Tara Miller Designs

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

Kid Tents- a double take

A recent birthday party got me back into the tent making game and I created a few shortcuts to make it painless to make these great kid toys!

1) get your self a 6 ft straightedge. I use a 1x4 that was used for a valance but now is reserved for an extra long straightedge. This will make it really easy to draw your cut lines. 

2) do not turn your raw edges under to make the rod pockets. This was too much ironing and too much hassle when sewing. I cut my tent with pinking shears and then leave the edges exposed. It looks great and is so much easier.

3) Because I cut with pinking shears, I also don't hem the top. This just shaves a little bit more time off and makes it that much easier. 

4) I use 1/2 in. PVC pipe because it is more bendy and thus fits into my car. The home improvements stores sell them in 10 ft lengths and don't cut them anymore so I had to bump it down from 3/4 in. to 1/2 in. but I have not noticed a difference in strength. This makes the rod pocket at 1 1/4 in. 

5) I use a strip of blue painters tape to mark my seam allowance for the rod pockets. The bright color makes it very easy for me to notice and keep my seams lined up. 

GrueneTree Giveaway!

** Comments are now open but my Navigation bar needs retool. Sorry for the mess!

 

I am proud to share that my husband has recently opened his open Motorcycle Shop: Gas-Head Motorsports, Inc. Which he hopes will be the badest place to get your bike worked on and hang out and talk shop. Unfortunately, the location is close to 1 hour away from home. BUT it is very close to my parents home. So after a long talk, we have decided to move closer to his work and my parents so that  1) Devon can enjoy more time with Daddy 2) Mommy (me) can get more work done while Devon bakes cookies with Grandma 3) we save on gas money 4) Take a general load off financially and time wise. That said, I have some packing to do. We are planning to rent our house on this side of town while renting on the other side until the market picks up. While we are fixing little things here and there getting the house into show fashion, it is my job to de clutter and pack our lives into boxes until we can settle permanently again. We don't know the size of the new house because we haven't started to look yet. With Garrett's 12- 14 hour days (We are so glad that after 4 mo his biz is a success but he is too busy to do anything else) so I am packing the none essentials away. But some items are too pretty to pack away for who-knows how long so I want to find better homes for my samples that I have created recently. Thus GrueneTree Giveaway is born. I am hoping to have 2 a month but let's take it one step at a time. 

The premiere Gruenetree Giveaway is the lovely Pearl Clutch. I knit this from Berroco Lustra, which is a deliciously shiny and slightly fluffy yarn in a cluster pattern (Free Pattern Here to knit your own) with a Turquoise Dupioni Silk Lining. Just add your comment to the bottom or tweet this tag me so I will know and you are entered to win! Good Luck!

Free Patterns updated!

Phew! Over a month without updating my blog. I am ashamed. But I have been busy over at Fabric.com's blog with new pattern and projects. Plus I am getting ready for christmas. I made Devon a new dress (blogged later this week) and I have been trying to fit in a handmade gift for everyone. But I am finally updating my Free Patterns and Tutorial page with all kinds of new goodies, some just for the holidays! Check out some of the new projects!

 

Another month, another pattern

My latest pattern, September Shawl,  launched for Fabric.com last week and I am so happy with how it turned out. I didn't realize till we started to shoot pictures that it was the perfect size for wee ones as well as me size. Coupled with the tutu and the cuteness was at a critical level. 

 

Oh and I finally cut into my Sunbloom. Check in with the fabric.com blog tomorrow to see the results. I will post more pictures here after. 

A new look- under construction

Hi all, 

I am working on revamping the ol' blog but I wanted to point out that up top (on the navigation bar) I have created a page with all my free patterns and tutorials. Check them out and share them with your friends!! There might be something new you haven't seen before. 

The Puppet Show must go on!

Devon's lastest invite is to a combo party for one girl and twin boys turning 2! Overwhelming to say the least. But, inspiration hit in my Bend the Rules book but when Amy explained how much sewing was involved I vowed to create a faster pattern. Voila. It was super fast, mostly because I used an existing curtain panel to save hemming. I used less than 1/2 yard for the valances. The difference between my pattern and Amy's is that mine is height adjustable. This was a must because little Hailey is only 2 and a bitty thing who can occasional dress in 6-9 mo size clothing. I hope she likes it. We'll find out Sat! Next week I hope to show off what I made for the boys. 

Download Puppet Show

 

Spidey (a free pattern)

A friend has a 4 year old son who is in the throws of a super superhero crush with Spiderman. Said child just had a birthday and of course yours truely and Devon were invited. I had to make his present since I always do (well except for his 2nd birthday which we just gave the parents a gift card to a restaurant and some free babysitting). He told me in secrecy a few weeks before the big day that he did not have a spiderman shirt. I didn't know whether to trust his whispers but decided even if he did own one or 5, he would not have another like this.
I drew up the pattern on my computer and using some red, black and white felt I made this really cool applique. I free handed the blue web detail on the red face before adding the eyes. Looking back, I would have used a glue stick to keep the face in place when I was finally attaching it to the shirt.
The shirt was purchased at Target. It happened to be the perfect shade of superhero blue!
Download your pattern here and get started! Download Spiderman

Giant Doorstops- Take 2

I wanted to say a Great Big Thank You to Reprodepot Fabrics Blog for including a link to my Giant Door Stops. I realized that while it might be a cute picture, it is not informative. So here let me enlighten and include a little tutorial for my Giant Doorstops. I am without Photoshop or Illustrator (our computer crashed and the new one doesn't have anything but the Internet right now) so it will have to be basic. Let me assure you that once I am back with my usual cast of tools I will include a more useful pattern with instructions.  As of right now, I am prepared to offer a handsome Power-point slide with the basic shapes and measurements for the New and improved PDF, printable paper pattern. Complete with traceable pattern pieces. This prints on 4 sheets of paper. Giant Doorstop Pattern (270K).

All instructions are on the printable pattern but for those who do not want to print 4 sheets of paper I will leave the below instructions and cutting info. For those who want to save time and trouble, print away, my friends!