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.

Woven seat bench at Target

At the beginning of spring I saw this bench at Target:

I liked how the seat was made from weaving fibers. I believe the brown is hemp and the colorful yarn is some kind of up-cycled material--maybe plastic shopping bags. The yarn definitely had a plastic-y feel to it. I thought it was a neat little bench and might make an interesting project sometime.

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!

Too Much Stuff?

My sewing room went unused a good deal of time between the Christmas holidays and now. Whenever that happens, things tend to get out of hand. Stuff gets piled up on any available surface, Other stuff doesn't get put away. It's just a big mess. You know how it goes.
With summer vacation approaching--along with a desperate need for summer clothes--it was time to start cleaning up. That's been the task of the last few days. I had everything almost all put away and my sewing table all cleared off.

Except it wasn't really cleaned up. I was just moving piles of stuff from one location to another. The situation went downhill when I needed to clear a path to the laundry room to make way for a new dryer (yay!). Going further into the rabbit hole was the notion of 'organizing' the stuff. A bookshelf removed from the basement was moved into my sewing room. That set off the problem of what to put on it and how it should all be arranged.

I'm not sure if it's possible to have too many craft or sewing supplies. I think, though, that I am getting pretty close to finding out what those limits are. It's clear I need to start drawing down the stash by restricting or abstaining from new purchases until I've used what I already have. That will the main focus for projects over the next few months, until the new school year rolls around in September. Then we'll see where we are.

Here's to a fruitful, stash-busting summer!

(But first, I gotta get that table cleared off again.)

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.

Hi there!

Hello and welcome!

My name is Patricia. As you can see in my little author's bio over on the side, I like to make things. For a few years, off and on, I maintained a blog on crafting and making over at http://littleberrystudio.com. Really more off than on. For an assortment of reasons (not the least of them the ease of maintaining a hosted blog) I decided to move the crafting part of the blog over to here. LittleBerry Studios will get revamped and continue its life as a site highlighting my work in the web world. At least that's the plan.

This blog, however, we're talking about making things. I've been a maker all my life, though I didn't fall into the term until relatively recently. The things I make vary with the season, interest, need, and supplies. Sewing, embroidery, and fiber crafts have long been part of my life. Cake decorating and cutting up pieces of paper are also favorites, as are beading and wire-craft. Recently, I've been getting into working with electronics. With fingers crossed, I hope you will all enjoy seeing my making endeavors here.
Happy making!