Tara Miller Designs

Drowning in Fabric Scraps

I have more scraps than I can handle, especially considering I just cleaned out the studio closet. I am marking fabric scrap grab bags in my shop 20% so stock up until they are gone! Use the coupon code: Springclean20

 

 

Fun Long Distance Grandma Gift- Wearable Kid Art

While my mom lives close, Devon's Besta lives 3 hours away and thus misses out on some of the benefits my mom get by being within "pop-over" distance such as a collection of kid art. I decided to rectify the situation by giving Devon some Shrinky Dinks to decorate. We then watched them bake and shrink and she picked which piece to send to who. In the end we made a gift for Besta (Norwegian for Grandmom), Auntie Brandi, my mom (AKA Lovey), me, one for Devon and the last one goes to my grandmom. They make great gifts that kids can be proud of and send safety to loved ones anywhere.

 

Materials:

Ruff n Ready Shrinky Dinks (these are easier for little ones to color) cut in half lengthwise and then in thirds, making 6 pieces

Markers (I used washable markers)

regular hole punch 

jump rings, key rings or anything else you wish to attach your finished art. 

Layout your 6 pieces and let you kid go to town. Once finished, write their name on the front (I forgot and wrote it on the back) along with their age. Punch a hole where ever you prefer.

lay out the pieces with the ruff side down on a cookie sheet and bake according to the directions. Once cooled, your child can pick which piece goes to whom and gift wrap. These art gifts make great pendants (just round the corners a bit), key fobs, or zipper pulls. Grandma will love it and it's a great way to preserve some kid art for life. 

I picked the one where we traced our hands, one over top the other. So sweet!

 

Big Girl Bed

We just moved and alot has changed since then. Highest on my priority list has been getting Devon's Big Bed ready for her. Can you believe it wasn't until she was 3 that she tried to climb out of her crib. Pretty nice for us but she wasn't too pleased with the results. She was always so content with her books and jumping that I guess she didn't see the point. When she did climb (err... fall out) we rushed out and got her mattress. However, we could only put it on the floor which I have since been told is the best place to start the transition since they don't have far to fall. In the meantime, I procured from my parents our an heirloom bed that I had earmarked for Devon since she was born and I found it in the basement. It was my bed and my dad's bed before. It is solid wood and beautifully made. However, having gone through 2 kids one of them my dad who rough housed with his 2 brother's daily on that bed, it needed work. 

On a really nice day last week, Devon and I got to work sanding and painting. Well, I sanded, Devon rode her bike, helped me sand a bit, colored the garage door with chalk and then colored her un-sanded foot board with chalk. I believe she also picked some flowers. Then we took a trip to pick out spray paint and Devon choose from the 3 I offered (turquoise, kelly green, and cherry red) the red. It was a great choice and she never wavered. When we got home, we set to work. Devon's job was to not get on the paint tarp and to hold the paint lid. She took both jobs serious but whenever I took a break to stretch my back, she was jumping around all the pieces. I gave the bed a full 24 hours to dry and cure before they travelled up to her room and set up. Once the bed was complete, she fell in love all over again. She has not gone back to her crib once, though it is still in her room just in case. She loves her big bed.

I was unable to get out all the ding and dents created from 50+ years of wear and tear, so I left most and love the look it created. The charater is still intact but the overall appearance is classic and beautiful.  

2011 Loose Ends

So I have a tendancy to say I am going to do things on the blog and then do them but forget to write about the turn out later. This post (a a few to follow) is an effort to tie up these loose ends from projects in 2011.

Tea dying (also coffee dying) This did not turn out well. I even left it to sit overnight and the color is only slightly different. I don't recommend it since it is messy with minimal results. I am going to work on bleaching in 2012 so stay tuned. 

Christmas projects round up:

From Mom!

For my SIL

For my mom, Devon's Lovey!

For my Brother

Camera Strap Covers for my Brother

For my Devon!

 

Cozy new friend

Remember that busted up blanket in my last post? Well, once I brushed her off and added the new bias trim the family is fighting over her. She is shining bright and loving the attention. Plus she really goes well with my new christmas pillow cover. Now I need to look around and see what else needs some bias trim...

Dyeing Fabric with Tea

 

During nap today, I dyed some muslin with tea. It was the least messy fabric dyeing I have ever dealt with and it smelled wonderful! I based it on some instructions I googled but in the end I eyeballed it all since I didn't have tea bags and I was working with 2 + yds of lightweight muslin. Teac dying will give your fabric an aged, vintage, antique look. I am planning on using the dyed fabric to make cafe curtains with a Greek Key trim as seen in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts (love this book!)

I started by filling my sink with roughly a gallon of hot water and to that I added 9 tbsps of loose leaf tea (Mine of Ceylon Cherry which I hoped would add a bit of red but no dice). I then waited 5-7 min for the water to darken. I added the fabric to the tea and carfeully swished my fabric around until it was wet through. I let it soak for 30 min and then came back and swish and stired some more. I left the fabric for the rest of the afternoon until it was a good dark, antique color and then drained the water. I rinsed the tea leaves off a little and placed the wet fabric in the dryer (you can hang it outside as well) to dry.  As I type my fabric is still drying and I want to wait for the light of day to see the finished resulting color. Can't wait!

We've Moved

Hooray! After having our house on the market since April we have finally found a renter and have moved across town. Our new place is 10 min from Garrett's work and 20 min from my parents house. Perfectly situated. We moved just 2 weeks ago so creative production has been at a slow crawl but I am getting back up to speed. Of course I have still been doing my regular posting for Fabric.com's blog but I have some of my own things in the works. A few new knitting patterns are almost ready and I am in Home Decorating Mode (Red level). Our new place is zero property line so some of our windows look into our neighbor's back yard. While they do have a fine yard, I think we will be better neighbors with a few curtains up. I have sewn up some super cool Cafe Curtains for the mud room and am only waiting on the hardware to hang them. Then I am planning som cafe curtains/roman shade for the master bath and closet. It will be amazing and of course I will post pictures as they come. Now here a some links to some of mmy free projects over at blog.fabric.com

Halloween Dish Towels (pictured above)

Pumpkin Bucket Cover

Ellis Square Square Crochet Cowl & Hat Pattern

Tybee Coverup Knitting Pattern

Make your own Toggle Buttons

 
I recently completed the Cardigan Bay Jacket by Carol Fellers (Love her designs BTW) and needed some sizable buttons to complete the jacket. I purchased some 1 in. buttons from a local store just the fill the bill until I found some GREAT buttons. However, the 1 in. were just too small. So Devon and I journeyed to another store to look for toggle buttons. There was a small selection of toggles but they were all weird asymetrical shapes and the cost was sky high: $3.50 for 1 button and I needed 8). So I purchased a 3/4 in. square dowel, 36 in. long and planned to make my own. Here's how I made my own toggle buttons. 

1) Measure and cut your dowel into eight 2.5 in. long pieces. I used a hand saw and miter board. Don't saw on your picnic table, I set up on the grass.

                                               Sanded on Right, unsanded on Left


2) Sand the ends of your dowel until smooth (NO SNAGS) and lightly sand the remaining edges (I rounded the corners of all my sides)

3) Using a small drill bit (try a 5/32 or smaller) and drill 2 holes near the center and equally spaced. You can measure and mark the holes but I just used my eye. I didn't want perfection and like things that are a little off. Again becareful where you drill, I used the grass as my foundation

4) Lightly sand your holes. You can now paint, stain or varnish your buttons or leave them as is like mine. I had intended to stain them a dark cherry but found that after I had sanded I really liked the light wood tone. 

5) Sew on your buttons and check out your fast, easy and fun new buttons. My dowel cost $2, I made 8 buttons and I have 16 in. left over for more buttons versus $28 for 8 store bought buttons. Throw in a pint of stain or paint for $10 and you still save $16. 

Feel free to sell any button creations from this tutorial, just give me a link back. Enjoy!

 

Back to Blogging

 
Everyday I have been thinking of blogging but when it gets down to it I have not made it the priority that it should be. Many of you may know that I have been blogging over here and not so much here on Gruenetree. The tide is turning and I am dedicating more time to my own projects so there is more for me to blog about here and more projects to come.  

One of my most recent projects that I am still super excited about is my new Cardigan Bay Jacket from Interweave Knits Fall 2011. I have been over the moon since this issue arrived. More and more I have been disappointed in the patterns the past few seasons but this issue makes all past transgressions forgiven. I love so many of the patterns and I could not wait to cast on for the Cardigan Bay. It took a little over a week to knit up and while I am still waffling over buttons, it is done and awesome. Too bad it is months from being cool enough for me to wear.

Next I knit up the Pembroke Wrap from Interweave Knits Fall 2011. This was also a fast knit and super cozy. I know I will be giving it as a Christmas present but I am not sure to whom yet. I used Lion Brand Wool Ease with US 11 needles so it is a little bit smaller than the pattern but still a good size. At the time I didn't have my size 13 needles (see this post on prepping for the move) so I ordered some new Harmony needles from Eat, Sleep, Knit (more below). Thus I used my 11's. I will definitely be making this again but maybe in 2 colors.

This issue has inspired me to branch out with the chunky yarns and I have 2 patterns in developments. One a shawl and one a jacket. I just received my yarn for both today so I will be casting on this evening once the child is asleep. Now more on Eat, Sleep, Knit. I have just discovered that this cute LYS is in my neck of the woods. But even better are all the deals they offer and the wide selection of yarn colors! Like I said I order my Knit Picks needles from them and the order shipped that day and was in my box the next! PLUS they included a Yarn lottery ticket and I won $100 store credit! So I ordered more yarn and then with that order I won a skein of Sploosh! Plus, they have a yarn marathon where you can win even more yarny goodness! To top it off shipping is cheap and fast ($3 and $5 or free if you order over $75). So I am in love now.  

A Mounted Deerhead

Over at Fabric.com's blog, I mentioned that I was making up some more kid tents and I have. I made 2 for a good friend's kids and her sister's little boy. I used Obsessively Stitching's tutorial but with some modifications. First, I made the grey tent with only 4 panels instead of 5. Mostly this was because one panel fell to the floor and I didn't realize it was missing until the tent was finished. Secondly, and I think key, was that I didn't turn the tent right side out went finishing the tent pole pockets. I simply left the seams on the outside and exposed. I did this because in the previous 2 tents I have made I have found that pressing all those seams open takes a LONG time and even with the seams pressed open it is really hard to line up 5, 6 ft long 1 1/2 in. pockets. I was always ripping and frustrated. But since I pinked the edges when I originally cut the pieces out I decided to just leave the seams exposed and save myself a lot of trouble. And you know what, it looks great and I am very happy with it. Before, I swore off making these due to that step but with my modification, I think I will get back into the tent making business (figuratively, of course). Both tents are made from $4 Walmart twin flat sheets but my daughter's will be a recycled bed sheet that is just the perfect color and laying unused in our linen closet. 

Lastly, I created 2 appliques with Heat n Bond and mounted them right above the door flap. One is a Deerhead (the dad is a big bow hunter) and the other is a moose hanging out in the woods. Both were created from free coloring sheets that I googled "hunting coloring pages). I am very relieved to have these gifts finished. They are bound for Australia for a dear friend. She has 2 boys and a girl. The girl was easy to make for the boys were a challenge. I knew the tents would be a big hit but I dreaded making them. Now, I have one scheduled for my little girl and another for an upcoming birthday party. Oh and I would show finished picture with the tents assembled but I am only sending the tent shells to Australia, not the poles. Hopefully, pictures will follow.