Hankies

Is there anyone out there who still uses a hankie?

I love a hankie and while I have lots of them...linen, fancy cotton,

seasonal, old and new, I really didn't have an...

everyday hankie....till now.

I decided to make a couple using.....

you guessed it, recycled tee shirts......ala Alabama Chanin.

I handstitched the edges and added some applique for fun...

Let me just say, they are soft....super soft!

Do yourself a favor and grab an old tee...

cut it into a 12" square and make a hankie before cold season gets here.

Save a tissue.



Skirt 2

(photo credit: Laura Gordon Photography)

If you excuse my legs and feet, you can see my completed circle skirt...

This time, I used a reverse applique technique ala Alabama Chanin...

Again, the skirt was a bit short so I added a khaki strip and then another black one...

The circles are gray, white and khaki.  I love how this turned out and I love my red clogs...

I think I'll cover up those white stems with black tights though....

A Project Complete

Back in the summer I came across this thrifted cotton knit skirt...

I fru-frued it up a bit with some applique....and length...

i had no hanger so I made-do with a stick and some twine.

I MUST read up on using this new camera....terrible color.

Lunch Sack Tutorial

Although my photography is awful, I thought you might like to see some little environmentally friendly lunch sacks I am making to sell at a trunk show in November.  They are such a cinch to make, I decided to attempt a little tutorial so you can make some for yourself, your kids or as little treats for friends.  They are very much like the old type foldover plastic baggies, but you can throw them in the wash with other things and stuff them again the next day with a yummy sandwich without using plastic.  Lets get started:

Supplies needed:

strip of cotton fabric cut 17"x7"

needle and thread or sewing machine

iron

1.  start by cutting your strip of fabric to the above 17"x7" strip

2.  fold under each short end making a little 1/4" hem, iron flat and sew.

3.  with RIGHT side facing up, now fold one end down 2 1/2".

 4.  Now fold the other end UP AND OVER the 2 1/2" you just folded down....iron this.

5.  Sew the two side seams...your right sides will be together and the wrong sides will be facing up.

6.  Turn your little baggie inside out, and this is what you will have!  A little sack with a fold over top to keep your sandwich fresh.

7.  Make several in coordinating fabrics and keep on hand for all lunch boxes in your family...including yours!

Sorry this is not the best tutorial, but it is a super simple and QUICK little project.  It would be fun to let your child choose  his/her own fabrics and do with you.  Now, I need to come up with a catchy name for my little sacks when I package them for sale and would truly appreciate your help.  Leave me a comment if you have a suggestion.

I will be away on Friday at The Waterford Faire ( http://www.waterfordfoundation.org/) which, next to Christmas is the BEST DAY OF THE YEAR, so I hope to have lots of pictures to show you next week.  Have a great weekend.



Mending

                               If you have been a Farm and Fru Fru reader for any length of time,   

you know that I like hand stitching.  You will also recall that the farmer is

not one to" quit on a garment" once it comes into his possession.  This is why this

union has lasted 27 years.....I mend.  I used to hate mending

when I used my sewing machine and tried sewing through 6 layers of denim or

tissue paper thin chambray, but since I began mending my hand, I actually

like it....a lot. 

It's a good thing....with summer rapidly coming to and end, the farmer is

trying to squeeze that last little bit of good out of each and every blue chambray shirt, every pair

of khaki shorts.

  Just when I think he has managed to wear the
worst he has, he finds something worse to wear.  I believe in
recycling as much as the next person, but the farmer takes his effort of use up THEN
throw out to the extreme...at our house, the Goodwill is unnecessary...his shirts and
pants go straight from his back to the rag bag. 
Just sayin....

Tee-Shirt Love

I probably haven't mentioned it over 20 times....

the fact that I like attempting to make things from tee-shirts...

jewelry, scarves....well add another item to the list....

Pillows!

Tricia, from Oh So Crafty, not only has a beautiful and oh so crafty blog

but she has made the most beautiful "green" pillow from,

you guessed it, a tee shirt....and...her husband's old dress shirt.

Not only that, but she has shared a great tutorial that shows you how to

make one yourself!  I love that!  Click the above link and visit

Oh So Crafty....then raid the closet and start sewing...

I could hardly wait to make this one...the one above is Tricia's

This one is mine.....  I made a little change...

I call mine the leaf lettuce pillow because I think it looks just like lettuce growing in little rows in the dirt...I used a green tee for the ruffles and rather than a dress shirt for the back

I used a brown tee...I love the look and the colors are perfect for me!

It really was simple and I did most of it by hand including the gathering

and sewing the ruffles in place.  I did use the machine for

sewing up the pillow, but it could easily have been done by hand.

My sweet little cute friend Laura came to take some

farmy photos and snapped this one...check out her beautiful site

Laura Gordon Photography

Have a wonderful weekend.

oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE LUCY!

Coming Soon.....to a book store near you

There are so many things I love about Alicia Paulson's blog Rosy Little Things.  Her writing paints a lovely picture of whatever it is she is doing.  The crafts she shares are exquisite, much more like art, her photography is the brightest of eye candy, and her wealth of knowlege makes a visit to her blog feel like a little capsule lesson in whatever it is she is working on at the moment.  Whether knitting, crocheting, quilting, smocking, sewing or embroidery, there is something new to learn...hence her latest soon to be released book Embroidery Companion.  Thought you might like to see what's coming soon...visit her blog to pre-order a copy if you hand sew or want to learn.

The forlorn little stool

Once there was a little stool that lived under a table, behind a cupboard on the second floor of a very hot thrift store.  It was a forlorn little stool that longed to be adopted by someone who could see it's hidden beauty...it's very hidden beauty;  someone who would take it home and put it to good use. 

The forlorn little stool lived under the table, behind the cupboard on the second floor of the very hot thrift store until one Sunday, a rather ditsy woman, digging through junk on the second floor of the very hot thrift store spotted the little stool.

"Oh my"  said the ditzy woman out loud to no one in particular...

"You are just  what I have been searching and searching for little stool.  I shall take you home to live with me at farm and fru fru.   I have a lovely piece of light blue fabric I have been saving for a little stool like yourself, and I will use it to make you some brand new clothes.  Then you will be beautiful once more!"

So the rather ditzy woman paid the tiny amount for the forlorn little stool, placed it in the back of her little red truck and went home to farm and fru fru.  All the way home, the forlorn little stool thought about the beautiful light blue fabric and the new clothes and could hardly contain it's excitement! 

"I will be the most handsome stool you most ever saw in my new clothes made of beautiful light blue fabric," thought the little stool..."and I will never have to live under a table behind a cupboard on the second floor of a hot thrift store again!"

So the ditzy woman painted the little stool's legs a lovely shade of robin's egg  blue and prepared to make the new clothes.

But what do you think?  She did not have enough of the lovely fabric!

"What shall I do now forlorn little stool?  I do not have enough pretty fabric to make new clothes like I promised." 

The little stool contemplated this problem, and being an inventive little stool, and not one to let a little thing like not enough fabric prevent new clothes, said

"that's ok, I can wear patches!  That would please me greatly!"

And so the ditzy woman sewed together many tiny little patches of fabric until she had just the right amount to cover the forlorn little stool with a brand new suit of clothes.

"Oh my!" cried the little stool.  "I am no longer forlorn!  I am a beautiful little stool!"

"Indeed you are."  said the ditzy woman...

"And now I shall take you to the little cinder block shed in the country where you shall live happily every after."

And so she did.

THE END

Finished!!

You may remember I wanted to try a quilt...well....I did it!  It is finished!  It is just a lap quilt, but I love everything about it...I didn't quilt it, only tacked it at each square because my machine did not want to quilt it (no clue how to) but I am so pleased with the colors, the pattern and the fabrics...I think it will go in the house up the country for a little color on the wall....

                                                                   

Martha Knows Stuff

Say what you will about her.....

but Martha knows some stuff...

and if you want to learn how to do something the right way....

Martha can teach it to you...

you can bet on that.....

and this, her newest book comes out March 30.  I have the Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts and it is a wonderful tool to keep on hand....I can't wait to get this one.  If you get it first, please comment about it here!

photos from the Martha Stewart Website

Knit One Purl Two...

If I lived in New York City, I am afraid I would spend most of my time in shops.  One that I am absolutely positive would put me in the poor house is Purl Soho.  The fabric and yarn is out of this world fun (on line) and the tutorials are always so interesting and just pretty.   Click the above link for these pretty spring napkins and a tutorial explaining exactly how to make them in Molly's Project Journal...Whip up a few for your Easter table...Don't you just love rick rack???

My favorite quilt

One of the wesites I visit frequently is http://www.cluckclucksew.com/ .  This woman has the most amazing yet relatively simple ideas that use the most beautiful fabrics.  This is her raw-edged circle quilt.  I am planning to try and make one.  I wanted to show you this one so you could see how it should be done. If you visit her website, she has a whole list of tutorials where she gives to step by step instructions for this and many other projects.  I like that.  Step by step by step.  Take a peek.  I think you, like me, will find fun things to try.  Isn't this the best combination of colors? 

Simple White Tee

Hi and happy weekend...if you have read my little blog for any length of time you will remember that I am a big fan of clothing designer Natalie Chanin and her Alabama Chanin line and books.  To launch her newest book Alabama Studio Style, she, in conjunction with Burda Style, announced a contest a few weeks ago.  The challenge was to make or remake a piece in the Alabama Chanin style.  I decided to give it a try and entered this tee shirt. 

Somehow, through some quirk of fate, I am one of the 50 finalists!  Perhaps they only had 50 entries, I don't know,  but between now and MARCH 2, you can go to www.burdastyle.com/blog and click on vote for your favorite to, well, vote for your favorite!  There are some amazing pieces to see and I'm afraid my simple white tee is quite overshadowed, but it was a fun challenge and I am excited just to be included.  My entry is #20 if you want to take a look.  Have a great weekend, and I'll let you know later how it all turns out...

Finished Projects

I am famous for seeing something I want to make and immediately beginning the hunt to see if I have the materials I need to make it.  I love digging through my stash of craft goodies to see if I have scraps that will work, buttons I can use and then putting everything I need into a neat little pile.  I take the pile and lovingly place it in a little project basket and begin.  Before you know it, I am half finished and then......I see something ELSE I want to make.  I immediately begin the hunt to see if I have the materials I need to make THIS interesting little project by digging through my stash of craft goodies and after collecting everything I need, I once again place them lovingly into another little project basket and begin the process all over again.  Before you know it, I have about 5 little projects lovingly placed in project baskets and 5 unfinished projects.

This past weekend with the snow flying, I finished a couple projects, my rabbit pillow and my circle pillow.  The rabbit is made of brown wool felt which I appliqued onto some hemp-like fabric.  I like hand-sewing so much better than machine sewing.  The rabbit looked like he lacked something so I made him a little collar of wool felt flowers and put a pearl in the center of each.  Every rabbit needs a floral collar.

The circle pillow was made after I visited Malka Dubrawsky's beautiful blog http://www.stitchindye.blogspot.com/ .  She is an artist who mixes her quilting skills with a special dying process and makes the most beautiful fabric.  I hesitate to even mention my pillow in the same sentence as hers, because I just used scraps of fabric I had, used heat n' bond to adhere the circles to my squares then did some hand quilting on the circles and the finished pillow.  It too looked lacking so I added some seed beads for good measure...It's not Malka, but I am pleased.  She also has a book out called Color Your Cloth, and though I don't yet have it, I have seen it and it is great.

One of the things I like best about crafting is that you can see something that may be far beyond your reach, but be inspired to try something similar that you can enjoy and be happy with.  Generally people are very happy to answer questions and offer help, so you can morph something you've seen into something you make and love that is original to you.  I would encourage you to take some time to look at people's art and see what it inspires in you...then do a bit of digging through your craft goody stash...you never know what you might come up with!

Oh!  Almost forgot COFFEE FILTER TIP # 6:  Use Coffee Filters to wrap ornaments (sorry, a little late) or other fragile things when packing them away.