Potholder crazy!

This is the potholder project which you can use, but what about me? I'm almost done with a set of Smurfs potholders. They're adorable too! Same method - Wonder Under, cut out the designs, fuse, satin stitch, use a batting sandwich that it heat resistant, and sew, sew, sew. I suspect I'm going to be hopeless with the small projects. I picked up a pattern for little girls with a smock type top that I adore. That's next after the Smurfs are done.

Walmart woe!

Shock, horrors! The WalMart a few miles from me has fabric no more. I was in the store last night picking up a cordless phone and walked over to the fabric department to pick up some black cotton blend for Halloween bags. The shelves which one sported quilting fabrics, interfacing, novelty prints, and cottons were filled with colorful pillows. The table that held the flat fold remnants was gone. The rows of fabric bolts were filled with bedspreads and a variety of home decorative items. My fabric! It is gone. The pattern stand, threads, and zippers were still there, but the thread rows are, excuse the pun, thread bare. I suspect they'll disappear soon too.
I now have a Hancock Fabric Store and the online world for purchasing fabric. Time to visit yard sales, thrift stores, and all those other fun alternate sources of fabric, but dang! No more 24-hour shopping for notions, threads, and whims of amusement.

Acorn Potholders - Easy to make! Frugal too.

Here's a short tutorial for potholders made with recycled denim and some vintage 70s fabrics I have. I need to add a photo of the completed two that I made, but you get the idea just with this example.
Stop by again for other tutorials as we either get old ones posted or create new ones for you!

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3 or so

Yep, still here. :)
Today was spent working on some pot holders which are made of recycled denim and vintage 70s fabrics. I machine appliqued an acorn with leaves and twig on the front and made the backs out of the vintage fabrics. I just finished the bias binding using the two fabrics that I used for the acorn and leaves. The unfortnate thing is that I ran out of the green thread that I am using to applique the leaves. Thankfully, it's a Coats and Clark thread and is still made, so I can run out tomorrow and pick up a new spool. I'll take pictures and post them later and eventually will get a tutorial up for making potholders in general. My only direct cost, though, will be the thread. I already had everything else on hand. Not bad.

Sponge Bob Squarepants Bib *

This is a bib that I've made a few times with minor variation, and I've had good luck selling them. People love Spongebob, not to mention Patrick! I drew the pattern and used recycled denim for the base. I have oodles of Velcro, so that seemed a nice, easy way to do the closure. I didn't want to do a button for a baby item.
You can use any fabric you like. You can put the crumb pocket on or not. Use store bought bias tape or make your own. Consider themes - Halloween, Christmas, other holidays. Enlarge your pattern and use it for toddlers.
It's all about having some fun with what you have on hand or what you want to buy. And who doesn't love Sponge Bob?
Click here to be taken to our project page. The link will open in a new window.

Denim Strip Quilt - Recycling Denim/Junk Jeans

You can use up untold number of denim scraps from recycled jeans, jackets, skirts, and who knows what else, making a strip project like this. Cut denim into 2" strips and save those in a bag until you have time to make a quilt or a jacket. There is a tutorial here for the quilt. The jacket itself is simply one that we made adding strip quilting to a sweatshirt.
The photos below are of the denim jacket in progress and one of a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt I made for my nephew's baby. Although this is not strip quilted, it is a great way to use up denim. It's a cute little baby quilt and made to be used and abused.
Recycling denim is one of my favorite things to do. If you have a tutorial to share, lemme know. You can't have too many ways to creatively reuse junk jeans!

I use recycled denim a lot in projects you'll see on here. It's one of my favorite things to repurpose. My ideas are available as are many more on the web and in magazines and books. The possibilities are endless.

Decorated dish/hand towels

This is a project that I did several years ago when I ran SewingWeb.com (sadly, the site is no longer with us). I used new dish towels, added colorful fish, and created hand towels for my downstairs washroom. I've used this process in a variety of projects and you can too. Great for a gift or just a pick-me-up for a boring towel rack.
Click on the link above for instructions on how to make your own machine zig-zag appliqued dish towels!