A Dream Girl's Dream Catcher

I decided to make a dream catcher for me (or my potential little). I went to my local craft store and bought light brown suede lacing, brown waxed linen (or nylon) string, a metal (or wooden) hoop, beads and some feathers.

Taking the hoop, wrap the suede lacing around. Tie a knot or use craft glue to keep the end at one spot of the hoop. Keep the lace flat and as close as possible. Because 2 yards isn't enough for a 6" hoop, I had to buy another 2 yards. Start the knot on the inside of an existing knot, on top of the lacing that's already woven around then knot by the other knot. This creates a hanging loop for the dream catcher as a whole. You can also knot side by side with a previous knot and continue the wrapping to the other knot. A let the glue set for a few hours before starting on the stringing process.

Take the waxed string and tie a knot near the knot at the top. Then swoop it to the right a few inches and tie a knot on the inside of the hoop. After you get the first row of loops around the hoop, you can add beads as you loop (you can also knot) around the first row of loops. If you don't knot it, take the string with a bead over the first loop and then over the string with the bead to stop beads from sliding around too much. This is where you have fun!

To tie it off, take the string after your last loop and tie a double knot. With the waxed linen string you can press it together and the wax helps the string stick to each other.

To add a feather, take a cut piece of string and tie a knot at the base. Loop the string through the feather's hole and bring the string to the back to tie in a double knot. Cut off the excess string.

Now you can hang it!

Take care and do good,

Sarah

Source: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Dreamcatcher

A Stitch in the Chain and RECRUITMENT TIME!

During a bored weekend I looked at some scrap pieces of fabric and blue thread that I had for some anther cross stitch project. The piece of aqua? light blue? fabric barely fit in my wire hoop but I got it to work. I started out with an anchor. Since I didn't have a fabric with distinct holes like I'm used too, I chose to stitch in what I call 'free hand,' which is just long singular stitches, not crossed.

I used 3 pieces of the darker blue thread for the anchor. I had to pause and think about how thick I wanted the anchor to be but I figured it out quickly. Looking at a single layer can help you determine how think you want it. After the base of the anchor I made the round top which was hard to do since I was working with straight lines. Then I added the top line, making note of the length to keep it even. I used the thread lines on the fabric to keep my lines straight though they were hard to count. I knew I'd have a hard time making a rounded points, so I made them go straight out from the base.

Using 3 pieces of the lighter blue thread, I tried to create a winding rope through the top hole and around the anchor. I found some white thread and used 1 strand to cross over the light blue rope. This added a nice look to the rope and gave a true nautical feel. Taking a strand of dark blue, light blue, and white I used this mixed color to create the waves at the top. I wish I could have done a better job with this element but straight lines don't make waves. Lastly I took 2 pieces of the light blue thread and make ∆ Γ to the left of the anchor. (I lost my picture and then I lost my anchor so I couldn't even retake the picture.)

I also recently found a website that had a lot of good tutorials and information called Needle 'n Thread. I also found a needlework shop in my town, which is just going to be dangerous, and am looking at their supplier which is Hoffman Distributing Company. There are a few anchor and nautical ideas that I'm thinking about getting.

From The Sunflower Seed, they had an Ichabod (my school mascot) and that's my current project. I also purchased letter patterns and plan to do a "Delta Gamma on the top and bottom of that fabric.
                                                                Alpha Kappa."

Another craft idea I've been thinking about is to get a white canvas board, light blue paint and dark blue paint. I have some Martha Stewart stencils that have a lot of nautical shapes which I'd do in a random order with the light blue paint. Then over the shapes I'd put "A champion in her absence and her friend always" since it's one of my favorite quotes. :)

Well it's recruitment time again and the crafts will start rolling out. I plan to do more sewing related gifts (that is if I get a little) due to the fact I'm in a costume design class. I snagged my mom's sewing machine and plan to become a stitching fool. My French seam is pretty good if I do say so myself - which I do say so.

Take care and do good,
Sarah