Woodwork Projects Remembered!

I was trying to clean up some of my old photo files today when I ran across some woodworking projects I'd done several years ago. I hadn't remembered doing all of these until I started going through them. I've since gotten rid of my radial saw but I still have my router, saber saw, miter saw, and jigsaw. This has given me a renewed desire to get back into the shed to make sawdust again!

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of the process of creating these items, but I hope you can see what was done and perhaps it will help generate some ideas of your own! Please share your projects with me!

Planter Box: A gift for my Mother-in-law!

I had to piece together 4 wood slats to create the base for this planter box. The tiles I found at Home Depot, I believe. This was really fun and very rewarding as it turned out so nice. It was approximately 12"w x 30"l  x 12"d (pretty good sized).

Monogrammed magnets for the metallic note-bar

When my daughters moved into their first apartment (wow, a very long time ago), I made them a bulletin board/white board for the front door.They could slip bills and other mail between the folds of the fabric, and leave notes for each other. And, of course the keys were always handy this way.

Side view and front on...very convenient 

I always like to keep my paper plates handy--we use those more than our every-day dinnerware--so I created a holder that matched the kitchen theme and attached it to the cupboard. Quite a hit!

The sides are attached to the front with a series of dowels. I do wish I'd made this a little larger, though. It will only hold 8-3/4" plates.

For breakfast in bed

The breakfast tray turned out to be a gift for a bride and groom. I made the tray from pine and used the side handles as a guide for the napkin rings. I embroidered the linen napkins with the new couples monogram and did an Italian hemstitch on the napkins as well. I finished everything with a natural stain so it would go with any decor, although now days this isn't really a desirable stain color.

The Growth Chart is an easy gift to make and takes very few supplies. It's approximately 18"w x 60"h (I'm working from memory, here) and it's just a sheet of 1/2" - 3/4" pine. I used my router to bevel the edges and then I painted it and personalized it. I believe you can even purchase these already cut and beveled at Home Depot or Michael's if you don't want to cut the wood. I used acrylic paints (my paints of choice) and measured off numbers so it could hang about 1-1/2 feet off the floor. I added screw holes and, there you have it!

Frosty

These Christmas Card Holders were fun and simple. I came up with 3 designs (Santa is not shown) and just sketched them out. They're about 18" long. You can't see it in the photos but there is a semi-circle shaped piece of wood perpendicular to the length to create a base that will not fall over. Once I painted the designs, I added heavy wire (I actually think this is solder) and looped it so cards would stay in the loops. Not too many people send Christmas Cards any more, but at the time, these were very useful. 

Rudolph

Another project was cookie jar covers. You can purchase these traditional glass cookie jars at OSH or Michael's (well at least you used to be able to. They came in two sizes). I took off the metal screw-on cover it came with and cut out a 3/4" thick wood circle that fit perfectly into the opening. Then I used my jigsaw to carve out different shapes for decoration and made sure they extended beyond the mouth of the jar. I screwed the circle base into the bottom of the new shape and the cover fit right over the mouth of the cookie jar, keeping the cookies fresh and clean.

I even did a year's worth set of covers for my sister-in-law. That way she could change out the top of the cookie jar for each month of the year and her kids could have fun deciding what they would put on it for the month. Again, I used acrylic paint. Hint: if you're not good at free-hand art, blow up graphics from the Internet, or use a color book for your designs!

Layered bear form my teddy-bear-collecting sister

An apple for the kitchen

A year's worth!

Perfect Applique Every Time

I just finished making a gift for my niece's baby girl (not born quite yet) and I thought you might like to see a quick, fool-proof way to applique.

Start with "Steam-A-Seam 2 Lite" (SAS2). This a double-stick fusible web that allows you to fuse one side, peel off the other side and fuse it to something else. This product stays flexible and won't stiffen up when you want to use it on clothing. Make a rough cut of the applique you want to add (if it's attached to something else). I used a section from the bottom of the jumpsuit I'm making so it's already printed for me--I just have to cut it out.

Rough cut applique and SAS2

Lay the applique piece or pieces over the top of the web (don't fuse yet) and rough cut them out together. Cutting them together will help you avoid having the web stick out over the applique and fuse to your iron or ironing board. Yikes!

Iron the web to the back of the applique

Fussy cut after fusing

Now flip over the web and peel away one of the layers of paper. Place the applique against the sticky side of the web (the side you just peeled) and iron the web side onto the back of the applique per the instruction on the SAS2 package. Once that's fused well, it's time to fussy-cut the applique. I leave about 1/8 inch around my applique so I don't cover so much of the design when I do my satin stitch.

Applique is almost ready for garment

Peel off final paper backing

Your applique is almost ready to attach to your bodice (or wherever it's going!). Flip over the applique and peel off the final backing from the web. This will leave you with a sticky-backed product. You can now easily put the applique were you want it and move it around till you're happy with it. I left a space at the top of the bodice so I could embroider the name of my new niece.

Once it's evenly positioned onto the garment, press it. If you're working with anything that shows marks easily, use a pressing cloth or press from the back. You should now have an applique that is ready for sewing.

Fuse the applique to the bodice

Choose a thread color that will compliment your garment or the applique. I like my applique stitches to blend rather than make a statement, so I chose a color close to the bodice color. I like to use Sulky Rayon Embroidery Thread in 40 weight. It gives a little sheen to the "patch". For the bobbin, I use a lightweight cotton embroidery thread (Mettler; comes in white or black). By using lighter weight thread specifically for embroidery in the bobbin, the bobbin thread pulls the satin stitch to the bottom of the project and keeps your bobbin thread from showing on top of the work. You'll be very pleased with the professional results you get by using these threads instead of your standard 50 weight sewing thread.

There are lots of ways to stitch down an applique; blanket, zig zag, straight, satin, or decorative. And you can do the stitching by machine or by hand. I will be using my sewing machine, and I've set it for a small satin stitch (SL is 0.6 and LW is 2.0). Always do a test first and make sure your stitch will grab enough fabric, otherwise your applique will fall apart after the first washing. I suggest you never go narrower that 2.0 in a satin stitch.

Open Toe Foot

I use an "open toe foot" for my applique. It allows me to see my stitches more easily and helps me glide around the turns. You will also want to reduce your presser foot pressure. By releasing some of the pressure of the foot on the fabric, it will allow you to turn the corners of your applique much easier. This particular applique has a lot of curves, so I take it slow and steady. If your sewing machine is going at a consistent rate of speed, it is much easier to control the turns. The less stopping you do around the curves, the smoother your curves will look.

Before you begin sewing around the applique, always add a stabilizer. There are many tear-away stabilizers available (once you've sewing the applique, you tear away the stabilizer and no one is any the wiser that you had it in there!).

Adding tear-away stabilizer

I LOVE the Sulky product Totally Stable. It irons on to give you a very firm foundation, and then it tears right off afterward, leaving no residue. Once you've got your applique stabilized, begin sewing in a non-conspicuous place on the applique.

After you go around the entire applique, take a look at it and add to it if you want to. In this case, I added another row of satin stitching inside the large heart. I also did a straight stitch around the elephants' ears and gave them each a tail since I had cut off their tails earlier (small details, such as elephant tails, whiskers, etc, are better left stitched later).

Tear away your stabilizer

If you like your finished product, turn it over and tear away your stabilizer. Don't be too rough on the stitches you just made, but once you've started, you should be able to tear right along the stitching line of the design. Use your seam ripper to start the sections inside hearts, balls, letters, etc. Now turn over the finished applique and press it.

The final product is clean and neat!

Double stitched heart

That's all there is to it! The applique looks professional and it only took about 40 minutes from start to finish. You can add applique in this method, over holes in jeans, on ready-to-wear clothing, tote bags, or like me, on something you're sewing from scratch. Enjoy doing applique, the easy way!

Final product--sorry about the lighting!