Posted by FeltCuisine on 2007-07-21 11:11:14
Post Subject: Worldwide Release \"Felt Cuisine\" Hand Made Prete
Hi all,
My name is Hiromi Hughes. I am new on the forums and I am looking for help on how to best market my products... Hand Made, Pretend Play Sets of Food for Children made from Felt.
I have sold a lot of my work on eBay and have received great reviews, but due to the time involved in hand sewing each piece, and the many requests that I received from my customers asking for me to teach them how to create their own “Felt Cuisine”, I have put together a step by step illustrated eBook, entitled “Felt Cuisine – Cakes by Design” which will be the first in a series of “Felt Cuisine” craft ebooks.
The thing is that there are thousands of Art & Craft websites, forums, blogs, user groups and networking sites out there and it is hard to know where to start to let people know about my work. And what avenues are worth pursuing and which are really more of a waste of time…
If there are any experienced crafters out there who may be able to point me in the right direction, I would be most grateful...
Posted by meexie on 2006-07-10 00:40:28
Post Subject:
If you really want a fabric back, I recommend making a full fabric front and back, and sewing the knitting to the front. Knitting tends to be much stretchier than woven fabrics, so getting a smooth seam can be a real challenge. You can machine stitch the knit panel to the fabric, but I prefer hand sewing so I can make small adjustments if necessary.
There are patterns out there for knitted pillowcases that fasten with buttons, too.
Posted by sarabell on 2007-11-07 18:21:55
Post Subject:
i'd recommend looking into ancient hand sewing techniques. think tribal - handmade bone or ivory needles, sinew for thread, even ancient hand carved buttons. i remember having to do similar research back when i was a fashion design major.
can't come up with any links at the moment, too much to do but there's some potential fodder for your googling. but it seems like i probably got this information at the library though....
Posted by sixleaf on 2006-01-09 21:50:57
Post Subject: Sewing patterns for beginners?
I recieved a second-hand sewing machine for Christmas. It apparently works, but I haven't sewn anything since I was 12. What are some really easy, yet still cute, patterns I could try?
Posted by arabella on 2004-10-26 00:07:06
Post Subject:
Susanstars, I think I read about you on "Daydreaming on Paper" no? Dawn's site?
My favorite craft on the go is crochet. You can even do blankets if you do granny squares or strips. And - they let you take crochet hooks on the plane!
when I was a little kid I would take my hand sewing on the go. My sewing wasn't very good, but I could make clothes for my dolls and christmas ornaments. I was also a big needlepointer, on canvas.
I personally never got into embroidery (although I almost did once) but it seems to be very portable.
Posted by susan*s on 2004-10-26 20:55:43
Post Subject:
thanks! These are great suggestions. I was thinking about crochet earlier and then spaced adding it to the list when I posted... oops.
I also thought of hand-sewing--I hand-altered a t-shirt once during a trip cross-country, it took quite awhile but it was a perfect car craft.
Arabella, I just checked out Dawn's site again & it is awesome--I hadn't seen it since last year. I don't know if I'm mentioned on it or not, but we have done a swap before & I am a fan of hers. Thanks for sending me over there!
I'd love to hear more crafts on the go if you think of any, thanks so much for the suggestions so far.
susan
PS Breewell & Arabella, did you see the article on modern cross-stitching in the new Martha Stewart Living? It's pretty cool, I want to make the eye exam sunglasses case.
Posted by AnnS on 2005-06-19 21:48:15
Post Subject:
in the 'fine print' it says 1 hour sewing time <grin> but imho, cutting takes about a half hour, especially if you have to clear off the dining room table, and pressing takes about fifteen minutes.
I used to make miniskirts to wear to the bar in college in the hour before we left (10pm - 11pm usually). I made an a-line wrap skirt in about 2 hours last week some of which involved hand sewing the hooks & eyes on.
if you think you'd like more than one skirt, do all your cutting at one time, sew all the seams at once, etc. then in just a bit over what takes you to make one skirt, you can make two or three. If you pick thread for sewing that is more 'value' based, not hue (think shade, not color) you can sew all the interior stuff with the same thread, and only have to switch for topstitching.
Posted by Schmatta on 2005-12-02 16:40:48
Post Subject:
I can't hook anymore. Anytime I bend that left arm/hand anywhere like an inward curve, I get nerve spasms. Even simple hand sewing can do it, but I know hooking caused it. (Hey, no arch looks there.)
Posted by atomic on 2004-07-02 11:18:32
Post Subject: things your mother never taught you
Hi ladies,
As a beginning seamstress with little-to-no formal training, I'm learning all these little tricks to make things easier & avoid hassles. And I got to wondering what other folks had picked up along the way.
For instance: last night at around 1am, I figured out that hand-sewing hooks & eyes is much easier with an extra short needle.
So what are your tricks of the trade? I'm interested to hear...
Posted by Astrid on 2006-10-04 06:46:41
Post Subject:
I've changed them into bags, shorts or (mini)skirts. Worn out parts are also easier to patch up once you've opened the seams.
You don't need dressmaking or a lot of sewing skills to do this. Just take them apart and see how things fit. I've done this since I was 12 and even done it by hand sewing. Good luck!
Posted by fairgreenlady on 2005-09-30 17:41:40
Post Subject:
I get numbness in my fingers and sore arm--right side only. I figured it was carpal tunnel. I get it when I do hand sewing especially, but I also get i when I sit at the sewing machine too long. I get it at nite, too, from sleeping on my arm.
Posted by sewing stars on 2004-07-15 10:52:29
Post Subject: homeland security can kiss my ***
okay so i am not really that mad, but i just got off the phone with TSA (homeland security) and asked if i could bring small hand sewing needles with me on the plane so i could so some hand applique while sitting on my long flight cross country. I was told I couldn't bring needles on my carry-on. how dumb is that? i understand the whole security thing and tightening up, and i understand the whole no scissors, or knives thing, but needles? come on!
i guess i'll just write letters or something less terrorist like than sewing.
Posted by lizzymahoney on 2005-09-16 00:46:18
Post Subject:
I've done some small quilting on bus commutes. Years ago, but hey. Anyhow, I was working on a cathedral window quilt top and with all the folding and hand sewing, it's quite small and portable until you assemble.
Most people were concerned with how I could keep from pricking my fingers.
I've gotten way more comments on crafted things I've worn or had to carry about, and most of them have been in areas with twentysomethings.
I can be gracious and all, but it's kinda embarrassing especially when i'm thinking, "Hey it's not rocket surgery!" <sic>
Posted by lizzymahoney on 2004-08-31 19:05:47
Post Subject:
As a little kid, my mother was the leader for my sister's Camp Fire Girl group. They did so many crafty things, in part because she didn't have anyone to tell her they didn't have to make all of the ideas Camp Fire Girls gave them. They had seasonal bazaars and learned embroidery and hiked nature trails. Lots of stuff like that.
My mother grew up in the Depression. Girls back then learned fine hand sewing, gardening, cooking, decorating, etc. Her mother and five sisters all did stuff like that. Her father had a workshop in the basement with neat old tools and things I played around with as a child.
I embroidered way before my first recollection of it, oddly. I can remember way back to something that happened when I was 18 months old, but can't remember learning to cook or to embroider. Let's say I had to be under five years old.
So with Camp Fire Girls, I played with paints and clay and beads and whittling and natural dyes, made collages and wreaths and Xmas ornaments. I read anything remotely crafty that came in the house, so even my brothers' Boy Scout books were fair game.
My father's mother was a cook who never measured anything. Not particularly crafty otherwise as i recall. But a few of her many kids had some talents in needlecraft and art. My Dad danced and told stories, but was otherwise not very creative.
My mother's sisters had a lot of influence on me, too. Some had very elegant homes and expensive tastes so I learned some high end domestic stuff from them, like old Lena who had her brass switchplates refinished every year. Her husband gardened with some unusual old world methods that still stick with me. Bertha was eccentric and well off. Also well-travelled. She was an excellent cook. She and I could analyze a dish of something we'd never tasted before and figure out proportions of spices and cooking methods. Anna was a nut-job who was a scrounger extraordinaire, but also a psychotic clean freak. We foraged for wild asparagus and mushrooms, made birch syrup and scrubbed the stove vents every day. Charlotte crochets and sews beautifully, and bakes terrible but pretty cakes. Rickey watched soap operas. Oh, and sewed like fifty versions of the same dress.
My mother's cousin Bobbi sewed semi-professionally. Back then, women really didn't work outside the home if they could help it, but her talents with a machine kept her busy helping neigbors for a little pin money. There are photos and memories of dresses she sewed for me. Smocking and pinafores and plackets, dotted swiss and batiste and velvet.
One of my first cousins on my mother's side is an artist. She was told in the mid sixties that she needed a practial degree, so she went for nursing which she still does. She is very like me in that she'll just decide to move that tree over here and make a topiary of it, and paint one wall eggplant just because. We both have done things that we have only heard the other talk about. It's interesting to see what we come up with, but that's not why we do it. Actually, once I was commenting on the way cool lamp she made out of a gilded stack of books tied with ribbon. Her mom looked at me and said I was the one who told her about it. We both just brim with ideas, way more than we can execute. She doesn't paint much anymore, but I have a few canvases she did in her teens, one of peonies, one of lilacs, and one of an historic building in her old town, and I wish I knew where her very primitive southwestern seraped boy with donkey that hung in my grandparents house is now. I'm sure she had to be like ten when she painted that one. Admittedly, I don't want any of my paintings from when I was ten, either.
My sister has picked up creative efforts only as a mature adult. PTA and Amway crap. Someone needed to do posters or decorate the hall, so she got some advice over the phone and just did it. And has continued to do it for years. Her cooking sucks, although she gets major points for trying. She just forgets to do things like cook the rice before adding to that recipe, or that 5lbs of flour is not the same as five cups.
Not only did the family members teach me and teach others, but people I've taught have taught others as well. You learn certain types of things and then extrapolate to another medium. I was a good cook. I taught myself to homebrew. I taught others who weren't good cooks to home brew.
My nieces and nephews are not very crafty. Not yet, anyway. THey like my crafty things, but are not motivated to do for themselves yet. Huh, save one. She's 8 and her mother buys those crappy craft kits where they follow the box directions and make the suncatcher or potholder. She can't translate that to random raw materials yet.
My second oldest niece is married. Her MIL is kinda tacky nouveau riche. She has this butt ugly Santa hooked rug hanging that she f*d up and needed some rescuing. The niece said she'd get her mother to give it to her aunt (me) to fix it because I can fix anything. Damn, the repairs are elevating this piece of crap to a new level. But I've pawned it off on my mom now. I have the concept, the pieces cut, the trim, the method to hang it, etc, and she's my slave labor.
I tried to get a creative circle journal going between my sister, niece and me, but the other two couldn't manage to put f'ing stickers in it and send it on. Kind of wasted my time in collaging pages for them and writing bits of poetry for it. I even enclosed stickers and pens and ribbons and tape, but nada.
My sister's history of shared crafting with me has been frightening. If I were normal I would disown her. She gave me a pinafore for her daughter that had to be embroidered in three hours before the wedding we all attended. She wanted satin stitch. My ass. She invited me for the Christmas holidays and I wound up wrapping all the gifts, cooking all the food, including staying up until 4 am boning chicken and mincing carrots for a terrine she didn't know how to make but thought would look cool.
Her daughter's DIY wedding turned out to be a get auntie to do-it-herself wedding.
But I will say she does fine self taught calligraphy.
Posted by Becky65301 on 2004-06-26 09:48:38
Post Subject:
My Baby Beans doll. http://www.dollinfo.com/babybeans.htm (like the top pic except it was yellow)
He was stuffed with those tiny plastic pellets and my little brother routinely poked holes in him and drained him! Some of my first hand-sewing experience was doing first aid on poor Baby Beans.
I still have it, my kids play with him. I re-stuffed him with poly-fil though, too many pellets gone, and his little hat is missing.
Posted by msfish on 2007-06-06 13:40:22
Post Subject:
that elephant is great, girlsavage! felt is what i was thinking of using for my giraffe as well, but i'm suddenly second-guessing myself because it pulls so easily (or it does when i'm clumsily hand-sewing it) - are there certain fabrics you favor or avoid when it comes to making baby stuff? was your elephant machine-stitched, or did you hand-sew him?
my only critters have been patternless and made for grownups, you see, so i have a lot to learn when it comes to ze baby gifts. :)
Posted by somnambulicious on 2005-04-18 13:03:22
Post Subject:
I'm in the same boat here, with two daughters aged 3 years and 18 months. Sadly, the sewing machine sits unused in the closet, but I do find lots of time to knit. Like a lot of the other moms here, I craft after my kids have gone to bed, but I've also found that I can get a lot of knitting done in the backyard while the girls are playing in their sandbox. I swear, that sandbox has saved my sanity. I can sit in the sun and knit for an hour while the girls have fun, and they're not messing up the house! They don't interrupt me like they do when we're inside. I also spend a lot of time hand-sewing felt puppets for my girls, and they both show a lot of interest when I'm doing that.
My advice would be to look for a craft project that's portable, something you can take out in the backyard or to the playground (or while you're sitting in the passenger seat of a car!) Knitting and crocheting are good, but if you're into sewing, you might try embroidery or simple hand-sewn projects like the Japanese art of omiyage. You could even work on something small like a lap quilt without using the sewing machine.
But if you really want to use the sewing machine, you might try setting it up after your kids are asleep. When I simply have to use mine, I keep it on a shelf in the kitchen during the day and set it up on the dining table at night. I keep everything I need for the sewing project in a Sterilite bin nearby, so it's very quick to set up and put away.
Good luck, and don't give up! There are times when I've sworn I wouldn't ever be able to craft again -- when weeks have gone by without an opportunity for me to do anything -- but it does get better, I swear! You just have to find a way to work around the kids.
Posted by Dawn on 2004-05-17 20:46:47
Post Subject:
I've pretty much come to terms with the fact that whatever I don't finish the same day I start is going to sit around the craft room for a looooong time. As I type, I'm looking at an unfinished costume bra. I even had a girl from class come over and work on it with me. We cut it out and got everything pinned - all I have to do is sew. It's been sitting right where she left it ever since. It's all hand sewing, to be sure, but I could theoretically do it while I watch TV. I have no excuse, really.
Also, I have not finished a set of handmade bibs that I am making for a friend. She had her baby last November. I'm thinking I'd better go ahead and start working on the kid's graduation present.
Posted by lizzymahoney on 2004-11-06 08:51:15
Post Subject:
Man, I forgot making Barbie clothes. And furniture and whatevers. I'd use an inverted shoebox for her bed, and the prettiest handkerchief of my mom's that I could find for a bedspread. I made slinky gowns out of old knee-his and tube tops and minis out of 2inch bias tape, plus I had a nun's habit made from a black t-shirt and stiff white paper. She had toothpaste cap drinking glasses and hairspray lid ottomans. Tons of teeny hand sewing, lots of rolled hems. My Barbie was a hand me down of one of the very early ones, the bubble hair-do and the black and white striped maillot swimsuit, stiff legs and arms, and boobage that could poke yer eye out. My brother's GI Joe was a great improvement on Ken when I could kidnap him.
Posted by fairgreenlady on 2005-09-17 07:56:09
Post Subject:
Balance? There's no balance. Crafts win every time!
Seriously, don't look in my sewing room, and occasionally the kitchen since I use the table as my cutting table. Oh, and the living room where I do some hand sewing. The master bedroom is where the ironing board is...I'm trying to build a case for finishing the attic to contain all my crap :-)
Posted by Andrea8358 on 2007-09-09 08:01:41
Post Subject: cloth napkins
I haven't bought very many paper products in years. (Toilet paper is still kind of a necessity!)
Get two yards each of coordinating/contrasting/just fun fabric. If your fabric is 44\", you can cut 8 fifteen inch squares and a 10" wide table runner along the side, from it. Sew right sides together, leaving a space for turning it right side out. Iron, topstitch (which saves you the trouble of hand sewing the opening) ... you're done.
You could save money by not making them reversible, but then you have to be more careful about making the hem pretty. I do that sometimes, too. But really and truly, I mostly use the double sided technique. If you buy loads of fabric when you see it on sale, it works out okay.
And they take up almost no room in the laundry, so just throw 'em in with a light load.
Posted by happyhats on 2006-04-09 19:52:45
Post Subject:
I'm intimidated by the start up cost of a lot of crafts. I'd love to learn how to do glassblowing, welding, woodworking, extensive pottery, etc. but not only is buying the equipment oodles of money, I'd need a studio or something to store it all. Even the idea of paying money for a lot of classes intimidates me, but then again you're hearing from someone who is frugal, poor, and maybe even cheap.
I hate hand sewing, but I'd like to learn to sew on a machine. I think I could handle doing simple patterns, alterations, and repairs via machine if I learn how. Now a days, all sewing goes to my boyfriend, who is a natural at anything fabric related.
I used to be scared to do anything home repairs related, but I've gotten over that mostly. I've put up two shelves that haven't fallen down, and I have pulled apart both my DVD player and my VCR (my DVD player ended up having a disc inside it, and the VCR just needed cleaning). I also helped my boyfriend rewire a lamp.
I just can't get into scrapbooking. Anything else, I'm game, although I am not as enthusiastic about some crafts as others.
Posted by sewtheworld on 2008-02-14 03:05:13
Post Subject: New
Hi, I''m Jenny from PA, but I''m going to college in Syracuse, NY. I''m really new to this site, it seems like a good site for information. I was taught to crochet at a pretty young age, but only took it up again a few years ago. I made my first afghan in October, and plan to continue my grandmothers tradition of making one for special occasions. I was also taught to sew, generally, by my mom. I''ve always loved making things with my hands whether it''s hand sewing, machine, crochet, the plastic canvas things (I forget the name), and such things. Right now I''m extremely interested in 1940s/1950s bathing suits, particularly the Bombshell style, and am in a long process of finding patterns to come up with something.
