Keepsake Crafts - Sharing the Love of Crafting and Sewing

Free Patterns For Fall Sewing

Jul 252014

Several folks have already started talking about (and maybe even doing) fall sewing. Personally I’m not ready, but then again, I’m usually not ready for fall until some time in November, lol.

Anyhow, I came across this free pattern from Hot Patterns that I thought you might like. I’m not really into hoodies, but I do like the hem shaping on this one. It might be something nice to make for a gift.

made with the free topsy turvy doll pattern by Sandy Huntress @ KeepsakeCrafts.net

Speaking of gifts, lot of people have been using my Topsy Turvy doll pattern to make gifts. Here are some pics that Barbara sent me of her version.

made with the free topsy turvy doll pattern by Sandy Huntress @ KeepsakeCrafts.net

Love the curly hair!

made with the free topsy turvy doll pattern by Sandy Huntress @ KeepsakeCrafts.net

And then there’s Anita, whose 10 year old daughter used my pattern to make a Frozen themed doll, with Anna on one side….

made with the free topsy turvy doll pattern by Sandy Huntress @ KeepsakeCrafts.net

… and Olaf on the other!

Adorable.

As you can see, many have had great success with this pattern, so keep it in mind for gift giving.

In the meantime, I’m keeping my mind firmly planted in summer.

Happy creating!

WOYWW – Everything BUT The Workdesk

Jul 222014

Happy What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday again! This is the time when we usually all share what’s on happening in our creative workspaces.

However, what’s been on my workdesk the past couple days is some of the best work I’ve done in a while. I’m so pleased with it, in fact, that I plan to submit it to a magazine for publication.

This means, alas, that I cannot show it to you now. I hope you’ll be satisfied with some recent things that have been on my workdesk.

These coiled clay votive holders are what I was working on a couple weeks ago as a gift for my mom’s birthday. The coils are made by stacking circles of different colors in a Clay Extruder. I think I need to stack thinner layers of color to get more frequent color changes.

This polymer clay bangle is what I ended up with after taking Nikolina Otrzan’s class, Doodle Me Do Canes and Bangles over at CraftArtEdu.

It was a great learning experience and Nikolina explains things well. But I found myself aching to put some vines & leaves & other organic things on it, lol.

Linear is SO not my style.

Finally, I’ve been working on finishing a quilt for a friend. As you can see, I’ve had some help.

I think they approve.

So that’s what I’ve got this week. Show us yours! Join in the blog party fun over at Julia’s and have a very happy and creative Wednesday.

Sparkling Hearts Wire Wrapped Earrings Video Tutorial

Jul 212014

Sometimes it takes just a few simple materials and a basic technique to make something quite special. Orange isn’t my favorite color, but I love the look of these sparkling Swarovski Crystal Wild Hearts with their flashes of pink.

Simple “messy wraps” wire wrapping enhance the crystal charms without overwhelming them.

Watch the video and see how easy it is to make a pair for yourself. I even explain how to quickly make your own ear wires!

Happy creating.

Materials:

2 17mm Swarovski Crystal Wild Hearts pendants in color Astral Pink
2 2-inch pieces 20 gauge wire
2 12-inch pieces 22 or 24 gauge wire

Tools:

chasing hammer
bench block or anvil
wire cutters
bail making pliers with 7mm mandrel
round nose pliers
chain nose pliers
file or cup burr

Center a crystal heart on a 12-inch piece of wire. Wrap one wire end around top of bead and go back through bead hole. Pull snug but be careful not to crack your crystal. (If using finer gauge wire, you may be able to wrap through the heart a third time.)
Cross wires above heart and bend each slightly with chain nose pliers so they are parallel.
Treating the two wires as one, grasp with round nose pliers and make a loop. Hold the loop with chain nose pliers and messy wrap the remaining wires around the wire above the heart.
Trim excess wires and tuck in ends, filing sharp ends if necessary. Repeat to make second wire wrapped heart crystal.
To make ear wires grasp end of 2-inch wire with round nose pliers and make a small loop. Repeat on other 2-inch wire.
Holding both loops together and treating both wires as one, place them on the 7mm section of the bail making pliers, loops facing away from 7mm section. Close pliers to hold and wrap wires around until they almost touch the loops. Remove wires from pliers and adjust shape with your fingers as desired. Use chain nose pliers to make a small bend 1/4-inch from each end.
Use a cup burr or file to smooth the wire ends of ear wires.
Use chain nose pliers to open each ear wire loop and insert a wire wrapped crystal heart. Close loops securely and enjoy your new earrings!

WOYWW – Reversible Knit Shorts

Jul 152014

Happy What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday, all!

My workdesk this week shows an interesting fabric from Joanne’s. It’s a lovely lightweight cotton knit, sure to be comfy in the summer heat, but it has a different twist. It’s striped on one side and polka dotted on the reverse. (It’s comes in several other colors besides the black, btw.) I got it to make a pair of shorts and couldn’t decide which side to use, so I’m making them reversible.

Many of you asked to see the church curtains when they were done. Here is the fellowship hall before….

….and here’s the after. It’s a much more pleasant room to be in, elegant yet homey and comfortable.

I was especially pleased with the transformation of the parlor. Before….

… and after. It’s such a pretty room now, there’s a fireplace on the other side and there’s talking of making it into a real parlor, a cozy place to sit & visit perhaps. Anyhow, that’s all I’ve got to share this week. If you’d like to join in the fun and see what other creative people are up to this week, but sure to join us desk hopping over at Julia’s.

Happy creating!

Green Peridot Wire Wrapped Earrings Video Tutorial

Jul 132014

These sweet little peridot beads are given center stage by being wire wrapped onto earring frames. A simple central bead dangle in a darker green shade adds interest and contrast.

In the video, I’ll show you how to wire wrap the beads to a frame, and how to make your own simple headpin out of wire.

(To my blog readers who requested non voice over videos, I did just a few of these in advance. I promise to do future videos in real time!)

Happy creating

Materials:

2 1.5-inch x 3/4-inch teardrop shaped earring frames
2 ear wires
22 4mm x 2mm peridot beads
20 gauge sterling silver filled wire, dead soft or half hard
24 gauge sterling silver filled wire, dead soft
2 5mm round beads
4 2mm round sterling silver spacer beads

Tools:

wire cutters
chain nose pliers
round nose pliers

See video for detailed instructions.

WOYWW – Polymer Clay Canes & Bangles

Jul 082014

Happy Wednesday everyone! I haven’t participated in Woyww for a few weeks as I’ve been working on the church curtains. Thankfully those are all done, hanging and look great, so now I can get back to other projects.

(Photos of the curtains to follow soon, I promise!)

This week I have TWO workdesks for you. The first shows I’ve gotten back to polymer clay. The pink, blue & white circles are for a project that will have to be revealed after next week, as it’s a gift for someone who occasionally reads this blog.

Here’s a close up of some of the clay canes I’ve been working on from a class on CraftArtEdu, Doodle Me Do Canes and Bangles with Nikolina Otrzan.

After working through all these very graphic, linear designs I have concluded that I much prefer more organic shapes. The designs are rather cool, but just not me, ya know?

That’s ok, I learned a lot from the class, so that was the point.

My other “workdesk” is the photography area where I shoot jewelry tutorial videos and take still photos. In case you’ve wondered why I can’t seem to keep the occasional cat hair out the the shots, well…..

….this may explain it.

Quite pleased with himself, eh? But he’s so cute I just can’t get mad at him.

If you’re wondering why I’m sharing pics of my workspaces, it’s because it’s What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday. Check out the blog link party fun over at Julia’s.

Happy creating!

Summer Skies Crystal Earrings Video Tutorial

Jul 072014

Here’s a different twist on wire wrapping beads to a frame. Instead of center drilled beads today I used top drilled teardrops and wrapped the wire around the tips between each wrap. The wire adds interest & texture and the spiky look of the beads sticking out from the frame is kinda cool.

You don’t have to use all the same beads, either. How about graduating them in size from larger in the center to smaller on the sides? Or, you can place the bead ends pointing inside the wire ring, rather than outside.

This is a great design to use your imagination and come up with your own variations.

By the way, I’m trying something different in my videos, speeding up the action and doing a voice over. It makes the videos shorter, but perhaps the steps are more difficult to follow?

Let me know in the comments which way you prefer.

Enjoy the video and happy creating!

Materials:

2 ear wires
2 1 1/8-inch diameter wine glass charm hoops
10 13mm x 6mm top drilled teardrop crystals
2 20-inch pieces 24 gauge wire

Tools:

chain nose pliers
wire cutters

Leaving a 1/2-inch tail, tightly wrap one piece of wire around a hoop four times, keeping the wraps close together.
String on a crystal bead and hold the tip against the hoop. Wrap the wire one time around the hoop, then wrap four or five times around the hole area of the bead.
Wrap wire four times around the hoop, again keeping the wraps close together.
Repeat steps 2-3 four more times. Trim excess wire at both ends.
Center beads on hoop if necessary.
Bend down straight end of hoop approximately 1/8-inch and tuck into loop.
Open loop of an ear wire and attach to loop of hoop. Close securely.
Repeat all steps for second earring.

Pearl & Crystal Stretch Bracelet Video Tutorial

Jun 302014

Stretch bracelets are easy to make AND you don’t have to be quite so precise with the sizing, which is excellent for gift giving.

Using pearls & crystals gives this a bracelet a classic and classy look. Of course, you could use any beads you like: How about a rainbow of colors, several shades of your favorite hue or all mixed metal components?

Whatever you decide to use, enjoy the video and happy creating!

Materials:

36 6mm glass pearls
24 6mm bicone crystal beads
48 4mm spacer beads
4 6mm x 20mm 3-hole spacers
.5mm stretch elastic

Tools:

sharpie
super glue
scissors
ruler
bead stoppers

Leaving stretch elastic on the spool string the following pattern four times.
glass pearl> spacer bead> crystal bead> spacer bead> glass pearl> spacer bead> crystal bead> spacer bead> glass pearl> end hole of three-hole spacer
When stringing is complete, trim elastic from spool, leaving a few inches extra for tying knots and secure each end with a bead stopper.
Repeat steps 1-3, using the center holes of three-hole spacers.
Repeat steps 1-3 one more time, using remaining holes of three-hole spacers.
Tie ends of elastic into secure knots, pull into holes of three-hole spacers to conceal and add a dab of super glue to knots. Wait until glue is dry to trim excess elastic.

Summer Tops, Pants & Skirts

Jun 282014

This week I’ve been sharing with you the sewing I’ve done for my summer wardrobe. Wednesday I shared a skirt, Thursday I told you all about getting perfectly fitting pants and yesterday I showed yet more tops copied from a well-loved purchased garment.

Here are the same crop pants in black. The top is a fuchsia crinkle double knit with the yoke in a yummy quilting cotton.

Aaaaand here are the crop pants in khaki with the top in solid purple. I also made black & khaki pants in a long version. Enough pants, already!

Here’s a cute little skort. I’ve had this tribal print for the longest time, but never had enough to make anything with it. I solved the fabric shortage problem by making the shorts underneath out of a solid black fabric, and you can’t even tell.

You can find the free Sporty Sarong Shorts pattern here. In order to forego lumps around the belly (where I don’t need any more) I skipped the tie and attached the two sides with hooks and eyes. This also saved on fabric.

Oh, and that black top is the one that started all the copies.

Finally, remember this leopard print skirt? I think we all agreed that the length was awkward, just too long. So, I pulled out the pattern and found I could easily cut the shorter version out of the longer. And I did. Much better, eh?

Now I actually like wearing it.

So that’s it for now. Hope you’ve been inspired to try something new, perhaps copy a garment you love, get a great fit on pants or redo something that isn’t working and make it just right.

Whatever you do, happy creating!

More Summer Sewing – Tops & Crop Pants

Jun 272014

Yesterday I told you my process for making a perfectly fitting pair of pants.

Here’s another pair made the same way. They are accompanied by yet another incarnation of them “top with rounded yoke,” as I call it.

(Last summer I started making copies of a favorite knit top, see details and other versions, and yet more variations.)

This top may look like the one I did last year, but it isn’t, I made another. I didn’t care for the length of the first one and also the crystals were a combination of hot fix and glue on. The hotfix crystals stayed on great through the wash, but the glue on ones were constantly falling off.

I finally ripped off the crystals to save and threw away the top. The new longer version with all hotfix crystals makes me much, much happier.

This top has a cautionary tale for ya.

First, take a closer look at the fabric. See all those pretty raised sparklies? Aren’t they lovely?

Now imagine them on the inside of the garment, rubbing against your skin.

Yeowch, indeed. The first time I tried it on I instantly began to twitch, couldn’t get it off fast enough.

So what did I do? Well, if you look closely at this pic you’ll notice there are NO little sparklies on the folded over back neck & armhole edges. If I’d bothered to show it (seemed like a boring photo) you’d see NO sparklies on the inner yoke facing either.

That’s cuz I picked them all off with my fingernails. Ruined a thumbnail, too, but it was worth it, lol.

So the cautionary tale is this: Don’t put roughly textured fabrics on the inside of a garment, find something kinder next to your skin… unless you like to twitch.

Check back tomorrow for the final installment in the summer clothes series.

Happy creating!

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