Saturday, July 23, 2016

DIY- Jar Pincusion




What's better than a pincushion?  A pincushion that also holds other sewing or crafting necessities, that's what!

For this project, you'll need:


  1. Any kind of glass jar.  I used a baby formula container in this example.
  2. Ribbon
  3. A square of fabric, the size depending on how big the lid of the container is.  My jar's top was 1 1/2 inches and I used a 4 x 4 piece.  If I were to use a mason jar, I would probably use an 8 x 8 square.
  4. Needle and thread
  5. A small amount of wool stuffing. (The wool is supposed to keep the pins sharp, but if this is more for decoration, like mine, use whatever you have, like polyfil or yarn scraps.)
  6. A sharp knife or scissors
Preparation:
Before you begin this project, run your glass jar under warm to hot water and use steel wool to get the label off.  If you don't have any steel wool, I recommend you run it through the dishwasher or soak it in hot water, then use a sponge or your hands to get the label off. (Unless you would like to leave the label on the jar, then by all means leave it on)

Step 1:

Cut out a square of fabric, the size depending on the diameter of the jar lid.  For this 1 1/2 inch lid, I used a 4 x 4 square.



Step 2:

Use a needle and thread to stitch along the edges of the entire square.  Make sure that you keep the stitches wide, you'll see why pretty soon.  Don't worry about matching the colors of the thread with the fabric either; nobody is going to see this stitch.  Once Finished, do not cut off the excess thread.


Step 3:

Once you have completed step 2, pull the rest of the thread so the fabric begins to form a sack.  Stuff this sack  to your heart's content.  The more stuffing that goes in, the better the pincushion holds it's shape when it's used.  To get the maximum possible amount of stuffing in there, tighten the thread a little bit more every time you feel that the sack is full, then continue stuffing.  Stop when you feel like you've stuffed enough, and tighten the thread as much as it will go, then fasten off.



My little puppy decided she wanted to help me stuff and brought me some yarn, which she ever so thoughtfully unraveled herself!


Step 4:

Take the lid of the jar, and a sharp knife, and cut out a medium-sized hole in the lid for the pincushion to pass through.  Place the pincushion under the lid, and pull it through until it looks pretty.  Screw the lid back onto the jar.


Step 5: (Optional)

Take some ribbon and wrap it around the lid once, then glue it in place.  Follow the directions which can be found here to create a small bow with the same ribbon.  Glue the bow over the joining spot on the ribbon.


Once you're finished, fill your jar with whatever you want and stick some pins in the top!

Friday, July 1, 2016

DIY- Tree Silhouette


In my bedroom, I want to exhibit my personality in every aspect possible.  What's the best way to do that?  Paint a wall mural.  This tutorial will explain to you the steps I took to paint the tree silhouette behind my bed, shown above.

Materials:


  1. 1-2 8oz samples of wall paint in black, white, or whatever color you would like to use for the mural (amount depending on size of mural, I used only one)
  2. Paint brushes, one large and one small
  3. Pencil
  4. Notebook
  5. Ruler and measuring tape
  6. Painter's Tape
  7. Not more than a week of time

Step 1:

Before you even consider beginning on your mural, pick a spot where you would like it to go.  I highly recommend drawing a sketch of what you want to paint.  This will help you collect your thoughts on paper, and mistakes are easy to correct.  


Step 2:

Once you have your sketch done, take measurements of the wall area and divide the section of wall into an imaginary grid.  To do this, draw a line at the bottom where you want the floor to be, and use a ruler to create lines at half-inch intervals along the image.  As you can see in the example above, I labeled the vertical sections with numbers.  Next, take a measuring tape and get a measurement of the length of the section of wall you will be painting on.  Take that number in inches and divide it by the number of sections you have divided on paper.  The number you have will be the length, in inches, On the wall.  For example, a section of wall is 3'9" 1/2.  In inches, this is 45 1/2.  Dividing this number by my 15 sections, I came up with about 3 1/4 inches per section.  I didn't use horizontal sections, but if you are inexperienced with painting or just think you suck at size perception, I recommend using them, the process is the same, but you'll be measuring the height of the wall, from the floor to the ceiling.

Step 3:

Take some painter's tape and line it along the floor (or baseboard) where you want the mural to go.  Using the measurements you came up with in step 2, use your ruler to draw a tick at the border of every section on the tape.  Again, I labeled these sections with their corresponding numbers.  Do NOT draw lines on the wall.

Step 4:

Using the grid on the paper and the wall, use a pencil to draw the outline of your design on the wall.  Keep in mind that the image on the wall will not be like the one on the paper.  On my mural, I added branches and birds.

Step 5:

Once satisfied with the pencil design, paint the mural.  Paint small sections at a time and make sure each section gets at least two coats of paint.  (Tip: paint from the top to the bottom)  Make sure you don't overwork yourself and take frequent breaks to hydrate yourself, this process will take several days, depending on your schedule.

Step 6:

Now that you've finished the mural, It's time to make some touch-ups.  Erase stray pencil marks and if you have any, use the background wall paint to touch up any drips or smudge lines.

Congratulations! You've finished your mural!  Make sure to show it off to everyone who comes to visit.