RobinsCraftRoom.com

A Bow for the Folded Star Ornaments

Aloha, all!

     I've had a couple of questions about how I made the bows that topped off my Folded Star Ornaments.  Here's just a reminder of how one of the ornaments looked when I posted it, along with a close up of the bow on the top.

     This is a bow I learned to make back when these ornaments were the crafting rage 20 or so years ago.  It's perfect for finishing off with a straight pin down into the center of the Styrofoam ball!

     To answer the questions, I've written up a quick tutorial for you to use as you make your own bows.

     Have fun with it!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Sewing in the Craft Room

Aloha, all!

     By now you know that Robin's Craft Room isn't all just paper and ink for scrapbooks and cards.  But up until this year the extent of the non-paper crafting projects has been limited to my crocheting projects.  No more, as I'm sure you've noticed as I've begun playing with fabric.  First it was just any fabric cut oh so easily with Sizzix Big Shot dies.  And now that the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog is here, it's Stampin' Up! fabrics and those Sizzix Dies.

     This is my latest project – actually our latest project as my friend and neighbor, Deme, brought her fab Huskvarna/Viking sewing machine over to do some real sewing for me!  The bag is on the smallish side – about 10" wide – but a perfect little tote for shopping and such.  The squares on the front of the bag were cut out, 8 at a time, using the brand new Scallop Squares Duo Die, a Stampin' Up! Exclusive Die!  We cut the fabric first into roughly 3-1/2" squares before placing on the die over the larger of the two scallop squares, which is about 3" square.  You can believe I don't want to waste a thread of Stampin' Up!'s gorgeous fabrics!  We cut 4 squares each of two of the fabrics from Stampin' Up!'s Deck the Halls Collection.  We also cut 4 squares each of coordinating solid fabrics I purchased at a local shop.

     The most time consuming part of this whole project was two artistic minds trying to decide how to lay out the various fabrics.  Here's the layout we finally chose.  Hint:  do as we do, and take a picture of the layout before you start sewing.  That way you don't forget!

     Once Deme sewed all the squares together, the next step was to decorate the center of each square with a star.  Here we used three Stampin' Up! products.  After the Deck the Halls Fabric the first was the Big Shot Fabric Adhesive Roll, also a brand new product in the Holiday Mini Catalog, and then the Big Shot Stars #2 die.  The fabric adhesive is one of the greatest inventions ever!  Of course, it's not Stampin' Up!'s invention; but their version of the iron on adhesive for appliques is top notch.  We were totally impressed by (1) how easily it ironed on to the piece of fabric, (2) how easily it went through the Big Shot, and (3) how quickly and easily those stars were ironed on to the bag front.  For the stars, we used the second largest star from the Stars #2 die, which fit perfectly on the 3" squares.  No need to take a photo of this step as we ironed the stars on just as soon as we laid them out!

     We then had to decide which buttons to use to embellish the bag front.  We started off with some of the Big Designer Buttons featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  But to use just those really big buttons with these small squares was a bit overwhelming.  So off I went to scrounge up some Designer Buttons from the Regals and Neutrals collections from the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog.  A perfect mix of the three sets of buttons!  Again, we laid the buttons out and, since we were going to have to remove them to allow me to hand sew them on, we took a photo.

     The construction of this bag is different from those that you may have seen (I shared one here back in the Spring) using the Scallop Square Bigz Clear Die (though we did use this die for the side and back pieces – more in just a second).  This is not quilted at all – just pieced and appliqued.  We also did not make the entire bag out of the squares.  But we still wanted to have the scallop edges showing all around the seams of the bag to keep the "shabby chic" feel to it.  This was a bit on the tricky side.  For the side of the bag, we cut a strip of solid fabric to a measurement twice the height of the bag plus the width, plus an extra inch to allow us some leeway for gathering at the corners.  We folded the strip several times to make the length of the folded piece shorter than the length of the side of the Scallop Square Bigz Clear Die and then just cut one edge of the strip with the die, then the other edge. 

     After sewing on the side of the bag, we remeasured the inside of the bag and cut a piece of contrasting solid fabric 1-1/4" wider and longer than the inside (which was 9-1/4" square at this point).  We then folded the fabric in both directions so that only two parallel sides would be cut by the die.  Once that edge was cut, we cut the other two sides.  That left us with a 9-1/2" square, perfect for sewing onto the sides to make the back of the bag. 

     I hope that you've enjoyed this quick explanation for how we made this delightful project!  When I make the bag using the Candy Cane Christmas fabric, I'll write up a proper tutorial, including all fabric requirements!  Until then, if you'd like to try these projects out, I'll be glad to help you place an order for everything you need and then coach you through the construction – if you're on the Big Island we can do it in person!   Or you can shop 24/7 on my website!  Either way, you'll have the opportunity to make some great holiday gifts!

Have Fun!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Some more of that gorgeous fabric!

Aloha, all!

     I'm not sure where last week went!  For sure, most of what I've been doing the past four days or so has had little to do with my Stampin' Up! activities.  Even today, on Sunday, we had more events planned that we have planned in most weeks!  But now, as Monday approaches, I think it's going to be more of a Stampin' Up! week than this past one.

     One Stampin' Up! product with which I had particular fun this past week was their brand new fabrics, featured in the 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog.  Early in the week I shared a folded star ornament ball that I made with the Candy Cane Christmas Fabric.  Today I'd like to share what I did with the Deck the Halls Fabric.

     This is definitely a bit more elaborate than my first ornament.  I remembered to keep the central layer small to give me more room to play with an accent row of solid color.  I also used three different Stampin' Up! fabrics for this ball, and I used some Victoria Lace to accent the fabric which is more vintage in style than Candy Can Christmas.  Another product from the Holiday Mini Catalog that I included in this project is the Seam Binding, in both the Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke colors, to make the pouf of a bow at the top. 

     It certainly will be nice to have these new ornaments on my Christmas Trees this year!  We usually have two trees (or two groups of trees – more about that as Christmas gets closer), and there will be one new ornament per tree(s)!

     I'm hoping to have some time to actually do some sewing with these fabulous fabrics this week.  But first I'm going to get into some other products from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  This evening when I finally got home from all our activities of the day I started playing with some new "stuff" that came on a FedEx truck on Friday.  Can hardly wait to show it off!

     Meanwhile, if you don't yet have your copy of the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog, just call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me, and I'll get a copy right out to you!

Subscribe to the comments for this post

Oh What Fabulous Fabrics!

Aloha, all!

     If you've looked through the Stampin' Up! 2010 Holiday Mini Catalog, then you know that one of Stampin' Up!'s newest offering is fabric.  The fabric isn't just there by itself.  You have to know that, if it's Stampin' Up!, it COORDINATES with something!  Absolutely true with this new product.  It coordinates with Designer Series Papers, with Card Stock, with Buttons, with Ribbons – in fact with all things colorful!  Of course, being in the Holiday Mini Catalog, you can expect that this first offering of fabric relates to the holidays. 

     Each of the two sets of fabrics in this first offering contains 3 fat quarters that are 28" x 18", larger than the typical fat quarter cut from 44/45" fabric.  Today I'm sharing some pictures of my very first project with this fabric.  I have to tell you that I've been tip-toeing around it for a month not wanting to cut into for fear I'd – what?  I don't know.  I just couldn't do it the fabric was so pretty.

     This project is called a Folded Fabric Star Ornament, and requires absolutely NO sewing!  I used to make them back in my cross-stitch days when I would make the central motif from a cross stitch pattern.  But that was two eons ago!  So this first one, using the Candy Cane Christmas Fabric Set, had a few glitches in it.  I'm back in form now, though, so the next one – using the more "vintage" flavor fabric should go a lot more smoothly.

     One of the glitches was using the striped fabric.  I'd highly recommend extreme care in using the striped fabric.  In order for this ornament to have a nice symmetrical look to it, the stripes should all be the same.  Of course I discovered this AFTER I'd cut all the squares.  So there I was laying them all out to try to find at least 4 that were pretty close in pattern to each other so they'd lie opposite each other on the ball. 

     Another glitch was that I discovered too late that, if I'm going to use 4 layers (as I did in this one to add the dark strip – not a Stampin' Up! fabric, by the way, but I wanted the accent), the center area needs to be kept much smaller.  There I was at the end trimming the edges because they overlapped – a real mess!  But even from the side, it still turned out pretty nice!  I topped it all off with a pouf of Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, and Real Red Taffeta Ribbon.

     After I finished this ornament off with a Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad I remembered that Stampin' Up! has buttons that coordinate with this fabric, and its sister Designer Series Paper, also called Candy Cane Christmas.   The Big Designer Buttons are also featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog.  So out came the rhinestone brad and on went a button.  I'm still cogitating about whether I like this particular button with this ornament.  All advice and critique is welcome!

     If you'd like to try one of these yourself, you can find basic instructions for the Folded Star Ornament here. 

     Have fun with it!

Subscribe to the comments for this post