Archive for January, 2008

Making fashion jewelry from beads

Thursday, January 31st, 2008

When it comes to making fashion jewelry from beads, one has to be creative, unique and have an understanding of color, shapes and the concept of design. Sure it’s easy to string a few beads on strings and call it a necklace. But to create a masterpiece that involves wire twisting around the sterling silver beads, glass beads or intertwining in ways where a flower can be created as a pendant or create any design you want, it takes time to master this type of technique, but it is totally worth the effort.

The primary goal of creating a dazzling and unique piece of jewelry is to capture that creativity within yourself. You can use your imagination and creativity to find the right self-vision in making that perfect design jewelry. Beading is an art. Your artistic way of designing with beads can make this kind of fashion jewelry that can be set apart from all others. You can create and introduce new bead patterns with your imagination and by knowing the right techniques. Making your own custom jewelry with the use of quality and stunning colors, shapes and sizes of beads can bring out your beauty and your personality. Handmade design jewelry with fashionable beads is truly unique and can never be duplicated.

Many people can find a childhood memory of having made bracelets and necklaces with colorful beads and strings and possibly of trading them or giving them to friends as gifts. Now with a variety of beads and accessories available in your craft store or online, you can simply make the most fashionable jewelry that can not be compared to the ones sold in stores. You can find all different types of beads made out of crystal, glass, metal, precious stones, wood, seashells and other materials available. Making fashion jewelry from beads is attracting flocks of people, especially women. Buying jewelry in stores can cost a lot and may not be the right color or style for you.

Because of the increased variety of beads and accessories, it is now possible to create fancy, fashionable and expensive looking jewelry that goes perfectly well with any type of occasion and with any adult fashion. Creating your own jewelry will help you to not compromise for the lack of choice by buying items at the store that are not quite to your taste. Designing and making your own piece of jewelry is probably cheaper than buying similar items in stores.

The first thing you need to do when designing your very own piece of fashion jewelry is to create a basic pattern using color, shape or size as your theme. Secondly, think of your budget. You want to be able to make your own original masterpiece using a unique design and pattern that is affordable and cute. Adding beads of materials like stone and pearl makes handmade jewelry seem very expensive. Adding two or three strands or using beads of different sizes makes for a gorgeous appearance. Beads give jewelry a delicate yet cheerful impression and seem to go best on bare skin.

For making beaded jewelry, be patient and enjoy your time taking the do-it yourself approach of making your own fashion jewelry. Learn basic techniques for bending wire easily and learn the variety of stringing material as well. You can consider buying an instructional DVD or reading articles in magazines or books before starting your project. Make sure that you have the appropriate tools like wire cutters, pliers and a crimper. This certainly will help simplify your design and the creation of the end product. You can buy different type of beads at your local craft stores or online. You can also consider taking apart jewelry that you not longer use to create a fresh new one. Use different designs combinations and beads color, shapes and sizes.

 

Kid crafts that stimulate development

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

There are many easy crafts for children today that help stimulate their development.  Helping equip your child with some extra skills and helping them think creatively seems much more productive than placing them in front of the television.  Arts and crafts are extremely important in the development of a child.  Just as important in fact as school studies, outdoor games and many other activities.  Arts and crafts that stimulate development help sharpen kids’ creativity levels and also increase their intelligence.  So what exactly are some of these ingenious crafts that help stimulate development.  The following is a list of some simple activities you can have your child do at home and that will also help stimulate development.

 Fall Leaf Placements.  You can make this craft as simple or complex as you’d like.  The idea behind this craft is that children will collect leaves (during the fall season) and create a placemat.  All you need is a roll of contact paper, fall leaves, and scissors.  Have your kids go out in the yard and collect leaves.  If you want to make it more complex specify the color leaves you want and how many of each you want them to get.  If they are wet you will need to let the dry before starting your project.  Cut your contact paper as big or small as you want it and lay it so that the sticky side is face up.  You want the leaves to lie on the sticky side.  Cut one more piece; this will go over the bottom one.  Again, for small children let them simply create their master piece.  As children get older have them create patters with size and color, or find leaves that match. 
 Pumpkin face match.  You will need about 6 or 7 pumpkin shape faces that already have expressions drawn on them.  You will then give your toddler the same pumpkin faces but they will have to draw the faces like the ones already drawn.  As he draws the faces talk about the different emotions everyone experiences.  Then when the faces are all done and drawn play a matching game to see if they can match the face they drew, with the one you drew.
 Puppets- Children have a blast making finger puppets, sock puppets, popsicle puppets, and even more complex puppets.  Again, it all depends on the age of your child.  After they have made their puppets they can use them to put on a puppet show for you and the family or whoever they want. 
 Shape pictures- Using some very basic shapes you can help stimulate development by allowing them to create a masterpiece.
 Painting- Such a simple craft can be overlooked sometimes because there are many people who think that kids can only paint messes.  When given the right direction, children can truly create some great works of art.  As children learn to use colors and mix colors, they can create virtually anything they want.  You can give them sponges, brushes, utensils, and almost anything you can think of so they can use their creativity to create the work. 
The benefits of letting children participate in arts and crafts as you can see will help any child improve developmentally.  There are not many other things you can do that help stimulate such creativity than some of these fun arts and crafts.  There are many more crafts that you can do with them if you do some research and use your creativity also.  Have fun learning and growing together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tools you need for metal wire crafts

Monday, January 28th, 2008

Tools you need for metal wire crafts. There are several tools that are needed in order to create the most beautiful metal wire crafts successfully. Then there are some tools that are optional. These will either help to create special parts of crafts, or will make the overall job easier. We will look at all of these different tools.

Wire

The wire you use is a supply, but it is also a tool for metal wire crafts. The wires can come in different gauges, types and strengths. You will find that there are several options for your metal wire crafting needs in your local craft store, or even online at the craft sites. You may find it online at a discounted price.

Pliers

There are two kinds of pliers that you will need for sure. There are other types of pliers you may choose to purchase. These can be for ease of use, or for specialty plans. Though these are the two basic types of pliers you will want to look at getting.

1. Round nose pliers- these are pliers that are rounded on both sides of the tips. You will want to have a good quality set of these pliers, because you will be using them relatively often. Here are some of the reasons and jobs you will be doing with this tool.
a. You will be making loops with this tool.
b. They will also be used for smooth bends.
c. These are also great for curves and other fixtures. 
d. This is a tool that can do specific metal wire crafting jobs that no other tool can really do.
2. Chain nose pliers- these pliers are flat and work the wire by the flatness on the inside. They also have a rounded outside that can be used with the flat inside to create a specific look, texture, or function of the wire. This set of pliers needs to also be of higher quality. They are used often in metal wire crafts. The flatness on the inside of these pliers needs to be very smooth. That way you will not transfer any scrapes, indentations or marks over to the metal you are working on.

Wire cutters

Wire cutters are the next tools you will find are very important in your metal wire crafting tools. You may want to get a couple different sets of wire cutters. A good one to start with is the ones that are the small yet strong kind that create a flush cut. These will make a V-shape cut in the wire on the one side, and on the other side will create a straight cut.

There are many other sizes and shapes available for the wire cutters out there. They key will be to find the sets that will do the types of wire cutting you need for your projects.

Do not go cheap on your wire cutters either. The reason is, if you do you will find that they can break, or even cause injury when build poorly.

Bench block and chasing hammer

The bench block and chasing hammer is a tool combination. You will usually find these separate than any kit you mind find. They are two separate tools that work significantly together.

1. The bench block is a flat surface that has a satiny surface. This tool needs to be smooth, clear of dings etc.
2. The chasing hammer is used to flatten and smooth out the wire on the bench block.

These are the main tools you will need for metal wire crafting. You can probably find many of these tools in kits. However, making sure you buy good quality tools will be imperative if you want to have tools that work well and last longer.

 

Where to get free purse and bag patterns

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

Making your own purses and bags is a fantastic way for you to create your own bags with your own special style and personality.  By making your own bags and purses you can choose the pattern that you want and how you want your bag to look, along with what material you want to use and any accessories that you want to add to your bags and purses.  If you want to have the bags and purses you really want, instead of having to choose from ones you don’t like at the store, then make your own!  There are a number of places online where you can find free patterns for your own purses and your own bags.  Here are just a few of those great websites where you can get free patterns for your purses and your bags.

Where to get free purse and bag patterns

One of the best places for you to find free patterns for purses and bags is at Henrietta’s Handbags and Purse Patterns at http://henriettashandbags.com/Craft_Ideas.html.  This website offers an incredible range of different patterns for various purses and bags and different styles of handbags.  You can find patterns for tote bags, for photo bags, for bags shaped like castles or other shaped bags, and all kinds of different things.  At this particular website, you can also get links to patterns by famous designers and star pattern producers, which you can purchase for a smaller price, with free shipping.

http:// sewing.about.com/od/freeprojects/Free_Sewing_Projects.htm
This particular website offers a number of different patterns that you can get for free off of the Internet for bags, for purses, for different gifts, for aprons, for baby items, and for all kinds of other things.  This website is a fantastic place for you to start looking for free patterns for purses and bags in all sorts of different styles.

www.allcrafts.net/sewing.htm
If you visit this particular website, then you can find a number of different free patterns for purses, for bags, for tote bags, for juice pouch purses, and for fashion bags and fashion purses.  This website also lets you find links to a number of different websites that also have tons of free patterns for purses and for bags, such as drawstring bags that you can use as a purse or as a gift bag. 

At www.craftandfabriclinks.com/freepatterns/totes.html, you can find a great free pattern for a drawstring bag that you can use as either your own purse or as a gift bag.  If you use this particular pattern, then you will also get a free brownie mix recipe with a printable label.

www.straw.com/cpy/free_bag_patterns.html is a website that offers free patterns for knitted and crocheted bags.  These purse patterns come directly from Crystal Palace Yarns

You will also want to check out www.thriftyfun.com/tf21397750.tip.html .  On this site, you will find great links and ideas for online patterns that are appropriate for teenagers and young girls.

A great free purse pattern is The Lindie Bag which you can find at craftapple.wordpress.com/2006/02/21/the-lindie-bag-free-pattern.  This particular bag will end up being 6.5" tall and 6.5" wide, and measures a full 14.5" tall if you include the strap.

Finally, if you want a great free pattern for the classic open tote, you will want to take a look at make-it-easy.com/opentot2.html.

Finally, check out the fantastic patterns that give a modern and sophisticated twist to purses and bags at the website www.savvyseams.com/bags/adventure.php.  This particular website has a great free pattern for a messenger bag, and you can make the bag either as advanced or as easy as you want it to be.

 

Crocheting baby blankets

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

In a crafters world, the art of crochet has become quite popular.  And if you are into crochet, then most likely you will at some point during your crochet hobby make a baby blanket.  They in themselves are a very popular item to crochet.  Crocheting baby blankets is fairly simple and can make a precious baby gift for a newborn.  The best thing about crocheting a baby blanket is that you can use a variety of different colors; create your own personal look with different stitches and textures; and make it into something you love.  Here are some places to look for help as you begin to crochet your baby blanket.

Where to find Ideas and Patterns
 A local fabric or sewing store.  If you have never crocheted a baby blanket before your best bet will be to find an easy to read and follow pattern from your local sewing store.  They usually have patterns for beginners which have very basic instructions on how to stitch the blanket.  As you get better then you can look for more advanced patterns.
 Try a friend.  If you know someone that is an avid crocheter then why not use that resource?  Invite them over and have them show you some simple stitches, or even better have a crochet party.  Tell them to bring some things they’ve made so you can see them, and then have her help you get started on your baby blanket.  Sometimes instructions from someone first hand are easier to follow than reading a piece of paper.
 Online.  There are some websites you can go to that will give you directions on how to crochet a baby blanket.  Some will be free, and others you may have to pay something or sign up to be a member.  Either way, this gives you a number of different ways to find instructions on how to begin your project.
 Craft Stores.  Along with your local fabric stores, you can also take a look at your local craft stores.  Crochet is truly an art and craft stores will carry materials for you to do your project, and will also sell some great books or magazines that will give you detailed instruction on how to crochet your baby blanket.  You can get everything you need at these types of stores.  Just ask a person working there to help you find what you need and you are on your way. 
 The Public Library.  A lot of people don’t even think about going to their library for information, but this has proven to be a great resource.  Libraries carry information on just about everything.  You should be able to find some books, magazines articles, and most likely pictures of what you are looking for.  The best part about these materials is it’s all free.     

Now that you know where to find everything you need you can get started.  Remember, if you are a beginner to crocheting and sometimes even when you are not that for these types of projects you will need a lot of patience.  You will most likely have to undo some of your stitching, and might even have to do parts of it over.  Do not get discouraged; once you make it through your first project and get the hang of crocheting you will have accomplished your goal and that’s a great feeling.  Who knows, maybe you will try and tackle something else next time?   

 

 

 

 

Cross-stitching home décor

Friday, January 25th, 2008

Cross-stitching is one of the most popular methods of embroidery today. Cross-stitching involves one cross after another onto a fabric grid to form different patterns. Typically, cross-stitching is done on weaved fabric called aida cloth. Aida fabric is 100% cotton with woven thread groupings that form small squares to allow your needle and thread to go through. These tiny squares are specifically designed for cross-stitching. Some cross-stitching can be done on silks and many other fabrics as well. The type of fabric to use for cross-stitching depends completely on the individual and the desire for the end results. Paper or plastic canvas is also used for some of the cross-stitch embroidery. Plastic or paper is harder than traditional cross stitch fabrics and can be used for projects where fabrics are not so practical.

Cross-stitch is an easy, popular and relaxing needlework craft. There are two types of cross-stitch – stamped and counted cross-stitch. Counted cross-stitch is becoming the most used form of embroidery in the United States today. It’s universal among crafters because it’s easy and offers sensational collections of projects and designs. Cross-stitching can be scattered singly, in-groups or may be used as a filling stitch for a large area. The key to embroidering a good cross-stitch is to keep it absolutely square and also to keep all of the top stitches of the "crosses" pointing in the same direction. When working with cross-stitch on weave fabric, the threads are always drawn through the holes between the squares on the fabric. Always work over one square at a time unless otherwise instructed. Knowing the basic techniques on how to do counted cross-stitching, using patterns of whatever you like can transform towels, pot holders, pictures or other home décor design into stunning art.

Adding beads for extra dimension and interest is a wonderful idea to enhance your project. Some people have incorporated beads into their designs and their piece of work is just outstanding. You can create your own personal yet practical gifts for family and friends to display in their homes. Combining your love of cross-stitch, crafts and needle work ideas with graphic design, provide an array of themes for any special occasion. There is no end to creativity. You can truly enjoy making gifts for your loved ones using your time and talents to cross-stitch any design that is well suited for the occasion. There is no limit to how much can be added to enhance design. Beadwork and special threads are just as few visual effects that will add to your design. Often used in clothing and framed art, cross-stitching is a great activity to relax and the creativity flow.

With diligence and a little creativity, you can find just the right touch to make life a lavish source for a dainty taste in art and history. Cross-stitching can be a good household craft to brighten your gloomy and plain wall. Instead of an elaborate and expensive painting, you can consider framing and hanging cross-stitch patterns on your barren walls. There are different cross-stitch designs to appeal to your taste. Just buy the right frame to fit your cross-stitch masterpiece with just the right colors and the right border. For a long lasting product, use plastic cross-stitched canvas (vinyl weave), which is made especially for cross-stitching and is very strong, instead of perforated paper. Cross-stitch is fun for any age. It can range from quick and easy to considerably more complex and stunningly beautiful. You can sometimes be frustrated but it’s also very rewarding.

 

Choosing the right gauge of wire for beading

Thursday, January 24th, 2008

If you are a beginner, you can be very overwhelmed with many different choices of materials that can be used to string beads. Shopping at your regular local craft store may limit you on finding a large variety of wire but if you take the time to shop online, especially at a beading store, you will find a huge selection of wire for beading. The most important element to succeed in making your own custom piece is the type of wire to use for your beading project. You can use different types of materials to string beads but the most popular and sturdy wire to string your beads on is beading wire.

The most important key to know about the beading wire is its gauge. A beading wire gauge is an instrument for measuring the thickness of the wire. The higher the number of your beading wire gauge is, the thinner the wire is. For example, a 26 beading gauge wire is thinner than a 14 beading gauge wire. The most commonly used beading wire gauge in making custom jewelry and other craft items are 14-16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28 and 30. Gauge is basically the standard measurement here in America. Other parts of the world use millimeters instead for measurement.

Most beading wire used is made of base metal. You can also find wire made out of other type of materials such as copper, stainless steel and sterling silver. All this assortment of wires serves different purposes. Using a base metal wire is good for any project and can be found in a variety of colors from the plain silver color to black, white, pink, blue, purple, green and more. The plain silver color metal wire can be found in any of your local craft stores. The colored ones can be ordered online and can be really fun to wrap beads with them or to simply have them show through clear beads.

Another consideration that is most important to skilled artisans is the hardness of the wire. There are three different category of wire hardness. These can be dead soft, half-hard and full-hard.
Dead soft wire is very soft and easily pliable. There is no need for pliers to bend the wire. Using your hands can simply bend the wire. They are used for the free form wrapping of smaller beads such as crystal and pearl onto a base and wire knitting as well as crochet. Dead soft wire is much more breakable than a harder wire. Half-hard wire is a little stronger, less flexible and harder to work by hand. The half-hard wire needs to be this way to be able to stand being pulled through a draw plate. A draw plate is a helpful tool to reduce the diameter of gold or silver wire for a particular metal working project. Full hard wire is pulled more times through the draw plate making it stiffer and stronger. The harder the wire, the more tools you need to work with it.

Another important element to consider when choosing the wire for that custom piece is to know how much weight the wire can hold. The heavier the wire, the more weight it can support. This will simply give you a peace of mind knowing that you are wearing a delightful piece of jewelry without the worry of the wire breaking. The shape of the wire is also a very important key. Wires come in different shapes including round, square and half round. Round wire tends to be more adjustable. Square is wonderful for wire wrapping and half round wire is great to use around other pieces of wire in order to connect them. Try different kinds of wire for various projects to get a sense of what you like. Make your own style of jewelry and have lots of fun doing it.

 

Kid crafts that are fast and easy

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008

There are so many different craft ideas out there that sometimes it can be hard to choose.  Some are so extensive that you need a list of instructions for you to make them.  If you’re looking for those kid crafts that are fast and easy keep reading.  The following is a list fast and easy crafts that kids enjoy and will love doing.

1. Play dough- Everyone knows that there isn’t a kid around who will pass up the opportunity to play with play dough.  And there may be many adults who wouldn’t pass up the chance either.  Play dough provides hours of creative fun for kids.  You can use play dough to make animals, insects, flowers; you can use it to mold and build things with; and you can use it for hand muscle coordination and is a great sensory tool. 
2.  Food crafts- As a mother, I can always appreciate a cute little craft that is also edible.  There are many kinds of crafts you can make with your children at home that fall into this category.  One example that comes to mind are edible necklaces and bracelets.  You might think that only little girls like this craft, but boys love being able to eat something they’ve made.  You can use the shoe string licorice found in stores and then have them lace cheerios, fruit loops, marshmallows, or anything you can think of around the licorice string.  You can also make edible lay dough which (as discussed already) they can mold and play with however they want. 
3. Seasonal Crafts- Crafts for all seasons definitely comes in handy as the season change and you’re looking for new ideas.  Here is one idea for each season:
 Spring Flower button Jar.  You will need a baby food jar, flat buttons, paint or window markers, paintbrushes, and quick setting glue.  All your child has to do is glue the buttons around the jar, paint the stems and leaves on and you’ve got yourself a very cute flower jar.
 Summer Egg carton caterpillar.  Your child can make this fast and easy caterpillar using leftover egg cartons, paint and paintbrushes or crayons and markers, a pair of scissors, and some pipe cleaners. Cut the egg carton in half; this will be the body.  Paint or color the outside green (or whatever color your child want their caterpillar to be).  Make two holes in the first egg carton so you can poke the pipe cleaner through for their antennas’.  It doesn’t get much easier than that!
 Autumn Apple Prints.  Using some apples, paint, and paper let your children explore with paint and design.  Cut the apples in half so the "star" in the core of the apple shows.  Dip the apple into the paint and stamp it onto the paper. 
 Winter Paper plate Snowman.  Kids love making snowmen right, so let them make this simple paper plate snowman.  You will need three paper plates, cotton balls, white glue, markers and a stapler.  Staple the three plates together to form your snowman.  You child can draw their own face on the top plate.  After they have drawn their face let them glue the cotton balls all over the snowman.  Then they could use some orange paper and cut out a carrot nose.

4.  Musical Instruments.  Every kid I know loves to make noise, so why not teach them how to make some fun and easy musical instruments.  You can help them make musical guitars using a Kleenex box and rubber bands of different sizes and widths.  You can help them make maracas’ using paper plates and beans, and drums using a plastic bowl, plastic cover over top and a wooden spoon.  The sky is the limit with this fun craft.

There are many more craft ideas but hopefully this will get you started.  They don’t take much preparation or effort so that means more play time with your child. 

 

 

 

Projects for metal or wire crafts

Monday, January 21st, 2008

Here are some great projects for metal or wire crafts. Crafting with metal and or wire can be interesting, fun and useful. You can make many great things from metal and wire. You will also be able to find that the items you make are great gifts for your loved ones.

Enjoy these great ideas for projects with metal or wire crafts.

Idea #1- Wire decorated frames

This is a relatively simple wire metal craft. These are the supplies and tools you will need to create these beautiful frames.

1. Lucite frame
2. A photo to go in the frame
3. Wire cutters
4. Tooth picks
5. Needle nose pliers
6. Translucent pony beads
7. Low temperature glue gun
8. Metallic silver pony beads
9. Wire solder from a hardware or craft store

Here are the instructions

The wire solder is pretty easy to molt and maneuver to make lovely shapes. So for the most part the word you choose to bend your metal in to could be just about anything. The main thing will be that the word can be bent into the wire and that it will fit onto the frame you have chosen. So that will be your first step. Choosing the word you want to bend the metal into.

You can use the pliers you have, your fingers, or even a pen to wrap the metal around in order to create the word you have chosen. You want the metal to be able to go around the entire edge of the frame. But, the word will stay on the top or bottom of the frame. You can cut the wire into separate pieces to make the word, or you can use one long piece to get the word to look smoother.

Slide a few of the transparent and silver beads onto the wire. The beads will be what is used to hot glue the wire onto the Lucite frame. So put one or two every couple of inches. Then using the hot glue and the toothpicks, glue the beads firmly to the frame.

This is fun easy, and a beautiful gift.
Idea #2 Simple metal embossing project

This is another relatively simple metal craft. Here are the supplies and tools you will need.

1. Stylus (wood, metal or plastic)
2. A sheet of thin copper, or tin
3. Scissors that are strong and sharp
4. Firms surface much like a notebook. Something that is soft but holds shape.
5. Card stock
6. Tack tape
7. Ribbon
8. A pattern (picture, photo, art piece copy etc.)

Here are the instructions

Start by cutting the appropriate size of copper or tin metal needed for your project and pattern. Then place the shinny side of the copper down on the notebook.

Next you will want to place the pattern you have chosen onto the metal. Use the tack tape to hold the pattern into place. This way the pattern will not slide, and cause problems with the finished product.

Now using the stylus you have, you will need to trace the pattern into the metal. You can actually do this step twice. That way you will be able to get a well-defined picture.

You can now patina the design if you would prefer. That will also add beauty to the finished product.

Now you can glue the metal picture to a piece of card stock with glue or double stick tape. This will create a base and structure for the metal picture to sit on.

Then you have your finished product.

There are many other projects, patterns and ideas out there for metal, and or metal wire crafting. You will find that doing a little research can offer you tons of inexpensive gifts, decoration ideas and much more.

 

 

Useful sewing crafts

Sunday, January 20th, 2008

One of the most useful way to make crafts is to make simple and easy sewing crafts and by using old materials and fabrics so that you don’t end up wasting fabric.  You can make useful sewing crafts with fabrics, such as old jeans.
There are lots of great crafts you can make with simple, common household items. You may remember making paper airplanes as a child, or a witch’s cauldron made of dry ice.  Fabric crafting is a skill that will allow you to make several different objects from things as simple as old jeans. Imagine making a container of cool fabric and old jeans! Here are a few simple examples of things you can make using the great skills of fabric crafting. 
To build a bucket out of old jeans you will need a few different materials. You will naturally need an old pair of jeans, a piece of cardboard, a marker, a pair of rotary cutters or scissors, fabric glue, a good sewing machine needle that can pierce thick fabric, and cotton canvas. Begin by cutting of the legs of the jeans at the base of the zipper. Take the tops of the jeans that are left and turn them into a cylinder. Make sure that the cylinder is not flared or tapered in any way; most jeans have some sort of taper effect so you will want to avoid this through careful craftsmanship. Cut the fabric so that it is the same height and width as the jeans but with an extra half inch at the top and an extra inch for the width.
Attach the fabric to the jeans with pins on the wrong side of the top of the jeans. Use the leftover legs to cut a circle a half inch wider than the open part of the jeans. This piece of fabric becomes the bottom of the bucket.
Turn the cylinder so that it is inside out. This means that the jeans will be facing out. Attach the denim circle to both layers with pings. Make a cardboard circle to go in the bottom of the bucket. Cover this circle with fabric.
Another cool thing you can do in the field of fabric crafts is to make a pumpkin craft. Use a dinner plate to draw a circle on the fabric you will use. Cut out the circle and pull up the edges so that it forms a pouch shape, or sphere. Fill this pouch with fiberfill and close it off. Using green felt, cut out a jagged top to sit on the pouch. Attach this to the pumpkin with fabric glue, or with hot glue. For a stem you might wan to glue a piece of pipecleaner, or find an actual stem to attach to your pumpkin. This pumpkin could naturally be transformed into a jack-o-lantern with some simple modifications. Use your imagination and realize that you can always glue or attach one piece of fabric to another. By gluing only a few piece of dark felt to the pumpkin you have a jack-o-lantern. Make the mouth scary or silly. Remember that it is up to you to design whatever you want. Use the same design to make a bowling ball with your name written on the side. You could even make an entire solar system with different planets. Vary the sizes of the planets according to their relative proportions. You could also use different types of fabrics with different colors. Using wire construct a system of orbits around a central sun. Such a piece of fabric craft could be hung like a mobile in a child’s room.
As you can see there are many different things you can do with fabric crafts. Be creative and you can make your own style of fabric crafts. You will be surprised at just how many different things you can make.