Jane on Instagram

Hello everybody!

3 month since my last post! Not only now, but since quite a while I recognise how difficult it is to find or to take the time to sit down at the computer, preparing the pictures and writing a post. 

I searched for a faster posibility of sharing my creations and ideas and as I have been already a while on Instagram for following other creatives, I started a new account: jane_lost_in_ideas

Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/jane_lost_in_ideas/

I'm already very active there. Here is a sneak peak of what I posted there since July:

I would be happy if you visit me there too! 

I don't want to quit this blog completely and probably I will every now and then post something. For example tutorials or bigger projects that need some more explications!

So long,

Jane 

crawling insects

Yesterday evening scribbling on a test print ...

A bientôt,
Jane 

Wood burning pyrography

Hello, I am back!

I haven't been very creative the last month and I don't want to make a blogpost about sewing endlessly face masks (what kept me busy for some weeks)!

But some days ago, I got a wood burning kit for my birthday and had lots of fun trying that out. After testing on an old piece of wood (we have tons in my husbands workshop) the first real outcome was this flower-candle! The rectangular wood was a test piece too and I had the idea to turn it into a candle, when remembering some wooden flowers I had on stock. 

This one went directly in a parcel I prepared for my dads birthday!

I really liked those flower candles and later made some more:

I tested different burning tips on spatulas. It is not so easy to draw freehand lines as the structure of the wood derails the pyrography pen.

The one with the owl turned out very good. It will become a page marker!

The ones with "thank you" and "merci" on it will become gift tags.

I also made three other page markers:

You can see I really liked the flower burning tip ;-)

With the wooden flowers for the candles I also found some owls and made for those pedestals with fir trees on three sides and footprints on the fourth.

My boys also tested and both made real drawings. Son 1 a hedgehog and a mole and I think the one of son 2 shows an explosion on water. (you can imagine the different caracters of my kids?)

A bientôt,
Jane 

Template printing easter eggs

Only Easter monday I got inspired by "Müllerin-Art" who makes great patterns and has a very nice blog, to design egg templates and printing ...

I followed her instructions for the egg templates and cut several first in paper and those 3 I like best I did as well with foil, so the template will be usable much longer.

See on the left the paper version (I put on a colored background to better see it), in the middle the foil template (already after printing) and one print on the right.

The first prints I did in my sketch book, but I found the eggs are a bit boring and lonely on blanc paper, so I looked for some already painted backgrounds and made some more prints. Some I didn't like and some I transformed into cards. Very sorry Easter is over, so I can't use them this year!

 It looked so much like a tulip, that I had to paint a stem

Template printing is so much fun. Since I detected this before Christmas I want to do it all the time!

A bientôt,
Jane 

Happy Easter at home!

Even if you are not celebrating Easter this year like you do normally, I wish you to have a very happy and sunny weekend with those who can stay close!

Wish you all the best and take care!!

Mes meilleurs vœux et soyez prudent!

Jane 

Two paper birds

When looking up this paper owl I showed you some weeks ago, I found also this free bird template and as it should be a wren one of my moms the preferred birds, I downloaded immediately the pattern to try. 

I took several print-outs to a crafting-talking-evening with my german girls and we all made one birdie. 

 I should have known before that they can't have the same size like a real wren (would be too fiddly). But for me they are really enormous! Even bigger than a blackbird!

The pattern is good and easy to assemble, the only critique I have is that the tail is visible from beneath, where are the cutting and folding marks and the piece number visible. I glued a paper scrap over it to cover. 

The only difficult (eh, really bothering) step is the feets! Maybe my metallic wire was too thick, but it took ages to install them! This is why the second one is sitting ;-)

In the end I like the couple and send them to my mom! Happy birthday to you! :-)

A bientôt,
Jane 

Stabilising a bag

A lady of my sewing course wanted to make a bag that's staying upright for easy filling and that is made of waxed cloth. Coincidential I had the same fabric as her only in a different color (result of grouped orders to save shipping fees :-)) So I used mine to make also a bag in the dimentions she wanted. It's 35x15cm and 40cm high. It's not a thick waxed cloth, so not stable enough to stay upright by itself

...as you can see!

Since the "swedish furniture store" stopped producing my absolute favorite canvas that I used for year on many many bags for stabilisation, I haven't found a real alternative jet! I really don't like iron-on stabilisation! My experiences are not so good as it sometimes comes off in parts and then you have kind of bubbles on the surface (but that is only my oppinion, I know that there are many people using it without problems). So for this bag I needed a new solution. I tried out Style-Vil from Vlieseline! It is quite thick and maybe a bit too much for a simple bag like this. First, I only wanted to use it on the small sides and the bottom of the lining, but it still fell to the middle so I added a bizarr looking stripe on the upper edge of the lining.

Kind of funny looking inner bag! The style-Vil isn't glueing. I added it with some wide quilted meanders (and added one or two flowers for fun).

This is how the finished bad looks like.

Staying upright like wanted, but for me it's a bit too much case and not really a bag. Need to see what my student says (when the confinement time is over one day). This won't be a technique I will use again, but I am quite impressed with the style-Vil that's really strong though soft in handling and easy to sew!

A bientôt,
Jane

Blue phase

I announced to show more spinning art in the last post (I still have some pictures I didn't show jet - they will come later), but the addiction to the electric screw-driver took a pause and I fell again in love of painting stones like last summer (look here and here). And it seems that I am in a blue period ;-)

Ahh, I really love those. Not one that I dislike!

But I made also two with a little spring color on it:

Only a small photo to not spoil my blue post :-)

From painting stones I jumped over to painting eggs (more difficult and less accurate!)

But I think the blue/white phase is over now and I will be back to multi-color soon!

A bientôt,
Jane

Drawing with rotating paper

Last week (first week at home with Corona-restrictions) I saw this little video at pinterest and tested it the same evening with younger son. SO MUCH FUN !

We immediately produced a dozen circles!

I made a colorweel and glued it to the pen box of elder sons pencils (bizar: he is the only one in the house having normal pencils - I have only fine liners)

The following days I had to think of what to do with all those circles.

First I tried a paper patchwork!

The last one made it into my sketch book.

Of course I had to share this with all crafting addicted people I know with photos over portable phone. The idea of my sister in law was to draw on both sides and make them into a mobile. 

Done!

The other circles I assembled as a collage on a black card stock.

I was already a bit tired of this horse collage, so I replaced it with the circles. Funnily I now see a soaring elephant (am I crazy??)

Then my darling had a genious improvement for fixing the paper on the electric screwdriver: He gave me a metal pin to fix in the drill chuck and a little but strong magnet to hold the paper. So now no more holes in the paper and I now make multiple excentric circles!

If you are also at home with lots of time because you can't work or you need to entertain you kids: try it! There are probably endless possibilities for what you can do with those circles. I will show some more in the next post!

Take care!

Soyez prudent,

Jane 

Crazy tote-bag - bag-sewing 5/2020

Initially I only wanted to make an example of "patch-as-you-go" to show my students that seams are stabilizing even soft fabrics a lot. This is why the backside is molleton. Later I wished I had taken two layers or something more stable, because it was so much fun sewing with all this scraps and I wanted it to make a real project and not only an example.

(click for bigger view)

Isn't it gorgeous! I love it! 

The piece is about 42x110cm.

The crazy scraps are built around some left-over blogs I had. You can see a pinwheel, two flying geese, 4 blocks of 9patch and a zig-zag-piece.

Most fabrics are only once in the whole patchwork! I only used scraps! I didn't cut any pieces from a bigger fabric than 20x20cm. Funnily my scrap drawer isn't much emptier ... need to make some more of those projects ;-)

I transformed it into a tote-bag! 

Looking different from every angle :-)

I'll do another one and this time directly on a stiffer support than molleton, so I can spare the linning. Here I used the most stable cotton canvas I had to give enough stability.

The bottom is made the same way as for my stripy-totes.

Do you like it too? Need to start very soon with the next one!

A bientôt,
Jane 

3D paper owl

Look who flew of my crafting desk! 

She calls Ow-Lily and is a very handsome grey paper owl!

She is now on her way to my sister in law as a birthday surprise! Hope she will find a good home there - I had some difficulties to let her go!

Paper model bought here, printed on 300g/m² cardstock and decorated by me with white feather drawings.

A bientôt,
Jane 

Sewing ecological sponges

Back in January a lady I knew from school asked if I'm still taking sewing commands, as she wanted to order reusable sponges and kitchen cloths. I told her I haven't time to sew orders since I have my association and the crafting classes, but her request gave me a push as I have been thinking already about how a sponge could last longer in my kitchen. I normally use a sponge first for dishes and pots, then for cleaning windows and in the end for cleaning real dirty stuff, mainly in the basement. I once tried to wash a sponge in the dish washer to see if the light greasy touch would clean of, but it was even worse after.

So I surfed the internet and found plenty of ways to make sponges yourself. I liked the idea of using jute for the scratchy side best - mainly because I had it in the house ;-) and I took terry cloth for the other side (those I had also on stock from the time I have been sewing bibs - long long time ago)

In the first go I tried two models. The first one I stuffed with polyester cushion filling, as I like to have something in the hand when rubbing over a dirty pan. 

I thought the polyester filling might dry easily and so the microbes won't have a happy home in my kitchen, but it didn't work at all. The sponge stayed wet for days after using. So this one isn't the solution.

The second model I liked mainly because of the idea of having a strap to put the hand through while scrubbing. Inside is one layer of fleece.

This is a quite good one, but the strap isn't very practical. It is in fact disturbing. 

Both models aren't perfect but they showed that the jute and the terry cloth are very good materials for cleaning. The jute scratches enough to get crusts off, but not leaving marks on the surface like some other scratchy sponges. Washing those sponges isn't a problem neither and they don't mind the landry dryer!

I made model number 3 with two layers of fleece inside and no strap. The size for cutting the layers is about 10x15cm.

And with this ones I am very happy! :-)

I will soon make a whole bunch of them to have on stock. I already made a couple for a friend as a birthday gift and for having a tester! 

I will start long term tests to see how long they last and how often you can wash them before they'll fall appart. If I don't forget I'll post a résumé in half a year!

A bientôt,
Jane 

Recycling back-pack - bag-sewing 4/2020

Bag number 4 of 2020 has been made by son number2. Together we recycled his old camouflage cargo-pants into a backpack.

I took the ugly jobs like ripping of the seams of the trouser and cutting and he did the sewing!

Good job little son (already 10!)

A bientôt,
Jane 

New way for zipper pouch - bag-sewing 3/2020

This zipper pouch I made already in January. I had a new idea for a method to fit in the zipper in a pouch without getting bulky zones where the zipper goes in between lining and outside fabric (those who know me a bit longer know that I am searching since years for the best way to solve this problem)

I'm not sure this is the ultimate way, but it is not bad - only you have to work precisely.

The zipper is only in the pink stripe and the pink is fixed between cat-fabric and lining. The end of the zipper is fixed in the little handle on the right. You can see on the last photo below that the handle is also between outer fabric and lining.  This way the pouch is closed all around and nothing can fall out. 

I need to find the time to make some more tests on this and then I maybe give you a tutorial!

A bientôt,
Jane 

Shadows on snow

We didn't jet had real winter weather (at least not in the valley, the mountains are a little white) thus I didn't feel like winter crafting. But then I saw some mirrored silhouette picture on Instagram and had to try! 

For the sky I tried another method I saw lately for watercolor painting with small children. You paint the watercolor on a plastic bag and then lay it on a wet piece of paper. This is first of all much fun and on the other hand it produces the most different and interesting color structures on the paper. I certainly have to color more paper with this technique!

This is what the kids of my crafting class made for background and below their finished pictures. It wasn't easy for them to cut the silhouettes with a knife, but except some accidental cuts in wrong directions it went well.

- click on the picture to see better -

The one with the wolf (hard to see, but it's the last in the row) inspired me to do myself a howling wolf. I wanted to place him on a hill. That wasn't a good idea as the trunks of the trees weren't oriented in the same direction as the tree silhouette, so I had to cheat a bit to get them straight.

I liked this art, but when seeing all the early flowers in my garden I don't really want to have snow in reality anymore!

A bientôt,
Jane