18-19
Spanaway Community Fair - July 18-19
San Juan Island Summer Arts Fair - July 18-19
Trout Lake Festival of the Arts - July 18-19
Mill Creek Festival - July 18-19
Kalama Community Fair - July 23-25
Camas Days - July 24-25
Art in the Park, Richmond, Wa - July 24-25
Enumclaw Street Fair - July 24-25
Sixth Street Fair, Bellevue - July 24-26
Arts in Action, Port Angeles - July 24-26
Kitsap Arts and Crafts Festival - July 24-26
Bellevue Arts Museum Artsfair - July 24-26
Lake Stevens Aquafest - July 24-26
Loganberry Festival, Greenbank - July 25-26
Alki Art Fair, Seattle - July 25-26
Ethnic Fest, Tacoma - July 25-26
Seattle/Westwood Summer Fest - July 26-28

Updated 7/9 @ 8:30 pm

Knitted Pouches from the Purl Bee

Do you knit? I don't, but can't resist posting these knitted pouches from the Purl Bee. The tutorial looks fairly easy, but I'm not a good judge...maybe I'll learn to knit one of these days. I love little bags like these, if not for sewing notions, then how about for lipstick/chapstick in a purse or the drawstring bag for a childs collection of rocks. I'm sure there are a number of things we could think of to use these pouches.

So, get knitting!

Wine Cork Place Card Holder

Anyone that knows me knows that I do love a good glass of wine every once in a while. What some of you don't know is that living in the Pacific NW, we have a lot of great winery's here and once a year my husband and I drive down to Napa, CA for a week vacation. There is a reason to our madness at driving...yes, it is to bring back all that great wine that we have found traipsing all over the valley for.

We had been saving all our wine corks for my brother, who was giving them to a friend to make cork trivits....I think. Anyway, now I don't have to save them for him, but make something useful out of them. We don't have a lot of large dinner parties where we would need name cards, but wouldn't this be great for a wine tasting to indicate what type of wine everyone was drinking. You could have one that said Merlot and another one that said Cabernet, etc. Or, as I'm brainstorming here, you could use them as a display holder for jewelry prices at a show, such as earrings $10.00, bracelets $25-$50, etc. There goes my jewelry brain, I have two shows this month to prepare for so, I'm gearing up. I'm sure there are so many other ways to use wine corks other than the obvious wine trivit, so lets get our thinking caps on and create something. So, this tutorial is for all you wine drinkers out there who saves those wine corks for no other reason than to know you drank that bottle of wine.

This tutorial is courtsey of Hope Studios. The supplies are simple, so check out the tutorial and have fun making those card holders.

Supplies:

Used wine corks, drink up! (you can always ask a local restaurant to save them for you, but what fun is that? I like the stained look of a used cork, and you are recycling something that would be tossed out.)

Card stock

Palm sander or sandpaper and a block of wood

Fine-toothed Hand saw or razor blade

Shrinky Dink Dog Tags

I haven't seen shrinky dinks in a long time, but evidently they are still out there. Martha Stewart shares how to make shrinky dinks dog tags and has included a template.

Tools and Materials that you will need:
Shrinky Dinks printable plastic sheets
Regular or decorative-edge scissors
Hole punch

Pet ID tag Template (found HERE)

Instructions

1. Download the template from Martha's web site to your computer's desktop. Open the file and type your pet's name and your phone number.
2. Print tags on a Shrinky Dinks printable plastic sheet. Cut out with regular or decorative-edge scissors and punch a hole where indicated. Bake according to package instructions; let cool. Seal both sides with matte clear-coat spray before attaching to collar.

For more great ideas check out MarthaStewart.com.