July 1, 2008 – 12:29 am
i love the cleaver pillow! now on etsy, among others……
after the BUST fair, a few of us discussed how perfectly this bit up here, where the handle meets the blade, fits around your neck…. and how awesome it would be on the plane….. and then how hilarious, but also troublesome, it would be to bring this pillow, or better yet, one of the “explosive” varieties, on a plane.
June 29, 2008 – 10:32 pm
i put a very manly axe up on etsy today. i think he’s a very sophisticated axe!
also, on July 1st, my etsy shop will be featured in the main showcase. maybe you’ll go check it out?
June 12, 2008 – 11:53 pm
i was poking through my sewing book resources recently, and found this ole’ gem:
Simplicity’s Simply The Best Sewing Book from 1988.
i think i first learned how to use a sewing machine around the age of 10, but didn’t actually attempt a garment until 12 or so. before that, i mostly just played with my mom’s machine and the fancy stitches, like rows of scottish terriers, nose-to-tail-to-nose. but that first garment… wow. my stepmom, ricky, helped me with it, and it was so much fun to make, and learn about patterns, and what a sewing machine could really do, but it was so incredibly unattractive. it was a jumper dress, in peach with little teal medallions. ugh. anyway, i think this book was my very first sewing book. it followed me to college, grad school and new york city. all the way from 1988.
the reason i bring this book to your attention is this: i was looking into it for help with zippers and buttons and what-have-you (these things never go out of style), and found this:
this is a sort of similar method as the one described by amy karol in her book for making bias tape. my first thought: i had this all this time?!
but wait. it gets so much better.
this book is from 1988. did i mention that already? 1988. maybe you don’t remember 1988. there were shoulder pads. lots and lots of shoulder pads.
look at this picture. it’s subtle, but look at the right picture. you know what her problem is? narrow shoulders. she’s happier because she has shoulder pads. you can see it.
this book will teach you how to make this:
and this:
oh wait. and this:
wow.
June 10, 2008 – 11:01 pm
people, it is hot. crazy hot. so hot, i’ve done nothing but the bare minimum since saturday. mostly, just laying around, trying not to let my limbs touch each other. or, god-forbid, a kitten. i might as well just go and glue cat hair to myself.
i thought that i’d right quick try and post some pictures of the making of bias tape (or the fabric part of welting) that amy karol taught me. yes, she taught me. shut up.
i highly recommend purchasing amy’s book for all the other great tips in there, and you can just use my little picture show here as a supplement.
so here’s the deal…..
you start with a square of fabric. amy says a 36″ square makes almost 13 yds of bias tape, but i’m not sure what width tape she was making. i made 2″ tape because i’m using 1/4″ welting cord, and once i wrap the fabric around the cord and sew it, i end up with about a 1/2″ seam allowance.
so take your square of fabric (i made a 28″ square because i was using 59″ wide fabric, and 28″ fit evenly into that width, cutting off the selvedges), and cut it diagonally into two triangles. make sure you have true right angles, and make a 45 degree cut. mine was off, which was fine, but i had to fudge some things. you’ll see.
all my triangles, in a row. i have 4 triangles, so i did this whole thing twice.
then, pin your triangles together like so, with right sides together. pin one of the shorter sides of the triangles to the opposite shorter edge on the other triangle. but leave a little of the corner hanging over the side. i know. wha? like this:
then, sew them together, press your seam open, and lay down your… shape… face down on your work surface. what is that shape? not a trapezoid. a rhombus? i bet tim knows.
yeah, i’m standing on the table.
anyway, lay it down, and measure down from the straight edge at the top, marking the width you need to make your bias tape or welting. connect your marks to make horizontal lines.
they’re faint, but there they are.
here is the awesome magic part! pin the other short sides of your triangles together, but offset the lines. it’s hard to explain, but it looks like this:
see how there’s extra on the left side at the bottom? you need to line up your first line with the edge of the fabric.
my lines don’t match cause i did something wonky. just ignore that.
make sure you line up the lines you’ve drawn exactly (not like me), at the point where they’ll be sewn together. if you’re going to sew a 1/2″ seam allowance, then measure in 1/2″ on one line, put a pin in there, and line it up with the 1/2″ point on the line you’re matching it to.
sew the edges together. you end up with a big square-ish, rectangulary loop of lined fabric, but with a little hanging over on the bottom left and top right, like the picture up there, minus the pins.
then, start cutting, following the lines you drew, in a spiral up the tube! i think my triangles were off, or i drew wavy lines or something because my lines didn’t match up well. i just cut along an imaginary line, eye-balling it to make sure the tape stayed about 2″ wide.
yay! tape! i wrapped mine around empty flattened boxes for making pretty things with later.
oh yeah, and tim says it’s a parallelogram. i knew that.
