Crafty Crunch Time

The wedding is coming up so soon, as evidenced by many things, including the generous pile of gifts collecting in our spare room, my shortened patience, and cramped and paper-cut hands. The good news is the invitations are 99% out (one was returned in the mail). So far, about 100 have responded and we don't even have half our responses back yet. Needless to say, I've been getting my craft on (though with lots of help from my mom). Here are some shots of my dwindling invitation station (yes, that's Rachel Barry on my laptop, mid-finale) and table number progress. Enjoy!

Fun with Table Numbers

How hot does this look? I am embroidering the table numbers for my wedding in different color fabrics. I was inspired by this article in Readymade. Six months ago, the original plan was to embroider monograms as Christmas presents. That plan didn't work out, so here I am, working on wedding stuff over eight months in advance. I have learned my lesson, to say the least. Here's how I'm completing my masterpiece. First, I selected different patterns from various fabric stores. You can get as little as a third of a yard. To add a special touch, I am purchasing fabric from all over - Kalamazoo, Durham, and hopefully Philadelphia, New York, and New Orleans. I am doing this project in my wedding colors of course - light aqua and cherry red.

You will also need stencils, embroidery hoops, a fabric marker, a good iron, and embroidery floss. Take about a square foot of fabric and iron it out really well. People suggest using stabilizer but I find that starch works just fine. Use a stencil to trace numbers with a fabric marker. Don't do this haphazardly - if there's a part of a pattern you don't like, you can embroider over it. Also, I suggest using a fabric marker over a fabric pencil - they show up easier and can be wiped out with cold water and a q-tip.




Next, pull the fabric tight over an embroidery hoop. For a homemade look, I'm using plain old 7'' wood ones. They don't hold fabric very tight though, so you may want to get a stronger one that will hold fabric more taut.

I'm outlining in split stitch and filling in with satin stitch. I may use different stitching patterns but I'm already using different fabric, so I haven't decided. I know we're having a big wedding, but I'm not quite sure how many tables we're having. For now, I'm making twenty numbers. They will all sit on decorative plate stands. I'm so excited for these I want to squeal. In fact, I think I have, a couple times.

I've got 14, 2, and half of 1 and 11 done. Not gonna lie though - my mom is helping me with some. But I'll be doing over half myself for sure! I've got all the fabric in my own house, after all. Stay tuned for my progress!

Birthday Shwag

Some presents have been coming in the mail for the past week and I have to share some of the more crafty ones. The Eagles monopoly game from my wonderful sister is clutch, as is the Pacquiao jacket from my awesome boyfriend (Haddon KO in two rounds, what). But this is supposed to be a crafty blog so I'll only share pics of these:

- A giant cupcake cake form - how ironic! I love it. From Boyfriend.
- An Edge Only brownie pan also from Boyfriend. The best part is that he knew I wanted both these things because I drooled over them in the plane back from Athens from my interview at UGA. This was in January. My birthday was last week. Love him.
- A felting kit from my crafty influence, Lindsey. Once I have my own washer and dryer, I will use it asap. I don't have a lot of felting experience, so this is great.
- And finally, a pad of many many wonderful embroidery patterns by Jenny Hart from my bff Annie. If only I could hurry up and finish that cafe apron, I could get started on something new. Update on other craft projects coming soon.

Aprons All Over the Place

I finally finished the apron I bought from Sew Fast Sew Easy! Since I'm new, I'm slow, and sewing isn't like knitting where I can just pick up something unfinished and go at it. I cut the pieces about a week after I bought the pattern, then stared at it for weeks. Sewing this pattern took a while because the directions were limited (for a beginner, anyway) and the ruffle at the bottom was really difficult to do. Also, everything had to be edged with a zigzag stitch and hardly any of it was straight (which is what I've been practicing). So in the end, the apron looks great from far away, and per usual, looks doody up close. Oh, well. I'm pretty pleased.

I started this cafe apron from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing ages ago. It took a whole Friday night to complete (what a life I have, right?) and now I'm just practicing some embroidery. I'll post better pics once I'm done with the embroidery. As you can see, I had some trouble getting the iron-on exactly where I wanted it.

Embroiderama

A while back, in the midst of application hell, I purchased Jenny Hart's Stitch-It Kit. I knew embroidery isn't ridiculously hard, and I really just wanted an introduction to it. I didn't really think of it as a hobby as involved as knitting or sewing. I was pretty wrong. I guess hobbies, whether they are crafts, reading books, or even blogging, are as intricate as you want them to be. Check out some of her work on her website. My favorite is her Iggy Pop portrait. I have loved Iggy Pop for a long time and even wrote a paper on him for a psychotherapy class I took in my master's program. Needless to say, this boosts Miss Hart way up in my book. Make sure to check out her White Stripes piece as well. I've only recently had time to thumb through my kit and make something. The kit has been very helpful and comes with lots of fun patterns. The instructions are simple and Miss Hart's tips are helpful. I'm doing a tea towel right now, and who knows if I'll even use it. Do people really use tea towels for drinking tea? Are they just for decoration? I'm looking at it as a practice rag. It's pathetic compared to what Jenny Hart does but hey, I'm just beginning. The beauty of embroidery is that the aesthetics of the end result far outweigh the effort involved. Also, let me just say my brand new iron is awesome. Actually, it's rather essential to any embroidery effort. My wrap skirt will be done this week and I'll be sure to post that. After that, without the safety net of a real live instructor, I'm thinking of making something like an apron or a pillowcase. Something I can embroider!