Toddler Neck Pillows Pattern

Last week as we drove my family back to the airport, Sophia did something that she rarely does. It's so rare, that I've never considered how I could improve the process....She fell asleep. In the car. What?!

We've all seen pictures of toddlers and children with their heads slumped forward while sleeping in carseats. I know I personally would get a ridiculous crick in my neck, but kids don't seem to mind. So on to Pinterest I went, in search of a toddler neck pillow pattern. Eunice at Mommy Sew Pretty has a free pattern and simple tutorial (cut, sew, flip, stuff). To print the pattern, open the link with Paint, select Print Preview, select Page Setup, and change the orientation to Portrait. The image should take up the majority of the 8.5x11" paper.

I used scraps of fleece from the girls' reversible carseat ponchos and pink broadcloth from Sophia's birthday dress. The project took less than an hour from start to (almost) finish to make two. Before stitching the pillow closed, I want to make sure that the amount of stuffing is just right when the girls use them in their carseats.

Reversible Car Seat Ponchos

Sophia isn't a fan of posing...

These have been a lifesaver during our unusually cold and LONG winter! I'd read all of the warnings before on how dangerous it is to put kiddos in their carseats with puffy winter coats. Here's a link for more information just in case you haven't heard/seen the possible effects if you're involved in an accident. Blankets are great, except that if your child can move his/her legs, the blanket stays on for about half a second. Then there's whining for "banket, myyyyyyy BANKET!" coming from behind the driver's seat and unfortunately, you can't grab the "banket" because you're driving.



Blob of Fleece - DON'T DO THIS (source)

So ponchos seemed to be the best solution. Most of the ponchos and patterns I found through my Google Images search started with a square of fabric with a hole in the middle. Not a bad plan as long as you don't mind hanging all that extra fabric around the carseat and making the child look like a blob of fleece.....actually the more I look at the Blob picture, I can't help but think how much space storing that big of a fleece blanket would require. Best case scenario, you've got a van, but still....it's just too much!

I decided that I would start with a rectangle instead. I quickly tossed Sophia in her seat (Britax Boulevard) and measured the diagonal length from the top of her head to her toes, then added about 8". I also measured the outside width of her carseat at her lap, then added 2". I repeated the process for Abigail. She's still in the infant carrier (Peg Perego), so her rectangle didn't need to be as wide or as long. One yard of the front multi-color and one yard of the back solid-color fleece was enough to make these two blankets.

After cutting my rectangles (purple and multi-color fleece), I sewed them together leaving a small opening for turning. (Turning isn't necessary with fleece, since fleece DOES NOT fray, but I like the look of hidden edges. I also stitched around the border of the rectangles to keep my turned edges clean.) Before turning, I picked a spot toward the top of the rectangle and traced a half circle using a random lid that was roughly 4" in diameter. Fleece stretches, so even if you think 4" is too small, start with that and expand if necessary. (To maintain the stretch, DO NOT sew around the neck opening.)

Sophia's neck hole was much larger...because I thought 4" was too small. Clearly I believe my child has a gigantic head, oops. So I figured it would be best to add a hood to her poncho. She LOVES hats and hoods, so I couldn't deny her of the joy! I made a hood using this tutorial, creating a pattern from a hooded jacket that she likes to wear. In order for all my edges to match, I had to sew the hood pieces together with right sides facing each other. (Only sew around the part of the hood that goes over the back of the head.)

Then I opened those pieces and put right sides together for the outside multi-color and inside solid color. Make sure to line up the two seams at the top of the hoods (illustrated by the pink circle) and also at the bottom corners. Stitch around the face only and then turn so that the right sides faced out.

Finally the trickiest and most annoying part, I folded all the pieces inside around the edges as I stitched the hood into the fabric of the poncho. That part was ridiculous, but my seams were so beautiful that I got over it!

DIY Baby Boy Gifts

I've been combing the internet for a QUICK, EASY set of DIY gifts that I could give as a set to my fantastic neighbor who was pregnant (now 3 weeks post partum!) with her first boy. Luckily, the internet did not disappoint: set of three fleece-lined wee-wee wigwams, minky taggie blanket, tie onesie applique, and interchangeable snap bow tie onesie. Please excuse the horrendous lighting that "effects" on my phone couldn't even fix. I was in a hurry to deliver the overdue goods and didn't use my big girl camera :)

Here are the tutorials I used. I only bought a yard of fabric (and used a FRACTION of it), 3 spools of ribbon, some snaps, and a set of onesies. The rest of my materials were scraps from other sewing projects. It was fantastic!

• Wee-Wee Wigwams by Make It, Love It
• Taggie Blanket by Just Another Day in Paradise (note: I cut my ribbon 6" so that a baby could actually get his/her fingers around the tags and actually stitched them with length:1 instead of basting to make sure they were tightly secured; see previous here)
• Tie Onesie Applique by moi (note: these are all over Pinterest, but they are so easy to do yourself with some Heat & Bond and a zig-zag stitch in coordinating thread)
• Snap Bow Tie Onesie by One Young Love (note: I used 9x4" tie length and one button seen here; when sewing the button, I would suggest waiting to use hot glue until after button is attached as pictured below on the right)

DIY Super Hero Fort Kit

Found out just a few days ago that my nephew's 4th birthday party is tomorrow. With such short notice, I scrambled to find the perfect gift. He is having a Super Hero party, so I searched along those lines.

Check out this amazing blog post from Meg & Andy on how to create your very own DELUXE Super Hero Fort Kit. So thankful for her inspiration and quick thinking. For the canopy, I purchased a twin flat sheet from Walmart and some matching ribbon. I cut the ribbon into 18" pieces, folded in half and sewed the folded ends 1.5" zig zag on the underside of the sheet on each of the four corners and then in the middle of each side. When using ribbon, it's important to remember to melt the edges to prevent fraying. I use my aim 'n' flame candle lighter. If you get the flame too close, you'll burn the ribbon, so stay about 1/4" away. To make the drawstring bag, I bought 1/3 yard of 42" wide fabric from Hobby Lobby, folded it in half and trimmed 4" off from the selvage edges. Then I followed this fabulous tutorial at Purl Bee (just love all of her pictures). The project took about an hour, including the ironing (majority of the time) for the flat sheet.

Baby #2

SURPRISE! We're pregnant! I'm writing this on March 21, 2013 but this won't be published for a few weeks! We found out last Saturday morning. Shocked? Oh yes. Planning? Nope. For monitoring ovulation for months on end when trying to get pregnant with Sophia, I'm not sure what happened here. We're due November 21st! Sophia and Baby #2 will be 21 months apart.

The day before taking the test, I was incredibly nervous distraught! I was only 2 days late, but my frequent bathroom visits were very telling. In my head, I kept telling myself that if I was pregnant, I might have to take a vacation, just jump on a plane and get away for a few days. How in the world could God expect me to go through another year like this past one? No sleep ---- even when everyone and everything tells you sleep should be happening at night; colic ---- dear my that was just plain awful; breastfeeding ---- I can't even go there. But I prayed that the Lord would calm my heart; that if we were pregnant, my response would be joy and thanksgiving, not tears and fear.

Saturday morning came early. That second line appeared. Brian and I laughed. There was joy. Complete joy. Praise God for "pregnancy grace". The rest of the weekend was full of projects: cleaning out the baby's closet and moving my craft storage into my linen closet in the master bath, sewing a car seat cover using this tutorial and leftover fabric, and planning out Sophia's new room design with the full size bed. In Brian's words, "Nothing like a good old fashioned unplanned pregnancy to get you motivated."

Our seat is pretty vertical, so it looks a bit funny.

Zip It Up!

Last week I had the awesome challenge privilege to help my neighbor sew a pillow and pillow case with zipper. It was my second zipper. EVER. And I have to admit that I was a bit nervous terrified that I would disappoint my sweet friend with my total lack of zipper skills. She was pleased with the outcome, which gave me the confidence I needed to complete the pillowcase for Sophia's room that has been waiting for oh, 14 months, to complete. TOTAL SLACKER. But in all fairness, I was intimidated by the zipper and didn't want to mess up the precious fabric I had left to match her crib bedding.

So I took the plunge. Because I only had a small amount of fabric left, I couldn't cut two pieces - even a seam allowance would cost too much! So I folded my material in half and determined I would sew along 3 sides, the longest side holding my precious zipper. I found the pictures from Make It, Love It to be INCREDIBLY helpful! Here are the steps that I want to make sure I NEVER forget:

1. Lay zipper on fabric and mark where it begins and ends.
2. On either end you will use a regular stitch and backstitch, since we will NOT be ripping those seams.
3. Baste stitch (longest straight stitch setting) the center section, since we will be ripping those.
4. Press seam open.
5. Lay zipper face down on the pressed seam on the WRONG side of the fabric. (This will ensure that the zipper is facing the right direction once you turn your fabric.)
6. Tape the zipper in place. (I've tried pins, but taping is PERFECT! Trust me.)
7. Topstitch the zipper. (Sewing on the right side of the fabric ensures a beautiful line for all to see.)
8. Start at the bottom of the zipper, and stitch up toward the actual pull of the zipper.
9. About 2" before you get to the pull, unzip the zipper past the point of where you paused stitching. (This will allow you to continue to stitch a straight line without running over the pull.)
10. Continue stitching until you get just above the end of the zipper teeth but you're still on the zipper fabric. Turn 90* and stitch just until you cross onto the other side of the zipper.
11. STOP!
12. Zip your zipper back up.
13. Go back to the bottom of the zipper, where you started before, but this time, stitch on the other side.
14. Now when it's time to pass the pull, you'll have to use your seam ripper so that you can actually unzip it.
15. Don't worry. Your zipper will stay in place from this point on. You've got your trusty tape AND you're almost done so that fabric will be cooperative.
16. Repeat step 8.

Pinwheel Party

This party was by far the most fun and colorful event I've ever planned! Sophia has a lot of interests at her young age, but no such love for character themes; hence, the pinwheel theme. Pinterest and Google Images were a great source of help! I have always loved pink and yellow, and somehow teal fell right in line with her early spring celebration. Below are links to specific tutorials or ideas that I used to make this party a success.

Stationary and Decorations

• Pinwheel Invitations
• Inspiration
• Invite (Microsoft Publisher file includes postcard option and 4x6) printed on white paper with black and pink ink and attached (spray adhesive) to yellow cardstock (cut 4"x6")
• Paper pinwheels (double-sided paper) with yellow centers (cut-out cardstock) and sticks (double-sided paper scraps) attached (rubber cement) to white paper
• Folded Paper Pinwheels Wall Installation
• Inspiration
• Used scoring board
• 1/2" folds were accomplished by marking every whole inch [i.e., mark 1", 2", 3", etc. lines] on the front of the paper and marking every half inch [i.e., 0.5", 1.5", 2.5", etc. lines] on the back side
• 1" folds were accomplished by marking even whole inches [i.e., mark 2", 4", 6", etc. lines] on the front of the paper and marking odd whole inches [i.e., 1", 3", 5", etc. lines] on the back side
• 13" Diameter (1) - four pieces of 3"x12" folded every 1/2" 
• 12" Diameter (3) - four pieces of 3"x12" folded every 1"
• 11.5" Diameter (4) - four pieces of 4.25"x11" folded every 1/2"
• 9" Diameter (4) - 3 pieces of 4"x12" folded every 1/2"
• 7.5" Diameter (1) - 4 pieces of 3"x9" folded every 1"
• 7.5" Diameter (1) - 2 pieces of 4.25"x11" folded every 1/4"
• 6.5" Diameter (2) - 2 pieces of 4.25"x11" folded every 1/2"
• 6.5" Diameter (1) - 4 pieces of 3"x12" folded every 1"
• 6" Diameter (1) - 3 pieces of 4"x12" folded every 1/2"
• 5" Diameter (1) - 2 pieces of 3"x12" folded every 1/2

Attached to wall w/masking tape.

• Hanging Tissue Paper Fans (similar item)
• 16" Diameter (2)
• 12" Diameter (2)
• 8" Diameter (1)



Should have hung fans lower for better photos.

• 5" Diameter (1)
• Pennant Banner on Highchair
• Inspiration
• Single-sided fabric cut into 5"high x3"wide triangles
• Attached to teal ribbon with hot glue (to help provide extra grip to highchair)
• Ribbon attached to highchair with painter's tape to take care of finish --- very temporary hold!
• Paper Straws (similar item)
• Lime green and white stripes
• 2" paper pinwheels (single-sided paper) with dots (cut-out cardstock) hot glued to straws

Favors

Piping icing took FOREVER!

• Sugar Cookies with Buttercream Frosting (family recipe)
• Pinwheel Cookie Cutter
• Plastic Bags with Paper Labels (Publisher file grey lines are cut lines)
• Working Paper Pinwheels
• Single-Sided scrapbook paper turned double-sided with spray adhesive
• Cut into 6" squares
• Attached by pins to cake pop sticks

Food

It was delicious!

• Yellow Banana Cake (four 8" round & one 6" round) with Buttercream Frosting. I really wish I had gotten some photos of this. I made the cakes the day before and iced the day of. Would have been better to bake AND ice the day before because it took quite a long time the morning of the party! To ensure a beautiful cake, butter and flour your pans! The easiest method is to take one tablespoon of butter and push it all around the sides and bottom of the pan with a piece of wax paper. Then add one tablespoon of flour and shake the pan until it's covered, dumping excess into next pan. The box mix says to use an ungreased pan, but I think they must be crazy! To ensure a worry free icing experience, be generous! Ice the "crumb coat" at least an hour before applying the rest of your icing. The crumb coat is a layer of icing that goes all around the cake and on top so that when you apply the rest, your cake doesn't crumb off. YouTube has some great tutorials on this.
• Cut Fruit with Dip
• Spiral Wraps
• Cranberry Meatballs
• Vegetable Tray
• Hummus (from local shop)
• Pink Lemonade with Sprite

Sophia's Pink Dress
This might have been the most enjoyable task. I used McCalls Pattern 6015 to create the dress I couldn't find in stores. I wanted a very traditional, long dress with just enough poof. ---Ok, I'll admit, I added extra poof! The pattern wasn't the easiest to figure out, but thankfully YouTube is chockfull of video tutorials! I even managed to fully line the zipper. I used pink broadcloth from Hobby Lobby and added gathered tulle from my 6" wide rolls that I typically use for tu-tu's. The final touch was the addition of two felt pinwheels (made from typical craft felt)! They are simply pinned on so that I can add a different pop of color just in case we need to match for another occasion, Easter perhaps.

Fleece Hats & Gloves - Animal Style

Christmas in Ohio meant that the cousins would always get similar items. I enjoyed this! Last year, I sewed matching Spiderman sleep pants for my three nephews. This year, I knew I would need to take it up a notch to include their baby sister and my youngest niece! I found a great site with hundreds of fleece tutorials. Although their directions are somewhat lacking, the patterns are easy enough to figure out.

I used these patterns (child hat, baby hat, mittens) and ideas from Martha (Stewart, obviously) to whip up some fun gifts. No, these aren't fast projects or even that inexpensive, but the holidays are a time to invest in the lives of others!

I tweaked some of the patterns to fit the concepts. Specifically, the fleece and my sewing machine did not fair well when it came to button-holing, so instead I stitched a button hole by hand, cut the fabric inside the button hole to create a place for clip-on bows. Then I used some leftover ribbon to give Lily a bit of class. For the boys, I used the same size hat (child small) for all three (ages 3 to 7). For the mittens, I used one child large and two child mediums. The infant mittens were based on some mittens I was given for Sophia. They didn't fit as nicely as the patterned ones.

Supplies:

• Multiple colors of fleece cut to 1/4 yard
• Craft felt
• Hot glue
• Craft glue
• Thread
• A small amount of polyfil for the Viking horns (none used in the dinosaur hat)

Assembly:

1. Cut fabric on the bias so that your hats stretch! You'll regret it if you don't.
2. Stitch seams/elastic to mitten pieces BEFORE you attach front and back of mittens. The hats do not use elastic, but are simply stitched with a large zig zag.
3. Stitch any "extras" (i.e., dino spikes, shark fin, Viking horns) facing inward between your two fleece pieces. This will ensure they are on the outside when you flip your hat right side out. This is also true for the teeth on the mittens.

Advent Calendar Complete

Has anyone realized it's almost the end of January? Where has this month gone? We've been busy cleaning up from the holidays and getting crafty for Sophia's upcoming FIRST birthday! More to come on those fun projects!

As for the calendar, I finished it just before Christmas. It was so much fun to create the ornaments (some from patterns, others from general ideas I spotted on Pinterest). I used basic craft felt because it was in ready supply and the right price. Felted Wool is your best bet when creating things to last forever, but since this was my first attempt, I figured I should take it easy. Craft glue and sewing floss (typically used for cross-stitch) came in handy! I purchased the craft felt numbers from Sunshine Annie on Etsy. She's got a wide variety of colors and fonts to choose from and she shipped my order in record time. (Her card is stuck in the #6 pocket so I don't lose it, but I really should have pulled it out for the glamour shot!)

8 Straight Stitches + Hand Sewing = Pocket Bench Cover + Victory over the Mommy-Brain

Please ignore the unsightly air return...

I've been thinking through a rather simple concept for months: a cover for my foyer bench cushion that could easily be removed and cleaned when necessary. The trick to making something beautiful and removable is hours of thinking or store-bought. I was up for the challenge and so I began my quest! The measurements were simple to come by, it was those 8 stitches that threw me for a loop!

I purchased my foam at the local Army Navy store where they cut it to my specified dimensions. (In hind sight, I should have reduced my desired size to account for batting and fabric so that the final product didn't hang off the edge of the bench, but it was my first time, so I'll let that be my excuse.) Then I wrapped my cushion with some high loft batting I had left over from a quilting project. I made do without the spray adhesive, wrapped the batting, and hoped for the best. I'm sure it will need to be smoothed out after a few months of use, but that's the beauty of the pocket cover!

Here's how I did it!

Supplies:

Figuring out measurements...

• Foam 15" L x 50" W x 1.5" H.
• Fabric 37.25" L x 52.75" W. (If you want your pattern on a specific spot of the cover, you'll have to mark your starting line and measure back 1.5" to get the correct cut line.)
• Coordinating Thread.
• 9-10 Hook Fasteners like these. (Sure you could try Velcro, but I didn't like how far apart my pocket pulled. The fasteners give you a much cleaner line.)
• Sewing Machine.
• Needle.
• Scissors.

Assembly:

1. Iron the 52.75"W sides 1/2" and then another 1/2" to create a beautiful hem line. Ironing eliminates the need for pins and gives you such a smooth surface to work with.
2. Stitch along the ironed edges to create your pocket hem.
3. Fold the fabric just over the halfway mark (one side will measure 17" and the other 17.5") with the right sides together.
4. Stitch down the unfinished sides with 1/2" seam allowance. (The fabric now resembles a large pocket that you'll be able to slide the cushion in lengthwise.)
5. Create box pleats in all 4 corners. I drew a chalk line at 45* and then drew a perpendicular line once the width of the triangle was 1.5".
6. Turn the cover right side out and your pocket will automatically appear! (I struggled to figure out how to reverse the direction of my pocket until I was working on my hand sewing of the fasteners. If you want to reverse the direction of the pocket, simply make your longer side of the "half" fabric on top rather than on the bottom. Oh, Mommy-Brain, one day you'll give way to my full capabilities, I'm sure of it!) 
7. Finally, hand stitch your fasteners in place. I started with my bars first and placed those 3/4" from the edge of the inside fabric on my pocket. I placed the hooks 1/8" from the top of the fabric on the adjacent fabric of the pocket.

 

Crisp Box Pleat

Pocket of the Cover (normally faces said air return)

Advent Calendar Tutorial

Every Christmas, my sister and I would share the coveted responsibility of snapping the ornaments onto our advent calendar. The calendar was made by my great grandmother and was falling apart when we were kids. (It's current state has not improved with age.) The advent calendar with it's felt ornaments is one tradition I wanted to maintain with my own kiddos. Now that we've got Sophia, it's time to act on that goal!

As you can tell by the post date, we're a little late. We ran into a few snags, such as the only true fabric store in town not having any more canvas and being delayed a few days in getting to Hobby Lobby. I also had to find some inspiration. Creativity is not a strength, but duplication is!

This inspiring photo coupled with the memories of my childhood calendar led me to create the following.


   

Inspiration!                               My Advent so far...

If you want to attempt one yourself, here are the directions I made up. I hope they make sense! Stay tuned for the debut of the ornaments!

Supplies:

• 17"x 14" Pocket Fabric, ironed.
• 20"x 29" Calendar Fabric, ironed. (White canvas is always a nice choice for the front.) ***UPDATE: 36"L would be better!
• 20"x 29" Backing Fabric, ironed. (Go classic or wild, this side is just for you! It will, however, serve a major purpose of hiding all of your stitching in the end.) ***UPDATE: 36"L would be better!
• Four or five 6"x12" Fleece in contrasting colors (branches).
• 3"x3" Fleece in brown (stump).

Assembly of the Pockets:

1. Cut calendar fabric 21"x 36".
2. Cut 4 strips of the pocket fabric 18"x 3.5".
3. Iron both 17" sides to create a 0.5" hem. If you're keeping track, the depth of your pocket was just reduced to it's final size of 2.5".
4. Iron both 3.5" sides to create a 0.5" hem. The length of your strip is now 16".
5. Straight stich one of the 16" sides of each strip. This is the top of the pocket, so we can give it a finished edge this early in the game.
6. Take one of your pocket strips and lay it right side up, centered, and parallel to the bottom of your calendar roughly 2.5" away from the bottom and sides. (The finished calendar edge will eventually be 2" away from the bottom and sides of your pocket fabric after stitching a 0.5" seam with your backing fabric, but let's not get ahead of ourselves!)
• Below are some pictures of the next few steps!

7. The pocket fabric will NOT lay flat! Don't worry --- it looks wonky for a reason. You haven't made a mistake! We are forcing the 16" strip to fit into a 15" section. The purpose of this is to create some actual space within the pocket so that little fingers can grab those adorable felt ornaments!
8. The plan is to pin the bottom of the strip (only ironed, no stitching) to the canvas to attach the base of the pocket. To pin this wonky section, we will DIVIDE & CONQUER! I've talked about this strategy before, but if it's new to you, here's a quick review: (see image #1 above)
• Pin on the outsides of the fabric first (i.e., put a pin at 0" and 15" just within that ironed seam).
• Pin the middle of the fabric (i.e., at 7.5"). You will need to evenly divide that extra fabric onto either side of the 7.5" pin. Your fabric should now resemble a deflated M.
• Pin the middle of each side of the M (i.e., at 4" and 12"). Again, evenly distribute that fabric onto either side of the pin. Your fabric should now have 4 humps.
• Pin the middle of each of those sections (i.e., at 2", 6", 10", and 14"). Do you see how you've been able to divide up that extra fabric? Fabulous trick isn't it. You can continue to divide & conquer pin if you like just to make sure you don't get any big folds as you sew the bottom of the pocket. You'll probably end up with a few tiny ones, but nothing to get upset about.
9. Take your next pocket strip and place it 1/4" below the top of the previous strip you pinned. Essentially, you are tucking this strip just a hair beneath where the top of the bottom pocket will lay. This will disguise your stitching. You can space it out further if you prefer, just remember to reduce the size of your tree OR add more length to your calendar fabric.
10. Repeat step 9 with the remaining 2 strips so that all 4 strips are nicely pinned to your calendar fabric.
11. Straight stitch the bottom of this pocket onto your canvas following the seam line. I wouldn't try to do 1/4" or anything fancy, simply follow the line. This bottom stitch will be the only visible stitch line for the bottom of the pockets --- the others will overlap. Don't stitch the sides of the pocket --- those will come later. Pace yourself! (see image #2 above)
12. Make sure that bottom pocket is folded back toward the bottom of your calendar fabric so it doesn't get in the way as you sew the other 3 strips. (see image #2 above)
13. Now to create 6 pockets out of each strip and take a bathroom break!!!
14. Using a yardstick or other large ruler, we will pin vertical lines to divide & conquer. I lined up a piece of cardstock next to my ruler and pinned the cardstock to my fabric to use as a guide to sew the straight line. Looked really tacky, but it made a PERFECT line!

• Pin at 0" & 15". (You will sew just inside the folded hem at 1/8" and at 14 and 7/8".)
• Pin at 7.5".
• Pin at 2.2", 5", 10", and also at 12.5".
15. Stitch vertically across all 4 strips starting in with the middle line at 7.5".

Now how about that tree...

I had mixed success trying to make this a measurement game and ended up cutting the tree pieces multiple times. My best suggestion is to use the space you have available and divide it up as you see best. I placed my stump at 1.5" above the top red pocket. Based on the length of the fabric left (approximately 15.5" minus the top 2.5" for the hem and border = 13"), I drew a tree with 4 layers on cardstock and then used those as templates for my fleece tree. I didn't like how skinny my tree looked, so I made some wider ones. Once I was happy with the shape, I stitched around each piece of fleece starting with the stump (brown thread), then the bottom branch (hunter green thread), then the next (lime green thread), and so on.

Pennant Banner Tutorial

Oh, how I love those fabric banners! I pin and re-pin them on Pinterest and dream about the day I'll make one --- what's that? Roshena's shower is this week! Better get on it!

 

There are many great tutorials out there, but as I've said before, I LOVE PICTURES. So, if you're looking for some great snap shots, check out the tutorial I followed by Nicole at Simple Homemade.

Supplies:

• 1/4 yd of at least 5 fabrics. (You really could get away with even less, but the trick is that you need enough scrap fabric to make triangles that are 7" wide at the base and 9" tall.)
• Scissors OR Rotary Cutter. (Love my rotary and the self-healing mat it came with. Makes measuring and cutting a breeze.)
• 1 package Bias Tape Double Fold (3-4yds).
• Sewing Machine. (I guess you could use hot glue to bind it all, but I probably wouldn't recommend it...despite my love affair with the glue gun.)
• Coordinating Thread.
• Pins.

Prepping the Fabric:

• Fold 1/4 yard in half so that the two selvages are touching each other.
• Trim up the top and bottom with the rotary to get that crisp edge on your pennants.
• Place your fold of your fabric on the 3/4" line. Your selvages will hang out somewhere near the 24" line.
• Place your ruler at the 1" line and cut on the diagonal to the 4.5" line.
• Cut from the 4.5" line to the 8", 8" to 11.5", 11.5" to 15", 15" to 18.5", 18.5" to 22".
• After you've made your cuts, you'll have your fold and selvage edges that you can toss into the scrap pile and 5 sets of perfect pennants. Aren't you glad you folded the fabric?! In a pinch, you could use that cut from the fold side to create an 11th pennant.

Assembling the Pennant:

• Lay out your pieces to find the pattern that makes you smile widest. You can use the single pennants OR make them two sided like Nicole did in her tutorial. (I don't like the way pennants lay after being stitched together UNLESS you stitch them together inside out, then flip and iron them.....But Roshena's shower is just days away, so single layer will work just fine with the right amount of starch!)
• Pin the pieces to your bias tape.
• Sew a straight or zig zag stitch. I used a zig zag at width 4 and length 4 on my handy sewing machine. I also lined up the double fold bias tape in the center of my needle. 

Don't forget the accessories...

Framed silhouette made from scrapbook paper and a mini flag for food labeling!

Tiny TuTu Tutorial

Had a great time last week assembling the fluffiest tutu EVER for our sweet Miss S! Based on a few other tutorials in the blogosphere, I went with the largest yardage suggested and then did some calculating to make it plum perfect. This tutorial results in a tutu that is approximately 7" long. For children ages 3-10, I found that the average length of Etsy tutu's was 9". (See the end of this post for additional measurements.)


Supplies:

• 8 yards of 54" wide tulle on a bolt. (I purchased 3 yds of 3 different colors and had some yardage left over for cute flowers for a bow to match. The best price I found on 54" wide is at Hobby Lobby when the tulle goes on sale for 77 cents/yd! The cost would roughly be $6.16 plus tax for basic/not shiny tulle.) OR 72 yards of the 6" wide tulle ribbon. (Hobby Lobby has a decent price on these in the Wedding Section: 40 yards for $2 when half off (total cost roughly $4 plus tax). The ribbon tulle in the Fabric Section is 25 yards for $3 when half off....Apparently, the store is banking on you not looking in the Wedding Section when making a tutu!)
• 25" of elastic. (Measure the child's waist and add 2" is the typical formula when using standard elastic. I used hair bow elastic because it is wider and I was able to attach more tulle without compromising on the size of the waist. The hair bow elastic did stretch some, so in the future, I would measure the child's waist and subtract 1/2".)
• Scissors.
• Fabric measuring board. (If using bolt tulle, it will make the cutting of 6" wide strips go very quickly.)
• Needle & thread. (To sew elastic waistband closed.)
• One romantic comedy. (To distract you from the mundane task of making knots. It shouldn't take the entire 2 hours to cut the fabric and assemble, but just in case it does, you have something to laugh about.)

Preparing the Tulle:

• Fold your 54" wide tulle in half and then in half again so you have 4 pieces roughly 13.5" wide.
• Cut along the folds.
• Lay the 4 layers out on the fabric board and cut every 6".
• Stack your 6" wide by 13.5" long strips into piles by color. (You should have about 192 pieces total.)
• OR, Unroll your tulle ribbon and make cuts every 13.5".
• Stack your 6" wide by 13.5" long strips into piles by color. (You should still end up with 192 peices.)

Assembling the Adorable:

• Measure and cut elastic.
• Sew elastic together to make waist band.
• If using hair bow elastic, loop 3 pieces of tulle in each "hole" on the bottom row. Then loop 2 pieces of tulle in the next row up that alternates hole spacing. (In the picture to the right, I've only looped one piece through the first row hole and my finger is sticking through a second row hole. The three loops on the first row will get pretty tight and the same goes for the second.)
• If using standard elastic, loop until you use up all that lovely tulle...or until you can't fit any more loops. Make sure you pull tight so that it makes the smallest knot possible.
• Fluff, fluff, fluff.

Things to Remember:

• If one of your strips is shorter than another, it won't be noticeable in the finished product.
• You also won't be able to see if the tulle has ripped. Yes, sadly, when you pull the tulle isn't always strong enough. Leave those ripped pieces on there, unless you just can't take it.
• Use any color pattern you want! Be creative!
• If you want to make a 9" tutu, follow the same steps as above, but make the following changes: You will need 10 and 2/3 yds of 54" wide tulle OR 96 yds of tulle ribbon. For the bolt tulle, fold into thirds instead of fourths to make 3 layers that you will still cut into 6" wide strips. For the tulle ribbon, cut the ribbon every 18". You will still end up with 192 pieces.
• Tutu too big? Cut the recipe in half! Here's a photo of Sophia (above right) with only half of the pieces assembled!

Baby Play Quilt: Finally Complete

I am so incredibly proud of my first quilt, flaws and all! Part of the joy comes from all the learning that took place through my first quilting journey. For my quilt sandwich, I initially wanted to only put a few inches extra of the batting and backing, but followed the advice I found online and "wasted my materials" so I could get 6 inches all around. In the end I was glad that I did! I don't know if this is unique to domestic sewing machines and not a problem for quilting machines, but my sandwich pulled like crazy. I started with a straight stitch down the center of the quilt. My original plan was to only quilt parallel lines, so I disregarded the advice to sew a perpendicular line down the middle as well. Terrible choice. Those two lines are a beautiful way to keep your sandwich from pulling (despite pinning). In the end, I did stitch perpendicular lines because I found I liked the "quilted" look better. All that extra fabric I started with came in handy as my quilt top didn't look very centered by the end.

Before binding, I attached strips of elastic to each corner of the blanket. I didn't want the blanket to move around once I put it on top of the rubber mat and these elastic strips were perfect!

The binding should have been the easiest part. I cut five 43" long by 3" wide strips and ironed them in half. Then I sewed them together, but it took a few attempts and my handy seam ripper to get everything going in the right direction. Once those were all attached, I started midway down a side and left a 10" tail of my binding (to use at the end for joining the two strips together). My next hiccup were beautiful mitered corners...It was so hard for me to NOT sew the 1" section that my brain sewed it anyway...for all 4 corners. Then when I tried to turn my binding, I realized my error, but it didn't click that it was from stitching all the way through the corner. Instead I simply ripped the seams at each corner and folded them the other direction with full stitching. The third time I got it right.... thanks to Jenny! (In the photo on the right, I used chalk to remind myself to STOP!)

 

For my next quilt, I want to REMIND MYSELF of the following:
 - Baste pin like crazy over the ENTIRE PIECE. Yes, Lauren, things will shift, but trust me, keep those pins in there!
 - Start by stitching through the middle of the sandwich to make two perpendicular lines to anchor the sandwich.
 - When sewing bias strips, lay them RIGHT SIDE to RIGHT SIDE perpendicularly and stitch from top to bottom (not bottom to top) on the diagonal.
 - STOP sewing 1" from the corner, fold the binding, then start sewing again at the corner.

Baby Play Quilt: The Quilt Top

We have laminate floors in our living room. They look beautiful and are SO easy to clean. However, they are too hard for a baby's noggin when she falls over while playing. To remedy our hard dilemma, we invested in a rubber mat from Garden Ridge that looks like 4 giant puzzle pieces. We got the plain grey ones so that Brian could use them in the garage one day. (Alphabet puzzle mats just aren't cool.)

The mat measures 50"x50". Sadly, no blankets I own are quite the right size. If I put one on that is too big, it hides the space where there is no mat and inevitably someone gets hurt. If I use a blanket that is too small, I can see the grey boring mat and it drives me nuts. Of course it doesn't drive me as nuts as when I use multiple small blankets with mismatched patterns. I could go on and on, but there's no point.

Solution? Make my own. I found some great strip quilts online. Lots of straight lines to sew sounded simple enough. Of course, I had to design my own. I have trouble following patterns. My mathematical mind just makes more sense out of things if I create the math myself. I used Microsoft Publisher and set the page size to 50"x50". Of course I can't print it out, BUT the program has a ruler on the top and side of the screen that make it perfect for designing! I found a quilt that I liked and started from there.

To the left is the original image I created.



On the right is the image adjusted after I picked out my fabrics and decided where they should go!



 

Picking out my fabrics took a long time. I am terrible with colors and patterns. I am always drawn to patterns that are too small and over the top. So again, I took the quilt that I liked online and tried to describe it in terms such as "big print, 3 colors" to assist in my fabric selections. I was very excited with my finds at Hobby Lobby! When I got home, I laid the fabric out in the pattern I designed on the left (black and white) and then switched things around a bit for the pattern on the right.

 

To save time, I only worried about getting the fabric widths correct and didn't bother cutting the length. I saw this on a Missouri Star Quilt tutorial. I also didn't pin my fabrics as I sewed. I simply lined them up at 1/4" and stitched along. (No back stitching was needed since all of the original stitches were covered by a second line when I added my border pieces.)  Warning: when you are stitching different fabrics with different amounts of cotton, pinning is a great idea since one fabric will stretch more than another. It's also important to remember that the feed dogs will pull the bottom fabric more than the top so IF YOU DON'T PIN and are using fabrics all cut to the SAME LENGTH, one strip WILL BE LONGER....as evidenced in the photo above! The solution to this is simple! I folded my fabric in half, measured how long I actually needed the strips to be, and then used a rotary cutter to get rid of the rest! That rotary cutter sure is dreamy :)

 

I've now finished attaching my border fabric (which I did pin while sewing to avoid akward edges that would be a bit trickier to fix). I am SO excited to see this quilt coming together. My next goal is to figure out the safety-pin basting and quilt this puppy "in the ditches".

 



 

Little Taggie

Picked up some fabric in the remnants bin at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. Loved the hot pink minky, but only had a quarter yard. I found a full yard of the striped fabric and was hoping I could come up with something fun for Miss S.

After reading through several DIY blogs for Taggie blankets, I found this one that seemed to be the best. I find a good DIY post includes enough pictures that reading the instructions is simply only necessary if I run into a snag! Thankfully, Larissa at Just Another Day in Paradise has done all the hard work!

I quickly took my striped fabric into my gift wrapping room (aka, the lonely laundry room) and found some ribbons that would work beautifully! I cut each of mine 3" long. (I think 3" is better when you have to baste and then stitch the fabrics together, plus Miss S really loves her long tags!) I also ironed them in half. Most bloggers didn't touch on this invaluable step!

I cut 13" squares from my remnants and basted the ribbons onto the stripped fabric with 1/4" seam. Then I stitched the minky and striped fabrics together (right sides facing each other) with a 1/2" seam. Make sure to leave a 2" openning for easy turning. I like to back stitch where I start and stop with the machine to ensure I don't pull any stitches when turning the fabrics right side out. Finally, I stitched a nice border around the edges to hold in any taggies that get loved on a bit too much!

The project took about 20 minutes to make two. The minky fabric was a bit tricky to sew with because it had more stretch than the striped, thus the importance of pinning when using stretch!

Cape Tutorial

This weekend we will be celebrating my nephew's third birthday. He (and his two older brothers) LOVE dressing up as superheroes. Brian came up with the brilliant idea that I sew some capes for Mr. N this weekend. I found a GREAT tutorial that I slightly adapted. The cost and time requirements were relatively low. Additionally, I am making the capes reversible, which will save my sister-in-law a bit of space when storing the capes.

Project Breakdown:

Step 1: Go Shopping!
- Purchase cape fabric. I went to Hobby Lobby where they have 52" wide satin for $3/yd. I purchased 1 yd in four fabrics. This was enough to make TWO capes in each color.
- Purchase decorative fabric for the symbols. The sequins and lame were $6-7/yd. I purchased a 1/4 yd in each color, but could have gotten away with 1/8 yd. I've got plenty left over for other projects in the future.
- Purchase some iron-on adhesive. I got the Heat & Bond Lite, 1 yd for $3.50 --- this is the most expensive item, so I recommend using the 40% off coupon!
- Purchase 1/2" wide velcro. I would strongly suggest the SEW-ON, not adhesive if you plan to sew. I learned the hard way that adhesive velcro doesn't require pinning but it does gunk up your needle and messes up the tension on your machine.

Step 2: Prepare Your Capes!
- Fold your fabrics in half.
- Layer the two fabrics you plan on sewing together and pin. You will cut both fabrics at the same time - 4 layers!
- Cut bottom edge of fabric for a nice crisp line. (I used my rotary cutter!)
- From the bottom cut edge, measure up 28".
- Cut neck. (I created a pattern using some old tissue paper. I made the back of the neck 3.5" long and the hypotenuse 7" at a 30 degree angle --- again, I used the handy rotary mat with these lines premarked.)
- Cut out neck straps. I just eye-balled about 1" and started cutting. When I got close to the neck line, I started to curve my cut.
- Finish cutting the cape. Because you are cutting both fabrics at the same time, you don't have to be perfect. I simply cut as close to the selvage as I could. At the very bottom, I went back and rounded the edges of the capes for a bit of flare. (Of course, now I am thinking that a square edge would have been much easier to sew, but the round edge will just give me a bit more experience!)

Step 3: Prepare Your Symbols!
- Find your symbols/emblems online or make them yourself. I used Google images and looked for black and white images related to Star Wars and found the Rebellion symbol and X-Wing. For the shield with the letter and lightening bolt, I created the images in Publisher.
- Print images on 8.5"x11" paper and cut out.
- Trace REVERSE/WRONG SIDE UP of images onto adhesive. (They MUST BE REVERSE in order for them to appear correct on the final project!)
- Cut out traced images.

Step 4: Iron-Cut-Iron-Sew Time!
- Turn iron on to medium heat with NO STEAM. - Place bumpy side of traced adhesive FACE DOWN on the decorative fabric. (The paper side should be face up.)
- Iron over paper side of adhesive for 2-6 seconds. (There are directions printed on whatever type of adhesive you purchased.)
- Cut out your adhesive + decorative fabric.
- Peel off the paper side of adhesive and place FACE DOWN onto cape fabric.
- Iron over decorative fabric (adhesive facing down) on cape for 2-6 seconds.
- Sew around the appliques with a straight or zig zag stitch.
- Place two capes RIGHT SIDES IN on top of each other and pin.
- Straight or zig zag the two capes leaving a 2" gap somewhere.
- Turn your capes right side out. - Ladder stitch the gap closed.
- Sew on 1" pieces of velcro on the neck straps. (Of course, you could always do this step earlier to hide the stitching.)