Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » sewing 101: how to make a shower My bathroom is quite old and somewhat grungy, so until I can afford better real estate, I thought a loud and colorful curtain would help draw the eye away from some of my bathroom’s less savory qualities… and thus, this patchwork shower curtain was born. It’s bright and fun, and it allowed me to use up several leftover fabrics in my collection rather than investing in new materials. If you prefer a simpler shower curtain made out of just one fabric, I’ll give instructions for that too. Let’s get started! –Brett Bara CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! What You’ll Need for a patchwork curtain: 1-2 yards each of approximately 7 different fabrics for a solid curtain: 5 yards fabric thread to match sharp scissors cutting mat, rotary cutter and straight edge (optional) straight pins tape measure seam ripper iron sewing machine Planning Your Fabrics If you decide to go the patchwork route, the first task is to assemble a group of fabrics that work well together and are pleasing to your eye.
Book 79 - CaiLun.info - Artist Books Paper & Bookbinding Blog - Cai Lun - Dennis Yuen I have never named my book in a serial fashion: Book 5, Book 56, or Book 78, etc. First of all, it's never possible, as I couldn't possibly number each and every book I made. Books that I feature on Studio Cailun certainly have serial numbers as they are listed in the database, but those that are not featured just don't have any. On the other hand, which one should I count as the first one? How about those with volumes? But then I called this one Book 79, oh why not? I categorized Book 79 as sculptural, though it can most certainly be used a journal. I certainly enjoy this piece as a sculptural piece more than anything else. The ribbon is a wired ribbon, so its form stays in all positions. The grid of the graph paper is seen through the cut out of the spine, which at the same time, resonates with the parallel structure of the stitching and the ribbon.
Birch Quilt ETA: A pattern for this quilt was published in the 2010 Quilting Arts Quilt Scene Magazine. I wanted to share some photos of a commissioned quilt that I made using Monaluna's new Circa 50 collection from Birch Fabrics. (While formatting these links, I saw Circa 60 for the first time. Awesome!) The idea was to make a quilt with trees and birds, similar to the ones on the Birch site. I used a variation of my Map of the States technique to make giant color-coded, pieced tree templates out of freezer paper. The quilt includes three bird appliques that I drew to (hopefully!) I wish I had been able to get better photos! Hanging the quilt in the window helped, but the back shows through a bit. Overall, I'm happy with the way it turned out.
Long stitch tutorial part 2 Okay, now you've got your first signature done and your ready to climb up to the next. Think of your signature as steps on a ladder- you have to stand on one to get to the next. In the first signature, you've just entered the inner fold on the last station of that signature. From here your going to drop down and exit the fold by enter the next station DOWN. Pull the needle and thread through the signature but NOT through the spine.like this: After you pull the needle and thread through completely, you'll bring the 2nd signature over,line up the stations with the already attached signature and then enter the 2nd station down from the top. You'll then exit the top station in the signature, and go through the signature and the cover! Pull the thread tight and work down the spine in the opposite direction you originally were sewing the first signature. After this repeat the process of sewing up and down the spine and climbing as you just did, for the number of signatures you had.
calming the senses with weighted blankets « Craft Nectar Note from Weeks: Both my husband and daughter are restless sorts. When our daughter was little and we went to a restaurant, Bill would take her out to run up and down the sidewalk while I paid the bill so she wouldn’t start squirming at the table. Bill has talked for years about finding a way to create a heavy blanket that would calm his and our daughter’s restless muscles. Like me, our daughter is frequently restless and, at the end of the day, often asks for a heavy quilt on her legs or for a deep-muscle massage. Little did I know that weighted blankets and vests are in widespread use as therapeutic devices for children and adults with sensory conditions including ADD and autism. You should ask your doctor or physical therapist whether to use a weighted blanket, and if so what the best weight is. The general rule of thumb to determine an appropriate weight for a blanket is 1/10th the child’s body weight plus 1 pound. You can make your blanket any size and weight you want. Like this:
Long stitch tutorial part 1! Due to popular demand I've decided to go ahead and work on a long stitch tutorial. I'm going to work on it in several parts, it's 31 pictures long! This can work on paper covers, fabric covers and the leather covers I've demonstarted here. First start with my tutorial on creating stations and measuring those onto your signatures. Cut stations on spine and punch stations in signatures. Once yout have that done chose your thread. A long stitch needs sets of holes- every hole needs a partner! I work back to front. ONce you've entered that station you can thread your needle through the spine. Then enter the next station up and pull the needle through and into the center fold of the signature. Now your going to tie the working end of the thread to the tail left in the middle of the signature. Now exit the next station up from the station you just tied the knot over. First your going to tighten the tension of the thread. Thats the end of part one of the tutorial.
a quick tutorial : : book beads « the smallest forest I haven’t added any text instructions, because I think the photos are clear enough. All that’s left to do know is make a whole heap of these, in different shapes (but always symmetrical shapes!) and sizes, and stringing them up. This uses the same binding method used to make childrens board-books…the only difference is that you glue the front and back cover together, as well, and create a book in the round, without and ending or beginning…and that’s some pretty heavy symbolism for a pretty paper bead! Have fun! Like this: Like Loading... My books and how to make them « Much of a muchness I thought as I haven’t been making so many books recently and yet I am still passing myself off as a bookbinding blog, I ought to at least show you some of the books I have made during the last year. Be warned, there are a lot of them! You can see them all together by clicking this link to my Flickr page And I really must get my Etsy shop up and running…. Ribbon binding – a tutorial I am often asked to explain how I make my books so I thought I would prepare a very basic tutorial. This method will make an A5 sized book. Materials 40 sheets of paper This can be from a shop bought sketch book, cut to size or even printer paper. So here we go. Method • First fold all the paper sheets in half. Image:click to enlarge • Take one of the sections, and starting at the right side, place a mark on the crease 0.5cm from the end, then 5cm from the end. • Holding all ten sections together, repeat the markings on all sections. • You have just made a text block. • You now need to cut three pieces of board.
Tutorial: Crock Pot Yarn Dyeing! You may not even know about these, but way back at the beginning of this blog, almost 3 years ago, I did a couple of kool-aid yarn dyeing tutorials. They were specifically how-tos for getting particular kinds of variegation (as opposed to dyeing basics) – part 1 being three blending colors, part 2 longer stripes of random-order solids. (I’ve just gone back and edited these old posts a little, changing some bad advice I’d given and some minor details, but not anything major.) So, after 3 years and countless skeins of dyeing experience have now passed, I want to do a couple of new dyeing tutorials for you! (For the basics of dyeing, if you’re new to it, see the link list in my first tutorial, since this post is only meant for this particular variegation method, not for kool-aid dyeing in general.) I recently dyed up a skein of bulky yarn (Imperial Stock Ranch Lopi) with 5 different colors in my crock pot, for a spotty, kettle dyed kind of look, as you can see above. Fun!
Make Your Own Photo Journals and Notebooks Our friend Judy runs a one-woman shop making the most beautiful handmade journals we’ve ever seen. Naturally, when we saw the photographs she used for her covers, we ran straight to her apartment, video camera in hand. So today we’ve got two special treats for you: 1) A how-to video of Judy showing you how you can make your own perfect-bound journal using two 4×6 photos for the cover, some paper, glue, and a few other tools. 2) Two special edition journals made with pages of sugarcane fiber and reclaimed paper by Judy herself. p.s. Step 1: Gather the ingredients You’ll need: Two Photographs printed at 4×6 or larger50-75 sheets of paper (same size as your photos)White glue (or Elmer’s Glue)ScissorsA BrushTwo clothespins, binder clips, or pegsA small sheet of construction paper or craft paper (for the spine)Wax paper Step 2: Watch Our Video Step 3: Make Your Own Photo Journal! They’re great for keeping track of ideas and they make great gifts! You might also like...
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