Today’s Meet and Make designer is Anshu Jain. Anshu is an engineer by day and a crafter/seamstress during the wee hours of the morning. She has restless fingers, which means that it’s very difficult for her to not sew/make things. She
loves to sew for little girls and is looking forward to sharing this process once her daughter grows up. In the meantime she talks about sewing on her blog, Blooms And Bugs.

Ready to meet Anshu?

10 Fun Facts About Anshu Jain

1. I have been sewing for over three years now (if you don’t count childhood sewing), part of it professionally…but I learned to make buttonholes with my machine last month (Feb 2012). Yay! better late than never. If you haven’t done it yet, seriously try it. Your (sewing) life will never be the same.
2. I’m really afraid of the pins. Its my worst nightmare to leave a pin in a finished garment and have them poke the child wearing it.
3. I went to the best engineering school in India. Ironically, that’s where I realized I am not made for engineering.
4. I started sewing on a non-electric sewing machine. It was a really clunky, super basic machine but it sewed.
5. I lost all my bags the first time we traveled to US. I still remember sitting at the airport after a 28 hour journey. Hungry, tired and almost incredulous that all 4 of our bags disappeared during the journey. Fortunately the airline located them one by one.
6. I wore a lot of clothes I made when I was a child…some of them made my mom cringe, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
7. I don’t eat after 6:00 pm. I started doing it for religious reasons but now I feel that its essential for my overall health.
8. I was really addicted to sewing even as a child. I would cut and sew anything that I could lay my hands on. It meant sewing with Burlap, plastic bags, paper and fabric of course (which came from questionable sources). My mom would often find perfectly fine clothes cut up and sewn into something unrecognizable. I think we can safely say that I’m a mixed media seamstress.
9. My best fabric shopping place is Old Navy. Seriously, where else can you find nice/soft cotton knits for less than a dollar?
10. I like rain. Ok, Scratch that. I love rain. The part where I was born and raised is really hot so rain is considered refreshing and very welcome.

Here’s Anshu’s Project:

Spring Rain Mobile

Materials:

• Felt squares in the following colors:
• White, Pink (raspberry), Blue, Green, Yellow
• Batting or fiberfill
• Upholstery thread, or plastic thread
• Template

Instructions:

1. Cut out the template out on paper.

2. Place two layers of felt, one over the other, and use the template to draw the cloud pattern on the felt.

3. Cut both layers.

4. Sew both layers together, leaving a small gap at the bottom.

5. Lightly fill the cloud structure with fiberfill. Sew the opening shut.

6. Cut out the drops using the pattern. I cut out 4 in each color, but had some left over.

7. Thread a needle with upholstery thread. Thread through the tip of the drop and tie a knot. Now thread through the tip of another drop and tie another knot about 2-3 inch apart. Repeat for the third drop.

8. Sew this drop garland to the bottom left corner (or side) of the cloud. Thread the needle a couple of times here to reinforce the stitch at this point. Now bring out the needle about 1 inch to the right of the point where you attached the garland.

9. Thread two drops this time from top to bottom. Tie a knot after the second drop. Repeat steps 7, 8, and 9 to attach two more rows of drops

10. Thread a loop on the top of the cloud twice to hang the mobile. Its ready to be admired. Rain rain come my way!

GIVEAWAY
We are giving away a prize a day every day here on our FaveCrafts blog for National Craft Month. It is so easy to enter. Just go to our Project of the Day post and comment to enter! You have 31 chances to win and a new special prize each day. Tune in every day to see if you are the winner!