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!

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!

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

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.

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.

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!!