Playbill Ticket Holder

This ticket holder looks like the top of a Playbill. It keeps your tickets safe and separate from other items in your purse. Like most new york ladies i have a giant bag that i could carry most of my shoebox sized apartment in so this ticket holder is easy to spot in my bag so i don't have to dump the contents of my life on the sidewalk just to find my dang tickets.

Start by making a stencil of the word 'PLAYBILL'

Make a pattern for the envelope

Iron one side of double sided interfacing to the top yellow fabric.

The interfacing will keep the envelope sturdy and allow you to add the black fabric underneath.

Remove the paper and iron the black fabric to the yellow fabric.

Remember to save letters that have shapes in side of them like the P, A and B.

Cut out the inside shapes, remove the paper backing and position them carefully.

touch the tip of the iron to the small shapes to tack them down before ironing everything again.

Cut out the envelope pattern and iron folds into the bottom flap and sides.

Iron down the top flap.

The fold will hold on its own or you can add buttons to make sure the tickets never fall out.

How to Make a Normal Shirt Way More Awesome

This shirt was made as a birthday gift for a friend of mine. He is Israeli and he works as a chef in the city. The text translates to I heart treif. Treif is a term used for anything that is not Kosher. Including... our delicious friend, the pig.

This is another design using the same basic principles but with a bit more color and some super easy, but awesome looking, embroidery skills.

i made a small sketch of the image that i wanted to make. then i drew the image to size on strong drawing paper. If you don't trust your drawing skills you can print out an image from a computer and change the image size in the printing options.

because my image for my 'good pig' shirt has several layered pieces i need to trace the overall image to create the white background of the pig and then cut the original drawing to act as a pattern for the colored pieces that represent the different cuts of meat.

the image for my 'i heart treif' shirt will only use the white background and achieve the separation of the cuts with stitches.

double sided iron-on interfacing can be found at any fabric store. it helps make this project so simple. one side will feel slightly textured and the other will be smooth paper. iron it with the textured side touching the fabric.

once you have your image prepared peel the backing of the interfacing off and iron it directly to the shirt. you wont need to use pins so it makes it is easy to carry with you. i sewed most of this together on the subway.

i kept the size of the stitch relatively uniform to outline all of the images but i used larger stitches to indicate the separation of cuts on the pig.

i prefer the look of the simple stitch for the edges of the images but for the words i wanted to create a solid line.

lightly draw the words in pencil so you have a line to follow. start your stitch from the bottom coming up. make one small stitch down and come back up. then put your needle back in at the end of your first stitch and bring it back up one stitch length past your visible stitch. repeat this to create a solid line.

Now you're done and your shirt is way more awesome than it was when you started!

How to Make a Felted Pearl Necklace

This is a tutorial on how to create my pearl necklace piece from 2009. It is a simple project that can be done while watching tv or talking with friends. It is somewhat time consuming, each pearl taking between 5 and 10 minutes. Your hands will also become pruned from being wet for so long so it is best to do it over the course of a few days.

Have fun with it and let me know how it turns out!

Once you have strung all of your pearls to the desired length tie the string to the other end of your clasp. The pearls are soft so they can be pushed slightly back while tying the knot to be sure that your finished necklace has no gaps.

I will often string a few extra pearls and push them back as far as i can when tying the knot so i can cut away any pearls that may be off-center or look too large. If you do this be very careful to cut the pearl in sections without cutting the string. The felt can then be pulled away from the string and the other pearls will release back into the gap.