Sequin harvest

While thrift store shopping I came across a few items with beautiful sequins.. 

I have been gathering up sequins for a few projects, when I come across an item on clearance, thrifting or at the Dollar Tree I get them and stick them on the side to "harvest" at a later date..  

3mm dark blue... Infinity scarf.. the color is darker than the photos make it appear.. 

The sequins are in beautiful shape.... Only issue I ran in to was having to wash it by hand 3 or 4 times... to remove the starch....???? 

The sequins were on mesh, that after removal is definitely still usable 
 

Got a fair amount of usable sequins plus just over two yards of mesh and knit fabric for around $3.00 

This piece of brown sequin fabric also came from a thrift store, over two yards of knit fabric with golden brown running through out.. both this one and the blue scarf were on fairly elastic fabric, with the sequins stitched in straight lines.. making it much easier to remove them with the fabric intact.. the fabric will make beautiful liners for smaller crochet bags where I want to keep the bag on the stretchy side... 

8 mm, top hole, black sequins 

8 mm, light silver top hole sequins both the black and the silver or less than four bucks each on a 40% off sale

Awhile back I picked up a yard of this beautiful black flower multi sized sequins on mesh... on clearance plus a coupon.. I don't recall the exact price but it was less then $4.00 ... Removing sequins on this is a long and tedious process each one has to be removed separately..

I plan on using the flowers fussy cut on some projects so I'm only using the ones along the cut edges of the fabric

Still a fair amount of the three different sizes well worth the price..

When a craft store was doing remodeling they put a lot of their trims on clearance so I grabbed a pink and a royal blue ...

They are more difficult to remove the sequins from but I plan on using the elastic that's in the blue one and the cord that runs through the pink as well as the other strands of floss on some freeform projects.. the sequence are larger center hole probably 8 mm as much as I am getting off of these they were definitely a good deal, I'm not sure how many yards I have 10 or 12 and these were less than $10 for sure but I don't remember exactly they've been sitting since last summer in storage waiting for me to get around to them..

I picked up a thrift store pink sequin pillow for less than $1.00 a couple of days ago.. these are size 3 mm

Stitched down in a very random pattern which is going to make removal slow, but the color actually matches the larger pink ones from the trim fairly well and will definitely be worth the effort

After opening the seam, I realize the center was a fluffy pillow and along one seam was a long zipper that wasn't exposed I'm guessing they decided to go with something different after placing the zipper and just closed over top of it either way it is an excellent condition and will definitely get used ... the back satin from the outside cover of the pillow is in really good shape and will make a nice liner or background for broach

I still have some 8 mm top hole sequins with different colors on each side, from the Dollar Tree that I need to remove, while they come off fairly easily as they're done in a straight line not much of the fabric is worth saving but having the choice of making them flippable or layering with one color up instead of variety of colors definitely adds to the fun factor of creating with them even though they turned out to be a little bit more expensive than some of my thrift store finds

I have spent the last few days harvesting sequins while watching YouTube videos, during my limited crafting time, as to give my arm and hand a chance to heal from the damage done by the antibiotics intubating in to my arm and  hand.. I

it's been on things that are mostly getting ready for other projects I've had in mind for quite some time but was too busy with crochet to actually create ... 

Taking a break from crocheting has not been easy as I have so many things I want to make, this busy mindless work will lead to creating some fun projects in the near future .. 

How I set out my embroidery floss scraps for easy use

I am on a forced break from crochet... I ended up with some tendon damage when two IVs infiltrated with two different antibiotics that I am allergic ... to one immediately after the other... It's been over a month... most of the intense pain is gone in my arm and I can almost use it normally, although the strength is still an issue.. 

both IVs were in the same limb so at least I can still use my other arm and hand ...

 my hand is still on the painful side just enough to limit me to only a couple of hours of crochet every few days at most ... So.....

I've been playing with embroidery... 

Like all of the crafting I do I save scraps...

 I have a lot of floss of small amounts and lengths, cross stitch kits I did ages ago among them..

I am currently working on small projects so it's a great time to use some of them up.. 

I thought I would share a time saver I use..  

I lay out them out so I can see the colors and a general idea of amounts available.. 

on a piece of crafting felt.. after wrapping them around my finger tip.. 

holds them in place nicely 

I stick another piece of felt on top and just roll them up for quick temporary storage between crafting times .. no more resorting them every time I need to stop for a bit.. 

 

 Be sure to remove the top piece of felt slowly to avoid a mess as they stick just as well to that piece... 😊

It's so much easier that trying to wrap so many small lengths around floss cards. 

With many of these being from kits the colors are a shade or two different.. this makes that slight difference easier to spot as well .. 

When I finish with the project I rebag the floss and put the felt back with the rest of my felt stock... No waste .. but even if I didn't have the felt on hand I would go grab some from the dollar tree .. as much time as I save with the ease of it it is definitely worth it to me..

I do save the pieces that are too short for stitching as well .... for small tassels and such, the smaller ones I use with making scrapy fabric bags.. the texture and interest it adds .. love it... 

It's been a good year since I did any real embroidery other than an embellishment here and there... was running out of smaller scraps.. so that is a bright side lol...

I had been planning on doing more bead and embroidery work it's just happening sooner than planned ... 

I haven't taken any photos yet... So here's some bees instead 

Cap repair

A few months ago my son's favorite cap started to fray around the brim/bill..

 I got some bias tape and was going to stitch it on when I realized the brim was made out of heavy duty plastic.. 

so I used some mod podge instead...

 Worked out so well I did my husband's favorite cap as next.. they have been holding up really good.. washing them by hand now but still looks good..

Went over by my dad's place and saw one of his favorite caps that he had just washed looking rough.. he was delighted to hear I could fix it as mom had been telling him to toss it.. he wasn't about to lol 

The bias tape was what was left over from fixing my son's darker tan cap but Dad was happy to go with a slightly darker color if it meant I didn't have to buy anything extra

First I trimmed off all of the frayed edges

I folded the bias tape in half after measuring it to make sure it would go around the brim/bill.. with a little extra to spare as it tightens up a bit

I just finger pressed it.. I got tape that was fairly wide so I could fold it in half making it thicker and hopefully more durable

The mod podge is kind of hard to see in this photo but I applied a even layer with a small craft paintbrush...

 apply the mod podge to the bias tape only on the layer that would touch the brim/bill ... using sewing/craft clips as I went, a couple of inches at a time so it wouldn't dry out before. I used just enough mod podge to cover it evenly, it will soak through to the top layer when clipping it down as I found out with the last two.. but I didn't want it too saturated as it changes the look. 

I placed the clips touching each other to make sure there's a good secure hold all the way across 

I removed the clips after a couple of hours and let it dry over night  

 

Good to go .. a little less going to the landfill and they are happy to be able to keep their favorite caps 

Dollar Store Sequins

Look what I found at our local dollar tree.. 

Sheets of sequins.. after a little time with a seam ripper 

I got quite a few off of every sheet.. most were very easy to remove.. one gave me a little bit of trouble but then I realized it was because the rows were so much closer together.. at least a third more on that sheet.. worth the extra effort

I also found a set of ears that looked like they would make a fun photo with our doggie...  Plus a different color of sequins .. sweet

There are a good amount on each set.. the next time I went shopping there they had a pink set so I grabbed one of those as well but forgot to take a photo 

They also have cup sequins 

 It would be nice if they carried flat in packets as well.. although I have been using the harvesting process as a mindless activity.. mostly in the morning with a cup of coffee, I see it as a relaxing thing to do.. and love the fact that I am getting them at a lower cost than I could get they online for.. 

Sequin harvesting

Finally got around to removing the sequins from a few items I picked up at the dollar tree.. 

 

I love that they are a different color on the other side. got a red with green, red with gold and blue and sliver.. got quite a few sequins from each sock

Plus the felt back, satin front as well as a bit of furry white fabric 

 

I was going to use these as is at first but the fabric is so thin I decided to take them apart as well

 

Got more than I expected

The fabric was not worth saving.. the foam lining I actually was able to use for another brooch I wanted to try that will be showcased in my next post

hummingbird

 

Ever just have to make something.. without a clue how you're going to pull it off... Yeah that was this guy..

Middle of multiple other projects I needed to make a hummingbird.. 

I love hummingbirds.. we have a family that lives in our yucca tree in our front yard.. every year they hatch their babies and teach them in our yard and garden.. we plant sunflowers and other plants just for the birds and bees .. this area can be pretty harsh in the summer so a plant here or there can mean a lot.. 

Anyhow I didn't have a clue how I was going to make the beak sturdy enough to hold up..

 I knew I wanted it to be done in seed beads.. although I have since seen some cool ones done with embroidery floss and glue.. middle of winter isn't a good time to play with glue inside for me.. allergies are already going nuts without adding to it.. might try that with the next one I make using sequins..

After I finished the bead work on the beak I added a piece of jewelry wire .. folded with spirals on either end stitched it under the beak with the spirals on the back of the head and chest.. 

I continued with beading fastening down the rest of the wire as I went.. 

I haven't finished it off yet as I'm not sure what I want to do with it.. 

I just got some new pin and tack findings .. 

I guess we shall see how it plays out as I go along .. 

Reusing Ribbon

Just finished a batch of cloth scrubbers for an up coming event.. 

Want to add easy to see labels for both pricing and item description 

Playing with different ideas on wrappers and such ... When I thought of how much I like the look of the simple tied ribbon like on these fat quarter packs .. I like the ribbons so much I have been saving them for awhile now lol 

   they are really nice just need

a  quick iron .. on low .. just a couple of seconds later.. 

and they are ready to use 

Now I just need to print up a tag or two  

HDC tip for even rows

I love the look of hdc tbl ( half double crochet through back loop USA term ) 

However it hasn't always been a mindless stitch for me..  I tended to skip the last stitch if I don't count every row.. 

Decided to place markers in the back loop of each stitch on the end of the row.. takes way less time than counting each stitch or frogging a few rows ...

 I am sure I'm not the first one to think of this but a reminder every now and then doesn't hurt lol 

Guaranteed not to miss the last stitch..

Just remember to put it in the right spot when you start your new row