Hallowe'en at the Faery House

 

See the candies? 

Duvet Covers for Christmas

 Duvet covers are not the first priority for a 6 and 3 year old, but I had information that one would like a cover with the Winnipeg Jets on it, and the other would like cats. This is a simple enough project. It mostly involves miles of sewing, but there are logistics to handling so much fabric. The seams are all sewn, serged and topstitched. There are ribbons on the inside top corners to hold the duvet in place. And each cover has a little something special on the underside.

Mask for Singing

 A friend came to me with what was really an engineering problem: a face mask with enough room to open her jaw wide enough to sing. Others have solved this before me, but I thought I would document what I did. My pattern may need to be tweaked after my singer friend has gone to choir practice.

View from the top:

From the bottom:

From the side:

Here is the pattern:

Parts A and B are lined with polypropylene and a second layer of fabric. Part C is a single layer. 

In this case the elastic is a single length which wraps around the back of the head and the neck. My friend did not want ear elastics. 

Construction:

1. Cut out all parts adding a narrow seam allowance: A, B and C in the outside fabric; A and B in polypropylene and the inside lining, as shown.

2. Fold over and press the bottom (your seam allowance) of lining A. Fold over and press the sides of outside fabric for the elastic channels. 

3. Pin the polypropylene to the wrong side of the outside fabric for parts A and B. Pin A to B and sew together being careful not to make any pleats. 

4. Sew parts A and B of the lining together. 

5. Sew gathering thread between makers on part C. Gather slightly. Pin and sew it to the polypropylene/outside layer.

6. Pin the outside layer and lining together at the top. Sew. snip at corner. 

7. Hand sew the lining to the seam at the bottom of part A, covering the gathering seam. This could be sewn by machine but it will be hard to keep everything in the right place. 

8. Fold over the channels for the elastic and sew. 

9. Cut lengths of elastic, pull them through the channels and you are done.  

This makes perfect sense to me ;-)

The Disappearing Seasonal Installation

 The garden is harvested and the soil is turned. It was time for me to do something in the empty space. This is a work-in-progress. It is also the darnedest thing to photograph; the chickenwire balls disappear into the surroundings. The crow is a Hallowe'en element.

It shows up better at night.