New Camper Kits and Pattern

Hey, Hey! Lot's of folks are at Quilt Market this weekend, but I'm here chugging away in the studio instead. Wish I could see all of the fun and new stuff at market, but I will watch on Instagram this time.

Even though I won't be at market this spring, I do have new products debuting there without me. My Happy Camper Pin Cushion Kit is flying off the shelves, actually the kits never make it to the shelves, I fill them and they pretty much go out the door in orders. It's been busy here in the studio and I am not complaining one bit! I felt like Happy needed a few friends to glamp with so please meet Kitschy and Little Sunshine. 

 

Little Sunshine has felt wings

Kitschy has her own flamingoes out front

Here's Happy just in case you can't decide who you like best

You can make all three and have your own little trailer park next to your sewing machine. That's what I have done.

And while were talking campers, the Happy Camper Bag Sewing Pattern is now available as a paper pattern. You can find it here in my shop.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

                                   

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Vintage Travel Trailer Renovation Updates

Hello, I'm back with more camper updates. Things are moving along quite nicely with my camper. I still don't have a name, I keep wanting to call him Sunny though. I don't know why I think my camper is a him, especially when it will most likely be decked out in flowers. Time will tell on the name.

But anyway, we were up in Indiana visiting family a few weeks ago and it just happens that my home town of Kokomo, IN is a hop, skip, and a jump from Peru, IN. And what's in Peru, you ask? It's like the mega store for vintage camper parts. I've shopped online with vintagecampers.com but there online store is nothing compared to their actual business. 

The picture above is on their lot, they restore vintage Spartans and Airstreams. They have a giant old house filled with room after room of camper parts. I have to admit, if it weren't for Beth taking Nik and I through I would have been a bit scared of the old place. The cellar is where they kept their windows, the hallways was full of doors, another room full of lights, file cabinets were filled with handles and knobs, it was unbelievable. 

I got a window that will go in the kitchen where the air conditioning is now. And I found the perfect table! It was meant to be. I really wanted a white and gold glitter flecked table like my old one in the Scotty. I have only seen 1 table online for sale and it was too small. I was in search of a large table. Since I will be painting and crafting in the camper, I wanted it as big as would fit. They had two tables at the store and one was a perfect match. It's 30" x 36" and look at those gold glitter specks, just like Lucy had. 

Right now it sits in my studio but soon it will be in the camper.

As for the actual campers progress, I have a floor! The back end was gone when I purchased it, so I have been spending my time building supports and getting it anchored back on the base. 

This weekend I was able to put down aluminum flashing. I caulked all of the seams and then laid down 2 x 4's. 

The last thing I did Sunday evening, was install a 3/4" plywood floor. Eventually flooring will go over the top of this, but what will go down is undecided at this point.

So yay! half of my camper is sturdy. Now on to the other, not so sturdy half.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the other half of the camper floor will now need to be prepared. You can't tell in this picture, but the counter and cabinets slant to each side pretty badly, it's because the corners are rotted. I'll start digging around this weekend and let you know what happens.

This is what the floor looked like when you step in the camper. 

I pulled it up to find this.

I got out all of the rotted wood. The metal flashing is salvageable.

Heres the old propane heater, it will stay because I can't bother taking it out, but I would never dare use it. I'll stick with an electric space heater if I need one. 

While I was up in Indiana I got to hit up a few of my favorite antique places as well. I scored some Pyrex dishes and a few Bakelite items.

I might have hit on a color scheme in the process of buying up goodies.

My instagram is JenniferJangles if you want to see how the vintage camper is coming on the weekends when I work on it.

Have a great day,

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Stitch Kitsch - My New Book!

I have held off on talking too much about my new book Stitch Kitsch because I hate more than anything to get super excited about a book and have it be months and months away from publication. But it's now only two months away from shipping! Yay!

My book works a little different than others, so if you don't mind, I would like to tell you a little more about it. Did you see up there on the cover it says 44 projects? Actually, there are even more. Eeek! 

Here's how the book works. First of all there is a basics and supplies section to get you familiar with everything, the basics, and some skills to help you in other projects. Next there are 11 complete step by step projects in the book. These projects are fully illustrated and with lots of pictures to get you from start to finish. 

Then, because sometimes I just have too many ideas, each of the 11 projects has an additional 3 variations. Let's say that cute mug rug below is the project you are sewing.... well I show you another variation with a camper on it. 

The camper from this bag. Without giving away too much, I  might show you a zipper pouch with the coffee cup on it, or a quilt, or a pillow, you never know. But I am hoping you get the point. Oh, I forgot to mention these variations have instructions as well. 

By the time you work your way through these 44 projects, I guarantee you will have even more ideas based on these projects. You're head will be exploding with ideas of more projects you'll want to make. Oh you are going to have so much fun!

Here is a list of just some of the different projects in the book....

7 Pin Cushions
7 Zipper Pouches
4 Pillows
4 Quilts
4 Softies
4 Bags
2 Wallhangings
2 Table Runners
Placemats, Banners, Napkins, Trivets, Coasters, Mug Rugs....... there's more but I can't give everything away can I?

If you want to order a signed copy, you can do this in the Jennifer Jangles Shop here.

It ships September 14th.

Have a great day,

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Vintage Camper Re Do, Take 2

Hi! If you've been following me on Instagram (Jennifer Jangles) or Facebook, you know that I got another Vintage Travel Trailer. A couple of years ago I re-habbed a 1969 Serro Scotty Hilander. I have lots of posts about it here on the blog.

We sold it after our big trip out west, our boys had grown so much that there was no way the four of us could camp in it again. I miss having it and I really missed having a weekend project. I really like the process of figuring out how to rebuild things. There are no rules and it's kind of like a puzzle.

Sooo long story short here, I have been looking for about a year for the perfect trailer and I found it a few weeks ago. It's definitely not as glamorous as my Scotty, but I have big plans to make it cute.

We won't be camping in this one, were going to park in the back yard and us it as a painting studio/guest room/hangout. It's all mine so this time around I do not have to take in to consideration that three boys will be living in it. That means I can have more flowers!

Yes, you're seeing things correctly, there is no floor. (But there will be!)

Stay tuned, I'll keep you updated on the progress.

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Zoom Zoom and Lucy

Hello! This is the last post of my Six Weeks of Softies Projects. I just had to shoot these guys out side like they were on the road. The car pattern has been in the works for awhile but for some reason he just hasn't made it to the press yet. The camper just came along after the car was complete.

I have been looking for a new camper to remodel for some time now, I just can't find the right one. I guess I will just sew them until I can find "the one". 

 I decided on Zoom Zoom and Lucy for the name. Lucy was our first camper....

Otis and Ruby found it very exciting that I was out lying in the driveway taking pictures of Zoom Zoom Look closely in the next two pictures...

 There was a dog chase going on in the yard because my photo shoot was so exciting.

Now I am searching for my next challenge..... this was so much fun! Thank you Sew Mama Sew for inspiring me.

Have a great day!

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DIY Holiday Ornaments

I decided that it was time to have a Christmas tree in my studio again this year. It's been awhile and now that's it's up, I have been having loads of fun making ornaments for it. First up on my lists of ornaments are todays Holiday Project number 4. These ornaments are a great scrap and trim buster. They don't take much to make and as usual, I couldn't just make one. The tutorial is at the end of this post.

You might recognize Lil Okey from my PDF patterns. I spiffed her up for the holidays by adding a bow and a piece of felt holly. Make sure to add a ribbon hanging while your sewing her if she's going to be an ornament.

The next two ornaments I made are from my new line of boutique craft kits. When I originally designed these I didn't intend them to be tree ornaments, but I have to say they fit on the tree nicely. Above is Folksy Bird and below is Happy Camper.

I have a few more ornaments on the sewing table and I bet you see those in the next few days if you keep up with my blog.

Now here's how to make the round ornaments at the top.

You'll need:
5" x 10" of cotton quilting fabric
2" x 4" gray felt
3-4 trims 6" each
8" black ribbon for hanger

Instructions:

1. Cut out pieces according to the pattern sheet. You can find it and print it here. Start by arranging one of the trims across the center of the ornament. Sew in place. From there you can decide if you want trims on the top and bottom of the center trim as well as another one across the center. I ended up using four trims for each ornament.

2. Next, align the back side of the ornament to the front. You'll want to sew around it but leave approximately a 1.5" gap. This gap should be at the top of the ornament where the cap will eventually go. 

3. Clip the curves, turn right sides out and fill will fiberfill. I didn't stuff mine too much, just enough to give them shape.

4. Arrange the two felt caps so they cover the opening in the ornament. One of the pieces should be on the front of the ornament and one should be on the back. Pin them in place. Fold the black ribbon in half and slide between the two pieces of felt and pin to secure.

5. Top stitch around the outer edge of the felt to secure everything. You're finished!

Thanks for stopping by,

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