The way to square your fabric is to first, find the weft on each raw edge that runs all the way through from one selvage edge to the other. One way to do that is to make a small cut in the fabric and tear but I’ve found that that makes the edge pretty much unusable and makes the second part of squaring very difficult.

The way I square my fabric is as follows.

1) Start with a woven fabric (this won’t work with knits and non wovens). Cut into the selvage about and inch in from the raw edge. The more fabric you square the better your eye gets at figuring out which side to make the slit. Sometimes you’ll find that the fabric was a far cry away from being cut straight and even cutting an inch in will not yield a weft thread that goes from one end to the other.

2) Pull at the threads along the selvage and find one that you want to work with.

3) Gently pull downward on the thread as you guide the fabric up. The fabric will pucker and gather. When it does, pinch where the fabric starts and gently guide the gathering up the thread you’re pulling. The gathered fabric will smooth out and it will leave you with a line where the thread is shifted. Continue pulling and guiding until you get the end of the fabric or until the thread breaks (which is the more likely of the two).

4) If the thread doesn’t break and you make it to the other end of the fabric then you will want to cut next to the shifted thread. Then proceed to step 6. If the thread breaks before you reach the end, cut along the thread that has shifted up to the point where you can no longer see the shift. Then proceed to step 5.

5) after cutting up as far as you can go, remove the threads in-between the newly cut edge and the shifted thread you’ve been working with, find the thread again and continue with step 4 till you reach the end.

6) Once your weft thread has gone from one end to the other, cut off the excess fabric on the raw side and remove all threads and the shifted thread. Trim down the edge one more time and you are now ready for the final step of squaring.

7) Fold your fabric so selvages touch. If, when you fold your fabric in half, your squared edge lines up with itself then you are ready to rock. If, like my fabric, the squared edge is off then you need to pull your fabric back into square. If your fabric is off like mine, where the bottom layer is showing on the right side, then you will want to unfold your fabric, take the bottom right corner and pull as shown in the picture. Continue working your way up the right side and along the bottom, pulling on the bias, till you get the upper left corner.

If your fabric is not square but in the opposite direction as mine, then just reverse where you’re pulling from and start at the bottom left and work to the upper right.

Fold your fabric one more time to make sure that it is completely even. If it is then you’re ready for some awesome precision cutting. If it’s not then repeat step 7 until the edges align.

The Hospital
Your local hospital has many different areas where crafting is greatly welcomed. In the labor and delivery ward you could craft gifts for new mothers, new babies, new fathers, and new siblings. Baby booties or baby hats, snuggly blankets, a little memento are usually all welcomed. When I had my third baby, I was given a little pink beaded bracelet with her name on it that was made by the volunteers. It’s precious and I treasure it. On the Pediatrics floor, things like toys, blankets, and activities (think hand made checkerboard) are great ideas. When my son was admitted to the hospital for a month due to a spinal meningitis infection, we received a very sweet braided yarn octopus made from a styrofoam ball, yarn, and some felt accessories. Other places in the hospital are happy to take crafted donations also. Even something as simple as a little hand made heart to carry around is a sweet gift and could really mean a lot to someone recovering from surgery or illness.Talk to your local hospital and see if there is anything that they specifically need. Sometimes the hospitals have items that they routinely give away and are always in need of replenishing, like infant caps.

The Pregnancy Resource Center
Your local pregnancy resource center is also a place that usually loves handmade donations. Baby booties, hats, and blankets, a special necklace for the mom to be, and stuffed animals are all crafty items that would make good donations. Contact your local pregnancy resource center for information on what type of crafted donations they are in need of.

The Battered Women’s Shelter
This is a place that is very near to my heart. A lot of times they will see not only women come in but their children also. Little sparks of handmade love can really help getting through such a hard transition a little easier. A lot of times these women get out with a small suitcase of clothes but otherwise have nothing. Gifts for women like a piece of jewelry or a trinket box are a good start. Gifts for children like a snuggly or stuffed animal, a blanket or a toy are great also. Once again, contact your local battered women’s shelter for more information on what crafts they accept or are in need of.

The Homeless Shelter
Your local homeless shelter is probably in need of blankets right now. If you are a wood worker, chances are they need bedroom items like dressers or even bunk beds. They may also need aprons for the soup kitchen or items for children like toys, socks, and lovies. Contact your local homeless shelter and ask them what they may be in need of.

The Church
Chances are your church has some sort of need for hand crafted items for either local donation or overseas. For instance, my church is continually sewing little layette sets for a hospital in Africa. If your church doesn’t have a specific craft or group, maybe it’s time to start one. With so many needs just locally, it’s great for the church to get involved in helping.

This is really just a sampling of the different needs your community might have for your skills. There are also more individual needs. For example, the family whose house just burned down who would really love a handmade item to show that others care, or the family who just lost a loved one who may like a simple handmade memento. Crafting for a cause can include the whole family too. It is so sweet when you get to tie a fleece blanket with your children while explaining to them the importance of sharing what we have with those in need. In the end, your crafting can be more than just self fulfilling, it can be community impacting.

Materials:
fresh pasta dough (recipe below)
plastic bag or plastic wrap
flour for dusting
rolling pin
items to cut the dough (small cookie cutters, sharp paring knife, cutting wheel… whatever you trust your children with)
water for boiling

So the basics are that you separate your dough into about 1/4c size pieces. Place whatever unused pieces you have into a plastic bag or plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.

dust everything lightly with flour and roll out the dough so it’s nice and thin. Flip it and dust again at least once while rolling to be sure that the dough won’t stick to the surface. The Oldest was able to roll her own dough. The Boy was not.

After it’s rolled nice and thin and you are sure that it is not stuck anywhere to the cutting board, allow your kids to cut up their own shapes out of the dough. I gave each child one 1/4c ball to work with and they both made free form designs. The Boy made standard shapes and the Oldest made more advanced objects (like a dog head). Once the kids got done cutting out their shapes, I cut the remaining dough into strips that resembled fettuccini but they were much shorter.

Boil the pasta (being sure that you boil each child’s separately so they can enjoy their own creation). When it floats to the top, boil for another min and then remove from the water. Show the kids what they made and then use your favorite pasta sauce, serve and enjoy.

**these were made by rolling pieces of dough into balls and then pressing them flat with my fingers before boiling**

Eggless Pasta Dough
1c Unbleached white flour
1c Whole wheat flour
1tsp salt
2tbs butter or oil
1/2c plus 2tbs of water

Place the flours, salt and butter in a food processor and process till the butter is just blended. Alternately, to hand make this, mix the flours and salt and then add the oil in a well made in the flour and blend.

With the food processor on, drizzle the water down the shoot. If the dough does not form a ball, drizzle a little more down. Or, make a well in the flour and add the water. Then mix and fold till the dough comes together. The dough should be firm and very easy to handle but it shouldn’t be crumbly or fall apart. With both the food processed and hand processed dough, turn them onto a work surface and knead for a minute or so once the dough is formed.

And there you have it, dough ready to be molded.

What you’ll need is a double ended crochet hook and some yarn. With Tunisian, you need a hook about 2 sizes larger than the recommended crochet hook. That way, your piece doesn’t turn out too stiff with little to no drape. For this project, I used a worsted weight yarn (specifically cascade 220) and a size J hook.

First, make a base chain like you would for standard crochet. Now, making sure you don’t twist the chain, join the first chain to the chain on your hook. The chain on your hook will be your first vertical bar.

 

Now proceed to pick up stitches along the back ridge of your chains until you are about half way done or your hook is fully loaded with stitches, whichever comes first.

Now, push all your halfway finished stitches to the other end of your hook and turn the hook around. Now your first stitch should be back at the beginning.  Here’s a short little video clip on what this looks like: flipping your work

To finish these stitches, take the other end of your yarn (yarn #2) from your ball (or another skein of yarn) and place the end over your hook and pull it through the first stitch.

With yarn #2 still, yarn over from front to back and pull through two stitches (the first chain from yarn #2 and the next stitch from the first yarn). Continue with the front to back yarn over and pull through two stitches until you have two stitches left on your hook. Push to the other end and flip your hook around.
 

Continue picking up stitches, flipping, pulling off stitches, and flipping again.

When you get the beginning of your round, insert your hook from the left to the right under the first bar, yarn over and pull up one stitch. Go to the next vertical bar, insert hook from left to right, yarn over and pull up. Continue till you need to flip and unload your stitches.
 

When you want to bind off, start at the beginning of your rounds, pick up your first two stitches as normal. Pull the second stitch through the first stitch to bind the first stitch off. Pick up the next stitch and pull through the second stitch to bind the second stitch off. Unload the remaining stitches that need to be finished by yarn #2. Break yarn #2 and pull through the last stitch. Continue binding off until you get to the last stitch.

Pick up the chain from binding off the first stitch, yarn over and pull through the first stitch and the last. Break yarn and pull through. Weave in ends.

The Craft Blog would like to congratulate Nell for winning her very own copy of The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule.

Nell, We will be sending an e-mail to you shortly with more information.

If your kids are anything like mine when it comes to coloring, they hold the crayon wrong and press too hard and then that beautiful 48 pack of brand new crayons has turned into a 96 pack of broken bits. It seems like such a waste to toss out the broken ones, after all they still color, so they go into our crayon bucket with the hundreds of other pieces of crayons that we have collected over the years.

Well, after a trip to the craft store, mama came home with a candy mold and an idea and that’s how this new life tutorial came to be. 

Materials:

crayon bits (I guess you could use new ones if you wanted)
an old 1qt sauce pan that you don’t mind never using for food again
a plastic candy mold or 2 or 3 (it could be metal too I guess but the plastic makes removal pretty easy) 

1) peel all the crayons. This can be a really tedious task if not done correctly. I found that slicing through the wrap with a paring knife and then having the kids peel made for quick work of an otherwise slow process.
 

2) sort crayons. We sorted by the rainbow. You can sort any way you choose.
 

3) melt down the crayons. I made a make shift double boiler. Also, instead of just letting the crayons sit till they were melting, I pretty much continually swirled them around in the pan so they melted fast and melted at the coolest temperature they would melt.
**note: please remember that crayons are wax and wax is flamable. Don’t let them melt unsupervised. Don’t let them stay on the burner longer than they need to. Make sure you have a pot lid close at hand to smother any fire that may flare up. Water will not put out a wax fire.**
 

4) pour the melted wax into the mold. Keep a couple paper towels handy for this step. After you pour, wipe the edge of the pot with a paper towel to clean off the excess wax. 

5) continue melting and molding untill you run out of crayons or you run out of mold, whichever comes first. 

6) let the wax cool completely before removing from the mold. I filled a baking sheet with a bit of cold water and then carefully placed the mold in it to help speed up the cooling process.
 

7) remove the crayons from the mold and enjoy your new creations.
 

Feel free to get as creative as you want with these. Because you make them, they don’t have to be boring old single color crayons. Just make sure that the first layer is cool enough that it can support having another layer poured on it without caving in.

Fabric Grain… it’s good for you
Fabric grain refers to the direction the threads are woven in a piece of fabric. Woven fabric has 4 directions that have different names. Each direction has a different quality to it and will affect how your finished garment will fit and drape.

The threads that run perpendicular to the selvage edge are the weft. They make up the crosswise grain. This is the grain that runs parallel to the two raw edges of your fresh off the bold fabric. The weft thread will most likely run back and forth and, when you’re squaring (tutorial to come) you’ll notice that you may have to cut it because at times it is actually woven back and forth as one long continuous thread.

The bias is any diagonal from the lengthwise and crosswise grains.

True bias is a 45 degree angle along the lengthwise and crosswise grains.

Behave!
The lengthwise grain (selvage edge) has very little stretch to it and holds its shape the best out of all the directions. Commercial patterns are marked with arrows that indicate which direction the lengthwise grain should run. The recommended grain line makes it so that your finished piece will behave the way the designer intended. The arrow should be placed parallel to the selvage.

The crosswise grain has a greater stretch to it and this feture makes it ideal to run around the body. It has more give which allows it to form to the body better than the lengthwise grain. This feature also makes it less ideal to drape perpendicular to the floor because over time it will droop, changing the fit of your garment.

The the bias has the best drape and streatch. True bias has the most stretch. Fabric cut on the bias is the most form fitting and designers use bias cut pieces to create beautiful clingy, slinky, and flouncy effects. Fabric cut on the bias has to be treated a little more gingerly because it looses its shape with even minor handling.

So why do you need this?
When you understand the basics of how your fabric is constructed and functions, not only does it give you a higher likelyhood that your finished garment will come out the way the pattern designer intended, it also makes your own designs come to life in the best way possible. When you understand how each direction drapes and holds its shape differently, you are better able to acheive your desired effect and use the fabric to it’s fullest potential.

When I first started scrapbooking there wasn’t many Sketches available out there, You had to either be a very creative person or just look thru the Scrapbooking magazines to get inspiration.

Now days The internet has made it a little bit easier,All you have to do is Google the Words : “Free Scrapbooking Sketches” and it should come up with great results!

I love using sketches, specially when I’m in a non-Creative mood! If you are a beginner this is a great way to start scrapbooking, Just find a simple sketch that you like and Create your Layout! When it comes to these the possibilities are Endless!

 Here is a couple of Sketches I created and the Finished Layouts:

 Enjoy! This should Make your Scrapbooking experience a bit easier. Also,Feel free to use them and if you take photos of your finished scrapbooks I would love to see them! Just post a link on here.

My oldest daughter received a hand made baby quilt when she was first born. I liked the quilt so much that I made one for my son when he was born. When my youngest daughter was born she too had to have a quilt of her own. Now, a very good friend of mine is having her first baby so I wanted to pass on one of these quilts to her.

Materials:

1/2 yd of three coordinating or contrasting fabrics for the top
1 yd of backing fabric (I use flannel)
seam ripper
scisors or rotary cutter and mat
thread and sewing machine

**note: I used a much larger seam allowance for this blanket because of the terry fabric. The measurements I’ll give you are for a standard 1/4″ seam allowance but when you look at some of the pictures you’ll notice that my measurements aren’t the same as the ones listed… go with the written measurement.**

1) prewash and press everything.

2) with each of the three (3) top fabrics, square the fabric, then cut two strips that are 6.5″ wide and 39″ long. When you are done you will have 6 strips total.

3) decide which fabric is #1, #2, and #3. For me, #1 was white/pink/silver, #2 was green and #3 was the pink terry. Take your first strip of fabric #2 and lay it ontop of your first strip of fabric #1 right sides together and pin down the right side.

4) open up fabric #2 and lay one strip of #3 ontop of #2 with right sides together. Pin down the right side.

5) continue opening and pinning in order #1, #2, #3, till you run out of strips ending with #3. Then fold the top on itself wrong side out with the very first strip of #1 from step 3 is on the last strip of #3 and pin them together.

6) Using a 1/4″ seam allowance, sew from the top to the bottom of every pinned seam. Press your seams. You have now made a tube.

7) lay the tube as flat as possible and, starting at one open side of the tube, cut the tube into 6.5″ wide sections.
**remember the note above**

continue till you have 6, 6.5″ sections

9) OK. Now I realized that I changed around my #1, #2, and #3 fabric from here on out. So sorry, so from now on, fabric #1 is green, #2 is terry, #3 is white. Take your first section and separate the seam between the #3 and #1 fabric. Take your next 6.5″ tube and separate the seam between #2 and #1. Take the next tube and separate the seam between #3 and #2. Repeat with the last three tubes.

10) Open up the first strip and lay it out right side up. Open up your next strip and lay it out above your first strip, right side up. Make sure that each block on the top is diagonal to it’s matching block on the bottom. Open the next strip and make sure that it matches the diagonal pattern started by the first two strips. Continue till you have your strips open and in the diagonal pattern.

11) start pinning the strips together making sure that you keep the seams that are supposed to be together, together. Make sure that when pinning you remember to lay the sewn seams on their sides in oposite directions. Unlike garment construction, quilt seams stay together. If you cut correctly and precisely, which I didn’t, your seams will line up flush with each other and your finished top will


Pinned and open:

12) Sew your pinned seams and press.

13) Square up your quilt top.

14) Cut your backing fabric to a little longer than your top.

15) With right sides together, pin your quilt top to your backing.

16) Round the corners if desired.

17) Sew a 1/4″ seam around the entire perimeter of the blanket making sure to leave a 1 square width opening in order to turn the blanket through it. Backstitch at the beginning and end. Press.

18) Turn the blanket right sides out through the opening.

19) To finish we’re going to topstitch the edge. Press the edge of the blanket. Turn the opening inward and pin closed making sure that it is at least 1/3″ in so when you go topstitch, the seam is closed.

20) Start topstitching at the beginning of the open section. Topstitch a 1/4″ away from the edge, all the way around, finishing by stitching over the section one more time to make sure it is closed and secure. This would be a great place to add a cute decorative stitch.

21) press your edges and enjoy!
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Here are the two other quilts I’ve made using this technique. The first one is my son’s and the second one is my youngest’s.

My Little Sisters Graduation was this past weekend, And she was looking for quick & Easy ideas that were still cute. I came up with these Candy Bars Bouquets and she absolutely loved them!

Here is how you can make them:

Materials:

4 Candy Bars ( Or more, it really depends on how big you want your Bouquet).

4 Barbeque sticks

Tape

Scissors

Tissue Paper

Ribbon

Flower Vase

Step 1:

Separate your Candy Bars & Stick, Then tape the back of each Bar with your sticks. When you are done it should look like this:

Step 2:

Using a piece of tissue paper stuff it down the Vase so it fills up the space. Then, Tie a ribbon around it and it should look like this:

Step 3:

Now is time to Put your Candy Bar “Flowers” into the vase! Start putting them in one by one making sure that the heavy Bars are in the back. Make sure to tape them close to each other so that they don’t fall, And Here is the end result:

You are done! Quick and Easy Right?

Enjoy!