Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling

I’m finishing up the new fall patterns and my t-shirt and knit fabric stash was running critically low….so I resorted to “reverse” freezer paper stenciling this weekend to spruce up some boring ones.

Step 1: I cut out shapes using my large scrapbook punches.

Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling step 1 via lilblueboo.com

Step 2: I ironed them onto the plain t-shirt.
Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling step 2 via lilblueboo.com
Step 3: I mixed about a teaspoon of fabric paint with water into this spray bottle.

Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling step 3 via lilblueboo.com

Step 5: I sprayed the t-shirt until it was covered.

 

Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling step 4 via lilblueboo.com
Step 6: I let them dry, peeled off the shapes, and ironed them to set the paint. Voila…..fun prints to work with.

 

 

Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling step 5 via lilblueboo.com

The one above made some great sleeves for a little dress I was working on:

 

Reverse Freezer Paper Stenciling step 6 via lilblueboo.com

 

Serging

So I’ve been making a few more dresses and working on two new rockin’ patterns. That means LOTS of samples…..some for Sienna, some for my Etsy shop and some for a Christmas box for our local women’s shelter.

Here is Sienna in a “botched” one. I messed up the neck and just ended up cutting it out and serging the neck line. She likes it anyways. She gets all the outfits that don’t make it through “quality check.”

Serging via lilblueboo.com
Serging 2 via lilblueboo.com
Serging 3 via lilblueboo.com
I got my Christmas present early so I can increase my production! Don’t worry, all of my patterns will still be tailored to a regular sewing machine……

Serging 4 via lilblueboo.com
Here is where one of those tie-dyed tees went:

Serging 5 via lilblueboo.com
Instead of adopting a family this year for Christmas I’m just sewing all of my scraps and spare fabric into new clothes. I’m getting really into it. Anything that doesn’t sell from my Etsy shop by Christmas goes in the box….if they do sell it just means more fabric for more outfits!

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium

 

Transfer Image using Gel Medium to Wood or Canvas via lilblueboo.com

You can get so creative with Golden’s mediums. For this tutorial I use Golden’s Regular Gel Medium to transfer a photocopied image onto a canvas. (This is the 2nd tutorial of the “transfer” series. You can view the first one here.)

Materials:
Golden Gel Medium – Regular (Gloss or Matte)
Canvas or wood
Photocopy (mirror image)

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium via lilblueboo.com
Apply a generous coat of gel medium to the canvas (I painted the canvas a lime green).

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 1 via lilblueboo.com
Place your photocopy face down on the gel and smooth gently to adhere well and remove all air bubble. (I like to use a brayer as shown below)

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 2 via lilblueboo.com
Allow the gel to dry completely for about an hour. Then dampen the back of the photocopy with water……

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 3 via lilblueboo.com
……and use your fingers to rub all the paper off.

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 4 via lilblueboo.com
The image will be left behind! Now you can seal it, paint over it….endless possibilities!

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 5 via lilblueboo.com
I photocopy lots of these images like the one above from this old book my father brought as a present from England when I was younger. When I was little I was like “great, a dusty old book” but now it is one of my most favorite possessions.

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 6 via lilblueboo.com
When closed, the side of the book pages look like below. But OPEN it JUST right…..
Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 7 via lilblueboo.com……and the pages reveal a hand-painted fox-hunting scene. It must have taken the artist forever to paint such a small detailed painting on the angled pages!

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium step 8 via lilblueboo.com

Creativity Challenge

First of all, you guys crack me up. All the ideas were amazing and some had me on the floor dying! I think I need to find more Jesus tape! It was SO hard to pick one winner….but Lori R wins the fabric scraps with the “Jesus” ruffles….hilarious. Stay tuned to see if Sienna soon has a dress with “Jesus” ruffles decorating the bottom….

Just fyi….I bought the tape a few years ago from Silver Crow Creations. I could spend a gazillion dollars on their site on the most random things……oh wait…..I have.

Congrats Lori….you should have probably been disqualified for posting so many ideas. Below is your prize….I just need your address. Thanks everyone else for playing along! I’ll do another soon!

Creativity Challenge via lilblueboo.com

Challenge originally posted 10/6/2009

What should I do with this?

Creativity Challenge 2 via lilblueboo.com
I’ll pick the most creative answer tomorrow night and send the winner a bag of cute fabric scraps…..and maybe even the entire roll of Jesus packing tape.

Sorry, I don’t have much else tonight. Once again I’ve taken on more projects than are humanly possible to finish. So I’ll be in my sewing/painting sweatshop/studio for a little bit….

In the depths…..

….of my sewing machine. This is EXACTLY why I refuse to invest in nice machinery……I run things into the ground. I broke a needle today and I think it bent the entire column of my machine. At the same time the bobbin guts jumped out. At the time, I was sewing at full speed through an ungodly amount of fabric, with the wrong needle, and some black thread from the 1960s because I ran out. Now my needle seems to be off about 0.1mm and will not catch the bobbin thread anymore.
In the depths of my sewing machine via lilblueboo.com
Since I couldn’t physically crawl down into the machine to see what else I destroyed in the process I used my small cybershot camera to peer down into the guts. I love machinery…..so I thought the photos were sort of cool, even though they didn’t help locate the problem.
In the depths of my sewing machine 2 via lilblueboo.com
In the depths of my sewing machine 3 via lilblueboo.com
In the depths of my sewing machine 4 via lilblueboo.com
Way too much thread lint…..
In the depths of my sewing machine 5 via lilblueboo.com

Have you seen this cool animation yet on how a sewing machine works?
Maybe my new sewing machine will get here before I have to figure out what is wrong with this one. Thanks so much to everyone that voted for my projects on Instructables! I didn’t win the serger (I think I lost to an amoeba!) but I did win a sewing machine (almost the exact machine I have!) for the beanbags….and just in time it seems.

Moody Blues

Patience worked. I still haven’t resorted to better dyes….but I am pretty happy with how this Tulip 3-color kit turned out. I like “easy” and these kits come with the dye already in the squirt bottles so all you have to do is add water. They also come with gloves and rubber bands. You have to buy soda ash separately for the pre-soak. I left the shirts overnight wrapped in plastic to let the dye soak in. I washed them 3 times and the color is still very strong.

Moody Blues Tulip 3-color kit via lilblueboo.com
I was able to do 6 shirts with the kit.

Moody Blues 1 Tulip 3-color kit did 6 shirts via lilblueboo.com
The only mishap: my gloves tore….and my fingers are still green two days later.

Moody Blues Tulip 3-color kit torn glove via lilblueboo.com

Saturday LBB Gallery Share

Just wanted to share a few reader creations I’ve come across that I just LOVE. If you haven’t joined the Lil Blue Boo Flickr Gallery yet….you are missing out! Make sure if you upload photos to the gallery to leave your blog address in the notes!
Saturday LBB Gallery Share owl applique via lilblueboo.comPhoto property of Those Paces
Saturday LBB Gallery Share The Sienna Dress via lilblueboo.com

Photo property of Ellebows
Saturday LBB Gallery Share Haltar/Tie back dress via lilblueboo.com

Photo property of Sarah Boyd
Saturday LBB Gallery Share Paper Doll dress via lilblueboo.com

Photo property of Making It My Own
Saturday LBB Gallery Share Paper Doll dress 2 via lilblueboo.com

Photo Property of Sonya Todorova


Just a note: A few people have asked why I add the stamp to the photos of my daughter (and other people’s kids). I do it so if a photo gets posted somewhere that might be for the wrong reasons it can be tracked back to the original site….in other words it deters “sketchy” people from using these photos!

Li’l Birdies for a Li’l Boy

I just finished up this nursery painting order. It is for a little boy named Cameron to be born next week. My client received it as a baby gift from her aunt and uncle. I love doing these paintings because they are so personal. The little striped birdies on the “M” are the design on her bedding. Her grandmother recently passed away and loved birds so I included a few and added the crown on the sherbet colored bird in memory.

Li'l Birdies for a Li'l Boy via lilblueboo.com
I float frame them with a large frame and matt to match the nursery furniture. Measuring 18″ x 24″ they become a substantial piece of art for a baby nursery.
Li'l Birdies for a Li'l Boy 2 via lilblueboo.com
This one is embellished with stitching, buttons and hand-painted metal stars.
Li'l Birdies for a Li'l Boy 3 via lilblueboo.com
Welcome to the world baby Cameron!

Number two reason I LOVE the fall…..

….feeding the giraffes. Number one reason: it cools off. It was finally cool enough this morning (80 degrees) to come out of heat hibernation and go to our favorite place….the Living Desert. It is a mile down the road and when it is cool I take Sienna almost twice a week. I get exercise and Sienna gets worn out.
Number two reason I LOVE the fall via lilblueboo.com
Sienna is afraid of the adult giraffes….but not the cute little baby.
Number two reason I LOVE the fall giraffe via lilblueboo.com
We usually only stay about an hour and visit different things each time after the giraffe feeding. Today we visited the animal hospital. Below is “Hootie” the screech owl….he has a neurological disorder and his neck twitches. He’s also missing a wing. What a mess.
Number two reason I LOVE the fall gscreech owl via lilblueboo.com
We always visit the huge train system. Sienna runs around looking for trains and I am amused looking at all the details:
Number two reason I LOVE the fall trains via lilblueboo.com“the wreckage”
Number two reason I LOVE the fall floozies  via lilblueboo.com“floozies”

Number two reason I LOVE the fall dirty police car via lilblueboo.com“please wash”
On a random note, I think I just found a one-woman-factory for the Sienna t-shirt dress. Seriously, Davida JUST bought the pattern and look how many dresses she has cranked out….I need to learn to sew a little faster ;)

A Dress for October (Updated)

Another dress for the fall using 5 different t-shirts.
A Dress for October (Updated) via lilblueboo.com
I bought Sienna (yes, storebought) the perfect black and white striped leggings to wear underneath. Now it just needs to cool off! It was only 101 degrees here today.
A Dress for October (Updated) 2 via lilblueboo.com
I’m sewing an identical one for my Etsy store except that the purple is at the top and orange is at the bottom….I’ll finish it tonight. The plan was to offer someone their pick and Sienna would get the leftovers, but my iron was too hot and I smeared some of the text at the top of the dress! She’ll never notice.
A Dress for October (Updated) 3 via lilblueboo.com
Halloween tees are SO much better than when we were growing up, right? I wouldn’t have been caught dead in one until recent years…..
A Dress for October (Updated) 4 via lilblueboo.com
Pattern used: The Sienna Dress
A Dress for October (Updated) 5 via lilblueboo.com
Update: Here is the 2nd one I made. I LOVE the little owl tag that is on the bottom ruffle! This dress is in my etsy shop now…..there will only be one.
A Dress for October (Updated) 6 via lilblueboo.com
A Dress for October (Updated) 7 via lilblueboo.com

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