Burp Cloths Re-visited

Do you remember this blanket I made for my nephew, West? Well, I planned on making him some burp cloths to match... but I ended up making these burp cloths for my friend, Rachel. Well, West is in town (and sadly I don't even get to hold him because I'm sick), so I had a deadline to get his burp cloths made. It was so fun to do the owl thing with boy stuff! I added a little ric rac and that turned out cute. And yes, I know the owls are sideways, but that is all of the fabric that I had left over. And I am just loving applique right now. -Anisa

Cloth Diaper Burp Cloths

It's been a busy week for me... and I've had sick kids... no fun. I needed to get a baby shower gift for my friend, Rachel... but just didn't really have time. I live about 20-25 minutes from Target, Old Navy, etc.... and just wasn't up for a drive clear across town. Plus, I really like to make home made gifts for my friends. On my way home from work, I stopped by a little boutique and saw burp cloths... they wanted $20 for them!!!! I had actually purchased some cloth diapers to make burp cloths to go with this blanket... so, I thought, I guess I'll make some girl ones for Rachel. I had minky left over from the blanket... and this super cute fabric that I had bought for a project for my sister in law...(that I never made)... So, I started cutting, and sewing.... I'm into appliqué right now.... so I appliquéd a flower on the minky to give it a little something extra... Here are pics of each burp cloth... (I didn't do a tutorial for the burp cloths, but I found a tutorial online at Chickpea Sewing Studio that is similar to the same technique that I used) Here's a little tip about your bobbin thread.... it is the thread that shows on the back. So, when doing a project like this, use white bobbin thread... then the thread doesn't show! Here are the burp cloths all wrapped up... I totally love how they turned out and I hope she likes them too! -Anisa

(PS Shellie... I am still going to make you some to go with the owl blanket)

Nothing a little Appliqué won't fix

I have 3 boys... I pass their clothes down. My oldest son had this lovely jacket from his elementary school last year... Well, it's a nice jacket, but he doesn't go to school there... plus it doesn't fit him. So, my second son inherited it. I thought I would try to do a little appliqué to cover up the words. I first appliquéd the star... I wanted something subtle, so I went with a gray and black plaid scrap that I had. Then I appliquéd a guitar over the star. To give it a little pizazz, I did a little zigzag stitch in bright blue over the whole thing. It turned out totally cute!!! And my little boy loves it... my hubby was even impressed. -Anisa

Baby Boy Blanket

Riley Blake Designs has this super cute baby boy owl fabric! When my sister in law and I first saw it, we fell in love with it! Lucky for her, she was pregnant with a baby boy at the time. So, she bought some fabric to make a cute car seat cover.

There is a cute little fabric store that I drive by every day on my way to and from work. I have purposely avoided it because... well, I knew I would spend money there. So, the other day I needed some ric rac for a project (that I need to post about) and I saw that they had the cute owl fabric! My sister in law had mentioned that she wanted a light weight blanket to match her car seat cover. Something she could lay the baby on. So, I got to work! And I discovered that the fabric comes in flannel too! I wanted to use minky because it's really soft... and I had a bit of the lighter brown color left over from a project. Just be careful with minky because it's very stretchy... it caused some problems for me and a little unpicking... and the blanket still doesn't lay as flat as I would like it to, but I still think it turned out cute... and it's super soft! I wanted to give it a little character so I used bright red thread and did some zig zag stitching along the seams. It was super fun to make and I hope baby West loves it!

-Anisa

A girl for a week

My baby nephew was born on Dec. 23rd with an infection. So, he's been in Primary Children's hospital. We got to baby sit my niece while his mom and dad were in the hospital with him. Aside from the emotions of a girl, I had fun having a girl for a week!

I love cute hair flowers, but I never get the chance to make them because I have 3 boys. So, I got the chance to make a few!

I tried a few different techniques. All of these flowers were made by simply taking a strip of fabric about 2" wide by 18" long. I started by tieing a knot at the end... the not becomes the center of the flower. Then, you kind of just fold and twist while you hot glue. I'm sure there is some awesome blog out there with a tutorial on these flowers... I was too lazy to try to figure out how to take pictures while my hands were making the flowers. This pink flower was made by taking the same strip of fabric. Instead of twisting and hot gluing, I folded it in half the long way. Then I simply took a needle and thread and sewed along the non-folded edge. I gathered as a sewed. Then I sewed a button in the middle. This flower was made by taking a piece of fabric about 1.5" wide x 18" long. I simply tore the fabric to give it the shappy chic look. I then used a needle and thread to do a gathering stitch along the edge. I repeated with a piece of fabric 1" x 18" and then sewed the smaller one on top of the larger one. And sewed a button in the middle. I think they turned out pretty cute and it was fun to make some flowers out of fabric.... Next up... singed flowers.

Some of these flowers were made specifically to take pictures of this cute little girl....

I had fun trying out some photo techniques and fun editing in Iphoto and Photoshop elements. Now, I can't wait to go meet my new little nephew!!!

A few homemade Christmas gifts

In my family, we rotate who we give Christmas gifts to. When I asked my brother and sister-in-law what they wanted, they told me a gift card to Walmart. How boring! But, I know better than to give my brother anything other than what he asked for. However, I just couldn't give them a gift card without giving them some cute hand made gifts to go with it. They have a little girl who is 3 1/2. So, I thought I would make a cute hair clip for her.But, they were expecting a baby boy (he was born Dec. 23rd). I couldn't figure out what to make him. I debated on burp cloths and bibs.... but I finally decided on a binky holder. I just put a simple brad on the end to hide the clip... and I love it when I can purchase something for a gift for someone and have a bunch of fun stuff left over for me! One of the fun parts of giving gifts is the packaging. One of the things that makes it cute is when you use something from the gift to decorate the packaging... I used the ribbon from the binky clip and a scrap of fabric from the hair clip to tie the cellophane bags. It adds a fun touch to the gifts. Our little nephew has been in Primary Children's hospital with an infection and we haven't even been able to meet him yet! He is improving a ton but won't be out until the round of antibiotics is over (in another week). I can't wait to meet him! In the meantime, we are baby sitting my niece... I have been making more hair flowers and have plans to make a few more.... I don't get the chance to make girly stuff all that often!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

-Anisa

Easiest Valance Ever!

Last night I whipped up a set of valances for our living room windows! They are sooo fast and easy that I thought I'd do a quick tutorial....

1. Measure your window width. Mine was 63"

2. Cut your fabric 2" wider to account for a 1" seam allowance on each side. I typically like my valance to drop 18". You will need to double the amount of fabric for the drop. So, basically I cut my fabric 65" wide x 36" tall.

So, here is my fabric all cut. I drew a little diagram on the picture. Basically, you will hem the sides first, then put the fabric right sides together and sew it into a tube. Turn it right side out and iron it. You will loop the tube over your rod. Then take two pieces of ribbon. I like mine to be 15" long. So, I cut them 30" and sewed the ends together. then slip them over the rod and slide them into place. It's as simple as that!

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'd love to answer any questions for you.

-Anisa

(P.S. Sydney... we need to make some for your new house now!)

Something in the Air: Cami's sewing, too.

When I first got the idea to make my daughter's outfit for her preschool graduation, I was worried that I would have a post similar to Anisa's sewing rant as she has a lot more skill with fabric than I do, but then...

I found this fabulous and simple tutorial from Grand Revival Design for a ruffle skirt, bought the material at Hobby Lobby and went to it.

It was really easy and I finished in an afternoon. When I do it again (I already bought the material) I'll be adding an inch to each panel. It was a bit short for this mama.

Next, I made a binki clip for this cute little monkey.I liked the tutorial found here at an adorable craft blog called Ruffles and Stuff. Again, I liked the simplicity. Something I can do!

I had to alter her design a bit because I could only find overall clips. To use them, I took an extra strip of fabric and folded it length-wise in thirds and sewed down the length of it. I looped it over the clip loop and secured it with more stitches.I slipped it in to the tube (see tutorial link) and then did the top stitching around.

Since baby uses the Soother (which has no loops for elastic or ribbon) I used a clip on each side. Before the week is over, I hope to post a template for two different felt clip cover-ups, but in the mean time, I love this sweet fabric.

-C

Black Apple Doll Party... so much fun!!!

So, I wanted to post the pics of the girls and their dolls. This turned out to be so much fun.

They are so great because they each have their own characteristics. The girls picked their fabric, felt hair color and all of their embellishments. They even painted their own faces on. It took us almost 2.5 hours to complete the dolls. I did all of the sewing, but the girls did the rest. They cut out the fabric, stuffed, drew on faces, etc. They all loved their dolls and had tons of fun chatting while they worked!!! -Anisa

Black Apple Doll Party!!!

Now that the Seedlings Craft Boutique is over, I can start working on my own crafts:) Not quite. Maybe next week.

So, I had a friend ask me if I would teach her daughter and 3 of her friends how to make Black Apple Dolls for her daughter's birthday party. How fun is that. This little girl is turning 11 and it was her idea to do this for her birthday. My husband said that I'm the clown at the birthday:) Anyway, I am going to bring my stash of supplies and teach/help these 4 little girls make Black Apple Dolls. I hope all goes well... these little dolls can be kind of tricky. I made a couple of new dolls to just refresh my memory of how they are made. Loving them!!!

-Anisa

March Snow Showers bring Fabric Flowers

It snowed this weekend. But I was in the mood for flowers. So, I used Cami's Sizzix and some super cool wool fabric that I got from my mom's stash and I made some fabric flowers. I met a girl in my neighborhood a few months ago that was wearing a fabric flower similar to these. I asked her how she made them and she kind of explained it to me. So, I thought I would do my version and see how it turned out.

For these flowers you will need 6 flowers. We cheated and cut the flowers out on the Sizzix with a flower die. You could trace and hand cut the flowers if you want. I am using different colors in my sample flower so that you can see the layering easier. Step 1: Take your first two flowers and off set them. Using a needle and thread, just pull the need through from the back. Step 2: Fold the other 4 flowers in half (I ironed mine for the picture, but don't do that. You want them to fluff up). Step 3: Layer the flowers like you would fold closed the top of a box... turning a quarter turn for every flower. Step 4: Put your layered flowers on top of your other two flowers and pull that needle through the flowers again. Sew a couple of stitches through to make sure you get every layer. Step 5: With that threaded needle still in your flower, sew a button in the middle.

Now, my multi-colored flower is a little wonky... but kind of cute. But let me show you some of my cuter flowers. Gotta love my mom's stash of fabric!!! -Anisa

Scripture Bag

My daughter was baptized into our Church on Saturday. My husband and I gave her her first set of scriptures and a scripture tote. I picked one up at Seagull Book (a Utah based store) for $5. Here it is:

Cute color. Definitely girly, but lacking in personality I think. Using the fabric flower I did here (tutorial found here) with fabric in my stash and some ric rac I had on hand, her bag no longer lacks personality.

I also did the ric rac on the back.

Everything is sewn directly to the bag by hand. I was able to get it completely finished in just a couple of hours. (Less if you don't have to stop to get kids from school and feed them ;)