Mushroom Pin Cushion Tutorial

Mushroom harvesting season is here and I thought this would be a good time to share my Mushroom Pin Cushion Tutorial. This cute pin cushion reminds me of something granny would have kept in her sewing box. Its a fairly simple project that requires a bit of sewing and a hot glue gun. I purchased all the supplies at my local craft store. Happy crafting!

Materials Required

Polka Dot Fabric

2 1/4" Diameter Wood Disc

1 1/2 " Wood Candle Cup Holder

Mini Ric Rac

Hot Glue or Craft Glue

Wool Roving for Stuffing

Instructions

1. Cut out a 7 1/4" diameter circle in your favorite polka dot print.

2. Sew a gathering stitch around the edge of your circle.

3. Pull your gathering stitch to create the mushroom cap. Pack cap with wool roving. Pull gathering stitch tight, close and knot. (A polyfill will work but wool filling is much better. Wool will make a stiff cap that will hold your pins in place. A poly fill will make a squishy cap but will still work.)

4. Glue candle cup holder to wood disc to make mushroom stem.

5. Put a layer of hot glue on top of the wood disc and quickly push mushroom cap onto disc and hold into place until the glue dries. Hot glue typically dries in under a minute.

6. Glue a piece of ric rac around the edge of the wood disc for decoration.

7. Finish the mushroom with a cut felt flower and a pretty pin.

For personal use only. Commercial use prohibited.

Kawaii Fabric Design Available at Spoonflower

FYI, Spoonflower now has a feature which allows you to purchase fabric that other indie crafters have designed. For each fat quarter or yardage sold the artist receives 10% of the sale price. Its optional of course. If you design some fabric you don't have to have it available for sale to the public. I now have two kawaii designs available at Spoonflower which can be purchased at my profile. I have some more ideas which I hope to have available as well.

If you've been on the fence about giving Spoonflower a try, now is the time. For one day only they're have a Free Swatch Day. In the past I have used this offer to purchase a color chart swatch which has been invaluable when creating new fabric designs. You can also use this offer to get a swatch of not only your design but designs offered by others too.

Kawaii Sewing Friends Accessory Kit

OMG These are soooo cute! Very happy with my latest from Spoonflower. I couldn't just stop at one item I had to make a bunch! Kit includes zippy pouch, five fabric buttons, tomato pin cushion and a needle book declaring, I sew cute!

Sewing Friends Fabric Design

I love these characters and I've been working on some sewing accessories that feature them. I've just about finished the prototypes and will send the file to Spoonflower for printing within the week. This pattern will be used to for some mini zipper pouches. I plan to design more patterns featuring Mushroom Hill and my storybook characters.

Sewing Machine and Friends

A couple of weeks ago I posted a sneak peek of this set and now its finished and available in my etsy shop. Meet happy sewing machine and his friends the iron and tomato pin cushion. Eventually I'd like to do more with these characters. I'm thinking a little paper tea set would also be cute in this style. Right now I'm working on two other paper toys that should be finished shortly.

Baby Bunka Printed Cloth Doll Tutorial

Baby Bunka loves lollipops and her little Scotty dog.

Will you be her Valentine?

Baby Bunka and her little Scotty are printed cloth dolls made with computer printer fabric. If you haven't heard of computer printer fabric its fabric paper you can run through your ink jet printer and print directly onto the fabric. It has a variety of uses such as pillows, quilting and of course I use it to make toys. I purchase mine at the local Joanns in the quilting section. Otherwise Dharma Trading Co. is a good source to find it online. Computer fabric paper will only work with ink jet printers. It will not work with laser printers. Enjoy!

For personal use only. Commercial use prohibited.

Materials Required

Computer Printer Fabric
Calico Print Fabric
Polyfill
Ink Jet Printer

Instructions

1. Print PDF onto computer printer fabric. Follow instructions from the printer fabric you purchase.
2. Cut out doll and pin right sides together to calico print of your choice. The back side of doll will be a nice print or solid color. Cut out calico print around the doll.
3. Sew doll together with about a 1/8” seam leaving a small opening for stuffing.
4. Clip Curves. Turn right side out. Stuff Bunka with polyfill and close opening with a ladder stitch.
5. Repeat process for Scotty dog and lollipop. Use a wooden skewer or toothpick for lolli stick.

Download Baby Bunka PDF Pattern.

New Embroidery Machine

I've been dying to get an embroidery machine for quite awhile now and I finally took the plunge last month because I was given a nice discount. $500 bucks off and 20% off the software...SCORE! The machine is quite sophisticated and a little fussy so I decided to give it a fitting Swedish name, so I call him Bjorn. ;) There is a lot of software to learn but within a few months I'll be cranking out my own illustrations as embroidered art. Just imagine the possibilities.. cross stitched covered buttons and patches to name just a few. Heres my first sample that Pam from the Viking sewing gallery helped me finish.

Felt Christmas Ornament Tutorial

My project is featured on Michaels website. Please rate my project to increase my chance at winning a chance to be on the Martha Stewart Show. Go here to rate this project on Michaels website.

Your family and friends will love these vintage inspired felt ornaments. This is a great holiday craft project to make with left over felt scraps and trim. You can sew them by hand, sewing machine or the younger ones could even glue them together. Finish them up by adding some ric-rac, trim or felt shapes.

Materials Required

Craft felt
Ribbon, ric-rac
Craft glue
Needle/Thread
Polyfill stuffing
Pins

Leave a comment and email address to qualify for the free giveaway of the ornaments pictured. The 2 page PDF tutorial contains the pattern, complete instructions and photos with finished examples.

Please make these ornaments for family and friends. They are not meant to be sold. Merry Christmas!

Download Christmas Ornament Pattern with Instructions.

Cat Toy Critters Tutorial

I made this cat toy tutorial quite a few years ago. I thought it would be fun to post in on my blog since I didn't have one at the time. Please remember I have designed these for personal use only. Make as many as you want for friends and family but please do not sell them under any circumstances. Have fun!

Your Kitty's gonna love these Cat Toy Critters. Fill em with catnip or hang them from a string. Stinky will think your the cats meow.

Materials Required

Assorted colors of craft felt
Embroidery floss or thread for stitching
Glass beads for eyes (OPTIONAL)
Fiber fill or cat nip for stuffing

Download Cat Toy Pattern

Choose a critter and cut out pattern from the paper. Pin pattern pieces to the felt and cut out accordingly.
Sewing- A ladder stitch is recommended for best results.

1. Start out by sewing bird belly to one side of bird half and continue up and around over head until you reach the tail.
2. Continue on with the tail in position until the end, knot, then finish the other side of tail.
3. Now go back and finish sewing the other side of the bird belly. Wow you can see the bird taking shape!
4. Sew about 3/4 of the bird base on leaving enough room open to stuff bird. Fill with fiber fill or a premium catnip, finish sewing base on.
5.Now your ready for the eyes and wings. Knot thread to position of eye, slide on glass bead and go through to other side and slide on other the bead, pull tightly to create small indentation in felt. Go through a couple of times to securely fasten eyes. (You may choose to glue felt eyes on instead to prevent any injury to your cat.) Clip wings to give the illusion of feathers then fasten to bird body as indicated on pattern.
6. Stitch on bird feet. Voila your finished!! Now go make the other two critters, the same technique may be applied to those as well.

Softie Keychains

I'm really excited about Spoonflower and all the possibilities of creating my own custom fabric. In the past I have designed printed dolls with the custom printing service. Recently I have designed some Russian doll keychains based on my paper nesting dolls. Right now I'm working on some new designs to get ready for professional printing. I made these samples by printing them onto fabric that is made to go through an ink jet printer. Which one do you like? Help me decide which designs to send off to Spoonflower.

On the drawing board.

Easter Goodies

The Easter goodies have arrived. Not only are they available in my etsy shop but you can also find them locally at Creative Kidstuff. Included in this years collection is an adorable handmade cloth bunny wearing a robins egg blue felt jacket. Also, inspired by sugar Easter eggs of past I designed a paper version featuring bunnies on an egg hunt. To kick off my new cloth doll sewing kits I will be offering a DIY set of two bunny children. The kit will also have a paper picnic set to go along with the dolls. I will be introducing more critters in the near future. Lastly an Easter cone FREEBIE to download and fill with treats for the holiday. Have a HAPPY EASTER!

Cloth Easter Bunny


Easter Egg Diorama

DIY Cloth Bunnies Kit

Download this cute Easter Cone PDF and fill it with your favorite treats!



Materials required

110 lb. Cardstock
Double Sided Tape or Glue
Ric-rac or String

Colossal Wholsale Order

The reason I've been missing for awhile is because I've been steadily working on a wholesale order for Easter. I had to take a pic of the stuff so I just piled it all on the table. I still have a lot to do. Thanks to my mom and other helpers I may just finish it before the deadline. I also placed my first Spoonflower order for over 30 yards of fabric. I was a little nervous placing an order for so many yards but I was pleased with the quality of printing and can't wait to place my next order. I'll be making 72 Easter Bunnies that will be available locally. I'll give more details later.