a little bias

I saw this skirt over at no big dill, and I fell in love with it.  I had never tried sewing with bias strips (other than binding a quilt), so I was excited to give it a try.  My daughter needed a white dress for pre-school (she is going to be the white rabbit for their Alice in Wonderland play), so I just grabbed some muslin and went to town.  Since muslin is so affordable, I was not too worried about messing up (this dress probably cost me $3 to make). I made sure to pre-wash all my fabric, because I know muslin shrinks a lot. I simply traced the outline of another dress she had, adding half an inch for seam allowance. then I followed the same procedure on no big deal to cut and sew on the bias strips.

The  pictures are taken after I washed and ironed the dress, so you can see that there really is hardly any fraying when you cut on the bias.

I felt like it needed a little something extra, so I cut a bunch of cirlces out of satin and tulle and I singed the edges with a match.  Then I layered them with hot glue, and put a blob of hot glue in the middle.  I have a few bracelets that have broken, so I grabbed some of those pearls and stuck them in the blob of glue.  I just hot glued a few pins on back, so I can pin it on the dress anywhere I want, and take them off when I wash it. I really like how they turned out

I was not worried about the back having clean lines, I was going for a messy look with the dress.  I just wanted to make sure that all the ends were not all lined up.

we just got a new camera, and I have a lot to learn about it, so my pictures are lacking.  I figure if I wait until I learn how to take good pictures, this post might never go up, so it is what it is.  On the other hand,  I can't wait to learn more about our camera.

Easter Dresses

I decided to make my girls' Easter dresses this year.  I am glad I did, but I should not have procrastinated until the week before Easter, because I ended up doing it with a bad back, and sewing and bad backs are not friends.  I am happy with the results though
 

The one above is definitely my favorite, I am thrilled with how it turned out.  I used this tutorial to make it, changing a few things.  I added a lining, and I just traced the outline of one of her dresses to get a pattern (allowing for seam allowance).  I also added lace between the ruffles.

 

This is the best picture I could get of the second dress, She refused to stand up.  I used this tutorial for a guideline.  I was too lazy to do sleeves though.  I also lined this dress, and added a coordinating border to the bottom.  I was tired of sewing by this point and I cut corners, I am not as thrilled with the second dress as the first one, but I still like it

knit toddler dress

I saw this  tutorial yesterday and I had to make one right away.  I could not get over how cute that dress is.  So, I started last night, and I finished during nap time today.  I made mine more of a jumper style, because I am too lazy to do Sleeve's.  I used left over knit from other daughter's room.  I got the knit at Hobby Lobby.  I only bought 1 yard and there was just enough left over from my daughter's room to make this dress.  I used an old t-shirt of mine for the pink jersey knit.  I am very happy with how it turned out (good thing no one can see the inside, it is sloppy).  It is the first dress I have made though, so I am pleased.

laptop sleeve

for Christmas I used this tutorial to make my husband a laptop sleeve.  He thought it was too girly though, so now I claim it as my own.  I guess I lucked out.

fleece scarf tutorial

okay, so I cannot take credit for this cute scarf, but I can tell you how to make one.  My mom made two of these for my girls for Christmas, and my girls love them (so do I).  They are so warm, but have charm too.  They would be so easy to make too.

see what I mean, this is all it is.

Materials: 1/3 yard fleece fabric
thread
scissors

cut two rectangles of fleece, measuring 6"x"45 inches each
lay them on top of each other and sew one seam down the center (attaching them together)
cut fringe, measuring 1" between cuts.  Fleece wont fray, so that is it, you are done!

thanks mom for the great idea! (oh and for the cute scarves)

Flower Pillows

So I saw this awesome tutorial and I knew I just had to make some of these pillows.  I obviously don't need multiple felt flower pillows at my house, so I did what any girl would do, I made some for my sisters (but don't think I am that generous, it was their birthdays)

I got the fabric for this one at Jo-Anne's (although I don't always love their fabric or their selection, I do like their selection of Home Dec. Fabric, plus they have coupons) I got the felt at Ben Franklin Crafts (and they had a measly selection, but it was the only place of three I found the mustard yellow color I was looking for.  They told me in a month or two they will have a whole wall of wool felt, with every color)

This picture is not good, but the only one I have of this pillow.  I also got the fabric at Jo-Ann's and the felt at Ben Franklin

I like this one the best, mostly because I did the best job sewing it (it was my third time afterall) and because I used a much fluffier pillow on this one, I recommend using a fluffy pillow, sorry to the sisters that got the limp pillows.  I got the fabric at Jo-Ann's and the felt at Jo-Ann's

Tablecloth

Remember this post? Well, I made another one.  The picture is with the table cloth on my table, but the table cloth was a gift to my sister, so it was actually made for her table, a smaller table.  It looked better on hers.  I actually wanted to sew a third row of ruffles, but My machine was a little overworked on this tablecloth, and it might have been its last straw.  It wasn't the tablecloths fault really, it was my back-up machine, and I should have stopped when could tell it was needing a break, but I was so close to finishing, I just wanted to finish.  Plus I procrastinated and her birthday was that day, and I didn't have time to wait.  It may just need to be oiled, but that is another story.

This is the tutorial I followed for the jumbo rosette.
I am happy with how the tablecloth turned out.

I am currently saving up for a new machine, and I have already arranged with my sewing machine guy (that is right, I have a guy, and he is GREAT! I totally recommend him to anyone in the area, even if your sewing machine problem is small.) to get one in a couple months.  (He has fixed my machine's a few times, but specializes in rebuilding old Bernina's. I talked to him yesterday and he has ordered a Bernina to get ready for me, wahoo!  He also has a patent on a Long arm quilting machine he makes and sells).  Anyway, when I get my new machine, I am definitely going to make one of these tablecloths with at least three rows of ruffles, maybe four or five, can you have too many row of ruffles?

Tutu tutorial

Last year I did a post about a tutu I made, but this year I decided to make one that was more tutu like, and less skirt like.  I have seen those no-sew tutu's before, and I followed the same idea here, but I wanted petals in my tutu's.
 

 

supplies

 

 

a roll of tulle, usually found near the wedding isle at a craft store, the more tulle, the fuller the skirt.  I just used one 25 yard roll for each tutu

 

petals, I got this box 50% off at Hobby Lobby, and I barely made a dent in it.  For the pink Tutu I happened to find a bag at the dollar store, who can beat $1

also you need:  matching ribbon, elastic, for the waist, and thread for sewing, a fake flower and hot glue gun

 

I measured how long I wanted my tutu to be (I just measured my little girls hip to just above her knee) and I doubled that (since I will be folding my strips in half) and added about 2 inches, to make up for the knot that is tied at the end.  I just made as many strips as the roll would make, I believe I had 30 strips in the pink, for the 18 month old, and 20 strips in purple, for the almost 4 year old

 

I folded the strips in half, length wise, and sewed around the edges, stuffing some petals in each end, before I finished sewing it shut (I had three petals in each end).  You can see the thread in my tutu's, which I am okay with, but next time I might try either turning the strips inside out, after they are sewn together, or using invisible thread.

 

I measured how long I wanted the elastic waistband (just measured right on my kid) and sewed it into a loop. Then I tied the strips on, making a look in the middle, and wrapping it around the elastic by pulling the two ends through it

 

 

here is what it looks like with them all tied on.  If you like this look, you can leave it like this (although you may want to do more strips than I did, if you are going to leave it like this, so the elastic is hidden better)

 

I sewed a matching satin ribbon, If you get a wide enough one, you could actually fold it over the elastic, covering both sides, and then sew it.  I just sewed it on the outside.  Remember, the waistband needs to be stretchy, so I pulled my elastic as I sewed (which bunched the ribbon at the end).  You may prefer to use a zig-zag stitch, so it stretches better.  I just used a straight stitch, but had it set at the longest stitch length.

Leave a long tail, so you can tie a bow

 

then I popped the fake flower off the stem and hot glued it right over the bow

more baby blankets and accessories

I know I have already explained how to do the receiving blankets, but I thought I would show the ones I made today.  

This one is for a friend, whose sweet new baby had to endure the NICU (having experienced it, something I would not wish on my worst enemy).  and a couple eye surgeries as well

This set is for a good friend who just had twin girls.  Don't you LOVE Amy  Butler fabric? I sure do!  Her little girls also had to be in the dreaded NICU, but are home now

This set is for a baby shower tomorrow, but I don't think she reads this blog, so I feel safe posting it.
I followed this tutorial for the baby legs, but I found this one later, that I want to try next.

I have posted about the crochet baby hats before but this time I found a free tutorial (plus she has other great tutorials), I thought you might want a link to a free one, and it literally took me exactly 61 minutes to make, not bad huh?

For the Onesie, I just used some of my ruffle fabric.  I cut it how long I wanted, measured it 2x as wide as the onesie, and put it right sides together, sewing one quarter inch seam (making sure all ruffles were hanging down), making a tube.  Then I just folded the top over and sewed it on the onesie (I did not need to hem, because it is knit and does not fray).  I lined the one seam up with the side seam on the onesie.  sorry if this is confusing, I did not take pictures, but it was so easy.

For the burp clothes, I just sew on random fabrics, ribbons and embelishments, there is really no rhyme or reason to it, I usually don't even have a plan when I start.  I just want to say that I only like the tri-fold birds-eye ones.  I got the wrong kind once, and hated them.  I get mine at Target, and they are Gerber brand, they come like 12  in a pack I think.  Also, MAKE SURE TO PRE SHRINK THE DIAPERS! Wash them in really hot water and dry them in a really hot dryer.  It is the pits to make an adorable burp cloth, only to wash it and have it way smaller than the fabric you sewed on.

cleaning gloves

Don't we all hate cleaning!?! I know I do, and to be honest, these gloves probably wont make me like it, but at least I might smile while I am cleaning.  I followed this tutorial here

I bought the gloves at IKEA (but I have seen some pink ones at Albertson's last year, and white and purple at Target a long time ago.  I just buy colored gloves when I see them at a good time.  I bought the oilcloth at a local craft store, Ben Franklin Crafts (but i have ordered laminate fabric online before, and it worked great too).

make your own chenille baby quilt

first off, I apologize for the bad pictures, I did not realize the camera was in the wrong mode, until I was done with the project

Here is a baby blanket/quilt I made for a friend, I just found a cute piece of fabric and layered it on top of four layers of muslin (five layers, one yard each) to make my own chenille.  The process of making my own chenille happens to quilt the top.  This is not too hard, but it takes a long time (4-6 hours) and a lot of thread

here are my five layers lined up on top of each other

then you sew diagonal lines down the back.  I just use your presser foot as a guideline, and do them 1/4" apart.  I did mine a little bit wider, because I wanted my quilted lines to follow the diagonal lines on the argyle print, so I just quilted on front, using the argyle for my guideline.  This made the chenille a little wider than I normally prefer, but I still like the look. 

next you get one of these nifty chenille cutters (scissors will work, but make it more difficult)

I got mine at Michael's, I don't remember how much, but I had a 40% off coupon.  You can always find a good coupon to Jo-Ann's and get one there too

.
you cut the bottom three layers (make sure not to cut the top layer, or the top layer of muslin)

next bind your quilt, there are some good tutorials out there, here is one I like 

then you wash it a couple times, and it looks like chenille


after I made this quilt, I found another great tutorial for a similar blanket, with a twist. I think I will try it her way next time