sketchbook 10/4 – 10/10
chicken ornament : free sewing pattern
Let’s make minimalist chickens. They are quick and easy and the sort of thing you can make in batches. I bet you know at least a dozen people who need a chicken ornament. Stuff them with wool or something that smells good, they are a sweet and silly surprise either way.
The idea for them turned up in my sketchbook and then bounced back and forth between drawing and sewing as many things do for me in the percolation phase. As the design became increasingly simple I was more and more happy with it. The little legs especially make them expressive and animated. I used laundry starch to stiffen them so I could get just what I wanted.
You just need scraps (stay tuned for scrap swap news later this week) and a few other things to get started.
**download the pattern**
You will also need:
- fabric scraps – light cotton or linen
- felt (I like wool felt)
- embroidery thread
- glue stick
- stuffing
- a basic sewing kit
- pencil
1. Pin the body pattern to 2 layers of fabric with the right sides together. Mark the seam line lightly in pencil. Cut out the three small parts from felt. Pin the body pieces – right sides together – near the tail end.
2. Fold back the front of the top body piece.
3. Add a tiny bit of glue to the edge of the beak and waddle felt pieces and place on the body fabric exactly as shown – note that there is a little empty space above the beak.
4. Fold the top body piece back down and pin in place. Stitch just the bottom curved seam. Place the felt comb piece as shown above the body.
5. Insert the felt comb between the layers – placing it exactly as shown – note the little triangle of space between the comb and beak.
6. Stitch the top seams leaving the center open.
7. Clip little triangle notches around the curved seam and clip off seam allowance the corners. Be careful not to clip the seam.
8. Use your chopstick to turn the chicken right side out.
9. Stuff the body.
10. Make a loop with embroidery thread and knot.
11. Fold the edges of the body opening in and begin to whipstitch closed. As you are closing the opening insert the loop tails with the knot just inside the folded edges and stitch it in place.
12. You might find this method for hiding your knots helpful for embroidering the details. I added an X on each side for eyes. Small buttons would be sweet too. Make a few stitches for the wings on each side. For the tail I stitched through both sides with straight stitches.
13. For the legs make a knot about two inches from the end of a length of embroidery thread. Make a tiny stitch in the seam about 2 and 1/2 inches from the point of the tail and pull until the knot catches.
14. Put the needle back in and come out about 1/2 inch away in the seam towards the head. Make a tiny knot.
sketchbook 9/13 – 10/3
lucky fish : slow stitch project
Who doesn’t need some luck? Plus these very simple fish are pulling me out of slushy, stubborn stuckness.
One thing leads to another, if you let it, but first you need to start. Where I really started was ironing, ironing scraps. It went on my to do list because it was an easy win (I felt like doing it). And I had saved a couple bundles of scraps, each sent by a friend, to sort and iron pre-move.
As I ironed and sorted by color the wheels started to turn and I felt a strong and persistent spiritual directive to slow stitch some fish.
Maybe you feel like stitching some fish too. Let it be a meandering process, try stuff. Let one thing lead to another.
** DOWNLOAD THE FISH TEMPLATE **
You will also need:
- fabric scraps – light cotton or linen
- little scraps, buttons lace for embellishing
- stuffing
- a basic sewing kit
- pencil
1. Pin the pattern to 2 layers of light cotton fabric – right sides of the fabric together – and cut out. Be sure to clip out the little triangle notches.
-
- 2
-
- 3
2. Mark the seam line lightly in pencil.
3. Stitch the seam by hand or machine, leaving open between the notches. Find hand sewing tips here.
-
- 4
-
- 5
4. Clip notches around the curves and clip off the points at the nose and tail. Be careful not to clip the seam.
5. Use a chopstick to turn the fish right side out.
-
- 6
-
- 7
6. Pro tip: use a plastic mechanical pencil to push out the corners – retract the lead first.
7. Stuff your fish.
hand sewing tips
As chill and relaxing as hand sewing can be, something not turning out right or completely falling apart after hours and hours of work sure is frustrating. I asked the somewhat weekly newsletter subscribers a question last week – are you a beginner and if so what sorts of questions do you have? The most common answer was about basic stitching. From non beginners too. In fact most people who responded were not beginners. It has also been a question at every single workshop I’ve ever taught.
I have a strong opinion on hand sewing: small is the way to go. Really small, between 1/16th and 1/8th inch stitch length. Definitely no bigger than 1/8th. The gaps between the stitches too – smaller than 1/8th. I hope we’re still friends…
A few other tips to set yourself up for success:
*This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission if you purchase though the link. Affiliate links are marked with as asterisk.
Don’t be in a hurry – take a meditative approach. And practice helps a lot.
Have adequate light.
Mark your seam line – lightly in pencil or with a disappearing marker.
Use a good needle. I like size 9 -11 for basic sewing. *John James is a good brand and easy to find.
Thread – historically I’ve been kind of a slob about it – whatever’s around. I think cotton is best and recently I tried *Aurifil and it is fantastic. And don’t use a super long length of thread – it’s tempting to avoid having to stop and rethread but it will tangle and slow you down.
Secure knots are important – more on that below.
Let’s practice on a simple shape
I’m using the heart from the free needle book pattern. Use any simple shape you like. We will also turn and stuff the heart to demonstrate a couple more tips.
Before you start sewing mark the seam line clearly on your fabric, It helps immensely. Especially when you are sewing small items – the margin of error is small. Also besides large and loose stitches wandering away from the seam line is the biggest reason for hand stitching failing explosively and who wants an explosive failure?
making the knot
Solid knots are key to success! So is the thread length. Cut a length of about 16 inches. Longer thread will tangle.
-
- 1
-
- 2
-
- 3
1. Thread your needle and double the end of the thread.
2. Tie a knot in the doubled end.
3. Pull the ends down and clip most of the ends – leaving just a little.
-
- 4
-
- 5
4. Bring the needle up through the fabric. To make extra sure your stitches don’t pull out knot the first stitch – make a very tiny stitch and put your needle through the loop before you tighten it.
5. Tighten the knot. Put the needle in about 1/16th inch away to begin the next stitch.
-
- 6
-
- 7
6. Notice that I’m bringing the needle through the fabric from the top.
7. And then back up from the bottom.
8. As opposed to weaving the needle through to take multiple stitches at once. This is a controversial point. The multiple stitches method goes faster. A lot faster. But the result is, in my opinion, looser and less consistent. I use it for decorative stitching but never when I’m joining layers of fabric.
sketchbook 8/30 – 9/12
sketchbook 8/16 – 8/29
scrap fabric project : flower garland
*Many of you have asked about the wood thread winders – they are awesome! And you can find them at French General.
These garlands are an experiment in color, working with fabric scraps in green, lots of berry shades and a little bit of very hot pink. I love the combination of the cooler organic shades with this one super bright (almost neon) shade. This is a project I brought to a workshop this past spring, you know, one million years ago. The idea was to provide an invitation to play and some constraints – in this case time (it was the end of the workshop) and color.
Buttons and wood beads add interest and a little weight so it hangs nicely and you’ll nee a little stuffing for an extra special touch – more on that in a minute.
You could use ribbon, string, twill tape etc. for the base or make a fabric strip yourself. There are directions for that below but let’s make the scrap flowers first.
You will need
- fabric scraps
- buttons
- embroidery thread
- wood or glass beads
- stuffing
- basic sewing kit
- sewing machine – for making the strip
making the flowers
1. Start by cutting a bunch of shapes from your scraps. Don’t think too much or edit yourself at this point, just give yourself a bunch of shapes to play with – a variety of circles and leaves. Part of the value in this exercise for me is that I end up putting things together that I might not have if I made a plan first. Note – the shapes do not need to be perfect.
2. Layer the leaf and flower shapes and stitch them together with embroidery thread. I cut some circles into pinwheel shapes. Some are just layered and stitched, some edges are frayed. Try stuff. Make more flowers than you need, choices are good.
The puffy flowers in the necklace at the top of the post were added by one of the awesome workshops students – Michele Muska. They are a fantastic addition. She also added some charms and little fabric tails. I love the necklace.
3. The puffy flowers are super easy to make. Stitch around the edge of a circle – this one is about 3 inches across. Leave the needle and thread attached.
4. Gather until it’s almost closed. Add a little stuffing.
5. Pull tight and knot.
6. Bring the needle up through the center.
7. Loop around the edge and insert the needle in the bottom center. Bring the needle through the top center and pull tight.
8. Repeat this stitch around, evenly spaced, as many times as you like and then knot on the bottom. Add a button to the center if you like.
These flowers also make a sweet mini pin cushion. I liked it so much I interrupted my flower making to make a little needle book to add it to.
sketchbook 8/2 – 8/15
miniature paper hens : free tutorial
Let’s make tiny chickens! So little and just the right size for tiny rag doll world. They are quick and easy to make and it’s fun to work on a bunch at once. I’m using crepe paper from a roll. Streamers work too but I think crepe paper from rolls and sheets is easier to work with.
The hens are truly tiny, only about 2 inches from tail to beak. If you require a bigger little chicken I think it would be easy to scale them up.
lets’s make tiny paper hens!
*This post contains affiliate links – meaning I get a small commission of you purchase though the links. The affiliate links are marked with an asterisk.
download the template here
You will also need:
- one inch *styrofoam ball
- *crepe paper – sheets or streamers – sheets are easy to work with I think
- glue stick – I love the *uhu stick for paper
- scissors
- optional – manicure scissors – super helpful for making little cuts
- acrylic paint and brushes
- white glue – elmer’s is good
- a fine tip black marker
1. Cut out and trace the two tiny template pieces onto cardboard.
2. Cut two triangles into the flat top of the head to make the comb.
3. Push the pointed bottom of the head piece into the ball.
4. Push it in until the bottom corners are inside the ball.
5. On the opposite side of the ball push the pointed bottom of the tail into the ball.
6. Push it in until the corners are inside the ball. Your piece should look like this. Paint a little white glue along the edge where the cardboard meets the ball. Let this dry.
7. Paint the cardboard the same color as your crepe paper. After the base paint is dry paint the comb area with red and the beak with yellow. It’s already pretty chickeny isn’t it.
8. Stretch your crepe paper – streamers aren’t that stretchy but sheets and rolls of crepe paper are. Cut two strips – one inch wide and about nine inches long each.
9. Fold each strip matching up the edges – the folded piece should be about two inches long.
10. Clip into one side with your scissors creating pointy fringe.
11. Unfold the strips and cut off a two inch piece.
12. Apply glue stick to the tail and wrap the two inch fringe piece around it. Use a little more glue to tack down the end of the paper.
13. Let that dry for a few minutes. While it’s drying cut 8 one inch pieces and 6 half inch pieces.
sketchbook 7/5 – 8/1
july is tiny rag doll month and sweet things made by customers
Pack up a few supplies, find a shady spot and spend a peaceful afternoon sewing. You will also need some lemonade and blueberries. Maybe bring some picnic bugs too, just to be nice.
Tiny rag dolls are great little projects to take with you. And there are tons of free patterns and tutorials for her in The Miss Thistle Society. It’s such a deal – for example get the digital doll and wardrobe pattern and you’ve got a doll, bloomers, a reversible pinafore, dress and camisole plus all the free patterns too. Hours and hours of fun.
The super sweet tiny dolls below are made by customers. You can checkout lots more on instagram and share yours using #missthistlesociety and #annwoodpattern – there are tons of great ideas.
Links to the makers:
PS – I hear you and a tiny chicken tutorial is coming soon – it’s super easy to make.
