baby boy hat

Found this free pattern online and made this baby boy hat for a neighbor. It was really easy, I decided to use all one color, and omit the monkey ears.

mittens

I wish I could take credit for this idea, but I saw it on another blog. I have looked everywhere to find where I first saw this brilliant idea, but I can't. If I ever find it, I will give credit where credit is due.

My daughter's mittens do not stay on her hands, I am constantly putting them back on. They also get snow in them easily. When I saw this idea, I knew it was for me. The best part is that it cost $2 and took no more than five minutes for two pairs of mittens.

I bought two pairs of socks at the dollar store and cut the feet off

Put right sides together

sew

and there you have it. The socks extend the gloves, and are elastic enough to hold the mittens on. They are stretchy enough to go over the coat, or under the coat. no more falling off mittens, and no more snow inside the gloves. Hopefully no more cold hands. Thank you to the brilliant mystery blogger for this simple idea

tablecloth

I have been looking and looking for four years for a tablecloth long enough to fit on my kitchen table, with both extensions in (110"), not only are then hard to come by, but if I do find any, they are EXPENSIVE!, and usually not my style. I saw this and it inspired me to do the same thing, but for a tablecloth. I really want to get a ruffler foot, but for the sake of saving $30 (that is how much they are at Hancock fabrics, they also have a "hemmer foot" (see below)for $20) I made do without, and it turned out OK

I bought the painter's drop cloth at Ace hardware. It says it is Canvas, but it is really lightweight material, and easy to sew, it looks kind of like linen. Make sure to get the canvas one, some of the other ones can lock in moisture, which would ruin your table. This one is HUGE, but that is because I wanted it so long, I still have enough to make about two more, average size cloths. Since I bought the biggest one, it was $30 , but that's not bad for three tablecloths

I measured the top of my table and cut the cloth +1" on each side (for seam allowance, you could probably get away with only 1/2"). I did not pre-wash it, and I may be regretting that when I wash it and it doesn't fit my table with both leaves, but it should still fit with one). I would recommend pre-washing it.

Then I cut 5" wide strips to make the ruffle with (I think I will do 6" strips next time). I cut about 2.5-3 times the length of my perimeter. My little sister Beth let me borrow her "hemmer" foot and it was a lifesaver! I must get me one of these. I ran both edges through the hemmer foot so it would not fray when I washed it. (if you don't have a hemmer foot, you could hem it the old fashioned way (you may need to cut a wider strip though, the hemmer foot did a rolled 1/8" hem) You could also just cut your strip twice as wide and fold it in half, with the folded edge on the outside, if that makes sense, then it would still have a clean, non-frayed look, it would just be 2x as much fabric. or you could serge it if you are lucky enough to have a serger

Since I did not buy my coveted ruffler foot I just eyeballed the ruffles by hand, I did not pin, I just did it as I sewed.

I used some of my left over ruffle strips to rolled up these flowers, there was no rhyme or reason (sorry, I just finagled them until I like them) and I sewed them in place

I am happy with my finished product (those are not stains, those are watermarks from ironing it) I am going to make a much shorter one (which should be easier to cut and maneuver) for my outdoor table. It took about three hours to make, but most the time was hemming the ruffle strips.

mittens

I bought this pattern, and after making a pair, I was inspired to make the following mittens

I changed a lot of things, like I used a single crochet instead of a half double crochet, I did a different number of rounds, I did a different number of stitches in each round, I made them have the option of being fingerless, and I added the flower to the back. However, I would not have had the idea, or know where to begin if I did not make the ones I bought on Etsy. I have not written down a pattern for these ones, but if anyone wants one, I could post one. I am not going to do a tutorial on them, unless someone asks me for one in the comments

pj pant tutorial

well, I said I would write a tutorial the next time I make p.j. pants, but I found this tutorial and it happens to be exactly how I made these. so now I don't have to write my own tutorial. Now go make yourself some p.j's

crochet scarf tutorial

okay, so I will do my best to explain how I made this. I have never written a crochet pattern, so someone familiar with following a lot of crochet patterns may think I did it all wrong, but I will try to at least help you get the end result, without too much confusion.

I used a size k crochet hook, but you can fiddle with it, I probably wouldn't go smaller, because the flower will get smaller as you go to a smaller hook. I have not tried a bigger one, it may produce a fuller looking flower, but it may have too much "empty space" if that makes sense.

you can use any yarn you want, I always thought the fuzzy yarn would look cute, but I have a hard time seeing one crochet from the next when I try, so I took the easy way out. (By the way, I just used 100% cotton, worsted weight 4-ply yarn)

First, ch. 5 and slip stitch to form a ring

ROUND 1:ch 1, work 9 sc into the ring, join with a sl. st. in first sc to form a ring

ROUND 2: ch 1, 2 hdc into each sc around (18 hdc), join in first dc

ROUND 3: ch 1, sc into each hdc around (18 sc), join in first sc

ROUND 4: ch 1, 2 hdc into each sc around (36 hdc), join in first hdc

the end result should look like this

next, ROUND 5: ch 1, sc in same hdc as joining, *ch 6, sk next 5 hdc, sc in next hdc; repeat from * 4 times more, ch 6 sk next 5 hdc, join with sl st in first hdc (6 ch 6 sps)

it should look like this

ROUND 6: in first ch 6 sp, (sc, hdc, dc, 3 tr, dc, hdc, sc), repeat in all 6 ch 6 sps, join to first sc

Next, I don't really know what this is called, but I slip stitched vertically down until I reached round three (about three sl sts)

ROUND 7: ch 1, sl st around post of sc on round 3, *ch 3, skip next 2 sc on round 3, repeat from * 4 times, ch 3 skip next 2 sc on round 3 join with a sl st on first sc (6 ch 3 sps)

in first ch 3 sp (sc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, sc) repeat in all ch 3 sps, join and fasten off

your flower should look like this

I make 10-12 flowers (you decide how long you want the scarf, try it on and tie it how you like to decide length) on the last two scarves I made, I just got a needle and matching thread and sewed the flowers together, petal to petal, by hand. On the second one I made, I crocheted the flowers together, petal to petal, usling a slip stitch (this worked fine, but took a long time). On the first one I made, I crocheted a back piece (by doing rows of 8 hdc, ch 1, and turning). Then (having left a long tail in each flower) wove the flowers onto the back piece with my crochet hook. I liked the fullness of the first scarf the best, and since it looked more full, I only made a single layer flower for each flower, rather than a double. However, this took me a really long time to make the back piece, and a lot of yarn, so that is why I have by passed it on the other three scarves. I made 12 flowers on the first scarf too, 11 on the 2nd and 3rd, and only 10 on the last one. I also did 7 petals on the first 3 and only 6 on the last one (I am still trying to figure out the best pattern, one that looks good, but doesn't take forever to make). I can make about 3 of the flowers shown in this post in one hour, to give you an idea

this is a very forgiving pattern, it doesn't matter if all your flowers are slightly different, or if one of your rows ends up with more crochets than it should, just adjust your pattern and keep going. Once the flowers are all hooked together, you can't tell where mistakes are. Also, it doesn't really matter if you can, because the flowers don't need to look exactly alike. Just use this pattern as a guide line, figure out what works for you, where I made mistakes (or where I wrote the pattern confusing) and just dive in a try.

child furniture makeover

Well, I bought my daughter some furniture to play with a year ago, and didn't get around to making it something I really like until this month. I don't have any good before pictures, but I found some

before

after

before

after

(sorry for the terribel picture) first I bought some mod podge, and some scrap book paper I liked (I used wrapping paper for the kitchen) The thicker the paper, the less it bubbles and wrinkles when mod podged

then I followed the advice of one of my favorite new blogs

and used heirloom white spray paint, and some Ralph Lauren Smoke Glaze

I like how they turned out, and am considering doing similar things to a few more things in her "play room" (which is actually just a corner of the family room)

crochet hats

I wanted to make my baby one of the cute flower crochet flapper hats, so I hopped on Etsy and found the pattern here. Since I bought the pattern, it wouldn't be fair for me to tell it to you, but there are so many cute hat patterns, and just crochet patterns on etsy.

I wanted to be able to switch the flowers out on the one for my toddler, so I made a white one, with five different color flowers, and hot glued some pins to the back, I am happy with the result.

here are some more I made with attached flowers

I actually completely did this one wrong, and I did a lot of finagling to make it work, but it the end, it looked fine on my baby, and I learned a lot in the process.

jacket

I could not resist buying this pattern, and I am so glad I did. I am so proud of this jacket I made for my toddler for Christmas. I love how it turned out (I found this cute fabric at Hobby Lobby). It was a pain to cut out all the pieces, but worth it. It took about three hours to make. I used fusible fleece pellon interfacing, so it would be heavier and warmer. I love that it is completely reversible. I think it will fit her for a long time, I am definitely making one for my baby too.

rolled fabric flower tutorial

cut a strip of fabric about two inches wide, and however long you want

sew a basting stitch (secure at the beginning and not at the end) and pull on the bobbin thread to ruffle

once ruffled, start to spiral it around itself

secure it with a needle and thread in back

sew onto anything you want, or glue it to a clip, pin, or headband. Add a jewel, or button to the middle if you want (click to enlarge and see my jewel), such an easy accessory!