The Lady Beekeeper

reusable_bag

Thank you for everyone who entered the give away last week!  We had so many wonderful suggestions for ways to save the planet – I’ll give a shout out to my favorites in a later post (perhaps around Earth day…).  By random drawing out of a hat (since we had so many great entries) our two winners are:

Amy & Erin!

Congratulations!  I’ll ship your grocery bag holder and reusable bag off in the mail!  That’s right… your mystery prize is an actual reusable grocery bag so you can cut down on all the plastic grocery bags when you can’t fit anymore into your bag holder!  Here’s a video proclaiming my love of reusable bags (and testing my camera for future uses):

For those who didn’t win this time, don’t be discouraged!  There will be 11 more give aways this year and I’ll announce the February give away soon!  Now – on to instructions to make your own reusable bag….

Reusable Grocery Bag

• 3/4 yard of rip stop nylon
• Polyester thread
• 2 inch piece of velcro
• Pattern here (Its a bit of a puzzle.  Print out all 6, and match up the arrows and tape it together.  (The arrows are labeled with the two papers that they connect.)  I have also included a picture of the final result.)

1. Cut out your pattern pieces below (be sure to size to the 2″x2″ square when printing.  Make sure to cut the bag itself on the fold and the handles on the fold.  You’ll also need to cut out a 5.5 x 8 inch rectangle and 2″x6″ rectangle for the velcro strap.

2. Attach the handles to the bag lining/reinforcement with right sides together.

3. Reinforce the connection by folding the excess back onto itself and stitching again 1/8″ from the other stitching.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the bag handles onto the body of the bag.

5. Fold under 3/8″ fabric on the bottom of the lining to form a finished seam.  Stitch.  At this point the right side of your lining should look like so:

6. With right sides of the bag and lining together pin the bag opening and handles together forming a large “o”.  Stitch.

7. Open out the fabric and finger press and pin the opening and handles that you just stitched.

8.  Stitch once more around this opening on the right side. to reinforce the seam.

9.  On the strap side seams press inward and pin to form a finished seam. Stitch. Repeat with second side strap seam.

10. With bag right side out stitch the sideseams of the bag 1/4 inch from the edge.

11. Flip the bag inside out and stitch the sideseams of the bag again 3/8 inch from the edge to reinforce.

12.  Take your rectangle of fabric and roll 1/4 fabric of one of the long ends under and then under again to form a rolled hem.  Stitch.

13. Fold your rectangle in half to form a pocket and stitch the two unfinished sides together. (I don’t have a picture of this step but it will look like this minus the strap.)

14. Fold the thin rectangle of fabric in half the long ways to form a tube and stitch down the unfinished edge.

15. Open out the tube, flatten and stitch 1/8″ from each side to flatten.

16. Fold under 1/4 inch of each end. Stitch.

17. Attach one side of velcro to strap.

18. Stitch strap to inside top of bag.

19. Open the carrying case right side out.  Attach the other side of velcro to the outside of the tiny bag, taking care to match where the strap will land when closed.

20.  Turn the carrying case inside out and stitch the unfinished side edge to the side seam of the bag about halfway up.

21.  Go shopping!

One advantage of using rip stop nylon is in a pinch you can pull this out of your pocket and use it as a parachute if you’re falling out of a building!  (Please don’t do this. Ever. This is a joke.)  Next week I’ll show you some of the projects I’ve been working on to make my sewing corner feel more like a sewing room and less like a basement!

First off – thanks to Ka and Andrew for commenting on my Christmas Traditions post! You both are getting a ChristMoose and you should receive it very soon (if you haven’t already). For those of you who didn’t enter the give away – below are the instructions and pattern to make one of your very own!  It is a bit lengthy compared to the other patterns I’ve posted, so if you have any questions definitely send me a note!  You’ll notice at the end that they all look a little bit different (just like in real life)!  Depending on how long you make the nose, where you put the antlers, or how you position the eyes and ears you’ll end up with a moose with a different personality.  So play around with it!

Before I start you off on the moose pattern I wanted to mention that I’m going to be doing one give-away every month this year, so check back every Monday to better your odds of winning.  We’ll have some cookbooks and some other homemade items up for grabs.  I’m also working on a very beginner sewing series for those who want to get into sewing but have no idea where to start. I’ll hope to have some info on that soon too.  I’ve also been working for the last couple weeks to get my sewing studio in order (aka basement).  It is taking forever, and since it is an unfinished basement I’m trying my best to make it feel less like I’m sitting between the oil burner and the oil tank… I’ll show you some pictures of that too this month.  Okay, without further adieu I give you instructions to make this little cutie!

To make a dapper Christmas Moose you’ll need:

• About a yard of brown felt or fleece material (I used felt)
• Brown thread to match
• About 2 feet of covered floral wire
• A large button for the nose (mine were about 1 3/8″ wide)
• Two large black beads for the eyes (mine were about 1 cm wide)
• scrap fabric for a beanbag
• sand, rice or beans for the beanbag filling
• stuffing
• scrap ribbon and bells to adorn the moose’s antlers
• fabric or yarn for a scarf
• A glue gun
• Pattern here:

1. Start by cutting out all your pattern pieces from the pattern above. They already include 5/8″ of seam allowance.  Make sure when you print it it is scaled to match the 2×2 square.
2. Using brown felt or fleece (I used felt) cut out all pattern pieces.
3. Take the two front pieces and pin and stitch down center front, forming the moose’s belly.
4. Fold the rectangle for one arm in half lengthwise. Pin and stitch on the length and one end, leaving the other end opened.
5. Turn out the arm so the right side is facing outwards. You may need a chop stick or long object to help with this.
6. Put a tiny bit of stuffing in the “hoof”, enough to make the hoof a bit puffy for about an inch and a half.
7. Repeat step 4,5,6 with the other arm and both legs.
8. Pin each side front to each side back, right sides together to form the moose’s torso.
9. Cross the arms, and insert into the moose torso.
10. Remove the top two pins at the neck area on each side and re-pin, inserting the arms at a 45 degree angle. Stitch side seams.
    

    You can see here the legs pinned at center front and the arms sewn into the side seams.

11. Pin both legs side by side on either side of center front no the inside of the torso. You’ll want them to touch but not overlap (see above).
12. Pin the bottom circle along the torso to form the moose’s rump. When you get to the pins holding the legs, remove the pins and reinsert to hold all layers of fabric together.
13. Stitch & open out the moose.
14. Next create the moose’s head by folding the moose’s head piece in half along the width.Pin & stitch, leaving 1.5 inches opened.
15. Using a doubled thread, stitch a running stitch half an inch from the bottom of the tube formed by step 14.  Do this on the wrong side of the nose.  
16. Pull both ends of the thread to gather tightly to form the moose’s nose. Tie securely.When folded right side out it will look like this.
17. Pin the back of the head piece onto the nose cylinder. Be sure to align the nose properly by folding the tube in half and matching this to the top of the rounded back piece.
18. Take and ear and pinch both sides of the bottom inwards to give the ear some depth.
19. Pin the ears on the inside of the head an inch or so off from the top center. Make sure ears are facing down when you insert them like so. (Shown here on the outside for clarity, but make sure to actually put these on the inside.)
20. Stitch, leaving the neck opened.
21. Open out.
22. Sew button nose on snout covering the gathers.
23. Pin the right sides of the neck front together and sew leaving the back of the neck opened.
24. Next create a bean bag to weight the moose’s bottom. I used scrap material to cut an 8 inch by 3 inch square that I then cut in half. I stitched along the edges (twice about 1/4 inch apart for security) then left a 3/4″ opening on the bottom to fill.
25. Using a funnel I poured in 1/2 cup of clean sand. You can use dried beans or rice instead, or anything fairly heavy.
26. Next fold the unfinished edge over on itself and sew closed.
27. Insert the beanbag in the moose’s body so it lies flat.
28. Stuff the moose with stuffing in both body and head.
29. Next create the antlers. Cut two rectangles of 3×8 fabric and cut down the fabric on the one inch marks along the vertical 1/3 of the way and 2/3 of the way down. See picture.
30. Cut a length of cloth covered floral wire so you can fold it in half and it will cover the length of the first two antler prongs (the second prong slightly shorter than the first.
31. Cut a second shorter length of wire for the third antler prong.
32. Using a hot glue gun, glue the wire inside the first antler prong and fold the fabric in half to enclose the wire.
33. Do the same for the second antler prong.
34. For the third prong, secure the smaller piece of wire inside the top of the prong.
35. Next fold the third prong under and secure with glue at the base of the antler.
36. Trim the two side prongs down a bit just above the floral wire to make them uneven lengths. Your antler should look something like this when you’re done:
37. Repeat steps 30 through 36 for the second antler.
38. Using a stitch ripper or small scissor make incisions on the moose’s head for the antlers. Depending on preference you can make the incisions in front of the ears or behind the ears.
39. Push the base of each antler through the hole and use a hot glue gun to secure.
40. Hand stitch the back of the neck closed.
41. Whip stitch 3/4″ up the bottom of the arms and legs to form hooves.
42. Attach eyes by securing thread to bottom of neck and sewing through head to where you want to secure the eye. Add bead and pull slightly taunt to form an indentation.
43. Secure again at bottom of neck. Repeat for second eye.
44. Next create a scarf for the moose (or cut one out of fabric if you don’t feel like knitting!  My scarf recipe was just a basic stockinette stitch, 8 stitches wide, 6 rows wide of alternating red & white, 17 blocks long. I added fringe at both ends.
45. Adorn your moose with the scarf and bits of mismatched ribbon with a few jingle bells tied on.

Now your moose is ready for a party with friends!

For our secret santa this year I suggested that on Christmas Eve we give our person a $5 gift that was somehow representative of the person giving the gift.  Then we would open the gifts and everyone would guess who had who.  I think everyone did a pretty good job at this – for instance my brother and Erin wanted Christmas ornaments for their tree so my mom gave my brother some ornaments she found at Savers (she left the tag on so Mark would know she found them while thrifting).  My brother (a talented knitter) knitted Will a handsome scarf.  Will gave my mom cat toys with googly eyes. (Frankly I have no idea how this represents Will but he had said to everyone at some point that whoever he got was getting something with googly eyes.  Weirdly everyone forgot he said this except my mom who actually guessed it was from Will.)

I had Erin and some TARDIS material from JoAnn Fabrics so I made her a Whovian oven mitt.  (Though this backfired a bit because no one realized I made it!  I will consider it a compliment…)  So here’s how to make a look-like-you-purchased-it oven mitt!  This is a nice easy pattern for those new to sewing!

You will need:

• 100% cotton thread*
• 100% cotton fabric* for the lining and exterior (I used two different patterns)
• INSUL-BRIGHT insulated lining
• Natural Cotton* Batting

*Note: It is important that you use natural fibers for the mitts, as you don’t want polyester melting all over your hands and pans.

Instructions:

Print out my oven mitt pattern below.  You may want to add an additional 1/4 inch of seam allowance if you are new to sewing (I only account for 1/4 inch of allowance).

Cut 2 (one wrong side and one right side) each of the lining fabric, exterior fabric, batting, and insul-bright.

Form two halves of the gloves by lining up lining, batting, insul-bright and exterior fabric in that order.

Pin and baste each glove half.

Next create two 1 foot strips of bias tape by cutting 1.5 inch strips of fabric on the bias ( at a 45 degree diagonal from the grain).  This creates a stretchy, malleable strip you can use as to finish seams.

Take each strip and press the two edges towards the center as shown below.  Congratulations – you have created bias tape!

To finish the cuff of the oven mitt fold out one side of the bias tape and pin it right side to right side, matching unfinished edges, on the inside of the oven mitt.

Stitch close to the fold you opened out.

Fold the bias tape to the front of the mitt half, keeping the unfinished edge folded under.  Pin.

Stitch close to the fold and trim excess bias tape.

To create a loop for your oven mitt, cut an 8 inch by 2 inch strip of fabric.  Iron the two edges towards the center and then press in half the long way (right sides out).  Stitch down the edge and fold in half.

Next pin the two halves of the oven mitt together with right sides facing in.  Make sure to include the loop for the oven mitt.  The unfinished edges of the loop should hang outside the mitt, and the loop should be sandwiched on the inside.

Zigzag stitch the two pieces together, trim excess.

Flip to the right side – and there you have it!  An oven mitt!

Since I got everything on sale or with a coupon at Joann Fabrics all the materials only cost me $10 total for 1/2 yard of each material!  And I still have enough left over for another 2 oven mitts!

The last couple years my family has been doing a secret Santa gift exchange instead of buying gifts for everyone in the family.  This works out extremely well.  Instead of drawing names out of a hat this year we used Elfster.  The site is great and allows you to exclude spouses from drawing each other, add wish lists, and it even includes a secret messaging system.  My family heavily abused the messaging system which made the whole gift swap thing hilarious.  For instance one of the questions I got (I guess in response to my vague wish list saying that I would like “anything sewing related”) was this:

Here’s the link to what they sent me:

This had me laughing for about an hour.

For the elfster swap I had to buy gifts for Erin, my brother’s wife.  I was very excited to get Erin because it meant I could go all out with Dr. Who themed gifts in addition to whatever puzzley things she asked for.  As I was leaving Walmart after picking up another present, I saw this perfect TARDIS blue sweatshirt.  For future reference it was the Hanes Women’s Fleece Zip Hoodie in Blue Allure.

I used the applique patch patterns I had created for my TARDIS dress to adorn the sweatshirt.  Here’s the finished product on my sister-in-law amongst our other Christmas treasures:

She really liked it!  So much so that my brother wants one too and I’ll probably make one for myself.  I’m also looking into putting them on Etsy… stay tuned for that!

I love Christmas traditions.  Our family Christmas is steeped in tradition. As soon as December rolls around we count down to Christmas on our chocolate advent calendars and pick out and decorate a lovely smelling fresh pine tree. On Christmas Eve we gather at my parent’s house for roast beef, my mom’s killer gravy and all the fixin’s. Then we sit round the fire and everyone receives an ornament hand picked by my Grandma. On Christmas Day after opening presents we head to my grandparent’s house where the German traditions kick in. We hunt for pickles (and a piece of coal from my great great grandfather’s coal mining days) on my grandparents’ Christmas tree. Then we eat delicious German wursts, my Grandma’s swedish meatballs, fleischsalat (the best way to describe this is its like potato salad but replace the potatoes with bologna), multiple types of potato salad and rye bread. For dessert there is homemade stollen and too many types of Christmas cookies to list.

One of my favorite traditions, started by my uncle when he first was married, is to cut a slice out of the stump of each year’s Christmas tree and paint it with events that were significant that year. He then turns them into ornaments and hangs them up before Christmas. It is like creating a piece of a time capsule that you get to open every year. Everyone in our family, now grown, have also adopted the tradition. My parents decorate their foyer with them. Here are some of my favorites.

Tree trunk memory ornaments

Another German tradition we celebrate is Saint Nicholas Day. On December 5th we leave our shoes by the front door and when morning comes they are filled with sweets, oranges, apples, nuts and little toys from Saint Nick! I can remember being so excited that I was one of the few schoolchildren who received gifts from Saint Nick (it clearly was because my grandma, being from Germany, had some serious Saint Nick connections). Well I must have been naughty for the last decade because Saint Nick hasn’t delivered anything for me recently, but he always fills my husband’s shoes full of treats and silly things. Luckily my husband wears a size 13 so I get to share the treats!

This year Saint Nick delivered some silly Adventure Time boxers much like the ones I’ll show you how to make in this post! But before you go… a Christmas give away! What are your favorite winter holiday traditions or memories? Post them in the comment section below by next Monday. I’ll mail the writer of my favorite comment a silly Christmas moose like this guy. (And in case you’re wondering, your odds are pretty good since I don’t usually get many comments. :) ).

Christmoose

Note these boxers fit my husband (size 34 waist with what he thinks is a big bum) – if you need a different size, you can scale up or down an inch or two. I used one yard of 43″ wide fabric – but after washing my pattern barely fit so I’d recommend 1 1/3 yards. Wash and dry your cotton print so you already have the shrinkage taken into account. You’ll also need waistband elastic the width of the wearer’s waist minus an inch.  See the bottom of the post for the pattern and make sure you scale it to match the 2″x2″ square when you print.

1. Layout your pattern pieces onto your fabric and trace/cut. Tomorrow I’ll post the pattern, I can’t figure out the best upload format at the moment. My pattern includes seam allowance.

2. First I need to show you how I did the seams which look identical on the inside and outside of the boxers.

I’m not sure if this is a real technique – if it is I don’t know what it is called. If someone can tell me, that would be helpful. Since you don’t want an itchy piece of fabric tickling you in your boxers all day I used this seam technique everywhere except the waist and legs where I did a rolled hem. What you do is your take the two edges you want to attach and press one edge right side out about 1/4 inch. On the second piece, press the edge wrong  side out.

Two pieces to be stitched together, one pressed wrong side out, one pressed right side out.

a. You then lay the two pieces of fabric on top of each other so the unfinished edge that you pressed is sandwiched in the middle.

b. Pin and stitch very close to the folded edge on the right side of the fabric.

c. Then flip over and stitch very close to the folded edge on the wrong side of the fabric.

3. Use this technique to stitch the two side front seams, and the center back seam.

4. Before I did the center front seam I added the flap for the fly. I first pressed the rectangle of fabric on the boxer’s left front down, forming a center front line.

5. Next I stitched down the cut edge, leaving an inch at the bottom opened.

6. On the boxer’s right side I pressed the edges of the flap.

7. I then pressed a piece of scrap fabric into a rectangle to fit over the edges I pressed. I sewed this in place on all sides. This was to reinforce the flap. Somehow I don’t have a picture of this, but you can see it in this picture.

8. I pressed the seam below the flap on both sides following the procedure mentioned in step 2 above.  Then I pinned the boxer front all along the center front seam.  I then sewed the center front below the flap following step 2.

9. I basted the top of the flap at the waist. Then I stitched from where I had stopped in step 5 to the end of the flap in a slight arc.

10. Sew the crotch together using the procedure in step 2.

11. Hem the bottoms of the boxers.

12. Press under the waist of the boxers.

13. Add the elastic waistband. At the flap you want to sew the elastic to the boxers unstretched. For the rest of the elastic I followed an example I can’t find anymore.  I’ll post the link if I find it again.  Basically I sewed the elastic to the front of the boxers at the halfway point unstretched.  Then I folded the boxers in half and stitched the elastic ends at this point.  I pinned two more times between the two areas I stitched.  Next I stretched out the elastic so it was taunt with the fabric and then stitched.

Pattern Pieces