Crafty Moms

Vintage Fabric

ldcoffel — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:36:56 GMT

I have a few ideas I want to try using vintage fabric.

Where would be a good place to look? Thrift shops?

speaking of wooden shipping pallets- where did you get yours?

BeckyOff — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:35:55 GMT

speaking of wooden shipping pallets- where did you get yours?

Also, the pallets I've seen all look terribly rough. Seems like for the all the sandpaper you'd need, you should just go buy the lumber you need from Home Dump, Lowes, etc.

trunk organizer

PhillyGal34 — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:30:07 GMT

Has anyone sewn a car trunk organizer? if so, what pattern did you use? anything you would change if you did it again (fabric, size, etc)... bonus for PIP

Thanks!!

Brother PE 400

Hilaboo86 — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:03:29 GMT

I'm very very new at monogramming but I just got a PE 400. My question is how can I set up a monogram for initials. Like a small e large k and small a. I hope that made sense! My pregnancy brain is killing me today. If someone could send directions or a link to a tutorial that is worth a hoot I would much appreciate it!! TIA!

Share a Pin Friday (May 17)

mamarazzi528 — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:57:10 GMT

Let's share some ideas! Please post any new crafty project ideas you've found recently in the form of Pinterest pins, tutorials, blogs, patterns, pictures, etc.

Make the link clicky if you can!

If you've already done the project feel free to post a PIP in addition, but otherwise no self-promotion.

Nap mat

traceyt07 — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:03:25 GMT

Anyone have any experience with making their own nap mat? Ds will be going to preschool in August (sob :'( ) and I have some extra fleece laying around so I thought I'd try it. I've found a few pinterest posts but I'm not very good with my sewing machine so I'm a bit confused. Anyone have suggestions?

Question For Scrapbooking Mommas!

BabyNewbury2012 — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:11:04 GMT

What are you planning or have you done for your lo's albums? A an album every year? A first year album and then a few layouts every other year in another book? Family albums only after first year?

A friend of mine done her boys first year, then she does 4-5 layouts per year in another album (will turn into a few obviously) and then she also does a yearly family album for herself.'

I know I am going to do my lo's first year book but Im not sure how to go on from there.

Any suggestions? Would love to know what you did or are doing?

Thank you!

Crafty/Idea blog!

Koala77 — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:35:47 GMT

Hi Everybody!

I've been following the bump since I first got pregnant over 5 yrs ago. Back then I was just blogging for my family, but in the past year have branched out to be a resource for the community at large.

I'd like to invite you to take a look!! We do lots of crafts and things in the community

http://thisfineday.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thisfinedaycom

I'd love to hear from you!! So, please stop by and leave a comment :-)

I'm a SAHM/WFHM, who graduated from UCB and just never left and I still live in Berkeley, Ca. I do plenty of fun activities with the kiddos if you're looking for some ideas (either where to go or what to do at home). I'm most interested in building community, self and really being a citizen of where we live and connecting through it all with our kids!

Thanks for reading and hope to see you soon!

Becky

XP: Pallet Projects?

Kittery16 — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:42:16 GMT

Anyone make anything cool? Let's hear it!

Weekly Craft Checkin! (May 13)

mamarazzi528 — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:04:49 GMT

1. What did you accomplish last week? (Any pictures to share?)

2. What are your plans for this week?

3. GTKY: How long have you been married (if you are)?

Recommend some tools for me (woodworking)

Nukke — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:40:47 GMT

I'm in the process of disassembling my rocking chair into pieces so that I can sand and then stain it. Or sand and paint it. Either way, I've hit a snag.

Four of the screws on the bottom rocker are rusted through, and I don't know how to get them out. Suggestions? Here are the culprits:

this one's probably the worst (someone stripped it completely )

You can see the water damage to the bottom runner in all these photos. It's no wonder this happened.

ANYWAY, my second question is in regards to a small handheld sander. Any recs? Here are the swirly bits I need to sand:

Thanks for any advice you can offer :D

ETA: I'm thinking of getting an inexpensive detail sander like one of these:

Black n Decker Mouse

Skil 120-Volt

thoughts?

Making hat boxes look like cakes?

theatrelily — Thu, 16 May 2013 17:55:41 GMT

I am planning to do my nursery in a "garden tea party" theme to match the most adorable tea pot lamp that I received as a gift at my work shower.

As a part of the gifts (the theme of the shower was "Upcycled", since my boss knows it's something that appeals to my craftier side) someone bought me a three-tiered stack of round hat boxes. The fabric that they are covered in is pretty ridiculous, so I was thinking of reupholstering them with a white/cream fabric, and decorating them as stacked cakes to fit in with the tea party theme.

Does anyone have any suggestions of how I could decorate them to look like cakes? I thought of maybe using some of the puffy t-shirt paint as "frosting" for making leaves and flowers, but that's pretty much where my creativity bows out for now. I do know that I would like to decorate each of the three hat boxes differently. I am thinking at least one could incorporate the swirly-swirls that are on the lamp itself. I am also thinking that I could use smaller plastic "pearly" beads as candy beads.

I would be very grateful for any other ideas you ladies may have... :)

Another craft question

pensparade — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:11:49 GMT

I am going to try my hand at painting signs to look like they are on distressed wood. My mother just re-did her entire basement to be an apartment and want's some wall decorations. If I can manage to do it and have it look half decent, I am considering signs for other areas of a house. The apartment is likely going to be for my sister and her military family. What do you think about something that says,
"from sea to shining sea" or "at the twilight's last gleaming"

Does that sound lame to hang up in a "livingroom" ?

Also, has anyone tried doing the distressed wood thing before? Any tips??

wedding ideas anyone???

Faith 21 — Mon, 13 May 2013 20:09:05 GMT

So I am getting married on July 12th and was wondering of some really neat ideas to decorate my home with the stuff I use at the wedding. Any ideas???? Thanks so much.

Another applique question (machine)

PhillyGal34 — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:37:34 GMT

Last night I tried to stitch out a pattern before I do the actual shirt. I used a tear away stabilizer under my cotton fabric and then used heat and bond between the cotton and the applique cotton... I then did another layer of heat and bond and cotton for the top applique layer. everything was going well until I went to do the satin stitch. The needle kept sticking and I would hear an audible pop when it pulled out of the fabric and it would then skip a few stitches. I noticed some stickiness and fabric fuzz on the needle at the top point that the needle went through the fabric at (does that make sense?) I removed the "gunk" and it would work well until it happened again. The applique came out looking really sloppy.

So my question is two fold. What did I do wrong and how can I fix it? Should I be using something else to stick the fabric together between the outline and tacking steps? ... sorry that's three questions

Anyone Sell Stuff on Etsy? Sorta NBR

katiebird1127 — Wed, 01 May 2013 18:21:34 GMT

I'm just wondering if any of you sell your baby/infant/kid handmade items on Etsy? If so, do you find it's lucrative and/or does it pay for your hobby :) ?

what to do with empty formula cans?

bloomraiser — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:48:49 GMT

Any suggestions on repurposing empty powdered formula cans or plastic jugs? We use Gerber gentle 24 oz, white plastic w blue lid.

Happy Mothers Day

EmpireMomof3 — Sun, 12 May 2013 20:07:16 GMT

I hope you all have had a moment of peace today.

DIY mobile design help

chattychiqa — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:55:02 GMT

I have gone with this crib bedding.

I wanted something a little different but tied in with it for a mobile. I bought a foam cake form, and poked a bunch of fake pink, yellow, lavender, yellow and white daisies into it, then filled in the gaps with fake hydrangea blooms. So far it looks awesome...like a flowery cake lol. I also bought sheer butterflies in the same colors to hang below the cake form. I'm wondering if I should use nylon thread so it looks like they're suspended mid air or sheer lavender ribbon? Ribbon would be easier but I do like the look of the illusion suspension and am torn.

XP-help with wool

Amy8880 — Sat, 11 May 2013 02:47:15 GMT

I have some sewing skills but I know nothing about wool. I found a wool blanket (a Troy Robe) at a resale shop for $3. I would like to use it to make some soakers and longies. I want to clean it before I use it but my guess is not to wash it in the washer right? What should I do to get it clean or should I make the woolies first and then wash them. If I wash them in washer it will shrink and felt and that is bad? Please walk me thru this.....

bows :/

Faith 21 — Fri, 10 May 2013 21:40:07 GMT

I need simple, easy to follow instructions to make bows similar to this. Please help. Thanks

Share a Pin Friday (May 10)

mamarazzi528 — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:35:14 GMT

sewing machine advice

ToastieSimons — Sun, 05 May 2013 15:35:56 GMT

i have been slowly getting into quilting in the past 7 years. I started with small simple baby blankets that were just SITD and now I'm FMQ and straight line quilting whole quilts

I have a 2007 singer precision 7444. It has a lot of stitch functions and is generally decent although the throat area is quite small for quilting bigger quilts. I have a walking foot that a local store sold me and apparently it's the wrong one. I'm straight line quilting and the walking foot fork is eating my needle clamp.

I plan to replace the walking foot and needle clamp this week, however the sewing machine just isn't up to all this quilting. It struggles keeping tension during straight line quilting. I think it's because it has an "auto" function. It always stops needle up and everytime you turn the machine on and off the auto function takes over and changes stitch length, needle position and tension so it's a real pain when quilting.

I also have a 1949 singer 99k that is in need of repair. It actually works fine and has been well cared for. But like any other 64 yr old machine the wires are fraying and the light doesn't work anymore. I would want to get the electrical system fixed before using again. It's 3/4 sized straight stich only no reverse. It's mounted to a full cabinet not just a case. I'm just concerned that the small throat area would making quilting difficult.

Would you sink the money into a new machine that would have a bigger throat and do more than just straight lines?

Or would you fix the 99k use it for quilting and keep the new singer for all other stitch styles?

thread storage

PhillyGal34 — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:46:49 GMT

I am getting to the point where I have a lot of thread... I find it frustrating to have my thread spools in one container and my bobbins in another so I'm wondering if any of you wonderful ladies have a suggestion on a storage option that keeps them together. bonus points for a link or PIP

thanks!

ETA- this is for my regular sewing threads. My embroidery thread isn't as big a deal since I use a white bobbin.

display for parents baby items

llybeck — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:30:05 GMT

Well hello there! I haven't posted to this board before, just my bmb and tri, but I'm wondering if any of you might have some suggestions. I am looking for a way to display SO and my baby blankets, outfits we were brought home in, possibly other small items, etc. in the nursery. I was thinking maybe shadow boxes, one for each of our things? Have any of you displayed your baby blankets or anything like that in your child's nursery?

Thanks in advance and I'm hoping to post here more frequently!