Lucy’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, pt. 2

Before I get to the staircase reveal, I thought I ought to finish up the Very Hungry Caterpillar project!  If you missed part 1 (the creation of the fabric picture), you can find it here.

Part 2 was the creation of the Very Hungry Caterpillar stuffed toy…which turned out to be SO big he’s more like a body pillow!  I will admit that the way he turned out was not the way I originally envisioned him, but it must have been the way he was meant to be.

There is no pattern for this, so I can only share with you what I did!  If you have more questions, feel free to e-mail me and I will try to help as best as I can.

I purchased the wonderful soft “minky” fabric for my caterpillar.  Not knowing what I was doing beforehand, I purchased amounts that “looked right.”  I think I bought about 1/3 yd of red and 1/2 yard of the green polka-dot.

When I got home, I realized that I had fabric to make a far bigger head than the body would support!  I had to dust off my long-neglected math skills to figure out how to make the best use of my fabric to make the biggest caterpillar possible.

There were ratios involved.

I had to figure the circumference of a circle.

I think I even worked in two equations and two unknowns.

It was a hairy business, folks!

Suffice it to say…I cut off a third of the green material (lengthwise), cut that piece in half (also lengthwise), stitched the halves together, and added that new piece (widthwise) to the remaining green material so I could have a nice, fat caterpillar (that piece because the “belly panel”).  Clear as mud?  I hope so.

I scientifically traced a circle for the caterpillar’s head (thank you, Tupperware), and then I also cut a long strip of red fabric (I think I had to piece this) to be his “neck.”

I curved one end of the caterpillar’s back for his tail (top right picture), and also tapered the belly panel (bottom left) before I stitched the pieces together.  Then I ran a gathering stitch width-wise all down the caterpillar’s body to create his “sections” (bottom right).  If I were to do it over again, I would stitch in a narrow piece of elastic, as the gather stitches un-gathered more than I would have liked.

The caterpillar’s feet, face, and antennae were created out of felt.  I actually liked having the “belly panel” as it was an ideal place to insert the feet (bottom left).  I left his “tail” open so I could stuff him…he didn’t always appreciate it (bottom right)!!

Finally I stitched his tail closed…it was a moderately painful process (for me, not him…I kept pricking my fingers!)…and then I invited my beautiful girl to “test him out.”

She didn’t seem to mind!

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This project has been featured at I’m Topsy Turvy!

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Linking up here.

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Make an Easy Homemade Herb Wreath

Frost is on the pumpkin or very close to it for most of us, so now's the time to put together an herb wreath. It sounds difficult, but it really isn't. In fact, making herb wreaths can be among of the most rewarding of fall herb projects. If you have lots of herbs, make a number of wreaths and give them away as hostess or holiday gifts. This is one project that's as impressive to look at as it

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Making an Entrance

I have posted about my front room “design dilemma” on a couple of occasions (see here and especially here)…well, I have finally been working on a solution!

Before you get too excited…the whole room is not ready. I’ve just been working on my “entrance” (or lack thereof). You never get a second chance to make a first impression, right?

I posted a teaser yesterday, and the suitcase wall definitely seemed to capture the most attention, so I’ll focus on that first!

I don’t claim credit for the idea of turning vintage suitcases into shelves. That came from this magazine…

…which my neighbor purchased, and I, shall we say--commandeered for several weeks!

Here are the things I needed for this project:

Vintage suitcases

1x10 wood

Painter’s tape and scrap paper (for templates)

2 1/2” screws (big ones)

3/4” screws (little ones)

Level

Jigsaw

Table Saw

Electric drill with a screwdriver bit

The hardest part—emotionally, that is—is that in order to get this look, you DO have to cut innocent luggage in half.

You can call me the Suitcase Slasher.

That may be my Halloween costume.

I don’t have pictures to share of that process. It is very hard to take pictures while running a table saw!

I measured approximately 6 inches from the front of each suitcase and drew a line, then I used the table saw to cut each half of the suitcase as far as it was able. THIS IS SCARY!! No joke. If you can, remove as much of the lining as possible before cutting, as when the table saw hits the fabric it will catch and make a funny sound and send your stomach leaping to your throat!

Now, my blade wasn’t high enough to get all the way through even one-half of a suitcase, so I used a jigsaw to finish the cuts (I originally tried to use the jigsaw alone, but my jigsaw couldn’t walk a straight line for a policeman). Since some of my suitcases had metal banding, I used a metal blade on my jigsaw (you DON’T want to send metal through any saw that isn’t fitted with a metal blade).

Next step: measure the opening at the back of your poor mangled suitcase, then cut a board to fit the opening (I cut my backs out of a 1 x 10 pine board).

I enlisted helpers to begin arranging the suitcases on the wall…

…and I actually used wrapping paper cut to size to get the layout right on the wall (I lived with that up for about a week).

There is more than one way to mount your suitcases to the wall. The magazine suggested cutting keyhole hangers in the backs of the boards, screwing the suitcases to the boards, and then hanging.

I didn’t do it that way.

I used a stud finder to mark out the studs in my wall, and then I screwed the boards directly to the studs. Your boards DO NOT have to be centered on the studs, they just have to cross over two of them. Start one screw (I used 2 1/2” screws), then level your board, then screw in the next one. It’s very helpful to have a teenage daughter help at this point!

Eek! A mouse! I promise, it’s just a Halloween decoration.

Once the boards are in place, I used four 3/4” screws to attach the suitcase to the board (one top, one bottom, on each side).

These things are sturdy!

I had fun “shopping” my house for accessories for my new shelves! My folding yardstick star (I tried to fold it into a pumpkin—major fail) from Suzanne at Meridian Road looks great next to my grandfather’s cloth tape measure.

A wooden spool is pressed into service as a makeshift vase.

Glittery spiders and pumpkins have taken up residence everywhere!

I haven’t decided what to do about the open space at the bottom. Either I need another suitcase (or two), or a narrow bench. What do you think?

I think it’s official…I am a despoiler of suitcases (remember this one that I painted).

But….I can’t summon up any remorse. I am in love!

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This project has been featured at Las Vegas Review Journal,  Whimsically Creative, Oh My! Creative, Recyclart, Dude Craft, Flea Market Style, Pamela Joyce Designs, Funky Junk, House of Hepworths, Décor Hacks, My Repurposed Life, Eye Heart Today, Mod Vintage Life, Sisters of the Wild West, Unconsumption, Charming Zebra, Simple Home Life, I’m Topsy Turvy, 2805, Shabby Love, Stylish Once Again, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Hating Martha, and Renewing Your Find Cafe.
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Linking up to these great parties:

Coastal Charm’s Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Topsy Turvy Tuesdays
From My Front Porch to Yours	Someday Crafts’ Whatever Goes Wednesday
Hookin’ Up with House of Hepworths	No Minimalist Here’s Open House Thursday
Friday Remodelaholic	2805
My Simple Home Life’s Simple Creations Friday	Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special	The DIY Show Off
Primitive & Proper	I Heart Naptime
Beyond the Picket Fence’s Under $100 Party	My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Perfectly Imperfect	{Primp}
CoE - Creative Final Resting Place	Mod Vintage Life
Stylish Once Again	Reasons to Skip the Housework
DebbieDoo's Copycat Challenge	Thrifty Décor Chick

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In case you’re wondering…I bought three of the suitcases for $10/each, one was $18, and the other two were given to me. It was not an expensive project!

Updated to add: You can see the staircase part of the project HERE!

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Am I a Horder???? Yikes

Hi all, Yes, I’m still around…been sick for going on 3 weeks now – after 2 Dr. visits, 2 different antibiotics…yuk! Won’t bore you with details but still not better!

I know most of us have seen the TV show Hoarders…well last week I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets to re-organize and to get rid of a few things and honestly didn’t realize how many bows I had…now I collect Salt Glaze but wow..
I put them all out on the table and put them in the cabinets according to size – makes it much easier to find them and get more use out of them. I also took a few to a consignment shop and put 4 of the real large ones on the shelves in the dining room.
Now mind you…I DO USE ALMOST ALL OF MY BOWLS AT DIFFERENT TIMES…and especially the really small ones almost daily so it was hard to determine which ones ‘went’.  I even gained a bit more cabinet space!
 

  

Last weekend our sons came over to help their dad put the plastic on the screen room (necessary for our hard Winters of snow)...it would blow those screens right in if it wasn't up.

I know they all enjoyed it and it was fun seeing the guys with their dad...lots of fun and some things I won't repeat...guys you know!

Brett brought his tree trimming tools and fixed a place in the tree that had been splitting for years- hopefully it will last a while longer.

Then I got them all together (when they were finished of course….didn’t want to disrupt the flow!)

Dan, Darren, Doug, Brett….thanks guys!

Oh….I asked Brett what Joe was doing because he didn’t come with him like I thought he would…he said he was having a LEGOPALOOZA with 6 of his friends – 7 hours of non-stop LEGO building.
Heather sent me a few photos – I can imagine all the different things they built that day. Joe is the third one from left in back row.
  
 
 

I ordered a wonderful door box from Jen over at Hickory Hills Primitives…it’s solid and the finish on it is a beautiful Mustard color.
I would show you what it looks like on my door but we’re trying to find a way to display it – I can’t get a hanger to work so I’ll have to go looking for one – our door is steel so no nails!
The picture is from Jens site…but our door is red also, so you get the idea – now I need to find a 3m hanger and fill the box with my real Bittersweet that has been waiting for the box to arrive
 

And in the package Jen added these wonderful Wax Bowl Fillers with an awesome Cinnabun scent
Go on over and check out her site…all their products are made by them
http://hickoryhillprimitives.com/ 

Now I thought I didn’t have anything to post today…guess I was wrong – I can be chatty even when I don’t feel well….

Do you remember like way back to the beginning of Spring I think it was – maybe before that even…I was getting into rug hooking – well I bought a chair pad kit and finally got the hooking part of it finished last week. I’m slow with it because I’m not good at it but it’s my actual first one – got two others in the process but I don’t like them so maybe will take them apart.  I need to back this and put ties on it (maybe) and it will be ready to use.  I’m rather proud of it!

And then there’s my two kitties – normally they don’t get this close to each other and I’m not sure why Baby is peeking through the island legs at Lola – I think she’s wondering ‘where’s my food’!
 

Enjoy the rest of your week and hope you all have a great Halloween … for us we’re having a party here at the house with the kids.  Not doing much but it still should be fun.

 Booooooooo!   Karen……..

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Just teasing!

Want to see what’s been consuming my time for the last two weeks? 

Well, I’ve been turning this:

into THIS!

More to come!

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Lucy’s Very Hungry Caterpillar, pt 1

Sometimes you want to make something just to see if it can be done. In August, I visited a craft show where someone had made adorable jewelry and hair accessories out of fabric-covered buttons. These buttons captured my imagination—and I wanted to create something where they could really shine: a fabric picture. Just because I’ve never seen a fabric-button-picture doesn’t mean I couldn’t make one, right?

First step was to settle on a theme After considering and discarding several ideas (beginning with a fabric-button monogram…still floating around in my brain), my sister suggested The Very Hungry Caterpillar (book by Eric Carle), and knowing that my neighbor wanted to throw a Very Hungry Caterpillar party for her little daughter, that idea stuck!

First step was to get the general layout of the picture. I pulled a frame out of my garage (rescued from my parents basement), blue fabric (rescued from my stash), and we played a little. We had spent the afternoon making fabric flowers (for a previous idea that didn’t get off the ground), so we used those and yarn to outline the caterpillar’s body.

I backed the blue fabric with some fusible fleece to give it some body. I drew some wavy lines directly on the fleece, and then stitched them onto the fabric for a quilted look.

I made the caterpillar “pattern” by placing a sheet of tissue paper over the yarn outline I made, and then transferred that to dark green felt. I used light green felt to make accent pieces, and a red scrap of cotton for the head.

I free-hand cut the caterpillar’s eyes, nose, feet, and antennae out of felt. Each piece was appliqued onto the background (I sewed around and around and around….)

I used two different green rick-racks to make the flower stems.

I used a yarn needle and red and blue yarn to stitch the caterpillar’s fuzzy spine.

One afternoon was taken up with making 100 fabric buttons. I used two different green fabrics to make four different sizes of buttons for the caterpillar’s variegated body. (My button covers were purchased from Three Dancing Magpies Supplies..highly recommended). It wasn’t too bad…thanks to Netflix!…but it resulted in some sore thumbs!

I carefully arranged all the buttons on the caterpillar’s body, and then I used hot glue to fasten them on.

I cut a piece of scrap wood to the size of my frame (by now painted orange) and ‘upholstered’ it with a couple of layers of batting before stapling on my new fabric art.

And there you have it…one Very Hungry Caterpillar—recreated in fabric! (The color in the next picture is a bit dark…sorry.)

I added a little buggy “friend” for Mr. Hungry Caterpillar…look just below his “chin.”

Do you think Mr. Carle would approve?

 

Click HERE to see Part 2 of the Very Hungry Caterpillar project (the pillow).

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Linking up  here and Mom on Time Out.

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