The Fickle Hobbyist

The other day when I hit up Hobby Lobby they had a ton of their fall stuff on sale.  Already?!  Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I picked up a couple of things to make a wreath for the front door.  I love making wreaths.  They have to be the simplest way to bring in a new season or holiday.  This was no exception.

I picked out a white, wooden pumpkin and some foliage at Hob Lob, but decided to get the wreath form and leaves at the Dollar Tree, because, well, they’re a dollar there.  The whole thing cost me under $5 to make.

I used one of the wicker type forms from Dollar Tree, and found a sprig of leaves, which I removed from their stems and wove into the wicker and hot glued into place.  I painted a monogrammed H on the pumpkin after seeing a ton of monogrammed fall things at Hob Lob.  I then glued it into place and stuck in two pieces of the foliage

.  The whole thing took me MAYBE 45 minutes while I cooked dinner.  The finished product is super cute, I think!  I plan on hanging this on the front door, but for now I set it on the buffet to take photos.

*side note* Look at that vase to the right.  I got that at Salvation Army the other day for $3!!  (when I say “the other day” it could mean anywhere from yesterday to like 9 months ago, just so you know)  The apples inside were $1 at GW a while back.  I love them.

I don’t know about you, but I am SO ready for the cooler weather that comes with fall.  Fall is probably one of my favorite seasons down here in Texas.  Not because we get a huge color change in the leaves or anything, but it’s finally cooling down enough to go back outside without sweating to death.  I enjoy the 60′s and 70′s temperature a lot.  Today it was relatively overcast and we had thunder on and off.  I love that!

Are you still clinging to summer or are you ready to move into the next season?

-Autumn

Hey ladies!  (I just assume there aren’t any men who read this blog…)

I know I haven’t been on in a couple days with a craft, but I wanted to stop in and show you what I’ve been up to.  I have started yet another blog. If you’d like to check it out, you can visit it at 31 Before 31.

I’ve decided it’s time to finally tackle all the things I’ve had on my “to-do” goal list, so I’ve set a timeline for some of them. Join me in my journey as I document my experiences. I hope to learn a thing or two, and maybe inspire some of you to get to those things maybe you’ve been putting off for “someday”.

I’ll still be posting here, obviously. I could never abandon my one true love of crafting. In fact, I’ve just made a trip to Hobby Lobby so I will hopefully have some things to share soon!

Until then…

-Autumn

Whether you make this little wallet to help you create some order in your life, or to give as a gift, it is a hip and simple solution for anyone.  Use for everyday, or for when you travel – for quick access to your ID, business cards, and a little cash.   So cute and so functional…….imagine giving a gift card as a gift, in it’s own little wallet.

Last week I was in a craft store getting a picture framed.  While I was waiting, I was just slowly strolling through the aisles to see what they had.  I came across this table, and they had these cute little wallets on it.  They had several already made, and a pattern.

I looked the wallets over, looked the pattern over, and decided that I could make these!!   Usually, I’m not at all very good at reading patterns.  They confuse me.   But this one seemed simple enough, so I decided to buy the pattern.  I rummaged through some scrap material that I had from when I made the girls some outfits last summer.

This is the first one I whipped up.

Next stop, the fabric store.   In the quilting area, I found that they had squares of material in every imaginable print.   They were large enough for me to make 2 wallets, with a coordinating piece.

The part that always takes the longest is the cutting out of the pattern.  For this, you have to cut 2 pieces of each pattern (folding the material in half and cutting 2 pieces at the same time is the easiest).

You also have to cut a piece of interfacing (I used Décor Bond, it fuses to fabric with a quick brush of the iron, and adds body and strength to fabrics.   It stays put!!)

Next, you put the right sides of each pocket together and sew a ¼ inch seam. Press with the iron.

You then turn right side out, and press.

You then lay your main body fabric down, arrange the pockets,

then place the interfaced piece on top of that, right side in, and pin in place.

Using a ¼ inch seam, backtacking where you start and where you end, sew around the entire piece, leaving about a 1 ½ inch space open.  Trim and clip corners, and turn right side out.   At first I thought this was an impossibility.  How was I suppose to get 3 pockets and a stiff piece thru a tiny opening?  I thought I had done something wrong.  But finally, I figured out that if you brought the far corner toward the opening, you could work it inside out.  Just takes patience.  (This is why backtacking is very important).  Then you must whip stitch the opening closed.

By cutting out the pattern on two different materials, this gives you 2 wallets in contrasting patterns.

Next, you have to sew on a snap.  From here on, I am going to use a much larger snap.  I think these are too small, but they will work all right.   I just think a larger snap would work a little better.

All that’s left is to embellish with whatever you want.  You could use iron on decals, buttons, ribbons, use your imagination!!

I have a gift card I am planning on giving someone soon, and I will be giving it in one of these cute wallets.

Tami’s Tip of the Week

Keep an inexpensive magnet close to your sewing machine or sewing area.  When you drop pins, or they roll around the area, just run the magnet over the carpet or floor for a quick pick up of loose pins, especially for those hard to see pins.