Free Patterns!

I came across this free pattern offer last week but never bothered posting about because I didn't think it was going to last very long. But it's still going on, and all her patterns are free! I downloaded a few baby shoes/booties, but she's got lots of great stuff. Check it out:
http://myhomespunthreads.blogspot.com

Tree Skirt Part II

Let's ignore the poor quality of my photos and take a look at the finished product. You remember the tree skirt I set out to make over a month ago? It took me a little longer than I thought, but it was a fairly easy project and would be much easier if you just buy bias tape instead of make the fabric trim like I did. I just happened to be at a fabric store that didn't have the bias tape I wanted but I wanted to finish so I bought dark green fabric and didn't realize how much work I was making for myself. I learned a lot though and it will come in handy when I try my hand at binding a blanket.

Here are my sections all sewn together waiting to be quilted. I love each fabric I picked out, but second-guessed my choices at this point wishing I'd gone for something bolder like the fabric in the tutorial. It all worked out though...

And the best shot I could get with it under the tree. You really don't see much of the skirt anyway once it gets covered in presents but it will be nice to have this for years to come.

P.S. Does anyone else have a problem with the lights on their pre-lit tree burning out? We're up to three dark sections now and it drives me crazy. I think I'll just pull all the bad lights out and do part pre-lit, part light myself next year. Ugh

Sewing Table

I got my early Christmas/ late Birthday present last week, and I love it!


I love how it looks like just a normal piece of furniture and then....

Bam! Sewing central! Perfect for our apartment. I took a few pictures of it fully stocked, but then I realized there were various projects that 3 out of the 4 readers of this blog can't see until Christmas (sorry Bets!) so those will have to wait. P.S. Don't look too closely at the construction. I did it myself so there are a few flaws, but boy did I prove my husband wrong! If you're interested it came from Wal-mart, but you can only order it online, but here's the link.

Blue's Clues Pillow

It's finally done!
I'm sure you all have seen those cute and cuddly pillow pets in stores. I have too, and I really wanted to get one for Wade... but 20 bucks for a pillow? No thank you. So I decided to make my own. Best of all, I got to pick whatever I wanted. So what better than Wade's latest obsession...Blue's Clues!



It actually looks like Blue! I've obviously made a few changes to what you see in stores, but not too shabby for a homemade version. It's all made out of fleece, with the spots out of minkee. My favorite part... I put a zipper in the back of the pillow case so the pillow can be removed and you can wash the rest!



Here he is all folded up...



And a view of the bottom.



Now I just have to wait patiently until Christmas to give it to him and hope he likes it!

Lindsay's Blessing Dress

I was brave and made Lindsay a blessing dress. I had heard of people cutting up their wedding dress and using it to make blessing dresses and such; my first thought about that was "weird-os." But what else was I doing with that huge white dress? I'm not planning on wearing it again. So I decided what the hay. I looked at outfits and dresses of Lindsay's that I liked and kind of measured and planned from there. I made a couple of prototypes out of old pillowcases and finally decided I was ready.

Step 1:
Get the material (aka the wedding dress)
Step 2:
Cut (just a little off the back) Step 3:
Cut out your pattern pieces
Step 4:
sew (I wish it was that simple!) Sheesh. Technically it was that simple, but it was hard to sew such small, delicate-sized pieces, hard to work with crunchy wedding-dress fabric, and hard to fit an ever-growing girl during the process. But, viola!

I love the pink buttons! Not perfect, but who needs perfect when you have such a beautiful baby girl.

Ring Stacker Toy

So for Christmas I decided to make Wade a few presents, this being one of them. I really shouldn't have done it so soon because now I really want to give it to him. I think he'll enjoy it, he helped me stuff a few of the rings and thought they were pillows, but still got very excited over them. Now I just have one more gift for him (wish me luck, it's going to be hard) and a few gifts for other people. Only 5 more weeks!

And yesterday I was feeling very productive and decided to make Wade a shirt. I found this tutorial awhile ago and have been wanting to try it, but never had enough ambition. Well I finally did it, and it was a big learning experience. Rest assured it did not take me 90 minutes, probably more like 5 hours, but it was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately it's not wearable. The sleeves are too long, but too tight at the wrist so they get all bunched up at the shoulders. And to make things worse I cut the front neckline of the shirt wrong so it's practically falling off his shoulders. But it was good practice and now I've got plenty of ideas for other shirts, and a closet full of my husbands old shirts that I doubt he'll notice if a few go missing!

Tree Skirt

I found this tutorial for a cute Christmas tree skirt and I'm excited to get started on making my own. I just finished getting my supplies and the goal is to be done by Thanksgiving weekend so I can start decorating! Anyone else want to make one? I bought 5/8 yard of four different kinds of fabric (most Christmas fabric is on sale here) instead of the eight kinds in the example. I'll post a finished picture soon enough but don't say I didn't give you notice for making one too--I know you'll be jealous!

Halloween Costume

This year for Halloween I really wanted to make Wade's costume, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. Luckily I had an old pair of scrubs that looked like this....

and turned them into a mini pair of scrubs for Wade. There are lots of pics of him in the scrubs on my blog if you want to check him out. I just used a t-shirt and a pair of his jeans to make patterns, and along with the help of this tutorial was able to figure it out. I'm actually very happy with how it turned out.


Although my favorite part had to be his treat bag that I whipped up at the last minute. I realized that afternoon he didn't have anything to hold his candy, so I made this out of fleece with a chunky candy corn appliqued on front.

I've already got plenty of ideas for Halloween next year, and even bought a few patterns at Joanns midnight madness sale that I can't wait to try out. Can't wait for next Halloween!

Vintage Baby Quilt

I finally finished it, my first official quilt! I gave this pattern to Betsy for her birthday, of course not without giving it a quick glance first. I was a very easy quilt and requires no special skills, but is very time consuming. It took me so long to finish just because it gets a little boring after so long. But I'm so glad I finally finished it, I love it more than I thought I would.

Wade loves it! He'll plop down on it and touch each little square. I thought this technique would be perfect for some sort of I spy blanket, just on a much smaller scale. And mom, I totally think you should do this for a comforter, I'll help you work on it when I come and visit. Even though it's a quilt, it really isn't that thick which is perfect for my heat sensitive baby.
All in all I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'm a pro now, and would love to help any of you make your own!

Alphabet

Emily and Shelly gave me the cutest alphabet for Lindsay Lu's room. Shelly arranged the letters in Photoshop to make this adorable picture and then got it printed off at Costco. PS Miss Shelly - - I would love a link to these letters. I got the frame at Michaels and just used pink tissue paper as a mat. Super-duper cute! Thank you ladies.

Baby Stuff!

I don't know if any of you subscribe to the blog Sew, Mama, Sew but they have some great stuff over there right now. They have been doing a baby shower celebration Oct. 11-22 and I have so many great new ideas, plus a few free patterns! You should check it out if you need any ideas for baby shower gifts, or if you're like me, ideas for your own kids. I'll be very impatient the next two weeks until I find out what I'm having because there is so much I want to do.

My favorite day was yesterday, they had a Mama+Baby Essentials Round-up with so many great ideas, so be sure to check it out!

Halloween Roundup

I've been seeing so many fun Halloween projects online and would make half of them if I had the time, but I wanted to share some of my favorites so I can do them later...and I'll show off what I did manage to finish! I wanted to make some kind of Halloween banner to hang and I like this Trick or Treat one made of paper from The Crafting Chicks:


Also from The Crafting Chicks, this Spooky accordian banner:

I ended up making a pendant banner with fabric since I found such cute Halloween material I wanted to do something with. It's hard to capture in a picture but it turned out good for guessing as I went--and you can see it from two rooms:

I also wanted to make a wreath to hang on my door and saw this idea for making one with black burlap fabric. I also love this candy corn wreath and will probably do it next year.

Instead I made one that I can keep up for all of Fall. It was simple and maybe kind of dorky with the twig wreath, but I just wanted something with fall leaves including some purple color!

I also made this simple plaque because I had everything on hand, including the exact same orange paper. I used a thick black frame and just stuck the paper right on top like a plaque, then sprayed mine with glitter after the Mod Podge dried. Quick and easy.

And there you have it--all the fun Halloween stuff I've been working on. Here's one more link for a cute Halloween font that I've been printing on pages for Jack to color and cut--snipping is his latest obsession!

Opinions!!!

Ladies, I need your opinions. Here is the first owl I made to potentially sell on Etsy, and I want to know what you think!

Here's a comparison to the first owl I made for Wade, and I like the 2nd one much better. Wade's look especially funny because I wasn't able to go to the craft store and buy more stuffing, so I cut his open and used that. Besides, I want to make him a new one now anyway.

So, what do you think. He's about 12 inches by 10 inches, 2 inches thick. He's made of felt, minkee, and corduroy. Any ideas on how much to charge, and more importantly how to ship this puppy? Or any ideas on how to make him better, something else you would like to see? I've got a few different styles that I'm working on, I just thought I'd see what you thought of this before I spent all that time making the others if I need to change something. And, if you have a chance go to Etsy and search for owl pillows to help you judge mine against what's out there.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, please let me know what you think!!!

So many projects, so little time...

I have so many projects I find online that I plan to do and it's just a growing list of bookmarks, but here's a quick and easy one I can check off the list:

Homemade Hurricane Jars

Technically my jar cost $3 because the dollar store I went to didn't have candlestick holders so I got one at Kmart for $1.99. So cheap and easy though. Now to figure out something for Fall to fill it with! (And of course I don't have time to take/upload my own picture--but sharing the idea is better than nothing)!

Kids Clothing Week Challenge

I don't know if any of you follow Elise Marley's blog.
Last week she did her semi-annual KCWC and
lots of the craft blogs I follow were participating.
I wasn't going to do anything because I've never
sewed clothes before, but I've seen so many cute
ideas out there that I've been wanting to try, so
I decided to give it a try.
I've only done two items so far, but my goal is to
make seven different pieces.

1. So I know a belt is more of an accessory, but I counted it anyway.
I've been doing some fall shopping for Wade and it's impossible
to find jeans that fit well, he's just a little too short.
Well I found a few pairs, but they would not stay up.
I've looked around for little boy belts, but didn't have much luck.
So I found this tutorial and gave it a try.
It's very basic and I didn't do any embellishments, but
it definitely does the job.
If you make one though, I would highly recommend
a very heavy weight interfacing, or even canvas,
mine could be a little bit sturdier.
But, all in all very easy, and all made out of scraps I had on hand!

2. Baby boy Sweat Pants!

I saw these super cute pants and fell in love!
I was very nervous to make pants, but it turned out really easy.

I used an old sweatshirt I bought at the Hard Rock Cafe in
London that hasn't fit in a very long time. It was the perfect
fabric for my first pair of pants because you don't have to worry
about ironing and edges fraying. They're a little big, but perfect
for lazying around the house in the winter. I wanted to applique
the entire Hard Rock logo on the pants, but it wouldn't fit, so I just
did the London part of it.
So far making kids clothes is turning out to be quite easy,
you all should give it a try!

Baby Leg Warmers

I think baby leg warmers are one of the cutest things I've ever seen.
Unfortunately, my baby is a little too big to pull them off.
But, I made some anyway because I had an old pair of socks and I just
wanted to see how they would turn out.

I think they turned out pretty cute, and super easy to make!
These only took me 10 min. and they were my first pair.
Of course I think they would look much cuter on a chubby little girl in a cute skirt!

Download art

A couple of you have asked where I got the picture of the tree hanging on my file cabinet. I found this site where you can download free art:

http://indiefixx.com/Feed_your_soul/downloads.html

I saved about five of the pictures (they open as PDF files), then you can print what you want to display. Easy enough!

Besides the tree, I also really like this one. Enjoy!

Tote bag

For Asha's birthday party last week, I made her a cute tote bag to fill with art supplies. I gave the same thing to Tilly over a year ago and Asha requested the same thing about a week before. I thought that would be enough time so I searched online for a tutorial, found cute polka-dot fabric to use, and sewed in my spare time for a few days and it was ready! The only thing I forgot was to take a picture of the final result, but I'll add one later when I'm at Asha's house.

Here's the tutorial I used, but I added an inch to all the measurements and it turned out perfect (I didn't want the handles to be too skinny). I also referred to this tutorial for making pockets, but I ended up not doing any and just pinned a cute flower on the front. I bought 1 yard fabric for the outside and 3/4 yard fabric for the inside, but I had a lot of extra from both. 3/4 yard is definitely enough for this size and some pockets.

This bag was very easy and quick to make--perfect for a birthday gift or for your own use.

Owl Pillow

Have you seen this at your local Target lately.
Well I have, and I fell in love with it!
The only problem, I don't have a little girl.
So I decided to make my own version of
an owl pillow, and I'm pretty darn pleased with how
they turned out.


This is the first one I made for Wade.
I'm very happy with it, but there
are definitely a lot of things I learned
and that I will do differently from now on.

And this cute owl is for Lulu!
I changed quite a few things from my first version
and I just absolutely love how it turned out!

If anybody wants one I'm very very happy to make you one.

I'm thinking about trying to sell some on Etsy, so I
need lots of ideas and lots of practice.

P.S. This is totally Hayley...I'm not letting Betsy take credit for this one!

Job Chart

Ok, not really a craft again, but I wanted to share this idea for a job jar that I found here. I've tried sticker charts and other things in the past with Jack, but at his age he doesn't have a lot of regular jobs and I wanted to give him incentive to do some of the things he hates like eating dinner and brushing his teeth. I made the chart below and after a few days, I know of some changes I want to make, but overall it's working and the best part is I can threaten taking pom-poms (puffy balls--whatever you call them) out for when he teases Ryan or whines too much. As far as the rewards, he's just starting to like video games that he can play with his Dad or on the iTouch and it's not like he isn't allowed some TV time during the days without cashing in--but these rewards are for something extra--if he ever chooses them over the "treasure box" which is really my dresser drawer with little prizes or things I pick up that he'll love like Pez dispeners, coloring books or his first pick--Playdoh.


(If anyone else wants a chart, I can email you a PDF document.)

Bathroom Mirror Makeover

For my first post I have a project to share that didn't involve sewing, but I think it's still pretty crafty! I saw this tutorial online for a bathroom mirror makeover and decided it was something I could do now pretty easily instead of add to my to-do list of all the ideas I hope to get done someday. I didn't go as thick with my molding and didn't do a lot of distressing yet, but I like the look of the finished product. I still need to change some things in the bathroom as far as accessories to go with the darker mirror, and I'd like to add some drawer pulls or maybe even paint the vanity, but that will definitely go on the "someday list."


Here's another look (please excuse the mess)...


I've since done this in the hall bathroom as well and like it even better on the smaller sized mirror. It definitely helps to have a handy brother-in-law to make the cuts for me and help with hanging, but it's definitely a DIY project you could handle if you like!

Car Seat Cover

I have been in a sewing mood and going crazy getting all sorts of cutesy decor ready for little LuLu-bug. My latest project was recovering Eddy's car seat. It was my first time using bias tape which I now have a deep hatred for, but after several failed attempts I called it good enough. When I got the car seat put back together I realized you only see about 5 inches of the dang tape so no big deal. And really, who is even going to notice sloppy bias tape when a cute baby girl will be sitting there. I am so proud of myself for making button-holes, and quite honestly, just being able to put all the belts back in the right places. One more project down and maybe just one or two more before she gets here.