Limbs and head flopped out to sleep. Looking d-e-d.Filed under: Do it, Finished it, Gifted it, How to do it, Made it | Tags: baby, Big Poppa, Biggie Smalls, freezer paper stencil, gift, t-shirt
My dear friends are getting a baby in a few weeks. So of course we made them some presents. The bebe gets a blanky, a giant square of a blanky crocheted from fun Hobby Lobby yarn in circus colors. Mama, like me, isn’t into pastels and is convinced the most unisex color of all is red.
Mama I adore, but Poppa is my colleague and original tie to the family. And since we’re not particularly into indulging the demands of teeny babies, Poppa — our loyal date to summer rock and roll concerts, our link to Boris and the Hold Steadies — has our sympathy and especial love.
Poppa also has fab taste in music and a demeanor best described as generally nonplussed. At any rate, he’s not into pastel schtuff either, and wasn’t likely to receive any special presents at this weekend’s bebefest, so we made him one to treasure.
And he did love it when we called him, at the shower, Big Poppa, comme ca:
Really. My mister is loving freezer paper stencils since watching me craft a Halloween costume from a yellow t-shirt. We were Pat Hughes and Ron Santo of WGN’s The Pat and Ron Show, and since Pat – the literal play-by-play broadcast man is so very boring, I had to invent his costume and dress him in a t-shirt of one of the show’s sponsors, Square D, (Part of the Power of Wrigley Field).
But I digress. Mister saw the custom Square-D shirt and became convinced we could copy the method. So we fought over WHICH Biggie Smalls song to print onto a shirt. He voted for the “One More Chance Remix”, featuring the opening lyric, “First things first, I Papa,” and continuing in a filthy manner.
It’s not that I vetoed, it’s only that I had to cut out the letters and “Big Poppa,” as in, “I love it when they call me”, would be easier to chop out of freezer paper and also would fit better across Poppa’s front.
Anyway, enjoy the effect of a freezer paper stencil. We used this velveteen finish paint from the JoJo if only because it was the only black finish available in the small bottle.
I’d buy it again specially since it worked very simply; you wait until the paint dries, then hold your very steamy iron about half an inch away and watch the paint rise and get a velvety texture. Plus it comes readily at the JoJo.
If I had Poppa’s shirt to do again, I might have the Mister cut out the other parts of the design. Maybe we cut the wrong negative space???
Anyhoo, my how-to is here.
Filed under: Do it, Finished it, How to do it, Love it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: desira, dress, evil eye, freezer paper stencil, hamsa, how to, paint, polka dots, purple, top, wrap
Wrap clothing is my salvation and my downfall both. Tops and dresses that wrap always fit – and that’s the problem – there’s no telling how snug they should be since there’s always plenty of give. in the end, I seek out stuff that wraps around because it always looks good on me. I get my much-needed waist, and there’s room for many or no layers underneath.
The purple-ing of my wardrobe continues. Wardrobe Refashioners advised me many moons ago to figure out what I like and need and stick to it. I like purple and I need clothes that fit well, and nothing adjusts more easily than a wrap. My stash is full of purple fabrics in one- and two-yard lengths.
So I made a dress from a pattern I had, McCalls 4007, and some purple linen-like fabric from the Joann clearance rack bought last summer, maybe.
finished dress – cute but boring
I finished my size and didn’t love the neckline – which prompted me to get cracking on Burda Style’s Desira wrap – but it fit nicely and screamed out for a freezer-paper stencil.
I used a blown-up evil eye design, the simplest I could find online and still it took a lot of skill with scissors to cut out precisely. (Note to self to choose something with fewer pieces next time.) Image also known as a hamsa or hand of Fatima and my superstitious self adores it.
enlarged printout to 8.5 x 11 setting on copier
Traced the outline with a pencil on the flat side of freezer paper.
tracing
compare to originalCut it all out. I like to use tiny scissors. Ironed the bottom skirt flap where image was going. Carefully placed pieces onto the skirt, ironing a piece at a time (no steam!), first the outline, then the small motifs.
iron one piece at a time, no steam
all ironed on
Mixed gold and purple craft paint with white fabric paint medium. Put the fabric on a chunk of newspaper in case of bleeding, then dabbed the paint on until the whole stencil was well covered.
two coats of paint did it – added more gold streaks in second coat
paint on something protective like newspaper to avoid bleeding paint onto another layer of the garment
Let mostly dry, then applied a second coat, streaked with gold. Let paint dry overnight just in case. Peeled off freezer paper pieces carefully.
that hamsa’s finished!Held up for Mister to admire.
dress so much cuter with the design
Other freezer paper tutorials available on Craftster, Freezer Paper Stencils on Flickr.
Filed under: Do it, Fixed it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: burdastyle, Chicago, evil eye, Freecycle, freezer paper stencil, pattern, purple
I spotted several Anda bastardizations in Old Navy ads lately, which prompted me to finally make one already:
And so I’m spending a day with myself (while the Mister works a nightshift), mocking up an Anda in light purple poly fabric I got from a kind Chicago Freecycler, since it’s fabric I don’t love love love, but could totally live with if the pattern fits and flatters. Other beauty of the solid color is that it’ll totally cry out for freezer paper stenciling once it’s done, and I’ve been thinking about evil eye designs for only the last decade or so. Such a charming, basic dress. Here’s hoping. I don’t use Burda Style patterns enough, though I’m beginning to look at them more.
Might have to mess with the neckline a la Old Navy ads, though, since that high Anda neck doesn’t flatter a bust such as my own. Let the experiment begin!
**
Ugh. Anda that matches my measurements is an awful tent.
**
I’ve since pulled in the sides considerably. Instead of putting in elastic, I experimented with a purple sequined belt at different “waists”: high, natural, drop. They’re all terrible. Might have to face it.
Anda just might not work for me.
