"Fan of" Sublime Stitching

Dream Garden by Jenny Hart

m. ranae designs is a big 'ol fan of Sublime Stitching!

Sublime Stitching is the dream of Jenny Hart, stitcher-extraordinaire! In 2001, Jenny launched Sublime Stitching out of her own personal need for better embroidery instructions and her "stitch or die" attitude.
She, alone, brought back the resurgence of embroidery in teens & 20-somethings. Her easy instructions & hip patterns have launched the craft of embroidery into new heights (and new age groups).

I found Sublime Stitching in the back of an old issue of Bust Magazine (my favorite magazine... feel free to buy me a subscription). After that I was logged into Jenny's site reading & practicing her how-to's. I also tried to get a stitching group together here in Asheville, but the response was minimal and we didn't get past one meeting. But I've been stitching ever since.

Recently, I submitted a project of mine for Sublime Stitching's Combo Contest, where we were asked to combine at least three of Jenny's patterns into one project.

Here is my submission:


So if you're looking for a new craft to try, try Sublime Stitching on for size. Through her website you can purchase kits to get you started. She also has a few crafty books that have been published and you can find those at any book store... just ask for books by Jenny Hart or Sublime Stitching. And check out the website & blog for more info & how-to's.

Enjoy!

Eureka! Fabric Flowers!

So I had a dilemma...
My new Pockety Bag needed something.
What did it need? I did not know... but something.
The overall look was good, but something was missing.
Wait...
Wait...

Eureka!
I need a little flower! Yes, a cute little flower pinned to one side.

And I thought about it for a while... I honestly wasn't sure where to start making a flower. I messed with some ribbon and scraps of fabric, but I wasn't coming up with something I liked. I searched Etsy for awhile looking for brooches & fabric flowers. All were great, but I didn't want to jack up the price of my bag because I purchased something from someone else. I needed to figure out how to make one.

So I considered using someone else's pattern. After searching the internet I finally found a flower I could be proud of... Wise Craft's Flowers. There is a downloadable pattern and full instructions.

These were created by this awesome lady named Blair. She's even more awesome because she let me use the flower pattern on my bags. And I so, so thank her.

I made my first one... the yellow one for the bag and I loved it. Wise Craft even says in her blog how addicting they are... and they are. I ended up making four total that day, but as I type this I get the urge for more... one in every color!

Anyhow... the flower was what was missing from the bag. Now it looks awesome instead of just "great." This exact bag is now for sale on my Etsy. You can check out the rest of the Pockety Tote here. And check out Wise Craft's blog... it's one of the best crafty blogs out there... I swear. I'm not just sucking up 'cuz she let me use her pattern. She is super-crafty.

A fun Halloween how-to from Etsy

I stumbled upon this and thought it would be fun to share!

Here are the links for downloadable templates of the graveyard & dead guy.

Gravestone Shadow Puppet

Dead Guy Shadow Puppet 1

Dead Guy Shadow Puppet 2

LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY TROUBLE WITH THESE LINKS!

Happy Birthday Mom! a.k.a. Anatomy of New Bag Design :: PART TWO

Okay... so here's part two of my mom's birthday bag...
Now, where were we...

Here I'm marking where the zipper is gonna go in the inner pocket. This is a very fancy pocket... as you will see.



After sewing around the marks I made above, I cut a hole in the center of it and pulled the pocket through. This is what it then looks like... a big hole.



Now I pin the zipper into the hole.



Here is what it looks like from the back.



And then I sew it in. Doesn't it look nice?



Last part for the pocket, I add the back piece & sew it on.



Ta-da! A zippered pocket!




Next I pin in my label into the lining before I sew the two lining pieces together. Then I sew them together... my inner piece is done!



Now I sew the straps. After I turn them inside out, I add a touch of color to them with this topstitching.



Now for a little finishing touch... the button! I sewed it on and then I sewed on the elastic closure. It makes it quick & easy to open & close the main part of the bag. Plus, that button has tons of personality. Oh and by the way... I was gonna put a pink button on, but at last minute I changed it to a green.




Now I attached the finished straps to the lining of the bag after folding down the edge.



Okay... we're so close to finishing it! Here I insert the lining into the outer part of the bag. I poked myself with pins a lot here!


Next I pin my pretty, pink piping in between the lining & the outer part.


Nice! Now the lining is in & pinned with the piping. Lots of pins!! Again, here is proof I got poked a lot!



Very last step... I sew along the edge, sewing the three layers together. And it's all done!!




Looking nice, huh?! It was a nice looking bag in the end. I plan on making more for my Etsy account and I will call them DL Tote Bags. They're named after my mom, Debra Lynn.
Happy birthday mom!

Happy Birthday Mom! a.k.a. Anatomy of New Bag Design

Well first of all. Today is my mother's birthday! Yay!
And for her birthday I decided to make her a tote bag. As I was creating the bag in my head, I decided to document my journey so you can see how the bag came together.
So, here we go!

The first part is what inspired me. I really like this red bag because it was roomy and had great straps for slinging over your shoulder. But I liked the simplicity of this canvas book bag.
These two bags inspired my mother's bag. I imagined her using it to carry books around, since she likes to read.


































So next I picked out my supplies. The thing that grabbed me the most was this BRIGHT Elvis fabric. She loves Elvis, but I'm not so sure about bright colors. Nonetheless, I was not deterred. I decided to use the awesome Elvis fabric as a lining and then use a dull, muted black as the outside. The pink fabric I choose as an accent color which will show up as piping. The finishing touches is the bright green thread & zipper and the big, bright pink button.




























































































Next I started creating a pattern. The main reason for this step is so I can make another bag in the future if I like this one.
I decided on 16"x14" bag, but I think it ended up about 13"x15". I often make last minute size changes! The straps are about 22" long and I choose to have an inside zippered pocket and three large pockets on the outside.
















Of course, for the future... I marked the pattern pieces so I knew which was which!
















I turned the iron on next because I had to fuse on interfacing soon!
















Now I pin my pattern pieces to the fabric...














... and I cut it all out!




















And here's that part about the interfacing... I am fusing it on the straps, the four main pieces (lining & outer fabric) and on the inner zippered pocket. This makes it tougher!


















Now, for the fun part! I'm kinda joking about this...
I cut out strips of the pink fabric to create my piping.















And here's what the strips look like wrapped about the cord.















Next, I pin it in place...















... and then I sew it in place using a zipper foot. It's so, so tiny, but piping looks SO COOL on stuff I just couldn't leave it out of this project.
















Here I take my freshly made piping & attach it between the outer & lining pieces of the large outside pockets.















And after attaching, I turn it inside out.
















In this step, I attached the pocket to the main bag piece. I did this twice because I have large, outside pockets on each side of the bag.
















While sewing the other outside pocket on, I decided to include this little loop on the inner pocket. This is for hooking keys onto, so you don't have to search for keys inside this big bag! Nice, huh?
















Here is the exciting part where I sew the two outer pieces together (with their shiny, new pockets attached).
















Before I turn it inside out, I sew a little notch on each side at the bottom of the bag. This gives the illusion of a flat bottom, but eliminates the need for me to add another piece into the bag. It's mainly for looks.
















And ta-da! The outer layer!
















See my next blog for the rest of the bag... you're so excited huh?!!

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!