Pom-Poms and Luminarias

From:

Joyous bursts of color dance above a table, imparting a cheerful radiance to a rehearsal dinner or casual reception. The dahlialike pom-poms appear to float in the air; in reality they are hung from the ceiling with monofilament. Echoing the vibrant hanging puffs, pom-pom napkin rings in citrus shades adorn each place setting. Square glass vessels in various sizes line tables. Covered in sunset-hued tissue (cut to size and secured with double-sided tape), they cast a soft glow.

How to Make the Pom-Poms
You'll need tissue paper and 24-gauge white cloth-covered floral wire.

Hanging Pom-Poms
1. Stack eight 20-by-30-inch sheets of tissue. Make 1 1/2-inchwide accordion folds, creasing with each fold.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, and slip over center of folded tissue; twist. With scissors, trim ends of tissue into rounded or pointy shapes.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Tie a length of monofilament to floral wire for hanging.

Napkin Rings
With just a few changes, these follow the same steps as the hanging pom-poms.

1. Stack four sheets of tissue. Cut a 10-by-5-inch rectangle, going through all layers. Make 3/8-inch-wide accordion folds.

2. Fold an 18-inch piece of floral wire in half, slip over center of tissue, and twist to secure. Trim ends of tissue.

3. Separate layers, pulling away from center one at a time.

4. Bend wire into a loop to fit around napkin, and twist end around loop to secure.

Easy pillow cover with zipper

Source: Craftynest

I’m redecorating my living room. Red has been lovely, but the colors of the sea are calling me. (I’ll post a before and after when my living room is done.) I like Ikea’s Fjädrar inner cushions, but none of Ikea’s pillow covers go with my new color scheme. So, using a cover that I bought in the As-Is section for a couple bucks, I figured out how to make my own. Plus I decided I was due an easy project after last week’s marathon.

Easy pillow cover with zipper

*Disclaimer: This may not be the proper way to install a zipper, but it worked for me.

Supplies

• 3/4 of a yard of 45-inch fabric
• 18-inch zipper

Tools

• sewing machine
• thread
• scissors
• rotary cutter, mat, and metal straight edge (optional)
• straight pins
• water-erasable marker
• tape measure
• sewing gauge or small ruler
• iron and ironing board

1. Preshrink and iron your fabric.

2. Cut one piece of fabric these dimensions: 42 inches x 21-1/2 inches. Fold your fabric in half, lining up the selvages. Measure 21 inches from the fold, and cut. Then cut the left edge, measure 21-1/2 inches and cut the right edge.

3. In each corner opposite the fold, mark a line that is 3/4 inches from the top and 1-3/4 inches long. Sew along this line, backstitching at the ends.

4. Fold over at the seam and press each side down.

5. It will look like this.

6. Place the zipper upside-down on top of the seam, about 1 inch from the edge. Pin in place.

7. Lock down one side by sewing perpendicular to the zipper, about 1/2 inch long, just before the zipper stop. Sew back and forth a few times.

8. Unzip the zipper. Using your zipper foot on the left side, sew along the left side of the zipper, 1/4 inch from the edge, lining up the edge of the teeth with the edge of the fabric. When you get close to the end, put your needle in the down position, lift the presser foot, and zip the zipper closed. Then put the presser foot back down, and keep sewing to the end.

9. Move your zipper foot to the right side, and repeat step #8 for the right side of the zipper. Then lock down the opposite end in place by repeating step #7.

10. This is how it looks turned right-side-out. Not perfect, but not bad for my first try. Turn it inside-out again.

11. Unzip the zipper. Sew the left and right seams the entire length with a 1/2-inch seam allowance.

12. Turn the cover right-side-out and insert your Ikea inner cushion. You’re done!

Wallpapered cart

Before & after

I bought this trolley for a steal on Craigslist. You may have seen it here. You can’t tell in the photo, but it’s banged up and rickety from years of use. My friend Peter added some reinforcement to make it sturdy, then I filled in the nicks with wood filler and oiled the squeaky wheels with WD-40. Finally, I made cosmetic changes—using paint and wallpaper left over from Sunset’s Menlo Park Idea House. Thanks, Sarah!

Wallpapered cart

Supplies

• latex primer
• latex paint (I used Benjamin Moore Aura in Steam [AF-15])
• craft glue (I used Mod Podge in matte)
• wallpaper
• painter’s tape

Tools

• paintbrush
• foam brush
• drop cloth
• scissors
• ruler & pencil
• craft knife (optional)
• brayer or small paint roller (optional)

1. First tape off the wheels with painter’s tape, then paint one coat of primer on the frame only. Let dry.

2. Apply two coats of paint (also to the frame only), letting it dry several hours in between coats.

3. Measure, mark, and cut the wallpaper to fit each of the three shelves.

4. Using a foam brush, paint glue in sections on the cart surface.

5. Smooth the wallpaper down with a brayer. I didn’t have a brayer, so I used a dry paint roller, which worked well. Keep adding glue and smoothing as you go. Trim any excess paper, if necessary, with a craft knife. Let dry for about an hour.

6. Add a top coat of glue to protect the surface of the wallpaper and make it easier to clean. It will cause slight bubbling of the wallpaper, but will lessen as the glue dries. As an alternative top coat, you could spray the wallpaper with clear lacquer.

7. Let the top coat dry overnight before using the cart.

A Cute Japanese Coin Purse: Materials

Source: the Purlbee

• One Inazuma Antique Gold Purse Frame #772 (This includes a paper pattern and the paper string you will need.)
• 1/4 yard of lining fabric. I used Shot Cotton in Lemon
• 1/4 yard of exterior fabric. I used Jen's Garden in Black (it's actually more of a dark blue) but it might be a little easier to use a lighter weight fabric.
  
• One heavy paper bag
• Craft Glue
• A Hera Marker
• A thin knitting needle or awl
• A pair of pliers
  

These materials will make one 3.5" X 3.5" purse. You will have a lot of fabric left over. You could probably six or seven purses out of two quarter yards of fabric.

Posted on April 17, 2008 purl bee Print Share | 1 Comment

Thursday

17Apr

A Cute Japanese Coin Purse: Cutting

Above is a picture of the pattern. The littlest piece will be cut out of paper, the piece below that from the lining fabric, and the piece to the right out of the outer fabric. The long dashes represent the fold.

Cut out the pattern pieces.

Cut a rectangle out of the heavy paper bag and fold it in half.

Place the smallest pattern piece on the paper, with it's right hand dashed side lined up with the fold of the paper and trace it. Repeat this once and cut out both pieces.

Iron the lining fabric and fold it in half once.

Pin the lining pattern piece on the fold and cut it out. Repeat this once so you have two lining pieces. As you can see in the picture above I wrote "lining" on the pattern piece so I wouldn't get confused.

Iron and fold the outer fabric and cut two of the outer pattern pieces as you did for the lining pieces.

You should have; 2 paper pieces, 2 lining pieces, and 2 outer fabric pieces.

Posted on April 17, 2008 purl bee Print Share | Post a Comment

Thursday

17Apr

A Cute Japanese Coin Purse: Gluing and Sewing

Glue a paper piece onto one of the lining pieces along the top only. (My lining fabric doesn't have a wrong side but if your using a print make sure you glue the paper to the wrong side of your lining piece.) Make sure the middle folds and the tops match up well together. Repeat this with the remaining paper and lining piece.

After the glue has dried (it will only take a few minutes) pin both pieces of the lining together, wrong sides out, along the bottom. Using a 1/4" seam sew this bottom seam. Repeat this for the outer fabric pieces.

Slide the lining inside the outer pieces, wrong sides together.

You will notice that the outer section is larger than the lining. In order to get the outer piece to fit around the lining the outer piece must be pleated.

Line pin together the sides seams of both layers so the notches match up perfectly.

Next, line up the notch you cut from the outer piece to the edge of the paper in the lining and pin it there.

Do that to all four notches and then pin the outside down as neatly as possible to the lining, making a pleat in in the middle of each side. Sew the lining and outer pieces together all the way around along this top seam with a scant 1/8" seam allowance.

Posted on April 17, 2008 purl bee Print Share | 1 Comment

Thursday

17Apr

A Cute Japanese Coin Purse: Attaching the Handle

Open up the Inazuma Handle and put glue inside the grooves. Spread the glue around with your Hera Marker so that it's evenly distributed. This is a fairly messy process but the glue cleans up easily and peels right off of the Hera Marker once it's dry.

Now stuff the bag inside the handles using a "poker" (a knitting needle or awl). This it the trickiest part of the whole operation, so be patient. Make sure the pleat is centered on the outside of bag.

Add more glue to the inside rim of the handle and stuff the paper string inside the handle groove using your poker.

Go all the way around the rim in this way. When you get to the end snip your paper string and stuff the end in.

Now, using a pair of pliers, pinch the rim of the handle tightly all the way around to keep the paper string and fabric in. Don't put the pliers directly on the metal handle, use a piece of scrap cloth in-between as shown above.

Once you've crimped it shut you're all done! Next time I think I would use a thinner outer fabric since it was pretty hard to stuff everything into the handle. But over all I'm really happy with my little purse!