Showing posts with label scallop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scallop. Show all posts

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Cajun Corner - Vol. 5, No. 42

 
 
 

Cajun Corner – Vol. 5, No. 42 – August 18, 2013

Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.

ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit us at www.cajunstitchery.com, www.flickr.com/photos/cajunstitchery, and, www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:



Still working hard on this beautiful, large embroidery design.

I saw a pattern for an embroidered muff the other day.  It reminded me of my mother’s wedding to my step-father.  My sister and I had a real cute white furry hat and muff.  We more or less shared.  The day of Mama’s wedding we both wanted to wear the hat and muff and began to argue.  Mama decided that one would wear the muff and the other the hat.  There is a picture of Mama and Daddy leaving the church after their wedding.  Nancy and I were in front of them.  What the picture does not show is that we were fighting over the muff.

Every little girl would love to have a nice furry, soft muff.  Even in southwestern Louisiana, little girls love muffs in the winter.  They are so soft, so romantic, and so girly.  They are very easy to make.  I made one when I first got Doris, the first embroidery machine.  It was made from some soft faux fur and a pretty mermaid was embroidered on the front.  The lining was a satin fabric and a pocket was constructed on the inside.  A friend of mine saw it and fell in love with it.  I know this because she took it and said “Mine.”  I haven’t seen it since.  Hope she was able to use it.

Oatmeal lowers cholesterol.  According to The Mayo Clinic the top 5 foods to lower your cholesterol are: (1) oatmeal, (2) fish and omega-3 fatty acids, (3) nuts, (4) olive oil, and (5) foods with added plant sterols or stanols.  We eat the first 4 items pretty regular and now we have oatmeal at the studio in case we want something to eat during the day.  High cholesterol can cause strokes.

We went out to eat Wednesday night at The Oar House.  George bought me a mermaid tee shirt.  Reminds me of the time we took our embroidery tech out to eat at this same restaurant.  The waitress had not been by our table in awhile so we called the restaurant on my friend’s cell phone and asked the waitress to bring us water.  It was all in fun and our waitress, at least appeared to understand and laugh along with us.

A scalloped edged handkerchief was designed a few weeks ago.  Since that time it appears that all sorts of shaped edges will work for handkerchiefs.  An organza hanky was made with multiple scallops along the edges.  I don’t think we will be selling that hanky since it occurred to me that since the organza is shear, when you blow your nose, you can see it.  Ewwwww.  We’ll use the organza for other items, not handkerchiefs.

Etsy sales have picked up a bit.  We sold another “You have a booger” handkerchief.  It always makes us laugh because that handkerchief design has out-sold everything else in our Etsy store.  We sell lots of napkins, handkerchiefs, and other items, but that one hanky design always seems to sell.

Several friends are heading out to a mermaid retreat on the east coast.  They will be gone for five days.  During their retreat they will have walking mermaid tails made, a photo shoot, and there was some talk of them performing.  Oh my.  I can’t wait until they return with all of their stories.  A couple of the girls attended a Merpalooza last week in Tampa.  There should be some really good stories when these girls return.

The holidays are just ahead.  If you are looking for a special gift for the man in your life, you might consider a nice woven shirt.  Check out our online catalog at: (http://www.imprintit.biz/cgi-bin/cobrand/site.w?location=b2c/product.w&action=catalog&department=DV00008&category=PC01298&prb=&srb=&mill=&product=LSFISH&brands=no&frames=no&target=main&sponsor=000699)

Browse around.  There are ladies styles, as well.  We carry name brand shirts such as:

 

o                                                        Bill Bass

o                                                        Calvin Klein

o                                                        Cubavera

o                                                        Featherlite

o                                                        Hilton

o                                                        Inner Harbor

o                                                        Jonathan Corey

o                                                        Nyne

o                                                        Robinson Manufacturing

o                                                        Sierra Pacific

o                                                        Van Heusen

o                                                        Weatherproof

 

Now that Christmas has come to mind, I realize that Christmas items need to be made soon or we won’t be ready for the holiday rush.  With that in mind today was R&D day, research and development.  Card stock can be embroidered.  It needs to be embroidered with cross-stitch embroidery; otherwise, the needle and thread can tear the card.  Today some old cards were used for embroidery samples and it not only worked beautifully, but metallic thread worked nice, as well.  There are several other methods that need to be tried and developed but it sure seems that embroidered Christmas cards may be in our repertoire soon. 

 

Continuing with R&D day, the new organza was hooped and embroidered with metallic thread.  That worked out remarkably well.  This, too, led to additional ideas that will require R&D.

 

The little North Pole sign or even the Christmas lights wreath with the monogram in the center would be perfect for napkins.  A friend of our’s loves his Christmas dishes.  So much that he would love to use them all year.  Do you have Christmas dishes?  A set of fanciful holiday embroidered napkins with your monogram would certainly enhance your table setting.

Have a wonderful week
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Thank you Jeanne Tawney for the following:


The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment:  Get their
parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.  The next
day, the kids came back and, one by one, began to tell their stories.

There were all the regular types of stuff:  Spilled milk and pennies
saved.  But then the teacher realized, much to her dismay, that only
Janie was left.

"Janie, do you have a story to share?"

'Yes  ma'am.  My daddy told me a story about my Mommy. She was a
Marine  pilot in Desert Storm, and her plane got hit.  She had to bail
out over enemy territory, and all she had was a flask of whiskey, a
pistol, and a survival knife.

She drank the whiskey on the way down so the bottle wouldn't break,
and then her parachute landed her right in the middle of 20 Iraqi
troops.  She shot 15 of them with the pistol, until she ran out of
bullets,  killed four more with the knife, till the blade broke, and
then she  killed the last Iraqi with her bare hands."
''Good Heavens,' said the horrified teacher.  What did your Daddy tell
you was the moral to this horrible story?"  "Don't f**k with Mommy
when she's been drinking."


Cajun Stitchery
(850) 261-2462
P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Lion Handkerchief


I have a piece of fabric that I have had for a long time.  At first I didn't use the fabric because I liked it so much I didn't want to use it on just any project.  It was intended for something special.  The years have gone by and the fabric stash has grown out of proportion.  The stash must be used.  This beautiful fabric was rediscovered as I was perusing the stash.  A few items have now been made out of this fabric, for instance, the earlier trapunto project. 

Although the fabric design has many animals, one piece had the complete lion's head in the center.  Ah ha!  Perfect for a handkerchief, showcasing the lion's head in the middle. 

The fabric was hooped with the lion's head in the center and I used some netting for stabilizer.

A stock design had a pretty scallop designed edge that looked as though it would make a beautiful edge but not infringe on the center of the hanky.  The edge design was intended to frame the lion's head.  Since th edge design was a corner of about 7", it was duplicated, flipped, and arranged to make a complete 10" square via the digitizing program.

The hoop was installed on the machine and the design was qued.  Rather than multi colors, it was decided to use one of the earth tones in the fabric.  A rich, dark brown was chosen.  The bobbin thread was matched to the upper thread.

The embroidery design began stitching.



At the end of the stitching, the project was unhooped.  The stabilizer was carefully cut away.  And the edges were trimmed from the bulk of the fabric.

Voila!  The lion's head hanky:>)






Saturday, April 14, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 14






Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 14 – April 14, 2012



Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.



ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:



Easter was a wonderful day.  George and I dyed eggs the night before and when visiting our friends on Easter Sunday, we hid the eggs in their yard.  The eggs were located and we hid them, again, throughout the house.  It was a lot of fun.

It has been a sad week.  One of the attorneys I worked with many years ago passed away in a drowning accident.  What makes matters even worse is that one of his daughters passed away last Saturday.  My heart and prayers goes out to this family.  They were a very close knit family.   The ray of sunshine from this horrible situation is that I was able to reconnect with some very dear friends from the law firm.

The scalloping edges are coming along.  I did another shirt with a scalloped edge and a design which turned out okay.  There were problems along the way with thread and needle breaks, but that is just more of me learning the new machine, I think.  All of the scallops that I have done so far have been on jersey tee shirts.  The first attempt was on the pink tee shirt and the second attempt was on the navy tee shirt.  Wovens will be much easier.

Have I ever discussed puff embroidery?  Puff embroidery is made using foam.  The foam is the same foam that you see when you go to a craft store or department.  Sometimes they are cut in the shape of little animals.  Sometimes they are larger circles or squares.  They even have visors made from the foam.  Puff embroidery uses a satin stitch, so, it cannot be very wide or the satin stitches will loosen and get caught on things.  It is also difficult to take a photograph of an item using puff embroidery and actually showing the effect.  The effect is that the stitch covered foam heightens the embroidery.  It is a texture that you can feel.  The design must be digitized for puff embroidery by eliminating the underlay.  At the point in the embroidery where the foam is used, the machine will stop.  The foam is then placed in the area for the puff embroidery and the machine begins stitching a dense satin stitch, thus perforating the foam.  When the area of puff is completed, just lift off the remaining foam and it is done.  Sounds easy, huh?  There are some complications with foam.  One is that sometimes little pieces of the foam protrude through the stitches.  This is resolved by using a pin to push the foam under the stitching.  It is always a good idea to use the same colored foam as your thread.  Another method is a magic marker pen in the same color as the thread.

Puff embroidery is great for outlines or even something less than ½ inch wide or so, but what if you want a larger area raised in your embroidery?  How would that be accomplished?  It can be done, you know.  The method is trapunto.  According to Wikipedia:

“Trapunto, from the Italian for "to embroider," is a method of quilting that is also called "stuffed technique." A puffy, decorative feature, trapunto utilizes at least two layers, the underside of which is slit and padded, producing a raised surface on the quilt.”

The trapunto method can be used on modern embroidery machines.  I’ve never tried it but the instructions make sense and seem to be fairly easy. 

If you are not a subscriber and would like to receive Cajun Corner weekly, please email cajunstitchery@yahoo.com and let me know to put you on our email list. 

Found this at http://www.craftynest.com/2010/07/camp-craft-duct-tape-wallets/

How to make duct tape wallets

Supplies and tools
·                 duct tape (Duck brand is available at The Home Depot, Michaels, and many other stores. TapeBrothers.com carries the widest selection of duct tape I have seen, including Platypus Designer Duct Tape.)
·                 craft knife (X-Acto or other utility knife. We used these mini cutters)
·                 self-healing cutting mat or other cutting surface (we used sheets of Plexiglass from my salvaged window project)
·                 credit card/driver’s license
·                 3- by 4-inch piece of clear plastic for ID window (I cut up a roll of clear plastic I had on hand)
·                 12-inch ruler with metal edge

Main fabric:
1. Tear off four pieces of tape that are at least 9 inches long. (Don’t use scissors. Don’t use your knife. Rip it!) Place them sticky-side-up on your cutting surface. Stick them to each other (front-to-back), overlapping about 1/2 inch.
2. Tear off four more pieces the same length. Starting about 1/2 inch from the top, adhere one piece at a time (back-to-back). The last piece should overlap about 1/2 inch. (The reason you start 1/2-inch down is to stagger the thicker parts of the duct tape “fabric” you’re making. If you don’t, some parts of the fabric will be four layers thick, which is difficult to fold.)
3. Fold over the top and bottom edges. Your fabric should now be about 6 inches tall.
4. Using your ruler and knife, cut a clean edge on the left side. Always use your ruler when cutting with your knife.
5. Then measure 8-1/2 inches and trim the other edge. Set aside.

Credit card pockets:
6. Tear off two pieces of tape about 5 inches long. Overlap them the same as step 1.
7. Tear off two more 5-inch pieces and adhere the same as step 2.
8. Fold over the top and bottom edges the same as step 3. This large pocket should be about 3 inches tall.
9. Using your ruler and knife, cut a clean edge on the left side.
10. Then measure 4 inches and trim the other edge. Set aside.
11. Tear off two pieces these are about 9 inches long. Stick them directly back-to-back.
12. Cut this double-sided piece into two 4-inch long pieces. These are your smaller pockets.
13. Tear off a 5-inch piece of tape. Rip it lengthwise down the middle. (Yes, I said rip it. Fast. You can do it. Don’t worry if it’s not exactly down the middle.)
14. Use two of the ripped pieces to make a top border on each of the small pockets. Tape the top edge, then fold over. Trim the excess.
15. Tear off a 4-inch piece of tape. Rip it lengthwise down the middle.
16. Stack the pockets on top of each other. Stagger the height of the two smaller ones evenly.
17. Place a credit card on top of the stacked pockets to make sure you leave enough space for your cards. Using one of your ripped pieces, tape the left side of your pockets right up to the edge of the credit card. Fold it over to the back side and trim the excess with your ruler and knife. Do not tape the right side yet.

ID window:

18. Use another ripped piece to tape the right edge of your window. Fold it over and trim the excess. Do not tape any other edge yet. Set aside.

Final assembly:

19. Fold your main fabric in half lengthwise. Make sure the height of your pockets, window, and wallet are all the same height (3 inches). If not, trim them as necessary.
20. Unfold the main fabric. Place the window and pockets in opposite upper corners of your main fabric. Rip a 9-inch piece of tape lengthwise. Option 1: Use one piece to tape the top edge all the way across. Or option 2: Using your knife and ruler, cut one of the pieces in half endwise. Tape the window down, lining up the cut edge with the right side of the window. Then tape the pockets down, lining up the cut edge with the left side of the pockets. Trim off the excess.
21. Tear off another 4-inch piece of tape. Rip it lengthwise down the middle.
22. Refold your main fabric. Place a credit card on top of the pockets. Using one of the ripped pieces, tape the right side of your wallet right up against the edge of your credit card. Fold it over the entire wallet. Trim the excess with your knife.
23. Tape the left edge (window side) of your wallet the same way. Trim the excess.
24. Following either option 1 or 2 in step 20, tape the bottom edge the same way. This piece will show on the outside of your wallet, so follow option 1 if you want a contrasting border. (You can cut out a notch on the inside, if you prefer.)
25. Fold your wallet in half endwise, then press it flat.
26. Add decoration with duct tape as desired. You’re done!
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C’est tout, mes amis



Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462




P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Cajun Corner - Vol. 4, No. 13


Cajun Corner – Vol. 4, No. 13 – April 7, 2012



Bon Jour!  Welcome to Cajun Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.



ΘΘΘΘΘ

Don’t forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com, and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com often.   We are also on Twitter and Facebook. 

Visit our on-line catalogs at:



This week I’ve been able to do a bit of catch up work and try out some techniques that have intrigued me.

The first technique was embroidering scalloped edges on a tee shirt.  Using the appliqué technique, I digitized a simple scalloped placement line, then a tack down line, then the satin stitch.  After sewing the tack down line, I was able to trim the excess fabric as in appliqué.  When the satin stitch sewed out the fabric was trimmed and left a very nice scalloped edge.  I used a tear away stabilizer.  The only problem with the tear away stabilizer is that when you tear it away some fuzzy cotton residue remains.  That’s not so bad if you are embroidering with white thread, but the darker the thread the more obvious the fuzz.  There are a couple of ways to deal with the fuzz.  One is to trim the fuzz that you can and then using a magic marker the same color as the thread, cover the fuzz with the magic marker.  Another method is to singe it off, but only if your thread is a poly-type threads that will melt.  The final method is to just leave it.  Most people won’t even notice.  Another technique is to hoop plastic or wash away, instead of the tear away.  It was my tee shirt and I used tear away, trimmed away any noticeable fuzz and let it go.  It looked good enough for me.

Next, I wanted to begin practicing some continuous hooping a/k/a multi-hooping.  This is where you embroider a design that is larger than your hoop.  After embroidering the design in the hoop; un-hoop and re-hoop the design in such a way that the embroidery will begin in the new hoop where the previous embroidery stopped.  I used the scalloped edges of the previously mentioned tee shirt.  Paying close attention to where the first stitch is placed and pinning the fabric in place, the continuous/multi hooping project proceeded without a hitch.  The end of the multi-hooping, when doing a continuous hooping that meets at the other side, i.e., table cloth edging or scalloped edges on a tee shirt, should match perfectly with the beginning.  In other words, the last stitch of the last hooping should meet with the first stitch of the first hooping.  Alas, mine did not.  The tee shirt was very stretchy and I ended up with a space of about one scallop, which I kind of slid into place.  That is not the most professional method but it worked in a pinch.

The scalloped edged continuous hooping was very simplistic.  This technique can become quite arduous with more complicated designs.  Therefore, I need to practice, practice, and practice.

My mama loved scalloped edges.  She thought they were very feminine and had a professional look.  Hand embroidered scallops require drawing and cutting the scallops; then sewing a running stitch near the depth of the scallop satin stitch; and finally, tightly and evenly sewing the satin stitch along the edge.  That is much too time consuming for me.  On a sewing machine there are a couple of techniques.  One is just like the hand embroidered satin stitch, except you use a tear away or wash away stabilizer after the edges are cut.  Good luck getting those to look right.  The simpler way is not to cut the fabric but sew the scallops and come back and trim the excess fabric from the scalloped edges.  This is especially nice if you have a scallop stitch on your sewing machine.  But you have to be very careful not to accidentally clip a satin stitch.  This method is used frequently on items at stores.  The embroidery machine method, explained above, gives the best of both worlds.  The end result is a satin stitched scallop without the clipped fabric showing and no snipped stitches.  Of course, scalloped edges can be done easily on a sewing machine by using a facing, but that isn’t embroidery and embroidery is what I do.

Scallops are not the only thing done this week.  We had an accident at the house.  One of the burners on the stove was left on and a pot holder somehow was on the burner.  The pot holder burned.  Don’t worry.  There was no damage other than a ruined pot holder.  The pot holder is one that I made several years ago and was our favorite.  Pot holders were probably the first thing that Mama taught me to sew.  They are a great way to use scrap fabric.  The nice thing about making pot holders is that they are not as thin and flimsy as most store bought pot holders, and they are large enough to be useful.  The ITH (In The Hoop) designs for pot holders all seem to be too small and too flimsy.  Awhile back I did design and made some pot holders ITH but they were not exactly what I wanted.

BASIC POT HOLDER

1.      Find the fabric you want to use for the pot holder.

2.      Embroider the design you want on ½ the fabric for the pot holder.

3.      Cut the fabric, leaving enough around the edges for your seam.  This step can also be done before the embroidery process as long as you have enough fabric to hoop.  I cut mine on a fold.  I like a pot holder about 6” wide and 8” tall.

4.      With right sides together, sew a seam around 3 sides, leaving one side open for stuffing.  Turn.

5.      Take some scrap fabric, or whatever you want to use for stuffing, and place inside the pouch.  Lay the pouch down and spread the stuffing evening throughout the pouch.  Do not fill tight, just enough to give a nice, thick, quilted pot holder.

6.      Turn the open end inside and pin closed.

7.      Run your sewing machine over the entire pouch a few times, creating the quilting and sew the end closed.

8.      Trim your threads and voila!  You have a pot holder. 

Of course, this pot holder is very simple.  There are all kinds of pot holders and designs for pot holders.  Mama always taught me to save scraps of fabric and keep a bag by my machine for the trimmed off thread and little bits of fabric and lace.  These come in very handy on many sewing occasions.  I’ve been teased a lot about saving all of my scraps but when I was making those little letter pillows to spell “Cajun Stitchery”, those scraps came in very handy.  When making Evie a soft pillow those scraps came in handy.  There are numerous uses for scraps.

Our new puppy, Sammy, is acclimating to life at our home.  We searched online about how to introduce a puppy to an older dog and found several articles.  Basically, you just let them alone and they will handle it.  Make sure the older dog gets lots of petting and attention.  One article specifically addressed a male and female dog and said, “The bottom line is that the bitch rules.”  It is obvious that Evie rules in this situation.  However, I liked the sentence so much that I told George it is now my mantra.

Tonight George and I continue our tradition of Easter Egg Dying. 

HAPPY EASTER

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========================================================

A little shimmer never hurt anyone! Add some metallic or glitter stripes you your Easter eggs to give them a super glam look! Easter just got super stylish!

Found this at:  http://www.ehow.com/how_2126489_make-homemade-easter-egg-dye.html


 


HOW TO MAKE HOME MADE EASTER EGG DYE


Instructions


  1.  

o                                1

Add vinegar as a mordant. A mordant prepares the fiber to accept and hold the dye. Vinegar is safe to use on eggs because it can be ingested. You need 1 to 2 Tablespoons per batch of dye that you make.

o                                2

Make homemade dye with produce or pantry items. The outer layers of an onion make brown dye, spinach or dandelion leaves make green dye and celery seed, ground turmeric or orange peels make yellow dye. Use crushed blueberries to make blue dye, crush cranberries or raspberries to make red dye and beet juice or chopped rhubarb to make pink dye. Put enough water to cover eggs, produce or pantry item and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

o                

o                                3

Use drinks to dye your Easter eggs. Add vinegar and hard boiled eggs to coffee or tea to dye them brown. You can make unsweetened Kool Aid into dye. Or you could use vibrant juices like grape juice or cranberry juice.

o                                4

Mix food coloring for dye. Add 20 to 40 drops of food coloring to a cup of water and vinegar. The amount of food coloring determines the shade of the color. You can mix different amounts two or more colors to create a variety of shades.

Tips & Warnings


·         Use gloves to prevent your hands and fingers absorbing your homemade dye.
·         Put newspaper under the area where you are dying Easter eggs to protect surfaces from dye.
·         Always allow your eggs to boil and then simmer for at least eight minutes.

=================================================================

C’est tout, mes amis



Peggy Henshall

Cajun Stitchery

(850) 261-2462




P.S.  You are always welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me, cher.