Glass Painting

Last week I had to bring a dessert to church for a bridal shower, and the wedding colors were pink and orange.  Well..... that sounded like fun to me, so I decided to make a couple of serving pieces for my dessert.  Last spring I found directions to make serving pieces from a dish and goblet or candlestick.  So next trip to Salvation Army, I picked up a couple of pieces that would work.  They were glass and ceramic.  Here are some pictures of my first attempts. The directions said to paint them with "Frosted Glass" as a primer so the spray paint will stick better.

                            

                            

Then just spray them any color you like.  A few light coats works best. 

The glasses are just sitting on the bottom of the plate while I painted them.  After the paint is dry, you take clear silicone, and glue them together.  Here is a couple of them completed.

 

So, this time I decided to try all clear glass pieces, so I wouldn't have to paint the top surface where food would sit, because the paint would just show through from the bottom.  A quick trip to Dollar Tree, and I was ready to go.

You actually could just silicone them together as is!

A nice coat of frosted paint, and then pink and orange. (I already had the paint!)

                 

Let them dry overnight, or at least a few hours, if you're a little impatient like me. Put a nice ring of silicone around the top of the candlestick, and glue it to the center of the bottom of the plate.  You should probably let that dry for awhile too.

TA DA!!  How cute is that!

Well, then I had to make my dessert match the serving trays.

There you have it.  I view pretty much anything as an opportunity to be creative.  It's kind of frustrating at times, and really hard to focus on what "needs" to be done instead of what I "want to do."  So, search your cupboards for stuff you don't care for anymore, and see what a coat of paint will do.  It's great fun!!

Singed Satin Flowers

Here's a simple one for you today.  Singed satin or organza flowers.  These are really popular for crafters, but in case you haven't seen them, I thought I'd share a how to today.  I used scraps I had left from other projects to start, then went and bought 1/2 yards of some pretty colors. Any shiny fabric will work, as long as it is man made.  The polyester (which I think is some form of plastic!) will melt and create the cool edges.  

You need fabric, scissors and a candle. 

Then you need to cut out a set of concentric circles.  I have 5 sizes, you can do as many as you like.  I use the smallest 3 or 4 to make a smaller rose.  Just find some round things around the house, and trace them on your fabric, or make templates if you plan to make a few.  I use a disappearing quilt marker, but a pencil will be fine, as it will get melted away anyway.

Now just take a circle and carefully hold it over an open flame.  Be careful, if you get it too close it just shrivels.  You have to experiment a bit, but soon you'll see it melt and curl and look like the edge of a petal. 

                          

Do all your circles the same way, and then stack them in order.  I usually take a few stitches in the middle to hold them, but you can glue them too.

 Now you can finish the center with anything you like.  Try some different beads, buttons, or whatever looks cute.  I usually spread a little E6000 glue in the center with a toothpick and sprinkle some seed beads in it.  I've also seen single pearl beads that are pretty.  

Then I had a happy accident.  I cut one too many green circles, so I thought I'd try to make a couple leaves.  I added them to the back of my small roses, and they turned out way cute.  Sometimes my best ideas come out of mistakes!!

Then I hot glue a hair clip or pin to it.  This batch I did all as hair clips.  I wrap the top half with ribbon and then glue a small piece of non stick shelf liner to it to keep it in fine hair.

So, there you go.  A craft that can be done with no sewing.  Just watch your fingers near that flame.  

All ready for Etsy or Aunt Candy's.  

Patch Clutch Tutorial

Today I'm going to share a tutorial for a sewing project.  It is a combination of ideas I put together to make a cute little wristlet/clutch.  It could be done many different ways, but I'll show you how I did it.

You will need
6 different fabric scraps 2" x 5" (you will sew together and trim to 8 1/2" x 4") 
From solid color fabric (I used laundered dropcloth, it looks like linen)
1 - 8 1/2" x 2"   front upper  
1 - 8 1/2" x 6"   back
1 - 3" x 11"    handle
From lining fabric (anything cute that matches)
1 - 8 1/2" x 2"
1 - 8 1/2" x 4"
1 - 8 1/2" x 6"
Fusible interfacing  8 1/2" x 4"
Fusible fleece cut 1/2" smaller than your exterior pieces
1 - 8" x 1 1/2"
1 - 8" x 3 1/2"
1 - 8" x 5 1/2"
and 1 - 7" zipper

Lay your fabric scrap strips out so you like how it looks, and sew them together on the long sides, with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Press your seams open.  My pieces are longer, so I could make 2.

Cut it, centered end to end, to measure 8 1/2" x 4".

Cut out the rest of your pieces.

Fuse the interfacing to the back of the piece of strips, and then fuse the fleece to that piece and the upper top and back pieces.  There should be about a 1/4" around the edges.

Lay your zipper, face down with the pull on the left, and stitch it to the front piece.  Move your pull up or down to get it out of the way of the presser foot.  You can use a zipper foot, or I just adjust my needle all the way to the left, and leave my regular sewing foot on.

Now lay the matching lining  piece face down on top of the zipper and pin it.  Flip the whole thing over and stitch it on the back side.  That way you can follow your first stitching.

Now you have a sandwich, with the zipper in the middle.  Press both of these pieces down, with the zipper sticking up.  

Lay your upper top piece face down on the zipper and stitch.  Flip it over and pin the lining piece on and stitch it just like you did for the lower front. 

Press these two pieces away from the zipper, and top stitch on each side of the zipper.  Your front is finished!

I zig zag the ends of the zipper together so it won't spread open or go wonky on me when I stitch the back on. 

Take your handle piece and press it in half longways, then press each side to the center. Edgestitch both long edges

  Fold the handle in half and pin then stitch it to the upper left of the front of the wristlet.

Unzip the zipper halfway or more.  Lay the back piece face down on the front, then lay the matching lining piece face up on top of that.

Pin and stitch around the edges, being careful to keep the handle free.

You can just leave the seams as they are, zig-zag them, or serge them.

Unzip it all the way, and turn right side out.  I put a 3" piece of narrow ribbon in the zipper pull with a slipknot and heat sealed the ends with a wood burning tool.

Ta Da!!  It's all done.

I hope this makes sense.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I also have a couple other fabric choices, and they are all in my etsy shop if you'd rather buy one than make one.  

Have fun sewing!!