A volunteer who happens to sew

That's me, I guess!

I started taking care of bird feeders (feeding, cleaning, bird baths, etc.) at Hospice House and Support Care in Williamsburg, VA recently.  The word got out that I sew. And another volunteer noticed my handmade tote bag. She asked me if I could make tote bags "like that." I surprised her by saying I made that one :)

As it turns out, Hospice House provides tote bags for families and the person who was making them wasn't able to continue. So, I stepped in and now I make lots of tote bags. They're very simple and I don't even line them as I don't know if they'll be kept or thrown away, and I don't care; the bag is no longer mine once I deliver it to the House. I've used up an awful lot of my stash and am collecting certain fabrics that would work well for the purpose.

Today, I met the person who sews pillows for guests at the House. They're decorative and offered to the family to take home. She brought in two great big bags of pillows she had made. As is wont to happen, we talked about sewing and it became clear that she did not want to continue to be the only one making them and maybe wanted to give it up. We talked for quite a while and I offered to take some of the pressure off by helping out. I'm not sure how this will turn out, but I wouldn't bother me one iota to help out. Pillows are fun to make and they're meaningful to the families.

I'm doing a couple other small projects for the House and probably will continue to do so for a long time. I volunteered for an early intervention center when I was younger and my children were babies and toddlers. I even worked for them for a while. Now, I'm volunteering at the other end of life's spectrum. A natural progression, I'd say.

Yes, I am a volunteer who happens to sew.

In the meantime, my nephew and nieces have asked for new trick or treat bags. They're the project for now! 

Sewing along, summer 2019

A lot of what I sew, I sew for me. The rest of it, I sew for others, either to sell or give away. That's the way it's been so far this summer. I've been thinking of Halloween and winter holidays. I go through my stash and see what moves me. And I end up with things like this:

Baby balls hand sewn using pentagons, then filled with fluff and in the center is a noisemaker that jingles ever so slightly when it's moved. Machine washable and one of a kind. I'm not doing hand sewing right now due to recovering from a quickie hand surgery, but I'll be back at it soon.  I posted about making the balls earlier. There are also instructions here and there on the internet for sewing with pentagons.

Along with balls, I made a couple of bibs with upcycled denim and bandanna fabric. I've made these in the past, saw a picture of one, and decided to try a couple more.  I think they're too cute for words. These two are a bit small and the next ones will be a little bigger and have Velcro closure instead of tie.

Trick or Treat bags are a fun way to use Halloween fabric. I have a lot of ribbons, fabrics, and trims and put a few together. 

There are more, but you get the idea. The last one was made completely of ribbons. When I was very young and very broke, I bought assortments of ribbons and make things out of them. This bag is a throwback to an earlier time. Never say never!

And, of course, my go-to sewing - pot holders, this batch for Halloween and Hannukah. All are backed with what started as a 9-patch denim square cut to the circle shape and filled with InsulBright. The bias binding is all homemade. It's just easier and less expensive to make my own than to try and match store bought bias tape.

I've also been cutting denim squares of several sizes to use and to sell, made placemats, have done some repair work on my own and others' items needing mending, and started a Cathedral Window project made of bandannas and denim.

And sew, I sew.

How 'bout you?

Halloween is coming

Time to start sewing for the creeps and goblins. 

I decided to embellish some hand towels with brain fabric I keep around. I've made and posted about making tote bags and potholders in the past, but wanted to try something different. As I had recently decorated some hand towels and wash cloth for a redecorated bathroom, I went with that - hand towels (new towels, of course). It could double as a kitchen towel, but that's up to the user, right? 

I used a smaller brain pattern and did not quilt the folds this time. I machine appliquéd the brain and stitched on the accent piece. A friend commented on one of them, so she got one as a gift! I told her not to compliment my sewing unless she wanted one for herself. 

Also recently, I made another set of pumpkin placemats:

Then I cut up most of my Halloween fabric into 5" squares and sold them on eBay. I kept some of it for myself, of course, but it was time to let some of it go. I have yards and yards and yards and yards of it! You can't have enough fabric, right?

So, get your scissors out, go through your stash, and set your machine to whirring. Before you know it, it'll be Christmas and winter sewing time. 

Coming up

We've been redoing the interior of our house, including my sewing room (our formal dining room). I am currently moving my fabric and notions back into the sewing room. Before I put things back, I'm going through every single item and have purchased two sets of shelves and lots of storage bins (clear), and it'll be as organized as all get out when I'm done. I've ended up with a large amount of fabric I'm giving away, and I feel good about passing it along. Within the week, I want to be done getting set up. And then comes my list of sewing:

• Western baby bibs using bandannas for applique decorations, similar to this one I made years ago. Two things have I have in abundance are denim and bandannas. 

• Baby quilt for my daughter's best friend. This is their first child. Her husband is a train engineer. I have everything but the batting cut out for a cute little log cabin quilt.

• Halloween placemats. I have a lot of ideas. Below is a set from the past. I'm not sure I'll duplicate this pattern, but I do have several Jack-o-Lanterns cut out already. (Here's my tutorial for making placemats of your own!)

• Lastly, I want to make Christmas stockings to give away. I have some Hanukkah fabric as well. Who knows? I may make some of them. I also have some dachshund fabric to make bone shaped dog Christmas stockings. 

I've been working on some hand sewing during the transition, but I'm ready to get my hands on my sewing machines now!

What's on your agenda?

Halloween Sewing (with an update!)

I have a lot, I mean a lot of Halloween fabric. I've been collecting it for years from fabric stores, yard sales, trades and swaps, and pretty much anywhere I can snag it up. Did you know it's almost impossible to find scary fabric for Halloween now? All the pumpkins, witches, and skeletons are smiling! Not so much with my older fabrics, but anything acquired in the past 15-20 years, yup, they're smiling.

This year, I wanted to try a bunting. The way I've hung it is not mainstream, but the idea is simple. I made a simple triangle pattern, gathered my fabrics, and used pinking shears to cut the triangles for the bunting. I zig-zagged the triangles onto a piece of grosgrain ribbon, leaving tails of ribbon at the ends.

I did not leave space between the triangle flags, but if I did this again, I would absolutely leave a half inch or so for tacking it up, maybe even a little less than that. My ribbon is about 1-1/2 times the width of the mantle. I made it, I hung it, and I have learned a little something from it. You should ry it yourself. It couldn't be easier. I have made bunting with spaces before and they do hang better. This was kind of an experiment. 

Update: I hated the way it was hanging, so I tried something different. Much better!

My other project this year is a set of four placemats with a Jack o'Lantern, smiling of course, appliqued onto a skeleton fabric. I used store bought bias binding that I had on hand. The back is a complementary fall fabric which makes these reversible. If you are not interested in drawing a pumpkin, you can Google "Halloween coloring pages" or "Jack o'Lantern coloring pages" and use what you find as your pattern. I borrowed my design of the pumpkin and stem from a coloring page search. When I do this kind of applique, I do a straight stitch around the shape first to hold it in place. 

For the process, I appliqued the pumpkin and the stem onto the skeleton fabric. I then made a sandwich of the fall fabric, flannel, and the pumpkin decorated piece, and did some wide machine quilting on the diagonal to hold it all in place. I machine sewed one side of the bias binding in place (on the pumpkin side), pinned it, and hand sewed the back binding. You can use your machine; I prefer the hand stitching. (If you have it, use some kind of anti-fray liquid on the appliqued stitches.)

Last year, I was heavy into making trick or treat bags with Halloween patchwork. If you want to try one of those, simply make some patchwork fabric out of 4" or 5" squares of Halloween fabric, and make a simple lined tote bag. Here are a couple of last year's examples:

Have some ghoulish fun with your sewing for Halloween. Your kids will love placemats and tote bags that you made for them and they also make fun items to give away or sell at a craft show or online. Or do like I do and just make stuff for yourself.

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