Vacation Day 1: Domestic Goddess

Laundry, cooking, vacuuming, grocery shopping, sewing, white wine and BBC Scotland's Monarch on the Glen Season 2. Don't hate.

A Big Winter Project with Needle + Thread

Over the holiday break I handsewed 300+ yoyos. I was seriously out of control. If you've seen my Etsy shop, then you see all the new designs and creations I've listed this month - all due in part to my wicked insane sewing spurt.
BEFOREAnother thing to come out of this madness is a slew of new hair accessories I've put into my Indie Genius shop earlier today. In addition to the regular bobby and clips pairs, I've made little tiny clips and small bobbies in singles for only $5 each. If you're in the Dallas area, stop by Indie Genius today and get a pair or five! You'll be supporting your favorite fabric jewelry local artist! *flashes smile with gleaming sparkle*
AFTER

DIY Gift Wrapping Ideas

It's December 23rd, and I betcha half of you haven't finished wrapping gifts yet. Am I right? I, on the other hand, finished a couple of days ago at which point pigs actually began to fly. I know, crazy. So for those of you still in need of some gift wrapping encouragement and ideas, I've scoured the interwebs to find some simply, fun and totally DIY gift wrap ideas. No grab those scissors and get ready to wrap!

from diylife.com

Shoestrings and kerchiefs never looked so cute.

A pair of baby socks look like mini-stockings. Gimme gimme.

from stylemepretty.com - tutorial available!

A sweet collection of gift wrap ideas by Greg Likes Weddings.

from Urban Outfitters' blog - tutorial available!

Potato stamps, marbling and googly eyes, I would expect nothing less from UO.

And finally, here's a list of some of my very own DIY gift wrap must-haves: - fabric and felt scraps - baker's twine - raffia in various colors - burlap - pine cones, acorn caps and other things gathered from my backyard - old clothes that can be cut up to use as wrapping - large wooden beads Happy Wrapping, y'all! by Stephanie/tefi

Etsy Dallas Holiday Garland Tutorial

Reposted from the Etsy Dallas blog; written and handmade by Cheyne of CutOutAndCollect When it came time to decorate for our Jingle Bash, the Deco Squad planners (Cheyne, Laura and Larry) really wanted to echo the theme created in our gorgeous event fliers, by our own Christina of paperfingers. We decided to make a very simple felt garland that played on her beautiful leafy design. We ended up liking the garland so much that we wanted to share how to make it! It's seriously quick, inexpensive, and very versatile. Not crafty yourself? Skip to the bottom to find out how you can win the tutorial example - a 12 foot handmade garland the perfect length to decorate a doorway or mantle! What you'll need: - felt* - scissors - thread to match your most frequently occurring felt color - sewing machin - holiday music playlist worthy of your awesomeness. (Wham!'s "Last Christmas" on repeat is clearly your only option.) - hot chocolate or coffee. (It works like magic, trust me.) * We approximate the felt turns into at least 6 feet of garland per half yard of 36" wide felt on the bolt. So if you'd like at least 18 feet, buy 1.5 yards total. This is approximate and will vary on the leaf size, the spacing when sewn together, and how conservatively you lay out your leafs for cutting.

STEP 1

Choose your garland color scheme and gather your supplies. The Deco Squad chose the colors to match our Jingle Bash artwork. I'd love to do a gorgeous aqua and silver/grey garland!

STEP 2

Turn up "Last Christmas" on high volume, get that hot chocolate close to you, find a table to get to cutting. This step is clearly very important.

STEP 3

Cut your felt into nice little leaves. We made the ones for the Jingle Bash fairly large because we need to cover larger areas. I made my example leaves about 3 inches long. If you're not comfortable with a trial and error approach of cutting directly on the felt, draw out some leaves on paper and hold/pin the paper to the felt and cut around your drawn shape. After you've found the shape and size you like, it's easy to hold the original leaf onto the felt and cut replicas. Don't like our shape or need to print out a template? Click here to help you find something you like.

STEP 4

Work out the placement of your leaves. I chose three colors for the example garland so the colors would alternate well. Tip: You can pin your leaves to each other or on to a tracing paper backing if you aren't comfortable with placing them as you sew. Just rip the tracing paper off after it's sewn together. I chose to skip this step because I found it was easier to play with the placement as I sewed. You should be able to keep a straight stitch down the middle of the garland, catching the bottom/side of each leaf as you sew down. If you chose not to pin your leaves together, just add each leaf as you sew, paying attention to placement. Here's a tiny video of how that's done:

Tip: You may find that stitching in a curve back and forth catches more of each leaf and make a more structured garland. Be prepared to play with it a bit! And don't be completely scared of the seam ripper if you don't like your first try! Warning! This requires your hands to be very close to the needle. Please be aware of where your hands are. I've sewn through my fingernail (not with this project). I don't recommend it. It doesn't leave a cool war wound, it's mainly just painful and scary.

STEP 6

Drape it up on your mantle, on your tree, or in the doorway. Pretty! Put your own spin on it! Sew some ribbon on the end to tie to things, sew a short version with ribbon ends and make a grecian headband, choose super high quality wool felt and make a scarf! Show us what you make!

Or skip all that and comment on this blog post to win our leafy garland. Include your email address and we'll pick a winner at random to receive our sample garland in the mail in time for Christmas! Comments close Wednesday December 15th at midnight. Reblog and link in the comments for a second entry! US residents only, please!

Weekend Projects

Here's a little photo gallery of the tons of things I've been working on these past few weekends, namely fabric sculpture necklaces and brooches - using mainly Echino linen fabric from Japan. Lovely! I've made tons of fabric sculpture necklaces, hair clips and brooches bursting with color and texture. These are a stack ready for the finishing touches. Lots in my Etsy shop; new designs on the way! http://www.tefi.etsy.com/ Here's a stack of fabric from my friend Cheyne of Cut Out and Collect. She's always been kind enough to save me her scraps for my projects. Her shop: http://www.cutoutandcollect.etsy.com/ And here's another view of that beautiful stack of fabric. (Did you catch Ian in the other shot?) My weapon of choice when making fabric tags to go on the backs of my brooches and necklaces - Grandma's pinking shears. I use a custom-made stamp and permanent ink on durable linen for my fabric tags. A bird out of the cage - I love it! Wish they all were cage-free... Cheyne taught me to heat-set the ink, even if it is permanent. Even though I've tested them and the ink does not run, I advise my customers not to get their piece wet if they can help it. And here's the finished product! Stamped, heat set, and cut with pinking shears. Visit my Etsy shop today to see the items I've listed so far. So many more to come!

Tefi Loves: The Purl Bee

It is always a delight to visit The Purl Bee, the official blog for the Manhattan-based yarn and fabric shop, Purl Soho. Day after day, The Purl Bee posts beautifully-rendered knit projects, sewing tutorials, book reviews - even a glossary for those "huh?" moments. My favorite thing about The Purl Bee, other than the splashes of colorful photography, is that the reader does not feel she is being asked to buy their goods. Rather she is encouraged to sit back and enjoy the simple pleasures of knitting, sewing, embroidery, and other textile crafts. To get into the holiday spirit, try your hand at these sweet birdie ornaments, and pick your craft: knitting or sewing. Feeling intrepid? Try both!

Blog: http://www.purlbee.com/ Shop: http://www.purlsoho.com/ Location: Manhattan, NYC

Book Nerd

Yesterday I spent the day with Brenda of B.Liscious fame who helped me (finally!) figure out what was wrong with my sewing machine, after stuffing our faces at Amado's breakfast bar, of course. In her words, "When in doubt, check the bobbin." So we did. Again and again. And again. We were about to give up when she saw a diagram about 3/4 of the way in the manual and I swear I saw the lightbulb go off over her head. The problem: Jumbled up stitches known as "bird's nesting." The solution: Turning a screw a tiny bitty bit clockwise. That was it. So after a satisfied afternoon of of Singles and smoothies, I drove back home and got straight on the computer to order some sewing books (okay, after a 3-hour nap). Here's what I got: Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol 30 Colorful Quilt & Patchwork Projects by Denyse Schmidt In Stitches by Amy Butler Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson Pretty Little Patchwork by Larks Books (comp.) Sweet Needle Felts by Jenn Docherty Sew & Stow by Betty Oppenheimer I can't wait to get started!

Conjuring Hephaestus I

Tomorrow is my third metalsmithing class and I cannot wait. The hiss of the torch flame, the sound of pounding metal, the feel of the saw in my hand going up and down - it's as close to religion as I've come in a long time.

Our first project is a simple band ring. Last week we started it and tomorrow we finish the ring, which includes soldering with fine silver, filing, hammering, and polishing. Altho the ring itself is simple, there are so many steps to making it it's unreal. Who knew? When I become more adept I plan to outfit it with silver blobbies along the top to give it a textured, organic feel. Here are pics of it so far:

We also start the next project, which is a pair of pierced saw earrings on 1inx1in sterling sheet. That means we saw a design from the inside out (much like a punched hole in a piece of paper). When dealing with design, I love the idea of organic motifs, assymetry, and quirkiness. I wanted mismatched earrings that were still thematic. I settled on a very simple design that would be easy, funky, and hold up well with the saw. One earring has a cloud and the other an umbrella. I call it "Stormy Weather." Here's a sketch. More later!

Pass the torchie on the left hand side

Took my first metalsmithing class last night at the Craft Guild of Dallas. Had wayyy too much fun with the torch. Actually, I was scared, and still am. I'll get over it. Our teacher taught us a mneumonic device for remembering how to usethe torch: GOOG. Gas on, Oxygen on, Oxygen off, Gas off. When it was my turn I GOOGed and nothing happened. No fire, no hiss, only the stench of natural gas. "You have to light the torch," my teacher patiently reminded me. Oooooh. Yeah. So I did G then O then - WAIT! "Light the torch after Gas on but before Oxygen on." I rolled my eyes and laughed at myself and said, "Then shouldn't it be GLOOG instead of GOOG?" That got both a good laugh and a flame. I annealed my first piece of copper until it turned a pretty dark color, picked it up with my tweezers and yelled, "Hot metal!" and walked it over to the dousing bowl then put it into the pickle pot. Round of applause for Tefi. I took half a metalsmithing class about four years ago at the Creative Arts Center in East Dallas but got bored with my project and quit. I created a design that was just too dang difficult for a newbie and got fed up when it turned out to be so much work that everyone else had moved on and I was still polishing my piece of dirt pendant. (Note to self: Keep it simple in the beginning.) (Note to teachers: Don't let your big-dreaming students start off with a difficult project.) I really think I'm going to like this class a lot. More reporting will be forthcoming, especially after my first project next week which will be to make a sterling silver ring band. Will I marry me? I do!