Midsummer Daydreams



It's July.  Is your glass half full, or half empty (of ice cold lemonade that is)?    To a teacher, that's an interesting question. You might be of the mindset that the summer is still in full swing, another month and a half or so of fun in the sun, and lazy summer days by the pool with a good book (not a text book, of course).  Or, you could look at that question from the opposite viewpoint, that the summer is half over and the new school year looms large in the not too distant future.

 

I, personally, sit on the fence.  I love the summer for its creative freedom, but I also love being a teacher with the promise of a new year coming up, new students, new projects, a whole new beginning.  So either way, I enjoy the place I'm in, whatever month it is.  Yes, and when I was a student, I actually enjoyed doing homework and did it as soon as I got home from school.  Some things never change I guess.

 

Since I am enjoying the glass half full of my creative freedom, I have done lots of projects so far, and finished a few that didn't have time for during the school year. 

 



I like to try a few new things over the summer and combine some old techniques or materials.  Like most crafters, I sometimes find myself wandering aimlessly through the craft store in search of materials that speak to me, often finding, after I have purchased them, either that idea didn't exactly work, or through trial and error, I came up with a better solution.  So, those materials get pushed to the back of the drawer until I rediscover them at a later time.




My puppy, yo yo quilt

 

 

In my latest baby quilt, I wanted to add something special that would give it a little spark, in addition to my hand painted puppy squares.  I always like to include some hand painted squares for a personal touch.  At first I was going to use lace as an accent for  the quilt, but couldn't get enough of the exact type I needed. I thought about using embroidery, but didn't exactly know how I would incorporate that, and then I thought about using yo yos, those lovely little puffs of gathered fabric that I wrote my first blog post about, that I made a vest and purse out of in my high school years, that I taught my sewing club girls how to make into flowers by adding buttons in the center.  How could I have almost overlooked that wonderful technique?  So that was it, my quilt accent.  I searched for ways to attach them to a quilt and found one using a blanket stitch with embroidery floss.   That looked very pretty, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

Yo Yos made by my students

 

 

I made lots of yo yos in white and coordinating colors.  I love making yo yos!  They are very therapeutic and I highly recommend making them!  I played around with the placement of the yo yos once they were all done, and decided to stitch them to the corners of each square.

My next venture is to add crocheted edging to the baby quilt I am currently working on.

 

 

Paint Can Baby Shower Centerpiece

 

I also created a baby shower centerpiece for my artfire shop that I had sketched out a couple of years ago when I was creating some baby shower centerpieces for someone having twins.  I kept that idea in the back of my head until I stumbled upon a paper mache paint can last week and just knew I had produce my idea and here is the result!

But, I haven't forgotten about the half empty portion of the glass setting on my work table.  I have already started filling it with lesson plans and lots of project ideas for my students in September.  Being on the fence, sometimes, is a very a good thing! Refills, anyone?

 

 

Is There Life After Yo-Yos?

Well, I have decided that I love the look of sheer fabric yo-yos, but I promised myself I would try not to obsess about them anymore.  Now that I know what they look like in my desired fabric, I’m on to incorporating them into a new project.

I met with my Sewing Club students at the end of the week and they were supposed to bring in something to sew their yo-yos onto from last week, like a pillow case, or a canvas bag. Some of them did bring something in, but, as I guessed, most of them did not.  Having taught for more years than I’d like to admit to, I know that Plan B is a teacher’s best friend, therefore, I had fabric pieces ready.  I put out a large, yet slightly jumbled, box of embroidery floss and some embroidery hoops and needles.

 I found a great way for the girls to use the yo-yos while learning some simple embroidery stitches.  I had them stitch the yo-yo to their desired item and then I showed them a few embroidery stitches so they could add some stitched accents to their yo-yos.  This example I found on the internet used the yo-yos as flowers with a stem, but I showed them how to do a split stitch and French knot instead of the stitches shown, and the rest was up to them. They could do whatever they were comfortable with.  Only 2 of them finished, a few left their masterpieces for next week and a couple took them home to finish.  I’m glad I picked the stitches I did to show them, simply because they were very doable for their skill level and for the short amount of time I have to meet with them. 

That brings me to my next inspiration.  After looking up some ideas I can do with Sewing Club, I found this cute drawstring bag.  I actually tried it out by hand during a free period at school, partly because I still had my sewing machines packed away, but mostly because I always have to try things out immediately.   I didn’t want to waste any time!  I have to admit, the bag came out pretty well, even by hand, and it was very easy to make.  It was even something that my students, I feel, would be able to handle at some point.  But I always have an ulterior motive to everything I make.  Sewing Club seems to be my venue for testing out projects for my shop on ArtFire.  Enter my obsession with those darn yo-yos!  My vision is to try one of these bags in a white or ivory satin type fabric and to add a yo-yo or two, maybe with embroidered detail in white or ivory. 

The weekend is here!  I have a few orders to fill first, but then it’s my time to play!  I can’t wait to dig through the white and ivory fabric stash I have been stockpiling.  It’s the perfect opportunity to try out that drawstring bag with yo-yos. 

Keep an eye on my shop.  You may spot my new latest obsession very shortly!

Yo-Yo Inspiration

I have been thinking a lot about yo-yos since my last post. It has become my latest crafting obsession! If you are a creative person you know what I mean about obsessing about creating something. You see something, you get inspired, and you have to try it out in a variety of ways, colors and patterns. In fact, if you are anything like me, you think about it when you wake up in the middle of the night, or when you're brushing your teeth, or driving to work. It seems that you literally can't do another thing unless you try out your new idea!

 Last week I wore a new white knit cardigan sweater with decorative accents around the collar. The minute I saw it in the store, I loved it because I tend to gravitate toward sweaters or shirts that have interesting details, like crocheted fringe around the collar or cuffs, pretty buttons or a combination of contrasting fabrics.  I didn't really investigate the detail around the collar of this this sweater that closely. I knew I just liked the look of it, so I bought it.  I knew that what I thought were flowers, were made of chiffon type fabric with white beads in the center.  But when I put it on the first day I wore it, I took a closer look at the details, and, much to my delight, the flowers were actually yo-yos! In fact, my art colleague even asked me if I made the handmade detail around the collar.  Since that day, my wheels have been turning!

So today, I finally got a chance to try out my yo-yos in a sheer fabric.  My idea is to use these sheer yo-yos in some of the items I make for my shop on artfire .  I have often seen yo-yos on pillows, so I know that will probably look pretty on my ring bearer pillows, maybe with pearl beads, or fancy buttons in the centers, or maybe I'll just leave them au natural!
I also make bridal headbands, so they may be a nice alternative to fabric flowers, maybe with a little lace or tulle as accents.

I have some other ideas about what I can do with these marvelous little puffs, but since it's time to do other things right now, I will just have to spend a few more nights dreaming and planning as I try to drift back to sleep!

Learning to Sew Fabric Yo-Yos

I have a dream job doing what I love to do every day. I teach art at an all girls’ high school and I moderate Sewing Club as my extra- curricular activity.  These are two of my favorite things to do!  Last week I had my first club meeting after school.  Several students asked for this club a few years back because they wanted to learn how to sew.

My grandmother taught me to hand sew and crochet at an early age and my mom taught me to machine sew when I was 13. When I was in high school I remember running to the fabric store on the weekends to get fabric to make an outfit I could wear to school on Monday.   I never took home economics in high school because I always took art classes, but my mom was a wonderfully patient teacher and I learned so much from her about sewing and life in general.

I noticed that when I assigned an art project requiring the students to make a few simple stitches, relatively few of the girls even knew how to thread a needle.   Although my wonderful school is very supportive of the arts, there is a strong emphasis on academics, so consequently we do not have a home economics program.  My little club is an attempt to teach the girls a few skills that seem to have fallen by the wayside.

The first club project is crucial, since initial impressions are important in drawing the students back in for the rest of the year.  I searched the internet for beginner sewing ideas and found something that I had done as a teenager and had also done with one of my classes a few years back…fabric yo-yos!They are so much fun to do!  When I was a teenager, I made a vest out of these little puffs of fabric.

I cut a bunch of fabric circles in lots of different patterns and colors and decided to pre-thread the needles to save time and my sanity!  I never know how many students I will have at the first meeting, and I wanted to be ready for them.  I know that in the learning process, it’s better to have the students do the project from the very beginning all by themselves, however, in the interest of time and given their skill level, I made an executive decision and opted to facilitate the project steps.

Although we had a few disasters, they were quickly snipped and restarted relatively quickly.  Most of the girls got the hang of sewing a simple straight stitch and were able to stitch around the circle to the end, gather it, and, with my help, knot the end. 

Then I brought out my fabulous button assortment!  There is just something wonderful that happens when you bring out a box full of buttons and set it in front of an eager bunch of teenage girls.  It’s sort of like kids in a candy store.  They dig, pick out their favorites, and have a hard time choosing just one.  Time was running short, and I knew that some of them would have a difficult time negotiating the button stitching, although some actually did sew the buttons on and did a good job.  The others, however, used the hot glue gun to attach their buttons. 

At 3:15 we were pretty much done, and although the girls wanted to bring their yo-yos home, I asked if I could keep them a week for a display in the showcase outside the art room.  They wholeheartedly agreed and the next morning we had a lovely display of Sewing Club yo-yos! 

Knowing how to create something is a gift, but sharing that gift is a reward in itself!