Starfish Alley

Tag: birthday

potholder project

The Potholder Project

November 7, 2017 /

Although I love to give and receive cards, it feels so wasteful when you throw them in the trash. This year I decided that instead of cards, I would give my friends potholders when there was a card worthy occasion. There have been exceptions of course but for the most part I’ve purchased very few greeting cards. Instead I’ve used my 8″ cube and 8 1/2″ die for backs and insulbrite and batting and I made potholders. I did also use the kite die for several as well. It’s been fun to do, well received and I’ve used lots of those very fun kitchen fabrics that I’ve collected. A win win for sure. 

zip pouch

More Bags

August 22, 2017 /

Well, it’s no secret that I like to make all kinds of bags.

The other thing I like to do is to experiment with different techniques and fabrics.

The most recent experiment has been with cork leather. This is a leather type fabric made out of cork.  Cork leather is vegan and eco-friendly. It it made from cork that has been left to dry for 6 months after harvest and then boiled, steamed and pressed into blocks for slicing. It’s very lightweight and water resistant. There are a number of suppliers on the web as well as Etsy and Ebay.  I found an offer on Massdrop and decided this was the time to try it out. It comes in a sheet and was shipped in a tube. I have the remaining piece rolled up and stored on a shelf.

it was fun to sew with. It’s very much like other fabrics. I did use a walking foot but I’m not sure that would really be necessary. One thing that I didn’t think about was if I used it at the bottom of a bag, it is bulkier and not as easy to turn the bag right side out of to push the corners out. The little glasses case was more difficult that the zipper pouch due to the smaller design.

Cork Leather
cork leather

 

 

 

 

This is the first experiment that I made for myself. A glasses case with a pinch type opening.

glasses case

 

 

 

 

 

This was my second try. A graduation gift for a my cousins daughter. Their last name is Campbell so that’s why I used Campbell soup fabric for the inside.

zip pouch with cork leather

 

 

 

soup inside

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last was for the son’s  fiance. I think she was surprised and pleased. It’s too bad I forgot to take a picture of the inside because she really loved that. It was fabric with little lobsters on it.

Can’t everyone can use a zip pouch of two?

zip pouch

 

A quick gift

October 26, 2011 /

A friend is having a birthday and I wanted to make a quick gift.  One pair of fleece socks was included but also some pouches for carrying things.  It seems everyone has a phone and various ways of carrying their phones.  When you get a new phone invariably it’s a different size than the last phone.  That creates the problem of transportation.  Now with  smartphones and the big screens, how do you carry them if you don’t carry a purse or have the right size pocket. The kids often travel with a backpack or book bag and throw the phone in the bottom of the bag. The goal here was a little bag to add some protection to the phone and the screen.  I made three different kinds of pouches not knowing for sure which the  recipient would prefer.  I also don’t know for sure if they always have a plastic cover on  the phone as this too will determine the fit.  I also am guessing on the exact size of the phone.  I think it’s about the same size as mine but I don’t know for sure.  Although I started with the same size pattern for all the pouches they all ended up different sizes due to the construction process.  Two of them have zippers and the other is a snap type pouch.  I’m thinking at least one of them will work for the phone and the others will have other uses. This was a fun project and I think I’ll  be making more pouches.

A couple of birthday gifts

October 2, 2011 /

Middle daughter was home this weekend to celebrate her birthday.  The actual date was almost a month ago but with her work travel schedule she wasn’t able to come home until this weekend.  It’s always good to have her home and the other kids came and joined us for dinner.  We had great conversations about jobs, activities and QR codes.  If you don’t know what a QR code is, it’s the little box with squares that you find on advertising that can be read with a smart phone.  This link will give you more information about a product or take you to a web site with more information.  After a yummy dinner she opened her gifts.  I had to do some sewing of course so she got this little snap pouch and a covered pillow for her bed.  After looking at the pictures I wish I had thought about design placement on the fabric before I cut it but I only had a small piece and not much flexibility as to where the pattern was on the fabric. It is cute however and because she is a transportation planner it seemed appropriate.  She also lives in a studio apartment so her bed is a focal point and she has started a pillow collection on her bed.  This one I used some really soft cuddle fabric and made a slip cover for it so she could use it as a decorative element or it could be used for guests and still look not so bed like when it’s not being used for sleeping.  All in all,  another successful weekend.

Zipper pouch

May 8, 2011 /

Mom bought some new sunglasses recently but they are bowed and didn’t fit into any of her glasses cases.  She also wanted to be able to keep them in her purse so she had them when she needs them.  So… for her birthday she got this fun little zipper pouch.  It’s bright enough that she should be able to find it easily in her purse and it’s lined with a black and white print so she should easily be able to see them inside as well.  This was fun to do and I think it turned out very cute.

A special day..

May 7, 2011 /

Yesterday was my mothers birthday.  She was 84 and is doing well.  Although it was not a lovely spring day in the northwest we had a lovely lunch at a local waterfront restaurant.  Good times had by all.  Today is a cleaning, laundry and some sewing day.  Tomorrow some of the kids will be here to help me celebrate Mother’s Day.  It will be a good weekend.

Birthday

April 26, 2011 /

Daughter number 1 is now a year older.  It’s been fun to sew a few new things for her this year.  I don’t think I’ve ever made her an apron so she got her own apron.  She is a coffee lover so this is made with coffee cup fabric and coffee beans. Also some giant ric rac.  It makes me laugh to see how popular the use of ric rac has become.  When I first started to sew in the 60’s and 70’s it was popular and then it became unpopular because it made things look so”homemade.” Now it’s popular and makes things look “hand crafted”.  Hmm..

 

I also made this little purse with a zip pouch inside.  I made a strap to attach it to and also used a magnetic fastener. That was fun and easy to do but I will do it a bit differently next time.  She loved the fabric and size however so that was a success.

Last year I made a barrel bag from some embroidered denim.  She has used it almost every day and said she would like another.  I made this one from ultra suede and did a zip pouch and key fob.  It will be interesting to see how it holds but it is interesting fabric and she again seemed pleased. Happy Birthday Daughter!

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