The Lady Beekeeper

After the faire my aunt commissioned a new hat.  She’s a school teacher and when she wore her Shakespeare hat on Columbus day she got a great reaction from the students.  She thought a Puritan hat would delight her students around Thanksgiving.  After I finished my mom’s curtains I whipped something up.  I really hope it fits her, I had to estimate the size because I didn’t have her head measurements.  If you’d like to make your own you can follow my instructions below!  Or send me an email, give me your head size, and I’ll make one for you!

I must admit that when I was making the hat I completely messed up the hook timing on my sewing machine.  None of the stitches would work so I spent 3.5 hours messing around with it.  There are a lot of tutorials on how to adjust your hook timing, but they don’t really explain where the needle needs to be at each point during its traversal.  This article gave me the answers I needed and saved my butt.  My sewing machine is alive again, and I didn’t need to take it in to a shop (which I’m certain would have left me for weeks without a machine, which is just something I could not bare).

Puritan/Pilgrim Hat

What you’ll need:

• a yard of Pellon Peltex 70
• a yard of black material (I used cotton velvet because I had it available)
• a yard of black bias tape 2″ wide (I usually make my own)
• a yard of steel spring wire & joiner
• a strip of faux black leather or suede
• a metal buckle

1.  Measure your head size then add 1/2″.  Either use my flap topped cone tutorial for the fez to calculate the template for the top part of the hat, or plug in measurements here.
   • A=4″
   • B=head circumference/pi
   • C=7″
2. Using a string and a protractor cut out the arc calculated above from Peltex 70. Also cut out a circle of radius 2″ larger than your head radius and a 2″ radius circle.
3. Cut 2 circles of black fabric 1″ larger in diameter than your large circle, one circle of black fabric 1″ larger in diameter than your small circle, and one arc 1/2″ wider on all sides than your Peltex arc segment.
4. Take the large circle and measure out steel spring wire to fit just within the circumference.  Join the ends of the wire.
5. Very carefully sew the steel wire to the Peltex circle using a large zig zag stitch.  You do not want the needle to hit the steel or bad things will happen (trust me, see above).
   

   Carefully zigzag stitch the steel spring wire in place on the brim.

6. Right sides together, pin and stitch the edges of the black fabric arch together.
   

   Pin right sides together and stitch fabric arc.

7. Pin the small black circle to the top of the arch.  Stitch.
   

   Pin small circle to top of sewn arc and stitch.

8. Sew the edges of the Peltex arch together using a zig zag stitch.  I was only able to sew the top and bottom.
9. Hand sew the small Peltex circle to the top of the arch.
   

   Hand sew Peltex circle to top of Peltex arc.

10. Cut a circle out of cotton batting slightly smaller than the top of the hat and place it on the top of the hat.
11. Turn black portion of the cap right side out and fit it over the Peltex structure.
12. Mark out a circle the same size as your head on the Peltex brim and two black brim pieces.  Cut a large X in each, then trim to within an inch of the circles you drew.  Snip in 1″ increments to 1/8″ of the circle you drew.
    

    Snip x into your brim.

13. Pin and sew the two brim pieces together, right sides facing.
    

    Pin and sew brim together.

14. Place the brim interfacing on the two brim pieces and turn everything right side out.  Adjust everything so interfacing sits flat.
    

    Place interfacing on brim pieces and turn right side out, sandwiching the interfacing inside.

    

    Finished brim.

15. Pin the excess material of the hat top to the brim.
    

    Pin seam allowance of the hat to the brim.

16. Here I think you could do a couple different things to finish the hat that may have been smarter than what I did.  Step 17 is an alternative finishing method.  Below is what I did.
    • Open out bias tape and pin right side of tape to right side along the seam you just sewed.  Stitch in place.
    • Trim seam and fold old bias tape over the trimmed seam. Stitch. When you wear the hat you’ll fold this portion in.
17. Or try this alternative method:
    • Trim the brim interfacing and innermost black fabric to 1/8″.
    • Fold the outermost layer of black fabric (that you didn’t trim) into the hat.  Stitch in place.  The belt will cover this stitching anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.  You can also sew bias tape over this to neaten it up.
18. Finally, make the belt for your hat.  Take your faux leather and cut it to 3″x head size + 1″.
19. Pin it the long ways right sides together. Stitch along this seam and also along one end (so you can easily turn it).
20. Turn right side out, add buckle, then stitch ends together, right sides facing.
    

    Finished Pilgrim hat

Last time I was in Disney World  I purchased an adorable Pirates of the Caribbean themed set of Mickey Mouse ears!   They are so cute, but they were Disney overpriced (I checked and they were $27).  If you have a set of kids I recommend making your own.  You can tailor them to any theme you want and they are very easy to make!  Lots of people make theirs entirely using glue guns, but if you’ve read my blog you know that is just not my style.  Don’t get me wrong, I love glue guns, but glue guns have a time and a place.  If you want things to last… sew them.

For Will’s ears, the theme was fairly obvious.  Star Wars.  When Will and I met we bonded over our love of Star Wars.  Will’s groom’s cake (southern thing) had Han Solo and Princess Leia on it and the phrases, “I love you.” “I know.” At one point Will admitted to me that much like the people who can’t picture marrying someone of a differing religion, he could not marry someone who did not love Star Wars.  When Disney bought Star Wars a lot of people were concerned.  Not Will.  He was excited that a new Star Wars movie would be coming out every year for the indeterminate future.  And double bonus – now it is appropriate to wear Mickey Mouse ears themed with Star Wars characters!

For Will’s ears I finally settled on Chewbacca because he’s a badass and I really wanted to make furry ears.  This confused many people that I mentioned it to because Chewbacca doesn’t actually have ears.  I had to explain to them that they are Mickey Mouse ears that are just themed like Chewbacca; they aren’t actually supposed to be Chewbacca’s ears.  Much like the Ariel themed ones aren’t supposed to be Ariel’s ears. That didn’t seem to help.  Oh well.  Here are some Chewbacca themed ears!  You can use the same pattern to make ears of any type!

Will and I with our Mickey Mouse ears on a landspeeder

Oh and double bonus Will and I alternated wearing the ears while we were at MGM (or I guess its called Hollywood Studios now, boy I’m old) and happened to catch Chewbacca walking on his way to the next star wars show.  I shouted “we love you Chewy!” and he turned and looked at Will’s ears.  On his way back in after the show he bent down to get into my picture!

Chewbacca checking out my ears

DIY Mickey Mouse Ears (Chewbacca themed)

Note: if you just want normal Mickey Mouse ears, you’ll only need to do steps 1-6, 9-13 and instead of the grizzly fur, use any fabric of your choosing.  

Will outside the beast’s castle. with his Chewbacca ears.

You’ll need:

• ~1 sq foot of Peltex 70 interfacing
• ~1 sq foot of faux brown “grizzly” bear fur
• ~ 6 sq inches of brown suede
• a Popsicle stick
• Silver paint
• polyester stuffing
• Wide headband ideally with fabric you can sew onto I used this one.  If not you’ll also need the below:
• glue gun
• black broadcloth fabric
• cotton batting

1. If your headband is padded and able to be hand stitched into, skip to step 5.  Otherwise, measure the circumference and width of your headband.  Double the width and add an inch.  Cut a strip of black broadcloth 2xwidth + 1.25 inches by circumference + 1 inch.
   

   Cut broadcloth for headband

2. Fold the strip in half the long way and stitch the short side closed (1/2″ seam).  Stitch the long side closed (1/2″ seam).
   

   Stitch broadcloth into a tube

3. Cut a strip of cotton batting to fit the headband. Hot glue to the headband.
   

   Hot glue batting to headband

4. Gently use the headband to turn the broadcloth cover inside out and simultaneously inserting the headband into the broadcloth cover.  Hand stitch the opened end closed.
5. Using a protractor cut 4 circles of Peltex 2″ radius.
   

   Cut 4 circles of Peltex 70

6. Cut 4 circles of fur 1/2″ larger in radius than the Peltex circles. (Use the Peltex circles as a pattern.
7. Cut a rebel symbol out of suede.  Make sure it is slightly smaller than 2″ radius.
   

   Cut rebel symbol out of suede

8. Center and sew rebel symbol directly onto front of one fur circle.
9. Baste two Peltex circles together.  Repeat for second set. Cut a line across the bottom of each set of circles, 1″ wide.
10. Stitch two fur circles together, right sides together. Leave a 1″ gap at the bottom to flip and stuff.  Repeat for second set of fur circles, making sure to leave the 1″ gap at the bottom of the rebel symbol.
    

    Sew fur circles together leaving a 1″ gap at the bottom.

11. Flip fur circles right side out.  Take a comb and gently pull the fur out of the stitching.  Insert a set of Peltex circles into each fur ear, with the flat side at the opening.
12. Add a tiny bit of stuffing to each side of the ear.
    

    Add stuffing

13. Fold the excess fur on the open end of the fur circle into the ear.  Hand stitch the ear onto the headband.  The ears should be about 6 inches apart from each other. To make sure the ear stands up properly you’ll want to keep it 3 dimensional and stitch one side close to the front of the headband and the other side close to the back of the headband.  Make sure you stitch to the interfacing as well.
14. Finally make the tiny Chewbacca ammo belt by cutting 10 pieces of popsicle stick about 2mm wide.  Paint them with silver paint.
    

    Cut and paint popsicle stick

15. Cut a 1/2″ x 5″ wide strip of suede and an 1/8″ x 3″ strip of suede.
    

    Cut strips of suede for belt

16. Center the thin strip of suede in the larger strip.  Using a leather needle, stitch across the top of the thin strip to attach.
    

    Stitch thin piece of suede to thicker piece of suede in center.

17. Insert a piece of popsicle stick under the thin strip and stitch as close as possible to the popsicle stick through both strips of suede.
    

    Insert popsicle stick and sew close to end of stick to hold it in place.

18. Repeat until you’ve used up all the popsicle sticks or you run out of the thin strip of leather. Cut the thin strip down close to the last popsicle stick.
    

    Finished ammo belt

19. Right sides together fold the belt in half and stitch with 1/2″ seam.  Insert over one of the ears and attach by a few hand stitches through the back of the suede and ear.
    

    Finished Chewbacca ears ready for Disney!

These ears cost me only $6 to make, and I have so much furry material left I could make 3 more pairs…

Its November and the leaves have changed from their showy early autumn display of glorious vibrant flame to more subdued golds and browns.  It is almost as if the initial fire has turned into smoldering embers; beautiful but different than the October trees  I love fall and have been lucky enough to enjoy every day of it while on my sabbatical.  But my love of fall doesn’t stop me from clinging to the last ounce of summer!  This week we’re soaking up the sun in Orlando for a quick vacation at Disney and Universal Studios!

And what better excuse to use up some fancy stretch lace I purchased months ago than to create a beach cover up for the trip?  I couldn’t resist purchasing this fabric while I was buying suede fabric for my Robinhood hats.  The fabric is a black crocheted lace and was only $3 a yard!  It is 60″ wide to boot!  I have lots of other ideas for the rest of it, but for starters here’s some super quick instructions for an easy swimsuit cover up!  And at such a low price it cost me less than $6 to make!  You can’t beat that!!

Just in time for Fall Swimsuit Cover Up

You’ll need:

• 2 yards of crocheted (stretch) lace
• 1 yard bias tape in coordinating color
• thread in coordinating color

1. Start by measuring from your shoulder to where you want the dress to hit.  On me this was 36″.  You’ll need to double this to find the length of your fabric.
2. Cut a rectangle out of your fabric 40″ by 72″ (or the doubled length from #1).
   

   Cut rectangle of fabric

3. Fold the rectangle in half.  Mark the center of your fabric and cut a slit 4.5″ on each side of center (for your neck) along the fold.
4. Cut down from the fold 9″ at the center mark. Cut from neck to end of this line forming a “v”.
   

   Cut 9 inch slit down the front of the dress to form a “v” neck

5. Round the bottom corners slightly by trimming with scissors.
   

   Round bottom corners slightly

6. Hem the edges of the rectangle by creating a 1/8″ rolled hem.
7. Open out bias tape.  With right sides together, line up edges of neckline and pin along first fold line of bias tape.  Stitch along this line.
   

   Attach bias tape to neckline

8. Fold bias tape in half back on itself onto the inside of the neckline.  Stitch in the ditch on the front of the neckline to secure the bias tape on the inside.
   

   Stitch in the ditch

9. At this point you’ll want to try the cover up on or put it on a mannequin.  Pin at the waistline where you want the body of the cover up to end.  Mirror and pin on the opposite side.
   

   Pin at waistline

10. Stitch a 4″ vertical line at the point you pinned on both sides. Voila!!

I just love how the sleeves drape!

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.  It was lots of fun and I got to meet so many inspiring and accomplished women!  I also got to hang out with my coworker Ibis who up until now I have only spent time with at volunteer events.  I had a great time getting to know her and couldn’t have hoped for a more fun travel buddy!

I on the other hand may have proved just how much of a klutz I am sometimes!  On the day I arrived we headed out of the airport to call an Uber.  While I’m looking at my phone to call the car, I backed up a step without looking.  This was a bad idea.  Someone’s roller bag was directly behind me and I tripped over it and started to fall over.  For a second I thought I might catch myself, but in another second I was on my butt on the pavement, laughing hysterically.  Good going Lexi!  I still have a huge bruise to remember it!

Later that day we went to lunch at this awesome Mexican restaurant and for some crazy reason I decided to take my leftovers back to the room (as if I was planning to eat them).  I guess I just hate to waste food.  Anyway, we decided to head to the convention center first before heading back in the other direction to the hotel.  At some point during the long walk the to-go box upended itself without my knowledge and juice from the beans started leaking all over my pants.  Strike two!  I only brought 2 pairs of jeans so I had to wash them in the hotel room sink.

Strike three occurred when Ibis and I showed up at a private event hosted by Pandora.  We had both registered in advance but I was on the wait list.  Luckily the woman said that we were so early she would let me in.  She asked for my name and I said and spelled “Alexis Colton”.  She looked puzzled for a minute and then said “I don’t have an Alexis Colton, but I do have an Alexia Coltom”.  By this point Ibis and I were cracking up at my new alter ego.  What a day!

After the conference I was so exhausted that I slept soundly all the way home from Houston on my new inflatable neck pillow.  I used to have a non-inflatable neck pillow but I lost it one time on my way to or from somewhere.  Amy introduced me to the clever, compact inflatable neck pillow that I can just shove in the bottom my backpack when I’m done using it.  The one thing I dislike about this pillow is the texture.  It is made of some fake plastic velvety coating that gives me the heebie jeebies when I touch it.  It also has some tabs that stick out around the neck area and are slightly annoying.  Since I’ll be using this neck pillow quite a few more times in the next month I decided to upgrade it by creating a nice soft fleece pillowcase.  I think an inflatable pillow and pillowcase would be a cute gift for a buddy who travels all the time!

Pillowcase for Inflatable Travel Pillow

What you’ll need:

• 1/2 yard of polar fleece (or so)
• pattern here (if you are using the same neck pillow)
• or pen and paper to draft your own pattern if not

1. Skip to step 3 if you’re using my pattern.  Take your deflated neck pillow and place it flat on your drafting paper.  Trace.
   

   Trace neck pillow

2. Add 1/2″ seam allowance.  Also add a line for your pocket about 4 inches up from the bottom of one end.  Add another line 1.5 inches below this line.  (See pattern and instruction below for why).
   

   Add markings for pocket.

3. Cut one piece of fleece using the entire pattern.
   

   Cut one piece of fleece using entire pattern.

4. Cut a second piece of fleece from one end of the pattern to the furthest line on the other side.
   

   Cut second piece up to furthest line.

5. Cut a third piece of fleece from the other end of the pattern to the furthest line from this end (should look like a pocket).
   

   Cut third piece.

6. Pin under 1/2″ on each of the straight edges of you pieces from step 4 and step 5.  Stitch.
   

   Pin 1/2″ on each straight end. Stitch.

7. Right sides facing in place small piece from step 5 on top of piece from step 3. Place piece from step 4 on top of both. Hems on piece 4 and 5 should overlap slightly. Pin.
   

   Place piece 3, piece 5 then piece 4.

8.  Stitch around entire pillow, backstitching where the pocket pieces overlap to reinforce.
   

   Stitch around entire pillowcase.

9. Trim seams and turn inside out.
   

   Trim seams, turn right side out.

10. To use, put deflated pillow into the case then inflate.
    

    Place deflated pillow into case. Inflate when ready to use.

11. To store, deflate the pillow then fold the pillow and case into the pocket at the opposite end.
    

    To store, fold pillow and case up into the pocket of the case.

    

    Post sewing nap.

Well friends I am SO SORRY that I did not post last week.  I stayed up until 12:30am Tuesday morning to increase my hat stock for the last faire weekend, then got up at 5am to fly to Houston for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.  The celebration was great and I’m glad I spent part of my sabbatical attending.  There were so many inspiring women to meet and trade tales with, and lots of new and interesting information on different subjects.  Because of my lack of post last week I promise to post one other time this week!  I’ll be telling you about Grace Hopper in that post.

The final weekend of the faire concluded yesterday.  Saturday was off and on down-pours so I bought a fabulous parasol umbrella from one of the vendors that I just can’t wait to rock next year!  Will’s family flew in from Nashville and Austin to come visit and see the booth.  They all looked quite fabulous in their hats.  I will be posting some more pictures on my facebook site in the coming weeks.  Yesterday night we tore down and packed up the entire booth in the dark.  All that remains is the sign and backdrop.  I’ll be heading down there tomorrow to take care of those.

While we had tons of fun at the faire getting to meet new and interesting people and accomplish my high school dream of selling hats, we will not be returning to the faire next year to sell hat.  Ignoring the slight financial loss, it is just too big a time commitment for Will & myself.  Without counting any of the hours my mom spent cutting hats or the time we spent at the faire it was at least 350 hours of time to make the full hat stock.  That may not sound too terrible, but on top of my >40 hour per week full time job that means consuming 5 months of my weekends and week nights.  While I love to sew, sewing the same 8 hats over and over again can get mighty tedious, especially while I’m giving up waterskiing or board games to do so.

Now that I’ve put my sewing machine through a torturous 8 months I am going to give her a thorough cleaning this week before I start anything else.  I also decided that it was time I made her a cover so she doesn’t collect dust while she’s sitting in my basement sewing studio (not that she really sits long enough unused to collect dust).  This was so embarrassingly easy that I actually contemplated not posting it.  I even used an old laundry bag to make mine so it was even easier!  You’ll need to measure your sewing machine dimensions first to decide how large to make it.

Quick and Easy Sewing Machine Cover

What you need:

• 1 yard of scrap fabric

1. Measure the width, depth and height of your sewing machine.
   

   Measure height, depth and width of your sewing machine.

2. Cut 2 rectangles (height+ depth) x (width + depth)
3. Sew the rectangle together along one width+depth end and the other two height+depth ends
4. Hem the open end.
5. Put cover over machine and pinch top corners along the top of the machine
   

   Pin across the corner, perpendicular to the seams.

   perpendicular to the seams on the top and sides.  Stitch along this line on both corners.

That’s it!  Super easy!

Finished sewing machine cover! You can use the same concept for a toaster cover!

While I have accumulated a huge a list of non-hat-related things to do during sabbatical, hats are keeping me so darn busy!  On top of hats, I’m still working on faire raiments!  Last week I finally finished a wool cloak for the faire and not a moment too soon.  It was a brisk 42 degrees this morning when we stepped into the fairground!  I need to make poor Will a cloak this week so he doesn’t freeze next weekend.

Terrible snap chat of my cloak. Note the pink hair for breast cancer awareness month.

Luckily in between all the hat and cloak sewing I had a chance to knock one thing off my laundry list – a running belt!  My co-workers have been making fun of me for coming into work during lunch to do yoga or run with my running buddies.  But yoga and running are the best part of my day!  Why wouldn’t I drive to work to do the things I love?  Anyway, one subtle problem I’ve had with driving to work to run with my friends is that I have no where to store my car keys or cell phone.  Ladies’ running attire has a dirth of pockets, and when it does have pockets they are way too small to be of much use to anyone.

On pinterest a while back I saw this nifty running belt thing that has pockets in it!  This is my interpretation of that device!  A word of caution: I almost turned the whole thing into a mobius strip when I first made it so make sure you follow my instructions carefully.  Also I got an industrial serger off craigslist the other day!  I am totally in love with it.  I have been in the market for a serger for a long time and finally committed.  This thing is A BEAST.  If you don’t have a serger you can follow my instructions for sewing stretch fabrics in this post on yoga pants.

Stretch Running Belt with Pockets

• 16″ wide by waist measurement long piece of stretch fabric.  I used pink polyester spandex
• serger (or you can use a regular sewing machine with a ballpoint needle and an appropriate stretch stitch.  See this post for more information!)

1. Start out by measuring your waist at the largest part of the hips where you want your belt to sit.
2. Cut a rectangle 16 inches wide by the measurement you obtained in step 1.  You’ll assume 1/2″ seam allowance since you’ll want the belt to be a bit snug.
   

   Cut rectangle 16″ by waist length

3. Fold the rectangle in half along the length, right side in.  Pin and serge along the edge.
   

   Pin fabric right side together, sew along open edge.

4. Open tube, right side out
   

   Open tube out

5. Fold tube in half again the long ways.  Pin.
   

   Fold in half again lengthwise

6. Mark two 3.5 inch gaps with pins. Space them equidistant from the edges of the tube and each other. These will form your pocket openings.
   

   Create two 3.5″ gaps along edge

7. Serge along this edge, being sure to leave the 3.5 gaps opened.
   

   Serge. Leave 3.5″ gaps opened.

8. Flip the belt right side out (so you can’t see any serging seams).
   

   Turn right side out.

9. Here’s the tricky bit.  Reach your arm through one of the pocket holes and grab the closest open end of the tube.  Also grab the opposite end of the tube to form a complete circle.
   

   Reach through pocket and pull both ends of tube through the pocket.

10. Pull both pieces back through the hole.  The top portion will be inside out.
11. Pin the open end of the tube all around.  When you pull this portion back out through the hole there should be no seam showing.  Double check this is going to work then serge.
    

    Pin around the edge of the tube.

    

    Finished edge after serging.

12. Finally open out the tube and put your belt on, the pocket side should be against your body to prevent anything from falling out!  Sorry these pictures are a bit weird, it was post run and I wasn’t sure if I was going to crop the picture or not!
    

    Proof that this thing doesn’t jiggle around! My keys and cell phone stayed in there nice and securely!

    

Well it turns out I have a bunch of life to catch up on!  After a week of sabbatical, I don’t have much to show for it except a cleaner house!  Since I’ve started this hat business the basement has gone from neat to a total disaster.  It had gotten to the point where my sewing area has exploded to more than half the basement and the other 2 quarters (my wood working area and the laundry area) had taken on different Whimsical Brims related messes.  For example – I was in a rush to get the sign roof brackets made and left a total mess (sawdust included) on the woodworking bench.  The laundry area is full of several weeks of neglected clothing as well as ren faire garb to be washed before this Saturday.

Since I’ve been making so much clothing lately I’ve been doing a lot of hand washing an air drying.  Since I don’t have a laundry line outside, I purchased a $1 clothesline at Walmart and strung it across my basement.  This has actually worked rather well.  Well except for the fact that I keep losing all the clothespins under piles of clean laundry.  It has been on my list for a couple months now to make a bag for my clothespins.  Today I’m happy to say that I finally get to check it off the list!  I used some scrap clothing fabric that I saved from the landfill, which is why it doesn’t look like it was cut from solid pieces of fabric.  I stitched a few pieces together to form one big square.  You can do the same or just use a yard of fabric you have on hand.

Reversible Hanging Clothespin Holder

• 1.5 yards of fabric (You’ll need two squares around 20″x20″)
• lightweight fusible interfacing
• 4 large eyelets
• Metal clothes hanger
• Pattern here

1. Trace and cut body pattern (above) twice on fabric (you can use two different types of fabric if you desire), you will need to add 1/2″ of seam allowance.
   

   Trace and cut out pattern pieces. Be sure to add 1/2″ seam allowance

2. Trace and cut 4  of the hanging reinforcements onto interfacing and cut out.
   

   Cut out 4 pieces of interfacing for reinforcement

3. Fuse reinforcements onto the wrong side of one of the pieces of fabric following manufacturer’s instructions.
   

   Fuse interfacing

4. Pin body fabric together, right sides facing.
   

   Pin and stitch body fabric together

5. Stitch together, leaving a 3 inch gap in one of the sides. Trim seams.
   

   Leave gap.

6. Turn body inside out through the gap.
   

   Turn right side out

7. Press flat.
8. Stitch all around the edges of the body close to the edge.
   

   Stitch around edges

9. Mark location of each eyelet on fabric, then cut out.
   

   Cut out hole for eyelet

10. Install eyelets per manufacturer’s instructions.
    

    Install eyelet

11. Take metal clothes hanger and using a set of pliers, untwist the neck of the hanger.
    

    Untwist neck of hanger

12. Using the set of pliers, bend the hanger to form a 1 inch diameter hook under the neck of the hanger.
    

    Twist into a hook

13. Twist back around the neck of the hanger to secure.  Clip.
    

    Clip.

14. Feed the eyelets around the hook. Fill with clothespins and hang to use.
    

    Thread hook through eyelets

    

    Finished reversible clothespin holder

    

    Fill with clothespins

The last few weekends at the faire have been great fun!  We’ve had lots of friends and family visit, and even several people who read my blog but who I have never met in person (shout out to Leo)!  And this Sunday we had a customer come back and tell me about her latest hat experience.  She had been wearing one of the velvet muffin caps to the mall (and totally pulling it off I might add) and was complimented not once but TWICE on how nice it looked on her.  How exciting!  She totally made my day for coming back to tell me that.  I think I will start wearing my muffin caps out and about!

Today was my first official day of sabbatical!  This means I caught up a bit on cleaning and made dozens of Swedish meatballs to serve at the Oktoberfest themed board game night we are hosting tomorrow.  In honor of the party I decided to make a wreath to hang on my door with the colors of Bavaria.  I have instructions on how to do that below if you care to make your own.  With the advent of my sabbatical I will have many more exciting posts to add over the coming weeks.  Thank you all for being so patient during this hat extravaganza.

Oktoberfest Wreath

Bavarian Oktoberfest Wreath with Lebkuchenherz

• 2.5″ White Ribbon
• 5/8″ Blue Ribbon (I used turquoise)
• 16″ diameter foam wreath base
• large wooden heart cut out (I obtained this from Michael’s)
• silk pins
• stain in desired color
• acrylic paints in assorted colors

1. Pin the white ribbon to the backside of the wreath using the silk pins, be sure to pin at an angle to the ribbon so that if you were to pull the ribbon towards the inside of the wreath the pin will stay securely in place.
   

   Pin ribbon to form using silk pins

2. Wrap the entire wreath in white ribbon, overlapping at each turn.
3. Pin the blue ribbon to the backside of the wreath and trim excess blue and white ribbon.
   

   Pin start of blue ribbon to form.

4. Wrap the wreath in blue ribbon leaving large gaps between every turn.  I left approximately 2.5″ gaps.
   

   Wrap form with blue ribbon. Make sure corgi approves.

5. Cut a length of blue ribbon and a length of white ribbon and make a bow with the two of them.  Pin to the top of the wreath hiding the pins inside the knot.
   

   Pin bow to form.

6. Stain the wood heart.  I thought this would be cuter than painting it.  You could also paint it.  Wipe stain off and let dry.
   

   Stain wooden heart

   

   Remove excess stain.

7. Paint the heart as you would a lebkuchenherz cookie.  I chose to put in a simple border, some hearts and the phrase “Ein Prosit”.
   

   Paint “cookie” heart

8. Drill holes in the heart just above the phrase.
   

   Drill holes for ribbon

9. Thread ribbon through the holes and hang heart from the wreath just below the ribbon bow.  I chose to use a completely contrasting color here.
   

   Thread ribbon through holes.

   

   Hang heart underneath bow.

10. Add a loop of ribbon to hang the wreath from.
    

    Add loop

11. Hang and enjoy! Prost!

Working the ren faire is still so much fun!  Everyday I can’t believe I’m there achieving my high school fantasy of selling hats at KRF.  The first time I went to the faire was with my first real boyfriend.  He bought me a rose and a pewter heart necklace and I was completely enamored with the place.  Though that love didn’t last very long, my love of renaissance festivals has only increased.  Every fall I would beg my parents to take me to the faire until I could finally drive myself.  Then I would drag my siblings and friends along with me, wearing various outfits that I concocted from Mom’s leftover material stash.  One day I tried on a fabulous muffin cap made by one of the artisans at the faire and I was in love all over again, this time with hats.

Fast forward a few years to college.  In school I took a couple of costume theater courses, and loved every minute of them.  I had to petition the college of engineering to count them as electives since I don’t think an engineer had ever taken a costume class before.  I only intended to take the prerequisite costume construction course so I could take the millinery course they offered the next semester. Disappointingly, the millinery course ended up conflicting with one of my major courses, so ironically that was the only costume class I didn’t get to take.  And boy have I used so much that I learned in the other courses.  Eventually I started drafting hat patterns for my costumes, friends’ costumes and eventually my annual medieval party.

Thanks for taking that stroll down memory lane with me.  Today I have a very quick and very limited use blog post.  Have you ever had boots that won’t stay up?  Probably not!  But maybe your pirate or cavalier friends have?  I purchased a pair of not-inexpensive cavalier boots for Will a few years back and the damn things slouch.  In the picture they didn’t slouch, so when I made his pants I sized them to come just below the knee, safely below where the boots would reach.  Well those slouchy beasts end up exposing his whole calf after an hour of standing.  How ignoble!  Well we solved the problem!  Boot straps!  No I’m not talking about the things that hold your pants down or the things used to power on your motherboard.  These things hold your boots UP.  Observe:

Before:

Before boot straps.

After:

One boot strap on, one off.  That tie on the ground is what we were previous using as a boot strap.

DIY Boot Straps to Unslouchify your Boots

Materials

• 4 feet of 1″ woven cotton braid
• 4 D Rings (1″ wide)
• thread

1. Cut your braid into two 24″ sections
2. Finish the ends of the braid to prevent fraying by straight stitching near the ends of the braid.
   

   Stitch ends to prevent fraying

3. Take two D-rings and thread one end of the braid through both of them.  Stitch as close to the rings as you can get with the presser foot.
   

   Attach d-rings

To use the straps

1. Unfold flap of boot.  Insert braid around leg inserting one end through both d-rings
   

   Unfold boot flap and wrap strap around leg.

2. Put end of braid over the first d-ring and into the second d-ring.  Pull until snug.
   

   Put end of strap over one d ring and under the second d-ring.

3. Tuck end of braid in.
   

   Tuck strap in.

My co-worker, Roger, returned from his sabbatical last Tuesday.  Every 7 years we get to take 8 weeks off in a row with pay – they call this a sabbatical.  It is customary to decorate a co-worker’s cube upon their return.  I’m under the impression that the more annoying the clean up upon your return from sabbatical, the more your friends are trying to show their love.  For instance for my friend Amy’s cube we turned her cube into “Little Cuba” complete with a huge wooden raft with crates of cigars and 300 lbs of sand.  Let me be the first to admit that sand was a bad idea.

So back to Roger’s sabbatical decorating.  For years we have been depositing stale Peeps in Roger’s cube in the months following Easter.  It started first when instead of throwing out 6 boxes of rock hard Peeps 5 months after Easter I decided to hide them one by one in Roger’s cube.  I don’t actually remember why I started doing this, he definitely doesn’t like Peeps.  Frankly that may have been why.  Whatever the reason, other co-workers caught on and by the end of a couple years he was known as “the Peep Guy” and had mysteriously accumulated a stack of peeps about 5 feet high.  Roger tells a particularly funny story that a new hire came by his cube once, saw the stack of Peeps and asked if he could have one.  Roger said yes (didn’t warn them they had been there for years), and allegedly the person ate one without complaint.  This still baffles me because by this point there had been a lull in Peeps deliveries for many many months.

Anyway, my dream was to fill his entire cube with Peeps while he was on sabbatical but I did not have the foresight or the money to make this happen.  I contacted Just Born but they don’t keep stale or defective Peeps around to sell as seconds (probably a good thing).  Instead we settled on turning his entire cube into a giant box of Peeps.  But because that wasn’t easy enough to clean up (recall the 300 lbs of sand in Amy’s cube) we also planned to fill the entire thing with balloons.

This entire project took lots of man-power!  I think we filled a total of 800 balloons and we used 200 square feet of yellow wrapping paper to cover his entire cube. Everyone on our team (at least 25 people) helped out which was great team-building!  The finishing touch was to add four giant plush Peeps bunnies that I made and finished up during a recruiting trip at my alma mater (talk about strange looks when entering the hotel).  Enjoy the pictures below, and if you’re interested in making a Peeps bunny check out my tutorial at the end.  Each bunny took roughly an hour.

We covered the entire cubicle in yellow wrapping paper so he did not know what awaited him inside.

Peeps bunnies packaged in Roger’s doorway

The bunnies are watching for Roger to walk in.

Here’s the surprise inside – 800 balloons in a 8’x8′ cubicle

Roger spent much of the morning moving balloons . At least it wasn’t heavy lifting.

Here’s the cube after he made some significant progress clearing out.

DIY Giant Peeps Bunny

Materials

• 1 yard of 72″ wide yellow felt (I think it would also be great or even better in polar fleece)
• 3″x3″ square of brown felt
• 1 lb of stuffing
• yellow & brown thread
• My pattern here

1. Cut out 2 bunnies using my pattern above.  Be sure to add 1/2″ seam allowance. Cut 2 5″ x 4 foot strips.  Cut eyes and nose from brown felt (no seam allowance needed).
   

   Cut out peeps bunny with 1/2″ seam allowance.

2. Sew the 5″x4′ strips together at one end to form a nearly 8’x5″ strip.

3. Pin good side of one bunny to good side of 8′ strip, placing the seam of the strip in between the bunny’s ears.  Pin to where the ends of the strip overlap at the bottom of the bunny.

4. Repeat step 3 with the second side of the bunny.

5. Stitch around the whole bunny starting with the opening at the bottom.  Repeat with the second side of the bunny.

Stitch where the bunny was pinned.

6. Clip into seams at the bunny’s neck and ears.

Clip Seams.

7. Turn right side out.

8. Fill the bunny with stuffing as desired, making sure to stuff evenly.

Stuff through the bottom opening.

9. Hand stitch the bottom of the bunny closed.

Hand sew the bottom closed.

10. Hand stitch the eyes and nose onto the bunny.

Hand sew the eyes and nose on (preferably while your co-worker drives you home from Ithaca).

Voila!

The bunnies lounging on the couch.