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!

flower applique

I wanted to Jazz up this onesie a bit, so I decided to applique a flower on it. I used "Steam-a-seam 2" found at most fabric, and some craft stores, and I cut out a flower shape in some fabric (I could have put more effort into my flower shape) after I fused the fabric to one side of the interfacing, I cut out the shape and ironed it on to the onesie. I used my regular old zig-zag stitch, but I set the stitch length to 1.5 (I tried it at one, for a more embroidered look, but the thread got too thick to feed under the presser foot). I was able to manouver it around well enough using my regular foot, and keeping the feed dogs up, however, if you applique a designe with too many curves it may be easier to put your feed dogs down (or cover them with a piece of card-stock, but then you might have problems controlling your stitch length). I would also be useful to use a darning foot, but then you would have to use a straight stitch, since you would be free-handing it.

When I was done, I added a matching button to the middle

skirt

about a year and a half ago I bought a pattern for this super easy toddler skirt at a bookstore, of all places, but the pattern (and many other cute ones) can be found here. I finally got motivated to make one for my toddler today, and I loved, that it only took about one minute to cut all the pieces (that is always the worst part) I took about an hour or so to make, it was really easy, the most time consuming part was my embellishments. I added a ruffle by cutting a two inch piece of fabric, making my own bias-tape out of it, and sewing a basting stitch down the middle (securing at the beginning, and not the end). Then I pulled on the bobbin thread to ruffle it, and I sewed it on to the skirt. I followed this tutorial for the flower, but since I was using fabric instead of paper, I doubled it up, to make it thicker.

tutu

I was inspired by my sister-in-law's tutorial a few years ago, and decided to make one of these for my toddler (she is getting dress-ups for x-mas) I did not have all the same material as her, but I used her tutorial as a guideline and made do with what I had (I had a roll of tulle, because I was at Robert's and did not want to go to the fabric store for tulle by the yard), and I also had some satin from Robert's (both found on the wedding isle). I am happy with it, and it took me about 15 minutes to make, plus I have a lot left over, enough to make about four or five more tutu's. I could have gone really cheap and bought all supplies at the dollar store (yes, they have rolls of tulle, and petals and flowers), but they only had white tulle, and I wanted pink)

binki clip

I have made about a dozen binki clips and am still trying to figure out how I like to do it best. Sometimes I attach ribbons to mitten clips (found at JoAnne's) with velcro on the other end. Recently I really like these alligator clips with teeth and these cute hooks (found both at Michael's). I just used a hole punch and punched a hole in the tab on the binki) today I was too lazy to sew the ribbon (since I didn't have to sew on any velcro anyway) so I just hot glue gunned the fabric on, it took about one minute to make, if I start to hate it, I will just cut the ribbon off, and make a new one.

P.J. Pants

I made a pair of flannel P.J. pants for my toddler for x-mas. I did not have a pattern, or a tutorial to follow, but I remembered making a pair in my high school sewing class, so I just decided to dive in a try it (I got the fabric on sale for $1 for a yard) so I figured I didn't have much to lose. I used a pair of her everyday pants for a guide. I forgot to take pics, but I plan on making another pair for me, so I will post a tutorial then.

these were one of those "errors" I was talking about, because I spaced it when I was cutting the fabric, and the backside or the pants has the fabric upside down, I was too lazy to cut two new pieces (I didn't want to waste my cheap fabric)

diaper and wipes case

I have made a couple of these in the past, following confusing tutorials, only to have a case big enough for possible one diaper. However, I liked the size of this one, and the tutorial, one day I will try to make a cute wipes case too, using her tutorial. here it is.