Keyhole neckline tutorial

I haven't posted on here for ages, but I thought I should document how I made this keyhole neckline for some Nativity/Christmas Pageant tabard costume thingies. please read through these instructions before starting this project.

First, take your keyhole neckline pattern (perhaps I'll make another post on how to draft this) and trace it onto the non adhesive side of some fusable interfacing. (this is the side without the bumps)  I like to use crayola markers because they are cheap and come out when you wash the fabric.

make sure to mark the fold lines, they will help when you place the cut out keyhole on your fabric later.  I also like to poke a hole in my pattern to mark where the slit in the keyhole ends, then use a ruler to connect it to the fold line.

Cut roughly around your interfacing. DO NOT cut out the center hole.

roughly cut your fabric to the same shape as your interfacing and pin it together.

Your non bumpy side of the interfacing should be on top. If your fabric has a wrong side, it should be facing you if you flip the fabric sandwich over. ( bumpy side and right side of fabric should be touching.)


The line you have traced onto your interfacing is the sewing line.  Sew along this line on the exterior line only. (we'll work with that center circle later)



cut around, about 1 cm from where you've sewn.

snip where the round part meets the straight part, and trim the tips of the 3 pointed corners.  This will help the fabric lay flat when you turn it.



clip "v" shapes all around the rounded part of the exterior of the keyhole shape.  (this will also help the fabric lay flat later) Take care not to snip where you've sewn.  (make sure you pitch all those little triangles before stupid cat eats them.  No one wants to clean up pukie in the middle of a craft project.)

cut a slit ONLY in the interfacing.

remove your pins and turn the whole thing right side out.  Finger press the seams flat.  DO NOT use an iron.  If you use an iron you'll fuse the thing to your ironing board.  Once the keyhole shape has been turned right side out, trace over the lines from the front. The marker will have bled through slightly so it's easy to trace.  This step isn't necessary, but I find it's easier to see when I'm sewing.

since I'm sewing this to a tabard, I've folded the fabric in half width-wise and lengthwise. Line the keyhole up with the fold marks on your tabard, and your pattern.

pin your keyhole to the fabric. The wrong side of the tabard should be facing up, along with the bumpy part of the interfacing on the keyhole.



sew along marked line around circular part. When you get to the straight line down the middle, sew about 1/8inch on and around line.


cut about 1 cm from where you stitched in the round part and carefully down the center line. cut out  notches as you did when you sewed around the outside of the circle.

clip the corner where the round part meets the straight part. Clip a "V" shape where the straight line ends. These cuts will help the fabric lay better once turned.

Remove pins and turn so the bumpy part of the interfacing touches the right side of your tabard fabric.  At this point you can use an iron to fuse the fabric together, following the manufacture instructions for your fusable interfacing.  Or, if you have cats that are trying to burn your house down by knocking your iron over before it can heat up, finger press the seams, and pin.

It may take some finagling to get the bottom part of the keyhole slit to lay nicely.  This is quite normal and can usually be made to behave with a bit of tugging of the garment fabric before it's pinned down.

stitch around inside and outside edges of keyhole shape close to the edge.  If you're feeling fancy, you can zig zag the edges or use some sort of decorative stitch for embelishment. Viola!  You've made a keyhole neckline!


If, for some reason, you don't want to have this keyhole as a contrasting color to the front of your garment, simply place the keyhole shape on the right side of the garment fabric instead of the wrong side.  This will ensure that your keyhole shape is on the inside of your garment.

Ideally this is reversible, however, sometimes the tip of the slit on the point, on the wrong side, get's wonky.  This probably could have been remedied by fusing the fabric together.  I was lazy and also didn't want the cats to burn down the house.  My fabrics were not the same thickness either.  This can also account for the wonky bunching.  I'm satisfied that it looks good from the contrasting fabric side so I've not unpicked and fussed with it.

Mini Cross stitch Decoupage

I went through a phase where I stitched up a bunch of little tiny cross stitches.  I had no idea what to do with them as they were too tiny to frame.  Then I had this idea to mod podge them onto a canvas.

It took me forever to figure out the layout, but it's very satisfying to know they all have a home now.

To me, the whole thing has a bit of a Jane Austen/Regency feel to it. hmm, or maybe that's just because I got done watching Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth time today.

Either way, it's another one of those things that makes me smile when I look at it.  The picture now lives behind baby Groot in my computer room.  Baby Groot approves of Austen dontcha know.

Partial Nouveau Sampler

Sometimes I see a Cross Stitch pattern that I really like, but not enough to stitch the whole thing.  I have a small house and not everything I want to stitch is going to fit on the limited amount of wall space that I have.  Plus I don't seem to have the patience for a large cross stitch piece anymore.

I had been eyeing Mirabilia's Le Nouveau Sampler for some time.  Then one day I saw that someone had stitched up just the center motif.  I thought that was a smashing idea so I did the same.

The background of the design is a pale teal.(The photo does not do it justice.)  I just so happened to have almost the same color fabric in my stash.

I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on framing so I found a cheap white frame on clearance at Michaels.  I had such a hard time finding a square frame the right size that I improvised with a rectangular one.  I had some wide lace that I thought would work well to balance out the space of the design.

The framing isn't as centered or lined up perfectly parallel to the frame, but it's close enough.  It's another one of those things that falls into the "finished is better than perfect" categories.  At least it's not sitting tucked away in a drawer where no one, especially me, can see it.

Luna's Scarf

The older I get the more I identify with Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter.  I used to think I was most like Hermione.  After several years of being a mega Harry Potter fan, I've come to the realization I have more in common with Luna.  She's smart AND weird. Moreover, she's cool with her weird quirks, even oblivious.  She doesn't really fit in much of anywhere, but is extremely loyal to her true friends. 

Yup. That's me.


Naturally, when I saw a pattern, on craftster, for the scarf that Luna wears in "Order of the Phoenix" I went completely gaga.  I went out the next day in search of the perfect yarn.

Well, I couldn't find the perfect yarn so I settled on Bernat Softee Baby in the Flannel color.  This yarn is classified as a light or 3.  Even though the yarn is thinner than the suggested yarn I thought my scarf was getting too wide compared to the one Luna wore.  I omitted one of the center most rows.  I still think this scarf is too wide in comparison to the original.

You can see my scarf is as wide as Luna's, even with the missing row.

Here's a closeup of the missing ladder type row.  If you look carefully at the picture of Luna you can see her scarf has two of these rows.

If I could have found it, I think a sock weight, or even a finger weight yarn, and a smaller hook would have replicated the scarf better.  Alas, I could not find anything that was not made of wool in a grey I liked.

All things aside, I love how this scarf turned out.  It's a really soft and comfy fashion scarf for spring and winter.

Head to Craftster for the wonderful pattern.   The creator of the pattern has written instructions and a chart which are super easy to follow.

How I survivied the winter

Leg warmers.

Yes!  Leg warmers!

This pattern is from Cobbler's Cabin. I used Claret Red Heart Super Saver Yarn  with an H hook for the main part of the leg warmer, and switched to an F hook for the upper and lower ribbing.  I made one legwarmer using just an H hook and the ribbing was much too loose to stay on my legs, even over jeans.

I followed the pattern as is, and as you can see by the below picture they are as long as my short stumpy legs.  I'm only 5'2" so if you aren't a shorty short pants like me, they will be much longer on you. 

These babies are super warm.  After that first sub zero stretch we had at the beginning of the winter, I knew we were in for some freakishly frigid weather.  Even though I was wearing 2 pairs of long underwear, jeans, and a pair of my husbands fleece pajama pants under my full length down coat, my legs were still really cold after 5 min of outdoor exposure.  This extra layer was so warm, it made being outside bearable for just a bit longer. 

As it got warmer, and more like a normal winter, I opted to wear the legwarmers instead of long underwear.  It just made getting dressed for work so much easier.  For me, the legwarmers were as warm as 2 layers of silk long underwear pants.

I luv my legwarmers!

The power of BACON!

I saw this pattern for a crochet bacon scarf at Drunken Aunt Wendy and knew that I had to make it for my baconophile husband. 

He went totally gaga for it.

I mean how could he not?  It looks like a piece of bacon just sitting there, waiting to be eaten.

"Mom!  Why does this bacon taste fuzzy?"

No Blockette!  It's not for eating!!!

This scarf was really fun to crochet.  All the lumps and bumps make it a great project for a beginner.  If you make a mistake who is going to know?  Can't keep your tension even?  Perfect...the more irregular, the better the end result looks!

After a few weeks of wearing the scarf Mrblocko commented on how he couldn't get the scarf to keep from twisting up.  I told him that's how the scarf was supposed to be.  When you cook bacon it twists and curls in lumps and bumps.  I'm sure that if I blocked the scarf it would eliminate some of that, but I feel it would make the scarf look less realistic.

Regarding Zombies and Sanitation

This cross stitch is now hanging in my kitchen. 

I chuckle every time I see it.

 It was stitched over one on 22 ct cream evenweave.

And here it is for scale reference over my sink with the dirty breakfast dishes still in it. 

(Just keepin' it realz!)

If you like the design, the chart can be purchased at Pixel Power Design.

A really old Crochet Finish

I think I made this shawl sometime over the summer of 2013.  It's another prayer shawl for church.

 I used nearly 2 skeins of Blue Mint Caron Simply Soft, and a partial skein of Oceana Caron Simply Soft.  I really love making shawls from this yarn.  They turn out so soft and comfy.  Blockette wants to keep every single one I make.

You can find the pattern for this shawl on ravelry or here.

 The cool thing about this shawl is it's funky partial hexagon shape.

This is a shawl you can really get bundled and wrapped up in.

The church seems to have a plethora of shawls these days so I think I'm going to call it quits on crocheting prayer shawls for the time being. 

Hope you find a good home and give lots of hugs to your owner little hexy blue shawl!  Happy travels.

January Cross Stitch Finish

I'm pretty jazzed about this cross stitch I made in January.  It's Lizzie Kate's "To Do List." 

I'm usually not a big fan of the simplistic primitive style cross stitches, but the words in this design really spoke to me. 

This year instead of making a resolution I chose a focus word.  My word was BREATHE.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the day to day minutia of life. I find I need to take a deep breath to bring me back to the present.  I also get preoccupied with the things I can't control.  Again, I need to take a deep breath and just let those worries go.

In a completely different vein, the word breathe also ties into the one goal I set for myself this year.  I want to run a mile without stopping. This is something I've NEVER been able to do, not even as a kid.  I'd get half or a quarter of the way through and feel like my lungs were being mashed into a trash compactor.  My mom even had me tested for Asthma.  (The dr said I was just lazy and it was all in my head.  ::insert eye roll here:: ) It seems like such a silly goal, particularly when my husband is planning on running a marathon.  But, for me, this is a tough, but attainable goal, just like the marathon is for him.  I'll probably be as proud of myself for running a mile as I will be for him running a marathon.

Now for the stitchy details.  The fabric is a piece of tea dyed, cream 18 ct aida.  I think I'm really getting the hang of the tea dying thing.  I got lots of splotchy light and dark bits this time.  I like the aged look it gives to the stitched design.   I also changed up the thread, using what I had in my stash. I'm really digging how there was just enough room for the year under the wavy hump of the word breathe.  It seems like it's just another little reminder that this is what I want to focus on for 2014.

Bird seed ornaments

Way back over Christmas break, Blockette and I made these Birdseed ornaments.  I made them with the intention that the squirrels would eat them. 

You see, we had a bird feeder in our backyard growing up.  Those darn squirrels ate every last drop of seed from the feeder.  And when they ate all the birdseed?  Do you know what those little devils did? 

They ate the feeder.

Yes.

The squirrels gnawed off the plastic top of the feeder.

Thus ended the feeding of the birds and/or squirrels.  The squirrels are such ruiners.

So I hung these birdseed ornaments off these weird hooks on what used to be the inside of our 3 season room, now covered patio.

Yeah...I know this picture is horrible, but it was cold out and my camera hates taking pictures through the screen.  I also hate being in the cold and was too lazy to put on my coat.

I made the ornaments in a mini bundt pan.  The pan has 6 mini bundts and this recipe from saltwater- kids filled the entire pan up perfectly.  The little bundts just lent themselves to being hung as ornaments.

So far, the squirrels have only figured out how to get one of the birdseed dealies down.  Everytime we get a new layer of snow I can see all these squirrel tracks all around the post they are hanging near.

Could it be that I have finally outsmarted the squirrels?

We'll have to let the rest of the winter progress to find out.

Squirrel (or not) Birdseed feeder ornaments from Saltwater-Kids
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 tbsp. corn syrup
4 cups birdseed
molds (muffin tin, cookie cutters, etc.) 
straw
yarn or twine

Combine flour, water, gelatin and corn syrup in large mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined. Add birdseed, stir until well coated. Spray mold(s) with cooking spray, and spoon birdseed mixture into each mold. Use bottom of measuring cup to pack it down, and make the top smooth. If needed, poke a hole through top of each birdseed mold using a drinking straw, making sure it goes all the way through. Leave birdseed mixture in molds for 2-3hrs. Then, remove straws and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Gently remove hardened ornaments from mold, and place on wax paper upside down. Allow to dry overnight.Thread those bad boys and hang them up outside where you can watch the animal antics.

A big Cross Stitch Finish for December

I wrote about this one separately because I was too lazy to iron it in time for the post I made on Wed.
So here it is in it's ironed glory.

The design is called Bethlehem by Imaginating.

For my birthday in 2012 my husband gave me a free for all in the most awesome cross stitch store near where my mom lives.  (Big shout out to Stitchville USA.  You rock!) One of the things I purchased was this chart and the fabric.    The fabric is 32ct hand dyed linen.

I started it in December of 2012 but stopped because it wasn't Christmas anymore and I was tired of stitching all in dark brown.  I picked it up again in Dec 2013 and finished it one week before Christmas.

Normally, we don't frame the cross stitches I make anymore, but I think I may ask for this to be framed for my birthday this year.

Here are a few close ups:

As a side note, I named all the buildings while I was stitching them. They are from Left to right: Mushroom, Castle, Bullet, Alamo, Plantation, and the Adler Planetarium.  (Because I'm sure Jesus was born right next to the Adler Planetarium.)

Nov and Dec Small Cross Stitches

I've been trying to get back into crafting.  I always feel better when I've got a project to work on.  Sometimes it's just knowing I have a project that I CAN work on is more important than actually working on the project.

Over the holiday season I wanted to do projects that didn't require a lot of concentration.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving I started Bent Creek's Thankful Quaker.

I used a piece of 18 count cream/antique white colored aida I had in my stash.  I also used DMC thread instead of the specialty threads listed on the chart.

I've no idea what to do with it, but it was a fun little seasonal chart to work on.

Being in the mood for whimsy, while I was visiting my mom over Christmas, I stitched this Grumpy Kitty.

Eventually I'll finish him into an ornament.

The chart is by Brooke's Books Publishing and can be found here for free.

This design was stitched on a scrap of blue grey 28ct evenweave I had in my stash.  Amazingly I left this design unaltered!

Don't you just love Grumpy Kitty?

Ear Flap Hats

In November I made Mrblocko and myself some crochet hats with ear flaps. I used this pattern from Repeat Crafter Me.  Obviously I omitted the step to make them into puppy dogs.  Although, I added a Mohawk to mine using this as a guide.

The hats were quite large using the adult pattern.  This wound up being exactly what I wanted though.  Mrblocko has a larger than average head, and I planned to use mine over another hat for extra warmth while standing outside at work.

With the hats working out to be larger, I thought the ear flaps were a bit too small.  I added a few stitches to each row so they didn't look disproportionally small.
 
I think the mohawk makes it look a bit like a Roman helmet.  Maybe I will make another one that is grey with a red mohawk at some point in the future.

Mrblocko got a matching scarf as well.  Originally he wanted a solid grey scarf, but as he wanted this as a hat and scarf to wear while running, I thought he should stand out a bit from the pavement.  Blockette picked the neon green, but only after I vetoed the neon pink.

The Fledge

I am the queen of misheard lyrics.  When I first heard LMFAO's  "Party Rock Anthem," I swear it sounded like they were singing, "Polly Pocket's in the house tonight.  Everybody just have a good time."

via

Now I know they are singing "party rock is," not "Polly Pocket," but it totally sounds like Polly Pocket.  I even intentionally sing the song that way to make Blockette crack up.  Works every time.

Anyhow, flash back to when I was a wee kindergartener.  I was a pretty skilled reader, which back in the 70's was fairly rare for a kindergartener.  When we learned the Pledge of Allegiance it wasn't written down anywhere.  I guess they figured they didn't need it written anywhere if they thought we couldn't read it.  We just had to pick it up by listening to what the teacher was saying. 

I came home from school asking my mom why we had to talk about witches every day.  Naturally she inquired further, to which I replied, "Yeah you know.  When we say the Fledge of Allegiance?  Four witches stand.  Who are these witches?  Why are they standing? etc...."

Oh yes.  Much hilarity ensued.  I'm pushing 40 and I will never live that one down.  So, to embrace and celebrate my dorkiness, I created this cross stitch.

I adapted it from a pattern called "Wicked? or Wise?" by The Stitcherhood. 

Notice the witch on the far left is holding a flag.  (You can't say "The Fledge" without a flag, Amirite?)  The witch on the far right is sporting ruby slippers, in red metallic thread, of course.  You can't tell from this photo, but the two witches in the middle are fist bumping each other.  Yeah.  It's a pretty hip bunch of witches.

The design is 53x93 stitches.

The threads I used are as follows (2 strands of each unless specified):
Dresses and hats: GAST Black crow
Skin: GAST Spring Grass
Lettering: WDW Mulberry
Cauldron Whisps: one strand each -Whisper W79 and DMC5272
Stars and Moon: WDW curry
Ruby Slippers: on strand Kreinik #4 braid 061
Red on flag:814
Blue on flag: 336
White on flag: 00
Flag pole: 3784
Cauldron: Crescent Colours Black Coffee
Cat: Rainbow Gallery Splendor 5801

The design is stitched on some sort of 28 count light tan linen.  My guess is that it is DMC brand.

Five Cross Stitch Bookmarks

I made these five bookmarks for various teachers at the end of the school year. 

They were a big hit with the recipients.  Now all I have to do is figure out what to make for an end of the year gift next year as Blockette will have some of the same teachers she had last year.  Luckily I have LOTS of time to solve that dilemma.

Purple Shawl

Here's another shawl! This one I sort of just made up as I went along using rows of double crochet and double crochet chain one.  Once you make a few triangle shaped shawls they all sort of follow the same formula.

I used Lion Brand Homespun in Purple Haze with a "L" hook.  

Blockette picked the yarn out.  She has such good taste in yarn.  Well, most of the time.  Her first choice is always neon pink but I think that's just a 7yr old thing.

I thought that I'd be good with just 2 skeins of yarn.  Nope.  I needed 3 and a half to finish the shawl like I wanted to.  Of course they didn't carry Purple Haze at Michaels so I had to make the haul to Joann Fabrics where I bought the original 2 skeins.  I got the last one in the store in the dye lot I needed.  What luck!

I just love how soft and fuzzy this shawl turned out!  It's maybe not the best shawl for the summer, but come November someone is going to enjoy cuddling up in it.

Another T-shirt surgery

Here's another shirt that was too large for me that I cut down to size.

 Our church does crop walk in the fall, so I left this shirt on the less fitted side.  That way I can wear a long sleeve shirt underneath if it's chilly outside.

If you notice, I made the shirt considerably wider at the bottom.  As I'm a shorty short pants this shirt goes way down over my bum.  Since my bum is considerably wider than my mid section, I allowed extra width to accommodate the junk in my trunk. The shirt now fits comfortably over my behind.  As an added bonus the sleeves are not so wide that you can see the side of my bra when I move my arm.  Yay!