Thursday, July 26, 2012

Up to Mischief Again


Bonnie Hunter was gifted with a beaded stiletto by Mary Tosch, who provided a clear tutorial at which I have been wanting to try my hand.  During my sister Carol's recent visit and our running around adventures, I was able to locate the turkey lacers at Bed Bath & Beyond.  (Nary a single grocery in these parts carried them!)  Of course, they were not the deluxe lacers as Mary used with the rounded ends...


...but with angled ends...

...that required some craftiness with beading tools.



After bending all the ends, I pulled out my beads and found that a lot do not fit on the lacers... however, I found enough variety to play around with...


...and came up with several different stilettos.  Now it was time for "fun with glue"...


I purchased the recommended glue (used a Michaels 40% off coupon to do so)...


...the glue is a clear gel and I only got a tiny bit on my fingers.  Then I started using the end of the glue tube to push the beads together after gluing.  (The glue squishes up between the beads... that's how it got on my finger.)


Following the tutorial, I used clothespins to hold the stilettos upright while drying; however, they were top-heavy so I propped them against various items on the kitchen table where I was being crafty.

Now for some fun!  Leave me a comment about which of the stilettos you like best.  Friday evening, I'll draw a number and send the winner their very own, hand-made stiletto.


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Note:  No-reply commenters will be disqualified unless they leave their email address in their comment, like this:  yourname at email dot com (or net).  In this incidence, another number will be drawn. 


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Stiletto uses:

When feeding fabrics when sewing...

Photo from Sew We Quilt with Petra

When turning tiny edges when ironing...


When sewing stuff onto something else...

Photo from CQMagOnline


24 comments:

  1. These are pretty! I was gifted a set several years ago, but at the time was told that they're
    hors d'oeu·vre picks. What a great new use for them!

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  2. You have a flair for this, Freda. Each one is beautiful! But my favorite would have to be the patriotic one--definitely!

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  3. Oh, be still my heart! You have to know which one I love! The patriotic one, of course! Even if that wasn't my blog name I would still love it. I love your pictures, too, and that you saved 40% on the glue. You sound like me.

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  4. I had to go to the links to see what you'd do with these - other than admire them, of course! Now I know, I might just have to have a go myself. (We call those "skewers" over here in Scotland.)

    Oh and I really like the cats. :o)

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  5. Oh these are so cute and I have considered making some too but just haven't had the time. I love that 'Hello Kitty' one.

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  6. They are all lovely but I'm into the kitty myself.

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  7. What an adventure. Usually by the time I accumulate all the required materials I forget what I wanted to make. I really like the one you have in your hand. You did a really good job on all of them!
    Did the glue wash off? I always have trouble with glue... which kind to use is my biggest trouble while crafting.
    Hugs

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  8. Yes, these are so great, and now I know where to get the skewers! I have looked for they here too....did not think of BBB. I thought they would be great for a sale item for our guild boutique. Thanks for the extra info! Love the blue kitty.

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  9. What a wonderful idea! I need to make some of these! Thank you so much for the tutorial!

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  10. What a great idea! these are fabulous!
    I love the RWB one!

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  11. You are so talented. I just love the blue cat as blue is my favorite color and my nickname is Cat. Love the tutorial too. Hugs

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  12. How neat! I have to say the blue one with the kitties is just too cute! Great tutorial too!

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  13. Very creative. I like the purple one! Thanks for sharing

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  14. These are all too cute! I really like them all, but my favorite is the one with the clear beads that is in the middle of the group of five. What a clever idea.

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  15. Oh those are so cute. Great tutorial also. I like a few of them but I think my favorite is the one propped in front of the bananas. It appears to possibly be either an Amethyst or purple/brown bead with clear-ish one in the center.

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  16. Oh....that is soooo darn cute. Love this idea. I am loving the copper/brown/white one or the pinky/purple ones. I will have to try this for my quilting friends!!!

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  17. They are just beautiful - way beyond my skill level to make one, though. I like the blue one best.
    Lillian
    lillianscupboard.wordpress.com

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  18. What a fun idea! I've just started using a stiletto. I'm drawn to the brownish one.

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  19. I've considered gathering up the required parts for making these, but it would be great to win one of yours, dear Freda! I like the American flag one, and those kitties are awfully cute ~
    :-}pokey

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  20. I never heard about Turkey lacers before but I love the Stiletto's you've made Freda and they looks very handy too.
    Greetings Roos

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  21. I haven't found the beads I want to use or located the basters so an already made one would be great! Nice pix by the way.

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  22. Ok, I'll confess, I clicked over here from the Sew Many Ways link party because the name of your project had me quite intrigued. The only stiletto I knew of were the high heeled kind, so I was curious how on earth the picture of the stick pin looking beaded thingie had to do with shoes. (Guess I need to get out more! hehe) Imagine my surprise when I saw it had nothing to do with shoes at all, yet an attractive and USEFUL tool that I never knew existed, but now that I do, I MUST have one. First of all, my bead stash holds many onsies and twosies of odd beads, far too pretty to discard, yet nothing to really use them on since there aren't enough to bead a necklace or bracelet. Second of all, I'm really tired of burning my fingers when I'm trying to press under a small hem, not to mention the times I'm trying to manipulate something tedious under the sewing needle, just knowing it's only a matter of time before I sew my finger to something! Thank you for this tutorial. I've pinned it and as soon as I get the turkey lacers I'll be making some of my own! You made my day!! :)

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  23. What a cute idea for a quilter's birthday gift! Quilters appreciate homemade gifts & this would be awesome! Thanks for sharing. Donna

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  24. I posted a link to this page in a blog post that I just put up. http://showmecrafting.blogspot.com/2012/12/beaded-stilettos.html thanks so much for posting this!

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