craft – Francois et Moi

DIY Felt Message Banner (Video!)

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 15:40:24 +0000

As we designed the board & batten and selected the Nordic wallpaper for the nursery, the room began to take shape, and I knew I wanted to incorporate some black and white accents in the room to add contrast and help the look keep its edge. Originally, I’d made this banner with the intent of hanging it in a grouping above the crib, but as we furnished the room, I decided to keep things simple over there, and ended up moving the banner over to the closet door. This little banner is a 30 minute project (maybe less–if you’re not filming a movie about it!), made fantastically simple by the invention of precut sticky-back felt letters, and can be customized to say whatever you’re drawn to. I decided on the French phrase “mon cœur” which translates to “my heart” in English because I’m a sentimental mom-to-be, need I say more?! Check out the 1 minute video and full instructions below on how to work up one of these babies for your place. Materials: minimum of 6″x 10.25″ piece of felt fabric 1″ precut sticky-back felt letters a sheet of cardstock paper for the banner template 7.5″ wood dowel string fabric […]

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My DIY and Craft Essentials

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 13:52:11 +0000

There are a key few tools and materials I use ALL THE TIME for craft and DIY projects. If it works, I stick with it, and these workhorses have earned their keep around here. Do you have a fave tool or material? Please share!! 1. Basic Sewing Machine. My exact model is sadly no longer available, but this one from Kenmore is very similar. It’s super intuitive (easy to use), and just an all around good quality sewing machine for the beginner sewer. 2. Gold Leafing Pen. I love me a little glam and this paint pen from Krylon is perfect for adding a touch of gold when a project calls for it. The gold paint is the most luminous I’ve found and the pen is super smooth flowing. WIN! 3. Heavy-duty Shears. A sharp pair of scissors is an absolute must, and this stainless steel pair (with gold handle!) from Nate Berkus for Target are both functional and purrrty. 4. Rotary Cutter. Rotary cutters make cutting multiple layers of fabric and paper a freaking breeze. Not to mention cutting slits and free-form curves, a rotary cutter is uber helpful to have close at hand. 5. Non-bleeding Multi-Surface Painter’s Tape. […]

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Valentine’s Day Flower Wall

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 13:45:50 +0000

I don’t typically do a ton to decorate our place for Valentine’s Day, but this year in an effort to combat the foggy, grey disposition outside, I decided to create a cheery flower art installation on our living room wall using a combination of fresh and silk flowers. (Silk flowers have come A LONG WAY in recent years–they’re not your Grandmother’s faux flowers!) The glorious invention of decorative washi tape makes this diy’s effort to impact ratio totally worth it. Just adhere the flowers to the wall with washi tape in an overall heart pattern and then pour yourself a glass of wine, because you’re done! Our flower wall functions as festive art in our home, but this project would also be right at home as a photo backdrop for a Valentine’s Day gathering too. Cruise on over to Homedit.com for the full project just in time for V-day!

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Aromatic Lavender Sachets

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:56:20 +0000

For my wedding showers a few years ago, my mom had the genius idea of making lavender eye pillows as favors for guests to take home with them. There were a few leftover after the shower, so I took an extra one home and tucked it in my “unmentionables” drawer as a sachet and loved the subtle lavender scent it brought to our bedroom, so I decided to take a cue from my mom and sew up some sachets (which are about 1/2 the size of eye pillows), as stocking stuffers this year. Theses little bundles come together pretty quickly (I made three in an evening), and will make a nice, handmade addition to stocking trimmings this Christmas morning. Materials List: 1/8 of a Yard of Cotton Ticking White or Ivory Thread Hand Sewing Needle Sewing Pins 8.7 yards of Contrasting Embroidery 6-Strand Floss. I used DMC in Medium Plum. DMC Chenille Needle, Size 20 .5 oz (14 g) Dried Lavender (Available at Whole Foods) Scissors Ruler Pencil 1 Sheet of Paper 6″ x 6″ or Larger for Make-shift Funnel Scotch Tape Special Equipment: Sewing Machine (Optional, but recommended) Iron (Optional, but recommended) Creating the Fabric Pouches Step 1. Cut out six […]

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Chunky Knit Wool Blanket

francoisetmoiblog@gmail.com — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 13:00:08 +0000

I’m a textile nut. It’s an appreciation my mother first instilled in me at a young age and one that’s developed and refined itself over 4 years of working closely with textiles. Last winter, I’d been craving the loft and warmth of an uber chunky knit, wool blanket. One that my hubby and I could cuddle up in during those last few months of cold weather. I looked everywhere, but couldn’t find one that quite fit our budget. Never having knitted a purl in my life, I took a leap of faith and ordered Laura Birek’s Giganto Blanket Downloadable Tutorial here, as well as several pounds of raw wool roving from The Sheep Shed Studio. Laura’s tutorial is very detailed. She walks you through how to felt the wool roving in your bathtub! and how to knit your blanket using two pvc pipes as your knitting needles. (I used broomsticks, as I wanted a smaller gauge.) You can watch Laura knitting her blanket in action here. As an extremely beginner knitter (if I can even call myself one), I called upon the ‘ol internet for videos on how to cast on, how to use the backwards loop method, etc. Youtube has some […]

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