Garden Ornament Tutorial

Are you ready to do something crafty today?

I've always been a fan of the garden gazing globes. Our neighbor had one when I was growing up and I was fascinated with it. I've purchased at least three of these gazing globes in the last few years and they do not survive the wind of the Illinois prairie. I got tired of buying them and so I decided to create something that was indestructible. I designed a garden ornament made from a bowling ball.

Did you find your bowling ball when you were out shopping? I gave you a heads up last week, but don't worry, you can always print this out and get the supplies when you're ready. This actually makes a great wintertime project. I worked on these in the evenings while I was watching television.

We're going to need clear silicone sealer or glue. I've used both and it doesn't matter. The silicone doesn't degrade in the weather and it's perfect for this task.



We're also going to need a bowling ball. This one is actually pretty enough to sit in the garden without altering it. But this belongs to the Farmer's Son and so I don't dare use this!



Break up some old plates or pottery. The pieces can't be very large. They need to be in small pieces to adjust to the curve of the ball. Just fit the pieces one by one. It's actually fun, like working a puzzle. Don't worry about covering the finger holes because you can just turn that area to the underside when you set it out into the garden.



After you're through glueing all the pieces you can use grout to finish it off. Luckily I had some left over from another project.



You can also use this method to cover flower pots.

Here's another one I just finished. This is called my "Abraham Lincoln Garden Ball". It's covered with pennies. This took longer to complete. You can shine it up with copper cleaner. Out in the weather it will develop a patina.



Here's another idea for the garden. I have several shoes and boots that I've filled with potting soil and planted with succulents. They're perfect because the excess water naturally drains out through the seam lines. I haven't touched this plant in about 4 years. It overwinters perfectly here in the midwest. Really big "disco" shoes are a terrific garden ornament.



I hope you've gotten some ideas and inspiration today. Let me know if you try making these bowling ball garden ornaments.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Bias Tape Tutorial

Last week I promised to show you how to make your own bias tape and Vee's apron project is hinged on this information. There's just nothing like making your ownb because you can create bias tape from different fabrics and that gives you great creative potential.

Perhaps I should just go into the bias-tape-making business! No, maybe not.

I'm going to show you the method I learned in a quilting class. A yard of fabric makes LOTS of bias tape. The piece of fabric that I chose for the Make-Do Apron was only 26 inches long and I got 8 1/2 yards of bias tape from that. So, let's get started.

You're going to need:
- fabric
- a ruler
- a disappearing marking pen
- pins
- an iron

I'm going to take a moment here to say that if you want to learn how to sew, you're going to need to make friends with your iron. There's no way to get good results unless you press, press, press and press some more.

Lay out your fabric on a flat surface. Grab the selvage edge and fold it over to line up with the opposite edge, like this:



Finger press the diagonal. To finger press just put pressure on the fabric, open the fabric and you'll have a diagonal line. Mark this with the pen and a ruler. Now you need to decide how wide you want the tape to be. You're going to be folding it in twice, so figure the final width X 4. I just make the 2-1/2 inches wide and after it's all folded it's a nice final size.

Using your ruler, make marks every 2-1/2 inches and "connect-the-dots". Do this all across the fabric.



It's going to start looking like this:



Now you're going to match the edge together, but instead of lining up exactly, you're going to move the fabric to the next line, so it's jogged one over. Pin the edges, matching the blue lines.



Sew a 1/4 inch seam.



Here's my sewing machine "Beverly". She's been complaining that she's not getting enough face time here "At Home.....".



Press the seam open and flat.



Now start cutting on the line. What's going to happen is that you're going to be cutting one continuous strip around and around the tube. You're going to end up with long strips of bias cut fabric.



Fold the tape in half and press.



Open it up and fold one edge to the center line. Press the outside edge being careful not to press the center line flat.



Fold the opposite side in, but this time don't go to the center line. Make this a smaller fold.



When it's folded it will look like this.



That's what you're looking for, one wider side and one narrower side.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Now.....go make some bias tape in fantastic patterns!!

Make Do Apron Tutorial - Part Two

Good morning everyone. Do you have your coffee brewed? We're ready to get started with the sewing portion of Mary Jane Butter's Make-Do apron pattern. If you missed the first part, you can find Part One here. I know some of you have done your homework and that's a good thing.

For those of you who don't sew, stick it out because there's something for everyone at the end of this post.

Let's get started. You've got all your pattern pieces cut out of your men's shirt. The first pieces we're going to work with are the ties. In order to finish the edges we're going to fold over the point and press it down.



Fold over the other edges and press as you go. Keep folding and pressing until each side has been turned over twice, encasing the raw edge.



Run a line of stitching around the tie. Put these pieces aside.

Take the neck strap piece, fold it in half lengthwise and stitch together on the long edge. Turn inside out and press.

Next we're going to apply bias tape to the tab piece. You will notice that when you unfold the bias tape it has a narrow side and a wider side.



Position the narrower side of the bias along one edge of the point with right sides together. Stitch 1/4 inch seam, turn and press.



Do the same to the other side of the point, remembering to leave some extra to tuck under when you turn it over. Press everything flat.



Determine which is the right side of your main pattern piece. Lay this pattern piece on your work surface with the right side down. Take your neck strap piece and position the two ends one inch from each side of the top edge.



Lay your tab piece on top, right side down. Pin and stitch layers together with a 1/4 inch seam.



Flip the tab over to the front. See, your neck strap is enclosed in the seam.



In order to keep the tab in place we're going to sew it to the apron by "stitching in the ditch". You're going to run a line of stitching exactly where the two fabrics meet. I'm pointing with my handy crochet hook.



Now we'll start applying bias tape to all the edges, starting with the underarms. It's the same as before. You're going to stitch the bias tape to the apron, turn, press and stitch in the ditch.





After you've finished that, apply bias to the two sides, and then the bottom.



I like a sturdy pocket so I cut two pieces. Sew them right sides together, leaving a opening for turning inside out. My grandmother always said that less is less and so I decided to decorate the pocket with a piece of doily from my stash. I made several rows of stitching around the doily to secure it and then applied some bias tape to the top of the pocket and added a button.



Pin the pocket in place on the apron and run a single or double row of stitching around the edge.

Attach the ties on the sides...and you're done!

Here's the finished apron.



I paid $1.99 for the shirt and the other fabrics, the doily and a button were from my stash.

I really loved how this apron turned out. But I promised myself I wasn't going to keep this one.

Everyone who stuck it out through the whole tutorial now has a chance to win this apron. Just leave me a comment and you'll be entered. Only one comment per person please. I'll close the entries at 10 p.m. on Saturday evening and announce the winner first thing on Monday morning. As in the past I'll use the old school method of having the Farmer draw the lucky winner.

Please feel free ask questions. I think I've explained everything pretty well, but you just never know. Thanks for visiting. I appreciate that fact that you take time out of your busy day to stop by.

NOTE: Oooops, It was late and stormy last night when I scheduled this post and I forgot to mention the BIAS TAPE. Next week I'm going to show you how to make your own bias tape. There's a trick I learned in a quilting class years ago that makes it really easy. It's so much fun to be able to have different tapes for your projects. So, stay tuned!! Hopefully the electric won't go off again and I'll be able to edit the photos!

Mary Jane Butter's Apron

Good morning! Welcome to the Make-Do apron tutorial. I'm going to mention right up front that this is Part One. I know, I know, I hate those shows where you get to the end and they say.....to be continued, but this project is heavy on the photos and I'm going to give you a week to get the apron pieces prepared and all ready to go so that next week we can start sewing. I'm also going to teach you how to make your own binding. That will be a separate tutorial.

The first thing you need to do is go over to Mary Jane Butter's site and download the FREE Make-Do Apron pattern. Mary Jane is very generous to share this pattern. Once you get into the apron making groove she's got lots of other patterns for sale in her online shop. Mary Jane is the rural version of Martha. Be sure to poke around her site and check out her Bed and Breakfast where guests are housed in wall tents. It looks straight up "Out of Africa".

Mary Jane Butter's Make-Do Apron Pattern

Once you've downloaded and printed out the pattern you're going to need to take it to an office supply or copy shop and have it blown up 200%. Most copy shops have an extra large machine that is used to copy architectural plans, etc. It's not expensive. I'm sure I only paid a couple of dollars.

Cut the pattern out. You can use this or transfer it to some of that pattern making material. It's like a an interfacing weight unwoven fabric. If you plan to make a lot of aprons the pattern fabric will hold up better than the paper.

Next, dig around the man's closet. Find a shirt that he won't be wearing anymore. The Farmer doesn't wear many dress shirts so he doesn't have any to spare. I go to Goodwill and dig through the racks to find shirts in cool colors or patterns. When they have their 1/2 price days I can get a shirt for $1.99.

TIP: Look for large or extra large shirts. They give you more fabric to work with and the tails are longer. In a minute you'll see why that's important.

I found a nice candy pink shirt. The label says large.



Next I choose two coordinating fabrics. One is for the upper tab piece and the pocket and the smaller print is for the binding. The pink doesn't match exactly but I don't make myself crazy over this. It's called the Make-Do apron, so I make do with what is in my stash.



Now the fun begins. We're going to deconstruct the shirt in order to get our working fabric. Cut off the collar and cut off the cuffs. (I've got a ton of collars and cuffs and I'm still thinking about how to put these to a creative use. Ideas? Let me know.)



Cut across the shoulder seam and down to the sleeve. Cut off both sleeves. Cut off the shoulder piece.



Now you've got one big piece that looks like this:



Take both sleeves and cut them open along the seam line. Lay one of the tie pieces on the sleeve. Position it as close to the edge as possible because we're going to try and get both tie pieces out of this sleeve.



After you've cut the two ties, grab the other sleeve and pin down the neck piece. It should fit. You can see why you want a large or extra large shirt.



Take the large body piece and fold it in half. Lay down the main apron pattern piece.



This shirt is a very good example to work with because I'll show you how you might need to adjust your plan a bit. This shirt isn't long enough for the pattern. There's not enough fabric for the "point" area. Mary Jane suggests that you can sew another piece of fabric on the bottom to make it long enough. I've done that before, but basically I'm lazy, so we're going to make this work.



I cut the pattern piece and the result is nice. I'm going to have a shorter apron with a scalloped edge. That can work.



Go back and cut off whatever finished edging is on the bottom. That will only create bulk when we add the bias edging.



Gather all your pieces together because next week we're going to start sewing. I'm sorry to give you homework during the summer but I know you can handle it. It's going to be fun because this pattern allows you to get really creative. Think about the color choice when you're out looking for the shirt. Possibly take little bits of fabric from your stash so you can match it up. I've found terrific shirts at Goodwill. For example, I found one with chickens and that shirt was made up into a really cute French Country Apron.

See you next week! But please, please ask questions if there's something you don't understand.

Make & Take Cake Plates

Yeah. Say that ten times fast.

I've been talking way too much. Yesterday I said to myself, "For tomorrow's entry you've got to make something, bake something or get out and go somewhere."

I decided to make something. Next week we're going to bake something really cool using one of my crazy expensive $30 cake pans and hope that it turns out. Next Tuesday we're going to go somewhere. Mark your calendars because Donna Neiler, whose gorgeous gardens and outbuildings are featured in the May/June edition of Cottage Living has invited my readers over for a private tour. Trust me, it's spectacular.

And so, we're going to make something together. I think you're really going to love this. I call it "Make & Take Cake Plate", because if you were here in my community I'd invite you over and we'd actually make them together so that you could take one home.

I love cake plates, I have lots of them. But they can be a bit expensive even when you find them in a thrift shop or estate sale. My sister developed a method of making them and we've made lots of them. I like to create tablescapes when I entertain. What that means is that I arrange things on the table in different levels, even if I have to tuck a box or pan under the tablecloth. Different height of cake plates allow you to do that without any fuss.



The first I did yesterday was to take a quick trip over to Goodwill. I came home with two candlesticks that will be perfect for our project. You want something that has some weight or is wide at the bottom so that the plate will be stable. These were 99 cents each. The candlestick on the left was a bit dirty on the inside and there was no way to get in there to clean it. So here's a tip: Fill a pan or container with just enough water to cover the candlestick. Drop in one or two denture cleaning tablets. Let it stand for a couple hours. The inside should be perfectly clean.



I also found some glass plates. These were between 99 cent to $1.99. Pay attention to the underside of the plate because you're going to glue the candlestick to the bottom of the plate and you're going to need surfaces that are flat to flat.



This plate will be a bit of problem because the hobnail design means there's no flat surface to adhere too. This will simply be the flat "bottom feeder" of the tablescape.



For this type of glass you're going to need the two-part epoxy glue. It's two tubes side by side and you mix the two to create the chemical reaction. This is much stronger than the single tube epoxy.

Turn your plate upside down. Decide which side the of the candlestick you want to attach to the bottom. Center it, making sure that the two surfaces will make good contact. Mark around with a china marker if you wish, otherwise just eyeball it. Spread the glue on the candlestick and quickly turn upside down onto the plate. Take a q-tip and wipe off excessive glue. A little bit won't be a problem and you actually want a little welling up to make a good seal. Don't worry, this is underside and no one will see it. Follow directions for drying time.





You're done. It's that easy. Here's the two cake plates we just made.



Now you can really get creative. Think of different things you can use for the base. Here's an old fashioned soda glass used as a base:



A plain glass bowl makes shorter cake plate. This is one of my favorites. It's tall, thin and elegant.



Don't just think glass. These were made with dinner plates. This one uses a similar design flower pot as the base:





If you use dinner plates for your project then you might want to try White Gorilla Glue. That's what we've used. Don't use too much Gorilla Glue because it bubbles up as it dries.



I don't run these through the dishwasher or allow them to soak in water. I hand wash and dry immediately. They've all held up really well.

These aren't just for serving dessert, although I have been known to throw dessert parties. Think about displaying tea sandwiches for a tea party, or plates covered with cupcakes.

Let me know if you actually make one of these cake plates. Post the photo on your site and we'll have a show and tell.

Thanks for visiting and participating in the Make and Take.

NOTE: Early this morning I'm off to photograph this house being moved to nearby LaFox. The last building I saw being moved created some interesting problems that had to be solved on site. Should be fascinating.