the object project

Thanksgiving Memories Keepsake

Thanksgiving may just be my favorite holiday. There's nothing like waking up to a great parade, spending a lazy day with family and relishing the promise of an amazing meal that you've looked forward to all year long!

When it comes to family keepsakes, however, I think Thanksgiving often gets the short end of the wishbone. Here's a quick project I made to help my family remember a lifetime full of Thanksgivings!

The idea is, every year I'll ask my children to give me a list of what they are thankful for and write down their answers without any additions or revisions. I thought I would get a mile long list from my daughter, certainly including "mommy" and "daddy", however, this is what she told me:

I suppose, technically, we are included in the vast subset of "all the people on earth"! Then after the quick turkey picture, I labelled the year and tucked it inside of our little "blessings keeper". Each year we'll add our lists and in time, we'll have a priceless record of what was on our minds each Thanksgiving!

You could also include favorite Thanksgiving recipes, photos of family, or maybe your child's favorite balloon from that year's parade! This would be a great addition to any scrap book, or you could tuck it away next to your go-to Thanksgiving cookbook so that you're sure to remember to add to the mix every year!

What you'll need to make your own "blessings keeper":

Various scraps of "harvesty" colored fabrics ( I chose fabrics from Anna Maria Horner and Amy Butler)

Medium weight fusible interfacing, a fat quarter of fabric for the lining, a button and hair elastic for the closure, embroidery floss, a sheet of printer paper, anti-fray solution.

Download TisforThanksgiving- Click here to download my "T" template for the applique

1. Cut out 35 3" squares from  your scraps. Lay them out in 7 rows of 5. Using a 3/8" seam allowance, sew them together forming a large patchwork rectangle.

 
  
For some reason patchwork says "home" to me, so I chose to use this technique for this project, but you could certainly skip this step and use a solid piece of fabric.

2. Fold the rectangle in half, lay the printer paper on the bottom fold and trim off the edges. If your patchwork piece ends up being a little larger or smaller than this, it will still work fine.

3. Now cut the same size piece from your lining fabric as well as the fusible interfacing.

4. Following the manufacturer's instructions, fuse the interfacing to the backside of the patchworked piece.

5. Place the patchwork piece and the lining pieces together, right sides facing, and pin. Be sure to place the elastic between the layers at the center of one of the shorter sides.

6. Sew around the rectangle, leaving a 3" space from where you started. Trim the hair elastic off and trim the corners diagonally.

 
7. Turn the piece right side out and press.

 
8. Using about a 1/8" seam allowance, topstitch aorund the rectangle, boing sure to close the turning space.

 
9. If you want to add the Thansgiving "T", download and cut out the "T" template. Trace it onto the wrong side of the applique fabric. Cut it out and treat the edges with an anti-frey liquid, then stitch it into place on the center front of the piece.

 
 
10. Stitch the button onto the top center (opposite the elastic).

 
11. The last step is to fold the piece in half, then stitch up both sides directly over your original topstitching.

 
Hope you enjoy this little project!

Here's to a Thanksgiving full of memories...

and sweet potatoes...

and pumpkin pie...

but mostly memories!

~Leigh Ann~

A Novel Pillow Plus a Giveaway!

Today I'll help you wrap up your summer reading season and help you prepare a chair for cozy fall crafting all in the same post!

We'll get to the pillow in a second, but first I want to thank the very generous folks at CSN Mattress for agreeing to giveaway this fabulous handkitted Koka throw (a retail value of $225!) to a very lucky Object Project reader!

 You can visit here to see available colors and browse their huge selection of products- so much more than just mattresses! Stay tuned to the end of this post to find out how to enter!

You'll want a pillow to cuddle up with along with your throw, so lets get started!

I do alot of reading- mostly craft, business, or design books, but this summer I took a "brain break" with the Shopoholic series by Shophie Kinsella. Here's a quick pillow I made using one of the novels (and my coffee cup, of course!) as a template!

I used these prints from Tina Givens. Take a look here to see Tina talk about her inspiration for this collection!

1. Trace 6 rectangles onto your chosen fabrics using the novel as a template. You can stack your fabrics, trace and cut once to save time, but I like to do them individually to insure that I get exactly the portion of the print that I want.

2. Lay them in 2 rows of 3 in an arrangement that you like, then sew them in 2 rows of 3 rectangles, then sew the rows together. This forms the patchworked front of the pillow.

3. I then traced the bottom of my coffee cup in several places on the pillow front, which I did some hand stitching over. This step is optional, but I think it added a fun touch to the pillow!

4. Cut a portion of backing fabric the same size as the front piece.

5. Place the pillow back and the pillow front right-sides-facing and pin. Using a 3/8" seam, sew around the pillow, leaving about a 4" space for turning.

6. Trim the corners diagonally and turn the pillow right-side-out.

7. Stuff the pillow to your liking and handstitch the opening closed!

Okay... I know you're itching to know how to win the throw, so here's how it will work. All you need to do is comment on this post! Share your favorite summer reads, upcoming fall craft projects, or just say, I WANT THAT THROW! As a bonus, you can let your blog readers know about this giveaway and then come back here and comment with that link to be entered again!

You'll have till Sunday to enter, I'll choose a winner at random and announce the lucky reader on Monday!

I'll let you go now, I know your fingers are itchin' for some stitchin'!

Good luck everyone!

~Leigh Ann~

Puzzle Patches

There's more than one way to have fun with a giant floor puzzle! After the kids have a blast putting it together and ripping it apart, it's your turn to grab the pieces and head to the sewing machine to make these fun little patches! These puzzle patches are so simple and fun to make, you won't be able to stop at just one!

What you'll need...

One or more pieces of a large puzzle, fabric scraps, pen or pencil

1. Trace the puzzle piece onto the wrong side of your chosen fabric.

2. Pin the right side of this piece to a square of muslin.

3. Stitch over your traced line using a very small stitch. Take your time and lift the presser foot to ease in fabric when necessary. Stop stitching about an inch from where you started, creating a turning space.

4. Carefully trim excess fabric close to the seam, leaving a larger allowance at the turning space.

5. Reach inside the space and turn the piece right-side-out. Use a butter knife to help you smooth the curves and push out the points. Press the piece flat.

6. Using a very small seam allowance, topstitch around the piece being sure to close the turning space.

Now you can apply your patches to whatever project you like! Here I handstitched it to a baby bib. (The pattern for this bib is available in my etsy shop.)

For the pockets on this children's tote bag, I prepared 2 corner puzzle pieces. I then machine stitched down the sides and across the bottom to create pockets!

Experiment with these patches in your favorite projects! I think they would make a great addition to a fun baby quilt, a little girls skirt, children's bedding, or a paint smock! You could embroider your kid's names on a few and sew them to beach towels for very cool pool accessories!

I'd love to see what you do with your puzzle patches! Add photos of your creations to the Object Project Flickr Pool and I'll feature a few next week!

Happy Stitching!

~Leigh Ann~

Tea Clutch Tutorial

Who knew you could make a fab little clutch using a tea cup saucer as a pattern? This project is the result of last week's Object Project challenge, and would be the perfect date to any summer wedding! Although, you may want to bring a man along as well, you know, to get your cake and such! 

 I used a light summer tweed and black and white damask, but you could certainly make it a little less formal by using lighter weight fabrics and fun prints. This project requires a little more hand sewing than my projects normally do, but I think the effort is certainly worth it! Now, let's make a bag, baby!

What you'll need...

1/4 yard lightweight tweed, 1/4 yard damask, 12" square of satin, 12" square of flannel, scissors, needle and thread, pen, magnetic snap closure, ribbon and covored button to embellish if desired

I used a tea cup saucer with a diameter of 6" as my pattern. If you don't have a tea saucer, try a small bowl or large coffee cup.

I drink alot of coffee! I once was thrilled to have found what I thought was the perfect coffee cup. When I brought it to the sales clerk, she informed me that it was, in fact, a pitcher! So, your coffee cups might not be quite as large as mine! Anyway...

1. Trace the saucer onto your fabric. You'll need 8 circles of tweed and 8 circles of the damask. Cut out the circles and pin a tweed circle to a damask circle, right sides facing. Repeat until you have 8 pairs of 2 circles pinned together.

Marking on tweed can be twicky.. er..tricky! Fabric pens sometimes won't do the job and normal ink pens tend to skip on the fibers. Try using an old lip liner you have lying around. The waxy consistency transfers quite smoothly to the tweed and you won't have to press hard, which can distort the shape of the fabric. Just be sure to wipe off your scissors when you're through!

2. Using a 3/8" seam, sew around each circle leaving about a one inch space for turning. Trim the seam allowances to 1/4" and turn right side out.

3.Press the circles flat and handstitch the turning space closed.

4. Fold each circle in a little less than half and pin. Put a few handstitches in the center to hold the fold.

5.Lay the circles out in groups of four, overlapping as shown.

6. Handstitch the circle units together to form the front and the back of the clutch. If you're using tweed, the fabric is very forgiving and will hide all of your stitches! If you choose to use cotton, just focus your stitches to the center, where you can cover them up with the ribbon.

7.Handstitch the front and the back of the bag together at the sides.

8. This is the point at which you can embellish the bag. I handstitched a black ribbon sash and a covered button to this bag. You could also try tassels, silver hardware, or maybe a fabric flower! Try one from my Mother's Day Corsage Tutorial!

9.If you're thinking, "this bag is lovely, but where will my things go?" Don't fret. Let's make the lining! Measure you're bag. It should be roughly 8" by 5". Fold the squares of satin and flannel in half and cut a 8" by 5" rectangle on the fold of each. Make sure right sides are facing and stitch up the sides of the flannel rectangle and the satin rectangle. Turn the flannel rectangle right-side-out and then slide it inside the satin rectangle. Pin around the top of the rectangles. Using a 3/8" seam, sew them together, leaving about a 1" space for turning. Reach inside, turn right-side out, and press. Handstitch the turning space closed. Add the magnetic snap closure and the lining is finished!

10. Now all you have to do is slip the lining into the outer bag and handstitch it in place around the top!

Hope you'll try this one out! Don't be intimidated be the handstitching! Never be afraid to put a stitch in and see if it looks right- that's what a seam ripper is for!

Now I'll be sending this little beauty off to Christine, the winner of the Object Project challenge. I certainly hate to see it go! I think I'll have to make one for myself!

Happy Stitching!

~Leigh Ann~

 

 

 

Ice Cream Cone Cozies Tutorial

While I'm busy creating our tea cup project, I thought I'd post a little tutorial for everyone to snack on over the weekend! These super-cute little Ice Cream Cone Cozies let you and your kids enjoy the sweet tastes of summer without the sticky hands that often come along with it! Whip up a bunch for pool parties or picnics! Now see, I've given you a great excuse to go out and buy some Rocky Road!

Enjoy (the tutorial, and the ice cream)!

What you’ll need:

Scraps of cotton and terry cloth, needle and thread, rotary cutter and mat or scissors, buttons or embroidery floss to embellish if desired. You’ll be using a CD as your pattern!

1.     Using the CD as a template, cut one square from the cotton and one square from the terry cloth. If you don’t want to cut around the CD with the rotary cutter, you can trace the CD onto the fabric and then use scissors to cut it out.

2.     Place the squares right sides together and pin.

3.     Using a 3/8” seam, sew around the square. Stop sewing about an inch from where you started, leaving a space. Trim the corners diagonally.

4.     Reach inside the space you’ve created and turn the cozy right-side-out and press.

5.     Using a ¼” seam, topstitch around the square, closing the turning space. This is the point at which you can embellish with buttons or embroidery.

6.     Bring 2 sides of the square together, forming a triangle. A CD isn’t a perfect square, so it will not form a perfect triangle, and this is fine. Stitch through the layers of terry cloth in the seam, from the point of the triangle to about 3 inches up the side.

7.     Insert an ice cream cone and enjoy! You can fold down the points of the triangle as you eat the cone!

I created this project for the collection of sewing projects over at Fave Crafts. Visit their awesome site for a great collection of tutorials and crafty articles!

"Kid Flick" Girl's Purse Tutorial

In honor of Mother's Day this weekend, I wanted to post a quick little project that mothers and daughters can make together!

My daughter, Audrey, is four years old. She and I often make things together. Audrey calls our creative time together our "craft show" because she likes to pretend we're being filmed in front of an audience! We must explain each step of our project in detail to the "camera". We even take "commercial breaks" to fit in some popscicle time! I really think she's destined to be the next great HGTV or DIY host!

Take a few minutes with your daughter (or grand-daughter, or niece) to make this sweet little purse she'll love to tote around. And let her pitch in to the extent her skills (and attention span) will allow!

What you'll need...

One fat quarter of fabric, two plastic bracelets, scissors or rotary cutter and mat, needle and thread, buttons for decoration is desired.  You'll be using a DVD for your pattern!

1. Let your daughter pick out her favorite DVD to use for the project. Fold your fat quarter in half.  Open the DVD and lay it on the fold of the fabric and cut around it. If your daughter is old enough to use scissors, you can trace around the DVD and let her cut the shape out.

2. Open the piece and lay it flat. Fold down about 1" on the top and the bottom and press.

3. Fold in half again, right sides facing this time, and press. Sew from the fold up to about 1.5" from the top (before you get to the fold). You may want to stop 2" or 3" from the top, depending on how big your little one's hands are. Repeat on the other side. If she knows how to use the sewing machine, let your daughter have a go at the 2 seams!

4. Turn the bag right side out. Take one of the plastic bracelets and place it under the top fold. Handstitch the bracelet into the fold, gathering the fabric around the bracelet as you go. Repeat on the other side.

5. Add buttons or ribbon to embellish the purse if desired. Let your daughter stuff it with her treasures!

This is Audrey modeling her new purse (and her mango smoothie).

"Hope you enjoyed today's project! Stay tuned till next week for more great ideas from The Object Project!"

-and...cut-

~Leigh Ann~

P.S. My apologies for the photographs. I spilled coffee on my camera....it's angry with me now.

 

Coloring Page 'Scrubby Buddy' Tutorial

It seems that 'scrubby buddies' are very big with the "under 5" crowd. Here's how you can make one using a page from a coloring book! This is a fun way to turn a tattered old towel into a new bathtime buddy! Any child in your life would love one... but if you use it for yourself...I won't tell anybody!

What you'll need:

a page from a coloring book with a simple largish figure, a tattered towel you don't mind cutting up (or terry cloth fabric), embroidery floss, scraps of 100% cotton, scissors, pen or pencil, anti-fray solution (optional)

1. Choose your figure. This is from a large coloring pad. These owl's eyes look quite like mine do in the morning!

2. Sketch a seam allowance around your figure. About 3/8"-1/2". You don't have to be perfect! Cut out your figure.

3. Trace your figure onto your towel or terry cloth fabric and cut it out.

4. Now you'll want to cut out the main components of your figure. For Mr. Owl, this would be his wings, eyes, and head feathers...

"Whoooo did this to me?!?"

5. Trace the components onto your scraps of cotton. If you don't want to add applique to your 'scrubby buddy', you can just trace the components onto the terry cloth figure and embroider the features on.

6. Cut the fabric pieces out. Treat the edges with an anti-fray solution if desired (I wish they made an anti-fray solution for nerves, don't you?). Hand or machine stitch the pieces onto the terry cloth figure.

7. When your figure is complete, cut a larger piece of terry cloth to use as the back. Pin the right side of your figure to the terry cloth and sew around it, leaving the bottom open.

8. Trim the excess terry cloth from the edges and turn right-side-out. Turn under the bottom edge and machine or hand-stitch the hem to finish!

My husband just requested a shark 'scrubby buddy'...back to the sewing machine!

 

Mother's Day Corsage Tutorial

I, like so many other women, began my sewing adventures as a small girl, sitting on the floor next to my mother at her sewing machine. She would sew up school dresses for me and I would stitch and stuff her scraps into little pin cushions adorned with the odd stretch of lace and stray buttons.

For Mother's Day, I stitched up this little fabric flower corsage for her using these springy Anna Maria Horner and Heather Bailey prints. I wanted it to be a little 'thank you' for giving me the love of sewing, so many years ago. She still uses my homely old pin cushions, by the way! I guess they hold alot of memories along with her pins!

I thought you might want to stitch up a corsage too! Here's the tutorial...

What you'll need:

    Several scraps of fabric, scissors, a fabric pen or pencil, needle and thread,safety pins. You'll use a tea cup as the template for the petals. The one I used has a diameter of 3.5". A wider mouth will yield larger flowers.

Cut out the circles:

    Using a fabric pen or pencil, trace the top of the tea cup onto your chosen fabrics. Youl need 6 circles for the carnation, 6 circles for the lily, and 4 for the leaves.

For the lily and the leaves:

    1.Pin the pairs of circles together, right sides facing, forming 5 pairs of 2.

    2.Sew around each circle using a 1/4" seam, leaving a small space for turning. Trim seam allowance to about 1/8".

    3.Using the closed tip of your scissors, turn the circles right side out and press flat.

    4.Take the petals you've created for the lily and fold them in half over each other as shown...

     

    Put a few stitches in the base to hold them together.

    5.Fold the tops of the petals down a little. It should look something like this...

    6.Fold the 2 circles for the leaves into a fan shape and put a few stitches at the base to hold them together.

For the carnation:

    1.Clip around the circle edges with pinking shears. This isn't necessary, but it makes the petals look a little more realistic.

    2.Place pairs of the circles wrong sides together forming 3 pairs of 2.

    3.Fold one pair into fourths and place a stitch at the base. This will become the center of the flower. Fold the other 2 pairs into half circles and place a stitch at the bottom center.

    4.Fold the half circles around the center of the flower. Sew through all the layers at the base. What you've created should look something like this...

Assemble the corsage:

 Sew the carnation to front of the lily and the leaves to the back of the lily. Place a few stitches here and there if necessary to get the flowers to stay in the shape that you want. You can pin the corsage on using corsage pins or a couple of safety pins.

 

 

 

 

CD Case Headband Tutorial

 Grab your favorite CD and by the time it’s played through, you’ll have made this fun headband using only the CD case as a template! So put on the music and here we go!

Some Handy Tools…

A rotary cutter and cutting mat or scissors, ruler, washable fabric pencil, iron

Pick out some 100% cotton fabrics in various prints and colors. This is a great opportunity to use up scraps from previous projects!

1.     Wash and press all of your chosen fabrics.

2.     Lay your CD case on top of your fabric on your cutting mat and cut around it with the rotary cutter. Don’t worry about being super-accurate, you can square them up later. If you find cutting around the CD case awkward,  you can trace around it with a washable fabric pencil, and then cut it out with your rotary cutter or scissors. Cut out 14 squares for a 61” headband (pictured). You can cut out more for a headband with longer tails, or less for a shorter one.

3.     Lay out the squares in an order you like. Lay the squares on top of each other, right sides facing. Come to your sewing machine and using a straight stitch, join the pairs to make 7 pairs of 2. Then sew these sections together until you have one long chain of squares.

4.     Press the seams open

5.     Cut the strip in half, lengthwise, making 2 long narrower strips each roughly 2.5” wide.

6.     Put the two strips you’ve created together, right sides facing, offset them slightly lengthwise, then pin.

7.     Sew the 2 strips together, trim ends even, and press open the center seam.

8.     Fold this strip in half lengthwise, right sides together, and pin.

9.     With a straight stitch, sew the short end closed, and then continue sewing down the length of the strip, forming a long tube.

10.                         Using the closed end of your scissors (or a knitting needle), turn the tube right side out.

11.                         Snip the seam in the short end out (this was just to help in turning the headband right side out) and press the headband flat, placing the center seam wherever you wish to create the desired look.

12.                         Finish off your headband by tying knots in the ends.

Coupon Clutch Tutorial

I always clip coupons with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, it seems they find their way into the strangest places and never in my hand at the checkout counter. I made this super simple little clutch to keep them in one place, plus help me look cute while I'm saving money!

What you'll need...

You'll use a sheet of notebook or printer paper as your pattern, cotton fabric in a couple of prints (pre-washed and pressed), medium weight iron-on stabilizer rotary cutter and mat or scissors, a button and a hair elastic for the closure

If you like the little flower applique, you can get the template here: View this photo. Plus you'll need embroidery floss and an anti-fray solution.

1. Cut.Using your printer paper as a guide, cut one rectangle from each of your 2 cotton prints. Cut one rectangle from the iron-on stabilizer.

2. Fuse.Follow the manufacturer's directions to fuse the iron-on stabilizer to the rectangle you've chosen to be the outside print of your clutch.

3. Pin.Place rectangles right sides together and pin. Add the hair elastic to the center of the top of the rectangle, in between the layers and pin. This will become the closure loop.

4. Sew.Using a straight stitch and a 3/8" seam, begin sewing the rectangles together. Start about 2" from the center of the bottom (opposite side of where you placed the elastic) and continue sewing around leaving a space about 3" from where you started. Trim right angles diagonally.

5. Turn.Reach inside the space you've created and turn right side out and press. Topstitch around the rectangle with about a 1/4" seam.

6. Handstitch.  Stitch your closure button to the center top front. Prepare your applique and stitch it wherever you like- I applied mine on the opposite side of the button.

7. Finish. Fold the clutch in half and stitch up the sides using your previous topstitch as a guideline.

8. Save! Now clip those coupons and tote them in style!