Online Creative Community Feed

Knit warm scarves and hats for Russian orphans

BrightConnections — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:51:18 GMT

Bright Connections needs knitters and crocheters from beginning to advanced skill level to make warm scarves and hats for orphans in the Kirov Region of Russia! Bright Connections is a nonprofit organization that is working to improve the lives of Russian orphans and these warm items will help to make their winters a little warmer.

We need hats sizes to fit ages 5 to 18...the warmer the better.

If you live in the Sacramento area we can schedule a pickup. However if you live outside of the area and are able to help pleas email brightconnections@hotmail.com for an address to mail your items to.

Please see our website www.brightconnectionsinternational.org for more information about the organization.

Thank you!!

Hello Kitty Duct Tape headband!

missjane — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:05:29 GMT

I love making this headband for little girls. Who doesn't love Hello Kitty when growing up? Best of all Hello Kitty is always pink. The headband goes all around the head so it doesn't pinch around the ears when worn for hours.

If you are interested in purchasing one please contact me. They are $5.

More to make...

Sansations Tropics Yarn Color 4878

sandi — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:11:08 GMT

I am looking for 1-2 skeins of the Sensations Tropics Yarn Brown/Lime. I purchased 2 skeins in fall of 2011 in Michigan and have been unable to locate any. It apprears it has been discontinued. Let me know if anyone has seen it at any of the Joanne Fabric stores.

Thanks SAS

Will there be a 2012 prom dress contest?

horsenutterbutter — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:32:37 GMT

Hello...

so, i'm totally new to this website and i hope i'm doing this right...

i joined because i heard about the prom dress competition...i looked at all the stuff from last year and noticed that it started on January 9th but i haven't seen any postings about it on the JoAnn website for this year.

does anyone know if there will be a contest this year? i would love to start getting a handle on things if there is!

Thanks!

Help

farzana — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:03:08 GMT

I have a comforter that is silk on both top and bottom, It keeps sliding off the bed, is there anything that I can use to make less slippery, any spray that can be applied on the back surface, I hope some one can help me.

Charities

cindywells — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:49:50 GMT

I am a big time knitter and crocheter and I make hats, scarfs, blanket and etc for over 30 charities that help people of all ages (from preemies to the elderly along with animal shelters. If you know of anyone that has a stash of leftover yarn that they want to get read of please let me know I use them to make scarfs and hats for the homeless and pet sweaters for the animals in shelters.

Donations needed!

Nikki — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:50:59 GMT

I am looking for donations of fabric in fleece or flannel. I am trying to make blankets for the children's burn center in Sacramneto and would like to get help with the fabric, because this is the only fabric that does not hurt the children's skin. I need to make a total of 20 twin size blankets ( 5 each for teen girls and boys and then 5 each for little girls and boys). I would be greatful for all the help I can get with this projects material. Please leave me a message if you can help. Thank you!

Experienced seamstress available for contract sewing work

seamstressmct — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:02:59 GMT

Hi! I have over thirty years experience as a seamstress including contract work, designing and sewing original clothing for clients, pattern testing, sample sewing, and experience in all kinds of fabric and kinds of clothing. If you have a contract sewing need, I would love to talk with you about my working with you to meet it. My work is always of top quality, and on time. You can contact me at seamstressmct@gmail-com.

Fleece scarf

kevsbaby31 — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:36:52 GMT

Hi! I have a older pattern Butterick #3981 (kids hats, scarves & gloves in fleece), I want to make scarf B of the pattern, and need the instructions (which seem to have disappeared when I moved). Does anyone either know how to make this or have the instructions for scarf B? This is a loopy scarf....Help!

Crocheting preemie hats and blankets

Carole — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 20:19:45 GMT

I am looking for someone that can tell me what size to crochet a preemie hat and blanket. keep finding conflicting sizes online

Sewing Security blankets for Pediatric Ward

Patsy — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:00:09 GMT

Hello

I am looking for anyone who is available to sew some Security blankets. These blankets are to donate to the pediatric ward and the NICCU ward-we are trying to have a blanket on each bed for every new patient that comes in.

They are all made of flannel and fleece ( I provide the fabric) that I have purchased over the years all very baby/kid theme the top has 9 Squares @ approx 10 inches X 10 Inches and the back is a solid piece of fleece.

It is all straight sewing nothing difficult.

These blankets have a name. The name is "softie". When my youngest son was little - he called his blanket his "SOFTIE". I have named the project Sew-curity-----

the need for these blankets is very great- any help would be so appreciated

contac me to be part of PROJECT Sew-curity

Pictures to follow

thank you

looking for ideas to use scrap fabric

Christie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:30:15 GMT

i have lots of scarp fabric, and im looking for stuff to do with it so it is not going to wast. some of the scarps im making lip balm key rings out of but would like to find other things to do with it. also i am looking for ladies in the woodbridge va area that do crafts to maybe get in with to shear ideas and work on crafts together over coffee or tea. i am a stay at home wife with no kids at home anymore would like to find friends in my new town to shear ideas and do crafts with.

Handmade Especially for You needs 3,000 more comfort scarves to reach our 2011 goal/ October Newsletter

Leslye Borden — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:38:40 GMT

OCTOBER NEWSLETTEROctober 30, 2011
Today’s topics:

 We delivered 1,000 comfort scarves this month

 We have almost 2,500 comfort scarves wrapped and ready for Holiday delivery

 Making another 2,500 + scarves by Christmas will be a lot of work by all of us. We can do it

 Handmade’s dedicated volunteers are the greatest

 The generous contributions from yarn companies and individuals continue

 Shelters for abused women APPRECIATE receiving our comfort scarves

 Affiliates throughout the county are donating many scarves in their own areas

 October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

 Handmade needs cash donations

And now for the details:

In addition to our October delivery of 1,000 comfort scarves, we have at least another 2,000 scarves wrapped and ready for shipping in November. We plan to distribute them before Thanksgiving because every room in my house is filled with scarves and my entire family is coming for the holiday. They will need a place to sleep! Joking aside, I am very proud of all of us who are working so hard to achieve our goal of delivering 15,000 comfort scarves in 2011. Honestly, as much as I hoped for such a result, I thought it might be too big to achieve. But we’ve almost made it. No slacking off now. We’re so close. Please keep scarfing. By the way, adding our October delivery of 1,000 to our YTD, we have now delivered 10,000 comfort scarves, the same as what we donated in all of 2010.

We had so many scarves to prepare, we held two wrapping parties in October. They were lots of fun. We went through a lot of ribbon and the enormous piles of brightly wrapped scarves looked very festive. I am sure they will have a strong, positive impact. Anita Stevens, Ann Nye, Barbara Klein, Chris Needham, Cindy Blausey, Evelyn Dow, Kathy Allen, Marie Cortez, Mary Barton, Nancy English, Sharon McCann, and Yumi Wu rolled and tied scarves at one or both of the parties until there were no more to roll. It was a huge job. Many thanks to you all.

Kit making has become a more streamlined due to more participants. Barbara Klein and Mary Gravlin made them at first. Once we moved to our workshop (thanks to Sheri Schrier, founder of Happy Hats), Linda Friege, Marie Cortez, Sharon McCann, and Yumi Wu joined them. Now, as word spreads about how much fun kit making is, Ann Nye and Nancy English participate as well. They’re making lots of kits, maybe almost enough to last through the end of the year. They have done a wonderful job. The scarves we knit from the kits they make are very beautiful.

Most of the participants in these two groups are members of our Wednesday Evening Knitting Club, sponsored by June Grossberg, owner of Concepts in Yarn. June has supported Handmade since its inception. Her sponsorship has helped Handmade to become the success it is today. The Knitting Club meets every Wednesday, for as much of 5-8 p.m. as the members want to attend. The group is very welcoming. June prominently displays a bin for kits that need to be knitted and another bin for finished scarves. If you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by. Her shop is a gold mine for really great yarn.

Our enthusiastic group of kit makers goes through miles of yarn every time they make kits. They make them as a group at least once a week, sometimes twice, and sometimes working at home as well. They couldn’t make so many kits without the generosity of yarn companies. Donations in September were substantial and put us in good shape for making lots of scarves for the holidays. I thought we wouldn’t receive any donations in October, but events proved me wrong. Susan Druding, Crystal Palace Yarns, sent a big box to the workshop (our first to arrive there!). Then much to my surprise, amazement, and delight, Becky Moss, Skacel Collection, sent 21 boxes (2,850 balls of yarn) of their Luana yarn. It is so soft and comes in such beautiful colors that it is perfect for making comfort scarves. An added benefit: the boxes the yarn arrived in are an excellent size for shipping our holiday scarves. Thank you, Susan and Becky. I think we’ve filled the workshop now, as well as my house.

Westminster Fibers also sent a box of yarn. Thank you Jessica! Again, much to my amazement, Nandini Rajagopalan, a member of the Handmade group on Ravelry, saw my request for fun fur. She found a good deal on it and donated 300 balls, 150 red and 150 blue. Incredible! Barbara says we’ll be making a lot of patriotic scarves in 2012. We appreciate.

Every month, thank you letters pour in from the shelters to which we donate comfort scarves. We receive too many to mention them all, but here is a typical example. Luciann Maulhardt, Executive Director of Casa Youth Shelter in Los Alamitos CA, wrote: “Thanks for all you do for Casa’s Kids… . Casa provides 235 or more kids with 2,500 days and nights of safe off the streets shelter in a family-like setting… On behalf of … OUR KIDS, we are sending you a great big “THANK YOU… We just couldn’t do what we do without your wonderful help.”

Ann Nye and I recently visited the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. Allison Bamberg, Volunteer Associate, showed us around. We were very impressed by the new facility, which provides permanent housing to 71 women, as well as 200 + meals and 77 showers to other women who drop in to their facility on a daily basis. The building was bright and clean. Computers were available for the women to use for job hunting and resume writing. Allison told us the Center plans to give 275 rolling backpacks to its women for Christmas and hopes to have one of our scarves in each backpack. Of course, we will supply the scarves!

New groups and people are contributing scarves to Handmade. Kathy Allen is a volunteer reading teacher at the Presentation Learning Center in Los Angeles. She learned that the attendees knit items for charity so she asked for 25 kits to take there. Sister Jane Bonar, leader of the Center, is very happy with our kits and we are happy with the beautiful job her group does making them into comfort scarves. You can see a photo of them with some of their finished scarves on our website.

Word of our comfort scarf project continues to spread. Erika Collins, from Sydney Australia, found us on Facebook and immediately sent 3 scarves. Christine Werth, Human Resources Rep of the Hays KS branch of N.E.W. Corp., requested kits for their company-wide volunteer week. Her group finished the kits in a week’s time and she returned the scarves to me the next week. That was fast! She says she will ask for more kits next year because making comfort scarves was so popular this year.

Renee Hoffman, leader of our Long Beach CA group, donated 20 scarves to Interval House. Vicki Ringer, leader of our San Fernando Valley CA group, delivered scarves to Haven Hills. Susan Van Winkle, organizer of our North County, San Diego CA affiliate, reports they donated 66 scarves to Rachel’s Women’s Center.

Dr. Laura Guertin, founder of the Delaware County PA affiliate, told me her group delivered 100 scarves to the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County PA. She says that brings her YTD to 300 and that she has more new knitters and crocheters and hopes to see a lot more scarves coming in.

Barbara Kochuba, in Pittsburgh PA, continues moving ahead full steam. She now has a website for Comfort Scarves, her group, and continues to distribute at least 80 scarves each month to shelters in Southwestern PA.

I hope you remember that last month I met Bonnie Jacobs, who comes from NJ, in Los Angeles where she was attending the dedication of a stained glass window she made for the Hollywood United Methodist Church. She showed a photo of it to my husband and me when we were having brunch. I loved the theme of the window (It takes a village) and her workmanship impressed me. When I excused myself to go to the ladies’ room, my husband conspired with Bonnie. He sent her a photo of his hand making the sign language sign for “I love you” and she made a small stained glass picture of that. She shipped it to arrive just in time for my birthday. I was thrilled. We hung it in a window where the morning sun comes in. It is really beautiful! You can see a photo of it on our website.

Finally, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is not usually a topic of conversation, but I have seen articles about it, heard news reports on radio and TV, this month more than any other time. First of all, there was the incident in Topeka KS where the City Council voted to de-criminalize domestic violence because they could not afford to enforce the law (they experienced a 10% cut to their budget). They even released from jail 18 suspected abusers awaiting trial. Reportage went on for several days until the Shawnee County DA was forced, by public outcry, to reverse his decision to pass on such prosecutions from his office to the City’s. The idea that the DA and the City Council both treated prosecution of domestic violence offenses as something that could be played with in a political fight goes to illustrate just how little political clout abused women have. Was domestic violence “legal” in Topeka? What happened to the women when the 18 abusers were set free?

Here are a few domestic violence facts gathered by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime

About 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year

85% of domestic violence victims are women; 25% to 45% are battered during pregnancy

Women age 15-44 are at greatest risk

Most cases of domestic violence are never reported to the police

Boys who witness domestic violence are twice as likely to abuse their own partners when they become adults

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year; $4.1 billion is for medical and mental health services

About 20% of the people who experience intimate partner violence obtain civil protection orders; 50% of these orders are violated

There are 1,500 shelters for abused women in the US; there are 3,800 shelters for animals

Domestic violence occurs among people of all races, ages, socio-economic classes, religious affiliations, occupations, and educational backgrounds

In 2010, the LAPD received 48,042 domestic violence-related calls and reported 20,467 domestic violence-related crimes

Comfort scarves, even 15,000 of them, cannot combat these statistics or cure the harm done by abuse to the women and children who experience it. But comfort scarves are a START to overcoming the effects of domestic violence. Comfort scarves help a woman feel remembered, important, and valuable. Even if for just a moment, receiving a comfort scarf raises a woman’s self-esteem. The feelings a woman experiences when she receives a comfort scarf make her open to beginning the therapy and education that will help her change her life.

We who make comfort scarves have a big responsibility to keep making them, to continue helping abused women break out of the mental state that allows them to think abuse is “normal.”

To do this, we need you. We need you to make scarves for the women, enough scarves so that we reach our 15,000 goal this year.

We also need your financial support. Contribute $10, $25, $50, or even more. The cost for making comfort scarves is low. All Handmade’s participants are volunteers. We have no employees. We pay no salaries. All the yarn we use has been donated by yarn companies or by individuals. We have ongoing daily expenses such as paper, toner, boxes, packing tape, etc. but SHIPPING is our biggest expense. It takes almost $500 each month to send kits to volunteers and scarves to our shelters. In November and December, this will be higher because we will be sending out 2,500 scarves (not our usual 1,000) each month.

Double your donation by asking your company to match it. Cynthia Newkirk, one of our supporters almost since Handmade started, works for Verizon Wireless. When she donated, she asked Verizon to match her donation and they did. That doubled the impact of her contribution.

Handmade Especially for You is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit charity, so any donation you make will be tax-deductible. We provide appropriate receipts for all donations. 100% of your donation goes toward helping abused women.

If you want to donate scarves or yarn, please mail to:

Handmade Especially for You c/o Leslye Borden
30065 Grandpoint Lane
Rancho Palos Verdes CA 90275

If you want to donate $$$$, which we need to pay for the huge holiday shipping bill we anticipate, you can mail a check to the above address, or contribute via PayPal. There is a link on our website.

Thanks for supporting Handmade Especially for You. I appreciate, and so do all the abused women.

Leslye Borden, Founder
www.handmadeespecially.org

Meandering Rib Scarf

Jo-Ann Stores — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:12:53 GMT

Making gifts for the holiday season? Or just getting ready for the winter chill? Check out our tutorial for this Meandering Rib Scarf from Lion Brand Yarn!

Quilt Block of the Month

Annette — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:51:22 GMT

Help,

When I moved the patterns for 1197 1998 1999 and 2000 accidently got given to charity if any one has the patterns I would greatly appricate a copy of them I will pay for postsage if I just can get them

Thanks,

Annette

Candy Corn Treat Bags

Jo-Ann Stores — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:33:29 GMT

You've made sure every decoration is spooky, the costumes are almost made, now you can stash those sweet Halloween treats in the perfect candy corn bag (made from Duck brand duct tape)! Find directions here: http://j.mp/rqc3PJ

Cowgirl & Flapper Apron Costumes!

Jo-Ann Stores — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:18:37 GMT

You want to be decked out for Halloween, but need to be flexible enough to get the festivities rolling. Slip into character this Halloween with these fun-to-wear aprons. Use your imagination to create a fabulous and easy costume - such as a 1920s flapper or a 21st-century cowgirl. Add embellishments, or think of alternatives. Each apron can be delightfully detailed so everyone will know exactly who you are for the night. Make it your own! (It's Halloween, after all, so feel free to experiment a little! Let your creativity run wild.). Find printable directions here!

Cowgirl Apron Costume

• Simplicity® apron pattern 3949, view C

• Denim; refer to pattern for exact yardage

• 1/2 yd Brown suedecloth fabric for vest

• 1¾ yd Fringe for vest

• 1/4 yd Plaid fabric for belt

• 7"x7" Gold felt remnant for belt buckle

• 2 Brass star buttons for belt buckle

• Scissors or rotary cutter & mat

• Basic sewing supplies

• Sewing machine

• Iron & ironing surface

• Pen or pencil

• Ruler

Directions:

Note: Vest & belt seam allowances are 1/2". See pattern instructions for apron seam allowance.

1. Sew apron following pattern instructions.

2. Cut out fabric for vest and belt following provided pattern.

3. For vest, fold top edge and side under 1/2". Press. Pin fringe to curved front edge and edge stitch fringe in place.

4. Lay wrong side of vest piece on top of right side of apron. Top edge and side edge should be even. Pin and edge stitch top edge and side edge of vest to apron.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for opposite side of vest.

6. Trim fringe at center front if desired.

7. For belt, fold top, bottom and sides back 1/2". Press. Place wrong side of belt to right side of apron at waist. Edge stitch around all sides.

8. Cut oval for belt buckle out of gold felt. Edge stitch oval to center of belt.

9. Hand sew buttons to belt buckle.

Skill Level 2: Some experience necessary

Approximate Crafting Time: 3 hours

Flapper Apron Costume

• 1¼ yd Black fabric for apron

• 2½ yds Black fringe

• 1 Black boa

• 1½ yd 2" wide Velvet ribbon

• 2-3 strands Black & silver beads

• 1 spool Black nylon jewelry thread

• 1-2 spools Black beaded trim

• 1 spool 1" wide Sequin elastic trim

• Scissors or rotary cutter & mat

• Basic sewing supplies

• Sewing machine

• Iron and ironing surface

• Pen or pencil

• Ruler

• Fabr i-Tac® glue

Directions:

Note: Use 1/2" seam allowance for apron.

1. Cut out apron and ties following provided pattern.

2. For ties, fold each piece in half lengthwise. Stitch around one short edge and long edge. Leave one small edge open for turning.

3. Turn ties right side out and press. Set aside.

4. Make a 1/2" narrow hem at angled sides of apron. Press.

5. Make 1/2" narrow hem at top edge of apron. Press.

6. With raw edges even and right sides together, pin ties to side at top just below angled side. Baste in place.

7. Make a 1/2" narrow hem at sides.

8. Adjust hem length as desired. Cut any excess off length as desired and make a 1/2" narrow hem along

bottom edge.

9. Cut boa in half.

10. Place one end of boa at top edge corner. With boa on the wrong side of apron at top, stitch in place.

11. Repeat step 10 for opposite side.

12. Lay fringe out on front of apron at bottom. Trim fringe to fit width of apron. Create 3 rows of fringe,

overlapping slightly. Sew or glue in place.

13. Lay velvet ribbon along top edge of top piece of fringe. Trim ribbon to fit width of apron. Glue in place.

14. Make a flat bow about 5" wide and glue on top of velvet ribbon so that bow is slightly off center.

To make a flat bow, cut a piece of ribbon about 10". With right side down, fold edges toward center back and adjust so that the width is approx. 5". Glue ends in place. Cut a piece of ribbon approx. 4” and wrap it around the center. Glue ends in place at back.

15. Cut strands of black beaded trim in various lengths to create a long necklace look at front of apron.

Try 2-3 various lengths. String and add in the silver and black beads as desired.

16. Hand tack the beaded strands to the top edge of apron on both sides.

17. Cut a piece of elastic sequin trim long enough to cover the hand tacked beaded ends. Glue sequin

trim in place at both sides at top of apron.

Skill Level 2: Some experience necessary

Approximate Crafting Time: 4 hours

Craft classes flip book

Craftymomma — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:17:30 GMT

Hey I cant print a readable version of your class flyer you just sent out in the emails, and it is kinda small to read online. Do you think they could provide it on a separate page full size.

and to print in higher res?

World of Charity Stitching Blog

Dona — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 03:17:15 GMT

There is a great cross stitch giveaway at the World of Charity Stitching Blog. Come and visit.

http://worldofcharitystitching.blogspot.com

A Case for a Smile

Susan Bailey — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 20:52:49 GMT

Hi!

I am Susan Bailey, the Regional Coordinator for Conkerr Cancer or the Inland Empire. The focus of our organization is to make pillowcases that are distributed to children 2-20, that are in the hospital for cancer and or other life threatening illnesses. Our

group is made up of 100% volunteers. We are always in the need for extra helpers to make and prepare the pillowcases for delivery to the hospitals and adolescent hospices. If you would like to know more about our organization, please contact me via e-mail at Conkerrcancer.ca.ie@hotmail.com or visit our web-site at www.conkeercancer.org.