Sewing - back pack zipper repair

My back pack has been in the sewing room for quite awhile waiting for a new zipper!!  I had repaired the teeth several times but after a few repairs the teeth were too thick for the mechansim to go over them and it did not allow the zipper to close at the top.  Not effective!! So today I dug out the bin of zippers to see if I had one that could replace it.  I found several with double zipper and I choose this one with silver tabs.  I decided not to try to undo the zipper - the fabric is very thin and I expected it would be difficult to get the new one in with precision.  So I decided to see if I could remove the teeth of the zipper without damaging the fabric of the zipper.  I had stitched the teeth back into place previously so I concluded that there would be some sort of stitching that attached the teeth to the fabric.  Yes, there was and so  I used a blade and remove the teeth from the fabric of the zipper by gently cutting a few stitches at a time all the way along both sides.  Once the stitching was cut I was able to pull on the teeth to remove them.  You can see the "teeth" above - just a long length of very strong plastic which formed the teeth.  The other photo shows the intact fabric on each side of the zipper still in place.  I simply placed the new zipper inside and started stitching as I spread the fabric of the old zipper apart to accommodate the new one.  I did have to do a bit of hand stitching in both ends to secure the new zipper to the fabric of the old one but that was easy and now the backpack is back to being secure with a double zipper!!  We bought them from Lee Valley many years ago and I have used this one a lot so I will now be able to use it again when I go walking, kayaking, etc.  I have been "borrowing" Brian since mine was in need of repair.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - a fun girl card

 My youngest grand daughter is having a birthday and she loves to dress up so I made her this fun card with shoes and flowers!!!  I trimmed the shoe paper into four pieces, added paper piercing with my PT wheel and them adhered them to my large pink card.  I stamped the birthday greeting in the center of a stamped floral frame and silver embossed it.  I coloured the flowers (SU) to coordinate with the papers.  I layered it with some pink papers - one of them is shimmery!!  Perfect!!  Therese

Slow Stitching - wool trivet with a maple leaf and a diamond design

Another wool trivet - part of a project which I have been working on for a while.  This one combined and brown felted wool square (7") to which I slow stitched a orang maple leaf die cut.  I used small stab stitched around the outer edge using coordinating cotton embroidery floss and then added some running stitch inside the leaf to simulate the veins.  For the other side I used felted wool which I had to join.  I stitched the two pieces together butted cut edge to cut edge and then added a strip of camel light weight wool with turned over edges with running stitch to cover the butt joint I had stitched.  I stitched down both ends as well to prevent any fraying.  I laid these back to back and ran a double row of running stitch all the way round filling in the gaps on my second go around.  I added a cotton cording hanger to allow it to be hung as art while it is in the wings waiting to protect a surface from the heat of a hot dish or tea pot OR from a vase, candle or sculpture.  Therese

 

Cardmaking - handmade paper, die cut hearts in red and white layered on gold with a little knot

 I started with the layered heart which I found in my stash.  I embossed a white background and added a coordinating wide grosgrain ribbon which I adhered on the back using double sided tape.  I layered this onto gold.  I trimmed a coordinating piece of handmade paper (my own), tore it into two strips and adhered them to a red card.  I added my large focal element and then used glue dots to add a little knot made from gauzy gold ribbon.  Therese

Slow stitching - Wool trivets/ hot pads/art/home decor

 

I have been working on wool trivets for a while and have finally finished a few which I will be posting over the next few days.  You can see my first one here. 

I cut 7" squares from felted wool which my daughter gave me a while back - one from a red wool coat and a harlequin one from a black wool sweater with a diamond design.  I rounded the corners  I hand stitched a navy die cut flower to the red one.  I added a small piece of yellow/orange cotton below the center and stitched all the way around with cotton embroidery floss using running stitch to secure the cotton to the flower.  I then placed the flower onto the red square and stitched all the way around with navy embroidery floss using small stab stitches until the circumference had been secured to the square.  I added some long stitches on each petal to give it a bit of dimension.  I did not add anything to the black piece as it was already nicely decorated.  I stitched the outside edge with camel embroidery thread using the blanket stitch.  I then added black cotton cording by whip stitching into the top of the blanket stitch.  Worked really well.  I added a hanging loop using cotton cording so it can be displayed as art when it is not being used to protect a surface from a hot dish or teapot.  On the other hand it could also protect a table from a vase of flowers, a candle or a sculpture.   Therese

Sewing & slow stitching - chicken pincushions made from scraps and filled with poly and cotton

 I have finished another set of chicken pin cushions!!  They are very cute!!  The process of making them used up some scraps and orphaned blocks (4"square or so) along with small orange pieces for the beak, the comb and the tail.  Then, came the slow stitching - black beads for eyes and then the stuffing!!  I put poly fiber filling in each corner and then filled in the sides some.  I added some of my own stuffing - bits of fleece and cotton scraps too small anything else which I cut into tiny pieces - then I added some rice and then another piece of poly fill to keep everything in place while I hand stitched the bottom opening closed to finish off the pincushion.  10 in this batch!! That makes a total of 22!!  Therese

Sewing - slow stitched potholders with quilted backers

Two potholders that I have created using a slow stitched fabric collage on one side and a quilted square on the other side.  These are cacti on one side.  

 

This is another set featuring a dog and a cat which are slow stitched fabric collages with quilted squares on the back. 

These two feature tea cup fabric collages with quilted squares on the back

These two feature two fabric collages of flowers again with quilted squares on the other side.

These last two feature little bird fabric collages with quilted squares on the back.  

It has been a wonderful experience to create the fabric collages and then to use some of my scraps and acquired pieces to create the other side of these potholders.  I have added two layers of flannel with a layer of terry cloth in between.  I have laid the collages/flannel pieces front to front and added the terry cloth and then stitched around the edges leaving a gap in order to be able to turn them inside out.  After turning I pressed each one well then I hand stitched the openings closed.  I top stitched the outside edge about 1/4" from the edge in black.  I added another row of stitching 3/4" from the outside edge in order to secure the layers more firmly without interfering too much with the fabric collage.  I have added a simple hanger of heavy weight cotton cording in the middle of the top side which I stitched in and out and tied it off with an over hand knot.  These can displayed as small fabric art collages, hung in a kitchen as potholders and/or used as a trivet for hot dish on the dinner table.  Therese

Cardmaking - embossed handmade paper with two fussy cut and watercoloured hearts

Another card for a special occasion!!  I started with a deep burnt orange card and embossed the center of a coordinating piece of handmade paper (my own) with a spiral design (CB).  I stitched on two strips of the same cardstock using white thread and my sewing machine.  Framed the middle section very nicely.  I watercoloured the fussy cut hearts (Melonheadz) and then adhered them to my card over the embossed area with 3D foam tape.  Therese

 

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