Favorite Craft Supplies and Tools

What craft supply or tool is the one that you just can’t live without?  I would have to say that mine has to be my sewing machine because I have been sewing a lot longer than I have been paper crafting. I have tried various different crafts during my lifetime:  including making my own clothes, knitting, crochet, cross-stitch embroidery, paper mache, decoupage, wreath making, scrapbooking and card making.  I have to say that the paper mache bit was short-lived; I don’t like the feel of wet paper and it was also during my childhood.

Knitting and crochet were my traveling hobbies.  I managed to knit myself a sweater once when I was on vacation in England.  I bought the pattern, yarn and knitting needles in a shop in England and knitted when the weather was too bad to go sightseeing. This does not mean that I am afraid of a little rain. I’m from Arizona and rain is a rarity and the rain was usually very light and it would take a long time before I actually felt like I had gotten wet. I did prepare myself and brought extra socks with me, just in case of puddles.

I started quilting as a side line to my sewing my own clothes. I started out with baby quilts. I had one pattern of a sleeping bear that was frequently requested. They were perfect starting projects for my leftover fabric scraps.  When quality fabric for making my clothes started to become scarce, I bought fabric from quilt shops and eventually just started to make quilts. I still make quilts, but they are small quilted projects like wall hangings and table runners.

During the 1990s I got some software for making my own greeting cards.  After about a year or two I started to embellish my cards with additional bits of ribbon and stickers. Scrapbooking was really taking off as a hobby and I went to quite a few home parties for scrapbook products. I tried my hand at it, but found myself using my scrapbook paper and stickers for making cards. I started looking at scrapbook paper the way I did with fabric; admiring the color, pattern and texture. I also discovered that commercially printed paper appealed more to me than anything I could print out from my printer.

So, while I still manage to make one or two quilted projects a year, most of my creative effort is with card making.  It gives me instant gratification and I can try all kinds of new techniques on my cards.

So, next to my sewing machine my favorite supplies and tools are:

• Rotary cutter, acrylic rulers and self-healing mat
• Designer scrapbook paper and cardstock
• Printed die-cuts
• Computer (for printing out text and patterns)
• Adobe Illustrator software program for creating my own digital designs
• Stamps, inks and embossing powder
• My Sizzix BigKick, embossing folders and cutting dies

What are your favorites?

I’ve been sewing of late

I haven’t posted a blog in a while. I am working on some Christmas gifts. I remember how much I like sewing while I am sewing. But not so much when I have to cart everything into the living room, and then take it all down. The carting in of the table, chair, sewing machine, ironing board, etc. is not so bad. It’s just after I do about as much work as I have energy for that I realize I have to take it all down and put it away!

Such are the joys of a small house. For all the crafters out there, Happy Holiday Crafting!

Tackling Tricot

We just got a serger. I have never used a serger before, but I have used a sewing machine for more years than I want to admit. We got a Brother 1034d serger. It has gotten a lot of recommendations and it was not very expensive. I am not planning on using the serger very often.

We got the serger to fix tricot nightgowns. Now, I am sure that there are many who would say, why not just buy new ones. Well, they’re not for me. I am a caregiver for a disabled person and she literally lives in her tricot nightgowns. The tricot fabric allows her to move more easily in and on her bed and is stretchy and comfortable. I tried using my sewing machine on the tricot, but it just chewed it up, even when using stabilizer. I don’t think that my sewing machine likes knits or denim. But it is fabulous for quilting, so who am I to quibble.

Before we got the serger, I watched all kinds of videos and read many blogs. There are a lot of wonderful tips out there. I did some practice serging on some of my cotton scraps, just to get the feel of the machine. One of the nice features of the Brother 1034d serger is that it uses regular sewing machine needles. I thought that the best needle to use for the tricot fabric would be a ball-point needle. I also had some tissue paper on hand as stabilizer. It turns out that I didn’t need to use stabilizer. The tricot in the nightgowns is heavy enough, and all I had to do is do some experimentation on the differential feed and the presser foot pressure knob. The main thing I need to work with is redoing the hem. I don’t know what kind of stitch the factory uses, but it looks like a shell stitch, and it is constantly breaking on my poor dear. She’s not fussy, so I ended up using a 3-thread overlock stitch on the hem. I tried the rolled hem, but the tricot rolls too much to get a decent edge. I’m sure I will get better the more I use this machine.

I used the quick method of tying on the thread cones, and it did fine until I got to the end of the first nightgown (with the rolled hem). Then the lower looper thread broke and I had to rethread the machine. Which was actually pretty easy. Those videos sure came in handy!

Crafting Without Restrictions

I am a crafter. I make small quilted items and cards. I rely on the creativity of others to produce materials that I use in crafting. I have a nice, big stash of fabric and paper. When I get my creativity juices flowing, I end up with a nice big stash of handmade greeting cards and table runners. In the past I have given away most of the things that I made. Sometimes I receive a request to make a particular item.  My friends and family most often are the recipients of the things that I make (welcome or unwelcome, they are too nice to say no). As I live in a different state from most of my family, I have no idea whether or not they actually use or display the things I make. Ignorance is bliss, and I keep making stuff.

To spare my family from being overburdened by my creative efforts, I have opened a shop on Etsy. If you are curious, my shop name is Pretty Colorful. WordPress frowns on my putting up an actual link to my shop, and I like to abide by rules, mostly because I don’t like to get into trouble. Keeping with this philosophy of staying out of trouble, I have been very careful of copyright laws regarding crafts. It appears that there are artistic people in the world that are a little overzealous in maintaining their intellectual property rights. I have read comments  from people who are concerned about being able to sell items made from purchased patterns and fabric.  Why on earth would anyone want to restrict people from making and selling things from patterns and fabric? The quilting world has very few restrictions. The manufacturers want us to use their fabric, and to be honest, most of the quilting blocks are in public domain. But for heaven’s sake, who do you think buys the patterns and fabric? Restricting an individual from selling an item made from purchased pattern or fabric is not helping the artist with their own business. Honestly, you have to wonder what goes on in people’s heads these days.

Many companies that make products for use in paper crafting have “angel policies.” I recently wrote a blog on angel policies (https://prettycolorful.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/when-angel-policies-are-just-plain-silly/). I only purchase products from companies that have a liberal angel policy. A company or artist may produce some wonderful things, but if they place restrictions on how their items can be used, that places restrictions on my own creativity. I recently read  the angel policy from one company that only allows the consumer to make things to sell ( in limited quantities and restricted venues) to have the end product only contain items from their product line. Needless to say, I will never purchase anything from this company, mainly because I use items from more than one company in my cards. I often use products from two or three different companies in just one card.

I respect every artist’s right to protect their designs and not just because of copyright law.  But, if you don’t want someone to make something with your artwork, be it paper, stamps, punches, or whatever, why on earth are you allowing the manufacture of your designs? Crafters like to use pretty things to make even prettier things. We are artists too. We often come up with unique ways of presenting images and words in our own creations. If I see a scrapbook page or card that uses an image or paper that I like, I will buy it (unless, of course, it has a restrictive or nonexistent angel policy). That means that there is one less consumer for your product, and I am pretty sure that there are other crafters who think just like me.

You Really Need A Thumb

I have been down for the past couple of months with an injured right thumb. You really pay attention to how many things you use your thumb when it is not working correctly. Simple things like folding laundry become painful. I am a crafter. I make things with paper and fabric. I had to slow down on my craft making. I did discover that using my rotary cutter was not painful, so I managed to do a lot of cutting of paper and fabric with my rotary cutter. (Don’t worry, I have separate rotary cutters for paper and fabric.)  Typing has also been a problem, which is why I have not written a blog for awhile.

My thumb is a bit better, I now can type and use scissors most of the time. But there are still bad days.