CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

Holiday Cheer: check!

Weihnachtsmann

                                                                           

Tom bought me this little guy half an hour ago and I am already in love. I can't get enough of watching him blow smoke out of his little pipe. We found him at a little shop called Mount Olympus Clocks, the kind full of nutcrackers and pendulum clocks. The real purpose of the visit was to find the tiny candles that fit in the pyramids like the one in the photo below, but we were unsuccessful. I guess they still make the pyramids but not the candles anymore. Two years the store has been out of them. I might try the candles that go on Menorahs and see if they will fit.

  This figurine is a Christian Ulbricht, which I believe is from east Germany, which doesn't mean GDR anymore. The pyramid on the other hand I purchased last year in from Kathe Wohlfahrt in Rothenburg which is in the south of the country. Don't be fouled however, it is horribly cold out there right now. The coldest I ever felt. I love the little persons on the pyramid, they remind me of the Peanuts. especially the one with the baseball-looking hat in the back!

                                                                  

Holiday Wishes to redo...

   So I have officially wasted six perfectly good cards along with my entire morning. As I am staring at the picture all ready to be posted here I realize with horror that Holiday is misspelled! The fact that I have already stamped, embossed and rounded all of those cards without noticing anything makes me wonder about what we call auto-pilot...

I am completely out of blank cards by now; those Holiday Wishes will be so belated they might arrive next year. Makes me want to curl back in bed with my new copy of Bend the Rules sewing by Amy Karol. Maybe paper projects are not my forte.

PS: I just noticed that I saved the document without misspelling the word...arrrh.

I have a mini-explanation on how to make the lined envelope here.

Felt Tree Skirt How-to

This picture is the result of the Tree Skirt experiment conducted with the thick felt I made in the last post. I am happy that I had so little time to think about what I was doing, this way it was really spontaneous! It's minimalist and it hides the Uber-ugly plastic tree-stand underneath. We found a really European looking tree this year. It makes me  feel back at home. Unfortunately this kind of branches doesn't take well to electric lights. They are too far apart and the strands look a bit weird. So we chucked the idea.

This project take an hour at most if your felt is ready. (Read last post to see what this is about.) The total cost for the skirt was $9 with a 50% off coupon at Joann's. That fact alone makes me happy !

I used two yards of the white felt, one yard for each half circles. The felt shrinks a lot as it thickens so the skirt won't be 72 inches wide in the end. Once washed there is no risk to see anything through the material, it is completely opaque. Find the middle of each long sides  and place a pin. Tie a string to that pin as shown right. Make the string as long as you can to get a half-circle out of the cut of felt. You will use that string as a compass. On the other end of the string tape a disappearing ink pen, see picture below. Draw a nice half-circle holding the pin in one hand and keeping the string straight.

Make a smaller circle, mine is 3.5" radius close to the pin. Cut both half-circles on the line with pinked shears, regular scissors will do the trick too. From the left-over felt cut two bands, about 1.25" wide. I used pinked shears on one side of each band too. You will sew these bands on each side of one of the half-circle. My seam allowance is 1/4 in. and the seam length is 4mm (long), you are working with really thick layers of felt here.

The picture below gives a view of the sewn band. Although it might be hard to see that both sides of the band are sewn on the back. The buttons are sewn on the other half-circle. I used four vintage red buttons for each sides, eight in total. Which means that the button holes are on the thick two layers side. I used a simple seam reaper to cut the holes with no apparent problems.

By this point you should be able to button each side of the skirt and put it on the tree. It really goes quite fast and leaves you loads of time to sew on buttons, rickrack or even embroider it.

I decided, in part because of exhaustion, that mine would remain white as snow, as long as it's not covered in cat hair!

Santa Lucia

Just a nice brioche to start your day on the right foot. We ate some already but there should be plenty for everyone. It's a cardamom wreath, the candles are for Lucia's Crown. She is the Queen of Lights and I wouldn't mind a bit of sunshine for my friends from the Northeast. It might help thaw the ice sheets that cover everything, or so I am told.

I Gave Up !

Sorry, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend the next 48 hours trying to string ornaments on those prickly trees. So I just beaded the branches. In the end it works alright and it only take a few pleasant minutes to trim one of the trees. I am too relieved with this solution to be bothered by this minor set back...

It's Santa Lucia tonight, and we will light many candles and drink many mulled things. I always get so excited for this special winter day. Off to get some cleaning done !

Tinsel Trees Make Sore Fingers

The little group of trees on the left has been giving me much blisters although they only measure 10 inches high. I was hoping to make a forest of them to give to friends, but that seems compromised. Trimming them also appear to take days. Note that I've only got three pearls on last night.

Despite the obvious draw back of wrecking your fingers, they look pretty cute. (I know the photo is not so convincing). It's fun to see them take shape.

I got the pattern and tutorial for those from Puchi collective via Bella Dia. They tell you you need twelve pipe cleaners, but you really need only about five or six if you follow Bella's advice and cut all the big pieces first, using the scraps for the little ones. I made four trees out of a pack of 25. They are not kidding with not using your fabric scissors. The core of the pipe cleaner is mean.

I will try to post a picture of a fully trimmed one soon. Karin sent me a tutorial on how to build a small photo studio out of a cardboard box. I might have to get on that quick. The weather is just too crummy for natural light, and I cannot go outside because I live in my pajamas !

Next posts will be about another painting project inspired by Wee Wonderfuls Christmas Past, pictures of a Birthing Quilt I am making for myself. And I hope another free pattern for some improved Mushroom Ornaments ( one can dream).

Hand Lined Holiday Envelopes.

What productivity today !

The idea came to me last night while falling asleep. We have been receiving a steady stream of greeting cards this month. After each one we comment: How nice! Then it struck me: We have to respond (at once) and send more ourselves... This late brain cramp must be gestational.

I wish my stock of recycled paper envelopes had triangular flaps but I have got to be accommodating. I used wrapping paper from Xpedx, a paper product chain, and of course my trusty corner rounder.

I suggest cutting the lining paper 1/2" smaller than the width of the envelope. Make it long enough to fit in the visible part of the envelope and crease it at the fold. I round the corners to make them pretty and paste the lining lightly with Elmer's glue (to help with where the glue must go I make a few dots along the sides and top with a pencil). I think stick glue would work the best. Et voila!

Dried Oranges Ornaments

On your left observe the result of last night experiments in fruit ornaments handcrafting. I always doubted for some reasons that it would actually work for me, after the numerous failures at gingerbread things. But they turned out just lovely.

So here is how I did it:

Slice navel oranges no thicker than 1/4". Only keep the pretty slices, eat the rest. It's not like you are going to put the ugly ones up in your tree in the end.

Lay all the selected slices on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Dry in a 200 F oven for quite a few hours. The time really depends on where you live. Here is Utah it's very dry, so it takes less time. A convection oven also reduces time. You want to flip them once the rinds look like they want to curl up. You will stop just short of dried-up, when the pulp is still a bit flexible.  The longer you leave then in the oven the darker they will get. My friend Ambre also informs me that time will darken them. Finish drying  the fruit slices on racks. The next day they are ready to be threaded and hanged.

At the end of the season don't store them in plastic but rather in paper bags, to be used again for a few more Christmases.

Marie Claire Idee Mushrooms continued....

The Little mushroom family is finished, I am off to make a potato and mushroom omelet to celebrate. They took way too long to complete, when you think that in nature they can just grow tall out of nothing after a rain fall... Make you ponder new ways to grow craft : Just add water.

I stumbled upon the picture of this project in Flickr. I feel good linking it since it's a public pic, here. Almost anybody could make those even without a pattern. They are just felt, DMC thread, buttons and a tiny bit of batting. You must however put the twine in while your sewing not after the bud is done. Incidentally I had to start the big one over. The twine was picked up from Ikea, along with sofa and buffet this afternoon, it's made of paper and seems great for ornaments.