Put Your Passion to Work!

If you are interested in putting your sewing, knitting, or crocheting talents to work for the good of others, I invite you to join the current “Littlest Warriors” (Project 16) at Craft Hope. We have participated in past projects and found it to be a great way to give back something creatively.  If you haven’t heard of them, please learn more about Craft Hope on their website. Jade Sims is the founder of Craft Hope, and continues to bring crafters and causes together to create items that are needed during crisis. Haiti, Birds rescued from the Oil spill, dresses for little girls in a Mexico shelter, and sock monkeys for the littlest burn victims, are just some of the successful projects at Craft Hope.

Cancer Breeds Warriors

The Littlest Warriors is their most current project, and they are asking for handmade beanies and bags for children that are facing a challenging journey with cancer. The children can carry their bags, filled with all their favorite things for their hospital visits, or treatments. You have the option to fill the bag with items that would delight any child (please use good sense, and keep safety in mind). Cute, unique, funky beanies are also desired (all sizes from babies to teens). And, don’t forget they need items for both boys and girls. It’s a great opportunity to create “stitches that count.” It doesn’t matter if you make one item, or 20, they are all needed, and wanted.

I hope that you will consider creating a special beanie or bag for a child that is so brave, and so appreciative.  The deadline is March 12, so there is still plenty of time. You can find all the information you need at Craft Hope.

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” ~ Dalai Lama

Watch & Learn!

We are on You Tube, in case you haven’t heard yet! We started doing craft tutorials a couple of months ago. We started with  beginners crocheting, and sewing tutorials. Rachel did a great tutorial on Vintage Bottlecap Magnets, and Crochet Basics.  My videos cover some sewing basics, such as Threading the Machine, Sewing a Seam, and the newest, Blind Hemming. Creating videos has been a challenging, but rewarding experience for us. We love being a part of your creative journey, and providing support. And, we are learning a lot too, especially about making videos, which I had never done before! There is a certain amount of discomfort that comes with putting yourself “out there” and speaking into a microphone. I definitely stepped out of my comfort zone, but I am enjoying every minute of it. I know I have more to learn, but that’s part of the process, and it can only get better from here. I would have never seen myself producing video tutorials, but sometimes your path can lead to an unexpected place.

Our goal is continue to create, share, and inspire through our blog, You Tube Channel, and our handmade treasures. We wish to thank all of those that follow us, and if you are not a follower, we hope you will consider following us.

The following tutorial will guide you through sewing a basic straight seam.  For practice, cut a couple of 6″ squares of fabric, that you can sew together.

Step One:  Place your fabric with right sides together, and line up the edges, where you will sew your seam.

Step Two:  Raise you presser foot, place fabric under presser foot, lining it up with one of the seam measurements located on your needle plate. (It should say 5/8″ for normal seam) You want the edge of you fabric to be on that line.

Step Three:  Lower you presser foot, then sew slowly 3 or 4 stitches, then place the machine in reverse sewing for a couple of stitches (this is to lock your stitches, so they don’t unravel)  Your reverse button should be located either on your front panel of the machine, or on your handwheel.

Step Four:  Now continue sewing forward (at a comfortable speed, to maintain control and keep you stitches straight) until you have reached the end of your seam.

Step Five:  Again, at the end of your seam, reverse a few stitches, and then finish to end of fabric.  Lift presser foot, remove fabric, cut threads!  Congratulations!  You have just sewn a seam!  That was easy, right??

But Wait!

Next, you need  to press your seam.  This is one step that a lot people seem to skip or ignore, but it is extremely important if you want your project to look crisp, and professional.

Lay you sewn piece on the ironing board with seam up.  Separate the seam, and press it open (a little steam is helpful)  Now turn you fabric piece over, and press again.  You should press all seams, and your project throughout the process to give it that nice finished look.

See? It isn’t so hard, but if you prefer a video tutorial, I invite you to watch Simply Sew ~ A Straight Seam

Happy Sewing!
Bonnie

• Pookasplace
• Happy Delusions
• AnnaMaries Accessories

And here’s a little preview of our items…TLC Inspirations

We are experiencing many changes this year, most of them positive.  Rachel has moved to North Carolina (due to hubby’s job) which has brought a slew of challenges for her and her family.  It was an 8 day journey with a moving truck trying to avoid floods and tornados, but they made it!  They are currently getting settled in their new home, and new community.  Since they have never been anywhere on the east coast, there should be a lot to learn and explore.  I miss them, but sometimes moms just need to let go, and let live.  We have many ways to stay connected, and continue our TLC Inspirations partnership, thanks to technology.

Since we closed down our online shops temporarily, we have been expanding our crafting into new directions.  Rachel has been learning how to machine and needle felt, and she has created some adorable and unique handbags.  I, on the other hand, have become more interested in machine embroidery, and trying to implement that beautiful craft into some of my bag designs.  We hope to have some of these new creations available to our customers online soon.  We will keep you posted.

On another note, we started a YouTube channel a couple of months ago, and will be creating tutorials, so that we can share our experiences, ideas, and knowledge.  We hope that you will watch for upcoming tutorials, and visit our YouTube Channel, and subscribe as we add more content.

Find us on FB, Twitter, YouTube, and of course, here on our blog.

Bonnie & Rachel

Just found “Wordle” and love creating word collages with it! So fun – trust me, give it a try. The “randomizer” is the coolest. Anyway, as you can see, there are a lot of the things that come up for me when I think of crafting.

And, speaking of crafting, don’t forget about our last post, “Crafters Challenge: What’s in YOUR Closet?“, as I’ll be posting my follow-up to that post this Monday, Jan. 24th. I just want to share what I’ve come up with using materials I already have on hand. HINT: made my girls clean out their dresser drawers Oh, and please, please, please send me pics or links to anything YOU’ve created – would love to share them on our blog!