Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Mending




This momma has been busy trying to refind our balance!  
I've added some "work" to my life, and although I find it fun and energizing, it still takes time.  
Figuring out how to balance mommy time, house work time, family time, 
and work time has turned out to be a learning curve!  

In the middle of all that, Leif put holes through three pairs of pants.  
Six year olds work and play hard too!  
So while he was at school, I put a little creativity into the mending that needed to be done. I secretly really like mending- weird, I know! 
But something about taking something that could be thrown out and making it usable again 
makes me happy! 
It was kind of fun, and really pretty easy...

 you just need a few of these.

And a stash of denim left over from the jeans that are too far gone. 


Cut a couple of squares of differing shades of denim and arrange them.  
I went for off center look ;)



 Start top stitching and connecting the squares.  Make sure you sew all around the outside edge if you plan on fraying them later.


 A few more lines for aesthetics only...

 Then start pulling threads from the ends to fray the patch.


I found this in my stash, 
I think it's really old or thrifted, but I'm pretty sure they make something like it still. 
It's a tape that fuses fabrics together when heated with an iron.

 I added a piece of paper inside the jeans so I wouldn't accidentally fuse the jeans together.  
 Start cutting little strips of stitch witchery to fit the area the patch will cover.
 Follow the instructions on your product, and iron away! 
Oops, don't leave the iron there for too long or the stitch witch stops sticking....
 Top stitch the outside edge to secure the patch and you are done!
Repeat as needed. 
They got the six year old approval, 
and I'm just glad they'll last us till shorts weather now.


Next time I might try this cute little patch found on Pinterest... pretty fun!


 "Man is broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is the glue." Eugene O'Neill

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Before and After: Lamp

 This is just a quick little before and after of a lamp I found at the thrift store.  
The NOT cute part was the brass.  Pretty tacky, and not in good shape. 
The really cute parts were the green glass in the center, and the fun key detail on top!

So here is the before, straight from the thrift store... 



And here is what a little primer and Heirloom white spray paint can do...



Sorry, these are not the greatest pictures.  
It was fun to see how a very small investment of time and paint made a dated piece into something really cute.  
I will be looking for more projects like this, very satisfying!

Friday, February 3, 2012

I am fairly certain...

I picked up this card the other day- it makes me smile! 
While I love the style, the verse wasn't quite me... so I adapted it.


This one fits my craftaholic tendencies a bit better.


It was fun to mix medias- a little embroidery stitching...


some acrylic paint...


some trims and buttons,


some drawing with ink, and some watercolor.


Pretty fun to make.  
I think I'll do some more in this style!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

You are my sunshine

You are my sunshine pieces are now available!  
They are a mix of embroidery, vintage and quilting fabrics, and scrabble tiles.
~$30~ 

There are three total, and I have the tiles to make one more 
if someone wants to request a specific color scheme.  
If you are interested let me know and I will hold one for you- email littlebitsofclay@yahoo.com and specify Yellow, Pink, or Blue.  
tomorrow I will be putting them in the Etsy shop and bringing one up to Meshed Designs.  

Speaking of the Etsy Shop- did you see how my incredible husband put the button for Muddy Feathers Etsy shop right over there on the right hand column? You can now click directly over! 






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...and just for fun, a sneak peak at a Before and After post for later this week!