The Fickle Hobbyist

Archive for the ‘how-to’ Category

I am a bath person.  Few things are more enjoyable to me than a nice hot, aromatic bath.  Sometimes I like a candlelight bath, but most times I just like to grab a good book, and sit in there until the water gets cool.  It’s always been a great way to end the day, and head off to bed all nice and relaxed.  I know that most people prefer showers, they jump into the shower first thing in the morning, then busily head off to start their day.  I think with today’s busy lifestyles, sometimes we just need to slow down and have some quality “me” time.  My bath is just that!!

For years, I’ve made these fizzy bath bombs.  They are full of skin and water softening agents, coupled with aromatic oils, then to top it off with an ingredient that actually makes them fizz in the bathwater, makes for a very relaxing spa like experience.  I make these, but rarely get a chance to use them myself.  I like to give them as gifts, as accents in my gift baskets, or just to give to someone for no reason as all.  Today, I gave one to my massage therapist, and she was beside herself.  She said it made her day!!  One of these days I am going to make a batch strictly for myself.

Most of the ingredients you can purchase in your local grocery store, except maybe for the citric acid crystals.  I have always worked in a pharmacy, and had access to ordering it.  If your store doesn’t carry it (it’s also used in fruit preserving, so maybe you can find it), just ask your local pharmacy if they can order it for you.  Most can.  It would usually be there the next day.  This is the ingredient that makes the fizz.

The coconut oil is usually found in the nutritional area of the grocery store.  I don’t buy the most expensive, virgin kind, etc (I save that for actually consuming) but they have several different grades, so go with the cheaper one.  It’s solid at room temperature.

This particular recipe is very hard to form into a ball, but works very well put into a tiny soap mold.  While mixing this up, I even think this would do well just put into a decorative jar with a seal tight lid, and a scoop.   I will add another recipe with the same ingredients, but with different amounts below, which is very easy to shape into the shape of a ball.

Ingredients:

1 cup citric acid crystals
1 cup baking soda
½ cup corn starch
½ cup coconut oil (or you can use any light oil)
Scented oil and coloring

Mix dry ingredients.  Melt coconut oil until liquid.  Add to dry ingredients
along with scented oil and coloring.  Mix well to incorporate.  If mixture
is too crumbly, add a light oil (sesame, etc) a TBSP at a time to the right
consistency to press compactly into a mold.  Press tight.  Put onto a sheet of foil, and dry overnight.  Wrap individually.

I use different oils for fragrance.  At our local arts and crafts store, I had previously bought soap fragrance and coloring.  It won’t stain your skin like food coloring.  Sometimes I use the ocean scented oil, other times I use eucalyptus and lavender oil.  You can add any aroma you find relaxing.  I’ve even added some of my favorite perfume.

Here is the recipe for the ones easily shaped into balls
(plus it makes a much smaller batch, using less ingredients)

2 TBSP citric acid crystals
2 TBSP cornstarch
¼ cup baking soda
3 TBSP coconut oil
¼  tsp essential oil (fragrant, sesame, etc)
Coloring

Mix dry ingredients.  Mix oils.  Slowly mix together.
Shape into balls.  Dry overnight.

Tami’s Tip of the Week

Take one of your fizzy bath bombs, and place it in a drawer or linen closet (wrapped loosely, as to not get oil on anything, but enough to let the aroma free).  Your area will smell like a spa.

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.

When I saw the plush baby blanket over at Purple Chocolat Home, I KNEW I had to make it! It was the perfect gift for little Miss Sophie.

I finally got to work on it yesterday and am happy to share it with you!

I measured out my fabric pieces to be 45×40 inches each.  Then, I trimmed my satin to 5in strips like the tutorial said.

Then I sewed all the satin pieces end to end and ironed them in half, lengthwise.  The other tutorial didn’t iron them, but I thought it would make managing them easier.  They’re really slippery and I didn’t want the hassle.  To me the extra step was worth it.  But it also depends on the look you’re going for in the end.

Also, I actually measured out two times the perimeter of the rectangle and used that measurement for the binding.  I actually sewed the end together to eliminate having to hand sew it at the end.  (I hate hand sewing)

Then, I pinned the binding around the square on the right side of the fabric, edge facing in.  Originally I had done a basting stitch so that I could just pull it and ruffle it, but the thread I used was super light and broke, so I nixed that.

To get the binding fitted equally around all the edges, I pinned one point in the middle of one side.  Then, I found the exact middle of the other side of the binding and pinned it to the opposite side of the rectangle.  I did this for both sides.  It looked like this.

Then, since the ruffling didn’t work, I decided to make knife pleats.  Because I had already pinned the binding around evenly, I knew how much I had to work with for each section.

Here it is all the way around.

Then, I stitched around this ruffle and took all 100000000 pins out.  After that, I took the other fabric and pinned it, right sides facing, and used my serger to go around the edges, leaving about a 6 inch opening to turn the blanket inside out.  After turning, I pinned and stitched the hole shut with the sewing machine.  I suppose if you wanted, you could do it by hand, but again, I hate hand stitching, so I avoid it whenever possible.

I love it!  I can’t wait to give it to Miss Sophie when she arrives!

-Autumn