Scrappy Sewing Projects

I'm a bit ADHD. That means I have soooo many projects going at the same time, I get a little overwhelmed. So blogging has been put on the back burner. I'm trying.. really I am. 

I have been having so much fun making patches for jeans and whatever. I have the biggest scrap basket I have ever had! I keep telling myself I really don't need to purchase any more fabric. But it's all soooo pretty!

I had to purchase a large laundry basket with wheels to contain it all. 

What to do, what to do with all these glorious scraps! Every night before I go to bed, I ask myself.. "self, what are you going to do tomorrow?" 

Here are some of my favorite projects so far.

I had a customer ask for little 2" hearts to sew on some jeans. At first I balked a bit. Lazy me usually cuts out my flowers with an Accquilt die cutter. But I didn't have this size, so had to cut them all out by hand. I know boohoo. But the customer loved them and I plan on making more. 

Here is how they turned out. (shown with permission thank you Miss Jodi) 

Next...scrappy cat patches. I really had fun making these and plan on making more. 

Next I made some scrappy heart patches for my Etsy store. 

Oh, what else can I do with all these scraps? How about a scrappy hat?

These were so fun to make! I got the pattern from a wonderful lady. Here name is Opal Annie and the pattern is called "The Crazy Hat Lady" on Etsy. They take a while to make and bonus, they are reversable. Here is the reversed side.

So you get a tidy (kinda) side and a scrappy side. The hat also has wire sewn around the outer rim so you can mold it anyway you want. 

Here is another one.. Scrappy side.

And tidy side: 

This all got started with my denim flower patches. I have sold lots of them and they are fun to make. I do some hand stitching on them. Great way to wind down at night watching my British murder mysteries. ( hello Mr. Poirot, Midsomer Mysteries and Vera). 

Well, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed my creations. I have 5 Etsy stores going right now. Yes, a little overwhelmed. One is a fabric store, two are t-shirt POD stores, I just started a hat only store and lastly my Curious Orange Cat store is all about patches, purses and upcycled clothing. Still need to list a bunch of stuff! So stay tuned. Here is a list of all my Etsy store links.

Curiousorangecat.etsy.com

Awayinthewoods.etsy.com -fabrics

SnarkyRemarks.etsy.com - t-shirts with snarky sayings 

Missbunnysays.etsy.com - t-shirts for cat and dog lovers, hobbies, mom, grandma etc. 

Curiouscaps.etsy.com - soon to have lots of fun hats. 

Thanks for visiting!

Im Slowly Breaking Up With Etsy

 Ok, fine. I said I would blog more and I lied. I have so many projects, blogging just gets forgotten. But I just started a new venue for selling and I want to put my thoughts out there. 

I just signed up with a new online selling venue called Goimagine. It feels like it is really trying to be what Etsy was years ago when it was fun. Now Etsy just feels like a big Alibaba site. Or…really high end things from the cool kids. Seems they will suspend you in a hot second for something ridiculous but the sellers blatantly violating Etsy’s policies gets a pass if they have thousands of sales. I actually blame their bot for most of the trouble. You can’t reason with a bot anyway.   

So I’m slowly working my way out of Etsy. 

I like that Goimagine makes you apply to have a shop there. I’m just hoping I can get a few sales like I use to on Etsy. 

Hopefully I’ll keep this up and post about my progress in case any of you are thinking about looking for a new selling venue. 

Here’s to thinking positive.

Sorry To Be Gone So Long!

 It's been a while. So much has happened! 
I moved from Oregon to Washington with my son and Xhusband. (still friends)

I still have my Etsy store. The link is at the top of my blog. I've done a bit of a pivot as far as what I'm sewing these days. I really love making hats. I also have been upcycling blue jeans with all kinds of fun stuff from fabric patches to Sashiko stitching. 

Here are a few of my newest additions to my store. Each one takes from one to three hours to stitch. ( or one to three Doctor Who episodes.) I love these little turtle patches! 

As far as hats, it's been slow. I guess hats are not trending much right now. 

Here are a few I have made. 

So that's it for now. I promise to post more often. 

Thanks for visiting!

Boro Stitching

So I have a new obsession. It seems to be the "new" thing on my Pinterest feed. Come to find out, it is relaxing and forgiving. While I love perfection, it is nice to just go with the flow now and then.

I have (among other things) an extremely large basket of denim scraps.

Needing a small project to do at night while watching Dr Who (yep, one of my favorite shows) I decided on some little pouches done Boro Style.
Here are two more. Both are available in my Etsy store. Just click on the picture.

The appliques were from cut from various fabrics and a fusible interfacing was ironed to the back to hold everything down while I stitched. I used a heavy cotton embroidery thread for the stitching. 

These are great little projects that should only take a night to finish up. Think gift card holders, cell phone pouch, jewelry pouch. I'm thinking of doing some Ipad covers and some larger purses. 

To see more pictures of these pouches, just click on the picture and it will take you to my Etsy store. I post extra pictures there. 

Want to learn more? Here are a few books from Amazon to help you out. ( They do throw me some pennies if you purchase one. So thanks in advance if you do.)

As always, keep stitching and thanks for visiting!

Bits and Pieces

Blog Slacker here. Forgive me readers for I have been a flake. I have not posted since... well forever!
But I"m here today and thought you would love to see what I have been up to.

First, as an upcycler of clothing I have baskets of bits and pieces from the clothes I cut apart. Collars, pockets, sleeves and cuffs for the most part. I thought you might like to see what I do with all of them.

The above picture is of two men's cuffs sewn together to make a sweet little pouch. These are great for gift cards, that secret money stash for emergencies or a jewelry pouch for traveling.


The colorful scraps were from a quilt I made for my son. I can't throw out even the smallest scrap. (I might need that someday.) I iron a fusible interfacing to the underside to help hold it down and then messy free form sew it with colorful variable thread.
My favorite is from Sulky. On the above pouch I used Sulky Blendables color...

It looks very dark here but there are so many colors! You can really see how it looks when you use it above in the pouch. I sell this in my Etsy store. Just click on the picture to see all the different colors.

Moving on..

Here is another one I did.

This on was made from two different cuffs. The flower is from a Kaffe Fasset Fabric with a die cut leaf added in. The applique thread is black for simplicity. Again, just free form with my darning foot.

My next project was with the collar. Not as easy but lots of ways to use those little snippits of leftovers.

I just folded the collar into thirds and opened it up to look like a flower. Then use a heavy needle and thread and tack the "petals" down. The strips are just leftover scraps sewn to the back with a brooch pin.
Here is another.

Great for a shabby chic look. Again, just a white collar and scraps of white fabrics and lace.

I hope this gets your creative thoughts going.
Oh, I forgot about pockets. They are easy. I just sew them onto my upcycled clothing.

Next time... some hand stitching Boro style.

Thanks for visiting!

Call Me Blog Slacker

I'm terrible at blogging. I just wanna sew! (whining voice here.)

But I thought I would at least let you know what I have been up to.

But first a quest for help!

I bought these batiks many years ago at a quilt show in California. They were sold by yardage and yes... very expensive. But I would love to find this company and purchase from them again if I can find them.
So... If anyone recognizes the companies designs.. can you let me know?

So Altered Couture contacted me again for submissions. That was very cool. Of course I sent a few things along. We well see if any of them are chosen. The issue they were asking for was the Summer issue. Fingers Crossed! I'll let you know how it goes.


So here are some of my recent projects to let you know... I'm still at it.

My son's roommate in the Marines is a major hippy type and asked me to make these for him.

They are made from numerous corduroy pants I purchased at local thrift stores and ebay. I had enough to make one more pair. You can find it on my Etsy store here at Curious Orange Cat.

I have also started an Etsy store for children's clothing too. Check out www.sweetredbird.etsy.com.

I have been making crossback aprons for little girls from upcycled fabrics mainly. But I am going to start adding aprons from new fabrics as well. As for the batiks I am searching for... this is the latest addition to my SweetRedBird shop.

You can see it in my new shop here...Batik Crossback Apron

So I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Hope to post again soon.

Another Fine Mess I'm in....

 I have been so lazy bad lately. I haven't posted in waaay too long. Too much going on and then days where I just can't get myself to get anything done at all.
I would try to make it my new years resolution to post more often... but you know how that goes.

Anyway, I had so much fun making this skirt that I had to make another.


Skirt one....

I decided a wrap skirt would be perfect for different sized ladies.

A plain wrap skirt made with upcycled white t-shirt sections. The fabric was oh so soft. I thought it would be perfect for inside a messy and very scrappy skirt.

So now to find all the wonderful fabrics to make it shine.

Yep, piles of lovely lace and other wonderful fabrics.
So then it starts to look like this...

Piece by piece it get sewed on a long strip.

 Total from start to finish was three 5 hour days. So it is a bit of work. Not to mention dealing with booboo's  challenges.

Now to add a little more to hide any open spots. These laces are the expensive ones. You can thank two now gone over the rainbow bridge puppies for having these available. So much for my expensive vintage lace tablecloth.

Okay, so some of the special stuff is new. But check this out!!

Yeah baby. This is the good stuff. A table cloth made from this nowdays would be upwards of $1000. I use it sparingly in my creations. I'll be sad when it is all gone. Thank you Scooby and Zoey.

So here is the finished product. TaDa!!!

I paired it up with this colorful flannel shirt I got for Christmas. I thought this would make a perfect fun western wedding outfit. White lace leggings, boots and a white hat... to die for!!

Of course both are for sale in my etsy shop!
Skirt 1 link... http://etsy.me/1SqrCeo

and Skirt 2 link... http://etsy.me/207fmki
So that is all for this time. I will be working on some smaller fun things soon.

Enjoy!