Plastic Bag Bonanza!

As I write this post my studio and kitchen table are in complete and utter chaos, but at least I have something to show for it.

The chaos began yesterday when I decided to try my hand at fusing plastic bags.  though I’ve seen the technique on-line and in books, this was my first time actually doing it.  I found that watching this video by Etsy right before beginning to be extremely helpful.

After fusing the bags I decided to make some wallets.  They aren’t anything new.  I saw a similar wallet made from fused bags in a library book (The name of which has escaped me), but I made up the exact pattern for mine on my own.  It’s a standard bi-fold wallet with a pocket for bills plus four additional pockets for credit cards, licence, etc.

I found that the target bags work well for fusing, which I’m happy about since I wasn’t very excited about using them for making plarn.  I also like that fusing gives me another way of repurposing the plastic bags.

Once I made a few bi-fold wallets I decided to make some single pocket pouches for cards.  I think these would be great to house your business card collection, or better yet, those promotional punch cards that you get from just about everywhere you go these days (I work at a business that gives out these punch cards and people are forever loosing them).  These little pouches could even hold your credit card and licence, then slip discretely into your pocket.  Simple, yet effective, right?  It’s also a good way to take advantage of bags with neat logos or colors that you don’t have many duplicates of (which is important for making plarn).

I suppose you think that I will abandon the extremely labor intensive process of making plarn and crocheting with plastic bags now that I’ve discovered the magic of fusing, right?

Nope, that simply isn’t the case at all.  Below is a bag that I finished a couple of days ago.  The body of the bag was based off of the Easy as Pie Purse by Tracy B over on Ravelry.  If you read the pattern you will see that I removed the gusset and crocheted purse straps.  For the straps I used recycled leather ones off of an old purse and instead of a gusset I simply altered the pattern slightly by adding a couple of rows of stitches that don’t increase, thus making them curve inward.  The button is handmade by Jessi Gerak of Buttons Bones Ceramics.  She makes beautiful utilitarian ceramic pieces and was kind enough to give me this button during the May Day Show where we both vended.

Have you tried fusing plastic bags before?  What was your experience?  I’d love to see what you have come up with using this technique!  If you have, include a link in the comments below.  If you’ve never tried fusing bags but were inspired to do so by this post I’d love to here from you too!

To keep updated on all things zween, like zween on facebook.

Also, if you’ll be in the Akron, Ohio area this weekend I hope to see you at the Rowdy Indie Craft Fair this Sunday, August 14th.  It’s not just a craft fair either, as there will be craft and yoga demonstrations and live bands in the evening in addition to the awesome crafts to buy.  I’ll have these newly-made fused plastic bag creations as well as cards, earrings, gift boxes and much much more upcycled awesomeness!

*this post has just been added to Made By You Mondays over on Skip to my Lou.

DIY Dress Redo

Do you like to shop at thrift stores and yard sales?  Me too!  I’ve come to be a very picky shopper when it comes to thrift stores.  For one thing, they aren’t as cheap as they used to be, so even if I really like a garment, I usually wont buy it unless I’m really satisfied with the fit.  Usually.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of reworking garments and breathing new life into them, I’m just not very good at it.  I know my limitations.  I like to sew, but my skills are only so so.

The following is a little story about how and why I chose to rework this cotton thrift store sundress.  I was inspired to write this post after reading about the Me-Made-June 2011 challenge which my friend Margaret of the blog senjiva and the Cynical Carnival is participating in.  The gist of the challenge is to wear one thing that you’ve made yourself every day for the month of June.  The items can be complete outfits, a single garment piece (like a skirt or top) or an accessory.  They can be sewn, knit, crochet, whatever.  I really admire Margaret for taking on this challenge.

So although I am not participating in the Me-Made-June 2011 Challenge, I thought I’d share this story…

A few years ago my husband and I went to Hawaii to become WWOOFers (WWOOF stands for world wide opportunities on organic farms).  Before we left, we went shopping for some “good” down and dirty work cloths.  You know, stuff we could get really messed up but would keep us nice and protected from the sun while working on a farm.  We also knew that we’d need to pack very light for this three-week trip.

While we were shopping I came across this really cute sun dress.  I thought, this would be the perfect thing for me to wear around in hot and humid Hawaii after changing out of my work clothes each day.  The only problem; it didn’t fit.  It was too big.

No biggie.  At home I took it in on the sides.  Then I added straps (scraps from another sun dress that was stained and too small) to be doubly sure that it wouldn’t fall down on me.  I even added an extra piece of fabric with some elastic on the bottom edge to the inside of the bodice which acts as a kind of built-in bra.

I didn’t think that the dress was appropriate to wear in Morocco so it went into storage for last a couple of years.  Then, a few weeks ago when the weather started to warm up, I decided to get it out.  I discovered that I really liked it with a light weight, short-sleeve cardigan (above) that I found at a thrift store recently and my favorite leather flats (handmade in Morocco).

But, it was missing just one thing…pockets!  When I’m working at home I’m always wearing my ipod nano, which is why I need to have pockets.  Luckily I still had just enough of the fabric I used for the straps to make two pockets that I top stitched onto the dress, using the side seams as my guides.

I love how light, airy and comfortable this dress is.  I wear it all the time, usually on the hottest days.  It’s so functional!  Plus it makes my feel feminine and dressed up, even if I don’t leave the house, but at the same time I’m not embarrassed to leave the house in it either.

If you’ve been on the fence about reworking a thrifted garment but are apprehensive because of your sewing skills, I say just go for it!  Really, you don’t have anything to lose, but you might just gain one of your favorite outfits.

Sunglasses case tutorial

One of the best things about summer and being able to wear contacts again is sporting sunglasses (I was on a three-year hiatus from contacts right before and during my time in the Peace Corps).  My favorite are the really big bug kind, like the ones pictured above.  In fact, not only are they my favorite, they are my only pair.  That means I need to take care of them and not get them scratched up and why I decided they needed a cute case.

I’ve had the fabric that I used for the case for a long time.  I’ve always loved the pattern and colors, but never really had a good reason to use it.  It’s a soft, fleece-like material which made it perfect for this project, plus it coordinates really well with my everyday purse.

I came up with a really simple pattern which you’ll easily be able to replicate and customize for your own glasses at home.

Materials needed:
Soft fabric
Paper, pencil, and ruler
Scissors (for paper and cloth)
Sewing machine and thread
A small bit of elastic
One button

Step one: make your pattern. Decide how wide and long you want your case to be. Add 1 1/4″ to the width to account for the seam allowance. The length will be the length of the finished case x 2 + 2 1/2″ (for the flap) + 1 1/4″ (for the seam allowance). My pattern is 16 3/4″ x 5 1/4″. I then used a food container lid to make the edges rounded. You’ll notice in the picture below that there appears to be two patterns. That’s because I originally thought I would add some batting between my layers of fabric for extra cushion, however I later decided that this was unnecessary.

Step two: Using your pattern, cut out two identical pieces of fabric.

Step three: Pin the two pieces of fabric together (right sides facing). Bend the small piece of elastic in half (like a horseshoe) and place it in the middle of one of the short sides of the fabric. Make sure that the two ends of the elastic are in line with the edges of the fabric and the loop part is facing in. The elastic should be sandwiched between the two pieces of fabric. (Note that the picture below shows the elastic before it was inserted between the two layers of fabric.)

Step four: sew around the perimeter of the piece using a 5/8″ seam allowance. Leave a 2-3″ gap in the middle of one of the long sides to turn right side out. Before turning right side out, trim corners like pictured below.

Step five: Press your piece flat.  “quilt” your fabric.  This step isn’t really necessary.  I decided that I would run two lines of stitches down the length of the fabric, corresponding with the pattern for aesthetics and also to keep the fabrics from shifting.

Step six: Use your glasses to figure out where you want your case to be folded. Top stitch around the three sides to make the pocket. (Notice that I didn’t sew that little opening shut that I used for turning. It is unnecessary as it is now top stitched.)

Step seven: Top stitch the flap of the case. If the elastic doesn’t seem secure enough with just the seam stitch and the top stitching (as mine wasn’t) add extra stitching to ensure that the elastic loop doesn’t pull out. Position and sew on your button.

Now you’re ready to tote your sunglasses wherever you go this summer without worrying about scratches!

*Bonus* you can alter this pattern slightly to make a matching coin purse too! Instead of the button and elastic, I used two snaps as the closure. The buttons on the outside of the flap are just decorative to cover up the stitching from the snaps.

Happy sewing!

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Wanted: Constructive Critique

Today I am sharing some fabric collages that I’ve been working on lately in hopes to get some responses from my readers.  So if anyone is out there, please have a look and respond with your thoughts with a comment.

The following tells a meandering tale of how it is that I came to make fabric collages, so please bare with me.

It all started when I was accepted to participate in another indie craft fair organized by the Cleveland Craft Coalition.  Though the show is called Spring Showers and has a loose shower theme (think baby and bridal), they also excepted me as an “other” vendor, meaning that although I didn’t fit into those categories they’d let me participate anyway.

I haven’t really found my niche yet, so I’ve been trying to play around with a lot of different materials and mediums, mostly trying to incorporate materials that I already have on hand while trying to come up with a somewhat cohesive collection of products.

Thinking spring, I started crocheting a bunch of brightly colored flowers then added fun buttons and made them into hair clips.

While thinking about how I could display them at a craft fair I came across a small stash of old, wooden picture frames.  I grabbed one of the frames, attached some strips of bedsheet  fabric and vola!  A hair clip display!

I propped the display frame against the window on my work table so that I could look at it and decide what to do next.  The hair clips were fun to make, but at the last CCC craft bazaar a few other vendors where also selling hair clips (all of which were super cute!).  Though mine aren’t like the ones being sold at Bella Dubby last month, I thought it was probably best to focus my attention on making something other than hair accessories.  So, it was back to the drawing board…

Looking at the flower hair clip display gave me an idea though.  I really liked the way they looked with the frame and started to ponder how I could make some visual art incorporating the crochet flowers.

Of course this lead me to pull out all my fabric…

Playing around with materials, I came up with the following four pieces.  All of the following four pieces are intended to be put in frames, though only some of them are photographed that way. Also, keep in mind that I intend that the frames be painted white (something that I need to do on Tuesday when it will be a bit warmer I hope).  The first two pieces are 8″ x 10″ and the other three are 11″ x 14″.  These aren’t the best photos, but they give you an idea of what I’m talking about…

To create these fabric collages I was stitching the layers together both by hand and with my sewing machine. In some parts I was also using some really old (and extremely wrinkled) stitch witchery to adhere some of the layers together, mostly to help with the sewing.

Soon I ran out of the little stitch witchery that I had so I went to Pat Catans to see if I could buy some more. What I found was something that was similar in concept, but this stuff came on a role and had a piece of paper on one side that you peel off so as to adhere one fabric to the other. It was a lot more controlled and precise than what I had been using, but on the packaging (which I had failed to read throughly before buying) said not to use if sewing was needed. Hmmm…

Since I was half way through a design I was working on already, I decided to give it a try. Here’s the result:

Above; moose antlers, 11″ x 14″

Interesting, but not exactly what I had in mind.

The new fabric adhesive product gave me an idea for making smaller projects though.  Up until this point I was limited to how much detail I could get with the fabric pieces.  Make them too small and the pieces would lose their definition if they frayed at all.  This fabric adhesive, however, made my cutting precise and kept the cut fabric looking sharp.  That made me think that it would lend itself to more of a graphic look.  My original idea was to use mat board in conjunction with painting stretchers.  I have several reclaimed modular stretcher segments but the lengths are pretty long.  I wanted to work with a smaller, more intimate scale, at least for now.  I’m much happier with the way these last two came out yesterday.  They are both roughly 5″ x 7″ and mounted on some scrap double thick mat board and remind me of post cards (hmm…this sounds like another idea…).   I like the way that the base fabric wraps around the board, giving a nice, finished look.  I can attach a small piece of hardware to the back for easy hanging; making a frame unnecessary (ironic, since the frames are what lead me to make hangable art in the first place).

Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think about this direction that I’m headed.  That’s one thing I miss the most about being in art school, the  constant access to peers and professors ready and willing to give their opinions about your work.