Mehndi-inspired t-shirt

One of my ongoing projects is perfecting a flattering, well-fitting t-shirt pattern. It takes a few iterations and I think I’m close.


My latest iteration is a white t-shirt. I’m dressing it up with Mehndi-inspired




The doodles are drawn using a black Stained by Sharpie fabric marker with a brush tip. This marker gave me the best line quality overall. Line quality was clearest when I held the marker vertically–there was less drag against the knit fabric.





I used contact shelf paper to stabilize the fabric and keep it from stretching and moving around while doodling. I tried embroidery stabilizer first. Then I discovered the contact paper works just as well. Which is good because I had a lot of it and not much of the stabilizer. The contact paper also proved effective at preventing bleed-through by the marker. Win!





The doodling part is about done. Next up is coloring. Who needs a coloring book when you have a t-shirt?

Latest Project: Sewing a Slipcover

Summer vacation is like New Year's: time to make resolutions for making (and finishing!) projects. With the optimism of a new season, here is one of the projects I hope to complete before the summer is over:

I inherited this chair from my grandmother, who was also a maker. Someone, way back when, had modified and upholstered this chair for her. It was one of my favorite chairs because the chair was made for someone of short stature (something else I inherited from my grandmother).

The blue fabric is showing its age, but is still in decent shape. With it's relatively simple lines, it would make a good candidate for a custom fitted slipcover. The fabric purchased for this project is white cotton twill with black cotton twill for the piping. At the moment, the plan is to 'doodle' designs on the white twill for a patterned effect. Stay tuned!

Swinging!

New sling cover for our deck swing is finished! The old one was unusable: it was disintegrating and falling apart, and just generally looking disreputable. It also tended to collect rain water in the seat.With that issue in mind, I chose phifertex mesh fabric (in Sand Grey) with the idea the mesh would allow water to drain away.

Now all that's needed are cushions to put over the mesh sling. The old swing cover had the cushions and sling as all one, integrated piece. In addition to quick draining, I wanted separate cushions so they could be stored during the winter and hopefully last longer. At the moment, I'm looking at buying cushions, if I can find something I like at a price I like, at the size I need. So far, this search hasn't proven an easy one.

Also used for sewing the sling was a #18 universal needle and V92 UV coated thread.

Jeans Cuff Pencil Case Instructable Published

My instructable on making the Jeans Cuff Pencil Case is now published. My instructable was even featured right off the bat on the home page and on the Living category page. What a pleasant surprise! Enjoy!

Jeans Cuff Pencil Case

This afternoon's project:

Zippered Pencil Case

It's a zippered pencil case made from the cuff removed from a pair of jeans I had to shorten (that happens a lot--I have a quite a few of these). The other cuff was also made into one of these some time ago. This time I took pictures of the process. I'll be posting an instructable on how to make this pencil case.

Both pencil cases. The one with the pink zipper was created first.