New library bag for my oldest daughter

When my daughter turned old enough to get her own library card (5), I told her I would make her a bag to carry library books in.  I also said I'd have a pocket to hold the library card.  Well, here it is.  I finally finished.  I have lots of excuses for not getting it done sooner!  ;)

The 2 main fabrics and the pink ric rac were all from Patsy Aiken Designs (I love that she sells her fabric!), and the fabric for the pocket was a $1 square of fabric from Walmart that just happened to coordinate well!

I sewed a gusset bottom, to hold lots of books.  It's quite big, she's probably going to have to grow into it.  But she loves reading lots of books, and she's a very girly girl, so naturally she loved this new bag!

Pajama Party Treats

Call me crazy, but I'm no fan of the typical birthday party treat bag.  Full of candy and toys that don't last long... I know the kids like them, but a month later they're long forgotten.  This year, my daughter decided that she wanted to have a pajama party with pizza and a movie.  Since her birthday is in January, the weather here is too unpredictable for an outdoor party.


I made each of the girls 2 things that tied in with the theme, which was the movie "Barbie & The Diamond Castle."  I bought some dot fleece with the Barbie signature and made each girl a no-sew scarf.  Just cut the fleece in strips about 8" wide, then snipped the ends about 7-8 times, maybe 4" length, and tied knots on each one.  (Just wait until I share what I did with the leftover fleece!)

I also bought two coordinating pattern fabrics, one with Barbie signature design on it, and the other with hearts that were really meant for Valentine's, but worked well with the Barbie fabric.   I bought a case of 10 pillow forms from United Pillow, the travel size (14x20, I think it was).  I made pillow cases for each of the girls that had a ruffled edge.  It simply required a gather stitch.  I'm willing to do a pillow case tutorial if enough people would like to see, it's really quite simple.

My serger is temporarily not functioning properly (I broke the needle plate) and so to finish the sewn edges I simply added a zigzag stitch after the straight stitch.  I then trimmed the excess fabric.  I hated having to do it that way, but at least I was able to finish the project.

We ended up having 9 girls total (including my daughter), and they all had a blast.  They also seemed to really like the scarves and pillows.  A treat that will last more than an hour, a day, or a week.

New Year, New Beginnings... Better Organization!

I vowed to clean up the upstairs bonus room, where we have a home office/craft room.  I also have some gates to allow plenty of play space for the kids.  On one wall above my "paper crafts" workspace, I added 3 small curtain rods to hang my punch collection.  I think (looking back) that towel bars would have been a little better, but I spent $12 for the 3 rods, so this was an inexpensive option for me. 

I also bought 2 more curtain rods for $12 more, and $10 for a really pretty full sheet set.  The background is white and has grey damask print.  It feels like microfiber fabric, very soft.  I made curtains to cover up shelving behind the door, which will mask the appearance of storing a bunch of craft supplies and tools.  I also made a drape below my papercraft workspace with a $2.50 tension rod.  I still have enough fabric to make another drape under the sewing workspace, but have not yet made it because the tension rod I bought was too wide. 

I have been knee deep in projects, and will be sharing more soon.  Also, I have really been enjoying time with my family and focusing [first] on them.  I still am preparing my wine bottle craft step-by-step instructions from Christmas, which I will definitely be sharing.   Until then, enjoy yourselves!

Updated a nice jacket for wearing...

I found this blazer/jacket at one of my favorite stores, on the clearance rack.  I fell in love with the fabric, and how it looked so cozy and would look beautiful with some winter white pants... BUT the collar was hanging really weird.  It's double breasted, but you can't see the top 2 buttons very well.  So I decided to try it on anyways.  I put it on and started playing around with that crazy collar, until I decided that there was hope.  I stopped by the fabric store and bought some snaps (see picture below).  I only needed one but spent less than $2 for four.  Here's the before pictures, full jacket and up close of the collar:

I went home, pinned where the snap would go, then sewed each side on.  Such a simple and inexpensive way to make this jacket work for me.  I had several compliments when I wore this jacket to work!  So glad I saved it from that rack of clothes.  Here are the steps I took:

 

 I used one of these snaps, sewed each side by hand.

And here is my end result:

I'm posting this for DIY Day over at A Soft Place to Land!  If you want to see what others are doing, go check it out!

Coming soon... my girls' Christmas tree and recent Christmas activities... also a gorgeous wine bottle craft idea, great for gift giving... and who knows what else might be up my sleeve!

Curtains for the Princess bedroom

I made curtains for my daughter Victoria.  Well, they're semi-homemade (think Sandra Lee).  A BIG thanks to my friend Heather, who was donating the panels, rod and hardware after redesigning her daughter's room.  The rod was a great fit for the wide window.  The panels were too short.  The color was great, so I wanted to use them, but needed to get creative.  Here are a couple of "before" pics of the window (it's big).

Here's what I did.  Go below the pics for more detailed steps/instructions as well as the AFTER pics!

1.  I bought 3 yards of pure white eyelet fabric, and 3 yards of ribbon ($13).  (The green panels were each about 1.5 yards wide.) 
2.  Cut the eyelet fabric across the fold line, so that you have two 3-yard panels that are about 18" from the cut line to the selvage.
3.  Using a seam ripper, undo the bottom hem on the top panels (green).  4.  Cut 1/2" below the folded edge.
4.  On the selvage edge of each panel baste a long stitch 1/2" from the edge, and then again 1/4" closer to the edge, as shown.  Sewing two, rather than one, will give you a safety net as you gather the fabric, so that if one of the threads breaks, you can still gather your material with the other.
5.  Gather the fabric by pulling the top threads with one hand and the fabric in the other.  Pull in opposite directions.  Continue until you have gathered the fabric to almost a 1.5 yard width across.
6.  Along each of the sides, fold in the edge 1/4", then again and pin. 
7.  Sew the hem on each side.
8.  Pin the sides of the gathered edge, right sides together, to the panel.
9.  Sew right sides together, below panel fold/gathered stitch line.
10. Serge or trim with pinking shears to clean up the edges of what you just sewed.  If you have no serger or pinking shears, stitch again 1/8" in (closer to the edge) and cut with scissors.
11. Fold in and pin your bottom hem.
12. Stitch your bottom hem.
13. Pin ribbon over the "old" hem stitch marking on the original panel, to hide what it once "was."
14.  Stitch the ribbon on the top and bottom.
15.  HANG your new curtains on the rod!!! And SMILE that you did the project! :)

And here is the finished product:

Thank you Heather for the hardware and green panels!  I love projects like this, they're easy and very rewarding to see the end product!  And it's also a great way to reuse something that someone else no longer wants!

Girl's Hair Clip

I made this simple (but very pretty) hair clip for my older daughter.  Click on the thumbnail of her hair for a close-up of the final product.

For this project, I used:
Sewing Machine (with thread)
3 knit flowers (mine were from Stampin' Up!)
3 buttons
hair clip
hot glue

Simply sew the buttons onto the flowers, and trim excess thread..  Glue the side flowers first, then the 2 remaining flowers.  If you don't have a sewing machine, you could pick up some cute brads to put in the center of the flowers and then glue on.

Voila!

Diaper Straps!!!

I had to do this. It's the coolest thing, and since we have a little one still in diapers it only made sense for us to try it out! I love this. How simple is this, too, to make as a gift for someone. Sometimes you just want to make or give a small gift where you don't have a lot of money to spend, or don't know the person well enough to justify spending a whole lot. Or maybe it's for that family who probably has everything from their first/other children, but maybe you want to give them something to let them know you're celebrating the newest addition to their family. Whatever the reason, this little something is perfect- the diaper strap!

I found a blog, Calico, where Cally gives a simple tutorial on how to make this strap. It's incredibly easy and fast. I made about 4 in one hour, and possibly could do more next time. Cally makes the point that [these days] many moms and dads aren't carrying the bulky, typical diaper bags that used to be the norm. This diaper strap simplifies things. Also, if you are headed into a public restroom, mom or dad, you don't have to take the entire bag with you. In ours I have the little wipes container, 2 diapers and 1 disposable changing pad. Plenty of room left (based on length of velcro) to add more if we needed to.
So I made these 4 diaper straps with fabrics I already had in my stash, and the button embellishments are from my antique button jar. Leopard print, batik with leaves, boating, and polka dots. Would love to know what you think about this project! Also, if you're a parent of a child in diapers, or planning to become a parent soon, would you use one?

Hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

Blossom and Handbag

So I've been wanting to make a flower out of fabric scraps... I have lots of scraps, even from hemming pants. That's how this first blossom came to life. It was the 1.5" hem off the bottom of some grey pants that I hemmed. It worked out perfectly. I wanted the edges to be raw and curl just a bit. It's hard to see in the picture. For this project, I did a loose baste stitch across the bottom and pulled to gather. then I wrapped it around starting at the center of the circle. I then stitched it together by hand. To add a little more flair I used a button from that "extra button" pouch that came with a suit I have. VERY FAST project.

That blossom was the perfect complement to this handbag I created. It's from Martha Stewart's website and is INCREDIBLY easy to make, less than 1 hour easily. I made 2 of the same in about an hour. I used a pretty wool plaid in pink and grey, which I'm in the process of making myself a poncho. To line, I have yards and yards of a gorgeous dark grey material that I'm tempted to make a suit with, but haven't started because I like quick projects. It is, in fact, reversible. And it's so cute, I've added pics of the handle untucked and tucked below.

You have to print the template and then zoom to 200%. The easiest way to do it is to cut the original printout into 4 equal parts and then expand each to 200%, then cut out and tape together the final template. The rest of the instructions and tips are on Martha's website, including the clip from her show when they showed how to make it.

What a cool idea for gifts!!! Even without the blossom this handbag is the cutest.

More to come soon!

Gift Ideas and Making Use of Scrap Fabric.

I'm going to be sharing some gift ideas in the next couple of months. Today I made a hand towel bag. It can be used for many purposes and done several ways. I hope to show a different version soon. The bamboo handles on this one can slide out and it's washable!

Ideas for giving this as a gift:

• Beach bag: Choose bright colors like the one shown today. Add a book, some sunscreen and a snack, and it can be carried to the beach!
• Bath/Shower bag: I thought of people who travel or go to camp. This can be filled with shampoo, shower gel, a puff and other bath toiletries, tailored for the person you have in mind.
• Make it even more special: Have it monogrammed for a friend or couple getting married. Take it to the monogrammer before stitching up into a bag.
• For a child: Fill with outdoor toys for the beach or park, bubbles, sand castle toys, gardening toys.

It's such a simple bag to make and can be such an incredible gift, and if you do it right, can also save money when planning your gift giving.

Is there anyone on your list that might like a bag like this?

I also started going through some scrap fabrics today. I have some exciting things planned. But for today I had a piece of fabric too small for much of anything, so I turned it into a simple zipper pouch. I had a small zipper that had been on clearance at the fabric store some time ago. It came together in less than 10 minutes! It's about the size of a wallet and could hold cosmetics, money, you name it. These are so cheap and easy, they make great stocking stuffers or simple birthday surprises.

More great projects to come, hope you are inspired to do some of your own! Christmas is 3 months away, tomorrow!

Save money by hemming your own pants and skirts!

In these economic times, it's important to find ways in your life to cut back, even if you're seemingly unaffected today. One way that I have learned to cut costs is to do my own professional hem on my work clothes. I have to wear business professional (suits, dress pants, etc.) to work, and was tired of spending money having the pants tailored. Most of the hemming can be done in front of the TV or watching the kids play.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought I'd share a website that I used to learn how to hem. It is not difficult, and you don't even have to have a sewing machine or serger, just narrow the search so that it will meet your specific needs. I will give you two tips, from personal experience: 1. when you're doing the final hem stitch, remember to only "grab" 1-2 threads from the pant fabric, or else you'll see the thread through the front, and 2. don't pull the thread too hard, or else you'll pucker the fabric.

The first picture shows what can be done if you have a serger. This is not necessary to hem pants, but a nice to have!

Hope this can help you, or maybe spark an idea on how you can save money this year. Would love to hear how!

Finished hem: