Alchemy Tea

Inspiration

2012-01-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that I have somewhat eclectic tastes. So when it was announced that our first guild challenge for the South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild would be to draw inspiration from a photograph or painting, I was instantly overwhelmed with inspiration. Now I am stuck in the predicament of choosing just one image. I may just have to do multiple quilts!

Clockwise from top right: A water color by Naomi Ito, Horoscope by Alphonse Mucha, Maru in a box, and a random gorgeous image that I found on Tumblr ages ago (I would love the source/creator)

There's a little bit of everything that makes me happy here. I think that the Mucha could be the most challenging, but perhaps the most interesting, while I have good ideas for all of the others that I know I could execute.

This challenge certainly has me thinking about my inspiration, where I find inspiration from and the way that it manifests its self in the things I create. It's also got me thinking about what kinds of images that I find beautiful and comforting, and how I want that to be represented in what I make and present to the world. There is more to think about on this subject for sure.

I can't wait to see what I choose (Ha!) and I can't wait to see what other members do!

Holiday Wrap Up (heh)

2012-01-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 blog followers! 2011 went by so fast that it's just now sinking in that a new year is starting in.

2012 is going to be a huge year for me, I'll finally be graduating college and entering the "real world". WHile I should be appropriately terrified of that notion, I'm actually excited to have a little extra crafting time (priorities anyone?).

My resolutions for the new year can be summed up as: Craft more, eat less. Lol, although that's not the entire story. For 2012 I would really like to push the boundaries of my crafting abilities by tackling more challenging projects and work on refining my techniques. I also want to go back to eating healthier (not just less) and being smarter about meal planning and calorie intake. Easy, right? We'll see!!!

Here's a round up (or wrap-up, get it?) of presents and projects I made for my Handmade Holidays of 2011.

Last year I made my boyfriend a quilt for Christmas, and my dad was touched by the idea. So this year, I decided that my father (who is an avid vegetable gardener) would be the recipient of a quilt. I spent all year gathering the fabrics (my usual shop was out of many of the prints in this series by the time I decided on the theme) and the pattern is a modified version of "A Wedding Quilt" from the Purl Bee. I'm happy to say that he was thrilled and moved by the gift.

I made these easy leather pouches super last minute for a white elephant gift exchange. I wanted something useful and not gender exclusive. The large one is sized for a phone or bills (or cosmetics etc.) and the small one is perfect for business cards or coins.

While I had grand plans for some adorable crocheted cat toys, that plan never came to fruition. Thus, the wool felt cat toys were born, and they were a huge hit. I honestly think that the cats in my life were the most pleased with their home made holiday gifts this year (although if I had filled all of my other gifts with "drugs" then the story might have been different. haha, I kid, I kid).
These little guys are simply stuffed with some polyfil and a generous amount of catnip and used wool felt that I had laying around the house. I get my wool/rayon crafting felt here.

I also rounded the gift list off with several silk scarves by using about 1/3 of a yard of silk, and then finished the edges with a rolled hem on my serger. Fast, easy, fun.

And as a reward to myself, I finally started on a quilt that I have been promising myself that I would make for ages now: My Heather Ross Quilt.

Photo taken at SueDee's in Scotts Valley at January's South Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild meeting.

Heather Ross is easily my favorite fabric designer, and over the years I have amassed large scraps of her fabric from other projects that I have made, and decided that this project needed to be done. The center panel is from one of her banner kits, and today I am adding a large aqua border to make it "sofa sized". The back will have a scrappy stripe with large blocks of tangerine and snow, and the binding will be just a little bit scrappy. I'm so excited about this project! And it will be the first ever quilt that I have made for myself and not as a gift.

So far I'm satisfied with my productivity over Winter Break, but I still have a few more things I want to work on before school starts up again next week. Eek!

"Last Minute" Party and Gift Ideas

2011-12-16T16:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but once posts in the blogosphere start having titles with "last minute" in them, I begin to get a little bit nervous...

But this year, after learning from last year, I came armed for the holidays with a few easy gifts to whip up at the last minute for both the men and women in my life, as well as a few fun party ideas.

For Him:

Bottle Cap Magnets: For the beer fan.

I live in a house with four young adult "dudes", so it stands to reason that at any given time, there are a lot of beer bottle caps laying around, which inspired this project.

All it takes is some of your favorite bottle caps, craft foam, magnets, and E6000.

~ To get nice bottle caps, either use twist-off caps, or open them slowly with the flat kind of opener.

~ Glue your magnets to the craft foam, then glue the foam to your bottle caps. (If your magnets are thicker than your caps, then just glue the magnet straight to the cap)

~That's it! I made a simple pouch to put them in. This project could be made more cutesy with craft bottle caps that you can find at large craft stores.

Webbing Belt: For the Fashionable Male.

This project takes about five minutes, and is so satisfying! And it can be personalized easily (this pictured belt is actually for me! The man in my life is getting one with skulls)

~ Purchase webbing and a buckle to match (make sure that the buckle is size-appropriate for the webbing you choose) I got this webbing and buckle at Britex Fabrics in San Francisco

~ If your webbing is made of a synthetic material, you can melt the edge of the webbing with a lighter to finish the seams. If you use cotton webbing, finish the edges with fray-check or clear nail polish.

~ Sew the webbing to the buckle with a heavy denim needle (size 16 or 18)

~ You're done! In terms of how much webbing to buy, a yard and a half is about right for huskier men. You can always buy more and then cut it down (remember to finish the edges!) if you need to.

For Her:

Tote Bag With Pocket: For on-the-go moms or busy students.

I made up this pattern with a simple concept, but The Purl Bee has a great 20 minute tote tutorial as well.

~ Purchase 1/2 - 3/4 of a yard of a cotton or cotton/linen canvas. This one is from Echino and I got it from Harts Fabric.
~ Also purchase 3-3 1/2 yards of cotton webbing. The webbing is also from Harts.
~ Cut two pieces of fabric about 24" x 18", and one about 18" x 6" for the pocket (these dimensions can be tweaked based on the proportions you want)
~ Press tops of tote and pocket over 1/2", then again 1 1/2". Stitch hems down, then pin pocket to front side of tote, making sure to center it on the bottom.
~ We're going to make French Seams! WRONG sides together, stitch side and bottom seams with a 1/4" seam allowance. (making sure to get the pocket in there). Trim these seams a bit if needed.
~ Then flip inside out with RIGHT sides together, and stitch around the side and bottom seams with a 1/2" seam allowance, making sure to enclose all raw edges.
~ Now stitch ends of webbing together making one big loop. Pin to your bag making sure that it goes down and under each side of your tote evenly and encases raw sides of your pocket.
~ Stitch all the way down and around each side of the webbing making sure to catch the edges of your pocket (the webbing should frame the pocket on the sides).
* If you want, you can be done here, or you can flip up the points of the bottom of your tote and stitch to make a flat bottom!

Pearl and Wire Bird's Nest Pendant: For the Jewelry Lover

This project is so fun and easy! I used this tutorial Sarah Ortega, and learned a few things along the way.
*Memory wire is easy to find ad craft stores, but do NOT use memory wire. Go to a real bead shop and purchase a nice malleable wire, it will make your life easier. I used gold-filled wire, for the pictured pendant. I paid a little bit more for it, but I only needed a yard, and the final product was so much nicer than when I used other wires.
* Make sure that your pearls have large enough holes! This seems obvious, but it could ruin your day if you don't double check.
* Using round-nose pliers also works better because they won't leave marks in your wire.

~ String 3-4 pearls onto your wire and arrange in a circle
~ Secure your circle by looping the start of your wire onto the wire immediately after your last pearl.
~ Start winding and winding around your cluster of pearls in imperfect circles until your nest is the right density, then loop remaining wire around nest to secure.
~ Attach to a jump ring and then to a chain. Voila!

For Your Last Minute Party:

Dressing up Dollar Store Cups:

I am a college student, and am on a college student budget. So for my holiday party I shopped for supplies at the Target dollar section (where I found this awesome glitter tree decoration), and the Dollar Tree. Unfortunately the Dollar Tree was out of X-mas themed cups, so I bought black cups and red and green tissue paper. Cut small strips of tissue paper, layer, twist into bows and hot-glue your festive bow-ties to your cups. How fancy!

Glitter Snowflake Bobby Pin Party Favors:

I took some glitter snowflake table scatter (Again, from Target's dollar section) and E6000'd (can I verb that?) them to some thick bobby pins. These not only make cute favors, but are fun last-minute gifts as well

Whether you're feeling the pressure, or are as cool as a cucumber this holiday season, I hope this has given you some good gift ideas as it gets closer to the holidays!

XOXO

Simple Ten-Minute Tee Tutorial

2011-11-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

I LOVE the sense of accomplishment that you get you finish that perfect structured garment. However, sometimes I want sewing to be more like shopping, that is to say that I want to spend a little bit of time and walk away from the whole experience with a new outfit.

So here's my solution: The Ten-Minute Tee.

This project was born one laundry day when this indecisive dresser found herself about a half an hour before work and all of my clean shirts were in the laundry! ARG! So I whipped one of these up and have made several of them since.

This simple and quick project is also great for people who are a little intimidated by sewing with knits. It can be done entirely on a regular sewing machine with straight stitches!

Materials you'll need:
~ 3/4 - 1 yard of a jersey or interlock knit fabric
~ A Tee-shirt that fits well
~ A regular ol' sewing machine (with matching, or complimentary thread)
~ A pair of scissors
~ Pins

Step One:
Turn on your TV, or play some Netflix. This project can be completed in less time than it takes to watch an episode of "Say Yes to the Dress" but you might as well multi-task eh?

The REAL Step One:
Measure your torso and determine how long you want your top to be. Cut your piece of fabric to that length. At this point your piece of fabric should be have the dimensions of the width of your fabric (probably 60" or so) by your desired length (I like 'em around 27").

Step Two:
Fold your piece of fabric selvage to selvage, and cut along this fold. Remove selvages (I don't always do this if they're not obvious). You should now have two square-ish pieces of jersey fabric. These are all of your pieces! Yay! The sides that you just cut, will be the sides of your tee.

Step Three:
Place your two pieces right-sides together, and determine how wide you want your neck hole to be (this top also looks cute with a wider, off-shoulder collar). Use pins to mark where you want your neck hole to be making sure that it's centered.
Now sew your shoulder seams by sewing from the edge of your neck hole to the sides of your top.

Step Four:
Now flip that puppy right side out. You can pull it over your head to make sure that your neck hole is big enough. You may also pretend that you are a poncho-wearing cowboy at this point. No one will judge you.
Lay your top out flat, and then lay a top that you like the fit of on top of it. Pin around the edge of your old top to mark the beginning and general shape of side-seams (it will be more flattering if your side seams are a little curved).

Step Five (Last Step!!!):
Sew along the lines you made with your pins (yes! With your fabric right-side out!). At this point your basically done, but now you can shape your collar if you want. You can cut a round or scoop or v-shaped neckline. Mostly I like to keep it simple by cutting a straight slit a few inches down the front to make a v-neck with cute little "lapels".

Now go wear that puppy and make all of your friends jealous!!!

Stay tuned for: Easy and Fun Holiday Gifts for Ladies AND Gentlemen!

Fun Things on the Horizon

2011-09-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Since My last post here, I have:

Turned the "ripe old" age of 21,
Been promoted,
Begun perhaps my last summer vacation ever,
Crafted my crafty little heart out,
Visited Disneyland for the first time in what feels like a lifetime,
Participated in Harts Fabric's 1st Annual Craftacular Wonderfair,
And been roped into applying for San Francisco's winter Renegade Craft Fair by a colleague.

Whew! It's been an eventful (more than a) few months!

But I feel that I am in a position now to pay more attention to this blog, and my wonderful crafting hobbies and friends.

I've been stepping out of my crafting comfort zone by pushing myself to create new items out of new materials that i can hopefully market and sell (unfortunately, working in the fabric industry doesn't necessarily support my fabric addiction)

I've been working on these leather pouches:

I've ben making them in both coin purse sizes, and what I call "secrets" size, which I imagine to be perfect for ring boxes, tooth fairy pouches, or of course, small secrets.

I'm having fun choosing fabric to match with the leather. I get to use all of my favorite cottons that I don't necessarily desire to make a garment out of. It's also a great way to bust trough all of my cotton and leather scraps.

I also sold these knit tops that I screen printed. I like the style of top, but I think that If I make them again, I'll build a cleaner screen (although the grungy, distressed look of these tops is kind of fun!)

I'm adding items to my etsy this weekend, and I'll have new posts here this week, including a fun and easy top tutorial!

Hand-Sewn Small Things.

2011-03-10T16:06:00.000-08:00

There is something just so satisfying about hand-sewing. It's meditative to focus on each little stitch being made, coming together to form the final result.

I also love small things. Little decorations and embellishments are the icing on any project I work on.

From this is born my obsession with Clover Needlecraft's yo-yo and flower makers.

Small yo-yo in progress. Made from echino double-gauze.

Now, it's no secret yo-yo's and fabric flowers can be made without the aid of anything at all. Purists may even scoff at my addiction to these tools, and frankly, I cant really disagree with them. However, Clover's products make it so easy to create the perfect stitches and gathers for these projects making them easy and relaxing enough to do while watching a movie (I associate hand-sewing with Jane Austin movies) or even while in class (yes, yes, I admittedly do this more than maybe I should).

Clover also knows how to design an attractive product:

How could these not cheer you up? L to R: Large Sweetheart Rose maker, Large Shamrock yo-yo maker, and large and small yo-yo makers.

At first, I had no idea what I would possibly do with a bunch of fabric circles, but now I am enamored with the possibilities of these products. So far I have put yo-yo's on headbands, roses on hair ties and combs (What? I love hair accessories!!!), and am making some to put on cardigans and shirts. My boss at Hart's Fabric, who introduced me to this obsession, even features them on an amazing quilt with wonderful results.

L to R: Large shamrock yo-yo, large regular yo-yo's, and large sweetheart roses.

So there is one of my latest obsessions. If you love hand-sewing and small things as much as I do, then you should check these products out! They have a bunch of cute shapes and sizes to play with: Clover's yo-yo page.

Stay Tuned for Alchemy Tea's next entry: Adventures in screen-printing!

Official First Post!

2011-03-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Alchemy Tea!

I'm creating this blog to better organize my creative thoughts and to catalogue my creative endeavors. I hope you'll join me on my journey!

But who am I? Well, the basics, I guess, is that my name is Julia. I currently live in Santa Cruz, CA. I go to the University of California here in SC, and major in Plant Sciences. I sew, I draw, I make jewelry and I do a lot of homework.

My style and influences vary day to day. I can't say that I subscribe to one aesthetic particularly more than others, but I have been known to be active in the Bay Area Japanese Lolita fashion culture. Ive also been known to create and wear costumes for the few comic book/anime conventions that I can make it to in a year. My current obsession (along with much of the rest of the internet) is Steampunk.

So, I guess that that's me in a nutshell. I hope that through this blog I can share my love of fabric, design, crafts, fashion and nature with a larger community than that which immediately surrounds me.

I'm looking forward to posting content and sharing with everyone!

Happy reading!

Unofficial post no.1!

2011-02-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! Lots of content to come once I get underway!