Erica's Stitches

I just finished a Stitchmap challenge.  It was to finish a stitched item as a bag filled with accessories. Since my goal is to finish items I signed up.  I didn't plan on it but most of the fabric I used in the challenge came from cut up shirts.  The main bag used a blue-gray oxford shirt. Another oxford shirt and a flannel shirt provided lining fabric. And finally some paisley fabric.  Remember when that was in style?  I saved my favorite shirt from that era and every few years I use a piece of it. A few pieces of leftover ribbon and some buttons finished everything off.  It's fun making something out of scraps.

Here are 2 brooches I've made from this book .  It's full of crafts recycling different items.  So, what did I recycle? A plastic bread bag. And a plastic shopping bag. Other items that went in to the brooches are wire, thread, buttons, beads and sequins.  Although the main body of the brooch is made of plastic bag it didn't use that much more of the bag.  I'm going to have to make alot more brooches or find another way to reuse the rest of the plastic. 

I love pretty papers and have a hard time throwing them away. My favorite papers include calendars and Christmas cards. Instead of saving whole Christmas cards I've taken to cutting out interesting circles and saving them instead. I've turned a whole box of them into garlands and gift labels. There are so many styles that I can always find one to suit the recipient. A new batch of cards has started arriving in the mail!  More pretty papers for my collection!  I wonder what I'll turn them into next year. 

I'm creating bags out of the sheets of fused plasitc bags I made earlier . But first, I had to try stitching on the plastic. Yes, I can with a really sharp needle.  The plastic fabric is not like I expected.  It is surprisingly strong and doesn't tear.  It is supple, yet not as pliable as normal fabric.  That makes it harder to stitch on in the center of a big sheet.  But along the edge its easier. Also, once you stick the needle in there is a hole, whether you wanted it there or not.  So, I had to be very careful.  I ended up using the running stitch exclusively and used simple designs.  But, sometimes the stitched lines are not as straight as I would have liked. I added some sequins and spangles. The straps of the bags are the seams of some old black jeans. For one of the uglier pieces I simply added as zipper and sewed up the seams to make a bag.  Actually, it was my first zipper so I shouldn't say "simply".  I di...

I'm behind.  I've had a self-imposed deadline of the end of summer for many projects and they are not done.  So, I've been trying harder.  The result - finished pieces? No, the result is sore wrists so I stopped stitching last week and won't be stitching again for a few more days. So, I've had to find other ways to amuse myself.  I'm machine quilting and I tried fusing plastic bags.  There are many tutorials in books and on the web and I have no shortage of plastic bags so I thought I'd try. At first the iron was too hot and the result had holes and was distorted and bumpy.  Still, I like the result.   Ghostly echos of familiar logos show through the fused plastic. As I adjusted the iron temperature each attempt made better and better "fabric". I'm thinking of making bags.  Or book covers. This one was a gigantic clear pillow-case bag with some cut up bread bags inside.  Interesting results and some interesting "fabric...

Last Christmas I got myself a Potholder Loom and quickly used the loops that came with it. Instead of buying more loops I found a way of recycling T-shirts into loops . The potholder in the above picture was made from clearance rack tank tops.  They are nice and stretchy and make great potholders. My worn T-shirts don't always do as well.  Some don't stretch as well anymore and I have to cut them longer than the tutorial suggests so they don't break.  Some don't roll as well as the new ones and I don't cut them as wide as the tutorial suggests so they are not as bulky. This one was made with 1 inch strips.  A few weeks ago I pulled on a pair of socks and noticed a big hole in the heel.  I was about to drop them in the trash and wondered if they would be stretchy enough for my loom.  They are!  At least from the heel up.  Between the heel and toe they are too short.  I cut them in to 5/8 inch stips.  Since the socks were striped i...

I'm a great fan of reusable bags.  This is my oldest.  I haven't lived anywhere near a Smith's since 1994 so this bag has been in use for a long time.  It really annoys the cashiers because they don't stand up like the new bags but I keep using them because they work so great. Speaking of new bags, I found an on-line contest sponsered by the Kroger's chain (King Soopers around here). They give you all the tools to design your own bag and vote on bags designed by others. I thought, how fun would it be to have a bag with a sampler on it so I made up a quick design and submitted it. I had fun making some more bag designs.  Besides this I've imported pictures of the snowflake flowers and put them on bags.  I've also played around wth some of their drawing tools.  All my bags are in a group called "emcstitches" if you would like to check them out and vote.  I'll try to stick a vote for me icon on the blog for your convenience. If you don...