Saint Canoes

I taught my first saint class of the year last week, and our saint, St. Isaac Jogues, spent a lot of time traveling via birchbark canoe, so I decided to do an easy canoe craft.  First, I cut pieces of felt:

Basically, one sheet of felt can make 2 canoes.  By folding before cutting, the sides will match up, but the bottom will be connected.

Then I let the kids have their choice of embroidery floss to sew up the sides.  This caused all kind of joy.  You would not believe how excited the kids were to pick whatever colors they wanted from my floss box, which admittedly has a ton of colors (probably around 80 or so).  None of the kids was familiar with sewing, but they all caught on very quickly, since this was a very straightforward project.

Gyunay sewed his by himself, which surprised me.  I thought I'd have to hold it for him, but he is always so capable.

The boats are upside-down in this photo, but you get the idea.  I told the kids they could decorate their canoes with markers if they wanted, but so far, my boys have left theirs plain.  I originally thought we could make some peg people to go inside, but I was out of pegs, and so was Walmart.  Since I only had this idea the day before class, I didn't have time to run to Louisville to Michael's or anything, so we just didn't make people.  I think we may do that next class.

 

DIY Seed Drying Rack

Last week, I signed up for the seed saving class at the library.  We made these great seed drying racks.  They are very easy and inexpensive to make.  (The library only allows $10 per person for a project, so I know it was under that amount.)

First of all, we used canvas frames.  She had taken off the canvas so we were left with a solid wood frame.  You could also use an old picture frame or make a quick frame with scrap wood.  We hot glued a square of screen to the bottom of the frame.  The librarian had alread predrilled a hole in each corner of the frame, so we could just screw in the eye hooks.  Then we attached s-clips and the chains, which all attach to another s-clip for hanging on a hook.  You could use other fasteners, too, if you wanted.  The way this one is set up, the chains and s-clips easily come off for storage.

The view of the bottom of the rack.   Here I have some Cuban oregano leaves drying.

I actually got to make 2 of these, since some people registered but didn't show up for the class.  I think I will screw eye hooks to the bottom of this frame and just attach the second frame below it.  You could also put eye hooks on the bottom for tying bundles of herbs to dry.

Right now, I've got Cuban oregano in the rack to dry, but I do plan on drying some seeds in it next. Speaking of Cuban oregano, does anyone happen to know if it is the same plant as Mexican oregano?  I hope so.  It does smell like it.  I use Mexican oregano in cooking often, and when June gave me a Cuban oregano plant, I was very excited and hopeful that they are the same or very similar in flavor.  She didn't know; someone had given her the plant in the first place in exchange for vegetables.

I shared this link at the Prairie Homestead Barn Hop. Check out the other links here: http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2014/09/homestead-barn-hop-178.html

4th of July Shirt - Tribute to Grandmommy

A few months ago, my mom gave me Grandmommy's old gardening shirt.  Now, Grandmommy was tiny, so there's no way I could have worn the shirt even if it wasn't torn in a couple of places, so I've been thinking about ways to re-use it.  Today, I had an inspiration: 4th of July shirt. 

First, I ironed embroidery-weight heat n bond to the back of one sleeve that I clipped from the shirt and laid out flat.  Then, I traced stars on it:

I decided to use them around the neckline, and I like the way it turned out.

Right now, they are just stitched on. I haven't decided if I want to keep them this way and let the edges fray over time or if I will whip stitch the edges (which would take me forever!).  Either way, I'm very happy with how this shirt came out.  It's trendy right now to call making something out of an old shirt or fabric "upcycling", but Grandmommy grew up during the depression, so to her it would just be common sense.

Baby Carrier

I made a baby carrier for the first time today.  Now, no, I don't have a baby to carry, but my sister does, and this is one of his Christmas presents, as modeled by my "baby".

I know I'll probably have to make a few adjustments once I try it on her and baby Silas, but I think it's going to work out very well.  In the photo, I'm supporting Lydia with my arms because I didn't tie the sash around, which you would use for bigger babies/toddlers.  Lydia is actually only 31 lbs, so she isn't too big for this type of carrier, even though she's 4  1/2 years old.  I will probably make a sling for myself when we get a referral, since it is advisable to carry your newly adopted child as much as possible, even if the child is 3 or 4 years old.

I found out about making this carrier here: http://pacountrycrafts.blogspot.com/2013/10/my-homemade-baby-carrier-wrap-thing.html

and I mostly used this tutorial: http://craftymamabakes.com/2011/05/05/homemade-baby-ktan/, although I bought 3 yards of 60" fabric.  I had plenty of fabric, though I used the entire 3 yards' length for the sash.  I am kinda wishing I had bought more of this fabric, though.  It's really pretty and would make a nice shirt.

Quiver Tutorial - How to make a toy quiver

I've found several tutorials on various blogs, and I thought I'd try my hand at one.  The boys got some toy bows and arrows, and they wanted quivers for them.  I let them pick out the fabric, so that is where the odd color/pattern choices come from, but if you wanted a quiver as part of a costume, you could easily do this in brown cotton or some faux suede.  

So here is the tutorial:

First, you need a piece of 44" wide fabric.  The fold is at the top in this picture, and this piece measures approximately 18" across.  Cut a piece of interfacing and put it in between the pieces as shown: 

Then I folded the quiver in half lengthwise and sewed along the edge.  This way the quiver inside and out has the print fabric, and between the interfacing makes it a bit sturdier.  Next, I stood the quiver upright and traced roughly around the circular bottom with a fabric pencil:

I cut out 2 fabric circles, and put them together right sides out.  Then I pinned the circles into the quiver bottom:

Sew.  Turn right side out and cut a cardboard circle to fit in the inside This keeps the quiver open for use, but the cardboard would be easy to remove for washing.  Next, you need a strap.  I cut a piece approximately 6" wide and 30" long, but you can adjust it to the size of your kid.  Fold in half lengthwise and sew across the top and down the side.  Turn inside out and hem the exposed bottom seam.  Finally, attach the strap to the quiver by sewing one end on the quiver's side seam near the top (about 1/2" down) and the other side at the bottom of the quiver on the side seam as well.

Sewing on the strap

 Then, let the kids have fun!  You can easily adjust the size of the quiver according to the size of the child and the size of the arrows you have.

I linked up with Sew Country Chick's Sew and Tell Saturday.