Fabric wrapped wire letters

 Remember this? 

 It's the wire name I made to hang in the nursery.  I'll have to admit that it's one of my favorite creations.  Since then I've made a dozen or so for friend's babies.  It's a great way to use up some scraps, give a personalized gift, and show some creativity!  Look at all the letters you can make! 

Want to try making one?

 How I did it:
Start with 2 lengths of floral wire, (20 gauge) side by side.  Wrap them with stem wrap (the slightly stretchy, sticky tape that florists use on corsages). If you're working with the pre-cut lengths rather than a roll, you will probably want to add a few more lengths to the end, wrapping all the way down. 

Now, cut 1/4" -1/2" strips of fabric and wrap them around the wire.  Use a little hot glue to keep the beginning end from unraveling.  The sticky stem wrap will hold the fabric in place nicely.  When you've gotten enough of one color, add another by tieing the two ends together.  Keep wrapping until the entire wire is covered.

On a large piece of scrap paper, write out the name that you want to create, the actual size you want it to be.  (If you're really free-spirited, feel free to skip this step and just start bending!)  Place the wire over the cursive, and start bending it to match the letters.  Play around with them until they look the way you want them to.  Go ahead and hot glue the wires together where they overlap, to make the name a little more sturdy.  Also, glue the fabric twists down anywhere you cut the wire, to keep it from unraveling. 

Here's the really fun part - start embellishing!  I have used silk flowers, feather butterflies, cork birds, plastic bugs, lace, rhinestones, and buttons.  You can make it masculine for a little boy, or as girly as possible -whatever your heart desires!

For the guys

I really wanted to make something, but men are so much harder for me to come up with something for!

So I made these silhouettes using their wedding photos.

 Steve's sister

 Steve's other sister, and new brother-in-law (remember the wedding this summer?)

 My brother and sister-in-law, along with our sweet little niece!

I saw some silhouettes at a craft fair, and loved them.  The man making them was amazing - he just looked at a person, started cutting a blank piece of paper, and seconds later had an amazing likeness!  I am nowhere near that talented, but by finding a photo in profile, laying in on top of a black paper, and cutting around the profile, I was able to come up with a fairly recognizable likeness.

I want to make some of my babies now!  That's the trouble with giving gifts you like -- you can't keep them for yourself, and by the time you are done, you want to move on to the next project, not repeat the one you finished....

pink and white

Here's the last set for my last sister...

 This pink knit scarf has three rows of ruffles along each end.  It's a tube shape, so it's a little heavier.

 The purse is white duck cloth, with a pink flocked muslin lining.  The suede flowers and strap are actually from a ladies jacket I got at Goodwill!

blue and white

 Here's the scarf and purse that I made for my sister.  I think this scarf was my favorite - I love the blue.  Actually, I want one for myself! 

The lightweight scarf is a blue cotton knit, with a ruffle all the way around the edge.  I overcasted the edge in white, to add little contrast, although being knit, it didn't really need anything.

My sister is a vet tech, and I wanted something for her that was a little more casual, but still pretty and feminine.  The purse I made out of  more of Steve's old blue jeans!  The lining is a white flocked muslin from my scrap drawer, and the flowers on the outside are white duck cloth.  I attached them with bar pins so they could be removed for washing.  I love the ribbon gathered edges at the top.

book bag

Here's what I made for Steve's mom.  If it looks familiar, it's because I used all scraps and leftover cut-outs from Joy's quilt!  It was fun to put them to use.  Although, if she were to use it for all the books Ailidh would like Grandma to read to her, I should have made it a lot bigger! 

brown and pink

 As promised, here is another set--
Very different from the other!

The scarf was made with 3 strips of cotton interlock knit, each one a little narrower than the one before, and 5 lines of shirring down the center to ruffle it a little.

The purse was made from a chocolate broadcloth, with a white satin lining, and magnetic snap close.  For accent, I used this fun pink ruffled ribbon that I had.

Not aprons this time...

This year I had so much fun making Christmas gifts.  I followed the same theme, but each one was very different, which appealed to the design side of me!  I've been anxious to share pictures, but, in order not to spoil any surprises, I've had to wait.

So, finally, here they are!

This is the scarf and purse I made for Steve's sister.  

 


The cotton knit scarf was made by cutting dozens and dozens of flower shapes, layering them and gathering the middles slightly, and then attaching them to a long strip of the same fabric.  I added the "bling" last.

The purse was made from scraps of dupioni silk with a polyester lining and magnetic snap. The heat-gathered chiffon flower is on a bar pin so it can be detached and worn separately. 


 

Tomorrow I'll have the set I made for another sister...