Scissor Fob Angels

So by now you can guess I have a lot of scissors.



Fabric, laces, and scissors are all in the same category............You can't have too many!...........Well, I also need to add sewing machines to that group.


Here is another Scissor Fob of mine. This is my Scissor Angel. She protects me from sewing disaster .............well, she tries.


Here is what you need to make your own.

1. Clothes pin (from the craft store)


2. Scrap fabric (darker fabrics work better then light)


3. Scrap laces, and trim.


4. Something to use as stuffing, (cotton batting, lavender, wool roving)


5. Chenille stick


6. Permanent markers


7. ribbon


8. needle and thread

First, you want to draw a face on your clothes pin. I learned the hard way that the permanent markers will bleed on the unfinished wood.

So let start with applying a finish to the clothes pin head. If I didn't live in the country, in the middle of no where, and it was a 40 minutes drive to any store including Wal-Mart, I would tell you to apply a light varnish.

So I used the next best thing- Clear nail polish! Paint the heads and shoulders with the clear nail polish. Let dry. I used a wooden ruler to help them stand up.

When the clothes pin is completely dry, draw a face on your angel with fine tip permanent markers.


You can also glue a wooden bead to the top of her head and make a bun. You can also glue an antique button to her head to make a hat.




With a drill, drill a small hole all the way through the clothes pin about 1/2" down from the top of the head.

Take a chenille stick and cut it down to 8 inches. Fold it in have to find the center. Unfold.

Raise your hand if you are old enough to call these things Pipe Cleaners.

(Hand raised)

Place the chenille stick through the hole you drilled. Try to make the arms even on both sides.

The skirt on this Angel is measured for a pair of Ginger Needlework scissors. If you are going to use another type of scissors here is how to measure the skirt length.

1. If you have a leather sheath for your scissors, place them on your scissors.


2. Place your scissors behind your Angel's head like it is in the first photo.


3. Measure the length from under the arms(chenille stick) to the bottom of the scissors.


4. Add 1/4 " to this measurement.


5. This is the length measurement of your skirt.
   

To make the skirt cut a piece of fabric 3 inches long (or your measurement) by 5 inches wide.

Across the top run two rows of gathering stitches. (I used a stitch length of 3 on my Bernina). Unpick the gather threads 1/4 inch from each side.

Stitch a piece of trim across the bottom at about 3/4" up from the bottom. You can use lace, ric-rac, ribbon or anything else you desire.

Place the right sides together and stitch down the length of the skirt. Press seam open.

Place the seam in the middle of the fabric. Press. Stitch a 1/4 inch seam along the bottom. Clip corners. Turn right side out.

On your clothes pin angel, measure 2 inches down from the top of her head. Draw a line. With a saw, cut the clothes pin on this line.

Fold the chenille stick arms in toward the clothes pin.

Stuff the skirt lightly with wool roving, lavender sachet, cotton batting or what ever you desire.

Take a moment to reenact the Mr. Bill show with your angel...... "Oh No Mr Bill"


Place your angel into the skirt. The top of the skirt should come up and touch the chenille stick arms. Add a little more stuffing material to the skirt around the Angel's body.

Pull the gathering stitches up tight. Tie the gathering strings into a knot. With a needle pull the gathering strings to the inside of the skirt.

Now to make the sleeves.

Cut another piece of fabric that is 5 inches wide by 2 inches long.

Stitch lace or trim to the right side of the fabric. Press the ends under.



Place right side together. Mark the center with a straight pin. Stitch a 1/4 seam but leave about an inch unstitched in the center of the sleeves. Turn right side out.

Dress your angels with sleeves the way you would add a shrug to a doll. Place the angel's right arm through the center of the sleeve. Unfold the left arm

Place the unfolded left arm through the sleeve

Bend the arms around to the front. Place the left arm chenille stick through the loop on the right arm. Bend the left arm back up and tuck back into the sleeve.

Cut a piece of ribbon that is 18inches long. Fold in half.

Pin the two raw edges underneath your Angels arm. With a needle and thread stitch the ribbon to the top of the skirt and the bottom of the sleeve.

To make a top for your angel you can use pieces of bias tape or you can use ribbon or pieces of lace.

Cut two pieces about 2 inches long of your choice of fabric or lace.

Crisscross the fabric or lace across your angel. Pin in place. If the sleeves are bunching up under the bodice, take a tooth pick or skewer and push them down.

With a needle and thread tack the bodice in the front and back to the skirt.

Take another piece of bias trim and wrap it around your angel's middle. This should cover the raw ends of the bodice and the gathering of the skirt.

Fold the raw edges under of the waist band and tack the ends together.

I also lightly tacked the waist band to the skirt in the front and the back.

If you don't want your Angel's arms to move then you can tack the sleeves to the waist band.

Also if you want your Angel's sleeves to be gathered at the cuff, thread your needle with 3-4 strands embroider thread.

Take a stitch through the inside of the sleeve. Unthread your needle. Pull the thread so the threads are even on either side of the sleeve. Tie the ends together, gathering the ends of the sleeve.

Okay, your Angel is almost done.

If you wish, you could stop at this point and just make her into a scissor fob.

If you do want to stop here, all you need to do to finish is take the folded end of the ribbon under the left scissor handle then feed the doll through the loop.

But lets go a few steps further and turn her into an Angel.

If you have a leather sheath for your scissors you need to measure the widest part of the sheath.

Add 3/4 of and inch to this measurement for ease. Add another 1/2" for seam allowances.

For example my leather sheath for my scissors measures 1inch +3/4 inch ease+ 1/2 inch seam allowance = 2 1/4 inches wide.

Measure the length of the leather sheath and a 1/4 inch for seam allowance.

Cut a piece of fabric that is your width measurment by twice your length measuement. My piece of fabric is 2 1/4 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches wide.

Place right sides of the shorther ends together and press. Stitch a 1/4" seam along the two long sides.

Turn right side out.

Place your leather scissor sheath behind the fabric and pin the fabric to the back with the folded side towards to head.

To make room for the bulk of the scissor the top sides need to be brought in towards the center.

Here are a few pictures to better illustrate what I am taking about. Whip stitch the fabric on three sides.

And she is done!

Here is the back.

And here if the front.

~Janet Gilbert

Sew Beautiful Magazine on Facebook

To add to the long list of things I don't know, or didn't know, Sew Beautiful Magazine is up on Face Book.



http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Sew-Beautiful-Magazine/183689000586?ref=nf

Scissor Fobs

This Fall, I will be going once again to the Smocking Convention http://smocking.org/

There is so much I learn each year at the convention. One major thing I learned is you have to mark your scissors!

Each class has about 20 ladies in a class and the odds are very favorable that someone has the exact same scissors as you have. You could use a colorful ribbon but there is a more creative idea..... A Scissor Fob!

Scissor Fobs serve more then one purpose. Besides being a creative outlet and marking your scissor they also help prevent your scissors from being dropped on their point.

Here are a few of my Scissor Fobs I have already created..........

Here is a close up.

I never make two Scissor Fobs exactly a like. I usually start with beads I like and just mix and match till I like the results.

I like the scissor fobs to be no longer then 3 inches otherwise it gets in the way.

When I am looking for parts for my Scissor fobs the main thing I am looking for is that there are no pointy edges to get caught on delicate fabric or caught up in my embroidery or sewing threads.

I get my beads at several different places like Hobby Lobby, Michael's and Oriental Trader. http://www.orientaltrading.com/craft-supplies-and-hobbies/beading-a1-377461-2-0.fltr


Here are the basic supplies I use. (left to right)

1. Crimp tubes
2. Lampwork beads
3. End caps
4. Glass beads
5. O rings

Some more supplies

1. Lobster clasp


2. Crystal beads of different sizes


3. Spacer beads

I use Fishing line to string the beads. This is 30lb test fishing line. It was what was in my husband's fishing gear. :-)

I cut a piece of fishing line that is about 24" long. This length gives you room to work.

1. Load a spacer bead on the fishing line followed by a crimp bead.


2. Thread the end of the fishing line back up into the crimp bead.


3. With a pair of needle nose pliers or crimping pliers smash the crimp bead. This locks the bottom bead in place. You could also use an O ring at the bottom if you wanted to add a charm.


4. Cut the fishing line tail to about 1/2". The tail will be threaded back up through the next beads.


5. Load the beads up as you desire.


6. Finish the bead line with a crimp bead then the lobster claw clasp. If you don't want to use a Lobster claw clasp you could also just make a 1 1/2 loop.


7. Thread the fishing line back through the crimp bead.


8. Pull the fishing line till the all the beads in the bead line are touching. If you pull too tight the bead line will curl.


9. When the beads are pulled up, crimp(smash) the crimping bead.


10. Thread the excess the fishing line through the next 2 beads and trim.
    

Enjoy! ~janet

Old Photos

I love old old photographs. This is a photo of my Great Grandmother's Sunday school class. The photo is around the early 1900's. It was taken in Ft Worth, Texas.

But my grandmother is not in the photo because she was pregnant.

I have spent hours with a magnifying glass looking at this photo.

I am assuming the man in the photo was the preacher. And the lady next to him, who is leaning away from him is not his wife (or maybe she is?).


Half the women are looking one way and the others are looking another. The only thing I can think of was they are looking at their children misbehaving!

But I still have questions.
Why is one lady looking at her shoes or is she asleep?
Why is the little boy in the photo and boy does the women behind him look mad.
Is the women in black in mourning?
One lady in the end with the black purse sure looks mean!
Why does the lady in front have her umprella with her? Was it going to rain?

Angels Watching Over Me

I am usually working on a several projects at any given time.


Besides the repairing the Vintage Christening gown I am working on a "coming home" baby dress for a friend's grand baby.


I am smocking it with my smocking design "Angels Watching over Me" which is in Sew Beautiful #121 http://www.sewbeautifulmag.com/issues/issues2008.html


Here is a picture of the size 3 month dress that was in Sew Beautiful . This was a work in progress photo with pleating thread attached and the bias binding not done.

The baby is not due till the end of the month but the mom is on bed rest. I have the borders done on the newborn bishop, I will start smocking the angels as long as I can. She may end up with only one angel or maybe seven.

Vintage Christening Gown

I have been trying to finish up some project but I have had a major distraction in my sewing room.





I was over at friend's house working on VBS craft projects. Later she gave me a tour her house. In her bedroom, sitting on a chair, was an antique doll wearing this christening gown. The doll and the dress had been in an antique cradle but she had moved it after the cats decided to sleep on the dress. OMG!



I very nicely volunteered to clean the dress....Ok, I was probably a little pushy but she agreed when she saw me doing the happy dance in her bedroom.


I soaked the dress in a Biz Bucket for 2 days. I changed the solution about every 8 hours(the water was brown).




I am making a guesstimate of 1880 or earlier as the date of the dress because it has a scooped neck and drawstrings at the neck and waist. Anyone else have any ideas?

There is some damage to the dress from age (not the cats). I am in the process of stabilizing the areas that are damaged.

More Smocking Designs

In my spare time between living on a farm, raising a 9 year old, waiting for my two adult sons to make me a grandmother, being a Girl Scout Leader, and being married to an old Fighter Pilot, I am a Designer for Sew Beautiful Magazine.

Here are links to two more of my smocking designs, "Play Ball" and "Two Points".

http://www.sewbeautifulmag.com/article/issue114.html

http://www.sewbeautifulmag.com/article/pdf-files/120-graph.pdf


There is also an article on how to add a smocked insert into a sweat shirt.

http://www.sewbeautifulmag.com/article/issue120.html


Enjoy!