giggleface studios

Pincushions That Are Good Enough To Eat

What do you do with 3" tartlet tin molds and itty-bitty felt flowers and leaves?

(Spiderwart, Nosegay, Flower Basket, Hydrangea)

(Daisy)

(Wild Rose)

You make beautiful delicate petitfore pincushions!

Having A Hard Time Cutting Small Felt Pieces?

The Holidays are fast approaching and you can't put off cutting out that project with the itty-bitty felt pieces anymore...you know what I'm talking about right? The itty-bitty circles and leaves that come out looking like...well, not a circles or a leaves! Fear Not, for I have found a tip that has saved my sanity, eyesight and hair (from all that hair-pulling). It is so brilliant and foolproof!

Are you ready?

(This flower basket measures 1 1/2" x 2" finished)

The trick and secret weapon is...CLEAR PACKING TAPE...yep, it's that simple!

So here is how you do it: Cut your pattern piece out leaving a smidge all the way around. Place a piece of packing tape over the pattern piece, making sure to cover it entirely. Stick and moosh it onto your felt.

Next, take your very sharp scissors and cut on the heavy line of your pattern piece. The tape keeps the piece in place without having to use pins or your fingers. Now, you have a nice clean piece that looks just like it's supposed to! You can use the piece about 3-4 more times, by just adding another piece of tape on top. The tape will create a ridge to follow around. If you are making a ton of the same shape, let me suggest making a few extra paper copies. After awhile the template will become wonky, because of all the tape layers.

This is an example of just how small those little circles are. I can fit them inside my tiny sewing scissors!

So, now it's time to get cutting and stitching all those wonderful presents...there are no more excuses!s

Sewing Caddy and Spiral Pincushion Tutorial

Awhile back on one of my thrifting adventures I picked up this dip bowl. I didn't have the slightest idea of what I was going to do with it...We aren't big dippers here! But, being that it was only $1.00 I liked the look of it and the feel of it in my hands...so in the basket it went! Months have passed and the poor little bowl has been sitting in the laundry room collecting lint...until today! It is no longer a lint holder, it is now my favorite little sewing caddy!

I filled one of the bowls with a lovely spiral pincushion...a very LARGE pincushion (4 1/2"x 4 1/2")! 

In the other bowl, I filled it with my notions that I am using in my current embroidery project. I found some pretty ribbon and looped it through my scissors and tied it around the handle. This is to ensure I don't loose my scissors down in the cushions of the couch...ouch!

Isn't this just the greatest little tin ever? Honey gave it to me after he ate all the mints that were inside! It happens to be just the right size to hold my thimble!

See...Candy and mint tins come in so handy! My daughter and I have started collecting mint tins. Honey likes to buy them at the bookstore that he works above and then brings them home for us to wrestle over! I'm sure there are posts galore on what you can do with these little treasures.

Okay, so that leaves one bowl empty...on purpose! That is my trash pile for little snippets of thread and what-have-you's! I am so loving how my sewing caddy turned out and now I can carry everything I need in one hand.

Do you want to make one? I bet you have something around the house or in the cupboards just waiting to be a pincushion or a sewing caddy! Here is a little tutorial on how to make a spiral pincushion that you can make to shove into any cup or bowl.

Do the Funky Chicken!

I'm a little embarrassed to say that this is a project I started....Ahem...10 years ago! It is a wool hooked rug kit, and i'm not sure why I didn't finish it? I must have been distracted by another lovely craft...this happens quite often.

I have always adored hooked rugs and wanted to try my hand at a small project before jumping right into making a Gi-normous rug. You know, the kind that sits in front of a lovely warm, glow, warmy-glowing fire? Well, this kit will have to satisfy for now. It makes a 12 x 12" Funky Chicken Rug. It will probably end up as another pillow on the couch, that will end up on the floor with the other 10 hundred pillows the Honey and kids throw down because there is no where to sit!