Tag Archives: design

October 5, 2025 · 10:16 pm

Halloween Blanket Project )O(

Merry meet all,

Samhain is almost here!! Are you as excited as I am? Join me, dear readers, for a post on how I will make a Halloween blanket! Grab a coffee or pumpkin spice latte and settle in. 

I began this halloween project by visiting the fabric store. I was enchanted by the array of halloween print fabrics. The fabrics were on sale so I got everything I needed. I bought threads, a zipper, and black, grey, orange and black fabric with red streaks. I was grateful that the staff was so helpful in determining the amount of fabric that I would need. I do believe I bought too much, but it is better to have more than less. The black fabric with red streaks is for a frame over the patchwork squares.

I washed the fabric by hand with vinegar and laundry detergent, then I dried them on the line or in the dryer. I do not want to go to all this work only to have my fabric warp or go wonky. The fabrics have formaldehyde in them for shelf life, so I had to wash them It makes them much easier to deal with. It is a good idea to always wash your fabric, but then it does all need to be ironed again afterwards. 

I measured three inches wide and measured the necessary length for each of the three inch wide strips- forty-two inches in total. I have to sew that together, then once all the patches are done, sew the strips to the squares. (Argh stop the madness!)  The quilt will be bound (like bias tape) in solid black fabric.  I have two strips of orange fabric with a skull print. One will be sewn onto the top of the quilt on the top side showing and the other will be sewn onto the bottom of the patchwork squares on the top side showing. It will all look amazing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to measure and calculate a lot. I hope I have enough brown fabric, that is the bottom side of the blanket. It has to match to the top side of the blanket. Originally, I planned to have six patchwork squares in a row. Now I have extended that to eight. There are nine rows of squares in a grey, orange, black, bright orange, grey or beige square pattern. I cut out about slightly over seventy-two squares. I did not intend to cut out that many, but when I arranged all the patchwork squares in rows and saw how it could all come together, I changed my mind several times. I had to cut out specific patchwork squares- mostly the black and orange. I have a black fabric with a spider and spiderweb print. I had two orange spider and spiderweb prints, but one was more matte and the other bright. I rearranged and rearranged until I thought I had it all planned. My cat laid down on the squares and messed them up. Argh!

I kept changing my mind. Once it is all sewn together, it is permanent. I wanted to be certain. The layout in the photo is not the layout that I decided on. I wanted to share the photo so you would all know what I was talking about. It is a good idea to keep the cat out of the room (not to be cruel, but Penny messed up my squares, sweep and mop the floor to get to layout the squares). Once you sew, it is done. 

I sew the first row together, then I sew the second row and so on and so on till I get to the last row. Then I sew them all together. I plan to sew with a quarter inch stitch- the skinny stitch. (I can’t recall right now, my brain is addled.) There is more orange and black in the layout. To save my sanity, I used a black marker and painter’s tape to keep the rows organized.  You can see the small pieces of the painter’s tape in the photo above, I wrote row 1 on the tape and stuck that to the squares. I did the same with the rest of them till I got to the ninth row. They are all organized that way. I have to mind that the squares have a decorative print and that all the squares prints face up the right way. They all have to be the same size. 

I bought a meter of this cool black print Halloween fabric. The squares were all about nine inch by nine inches. I cut them out very carefully and I arranged them over my patch squares. I kept moving them over the squares till I decided I was happy with the layout. The blanket will be amazing! I want to get filler from the fabric store. Then once the patches are all sewn together and the bottom of the blanket (the brown fabric) is sewn to the top of the blanket, I add the filler. Hopefully it will not be too expensive. 

I saved the black strips between the nine inch larger black crow or skull squares. I might sew on the strips of the black fabric over (between) the patchwork squares. I don’t have enough for the whole patchwork top, so we will see how it goes. Or maybe I will be brave and sew the strips on diagonally! We will see. 

I chose somber colors for this blanket. To me, Samhain is a time of festive joy and is somber at the same time. The colours are an earthy, muted brown, a cool matte black spiderweb print, a matte orange spiderweb print, a brighter orange spiderweb print, a grey + beige print material covered with crows and punpkins, and a grey +beige snowflake and pentagram fabric. The last fabric was so witchy I just had to buy it. I am happy with the layout and the arrangement of the patchwork squares and the colours. It all just blends together so well. 

I will alter my dress from Killstar and my green dress from HolyClothing. The hems are too long. I live in Nova Scotia, which means that anything with a long hem will sweep leaves off the sidewalks or collect dirt, mud or leaves. Then I have to hem them again. Best to do it now. I am not totally happy with it, but it pays off to alter a hem as it guarantees the fabric will last much longer. 

I will save the fabric that I trim off for the hemming. The patchwork blanket will be a ton of work, but it will be worth it. I sewed all the squares together. There were eight patchwork squares in rows and a total of nine rows of patchwork squares = 79 squares in total.  The squares are sewn together and shown in the photo below. I can’t change my mind now on the order of the squares, but I can change my mind on the rows and which order they should be in. 

The rows of patchwork squares sewn together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The last two days I worked hard on the patchwork quilt. I had to see the forest for the trees. In other words, no matter how many times I laid the whole quilt in rows on the floor. I could not see then that some patches were repeated. I had to make new patches and sew them in several times. It is always right sides together when you are  sewing and that is easier said than done. Now all the squares are different save for two, but it does not matter. All the patches squares are sewn and all the rows are sewn together. Then once that was finally completed, I started on the frame with the black and red streak quilting fabric. I measured how much I would need by lining the strips of the fabric along the width and length of the material. I cut the strips to the width and length I wanted. The quilt is about 58′ x 64′. Then I pressed and turned over a long edge about a quarter inch to avoid fraying. I stitched that down and then pinned the strips with the turned under edge on the outside. When I sew the top of the quilt to the bottom side, the rough edge will be caught in the fabric and won’t show a raw edge. That also helps me avoid fraying. So I have to sew down both sides of the material. I am nitpicky about the fabric ends meeting evenly and avoiding raw edges showing. 

Once that is completed, I can finally sew the brown fabric together and then sew the quilt top to the brown fabric. Then I will insert the nice cotton filler and then line it all up and to make sure it does not bunch up, I will sew the quit filler in. Then I plan to add a black edge binding. It will look amazing! The more effort you put in and caring about all the tiny details, the better your work looks. I added two strips of the orange fabric with a white skul print to the top of the (top of quilt) and a strip on the bottom. If you look closely at the above photo, you can see them. I have to make sure the seams are finished. I always pin and press and line up my edges. The tiniest things, no matter how mundane or boring they seem.,matter and the more care you take, the more beautiful the final effort will be. Sewing has tons of repetition, pin and press and sew over and over again, but that is the way it is. I want my quilt to last a long time and keep me warm on cold nights. Paying attention to the details now guarantees that will happen. 

Next, I can sew the brown fabric and once I sew in the spider, check all my seams, sew on the black frame fabric, and sew the brown bottom fabric to the top quilt fabric, then I can finally insert the filler. I have to leave a hole large enough for the filler to go in between the two fabrics then sew the hole closed. Then I am done! I just want to take all the care I can now so that I am truly happy with it. 

Today I made the small repairs, sewed the spider onto the front of the quilt and added the filler. I trimmed the excess and sewed the front, filler and the back of the quilt together. I bought bias tape from the fabric store but it was the wrong color. I am so excited to sew the bias tape onto the blanket but I have to be patient. It has been a lot of work so far. 

In other news, I sent my BFF Onyx a herbal tea blend. I hope it arrives soon. I bought a cool black blouse online from Killstar, a few candles from Horrified Candles and a wand. However, Canada Post is on strike again. It may be a while before I receive my parcels. I received my Horrified Candles! Very happy about that. 

I bought a new witch hat. My black wool witch hat paired with a black top or cardigan (to keep me warm), and my purple astrology boots should keep me stylin’. Yeah We all love October. The most magickal time of the year. 

 I would love to hear what projects, crafts or rituals you all are conjuring this month, Please leave a comment and tell me all about it.

I want to add that this is my 999th post. The next blog post will be the thousandth post!!!!!! I have learned a lot about maintaining a blog, made mistakes, survived the disaster of my old blog site being hacked. I am still here and typing- and kicking! It makes me so happy to have achieved this milestone. I could not have done this without all the wonderful support from my awesome friends and readers. I love you all. I am very happy to have come this far. I have to party when I write the thousandth post! I have a lot of reasons to party this October. !!! )O(

Blessings, Spiderwitch

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 21, 2022 · 8:37 pm

Summer Solstice Lantern )O(

Merry meet all,

Happy Summer Solstice!!! I hope you are all celebrating the summer solstice. I did too and I’m going to tell you all about it in this post. I will post a link below to the blog post from Herbal Academy that tells you how to make it. I’m taking the summer course on how to press flowers at the Herbal Academy. 

To make a Summer Solstice Lantern, clean and wash a large glass jar like one you use for pasta sauce. Let it air dry. For this project, I didn’t press the flowers first but they are supposed to be pressed. Also, instead of white glue or Mod Podge glue, I used a hot glue gun. I used the watered down white glue at first. I discovered that a hot glue gun was better at making flowers adhere to the jar. Afterwards, I bought and used Mod Podge to give it a permanent finish. It looks great and yours will too. 

You will need the following supplies:

  • a hot glue gun and glue
  • tweezers
  • scissors
  • a clean dry jar
  • flowers
  • white glue
  • Mod Podge glue
  • paper towel and a work surface – glue can get messy
  • twine, a wire
  • salt
  • tealights

Ok let’s get started. So once your jar is clean and dry, set it down on your workspace. Have old newspaper and paper towel nearby. This can get messy. If you pressed the flowers ahead of time, that’s great. I used the flowers I picked today for this project. Clean off any bugs and snip off the stems. It’s a good idea to use flat faced flowers for this project such as buttercup, white Shasta daisies, violets, red clover leaves. Use a paintbrush to dab on the glue of your choice to the jar. Before the glue dries, pick up the delicate flower with the tweezers and stick it on the jar where you dabbed the glue. Apply the flower with gentle firm pressure. 

This is tricky. You can’t tear or cut the flower. I brushed from the centre of the flower out to the petals. I dabbed the glue over the face of the flower in gentle, outward strokes. I suggest making sure the flower face stays flat. So be gentle with this step. Add more flowers to the jar. Think about the design you want it to have. Let the jar dry thoroughly. Be patient with this project. Arrange the flowers around the jar as you choose. Keep dabbing glue on to the jar and applying gentle firm pressure till you are satisfied with it. Place stems around flowers or under flowers or in whichever design you choose. 

Gently dab glue over the flowers. I suggest using Mod Podge for this step. It gives the flowers a frosted finish. When it has all dried, then you can proceed to the next step. You can wrap a wire around the opening of the jar. I secured mine with a dab of hot glue. I love my hot glue gun, can you tell? The instructions on how to do this are in the link. Then add a few inches of salt into the jar. Put a tea light in perhaps one with essential oils added to the candle, and watch the candle glow in your personal Summer Solstice Lantern. I hope you have fun with this and show me pictures of your own summery crafts. 

Below is the link to the blog post from the Herbal Academy:

Link: https://theherbalacademy.com/flower-lanterns/ 

Happy Solstice!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

June 19, 2022 · 2:49 pm

Fairy House )O(

Merry meet all,

Summer Solstice is almost here. Here is a beautiful idea to celebrate the Solstice. I was inspired to create a fairy house. I am not sure what inspired me but I trusted it. I’m posting here to tell you how I constructed the beautiful fairy house. I almost want to move in, except I am not small enough. That’s why it is a Fairy House!

Let’s get started:

SUPPLIES

  • A glue gun
  • lots of glue
  • lots of popsicle sticks
  • acrylic paint
  • paintbrush
  • paint sticks
  • cedar bark
  • pinecones
  • acorns
  • twigs
  • ivy leaves
  • witch hazel leaves
  • oak leaves
  • arrowhead, miniature furniture, fairy doll (optional or add later)
  • a sealant of some kind to preserve your creation
  • Patience

To begin, set down newspaper and paper towel. You will need lots of it. That is now your workspace. Lay out all your supplies. Also, this can’t be done in one day. Don’t rush it and do take your time. It will turn out much better. Now snap the paint sticks in half and arrange them vertically in your workspace. This is the base of the house. Glue them together and paint them your desired colour. Set it aside. 

Now lay seven to nine popsicle sticks together horizontally. Keep them neat and very close to each other. Now without moving the sticks, set down two popsicle sticks on the right and the left of the sticks. Glue them together with the hot glue gun. Be sure they are glued together. Do this with 4 other sets of seven to nine sticks. This is to build the roof and walls of the house. Let them dry. Once they have fully dried and are truly glued together, you can paint them your desired colour. Or you can use popsicle sticks that are already coloured. I was going for a rustic look and so used lots of browns but it is your choice. 

I didn’t add windows but you can if you choose. Now here is the tricky part: assembling the house. Determine how you want the house to be. I set the walls of the house down on the base. I kept shifting the walls until I liked the way it was. Be flexible while you create your house. I glued a stick to the bottom of the walls. I glued a popsicle stick to the popsicle sticks then was able to glue it to the base. The popsicle sticks have curved ends. It would have been tricky to adhere otherwise. Once the walls are glued to the base, then work on the roof. Once you glue everything, it is permanent. Be certain it is the way you want it. Or maybe you want the roof removable. Glue the roof to the walls of the house. 

Once the whole house is glued and secure, you can decorate. I would suggest completing this step first. Now that that is done, you can go outside and gather pinecones, acorns, twigs, leaves, flowers, herbs or stones. It’s early summer here so I had a hard time finding any acorns. I finally found an intact acorn in a jar in my kitchen. Use twigs and leaves to hide any awkward ugly corners from view. Use twigs for windows or doors. I set a bird nest on the roof. It clipped on so I didn’t have to glue it. 

Before you adhere a pinecone to your masterpiece, you may want to clean them for critters. If it just came in from outside, insects may have been living on it. Soak pinecones, twigs, acorns, leaves and twigs in water and half a cup to a cup of vinegar for 20 minutes. Bake the pinecones and acorns in the oven at 200 F for half an hour. Let them dry then pat them dry with a paper towel. 

Now you can decorate. Oh and to make the door, stack five popsicle sticks together neatly then arrange a stick on the right and the left. Then glue and paint them. I snapped two popsicle sticks in half. I hope by now you can see why I said lots of popsicle sticks and glue earlier. Then I laid them on top of each other and glued them. I glued them to the five popsicle sticks. That made the door. 

Now feel free to decorate the house. You can decorate to your hearts content. I layered the leaves over each other on the roof. I set down two big cedar bark pieces on the roof. Then I added the cedar, oak and ivy leaves. I used the ivy leaves to cover bad spots and to create a path to the door. Search your house for tiny treasures such as the arrowhead I have on the roof of the house. I hope you have fun creating the house. You are only limited by your imagination. I wrote Fairy Home on a popsicle stick and glued that to the roof. I used the twigs as windowsills, to fill in spaces and add decoration. 

Have fun creating your fairy house. Don’t forget to add a fairy or two to inhabit the house. You can search toystores for miniature furniture. I don’t have a fairy or mini furniture yet but soon. Don’t leave the house outside or it won’t last. You can coat the entire house in a silicone sealant to preserve your creation. Don’t use cardboard to make the house. Wood is much sturdier. When you’re done, perform a fairy blessing on it. 

Enjoy!

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 7, 2021 · 7:35 pm

Skull Pyjama Pants

Merry meet all,

I just sewed a pair of awesome spooky Pyjama pants. I love them. It was so easy and so much fun to make I had to share it with you. It is so easy to do. You can do it in one day or in a few days. 

I borrowed a pattern from my Mom. Her pattern was so simple. But there is the problem. It’s not really all that simple. Since I had a skull print on the fabric, I wanted to ensure the direction of the print was correct. I laid out the fabric on my kitchen table. I made sure the direction of the skulls was in unison. The skulls go down the pants not up. I hope I explained that clearly. I have included a photo of the skull Pyjama pants. Maybe that will help. 

Then I cut out 4 pieces on the selvage. I had 4 pieces of fabric. Then I stitched them together – the inside of the legs. I used a straight stitch. Then I sewed the crotch area. I reinforced the stitches. That means I stitched twice to strengthen the stitches so they don’t unravel. Then I sewed the front and back sides together. I tried the pants on. Yay they fit! When I was sure that they fit, I proceeded to the next step. 

I did a finishing stitch on the seam allowances of the pant legs. I did a long nice zigzag stitch. That prevents the fabric from fraying. But I hit a snag. There is always a snag when sewing. I needed to set the sewing machine to the right settings to do a zigzag stitch. I had to watch the tutorial on how to do that again. 

I pinned down an inch or two of fabric at the waistline. I did that to make sure I had enough of a casing for the elastic. I pinned the bottom hems of both legs of the pants. Then I stitched the pant hems. I stitched again to strengthen the stitch. I then sewed the casing for the waistline. I worked in the elastic using a safety pin. I looked in the mirror and armed with chalk- and securing the elastic in my fingers, I measured how much elastic I needed. Always have more elastic at hand than you plan to use. You are always better off using more than less. You cannot compromise on this step. Or it will never fit you properly. I also tested my pants for fit by sitting down in the pants to see if they truly fit me and do a few stretches. When I was sure they fit, I stitched the ends of the elastic, tucked it in the hole and stitched the hole closed. I wore the  pants for a moment. Yup they felt good. I was so happy. It was so easy to do. 

Just like the elastic, I encourage any of you who are eager to try this to have more fabric than you need. It is o easy to err when sewing. Always err on the side of caution. If you are using a print like mine, decide how you want the print to go. The skull print goes down the pants on both sides- front and back. This is in unison or consistent. It makes it look store bought. 

Now I have an awesome affordable cool pair of Pyjama pants to wear with my diabolical dark lord slippers. !! I love how they turned out. Paying attention to the details ensure a beautiful garment in the end. It is easy to have problems as you are sewing such as the elastic twisting in the casing, not enough elastic or fabric or running out of thread. Taking care of those tiny details ahead of time saves you the trip to the fabric store in the rain- when you could have been sewing. 

When you sew the zigzag stitch, be neat and clean. Sew it next to the straight stitch or on it. The point of the zigzag stitch is to prevent fraying. If you look carefully at a garment in your wardrobe, you might just see a zigzag seam on your clothes. It will be found on the inside of your garment. Look even closer and you can see how neatly it is done. Yup that is what I am talking about. You can adjust the stitch to be wide or a narrow zigzag stitch. Try not to sew the zigzag stitch outside or far from the seam allowance. Sew it on the seam allowance, inside the seam allowance. It will look neater that way. If you think you can do it, a smaller seam allowance leaves you more fabric. It may help the pants fit you better. 

Remember this maxim when sewing: Measure twice, cut once. I can’t emphasize that enough. It is so true. When you hem the pants, you don’t always have to do a narrow hem. I didn’t. I just folded up the hem on the inside of the pants an inch or two. I secured the fabric with pins then sewed it. I did it twice to ensure it would not come undone. The fabric I used can unravel easily. I had to be careful. The stitches show on the right side of the fabric. But I took the extra time to make the seams neat. I can see it but I don’t know if others can. There are so many black lines on the print it may not be visible to everyone. 

That is how you sew your own pjs! It is so easy to do. Most fabric stores carry fabric patterns. It certainly is a cheap way to make a pair of pyjama pants. I love mine. It’s even better that I can wear my Dark Lord slippers with them. I ordered the slippers from Killstar. But I didn’t plan to pay for shipping and handling for pjs- not when I made mine look that cook! I also plan to set in a black tie or ribbon for the pj pants. That will be the finishing touch! 

Does this inspire you to sew your own pyjama pants? I hope so. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

Leave a comment

Filed under Paranormal and Witchy Fiction

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,