Swell Goods: Vintage Modern Craft Supplies & DIY tricks

Supplies: Brightly colored Large Tee, Scissors, Ruler, Beads (optional)

Instructions

Cut 8-12 long strips about 1/2″ wide. Take your long strips and pull at each end so the strip curls into a fringe.If you want to add beads, thread beads on the fringe and secure with a knot.

Line up all strips so that one side of the strips line up, pulling some strips longer so they dangle. Fold ends up so that they meet. From the remnant fabric, cut a thin short strip. Wrap it around the ends and tie a knot to secure the two ends together.

Cut another strip that is 1” wide and at least 8-10 inches in length. Starting on one side, begin wrapping it around the necklaces ends. This will not only secure the ends, but it will also hide them. Wrap until the necklace ends are completely hidden. Tie a knot and weave the loose ends into the wrapped sections to hide.

What do you do when two excellent friends end up having babies within 4 days of each other? You figure out a super quick way to make a nice, gender neutral quilt that won’t make you pull your hair out. Picking out the fabric was the hardest part of this, so I doubled up and decided to make two of the same quilt to same time on cutting and piecing. Add a small scale (36 inches square) and store-bought binding, and this was FOR REAL finished within 2 hours.

Materials (for 1 quilt)

1 yard total of print fabrics (I  used three different prints, so 1/3 yard of each)
2 1/2 yards of 36″ wide muslin
36″ x 36″ batting square
4 yards of binding tape

Instructions

1. Prewash and iron your fabric.
2. Using a rotary cutter and mat, cut a 36″ square of muslin for the backing. Cut the remaining muslin into 3″ x 36″ strips.
3. Cut each of your print fabrics into 3″ x 36″ strips.
4. Start piecing the tops together using a 1/4″ seam allowance and alternating between muslin and print. Top and bottom strips should both be muslin.
5. Press your quilt seams on the back to one side with an iron.
6. Press the top of your quilt, and trim to 36″ x 36″.
7. Sandwich your quilt together: pieced top, batting, and muslin. I found it easiest to pin through all layers across the muslin strips, with 3 – 4 pins per strip.
8. Stitch in the ditch on all of the seams, erring on the muslin side with matching thread.
9. Attach the quilt binding using your preferred method. I am a fan of Heather Bailey’s guide.
10. Wash to achieve the vintage, wrinkly look. Press as desired. The above picture shows the quilt fresh out of the wash.

Admit it, you just throw your jewelry on the counter/nightstand/floor at the end of the day and you know it hurts its feelings. Give it a home! We used our wood pill box blanks for the base, and a wood peg doll for the topper.

Materials
Large Box
2″ wood doll
Wood stain
Acrylic or craft paint
Finishing coat or sealer

1. Stain the outside of box. Since the box is a light wood, so the stain will seep thru to the inside, causing a cool marbled look. Nervous about staining? Get some tips. Allow to dry overnight
2. Paint decoration, finish with finishing coat or sealer.
3. To paint the doll, try sketching out your design on a piece of paper before going to work. Then, freehand paint the design to the wood.
   

   Tips

   • Have lots of different brushes, small for eyes = details, large for even coverage for dress
   • Allow a coat to dry before painting the next thing
   • Get creative and mix to make your own color (just make sure you make enough)
   • Do enough coats for a smooth, opaque finish but not too many to get gloppy- 2 to 3 coats is best

4. Allow to dry overnight
5. Finish with finishing coat or sealer
6. Put a dollop of craft glue on doll bottom to attach to box (we recommend E6000!)

This can be adapted into a kids tooth fairy box, a gift box, specialized ring boxes for bride and groom, and more!

The amount of scrap fabric we have accumulated should be criminal, so we are always looking for ways to use it up. These blocks can be whipped up in about a half an hour for the set of 3 and make great presents for the kiddos in your life. They are such a hit with the toddler set that we had a hard time getting this photograph – the baby kept coming over and snatching them off the table.

Materials
Scrap Fabric, cut in to six 2 inch squares
4 inches of ribbon (medium thickness)
thread & sewing needle
sewing machine
rice or other filler (beans, polybeads, etc)

You can scale the size of these blocks as needed, though we wouldn’t recommend anything bigger than 4 inches as the filler can start to get heavy and turn these into more of a weapon than a fun toy. You should also use a sturdy stitch on these, like a zigzag or very tight single stitch, to ensure that all of the filler stays inside. If you are worried about the filler being a choking hazard in case it escapes, you can also fill these with batting for a soft block.

1. With wrong sides together, sew the first 4 pieces together to form a long strip.
2. Sew 2 remaining squares to the left and right side of the second square in the already sewn strip. Make sure to tuck the ribbon into one of the seams here, with the ribbon pointing in to the right side of the fabric.
3. Sew the all of the block seams together to form the cube, and leave a small hole on the final seam – about half the width of the block.
4. Flip the block inside out, so that the right sides are facing out.
5. Using a funnel, fill the block in the seam opening with your filler of choice.
6. Thread your needle with matching thread, and whip stitch the seam opening to close. New to the whip stitch? Check out these helpful videos.

Fall isn’t quite here yet, but with September only a few days away the time of year for hot instead of iced is almost upon us. We love using our faux not-a-paper-cup cups, so it only makes sense to ratchet up the reusability factor with a felt cozie.

This is a quick project with very few materials, and is hand sewn so no machine is required.

Materials
1/2 sheet of felt (and a small additional scrap if using contrasting color)
sewing needle
matching thread
pattern pieces (download as a PDF)

Cut out your 3 felt pattern pieces using the template provided above before starting.

1. Using the dotted lines on the pattern as a guide, fold the first pattern piece strip in half and sew at the dotted line.
2. Open up the bow and press it down to the center of the sewn line, creating the start of the bow shape.
3. Pinch the bow together in the middle front to form the pleats. Tack these in place with a few small stitches.
4. Wrap the bow in the smallest pattern piece, and tack in the back to close.
5. Wrap the final pattern strip around your cup, and trim it as needed. Sew the bow at each side to form a loop.

We used the recycled Eco-fi felt (which is made from recycled bottles) in Silver and Yellow for this project.