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

Birthday and January Banner

A couple of months ago, I made these cute banners. Well, I need to keep making one for each month. So, here are the last two that I made. The "Celebrate" one is mostly for birthdays. I didn't get it made in time for my hubby's b-day in December, but it was finished for my little boy's birthday in January. My favorite so far is the January banner. I had some fun die cut felt that I was able to use and I did a lot of stitching! I love the colors... red, turquoise and gold... and I love the stitching. A couple of close ups... I've got my paper for February... now let's see if I can some up with something creative to do with it! --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!)

Not Quite a Rant: Sewing on Knit

A small echo of Anisa's knit post, here. I never know what is going to inspire me. I was browsing in a local craft store and saw that American Craft ribbon was on sale for $1 a spool. The next thing I knew, I was buying several, then going to Target to find a white t-shirt to stitch it on for my daughter. (Honestly, I think this ribbon is too cute to scrapbook with) I had appliqued felt onto knit before, on a small scale, but this was a new experience. Knit is very unforgiving. I pinned the ribbon onto the shirt using small spacing, doing what I could to not stretch the knit at all. Then I sewed down one side, then the other, using a very close stitch.You can see it's not perfect, but it was simple, inexpensive and she loves it. The flower is my favorite part. I folded three segments of ribbon into a flower shape and hand-sewed those together. Then I added an X of another ribbon style and a matching button and hand-stitched those to the shirt.

I love quick-fix inspiration.

Maybe that's why my family dinners have lacked sparkle. My hubby does all the shopping and really, does anyone get inspired looking into their own pantry? :)

-C

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

Front Porch Pillows

I live in Daybreak. It's a planned community with the idea of older style homes and front porches. We have a lot of fun colorful houses in our neighborhood. I have mixed feelings about my front porch. I would prefer to have it open so that I can sit out on my bench and watch my kids play in the street. However, I do love that it hides the scooters that are always parked on the front porch. Anyway, I put my cute yellow bench out on the front porch and I wanted to decorate it with some pillows. I have been wanting to make something with burlap... since it's so trendy right now. So, I thought I'd do something with pillows!

I started with this pillow. I bought outdoor fabric at Joann. I followed my own tutorial to make it a slip covered pillow. Then I just cut a strip of burlap and sewed a reinforced stitch around the edge so it wouldn't fray. I sewed it into a band and made another smaller band to cinch it up in the front. Then I attached a fabric (burlap) flower that I made using my tutorial here.

Then came the fun part. I really liked the pattern in the fabric. And I wanted to make a smaller coordinating pillow out of burlap. So, here is what I did.

• I enlarged the pattern on my copy machine. I think it was about 8x8.
• I traced the pattern onto freezer paper.
• I used an exacto knife and small scissors to cut out the pattern. ( I got lazy and just cut out the part that repeated.

If you would like a more detailed tutorial on freezer paper stencils, you can find one here.

• I ironed the freezer paper stencil onto the burlap and used a sponge brush to dab acrylic paint onto the burlap. (this is where the lazy part came in. I had to take the freezer paper off and turn it 4 times to get the repeating pattern. That seemed easier than cutting it out.)
• I heat set the paint on with the iron.
• I sewed the pillow using the same slip covered pillow tutorial.

Here's the funny part... I was worried about a pillow form getting wet on the porch and getting moldy, so I made my pillow form by stuffing a ziploc bag with polyfil!!!

It turned out totally cute!!!

Now my front porch has a cute set of matching pillows. And I love the way they look on my yellow bench (scooters have been removed for the photo) Maybe I don't hate sewing so much after all... I just hate sewing clothes!!!

-Anisa

Anisa's Rant about Sewing!

Okay, so I'm going to warn you... I feel the need to rant about sewing right now. If you love to sew... you may not want to read this!!!

I have 3 boys. I love that I can just pass down their clothes and not have to buy new ones every year. So, it totally irritates me when my oldest gets holes in his knees or cuts a hole in his brand new shirt. So, I had a pile of mending that I wanted to do. I finally sat down at work one night and decided it was the night. I cut off some shorts and sewed a reinforced stitch along where I cut and let them fray. Those turned out cute!!!

Then I tried to patch the holes in the knee of one of the jeans. How do you patch a hole in a knee???? You can't turn the sewing machine in all directions when the jeans are on it??? Seriously, does anyone know how to do that?

Then I tried to re-hem a shirt that had a small hole at the bottom. I hate sewing on knit. It's too stretchy. I did a simple zig zag stitch, but it is completely uneven and it has already started to come un-sewed after one wash.

I got completely fed up. I buy their clothes on clearance anyway. And for that matter who cares if a boys clothes has holes?

So, I've been bored at work. And I've really wanted to do some refashioning of t-shirts like I've seen on several blogs. I love Elizabeth Kartchner's posts here and here. I love this tutorial on Ruffles and Stuff. I take cell phone pictures of clothes that I see in stores so I can try to make them myself.... Love this idea I saw at Target.I have a shirt that I love that has a hole in it. So, if I did reverse applique like this shirt at Old Navy, I could take care of the hole. I also love the applique on this shirt at Target. I've seen tons of others out there as well and I love the idea of taking a shirt that I have that has a stain or hole or is just plain, and making it cute and fun. I've been putting it off because... frankly, I'm scared. It usually doesn't turn out for me. And after my mending.... I just didn't want to so it. So, last night I thought I'd give it a try. I asked my mom how to hem a knit shirt. This is what she told me....

Cut it off. Zig zag the edge. Then turn it over and with a double needle, sew on the top and it's a great finished look. I did all of this, but I just don't sew well!!!! And I'm seriously jinxed when it comes to sewing clothes. It turned out awful. I can't even hem a simple t-shirt. How am I supposed to put cute ruffles on it!!! So, I threw it in the trash and decided that I will leave the clothing sewing to someone else!!!

Now that I've put this post together... I feel bad that I gave up. Should I try again? Should I just not hem the sleeves? Seriously, what is my problem?

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

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 ;)

Swimsuit Alteration

About 5 years ago on a little getaway with my hubby, I bought my first 2 piece swimsuit. I've only worn it that weekend and maybe once or twice since them. It's such a cute bathing suit, but I have to say I felt a little uncomfortable in despite the fact that it was a tank top instead of a bikini one. With a trip to a warm and tropical location coming up and without the kids, I thought I'd risk pulling that old suit out. I tried it on and still felt uncomfortable, but thanks to all the great posts different crafters have done on clothing alteration I felt not only the inspiration to make my own alterations but also the courage to try it! Here's what I started with (I apologize in advance for any and all wrinkles you may see): See that little gap between the top and the bottom? Not so pretty on a mother of 3. (At least not me.) I headed to the fabric store to check out their Lycra selection and found just the color I needed to add a few inches to the bottom of my tank. I only purchased 1/3 of a yard and probably could have gotten away with 1/4 yard. What I did: 1. Unpick the hem around the bottom of the tank. If the holes from the seam are too big, you may have to trim the fabric just above the hem. Mine turned out just fine, though. Iron flat. 2. Lay your fabric down and your tank on the top edge. Follow the natural flow of your top to cut out your new piece. Don't forget to add a little extra for seam allowances. 3. You should have two pieces of fabric now. Sew the sides together and fold in half, seams inside. 4. Pin your new fabric band to the suit, matching side seams to side seams. 5. Using a stretch stitch (check your owner's manual), sew together. The stretch stitch will allow for extra movement and will prevent all your hard work from coming apart the first time you use your newly altered swimsuit. 6. Iron again with seams pointing up. If you are lucky to have a Serger or at least have access to one, you can serge your raw edges for a more finished look. Here's what I ended up with: It was a quick, inexpensive refashion and bonus-no swimsuit shopping this year!! (BTW-It was so much more comfortable to wear on the beach and swimming. )