Creative Fiber Fabrications - ribbon pillow

Ribbon, love that stuff! Although you will need quite a bit of ribbon for a pillow such as this one, it's totally worth it. I used a woven ribbon that had a wire edge on each side. Once the pillow is completed, the wires will be removed, however during the construction it facilitates the process, so leave it in.
The pillow is created by gathering one edge of the ribbon to form concentric circles. The inner circle is the tightest and creates the base around which the other ribbon circles are formed. Gather a length of ribbon, pulling the wire to gather one side very tight. Do not gather the outer edge. Form into a circle and overlap the beginning with the folded over end. Pin the center circle to a muslin backing. Then gather enough ribbon for the second circle, which will be a larger circle, and pin next to the center. Continue until your ribbon rounds are large enough for your pillow form. Sew the rounds together with monofilament thread and a small, inconspicuous zigzag stitch.
Fold over green ribbon to create 3 leaves. Attach to ribbon base. The rose center piece was made by running the wire edged ribbon through a ruffler attachment. If that is not available, pull up on one wire edge and wrap the ribbon around itself as you go. This might take a bit of practice, just don't over-think it! Tack the ribbon rose together on the back side.
Construct your pillow as you would any other pillow. Add decorative tassel trim to the outside edge when finished.

Enjoy! Be Creative!

Creative Paper Concepts - itty bitty booklet

I have a little treat for you today. A little booklet made out of an 8 1/2 x 11" double sided paper. The pattern is here. If you haven't noticed already, there is a new section on the left side titled Pages. I'll keep all the patterns and other groups of posts in there so that you can easily find what you need without digging through posts. Hope this helps.
I found this little booklet pattern on the web presented by a really important celebrity. But forgive my old brain, I cannot remember where or by whom it was posted. I'm ashamed, but that won't keep me from sharing this really neat idea. I make this quite often when I want to give someone a quick little remembrance of a special event.

When you look at the pattern, you will notice that after all the pieces that have an x on them are cut away, you end up with strange looking flaps. The short end of the long center piece are folded in first. then the shorter flap is flipped over the first folded edge and held in place with some adhesive. The the long narrow flap is folded over last. This creates a very useful fold over under which you will insert your little inside booklet. I have found that if i create a center booklet a smidge shorter, the outer cover actually allows for expansion and contraction (laws of physics) and the booklet holds together very nicely.
The back of the booklet does go under the flaps but the picture is loose on the right end and overlays the flap so that you can see the picture in it's entirety.
For the little booklet inside, cut 3 or 4 pieces of cardstock about 3 1/4" x 8. Then once you've "sewn" the center of the pages together in the center, you can trim the edges a bit at a time so that the booklet will close when you combine the two pieces.
I figured out how to hold the ribbon/cording closure in place using decorative staples.
As you will see, the pages are constructed very quickly. Something this little doesn't need a lot of embellishments. Some rub-ons, picture mats, and a few odds and ends are all that are in the booklet.
The pictures are from Ricky Tims Studio in LaVeta, Colorado.
and a view from their deck...
and me sewing; and one of my favorite fiber artist, Judith Baker Montano.


Hope you enjoyed this itty bitty booklet.. can't wait to see the ones you create!

Be Creative

Creatively the Second Time Around - Handtowel bibs

Babies are just such fun! Fun to hold, fun to cuddle and it's totally fun to make something for a little one. Depending on size, one hand towel can possibly yield two baby bibs. For a pattern, click here.
Cut out the bib pattern from the handtowel. Embellish as desired. This little gem was embellished with a darling Suzie's Zoo embroidery design stitched on a Bernina artista 200.

Add a 1 1/2" wide strip of hook and loop tape to the curved ends with a straight stitch. Make sure that it covers the end completely. Trim the hook and loop tape to the shape of the pattern. Then use a binder attachment to apply a strip of bias fabric (cut to the exact measurements required by your size binder attachment) to the exposed edge of the bib. Overlap the ends to finish. Create a ribbon bow and attach with the button sew-on stitch on your machine.

Enjoy and Be Creative!

Creative Fiber Fabrications - lamp shade cover

Here's a quick idea to take your lampshades from boring to oh wow! Mix a slip of silk fabric, some french embroidered trim, beaded trim and a flower & fiber trim to create an easy slip cover for the lamp shade.

For lampshades that are wider at the bottom than top, measure the circumference of the bottom of the shade, add 1/2". Measure the height of the lampshade and add 3". These 3" will allow you to fold the top over 1 1/2" and give you a 1/2" hem on the bottom. If you have a serger, seam the height of the cover, finish off both the top and bottom edges of the slip cover.

Fold the top of the cover over 1 1/2" stitch in place to catch the hem in place. This seam will be covered by a decorative ribbon. Stitch the bottom hem in place.

Sew a beaded trim to the inside bottom hem if desired. This lamp shade cover has the beaded trim sewn on. Place the cover over the original lamp shade. Gather the top of the cover along the top of the shade with the decorative ribbon/trim. Just wrap the ribbon around the top of the cover, don't worry about the gathers at this time. Use a hot glue gun to secure the overlap of the ribbon/trim. Adjust the gathers as desired.

Cut the decorative rose/flower trim to the desired length so that it fits on the edge of the lower part of the shade cover.
Secure the ends of the rose/flower trim with a dab of hot glue.

Rescued this little lamp from my husband's aunt. I needed a little lamp for a little space and this one was so plain but the size was right. Now no one even notices the base of the lamp. :)

If you have a straight up and down lampshade, measure the circumference and add between 1/2 and 1 more times the circumference. This will give a loose flowing cover at the base of the original lampshade. You will need to secure the top of the shade cover in place with a bit of hot glue. Experiment to get the affect that pleases you.
Enjoy and Be Creative!

Creatve Paper Concepts - Love

Did you figure out that the last two entries were part of a larger 3 piece wall hanging? It's part of one of my favorite scriptures; 1 Corinthians 13:13: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Today I'll show you the last piece "and the greatest of these is Love". Check out the earlier post here for dimensions and basics. Once again this is a 6" finished square.
Attach the large flower with a glue dot and snuggle up the handwritten verse underneath and to the right. Add a couple of glitter embellished roses and a pine branch punch-out.
Cover the ribbon on the paper with a bit of velvet trim. Attach a paper flower with a metal brad through the trim and paper. Tip: if the metal brad is too stark or the wrong color, try using Distress Alchohol inks to color it to your liking.
I finished it off with a crocheted button trim along the very bottom. I found this trim during my travels in my previous life. It's so luscious! Add another velvet leaf... go back and add a velvet leaf to Faith...
To finish off your hanging, hammer your nail into the wall. Then hang your hanger over the nail. Go to the button drawer, pull out a complimentary button. Grab a small glue dot with the back of your button. Glue the button to the top of the nail. Makes for a nice finishing touch. No more bare nails!


Be Creative!

July calendar - - it's almost here!

Sorry the shot isn't so clear... but it's almost bedtime around here. At this point I take what I shot. It's almost July and I haven't posted the calendar yet. I used two QuicKutz dies, the flag and the cannon blast. Doodling with a black pen and then highlighted with silver add some texture to the otherwise bland red background. Highlights provided with the glitter glue make the cannon blast aka fireworks and the dots on the doodling pop. This month's saying is

"Many public-school children seem to know only two dates: 1492 and the fourth of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either occasion."
Mark Twain

I thought twice about using this quote, but having stood in front of a classroom, it's sadly true - mostly.

I found this little collection of prepackaged 3" calendar pieces that I will use for next year's calendar. They have an antique-y feel and each month is printed with a different saying and picture.

The Mini Calendar Card Set is by Jerri Bowlin.

Be Creative! Thanks for checking this out.

Creatively the Second Time Around - old shoes and boots

Somewhere I saw this a really cute boot planted with plants. Whose shoes were going to become the guinea pigs? And I found this mud encrusted pair sitting around and thought why not. They hadn't been touched in months. If you put a glass inside the boot you can then add flowers and water and have a very unique vase.. but clean them first....

Be Creative!