Monday, October 1, 2012

Crayon Rolls

You guys....... I had to draw another winner! One of my first winners never claimed her prize! So once again check to see if you are the new winner! Here is the crayon roll up tutorial, this way you can go ahead and make your own!

First gather these supplies.
-3 or more coordinating fabrics at least 1/8 yard of each.
-1 1/2 yd of matching ric-rac
-3/4 yd of matching ribbon
-Med interfacing
-Ruler and fabric marking pen
-Iron
-Scissors and/or a rotary cutter and mat
-Sewing Machine. I would recommend not using a serger for this little project. But if you really want too.
-16 pack of crayons
-Heat n' bond, optional. Only if you want to customize your Crayon Roll with some applique.

STEP 1: Cut your fabrics at the following dimension using your rotary cutter or scissors. Cut your choice of outside and inside fabrics as well as your interfacing at 16 1/2 x 5 1/2. Next cut your fabric chosen for your crayon pocket at 16 1/2 x 5.
STEP 2: Take your ruler, fabric marker, and iron. Fold your crayon pocket material in half lengthwise. Press. Now use your ruler to mark in 1 1/4 in. (TIP: mark from the top to bottom of fabric, I have found it really helps you sew more even having a complete stitching line) then mark 1 in from that. Continue marking your fabric at every inch until you have reached the last mark which should measure 1 1/4 in. This will allow you room for seam allowance. (TIP: use a frixion marking pen by pilot. It is seriously AMAZING. It just irons right off once you are done using your markings)
STEP 3: Place your material with the markings on top of your inside fabric with right sides up. Top stitch on each line backstitching at the top and bottom to secure the crayon slot. Repeat for all markings.

STEP 4: In one long piece pin your ric rac to your INSIDE fabric piece starting at one of your top corners (I know my picture shows I didn't but really it creates less bulk if you start at a top corner). The bottom bump of the ric rac should be 1/4 from the edges. This is very important that it goes no further in than that. I recommend measuring a few places and marking, oh and pin really well! (TIP: on the corners fold the excess ric rac up so you can stitch around it) Your starting end and finishing ends should meet at the same corner.
STEP 5: Stitch your ric rac on. Stitch at that 1/4 in line catching the bottom bumps of the ric rac in your stitching. On your corners stitch around the excess fabric. When you get to turning it inside right at the very end the excess will flip out into a pre.ty corner. Trim your ends to reduce bulk.


STEP 6: Cut 2 pieces of your ribbon. I cut my ribbon at about 12 inches each.
STEP 7: Lay your ribbon on top of each other and pin at the very edge of the INSIDE fabric. Right about where the crayon pockets end. Zig-zag stitch over the ribbon IN your seam allowance. I zig-zagged 2 or three times to make sure when a kid tugs on it those suckers are not pulling out. You can decide which side your ribbon goes on. If you chose to applique I like to keep my ribbons on the opposite side of the start of the applique so my image shows when rolled up. So if you stitched a cute dino on the left side of the outside piece you will want your ribbons on the right side of the inside piece.


STEP 8: Press the outside fabric to the interfacing. If you have chosen to applique a name or image   use this tutorial, from the applique'd pillow, to do it now. Remember to keep your applique about 1/2 inch in from the edges.
STEP 9: Lay your outside piece on top of your inside piece with right sides together and pin. Stitch them together using your sewing line from your ric rac as a guide to where you stitch now. Which should give you a 1/4 in seam allowance. Leave a 2-3 inch opening at the top of the crayon roll. Do an overcasting stitch as well. I think it really helps it hold up from the wear and tear of kids.
STEP 10: Turn that puppy inside right pushing the corners into as much of a point as possible. Turn your opening in about 1/4 inch and press.
STEP 11: Top stitch your opening closed at a very narrow stitch. Continue this narrow top stitch around the entire crayon roll. (TIP: pay very close attention to how wide you are topstitching, if you topstitch too wide your two end crayon spots will become to narrow and you won't be able to fit crayons in as easily)

(If you didn't notice this is NOT the same crayon roll as depicted in the tutorial. I forgot to take a final picture!) 

Trim your threads and you are done! They really are that easy. If you make one up send me pictures I would love to see how they turn out!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Winners!

I posted the winners for the crayon roll-ups! Check the giveaway post to see! Is it you? If winners do not claim their prizes within 48 hours I will pick new ones. Really wanted that crayon roll-up? Don't worry I will be adding the tutorial tomorrow. Also you know how I was painting that crib? Turns out painting a spindle crib is a HUGE pain. And I am out of paint. Gotta get to Lowe's..... does it feel like this room is ever going to be finished? Ya I feel that too.

Laterz!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

National Sewing Month

If it feels like I have been MIA it is because I have! I have been sew (hee hee) busy getting costumes done for people! And the most exciting news is that I am finishing painting crib for the girls' room. Which means I am almost done! YAY! Look for a post on Monday with the big reveal and lots of tutorials on this room, some are sewing related and lots are not.

Oh and hey, did you know it was National Sewing Month? I love this month because there are lots of sewing giveaways. I totally want to jump in on that action and do my own giveaway! So I am giving away 2 Personalized Crayon roll ups. These awesome puppies hold a 16 pack of crayons and roll right up and fit great in a diaper bag. 2 lucky winners will get there choice of a crayon roll up with an applique'd name. They will be kinda like this.




Don't ya love it? I love it. And you could be a winner! Just follow the rafflecopter instructions to enter this super giveaway. The giveaway starts.... like right now and will go until the 27th at 10 MST. Happy entering!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Re-made Bassinet


Ok, I don't have a tutorial for this. However, this is a great way to turn your drab yucky bassinet into a bunch of fun. 


To recover something it's easiest if you get your seam ripper out and take the original apart at every seam. This will give you your pattern, I always add 1/2 an inch to all edges to allow for extra seam allowance. Take pictures of the seam ripping process and mark your new pieces accordingly so you can remember how it needs to be stitched back together.


I really do love this bassinet........... if only my munchkin would stay asleep in it.



Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Pattern Review/Baby TOM's

It's time for my Wednesday review. I don't know if you have ever tried a PDF pattern from an online seller and it is completely funky but I sure have. So I decided I will write up a review on the PDF patterns I try so I can shell out some advice on which ones I think did well (or, unfortunately, not so well). This week I made some baby TOM's for my hairdresser. They turned out soooooooooooo cute!

I made some edits to the pattern so they would be more functional, in my opinion at least. First off I didn't use a canvas material. To find a cute canvas fabric with a small print your options become VERY limited. So I opted to use a cotton material and used a medium weight interfacing to give it the same stiffness and non-stretch as canvas. I also lined the ENTIRE shoe for a soft no show seam shoe (talk about turning an entire baby shoe right side out through an itty bitty hole). Last but not least I added elastic in the sides to help keep it snug on baby's foot.

The pattern came from this etsy shop. It was a great pattern with various sizes. The instructions had full color pictures and great step-by-step instructions. The only thing that I do have say is I found the sizing ran a little small. I thought maybe it was due to me lining the shoe so I tried again without lining or elastic. Nope, still felt the sizing was off. So if you purchase this pattern go a size up. But overall really easy to follow!


My Sorry forgotten life err bedroom...

Ok, not really my life. But my bedroom. I have neglected it entirely. In my house I have hung curtains, put pictures, and made my best effort at decorating. EXCEPT my bedroom. It is my sorry forgotten space. Beware of horrifying pictures.
When I was pregnant I put an ugly green tablecloth over my window to hide my neighbors glaring light that bothered me all night. Loved the darkening so much, I left it there.
Now post pregnancy we have been sleeping on the couches near the ultra heavy-pain in the butt to move-only thing that keeps baby sleeping swing. So now my bedroom is basically an oversized storage closet. And my bed frame broke. Seriously cheap wood or something, so me thinking I am going to be so handy lifted off the mattress and box spring (ooeed and aahhed at the junk hiding underneath) to set to work to fix my bed frame..........
flash forward one week later=mattress and box spring are still leaning against the closet (who needs clothes anyways?).
 So once again this is my sorry forgotten life. And here I am blogging (and showing pictures of this awfulness) to my followers in hopes of winning a makeover from this talented lady. As my toes curdle from the shame of the tablecloth over the window, the stuff hiding under my bed, and the mattress against the closet, please wish me luck!




****UPDATE: I didn't win, sad smiley face. But in happy news we did fix our bed and the baby is not sleeping in the bulky swing in the living room anymore. Hooray for a useable bedroom. Plus I found some cute fabric I am going to use to turn my room into some oober cutenes... It may take a million years since I have to do it myself.



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Family Pictures

Remember the dresses I made for family pictures? Well here is a sneak peek of how they went.



That's my gorgeous girl Amelia in her Emmaline dress. Aren't her gray eyes just absolutely lovely? My photographer was amazing. Can't wait to see the rest!!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

A Message of Hope.

Today I have another pillow tutorial. I LOVE making pillows. They are fast and fun and can generally be made with stuff I already have on hand. This particular pillow was made for my dear sister-in-law who recently found out she had cancer. I wanted to make something for her to let her know I was thinking of her and this battle she has to face. So I stalked her facebook for inspiration and saw that she had posted this photo.


She wrote that she would change the word to 'strong' instead. Wahla! My inspiration. Throw some bold, bright, and fun fabrics together and this is what I came up with.


This is something I hope will be able to constantly remind her of how strong and special she is and that she can beat the crap out of this!

So here is how I made this lil' bit of a pillow. Supplies needed: Printer, Scissors, Fabric Pen, Fabric, Thread, Sewing Machine, Heat n' Bond, Sewing Needle, Button, Poly-fiber fill.
  • First of all, determine the size you want it to be. I wanted a pillow small enough it could go on a sidetable as well as a bed or couch. My dimensions were 12"x17" and I used 1/2" seam allowances. Cut 2 of whatever size you decided to go with.

  • Because this has applique on top we need to do that first before sewing the front and back of our pillow together. To get your lettering you have a couple options, I free handed the "i am" portion of my phrase and found a similar font on my computer, to the one shown in the first picture, for the word "strong". Print your words and cut them out. Lay them on top of one of your pillow pieces. This will help you determine if you have printed them the right size for your project. If you are satisfied with your lettering trace it to the right side of your contrasting fabric using a washable fabric pen. 

  • Next iron your heat n' bond to the wrong side of your contrasting fabric. You want to do this BEFORE you cut out your lettering. To conserve fabric you can cut widely around your lettering and repeat on the heat n' bond.
  • Make sure your fabric and heat n' bond are ironed very well before removing the backing. Remove the backing and you can now cut out your lettering. 

  • Place your lettering on the pillow front. When the pillow is stuffed you will have about 2 inches that will pull towards the back so place your lettering about 2 1/2 inches from the edges of the pillow front.   (the 1/2" is for the seam allowance). I had to learn this from experience, note the "i" was dotted in my first pictures but after realizing how much the pillow pulled back when stuffed I took it off!
  • Iron your lettering in the desired place.
  • Now we can applique using a very tight zig-zag stitch. Centering your needle at the very edge of the first letter, stitch around the letter. Be sure to keep the edge of the letter centered in between your zig-zag stitch so it catches all the raw edges. Stitch completely around the letter. Clip threads and repeat for the next letter.
  • OTHER APPLIQUE TIPS:
    • If you used a loopy/cursive font you will not need to lift your needle until you have stitched completely around the whole word. Don't stitch the letters individually.
    • For O's or other round letters turn your fabric slowly, leaving the needle in the down position lift your sewing foot up and make small pivots with the fabric as needed.
    • For points on M's, or other similar letters, leave the needle down lift your sewing foot up and turn your fabric at a 90 degree angle and continue stitching.
    • Complete the inner parts of your letters last. (B's, P's, D's, etc...)
    • And most importantly GO SLOW. I promise the temptation of putting the pedal to the metal is not worth it and will leave you frustrated and unsatisfied with your work. Going slower will help you get a tighter, straighter stitch.
    • If this all just seems too daunting, a top stitch an 1/8" in from your letters edge will suffice as well.

  • My #1 goal lately is to have my insides looking as good as my outsides, do you think I passed on this test? (if you have knots showing or coming through check your tensions and completely re-thread your machine)
  • For the flower cut 1 long strip of your contrasting fabric. My dimensions were 3.5"x44". Fold in half lengthwise, with right sides together, and stitch across one of the short ends. Turn right sides out and press.
  • Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew a gathering stitch along the long side of the flower. Gather pulling the bottom (or bobbin thread) until your strip is a little more than half the starting length.
  • To pin your flower to the pillow start by taking the short edge that has been sewn together and pin where you would like it to end. Continue pinning the flower in a circle, getting smaller each time you go around making sure your inner circles cover the raw edge and gathering stitch of the circle beneath it. Once you reach the end of your flower strip you can check to see that you have made it the right size. If you need to loosen or gather the flower strip do so now. Once you are satisfied with the fit of the flower UN-pin (yes, un-pin) until you reach the outer circle of the fabric or only one layer is showing. 
    • I found that if you completely pin it in shape before sewing you can make sure it is the right length and don't have to unpick to loosen or tighten your gathers. I figured pin and un-pinning is better than seam ripping!! 
  • Now you can top stitch your outer circle right over your gathering stitch. I actually hand sewed mine after I stuffed the pillow but if I did it again I would use my machine and attach the flower before I put the pillow together, which is why this step is here.
  • Pin the next portion of the circle until you come back around to the un-sewn part. Top-stitch this section down, again right over the gathering stitch. Repeat this process until you have sewn down your entire flower.
  • Next attach your button in the center of your flower. Call me crazy but I LOVE sewing buttons. I love to make the stitching in the back look like 2 little dashes and my X across the top nice and full. It gives me such a sense of accomplishment when my buttons look good. (Now button holes...... that is another story.)
  • Now you can stitch your pillow pieces together. Place the two pieces right sides together, make sure you aren't getting any of your flower edges in the seam. Pin the sides and stitch together using a 1/2" seam allowance. Leave an opening on the bottom edge wide enough for you to put your hand and stuffing in. Use an over-locking stitch  on your seams.

  • Trim off 1/2 of your seam allowance except at your opening. Turn right sides out and press, be sure to press the openings under as well.
  • I top-stitched a narrow stitch around all my edges to give it a more finished look. Feel free to do this or skip it.
  • Stuff your pillow, the fuller the better.
  • If you top-stitched your edges you can simply handstitch across your opening. If you did not top-stitch use a ladder-stitch to close your opening.
  • Voila, badda-bing, or whatever you want to say you got yourself a custom saying pillow!!


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Blessing/Christening Dress

For starters let me say I did not make this dress or the accessories. I owe that all up to a very loving mom and a great friend. It is just too beautiful not to share with the blogging world. The dress was made with a white satin bodice and the skirt is made with ivory satin ruffles with a white organdy overlay. I can feel the lusciousness of the dress in just saying the fabrics! The sash piece and coordinating headband were made by my friend, Jeni, who owns and runs Fancy Schmancy. The flower is called enchanted and you can get that tutorial here.







I can, however, take full credit (well half when you count my husband) for the gorgeous baby girl in her blessing/christening gown.


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Baby Sundress

About 2 months ago I won a pattern pack from Violette Field Threads, one of the cutest pattern companies out there. I was dying to get my hands on this particular pattern, Emmaline. They used a pink Riley Blake chevron print and I wanted that same look so I used a red one.

Here is my cutie Amelia doing her best at being a model in her maxi dress, she was sooooooooo ready for bed at this point (I think I was ready for her to be in bed too!). There was not one thing I would change about this pattern, I loved it, so much in fact we are having family pictures done with her in this outfit. You have to excuse my rudimentary photo skills.... I am just not gifted with a camera!

My next pattern from my prize pack that I wanted to delve into was the Vivienne skirt, I wanted to make it into a sundress for family pictures so here is a little how-to on added a bib style front to your favorite FLAT FRONT skirt pattern. (I also shrunk the pattern to fit a 0-3 month size but that is a tutorial for another day)

Because it isn't completely my design I won't give you a full tutorial on the dress, just a little how-to on making any flat-front skirt into a simple sundress. The most important thing when making a pattern is getting correct measurements from your baby. Once you have these you can begin your drafting. (Note: Try your pattern out on muslin or other cheap fabric before cutting into your quality fabric. This way you won't be wasting any of your good fabric... Like I did ;-p)

Supplies needed: Sewing Machine/Serger, Fabric per pattern suggestion + 1/2 yard, interfacing, thread, iron, scissors, measuring tape, ruler, and 2 sew on snaps. (lining and elastic may also be needed per pattern requirements). If you do not have a serger secure all seams with an overlocking stitch.

  • First, you will want to get your ruler, measuring tape, and some plain white paper. 
  • Start by getting some measurements from your baby.
    • Measurement #1: Measure your baby from armpit to armpit. This will tell you how wide across the top your bib should be. (Depending on your preference you can take this in a little bit, just to be sure to leave it wide enough to cover baby's nipple area).
    • Measurement #2: Measure on the chest where you want the bib to start down to the belly button. This is length of the bib.
    • Measurement #3: Measure from the side of the baby's body to the other side. This will be the bottom width of the bib.
  • Add 1 inch to each of your measurements to allow for 1/2" seam allowances.
  • Now take your ruler and white paper and draw a vertical line equal to the length of measurement #2. Draw another line equal to measurement #1 centered horizontally over your first line (makes a T shape), repeat the same process at the bottom of the first line with measurement #3.
  • You now have your top and bottom lines. You will now need to connect the top horizontal line to the bottom one. Make the connecting line slightly curved. (You only have to do this on one side because you will be cutting on the fold.)
  • Now you can cut your pattern out. Cut on the vertical line (i.e. measurement #2) and around the top and bottom and your curved connecting line. Mark your pattern as Bib front and mark alongside the vertical line as the fold cutting line. (I once again didn't have the camera out for the pattern tracing process but I recreated it digitally so you can get the idea of what your pattern piece should look like)



  • Now we need to make a pattern from that pattern for interfacing and lining. Take your cut pattern and trace along the top edge and the curved connecting line (or side line). Trace the pattern in about 2 inches on the bottom line and the vertical line. Remove the pattern and connect the two open points following the shape of the pattern at about a 2 inch distance. Cut the pattern out and mark pattern piece as lining bib front. Mark the vertical line as the fold cutting line.
  • Pin your patterns to your fabric. You will need 1 bib front of fabric, 1 bib lining of fabric, and 1 bib lining of interfacing.
  • Also cut 2-3.5x15 strips of fabric for the straps.
  • At this point you are going to iron your interfacing onto the wrong side of your bib front. (Follow guidelines given on the interfacing)
  • Take your 1 of your straps and fold in half lengthwise with right sides together using a 1/2" seam allowance stitch them together. Repeat for the other strap. Turn the strap right side out and press with seam centered in the back.
  • Next pin your straps each 1/2 inch in from each side to the top of the bib front with right sides together. Stay stitch in place. (Stay-stitching is a stitch that doesn't show but holds the piece in place until the permanent stitch is made.)
  • Next pin the bib lining and bib front to each other with right sides together. Using a 1/2" seam allowance stitch along your sides and the top of the bib. Turn right side out and press.
  • Now you will top stitch along the sides and top of the bib.
  • You will now need to make your skirt per the patterns instructions. Stop before attaching the lining and sandwich the bottom of your bib front in between the lining and skirt, with right side of bib touching right side of skirt front. If your skirt pattern does not call for a lining simply stitch the bottom of the bib front to the top of the skirt front right sides together and press seam down. (because every skirt pattern is different you will have to determine the best way for you to attach your skirt front)
  • At this point you will need to try your sundress on your baby. Criss-cross your straps in back (this is completely your preference where you want them to cross) mark with pin the crossing point. 
  • Also mark 1/2" down from the point on each strap where it meets the skirt (each strap should attach about 1/2" from the side seam). This is where you will attach the snaps.
  • Carefully remove your sundress from baby, take care not to get baby with the pins. OUCH!
  • Make a loop about 1/2" wide and the same length as the width of your strap. Attach it at an angle to one strap where you marked your crossing point. Attach it at the sides of the strap so the other strap can be pulled through it.
  • Trim the excess of the bottom of your straps press under about 1 inch beneath your pin mark, stitch over seam. Repeat the process for the other strap. 
  • Hand sew the male end of your snaps at the place you have marked on each strap. And finally hand sew the female ends of your snaps 1/2" in from each side seam, take care not to sew through the elastic.
  • Voila! A sundress using your favorite flat front skirt pattern!


I have to say I love this dress, and the Ella being her smiley self sure makes me fall in love with it a little more! She is so cute, but maybe I am biased ;-)

Once again keep tuned for the Grand Opening post of my girl's room. For just a little taste of it's cuteness here is a sneak peek............