Today's Featured Shop -- The Primitive Black Hat Society

Today's featured shop is The Primitive Black Hat Society.   Faith loves to make primitives and gives her one of a kind dolls a vintage time-worn look.

She is also a new writer on our blog.
You can find her column "The Witches Stitches" on Thursdays where she will be teaching you all about sewing and decorating.  

As you can see from the sampling of Faith's work below,  she makes some wonderful, primitive one of a kind designs.

Primitive Antique Looking Horse

Antique Looking Primitive Forget Me Not Doll

Primitive Star On A Wood Spool

Primitive Doll Dress Form on an Antique Spool

Be sure and visit Faith's shop to see all her handmade designs.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/PrimitiveBlackHat

The Witches Stitches -- Doll making 101

The Witches Stitches Doll Making 101 Ageing Fabric

Staining and ageing your work.

We all love the look of antique fabric. It has a wonderful aged look and can be used for home decorating or crafting. There are many ways to age your fabric. The best way I found was trial and error. These are the ways I have come up with different ways to age fabric.

1 - 100%coton fabric ages the best.
2 – Be careful how dark you age deep colors. Dark reds and deep blues can look “muddy” if you make your solution to dark.
3 – Ageing solutions
     Instant coffee (2 table spoons to 2 cups of water)
     Instant tea (2 table spoons to 2 cups of water)
     Tea bags – (4 tea bags to 2 cups of water)
     Walnut Crystals – (use one teaspoon to 2 cups of water)

Using Instant coffee and instant tea are the same. The two will give your fabric different smells.  You can add a little vanilla extract to your ageing solution to give it a sweat smell.  Tea bags will give your fabric a light muted look. Walnut crystals will age your fabric darker than the other items. Use less walnut crystals then the coffee or tea.

The instructions for ageing are the same no matter what medium you choose to use. I will use instant tea or coffee as an example, but you can choose any of the dyes.

In a glass bowl pour in 2 cups of very hot water. Add instant tea or coffee. Mix the solution until all the coffee or tea is mixed completely. If you have un-dissolved grains this will leave a dark spot on your fabric. After your solution is well mixed, wet and dip a 4” square of fabric into it. By wetting the fabric first your fabric will soak up the dye faster. Dry the square and if you like the way it looks great. If not add more tea or coffee to your water, repeat the dip test. When you have the right shade then dye the amount of fabric you need for your project.

If you want to dye a doll that is already stuffed, you can paint your solution on the doll. You can hang your doll outside with a thread loop. If you want to dry your doll in the oven keep in mind that the side that faces down will dry lighter. It may also have some dark marks on it where the doll touches the cookie sheet. If you want to avoid this, dye one side and dry it, then dye the other side and dry it. Make sure you do not drip your solution down the side of your doll.

Drying –
You can let your fabric dry in the sun or you can use your oven to dry it.

Sun Drying – Natural is always better. I like the look of the fabric when I let it dry naturally in the sun. Keep in mind that when you dry it outside if you drape it over a railing or drying rack the back will dry lighter than the front and you will have a dark line where the rail or rack touches the fabric. I attach a thread loop to the two ends of my fabric and hang it up to dry.

Oven Drying - If you are drying it in the oven you can use a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Keep in mind that if you do not turn your fabric half way through the drying process the back side will be lighter than the front. Keep your oven temp. at 200 to 250 degrees. No higher.  If you have your oven set to high you will burn your fabric. Worse, you may set it on fire.

After you have found the right color for your fabric and it is dried you can aged it further by lightly sanding it with a fine grit sand paper. Just be careful not to sand a whole in it, unless that is the aged look you want.

Note – If you age fabric and make curtains or anything that will be in the sunlight on a constant basis, your fabric will fade.

I hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask me!!

Faith
The Primitive Black Hat Society
www.etsy.com/shop/PrimitiveBlackHat

Handmade Spotlight - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Check out this great selection of handmade items in a rainbow of colors. You can view this entire treasury by Clicking Here, or you can click on each item to see it in greater detail.

Dindon $19	LaFiabaRussa $19
ZeroCase $13.99	theYarnKitchen $40
PumpkinDesign $16	PetrasCreation... $8.5
TreasureChestP... $15.5	aBanchOfFashio... $27
knotLAB $40	trepuntozeroci... $15
verityunmondoa... $31	SteamyLab $48
LaPolena $5	amabito $18
RainingCat $12	Ilfilochiaro $6

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Tuesday Tutorial - Uncle Sam Pillow Pattern

I am seeing a lot of Americana crafts around the internet lately so I thought I would share this Uncle Sam Pillow pattern with you.

It is a 10 inch accent pillow and very easy to make.   Download the pdf pattern here,  Uncle Sam Pattern.

Hope you enjoy making him.

Bette

Http://www.bettestomorrowstreasures.com
Http://www.etsy.com/handmadebybette.com

Jacquie's Up-Cycle Nation: New Life For An Old Frame

The right frame adds instant glam to any artwork but a quality wooden frame can cost a small fortune at a hobby store, often costing more than the work to be framed.  With a keen eye and 2 spare hours, you can create a masterpiece on a pauper's budget.

I scored this fab 1990's home decorating beauty for $3 at Goodwill.  It was the perfect size for an over-sized photo collage  I had made one rainy afternoon.

The back of the frame gave me all the info I needed:  The frame was real wood, the size was right, and this was not a true vintage piece.  This frame is sturdy, the glass is intact, and it is begging to up-cycled into a new life.

All You Need For This Project:

Out dated wooden frame

Sandpaper- 150 grit

Pliers

Empty container for frame tacks

Spray paint

Damp rag

Antiquing medium

Paint brush

Matte or Gloss sealer

Using pliers, remove frame tacks.  Set these aside along with the glass in a safe place.  Sand the entire front of the frame to provide grit for the new paint.  With a damp rag, wipe away any sanding residue.

Find an open air space to do the spray painting.  I use the bottom side of a plastic pool and an old bag to catch and stray paint.  **Never spray paint inside, in poorly ventilated areas or near an open flame.**

Apply a light coat of paint.

Allow the paint to dry.

Lightly sand.

Wipe away sanding residue.

Repeat until the desired coverage is reached.

To achieve a high gloss, paint saturated look, apply 3-5 coats of paint and top with a high gloss sealer. 

To achieve a shabby chic look, sand the corners, hard edges and decorative embellishments.  Wipe away sanding residue.

To add age, use antiquing gel medium diluted with water.  I used 2 tablespoons medium in 1/4 cup water.  Apply generously to frame.

For a primitive look, allow the coating to dry and top with a matte sealer.

For a shabby chic appearance, wipe away the gel medium with a damp rag.  This will leave the aging primarily on the exposed wood.  Top with a matte sealer.

To add visual interest and definition, use washi tape to enhance the original fabric portion of the frame.

This particular tape helps carry the vintage theme of the collage to the frame.

Now the frame is ready for finishing.  Clean the glass and reinsert.  Using the original cardboard backing and frame tacks, secure the artwork and glass in place.  For a polished look cover the backing with brown paper.  Now the frame is ready to enjoy many more years of happiness.

Rest assured, the original reproduction floral print has not gone to waste.  It has been up-cycled into another project for a future post.  Be certain that if it could not be used it would have landed in the paper bin destined for recycling.

LOVE  &  UP-CYCLE NATION!

Jacquie Wheeler

Hand of Bela Peck

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Handofbelapeck?ref=si_shop

http://handofbelapeck1759.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hand-of-Bela-Peck/294397987277061?ref=hl