Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Getting Ready!

Getting ready!
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly

Ok. Let me tell you that it is time consuming being a perfectionist. LOL I want this craft to be clean for the proposal.

It took me 4 hours to plan, measure, transfer, cut and Fray Check these pieces for 12 bracelets. i am going to make a whole batch and send the best ones in. I also needed pieces to send with the proposal. I added/substituted a step. Instead of putting the cardboard in the bracelet itself to prevent stabbing yourself, I will be using a smaller disc ( the round laminated card stock pieces in the picture) inside the cushion itself. On paper it works, we shall see tonight when I do a test run.

Tomorrow night I will sit and plan turtle's proposal. I only have 2 weeks so I really need to buckle down. More pics as the proposals develop!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

New Toy!


New Toy!
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.
I've been wanting a light box because of how I make my patterns and transfer them to the fabric. I've priced them and found one at Hobby Lobby for $42. When I had the 40% off coupon I didn't have the money to buy it and now that I have the money they don't have the 40% off coupon. Murphy's law ,right?

Well, I told my brother-in-law to keep an eye out for me and he told me about this art supply store called Jerry's Artarama. It is a lot like Texas Art Supply in Houston (a store I miss terribly!)

Jerry's had the lightbox on SALE for $26! hell yeah i bought it. I was going to go after work but could not wait so I went on my lunch break!!!! I am sooo happy and can now do a good tracing of my patterns!

I can't wait to start making patterns tonight! Fun times are about to be had.

Turtle is going to be famous!


I received a Flickr email today asking if I would be interested in being featured in a new book! I couldn't believe my eyes. Who knew that my turtle would be so loved by everyone!!! There is interest in my pincushion bracelet too! I am in the clouds right now and want to shout it from the rooftops!!!! I cannot wait to get the proposal package!

Wish me luck!

Monday, September 25, 2006

Pin Cushion Bracelet


Pin Cushion Bracelet
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.
I don't remember where I found the tutorial for this pincushion. I experimented with filling it with sand but it did not plump up like in the picture. It was kinda small so I decided to make a bracelet out of it. I put some cardboard under the cushion so as not to stab yourself if the pin is accidently pushed all the way in. I'm making some larger ones too. I might put elastic on those to put on your sewing machine. I'll experiment and take pics and ya'll can vote on it. They are cute. I am such a perfectionist when it comes to my crafts that I end up spending too much time on em.

I am working on making some boxes for my items when they sell. I'll take pics and blog about em once I have some prototypes/

Wish me luck!

Friday, September 22, 2006

New opportunities


New opportunities
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.
I bought a yard of this cute fabric last nite at Hobby Lobby last nite on my way to a Grey's Anatomy party. I only bought a yard. i wish I had purchased more. I cannot wait to make lil pin cushions out of it this weekend. I might even use it for the underbelly of a plushie. We shall see.

Wish me luck!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Sisterly Love


My sister went to Zee Boutique (a.k.a. Goodwill) and scored these 2 patterns and 2 pks of chenille embelishments for ONE DOLLAR! SCORE!

Get organized!


Again I was at Wally World on a craft crusade. I needed more embroidery floss. I had my new project in hand trying to get the right shade and I started thinking about all the floss I have, how could I possibly not have any regular blue? I look up and see bight as day NEW. I look and I see the trusty DMC logo. It was a Stitch Bow Binder insert and next to it are the floss holders. What an ingenius way to store your floss and be able to pick the colors quickly and keep the number handy for when you run out.

If it is NEW or NEW & IMPROVED Chances are I will try it out. I highly recommend it. How to use them is shown above and your final result of how they appear is shown below. Nice and organized. No more digging through my box trying to find the right color or double buying a color I already have. :D


Woo Hoo! New Banner!

One of my Flickr contacts, Joleen, was offering a generous free banner on her blog. I sent her the pic of my logo and the new banner was born. I really am digging the cross stitch font! Thanks Joleen!

Monday, September 18, 2006

You better check yourself!

I've been struggling with my fabrics fraying. It's frustrating to end up with a beautifully embroidered piece with the edges all scrappy looking. I have also had a problem with the brown material I make the turtle shell out of fraying even before I turn the lil guy out.

I've started a new project that has a pocket that I want to embroider but hate how the edges turn out in the end.

i don't remember what magazine or book I saw to use an anti-fraying solution, but when I saw this at Wally World last nite I scooped it up and crossed my fingers it would work.

I cut the pieces for my project and on the pocket put the Fray Check and let it sit overnight as it was too late to start any of the sewing. I woke up this morning to inspect if the Fray Check worked. (I kinda felt like Quita Culpepper on Does It Work Wednesday LOL-Austinites will know what I mean.) And surprisingly so it does. I rubbed the edges between my fingers to see if i could get a thread to run and lo and behold it was staying still. I am going to start an embroidery pattern on the pocket tonight and see how it hold up in the long run. Wish me luck!

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Surprise!


Surprise!
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.
Yea! I get to blog about my internet friend's surprise! Ok. I've been dying to post these pics. The internet friend I made the turtle pin cushion for had NO idea it was coming. JBHood and I met on flickr and she is an avid reader of my flickr and my blog. I appreciate her input and decided to put together a starter embroidery pack as a way to say thank you.

She's also mentioned she wants to learn to embroider. I dropped this in the mail thursday and she got it...Friday!

She said she was jealous that it wasn't for her when she read my first blog about the turtle pin cushion. But little did she know how sneaky I was being. I had never mentioned to her ANYTHING about the starte kit. I cannot wait to see what treasures she can stitch up!

Check out her blog Here.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Trapped Turtle


Trapped Turtle
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.
Ok, Turtle #2 makes his debut. i am making a stockpile of these lil guys. I want to make a few prior to putting them up for sale on Etsy. I've decided to package them too. They are the perfect size for these lil celophane bags I bought. This one has a blank tag but I hope to design it this weekend.

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I finaly mailed off my internet friend's package. I hope they like it. I'll post pics as soon as she notifies me she received it. Keeping a secret has never been harder.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Making Turtle


Making Turtle
Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.
I decided I want to make more of the turtle pin cushions (and had a few requests too). The cutting and the planning and the tracing is the most time consuming part of it all. I didn't have enough time to sew any last night but figured I'd plan em out. So I cut enough supplies for 6 and saved the templates in case I need to make more. I love this blue floral print. It was a scarf my sister gave me from Old Navy. I have been waiting for a project to use it and the brown square interior fabric. And viola! The turtlr provided the perfect project.

I tried to est how much ea turtle ended up costing me to make and got so frustrated in trying to figure it out I just decided to slap a $7 price on it and call it a day. I hope to make more stockpiles of projects so that they will be ready to just sew and sell on my Etsy account. Wish me luck!

Monday, September 11, 2006

Turtle Pin Cushion

Turtle Pin Cushion, Originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.

I've decided to put together a surpise package for an online friend of mine. I don't know how much of a surprise it is by blogging about it. LOL I have it all ready to go but could not help but feel like something was missing. It has a sewing theme and thought a pin cushion would be the perfect way to complete the package. I spent several hours at the sewing machine expirementing with a new pattern and filling the pin cushion with sand. I've never used sand in a craft project so I had some challenges that I did not anticipate.

I made an inside shell to hold the sand and filled it but the opening was too small. So I had to drain the resevoir and filled it once it was in the shell. The challenge was sewing the hole up of the sand resevoir after it was filled. Then I finished stuffing it with the polyfill. He turned out specatular and I cannot wait until I can post pics of the package.

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I went to my first COC meeting yesterday. I must say I was really disappointed. Only the lead person for the Austin Chapter was there. She wasn't rude but she wasn't nice. Actually, yeah she was kinda rude. I was so disappointed that I don't think I will ever go to another meeting. Complete waste of my time.

I went to get tips on things that I was having problems with (like finishing stitches, etc). When I asked this chic some questions she acted like it was a bother to answer her. She didn't care to know anything about me or what I was working on. She pretty much ignored me. We sat in silence for near 15 min working on our own projects. I text msg'd my sister to call and save me. She did and I went out with her and my neice, Stephanie. I am going to try to form my own craft club/sewing circle when I can find the time and the interested people. I don't mind hosting at my house. I just want to meet people with similar interests. Keep ya posted on that.


Saturday, September 09, 2006

To Paris, with all my love.

Bag for Paris, originally uploaded by SewcialButterfly.

A few weeks ago my cousins visited for our first annual Cousin Fest. My niece (second-cousin), Paris, is growing up so quickly. I remember when we used to babysit her. She was talking about how they are not allowed to carry purses at school and she has to stuff all her stuff in an ugly pencil bag.

I had an idea to make her a pretty pencil bag and matching tote bag. She had this really cute abercrombie & fitch tote bag that I studied. I can't stand A&F however the tote sparked an idea in my head. I found this really cute wristlet pattern and blew it up on the xerox machine to pencil bag dimensions.

I found this really cute pink fabric on the $1 table at wally world and decided to make her a pink bag. This might be a bad idea since Paris has been quite the tomboy growing up but it seems she is getting a lil bit girlie recently.

Oddly enough instead of starting with the pencil bag I started with the tote. No pattern. From scratch. The handles have a ribbon sewn on and I hand embroidered little X's every inch or so. I stenciled the crown and made it with a square bottom. I am quite pleased how this turned out. Now it's time to move on to the pencil bag.

Now I am excited because my Curch of Craft (COC) meeting is tomorrow. Finally, I'll be able to ask a more experienced crafter for help on finishing stitches and other stuff that has been driving me crazy.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Sewcial Butterfly Logo Stitched

I've had this logo in my head for some time now for Sewcial Butterfly. Just a simply butterfly made out of the letters S&B. I was getting rather frustrated because it's taken me some time to not only learn illustrator, I also have to find the time to practice and master before I can start to design. With that obstacle I decided to be resourceful.
I took out my sketchbook and tracing paper. With my transfer marker made an iron on pattern and decided to embroider the thing. The finished product is much more elaborate than I expected. The first attempt was not nearly as pretty. (no photos of try 1).
I am quite pleased how this turned out. I will be working on making it into a Blog Banner. I just hope that too turns out unexpectedly well. Wish me luck.

Flickr

This is a test post from flickr, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Yay it worked! Just trying to make my life a lil easier :D

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Great tools

Over the past couple of months I have been stock piling craft supplies (as if I didn't have enough lol). I also have been stocking up on books. One useful book I found was this one. When I decided to start embroidering again I made a trip to Ginger's here in Austin. I found some great iron on transfers that were more modern and hip by Sublime Stitching. Ginger suggested I also pick up this stitch book by Coats & Clark. It was only $3 and has proven a wealth of knowledge.

I studied and practiced a couple of the new stitches (well, new to me at least). I highly recommend this for all beginners and recommend picking up some sublime iron on transfers.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

New treasures from an old book


As I browse through several crafters' blogs I've noticed that a lot of people have this book in their craft library. I found this steal at Amazon.com. I spent more on shipping than I actually did for the book. Like a 5 year old the day before their birthday, I couldn't wait to get this book in my little hands, so I paid for expedited shipping. It was still cheaper than what I could have bought if for on Ebay. I saw lots of great lil guys I can't wait to make, including the Amy doll. Looks like I have a lot of WIP's in my future.

A,E, I, O, U. El burro no soy yo. El burro eres tu.

I had fun this holiday weekend. A while back I found a vintage iron on transfer at the antique mall. It being a vintage transfer I didn't want to cut it to transfer the design. I've found an iron on transfer marker at Michael's made by Sulky.

I really haven't embroidered since I was a child. I remember my mom teaching me. I had my own embroidery hoop and all. So I was excited when I found this.

I transfered the design. Eventhough the pattern can be transfered like 2-3 times I taped it to my journal and added an entry to my hand written journal. Just a lil something about my new project. I started it an then my friend came over and I set it aside. She was impressed to see how crafty I was. She saw my desk for the first time and realized why I ended up making my own desk.

The next day I spent most of the day finishing my book for book club and moved on to finishing the embroidering of Beto el burro. MAN I KNOW WHY THEY INVENTED THIMBLES. The 2 thimbles I have weren't comfortable so off I trotted to trusty Wally World. I spent like 45 min. in the craft section planning on what I wanted to do with this lil donkey. I hadn't really planned on anything because it was just a practice run. You know to test out the new and old stitches. But the lil guy was turning out pretty cute and I COULDN'T just let him sit in a box somewhere. So I decided to make him a pocket on an apron.

I found a 2.33 apron pattern. It's a see and sew or some other economicaly priced sewing pattern. It's actually really cute. Well, I've decided to make an apron like the folkloric skirts we used to wear for Jalisco. Not the whole skirt, just the ribbons on the bottom with one pocket displaying Beto el burro.


So now that burro is finished, it's on to planning the apron. I might give it as a gift or post for sale on my Etsy.com account. Keep ya posted.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Wonkies

I love making plushies out of felt. Was browsing through flickr and saw some plushies made out of fleece and another made of furry felt so i picked up some material the last time I went craft shopping. I tested out these materials....poor poor plushies. I never finished them because they didn't pass quality control. I'll post pics of the headless plushies soon. How come my wonky dolls didn't turn out as cute as others? I was hoping to make a supersoft version of Blue Dog. No worries. Besides, the pattern was hard to transfer to these materials anyway. I think I'll stick to my felt. :D

ADDED 9/05/06
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