Twin Needles

Sometimes people marvel over the things I produce. It's very flattering, but it took a long time to be able to do what I do, craftwise.

And I'm always learning from other crafters.

Today I learned something new about twin needles at What The Craft.

Read it yourself. It may not make any sense if you're not a sewer, but if you do and didn't know about these... you'll be amazed!

I'm excited. I've got to go find me some of these!

Check out the site... it's got some awesome tutorials even for the non-sewer-person.... -thingy.

Hey! What's that cookie doing there...

Hee, hee! See the above pic?

This little gingerbread cookie just popped up outta nowhere on my web page. Seriously!

I went to the page to look at something and I noticed him just sitting up there waving "hi" to all my visitors. Isn't he cute?

I have a pretty good idea how he got there, so I'm not worried that my page is being hacked into by an evil gingerbread man.

Life is funny. It's obvious he's meant to be.

... in other news...

I've been making my own little men lately. These little dudes are Fuzzy Friends. Their felt stuffed with polyfill and the dog version has a squeaker inside. So easy too!

So, really, here's my first mini-tutorial. It's meant for someone who has had some minor sewing experience.

1. Get some fabric that doesn't fray... again, I used felt, but t-shirt material is another good option. If you're feeling really hip, use an old t-shirt. You only need two pieces that are about 8"x11".
2. Fold one of the 8x11 pieces in half lengthwise. With a magic marker, draw HALF a man/woman shape on it. I've also made other shapes... If you choose to do something else you might want to just draw it on the unfolded piece of material.
3. After you've drawn your shape, cut it out still folded (or not if you drew some other shape). Then unfold the man. Pin him to the other piece of fabric and cut the same shape out of that piece.
4. Hide the magic marker by flipping the fabric piece with it on around so it's touching the other piece of fabric. Magic Markings should now be on the inside of the two pieces and can't be seen. You now have the front of the man/woman & a back.
5. This is the step where you add fancy stuff. On one of the pieces you can add button eyes, a heart or an embroidered mouth. Whatever you decide. I don't add anything if it's for a dog or a child under the age of three. Trust me, they don't care if it doesn't have eyes.
6. Now put the pieces back together (Magic Marker on the inside) and sew almost all the way around the edge of the man, either by hand or machine. Leave an inch gap between the start & finish stitch to help stuff it.
7. Okay... now stuff it! I use polyfill. If it's for a dog, add the squeaker towards the end of stuffing (adding a little more after the addition of the squeaker).
8. Now sew the one inch hole up.
9. Ta-da! All done! Now give to dog, child or cuddle with it yourself!
   

Of course, if any of this is confusing, write me and I'll fix it here and send you some tips!

Have fun!

FINISHED craft room! Yay!

Well it's done and it is much more organized. Above is the pic of the entire space. I rearranged the furniture a bit, but mainly I threw all my craft stuff in a pile and sorted it back out into boxes & bins. Then I labeled everything so I could find it easily.

The above pic here is where most of the stuff happens. It's my main table!! This is in the center and most of the stuff I use often are within my reach!

This is the sewing area (note the machine... just kidding). To the right are five bins where I store fabric. The little shelf on the left holds my scissors and my drink (I get thirsty hovered over the machine!).

This is my extra space. I don't use it very often, but it's good and flat for an ironing area, which is so, so, so important!

This is a good example of one of the three shelves I put up. This holds some of my books, envelopes, pens & more.

This other shelf has the ribbon bar along the bottom & tons of bins for notions, fixin's & miscellaneous.

This last area to the far left of everything holds magazines & yarn.

Well I hope you enjoyed! Sorry it took so long to post. I'm sure this will change the more & more I use it, especially when I find better ways to organize based on my usage.

I've got more & more stuff for ya' later.