Brother CS6000
Amazon Deal of the day for my new Brother CS6000i gave me the opportunity to set up a sewing station at my home away from home to sew more reversible, tri-fold pads for Days for Girls International…and whatever Mom may come up with 😉
Archive | sewing RSS feed for this section
Shuffle the deck
24 FebTo prepare my third shipment for Days for Girls International, I indulged myself by shuffling “the decks” or stacks/bundles of reversible tri-fold pads to maximize the interest of colors and patterns with a kit. Eight pads go in each kit. Eight different colors/patterns were combined fifty times! Yes for a total of 400 🙂 www.daysforgirls.org
The deck of reversible tri-fold pads
Color and pattern!
400 bagged and boxed
This shipment is topped off with 50 liners and no two alike. Each liner has three different fabrics to maximize interest.
36 Yards
25 Jan36 yards of flannel fabric in process to make reversible tri-fold pads for Days for Girls International kits:
DfGI work in process
Bright colors preferred! Each kit has eight pads. These gallon size Ziplock bags are filled with eight in each. Colors and patterns will be mixed for greatest interest.
Draw string bags hold the entire kit and includes one panty, one washcloth plus soap and two liners with PUL insert.
In case of a “Polar Vortex” this month, I was prepared to get a lot of work done. No “Polar Vortex”, however I am further along than I expected. I bought the 36 yards of flannel, washed it and cut 8″X 9″ squares staging the material in my shipping box. Each yard makes 10 reversible pads. The perimeter of the flannel pad is top stitched for durability.
Recycled for latch hook project
I chose to cut the corners for 3 to 4 pads at a time immediately before sewing and remove the hypotenuse of the scrap corners for a future latch hook project.
I like working with the bright colors, bold patterns and soft texture of the flannel.
Twice recycled, Thrice used
3 Dec
From curtains, to pillow covers, to three pocket tote
I chose this fabric with watercolor hues for curtains. Alas, the curtains were replaced with blinds. Shortly afterwards, I had the opportunity to recycle curtains in to pillow covers for screened porch seating. Now that the seating is being reupholstered, the pillows will have new fabric. I was about to THROW AWAY these covers when I realized sewing them together and adding a handle would make a respectable three pocket tote. (Three pockets are made when the pillow backs are intact and sewn together with the fronts.) DONE!
Global Sew-a-Thon 2014
11 OctDays for Girls International celebrates October 11th, International Day of the Girl as designated by the United Nations by sewing, raising awareness and funds, and assembling kits to be distributed across the globe. This is DfGI’s 2nd annual Global Sew-a-Thon.
90% content of 22 kits shipped in April for final assembly. In the spirit of stitched service, Elfcroft is working on our second shipment. I have 23 kits in progress for shipment this moment. Here is a peak at the effort…
DfGI bags
Some assembly required for the liners (PUL and pockets)
Eight flannel tri-fold pads per kit
Prepared for sewing flannel pads
It is time to SEW! 26 liners to GO!
UPDATE: Second shipment with 90% of 23 kits is READY.
46 liners to include in 23 kits
Love to girls in every country on earth. Elfcroft
Ship day for my kits for Days for Girls International
29 AprI read about this organization in this month’s issue of Oprah magazine. As a four-year supporter of Helping Hands Touching Hearts (see earlier blog posts); Days for Girls International has a strong appeal to me. They take part of the service work and support to a new level with an expanded mission. With five years experience, they have incorporated “lessons learned” in their “crowd-sourced” global system.
The official website of Days for Girls International. Dignity, health, opportunity. Every Girl. Everywhere. Period. Washable sanitary solutions for women.
The website is very well done. Initially, I spent an hour reading, exploring links and watching You Tube video instruction. My first step was to go through the remnant stash (from over 50 girls dresses). From the small remnants, I yielded (69) 4″X5″ pocket pieces. From the medium remnants, I yielded (10) sets of liner pieces. From the trip to JoAnn’s, I purchased 10 yards of flannel in 4 different color/patterns.
The instructions from the website smartly includes downloadable patterns and video instruction of the finished kit. Eight washable pads go with two washable liners, one panty and one wash cloth. The quality expectation is for the kit to last an individual girl for three years. It is also expected to be colorful, beautiful and neatly packed in a gallon size Ziplock bag inside a pretty drawstring bag. Lovely!
It’s a start!
I added another 11 yards of flannel, more of my fabric stash, PUL and lots of thread.
Shipping 22 DfGI kits
My first shipment includes 22 wash cloths, 22 drawstring bags in 3 different fabrics, 44 liners with wings and 88 pockets and most importantly….176 tri-fold flannel pads in 8 different colors.
The “polar vortex” winter created opportunities to make a lot of progress for one woman with one sewing machine in her cozy attic sewing room. There were over runs on a each of the items sooo….the next shipment in the works.
By a thread
3 MarMy long time friend and fellow blogger Pimla’s Ponderings has started a series on her work spinning from natural fibers and plying. More to follow. Check out her work!
Vintage Thread
My story: I realized I had three spools of this green thread and from the label I must have had it for a long time. Why? Why? Why? I purchased supplies in 1980 for a Junior Achievement project to make the fabric draft stoppers that go by door frames. Apparently, green was not a popular color. I proceeded to use the thread for my current project Days for Girls International. The thread worked well!
In this age of short self lives and quick obsolescence, it is amazing that 34-year-old thread can work well with a 2010 sewing machine. Certainly no other products from electronics, photography, most automotive, most building materials, most appliances, writing instruments…well now a good old-fashioned pencil will work. These gel pens do not work.
Remember gel pens?
Days for Girls International
20 JanI read about this organization in this month’s issue of Oprah magazine. As a four-year supporter of Helping Hands Touching Hearts (see earlier blog posts); Days for Girls International has a strong appeal to me. They take part of the service work and support to a new level with an expanded mission. With five years experience, they have incorporated “lessons learned” in their “crowd-sourced” global system.
The official website of Days for Girls International. Dignity, health, opportunity. Every Girl. Everywhere. Period. Washable sanitary solutions for women.
The website is very well done. Initially, I spent an hour reading, exploring links and watching You Tube video instruction. My first step was to go through the remnant stash (from over 50 girls dresses). From the small remnants, I yielded (69) 4″X5″ pocket pieces. From the medium remnants, I yielded (10) sets of liner pieces. From the trip to JoAnn’s, I purchased 10 yards of fleece in 4 different color/patterns.
The instructions from the website smartly includes downloadable patterns and video instruction of the finished kit. Eight washable pads go with two washable liners, one panty and one wash cloth. The quality expectation is for the kit to last an individual girl for three years. It is also expected to be colorful, beautiful and neatly packed in a gallon size Ziplock bag inside a pretty drawstring bag. Lovely!
It’s a start!
Domestic Archeology
5 Jan
Footstool circa 1960s
This footstool has been under a chair in my guest room for years. Several stains made it not presentable.
My grandmother made it sometime in the 1960s. I remembered it was made from juice cans. My deconstruction discovered she also recycled athletic tube socks!
Tube socks revealed
The structure of this footstool is two sizes of commercial juice cans with a large one in the middle surrounded by six smaller ones. The ends of the cans need to be mostly in tack (of course empty of juice) for a solid top and bottom. Covering the cans with tube socks keep them from clanging and provides an upholstered quality.
Foam topper
Deconstructed
One thing leads to another…I had 3 samples of discontinued Crypton fabric. The upholstery features are 100% polyester, barrier and stain protection, abrasion resistant (50,000+ double rubs), heavy-duty and retails for $59.99/yard.
My first upholstery project in 2009 was 50% successful with seat covers OK, back and arms not so good.
My second attempt is better than expected, since I needed to piece red and blue fabric strips to get enough length of the sage green to cover the perimeter. I’ll give myself an 80% on this due to fit. The fabric thickness made the radii fit more flat(straight) than curved. It is clean and functional!
Top
Bottom
Oh Happy Day!
31 MarNot only it is Easter the Holiest of Christian days, but for Elfcroft today is preparation to ship homemade children’s clothes to support Helping Hands Touching Hearts mission in South Africa. Content in the photos is the culmination of work over the last six months (my day job, etc has priority).
2013 Girls Dresses, Skirts and Tops
Credit to my assistant Shelby!
Blessing
Packing
Let’s go!
We did it! We filled the 1.11 cu ft box with 10 pairs of shorts (4 homemade shown above in brown fabric), 9 skirts and tops in two different sizes and 10 girls dresses in various sizes…..and Shelby gets to stay home to help with the next project.
One of the endearing things about Sidney at Helping Hands Touching Hearts is that she especially wants the girls clothing to be pretty. Also, these items will be delivered personally by Sidney, Wayne and C.J. Here are some photos on their website.
http://www.clotheavillagenow.com/clotheavillagenow/Welcome.html
elfcroft 