Hammer & Thread

Tutorial: The easiest Christmas Stocking you’ll ever make

2011-11-30T08:18:00.000-06:00

Recently, our mom’s group stitched up some super easy stockings for Craft Hope Project # 14, Christmas in Dixie, which sent stockings and other Christmas decorations to tornado victims in the South. When we decided to participate in this project, I had the perfect stocking pattern in mind…but it needed a bit of tweaking. So I give you…..The easiest Christmas Stocking you will EVER make!

This pattern originally came from the Bernina USA website, circa 2004-ish. My Kansas hometown fabric store, where I learned to sew AND worked for around 7 years off and on during high school and college, taught sewing and machine embroidery classes. This stocking was one of those classes and was taught by my friend and coworker, Serena. She upgraded Bernina’s pattern into a lovely embroidery project, complete with a soft batting layer, that was constructed of shiny satin or warm wool. In fact, our family stockings are made using the original pattern. Aren’t they cute?

I deconstructed the pattern a bit for this project, because most of our mom’s group seamstresses are beginners

Here’s how to do it:

Supplies

*Note: The following fabric measurements give you enough to do TWO stockings. I use this measurement to compensate for any design directionality (one-way Santa print, for example). If you’d rather not purchase that much, just take the pattern with you to the store and get exactly what you need*

1/2 yd of outside fabric (cute Christmas print, etc) can be cotton, felt, anything really that is easy to work with.

3/4 yd lining/contrast (plain color that goes with your outside fabric) If using felt, you really don’t need a lining, so you’ll just want to buy enough contrast for the toes, heels, cuff and hanger.

Thread

Spray Adhesive (optional)

Cut List

For the Stocking body: Cut, using these stocking bottom and stocking top patterns, 2 bodies from outside fabric and 2 bodies from lining fabric

For the Heel and Toe: Cut, using this pattern, 2 heels and 2 toes from contrast fabric

For the Cuff: Cut one 8” x 15” rectangle from the contrast fabric

For the Hanger: Cut one 1.5” x 5” rectangle from the contrast fabric

Your first step is to satin stitch the heels and toes onto the outside stocking body pieces. Spray the wrong sides of all toes and heels lightly with spray adhesive. Stick them in place to the right sides of both outside stocking pieces. Satin stitch, on the inside edge only, toes and heels to stocking. Satin width approx 3, length 0.5-ish. *Note: If you’d like to interface the heel and toe pieces for more body, feel free to do so…we didn’t just for simplicity sake.

Now you will lay all your body pieces in the following order, from top to bottom: Outside body pieces on top, right sides together, then lining pieces beneath, right sides together.

Pin all four layers together…this is where the magic happens. You will only stitch around once, combining all layers and, when you turn the stocking, it will be automatically lined! Brilliant! Stitch around entire stocking, 3/8” seam, leaving the top open.

Next, clip your curves

Clipping your curves helps with turning. For inside (concave) curves, simply clip straight into the seam allowance, being sure not to clip your stitching. For outside (convex) curves, clip out triangle shapes all the way around the curve, again don’t clip your stitching. This reduces the bulky seam allowance which makes the curve more round and nice.

Now the magic happens. To turn the stocking, reach inside the two outside stocking body pieces.

Grab the toe, inside, and pull it all the way out the top.

When the stocking is turned right side out, stick your hand back in there and poke out the heel and toe so it looks nice. Observe how the stocking is turned and lined all in one motion! How cool is that?! Give it a quick pressing at this point.

Next, let’s get the cuff and hanger ready. Take your 8” x 15” cuff piece and fold it in half width wise. Pin the raw edges and stitch across, 3/8” seam.

After stitching, open up the seam allowance and press open. Then fold the cuff, WRONG sides together, in half length-wise. The right sides should be on the outside and it’ll look like a finished cuff ready for installation.

For the hanger, take your 1/5” x 5” rectangle and fold in 1/4” on each of the long sides. Press.

Fold the hanger in half length-wise, containing the raw edges inside. Top stitch up both sides, making a nice sealed hanger.

Fold the hanger in half and pin it to the INSIDE of the stocking at the heel seam, raw edges together.

Grab the cuff and place it INSIDE the stocking, over the hanger, and pin it in, raw edges together.

Now stitch around the top of the stocking, 3/8” seam. You’ll be stitching the cuff on and stitching the hanger in, in one motion.

Reach in and pull the cuff up and out of the stocking.

Then fold the cuff over the top, on the outside of the stocking. Your seam allowance is now hidden under the cuff. No need to finish it unless you want to zig-zag the edge. The only reason I would consider finishing that raw edge would be if I plan on washing the stocking often, otherwise You’re DONE!

How simple was that? You can make them for the whole family in one naptime. So super simple!

Our Awesome Austin Moms ended up sending 16 stocking to Christmas in Dixie. They all looked great and I hope they will bring joy to the recipients who lost everything in last summer’s tornadoes.

Happy Stocking Making!

Dino Tails

2011-11-28T22:48:00.000-06:00

The other day I was watching Abigail for a couple of hours and she just kept snuggling Asher’s little stuffed Stegosaurus. I asked her if she wanted her own dino tail and she got so excited. So we went at played in the craftroom and whipped up a couple of tails using a tutorial by Jess of Running with Scissors.

A few days later we had a great time wearing them at the Austin Children’s Museum which currently has a Dinosaur exhibit. Asher and Abigail had lots of fun and looked super cute

This was a great tutorial. Asher is interested in costumes and dressing up right now so this tail is getting tons of use. He even likes to play “sleepy dino” which is really just taking a good nap while wearing the tail.

Tutorial: Reusable Snack & Sandwich Bags

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Cam received an excellent reusable sandwich bag for his birthday last year and since then I’ve been reusing and washing it at a constant pace. One day, while at Joann’s, I found a really unique fabric that seemed perfect for bibs, called Oil Canvas…different from oil cloth, oil canvas has a definite “canvas” weave look rather than the slick plasticated coating. One day while washing Cam’s sandwich bag for the 50th time, something snapped in my brain and I knew that yard of “bib” fabric would be perfect for more bags! Brilliant!

Not only that, we had a need for a smaller snack-sized bag. Cam’s school constantly threw away all my snack ziploc bags, so a smaller reusable bag would fix the waste problem.

Both bags are so easy. Here’s how to do it:

Supplies and Cut list:

Oil Canvas, for Sandwich Bag cut 15” x 7”, for Snack Bag cut 9” x 7”
Velcro, 7” for both bag styles

*Note: Oil Canvas doesn’t ravel, so just turn down and stitch.*

To start, put a 3/8” hem in the 7” long edge. This applies to both bag styles. Then stitch on the hook portion of the velcro. For the sandwich bag, stitch the velcro 1 1/4” from the hem edge. For the snack bag, stitch the velcro 1/2” from the hem edge.

Next you’ll make the pouch. For the sandwich bag, fold the velcro edge up 6”, right sides together. For the snack bag, fold the velcro edge up 3”, right sides together. Pin the edges and stitch along both edges 3/8”, being sure to backstitch well at each end since you will be washing and turning the bags often.

Once seamed, turn the bag right side out. Next you’ll need to hem the remaining side seam, which makes up the flap part of the bag.

Note in the picture below, the larger bag flap side seams have been hemmed.

You’ll need to work your presser foot inside the edge of the bag to start the side seam hem, as pictured, backstitch, and seam 3/8” up the edge. A pin might help get this process started.

The last two steps are to hem the top of the flap and attach the loop velcro. These steps can be combined. Grab your loop velcro in one hand and fold down the top edge 3/8” and then lay that velcro right at the edge over the hem. Get it under your presser foot and start stitching the very edge. Pin if needed.

When you get to the end turn the corner and continue around the edge of the velcro til it’s all stitched down. You’ll notice this piece of velcro is longer than the bag, due to the original cut being 7”. Since you’ve already hemmed the sides you’ll have excess velcro to cut off on one or both ends. No worries, just snip it off and YOU’RE DONE!

The sandwich size bag fits standard bread slices and the snack is about half that size.

Cool bags for school, playdates or gifts. Your friends will be envious, so make them some! YAY!

56 Monkeys

2011-11-22T13:10:00.001-06:00

The Craft hope project 15 Deadline is just 2 days away. Today we drove up to Georgetown to drop them off. A big thank you to the Awesome Austin Moms and the Art students and teachers of Westwood and Cedar Ridge High school.

We hope all these monkeys find a great home. Especially these creative guys from Cedar Ridge.

Thanks Jade for your wonderful website. I can’t wait to see what you have lined up for us in 2012.

Blankets for Brother

2011-11-15T16:17:00.001-06:00

It’s a rainy day, Asher is a school and I have the itch to make something quick and easy. Specifically something for Ash’s brother (coming soon). So I thought of all the presents that we received when Asher was born and the one that has gotten the most use in the past 3 years was actually the very first gift. My sister’s sister and mother-in-law (I call them my non-in-laws) sent a homemade oversized receiving blanket. Measuring 39 inches square it quickly became the only blanket large enough to swaddle my very long baby boy. It was even the blanket used on the birth announcement. Almost 3 years later, he still uses it for napping at school. That is some serious longevity for a newborn gift.

So I decided to make a few large blankets using flannels I found at Joanns. To get the biggest blanket I could I bought a length of fabric equal to the width 42 or 44 inches depending on the selvage. I prewashed, cursed at the skewed cutting job, ironed and cut the largest square I could. On two of them I did a 1/2 inch double folded hem and the other 2 got a homemade bias tape trim.

Now brother will have 4 (5 if I can get Asher’s away from him) giant blankets waiting for him and I have a sense of accomplishment for the day.

Kid Craft: Paper Lanterns

2011-11-08T14:52:00.001-06:00

The mom’s group that Haley and I belong to try to do fun cultural activities when ever we can. Our friend Tina, who grew up in Germany, told us about Martinstag. She said it was her favorite holiday as a kid. Children walk door to door with paper lanterns and sing songs. People give them treats or money as a reward for the songs. It sounds kind of like a second Halloween.

Martinstag is November 11th and even though we won’t be going door to door we though it would be fun to do a night walk with the lanterns. We came up with a simple safe lantern that out toddlers can help make.

To make your own you’ll need:

a white lunch sack

squares of colored tissue paper

a glue stick

hole punch

a glow stick

string

a stick

Let your little one glue tissue paper all over the bag. The more colorful the better.

When they finish with the gluing (or just get bored) send them off to find a stick while you make the bag glow. Start by folding the top over an inch and punch 3 holes across the top.

Open the bag and thread the string through the bottom center hole on one side of the bag then through the glow stick and then through the other bottom center hole.

Fold the bag over and feed the string though the remaining center hole.

Then thread opposite ends of the string through the remain holes as shown.

When your kid returns with the stick tie the ends of the string to the stick.

When you are ready for you evening stroll you can break the glow stick through the bag and give it a shake.

Happy Martinstag!

The Family that ROCKS together, stays together

2011-10-31T15:56:00.000-05:00

Cam loves guitars, this is a well known fact, so naturally our family Halloween costumes had to ROCK this year. When he said “I wanna be a RockStar!” it didn’t take long for me to figure out our theme. This set of costumes is a mish-mash of patterns and fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-and-hope-it-works design.

Introducing….. Dad as Gene Simmons, Mom as Cyndi Lauper and Cam as Sid Vicious!

Cam’s costume was probably the easiest. For the jacket, I altered a fleece hoodie pattern, added a collar, etc. I bought one long zipper and cut the remainder into bits and just sewed them straight to the front of the jacket. Joann’s had by-the-yard cut-apart studs…SO awesome! I just hot-glued them on.

I picked up the jeans and a tank at the Salvation Army, cut up the pants a bit and painted the tank with the classic “Punks Not Dead” design. He was able to wear some of my old punker accessories, too, which was fun for me.

My costume was also pretty easy. The dress was $6 at Salvation Army and only took a bit of altering to fit over my big preggo belly. I zig-zagged on 4 rows of tulle to the lining, added some tulle bows and Voila! My crowning achievement of the Cyndi costume was the gloves…but I’ll tell you about those later :)

Daddy’s costume was the most labor-intensive of the family. Nearly every piece was handmade and most were made up! I started with a pair of half-pants out of pleather, using a really old slacks pattern. The boot covers were ridiculously easy…I traced his work boots on paper, added for curvature and seam, and cut them on the fold so the only sewing is the front seam. I couldn’t believe how good they looked for such a simple method.

The silver vest was my crowing achievement of the Kiss costume. Using craft foam sheets was the key. I cut out the shapes and literally scotch-taped them together, then covered them with the silver fabric, using a combination of spray adhesive (to hold everything in place) and hot glue (to secure the flaps on the back side.

The belt is the same silver fabric lined with a medium weight satin AND I discovered that you can indeed sew through craft foam (at least the thin stuff). There’s a velcro closure at the back and velcro at the shoulders to hold the wings on. The wings are shiny pleather lined with the satin, studded and accessorized with spikey cuffs (which are just cones filled with fluff, gathered at bottom and hot glued).

And here’s the finished product!

Hope your Halloween ROCKS!

Little Fox Halloween

2011-10-30T23:11:00.001-05:00

This year I had a hard time deciding what Asher should be for Halloween but in the end I found this woodland animal pattern by Jessica of Running with Scissors.

I’m really happy with the way it turned out, but there were a couple of bumps along the way. Having sewn and made pattern for several pairs of pants I found the gusset method for the crotch a little awkward to sew as well as fit. The bigger problem was the hood. Because Asher is so tall the 4T size was a little short on him. So the original hood was pulled on by the body and whenever he bent over the hood was pulled off his head. So I wrote to Jessica with my problem and she wrote back promptly and with plenty of great suggestions on how to fix my problem.

Just changing the hood made the whole costume fit better and Asher could now get the hood on and off himself. I also had enough left over fabric to make myself a matching pair of ears and tail. I used the same pattern pieces for the tail and ears lengthening the tail by about 6 inches and sewing the ears to a headband.

My husband found some hunter gear at the thrift store for his costume. Asher insists that he is a Catcher since he tries to catch the foxes. I think it’s so cute I don’t want to correct him.

Thanks Jess for putting out your pattern and helping me when I started to panic. I can’t wait to try out the hipster hoodie. It’s in this weeks queue.

If you think our costumes are fun just wait till you see what Haley whipped up.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Sock Monkeys for Texas

2011-10-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

This summer in Texas it has been hot and dry. So dry that Wildfires have burned through 1.4 million acres of land and over 16,000 homes have been lost. In response, Craft Hope, a wonderful website that encourages crafting for a cause, is collecting handmade sock monkeys for children who have lost their homes in these fires.

I started with just one monkey but they are so cute and easy to make that now I have a small family. No doubt more little monkeys are on the way.

If you would like to participate in this project grab a pair of cool socks (crew length or knee- highs) and get sewing. I used the pattern from the Craft hope Book which you can find with full instructions on Craftstylish. The deadline for this project is November 24, 2011. Thanksgiving.

Learn more about this project and Craft hope on their website. Hopefully you’ll have fun making a monkey soon.

Diaper cake tutorial

2011-10-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I hosted a Dr Seuss themed baby shower for Haley and and our good friend V. Whenever we host a baby shower we like to bring a diaper cake for the new momma. Since Haley and I are two of the organizers for a local mom’s group where many of the members are having their second child. So we have been getting plenty of practice.
Grab a friend (seriously, this is a 2 person project) and let’s get started
You will need:
Pampers Swaddlers (size 1, qty 234 from Sam's Club: will make 3 diapers cakes (78 diapers each)
6 yards Wired ribbon (2” wide is nice)
14 inch Round cake base (scallop edge is nice)
Yarn or string (for holding spirals together before ribbon AND for anchoring layers to base)
Big crochet hook (for pulling yard through layers)
Small Gifts to attach
Lets make the layers.
For the bottom layer use 45 diapers (reserving 7 for center)
Line the 39 diapers up so that they overlap, leaving about an inch of the folded edge showing.
Carefully, with a friend, turn the diapers on their side and curl into a circle, tucking the unfolded side into the middle.

Have one person hold the spiral while the other ties some yarn around to stabilize and tighten slightly.

Even out the diapers so that they are evenly spaced. The top should look like a spiral.
Roll the remaining 7 diapers up tightly and stuff them in the middle.
The procedure for the next two layers is exactly the same as the first with a different number of diapers. Middle layer=22 diapers (use 3 for center), Top layer=11 diapers (none used in center)

Poke two holes about an inch apart in the center of your cake circle and feed a long piece of yarn through the holes so that the ends are coming out of top of the circle.

Poke your crochet hook through the bottom layer of the cake between two of the spiraled diapers grab one of the piece of yarn from the cake bottom and pull it through the bottom layer. Repeat for the other side of this layer.

Do the same thing for the middle and top layers and then tie a knot with the 2 strands of yarn. This will anchor the cake to the base and hold it together.

· Wrap single piece of ribbon around each layer and knot, leaving just enough to tie a bow on. You can use this tighten the layers if needed. Once the ribbon in tied on you can cut the yarn that was previously holding the each layer together.

Make bows by folding ribbons back and forth 5 or 6 times , accordion style so that you have a stack of ribbon about 6 inches in length.
Using the ribbon from the cake tie a knot around the middle of your ribbon stack and fluff. Trim wire ends that may have frayed.

Add toys, gifts, onesies, etc...all over cake until cute. Maybe make a cute cake topper of some sort. For these diaper cakes (this was a shower for Haley and another friend) I made some Baprons, tagged balls (just add some folded ribbon to the seams), and a pacifier pod.

We also included a couple of store bought brightly colored washcloths that were made into flowers using wire and florist tape and a cake topper mini Seuss hat (made by a friend).

We had found some Seuss foam stickers on clearance and used them to decorate around the ribbons in any area we thought was a little blank.

Here are a few more diaper cakes we have made in the past.

For this bear cake we used a cute baby hat as a cake topper for this one. The set also came with socks for the hands and feet so we stuffed them with a couple extra diapers and attached them with a little wire. No need for a bow on the top tier with this design.

On these 2 cakes we made bouquets of flowers for decoration rolling up onesies, socks, washcloths, burp cloths and bibs and then wrapping one end (or a fold for the larger items) with floral tape and then attaching them with wire. We filled in some bare spots with curling ribbon.
Here are more ways you can top your cake. Any simple toy will work but you can even just use a card with a little more ribbon.

Special thanks to Liasa who made an amazing hand model and without whom I could never have made these cakes.
If you make your own we would love to see it. Please add it to our flickr group

Tutorial: Reversible Nursing Cover

2011-10-07T12:00:00.000-05:00

As you may have noticed, Ruth and I have been MIA for a while, lately. We’re sorry about that, but trust us, we have good reason! We are BOTH adding new additions to our families soon! I am 31 weeks along and Ruth is 19 weeks, and we’re both super excited.

In honor of this announcement, we have made ourselves (and another expecting friend of ours) brand-spankin’ new nursing covers. We all know that nursing a baby in public can be risky…you never know when you might flash the person next to you. Instead of giving the entire restaurant a free show, we have a tutorial for a really gorgeous cover.

We took inspiration from many sources and came up with a reversible cover, with a strong strap and bit of boning for air-flow and baby-viewing. The cover is finished with contrast bias tape, which we think is the icing on the cake. Wanna make one? Here’s how:

Supplies Needed:

1 yard of 2 contrasting fabrics, for the front and back of the cover
1/2 yard of a 3rd contrasting fabric, for homemade bias tape, OR 2 packages of store bought wide, double-fold bias tape.
2 – 1 inch D-rings
15 inches of boning

Cut list:

For body of cover, laying the 2 contrasting fabrics on top of each other, wrong sides together (so you can save a step later), cut a 26”x36” rectangle using the width of the fabric for the 36inch.
For long strap, cut a 2.5”x27” strip from both contrasting fabrics.
For D-ring loop, from one of the fabrics (your choice), cut a 5”x6” inch rectangle.

To Make the Straps:

With the right sides together stitch the 2.5”x27” inch rectangles with 3/8” seam allowance around 3 sides leaving one of the short ends open. If you want you can sew the other short end at an angle. Trim corners for turning.

Fold the rectangle so that the 6 inch long edges meet and use a 3/8” seam allowance to sew down the long edge only.

Turn both strap pieces right side out and poke out corners of the long strap piece so it looks nice. Press.

Topstitch around the edges of the long strap and short piece for a finished look.

Slide the 2 D-rings onto the D-ring loop piece and fold in half. Using a zipper foot (if you have one) or moving your needle as far to one side as possible, stitch as close as you can to the D-rings to hold them nice and tight in the loop.
Note: The D-ring loop is supposed to be wider than the 1” ring…this can make this step difficult, we know. Just work the loop around the D-ring and do your best. If you get a tuck, it’s not a problem.

Put your straps together and admire :)

To Assemble the Cover:

Lay both body fabrics, wrong sides together, baste around the entire cover body, all 4 sides, approx 1/4” to 3/8” from the edge. This will hold the pieces together and prevent shifting when you are putting on the bias tape.

Fold the body of the cover in half, long wise, and find the center top.

Measure 7 1/2” in each direction from the center mark and place the long strap at one point and the D-ring loop at the other. The 15” in between is where the boning will go later. Baste the 2 strap pieces in place.

Start your bias tape at the bottom of the cover, leaving a long tail for matching later, sandwiching it over the edge of the cover and stitching it on. Work slowly, making sure you are catching the under side as well as the top. When you get to a corner, stitch all the way to the edge of the cover and stop, clipping thread.

Fold tape around the corner and make corner angles look nice.

Start stitching again down next side, repeating at each corner.

When you have stitched all the way around, stop and leave a long tail so the two ends of bias tape can be joined. Mark the place where the two ends meet and join them together, by either reproducing the angle (shown below) OR simply overlapping the ends, with raw edges tucked inside, and stitching them down to complete the edge.

Admire your lovely bias tape, and double check that both sides of tape were caught all the way around the cover. If there’s a spot or two that didn’t get stitched, go back and stitch them down. Easy peasy.

Next, fold both strap pieces upward and box stitch them to the bias tape.

Finally, you insert the boning by ripping a small spot near one strap and slipping the boning piece into the bias tape “casing”. Then restitch the spot you ripped.

You’ve just completed a beautiful nursing cover than any cow (or human mama) would be jealous of. Feel free to nurse in public with no fear, knowing your cover is totally glamorous AND homemade! YAY!

If you make your own we would love to see it. Please add it to our flickr group

Sidewalk Paint

2011-08-19T17:26:00.000-05:00

This past week I had 3 birthdays and very little time to make my gifts so I decided to give one of Asher’s favorite activities.

Inside the bag are all the ingredients needed to make the paint as well as some paint containers and paint brushes. The containers came as part of a set from Lakeshore Learning. I bought 2 sets (6 cups and brushes each) and then split them 3 ways. I also picked up the Neon food coloring since I figured most people had the basic colors and purple is difficult to achieve. Any food coloring would work. I’ve even used my Wilton cake colors.

To make the Bag you will need:
12x36 inch rectangle of fabric for bag (surge or zigzag around the edges)
Recipe photo printed as a 3.5 inch square
4.5 inch square of contrast fabric
4.5 inch square of clear vinyl
t-shirt strips or ribbons for a draw string

I used spray adhesive to attach the photo to the square of fabric and then zig-zagged the photo to the fabric

Fold the large rectangle in half and place the mounted photo 3 inches from the fold and centered with respect to the left and right edges. Be sure that your text is going the right direction. Place the vinyl square on top of the photo square and pin (not through the photo) to the top layer of the main fabric.

Zig zag it in place.

Now fold it in half with right sides together and sew up both the edges.
Use a ruler to cut a 2 inch square out of each corner. The two inches do not include the seam allowance so be sure to measure 2 inches from the seam and 2 inches from the bottom.

pull the corners where the 2 cuts intersect away from each other so that the seam and the fold at the bottom of the bag are aligned. Your raw edge should be a straight line. Pin this in place and the sew and either zig-zag or surge off the raw edge.
Without ironing your photo, carefully iron your side seams open then fold the top of the bag over to make a 3.5 inch hem
With the bag inside out use the edge of your pressure foot along the fabric edge and sew all the way around the hem. Then stitch a second line parallel to the first about a half an towards the edge. These two stitch lines make a casing for a drawstring.
Turn the bag right side out and use a seam ripper to open the side seams between the two casing lines.

Feed the drawstrings through the casing and your bag is finished!
Fill it up with all the ingredients, as well as some containers and brushes and you have a great gift or fun sunny day activity for your own family.
If you make your own we would love to see it. Please add it to our flickr group

Beach Robe for Iz

2011-07-26T17:38:00.002-05:00

My friends little girl just turned 3 and even though she made so much fun of Asher’s shorty robe, I decided she was probably just jealous and made one for her daughter. I did add a couple of inches to the bottom.

I think it was the perfect gift considering she forgot to bring towels to her pool party.
Happy birthday Iz!

Beach Robe

2011-07-06T22:23:00.001-05:00

I’ve been wanting to make a robe for Asher since for over a year. In fact I bought the towel for it way back (from Target) but I couldn’t settle on a pattern. I was so excited to see Dana of MADE post her pattern. I thought it was adorable and started on it the next day. It took longer than it should because I stupidly bought Single fold bias tape so I had to return it and get double fold a few days later.

I’m so happy with how it turned out. The only change I made to the pattern was that I did mitered corners on the robe ties. I think it made it just a little bit more boyish.

I lined the the hood with a monster fabric. The same one I used here.

My friends all cracked up at Asher in a shorty robe but they also though it was really cute.

Thanks Dana for the cool pattern. Asher already picked out the towel for his next robe. It’s a really bright orange… coming soon.

Mucho Minestrone!

2011-07-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

Mmmmm….this minestrone recipe is so dang good! And the huge double batch I made looked so good I had to blog about it. The recipe is a Weight Watchers adaptation that my mom makes, and man oh man, it’s to die for!

You’ll see that the original recipe calls for kale…but we prefer spinach. I also use chicken broth instead of veggie broth, because it’s what I have on hand. Any way you make it, you’ll love it.

I made enough to freeze bags of it for later…and I can’t wait to rediscover them in the freezer a couple months from now. What a yummy surprise that will be :)
Dig in!

Momma’s Gonna Snap

2011-06-30T14:37:00.002-05:00

Our friend whose little girl just turned 3 is a photographer. So when I saw this post by Cheri of I am momma hear me roar a ways back I knew I would need to save it for just this occasion. I found the camera graphic on Stencilry.org and cut it out with my Silhouette SD onto a flocked heat transfer vinyl.
I really like the look of the flocked vinyl. I did have some issues with the cutting but mostly it was my own stupidity. I forgot to reverse the letters so I had to print them out a second time. What I really liked about it is that even with the tiny details in the camera and letters it looks really sharp.

Happy Birthday Little L!

Cute Kids Rick-Rack Apron

2011-06-29T12:00:00.002-05:00

One of Cam’s little girlfriends turns 3 today! I decided to jazz up this cute Hobby Lobby apron that I found, since I know she and her mom spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

I decided on rick-rack early on, but while perusing the trim section at Joann’s, I saw a fun idea on their idea board. I loved the cute rick rack flower (baby rick rack is so tiny and adorable) but I also wanted to use jumbo rick rack, so I did both! I picked up a fat quarter for the applique inside the flowers, then simply stitched the rick rack down using a narrow, long zigzag.

Happy Birthday, L!
Love, Cam

Seersucker Sale

2011-06-25T17:17:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Dana of Made for letting me know that Seersucker was on sale and exactly what qualifies as a seersucker fabric. I went to Joanns to pick up some 50% off fabric today. Unfortunately it was only the narrow stripes that were on sale.

Luckily my smart phone came to the rescue and I was able to find 4 coupons for the remainder of my choices.I also found out that Joanns accepts competitor’s coupons. But beware they won’t take a Michael's coupon for fabric.

I bought enough to make a couple pairs of shorts or pants. I just love the plaids. Can’t wait to get started.

D A D D Y spells fun!

2011-06-19T16:37:00.001-05:00

As Ruth mentioned, we really did have fun with the our special Father’s Day gifts. Our kids are still a bit too young to do the work on these type of projects but I LOVED that they got to participate in their own way on picture taking day! Asher and Cam had a blast toting around the letters and Cam’s favorite pose is to stick out his tongue through the letter D. (It’s my fave too)
Here’s my take on it:

I used a cheap canvas from Joann’s, painted the background. I also cut some letters out on my Cricut to commemorate the occasion and used Mod Podge to glue everything on and seal it in.

I love it and think it turned out great. Cam’s daddy gets to see it tonite after work, so hopefully he’ll love the finished product too!

Happy Father’s Day to all you awesome dad’s out there and to my hubby, B, who keeps me sane and loves our dorky kid as much as I do!

Happy Father’s day

2011-06-19T10:22:00.001-05:00

This year for father’s day we used an idea found on twinkle toe’s blog. Haley and I hosted a play date where we took pictures of about 15 kids with the letters. It was crazy intense but also fun. I put the 5 final pictures (out of the 100 I took) in a floating frame I found at Target. Scott really liked it. His only complaint was that it was too big to take to work so I might have to make a second miniature one later.

Happy father’s day to an amazing dad, who has infinite patience and love for Asher and me. I love you.

Easy lounge pants: tutorial with pattern

2011-06-16T07:33:00.000-05:00

During kid’s clothing week I made a couple pairs of these pants. Asher has been sick so it took a while to get decent pictures and I wanted to make up a pattern and tutorial for you. Check out this cutie.

I made this simple pattern because potty training coming up soon (eek) I wanted to have plenty of pants that my son could easily take on and off himself. My boy is 2 and a half but he is big for his age so I bet this would probably be a 3T size
All you need is an old T-shirt. You can find them really cheap (like 50 cents at a good thrift store)
Print and piece together the pdf pattern. Download it here. (if this link doesn’t work let me know. I can e-mail you a copy)
To save a little sewing time I used the hem of T-Shirt as the hem of the pants. If you don’t you might need to add a little length for a hem (or just don’t hem them) I also cut the pattern with the T-Shirt inside out so that I can’t just go straight to machine with the right sides together.

Pin and sew the two crotch edges together I used my serger with a four thread serger but you could also use a 1/4 in seam allowance and then do a zigzag on the edge.

Fold your pants so the crotch seams meet. Pin and sew up one leg and down the other.

Fold down the waistband an inch and sew a elastic casing. Be sure to leave an opening to feed your elastic through.

feed the elastic through the casing. Safety pin the elastic and then try it on. Adjust as necessary.

Sew your elastic together and then finish sewing the casing.

That’s it. You are finished! you can do them plain but I’ve had fun with some graphic T-Shirts.

I can get a few pairs of these done during a nap. The are quick and simple and comfortable.

These pants seem so comfy that I’m thinking of making myself a pair. I’m going to need a really big T-shirt

If you make your own we would love to see it. Please add it to our flickr group

Swiper, No Swiping!

2011-06-09T18:07:00.001-05:00

One morning last week Asher woke me up by swiping my sleep. As he ran out of my bedroom yelling “You’ll never find your own sleep now. Ha, Ha, Ha,” I knew exactly what what I wanted to make that day. Unfortunately I left it at my sister’s house so this is the only picture I have of it. Asher didn’t really like the mask part of it and kept using the eyeholes as handles to pull it over his face. Version 2 might be missing the mask part or I’ll need to figure a different way to reinforce it. But for a 30 minute project before a play date I think it’s a start.

Thanks to Cindy of Weasel Bee Studios. Without you I would have no pictures of this project at all.

Octopus Sweatshirt

2011-06-01T14:59:00.001-05:00

When I first started doing freezer paper stencils, before I had my Silhouette SD, I cut out this awesome Octopus stencil. It too forever to cut out by hand so I knew I wanted to use it on something I would wear frequently. When I saw this big comfy hoodie in a color I wear all the time I knew it was time (after a year) to use it.

I decided to go with a slightly darker shade of teal for the paint so the design is subtle.

I love it. If only it wasn’t 100 degrees outside, I’d be wearing it now.

New kitchen chairs

2011-05-27T19:01:00.001-05:00

I’ve been meaning to do this forever. Ever since Asher started to eat solid food our chairs have gotten grosser and grosser. My delay has been because I couldn’t find fabric I liked enough. Most of the upholstery fabric was either with dull colors or it was bright colors with a little too much white in the background, a color I clearly should avoid. Today I decided that I was going to get something even if it was temporary just to cover of those awful stains.

After going to several upholstery stores I finally found something I liked at Joann’s. It is actually from the outdoor canvas section. I am hoping that it will easier to clean up. It claims to be mildew and stain resistant but it hasn’t met my 2 year old yet.

I didn’t even realize that some of the leaves in the fabric are the same shape as the leaves in the chair’s iron work.

That before chair is so disgusting. I can’t believe I am showing it off.

This only took an hour to do and I am so pleased with the results. Maybe it won’t be so temporary after all.

KCWC Day 1

2011-05-09T16:49:00.001-05:00

It’s Kids Clothing week again and I am grateful for the challenge. Back in February I had to order a new bobbin case for my machine. It was back ordered (or possibly forgotten about) and took over a month and a half to get. Then another week passed getting the machine tuned up. So I haven’t sewn anything in 2 months. Since I got the machine back I’ve been avoiding it feeling no motivation to go in the craft room I’m hoping the challenge will get me out of my sewing funk.

Day one’s project is the 4-in-1 Reversible Bucket hat from Sew Much Ado.

The orange dinosaur was from a Melissa and Doug stamp set. I just used it with some fabric paint before I started sewing. I also used a stiffer fabric and no interfacing.

Hopefully this hat will fit for more than a week. It’s a little snug but I neglected to measure Ash’s head before I cut it out, he was asleep.

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T12:58:00.001-05:00

This year we experimented with Rubber bands, Stickers and Rubber cement.

We had so much fun with it we kept boiling more eggs so we could keep trying different combinations

Happy Easter

Baby shower invitations

2011-04-16T13:36:00.001-05:00

My mom is hosting a baby shower for a family friend and she asked me to find an inexpensive printer for the invitations. I knew all along that she was secretly hoping I would make her something, which of course I did.

I came across the idea on the Pleated Poppy she got it from another blog but I really liked her variation.

Crochet Hook Roll-Up

2011-04-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

My mom has taken up crochet. She’s adorable and carries a huge bag of yarn and needles with her everywhere she goes. When this bag came into my house, I took one look and my inner-organizer about had a heart attack. There were crochet hooks everywhere, strewn about in this cavernous bag. So I had to take action….enter the Crochet Hook Roll-Up!

Lucky for me, while perusing One Pretty Thing, I happened upon this tutorial from Fairy Face Designs. Perfect! I followed the tute pretty closely, so no need to go step-by-step here.

The only major addition to my roll was the flap. Having a flap will keep the hooks from inevitably sliding out of the pouch and back into the briny deep that is my mom’s crochet bag. No more mess!

Instead of making the hook pocket solid, I left out the middle section so that the hook sizes show in the “window”. I patted myself on the back for that bit of cleverness ;)

I loved the applique in the tutorial, so I did the same thing by cutting out a couple flowers from the print fabric and simply zig-zagging them on. One big flower shows when the pouch is rolled up, and there are two smaller flowers on the flap.

I did some stippling on the side pieces, just like the tute, which attaches the batting layer to the outside layer.

Instead of binding it with bias tape, I simply stitched it right-sides-together and turned it.

Doesn’t it look cute sticking out of that big ol’ bag? My mom loved it and has since crocheted me a collection of wash rags, which I love! It’s a win-win!

Cool Boy’s Knee Patches

2011-04-09T07:00:00.009-05:00

My 2-year old is hard on pants…big surprise there! So I did some blog searching and found an cool applique technique on Koala Brains and combined it with an idea from Make It Do. The final result is a Cookie-Cutter Reverse Applique Knee Patch! Awesome! And here’s how…

Dig out some cookie cutters in the shape(s) you want. My kid is big into guitars so these two cutters were perfect.

Lay the cutters over the knee holes…and then trace around them with a washable fabric pen.

Find a scrap of awesome fabric and cut squares slightly larger than the traced designs. The bigger the better so you don’t stitch off the side of the fabric, plus you’ll have more area to pin.

I added some light-weight fusible stabilizer to my patches. This will help keep the cotton patch from raveling so bad with each wash and gives the piece more body while you’re stitching.

Turn the pants inside-out, lay nice and flat, and place the patches, face down, over the spots. You might want to look underneath and make sure you are fully covering the design. Pin in just a few places, as you will be taking these pins out in just a bit.

Now turn the pants right-side out again and pin as much as you want. The pins underneath are there to hold the patch flat. When you’ve pinned enough, reach in and remove the underneath pins. *If you forget to do this, your sewing machine will hate you later…so don’t forget!!*

Ok, this is the trickiest part. Using your open arm machine (meaning, take off your tray if you have one), thread the pant leg on and start straight stitching around your pen line. You may have to start and stop many times, repositioning the pants, in order to get all the way around. Just remember to backstitch.

After straight stitching, I went back and did some funky zig-zagging to make it look messy and rock-star-ish… Same concept as before, just double check that you aren’t catching any other bit of pant in your stitching or you’ll have some ripping to do.

Here’s the front and back of the final product. Now it’s time to cut out the shapes!

Trim off the excess patch fabric. Don’t cut it too close to the stitching line, that way there is some ravel room. The interfacing should keep it from going too far, however.

Then trim out the denim on the front to reveal the patch. How cool is that!

So awesome! Cam loves them…he calls them his guitar pants.

Linked up at:

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss

2011-03-02T21:54:00.001-06:00

I found a Dr Seuss T-Shirt on the clearance rack at Target. The men’s clearance frequently has fun print shirts on sale. I knew the second I saw it that I would make it into some lounge pants.

I figured today would be a great day to show them off.

My shirt was also from the Target men’s section. I didn’t make the Hat. One of our friends threw a Dr Seuss Birthday party and made a Hat for the kids to get their picture taken in, It came out really cute. She made it from felt and even lined it with felt so it was stiff enough to stand up on its own.

Valentine’s from Cam

2011-02-21T07:00:00.000-06:00

Better late than never, right? Here are the Valentine’s Cam and I made for our friends this year.

We used this MADE tutorial and changed it up just a bit. We used plain ol’ construction paper and I used my Cricut to cut the hearts, so they were really accurate. (Boy, was that nice). Then Cam finger-painted the hearts and mommy wrote on them using plain ol’ magic markers.

I handstitched the hearts closed and, while it took awhile, it turned out so nice and gave it that extra handmade touch. I stitched them to a certain point, then filled them with candy and stitched them closed. Easy peasy!

These Valentine’s were not necessarily fancy but they were super simple and really cute, plus Cam got to help and I love projects like that!

Happy (late) Valentine’s from me and Cam!

Messy Argyle Tutorial

2011-02-18T23:32:00.001-06:00

This project is based on my friend’s wedding cake. I loved how the argyle was randomly scattered over one corner of the cake. Using similar colors I embellished a sweater vest I found at a thrift store for a dollar.

Start by cutting a few different sized squares out of a knit fabric. I choose knit because the edges will be unfinished and knit won’t ravel. Lay them out on your garment to find a configuration you like.

If you are layering your argyle then you are going to start by sewing the bottom most piece. I used the free motion foot on my sewing machine to sew around the edges of the square. I chose this foot because I wouldn’t have to turn it while sewing.

Don’t worry about the stitches being perfect. They aren’t supposed to be.

Using a very narrow zig-zag and a contrasting thread, sew an X across the square. Note that the Argyle in the picture is WRONG. The X on the argyle is supposed to be through the midpoints of the sides (I wasn’t thinking and went through my corners on the first square. Seemed like too much of a pain to rip so I just kept it) You could also make the X with the free motion foot. I have two machines so I just went back and forth between the two.

Place the next layer of squares, sew around the perimeter and make the X.

Just for fun, I decided to do one of the X’s in a bright contrasting orange. I really like the way it came out.

I think that little boys are so adorable in collared shirts.

You could use this process on a t-shirt or to embellish a plain jacket or even to patch up a pair of pants. It’s simple and cute and quick. I hope you give it a try.

By the way, I threw my friends a wedding brunch and made cloth napkins with the same technique.

I hope you are having as much fun as I am with CELEBRATE THE BOY. I’ll be adding this to their flickr group

My Heart Beets

2011-02-11T15:49:00.001-06:00

Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. This year Asher is going to a little party and there will be a valentine exchange. Instead of giving away chocolate he is going to be giving away one of his favorite snacks, beet cookies.

I found this recipe on Weelicious. When I make it I use the grating attachment on the food professor to grate the beets and then use the blade attachment to pulse the rest of the ingredients together. I also use powdered sugar instead of flour to roll it out (especially handy if you forget to add the sugar) It’s a great recipe to do with Asher because he loves pressing the buttons on the food processor and helping me roll out the dough.

For the Valentine, I used these three fonts: My Heart (2peas heart’s delight) Beets (Roughage) For you (Sketchy). These fonts are free. If you want to download them use the links. I printed it out on card stock.

Each valentine has a felt beet stitched on it. I just cut a lopsided heart shape out of a Burgundy felt and a leaf shape out of a green felt. As you can see no two are the same.

Using a wine colored thread and my free motion foot on my sewing machine I stitched the beets to the cardstock. I used a contrasting thread in this picture so you could see the stitches better. As well as stitching around the beet shape I also randomly stitched horizontal lines about 2/3s across to add more definition to the shape.

To finish off the package I filled a snack bag with a handful of the cookies and stapled the valentine to the top.

These cookies are great to make ahead. I assemble all the valentines and the stuck them in the freezer. They’ll be ready to go on Valentine’s day

Happy Valentine’s Day

Kimonos for Emma

2011-02-06T18:35:00.001-06:00

My Sister-in-law just had a baby. I am insanely jealous. There are so many adorable patterns for little girls.

This week I whipped up a couple of cute kimonos to send her.

The pattern is free from Habitual. You do have to email her but she was very quick to send me the pattern.

Both of the kimonos are the 6-12 month size. The pink one is the pattern as written. I added a little yellow strip of homemade bias tape on the gray one before sewing it together and I love the result

Overall I thought the pattern was really well written. The only part I was confused about was sewing the interior tie strip into the side seam. It seemed unclear to me how to sew this into the seam without having it show on the exterior. I managed to make it work but I’m sure there is a better method than sewing it into the seam allowance a couple of times and then cutting it a millimeter short of the actual seam. When I figure that out I will definitely make some more.

Welcome to the world Emma. I can’t wait to meet you!

Car Party Favors - Crayons

2011-01-30T18:02:00.002-06:00

Our inspiration for the crayons were based on this post by homemade by Jill. We had both seen it and knew regardless of the theme we would find some candy molds that would work. Since both our boys are in love with cars and motorcycles we found some molds at the all-in-one bakeshop.
There are several methods that we have seen for melting crayons. We ended up trying Jill’s tin can double boiler and also tried melting in the microwave. I would not recommend the microwave. It took a long time to melt it. In fact I think the plastic butter tub we were melting it in got soft faster than the crayons. Stick to the tin can method.
The first batch I made with similar colored crayons, mixing as I melted and I got very solid colored crayons out of it.

In the second batch I experimented. If you don’t mix the crayons as they are melting the resulting crayon looks marbleized.

Also as I would run out of one color of wax I would drip some drops over the empty molds then I would fill the mold with the next batch resulting in some splotchy unique looking crayons.

We thought these crayons were super cute. We didn’t think they could be described as delicious yet FIVE of our guests decided to eat them. Sadly THREE of them were adults.

Cam and Asher's Awesome Race Track Birthday Cake

2011-01-26T09:17:00.000-06:00

It's official!! We are both mothers of two-year-olds! Where did those 2 years go? And where did my sanity and clean house run off to? But seriously, we couldn't be more proud of our two little boys...and to show our pride (and craftiness) we designed and created the Best.Cake.EVER! It's definitely amateur work, but I think Wilton will be calling any day now to hire us on as decorators or, at minimum, creative consultants.

So without further ado....Cam and Asher's Awesome Race Track Birthday Cake

Here is how we made it. We started with 4 chocolate buttermilk cakes made in a sheet pan. The first two were placed side by side and covered with a homemade mixed berry jam then the other two cakes were layered on top. The edges were trimmed to make them even. Next we placed a sheet of parchment paper on top and roughly drew a figure 8 for the race track. the width of the road was about 3 inches. We cut out the track shape and placed it on top of the cake then used a knife to lightly carve an outline of the track onto the cake.

To make a bridge we made a vanilla box cake in a 9x13 pan. After it cooled we removed it from the pan and froze it. It is really easy to cut frozen cake with a serrated knife. We cut the cake into two 13 in strips the width of the road and stacked them with a layer of Nutella between them.
We carved this into a concave hill and placed it on the base cake with a layer of Nutella as the glue.

Using the trace marks as a guide we used a chocolate butter cream frosting died black to make the road. This frosting started out a medium gray but got much darker and was black by the time we got to the party.

Using a plain buttercream frosting that we died green we did a crumb coat of frosting on the rest of the base cake.

Then we piped in grass using a basket weave decorating tip.

We added black frosting to the tunnel and then did the rest of the bridge in a gray frosting which will be the mortar to the bricks.
Using the left over frozen cake from the bridge piece we made a winner’s podium and iced it in blue.

Using the basket weave tip we made the bricks on the bridge the red and white checks on the road as well as the checkered flag on the winner’s podium.

We also used a round tip to add place numbers to the podium.

Next came the cars! We used this cake pan to make the cars. Instead of frosting each car we just died the cake mix using Wilton food coloring.

We cut one of the cars in half and placed it so it looked like it was coming out of the tunnel.

Lastly we decorated the cars. Piping on windshields, head and taillights and bumpers. We used mini Oreos and Nilla wafers as tires. We also placed some stacks of oreos around the track.

Whadya think? The party was EPIC and there's more details we must show you, so keep a look out. The only downside is that now we're not sure how we will top it next year....but I'm sure we'll figure it out. ;)

Play Kitchen Challenge: 8 Months Later

2011-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Well….as you may have noticed, we’ve been really bad about posting Play Kitchen updates, but rest assured there has been major progress. The summer months were a wash…it was too dang hot to work in the garage. So, after our last post in May, we didn’t get too much accomplished until around September when the demon Texas sun gave us a much needed break.
Then, in October it started moving very quickly. Ruth had a goal of completing her kitchen by Asher’s 2nd Birthday in December. She kicked it into high gear.

Here’s a quick rundown of the last 8 months:

We routed window holes in the microwave and oven doors.

We chiseled out mortises for the hinges, by hand.

We cut plexi-glass windows for the microwave and oven doors.

We did a dry fit with the doors in place and then fine tuned the door fit. Quarters were used for spacing.

We plugged pocket holes.

Then came hours and hours and days and days of endless sanding. We also cut the floor piece and back piece somewhere in there, but no pictures were taken of any of this cause it was….well….boring!

After the epic and arduous sanding event, we primed.

One of the coolest details, I think, is the magnetic fridge door. The magnetic primer is apparently toxic if inhaled…something about heavy metals…which explains the crazy headgear. Best part is that you can paint over it, and it’s still magnetic. Sweet!

Ok, you’ve been caught up to a point. Ruth has a 99% finished product, but it requires it’s own post…cause it is super awesome! Prepare to be wowed!

My Mom’s Apron

2011-01-04T07:00:00.003-06:00

For weeks I had been wracking my brain for crafty ideas for my mom. I love making things for her, but often my plans are too huge for the small amount of time I have and never come to fruition. This year was no different. A few days before Christmas, Kelly at Sewing in No Man’s Land did a quick post about aprons. She posted some cute pictures from Anthropologie (I had no idea they even sold aprons) and as soon as I saw them I knew what I was making for my mom.

I drew up a quick design using elements from various apron styles and headed out to the fabric store.

For the first time ever, I bought fabric at Ikea…needless to say, I’m hooked! The print is so beautiful and the weight is exactly what I was looking for. Joann’s had a lovely linen-look fabric in a deep rich purple. There isn’t even any purple in the print, but the two looked great together so I went with it.

My favorite part of the project was the 4” circle-cut ruffle at the hem. Using a Christmas platter, I drew a circle on the fabric and then measured out 4”, drawing another circle.

The platter must be large enough so that the ruffle length you desire fits around the platter. I used a rolled hem on the serger for the hem on this, but any hem method could be used.

As a dividing line between the purple and print, I sewed a faux-piping between them. It isn’t piping at all, but a 1 1/4” strip of cream polished cotton folded in half and creased to make a 5/8” strip. The entire apron was stitched with 1/2” seams so the piping stuck out 1/8” and really makes the colors pop.

I added a few small gathers at the center waist and two rounded pockets, which really added to the vintage-y look.

The waist straps are extra long so they can be wrapped around the front and tied in a bow. I think it looks adorable on my mom! She is such a great hostess and I’m sure this apron will get a lot of use.

Merry Christmas, Momma!

Fabric Roads

2010-12-30T14:47:00.002-06:00

I started making these for Asher’s cousin back in May but misplaced them when I moved. Luckily, I found them in time for Christmas. The idea was borrowed from Polly of Helping Little Hands. My addition to her idea was the traffic circle. After all, you never know when you might end up driving in England so you want to be prepared. Although I guess the arrows might be backwards for that. The arrows and stop symbols were painted on with fabric paint, as is the color coded parking lot, which I decided to make the evening before my trip and just didn’t have the time or the materials for a proper appliqué.
All of it was folded and placed into this little bag. I made a embroidered truck from some clipart on a scrap of corduroy and appliquéd it on a reusable gift bag.

Asher has a set too. He usually goes to bed with one of the road pieces and a couple of cars. hmmmm, that gives me an idea

Happy Birthday, Ruth!

2010-12-20T07:00:00.001-06:00

I know you haven’t seen much craftiness from me lately…trust me, the Christmas crafts are piled high, I just haven’t had time to blog about them.
However, I wanted to stop by and say Happy Birthday to my partner in crime, Ruth!

Hope you have a fantastic day, my friend.

And I promise, after the holiday I will have some fun things to show you. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Helmet-hat for Hanukah

2010-12-02T12:39:00.001-06:00

Okay it’s just a hat but Ash calls anything that you wear on your head a “Helmet-hat” including hooded sweatshirts and knitted baskets.

At first he wanted nothing do do with this had but then I appliquéd the little car on it and then he didn’t want to take it off. I guess details are important.

Instructions to make your own helmet hat from t-shirt scraps can be found on this post from Cheri of I am Momma

Happy Hanukah!

Toddler Time

2010-12-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

After I wrote up the Party bag post, I had a friend mention she would like to have a watch for her son. Conveniently, his birthday was just two weeks away so I made one. But I also made a time telling chart loosely based on this one made by Cheri from I am Momma Hear me Roar. Since I was going with a time theme for this gift I wanted to make my time chart round like a clock face. I found the Spontan magnet board at Ikea and knew that it was perfect.

Supplies

Spontan Magnet board
Pinstripe tape (about 3 bucks at AutoZone)
Shrinky-dinks
Magnet tape
Cardboard and fabric scraps
Eyelet
Button
Drill

The first thing you have to do is find the center of the circular board, so here is your mini-Geometry lesson for the day. The perpendicular bisector of any chord passes through the center of the circle. So a quick way to find the center is to use a ruler to draw a straight line across your circle and find the center of that line and mark it. Then line up your ruler so that it’s perpendicular and passing through your mark. Your ruler is now the diameter of the circle. Cut that distance in half and you’ve got the center. Be sure to mark this point.

In order to divide the board into 7 sectors either use a protractor and measure 51.4 degree angles from the center or print out a heptagon like this one and center it on your board and use it to place your lines with the pinstripe tape.

At the center of the circle, drill 2 small holes. Be sure to have some scrap wood behind it when you drill..

To make an arrow spinner I cut a piece of cardboard into the shape I wanted, cut a strip of magnet for the back and punched a hole in the cardboard. I made a fabric covering for the arrow and used a eyelet to reinforce the hole. I also freeze paper stenciled the word “Today” on the arrow then I sewed the arrow on the board through the 2 holes and a button that was larger than the eyelet.

I don’t have any fancy vinyl but I do have a sticker maker so I printed the days of the week onto some cardstock and ran them through. Then I adhered them to the board. If you don’t have either you could just mod podge them on.

Lastly, I made the activity magnets out of shrinky-dinks, gluing magnets to the back after they are shrunk.

That’s it. Hopefully this will help with those “when are we going to _______?” moments.

I finished it about 10 minutes before I had to leave for the party. Funny how my timing works out that way.

Happy birthday Annie!

before and after curtains

2010-11-29T13:07:00.001-06:00

When we first moved into our new house (back in June) Asher’s room came with 2 panels of fabric as curtains. Seriously the edges are just selvage. I bought the fabric and even made the first curtain for Asher’s room, but it took 5 months to make the second one.

Both of these fabric came from Ikea (I could tell from the selvage). The new curtains have black out material behind them but the room is still fairly bright for the midday nap. Closing them makes the lighting seem like that of a rainy day. I need to figure out what to do with the palladium window Shades are expensive to have custom fit.

Recycled Hoodie

2010-11-22T08:05:00.001-06:00

Last February the lil blue boo recycled t-shirt hoodie was featured on Celebrate the boy over at MADE. I thought it looked really cute but didn’t have much experience with sewing knits or a serger yet so I filed it away as something I might make someday. Well last week I finally took the plunge and bought the pattern. I am kicking myself for not getting it sooner. Ash fits the 2T size perfectly since the sizes start at 6 months I missed out on a year and a half of this awesome pattern. Luckily it will last for another 5 years. Expect to see some more of these.

Ashley’s pattern is really well written. Even if you lack the confidence like I did you can handle this. You don’t need a serger but I think it helps it look more professional. If you are nervous about working with knits this would be a great place to start. the hardest part is picking out your combinations.

If I ever have a little girl I will definitely pick up some of her girl patterns they look so cute and comfortable.

Knuffle Bunny

2010-11-14T19:01:00.002-06:00

When I say Emilie’s Knuffle bunny on So You Think You’re Crafty, I just fell in love. I couldn’t believe it didn’t win that week. I am really glad that she posted a pattern for it anyway.

It is super cute and the weight added to the paws and bottom make it look as limp and floppy as it looks in the book. It’s also the perfect size for cuddling.

But before you rush off to make this pattern I did find one big mistake with the pattern.
I noticed this mistake when I tried to sew my first arm and I noticed with the 1/2 inch seam allowance then there was no opening for turning. Sadly I had already cut out 3 bunnies before I noticed the error. Such is life.
The main color pieces are sized so that you have no seam allowance. This is really easy to remedy. Just cut these pieces with a 1/2 inch border around them and then follow the pattern as written. Cut out the contrasting colors (eyes, nose, paw pads, inner ear and tail) exactly as the pattern says.

After making Knuffle Bunny I went through Asher’s books and was surprised to find I didn’t have the book. I had a coupon for Barnes and Nobles so we took Knuffle and went to the store. It was a major compliment to me (and Emilie) when I plopped the book and Knuffle down on the counter and the check out guy said “Cool, I didn’t know we had the plushie” Sorry dude, this is a limited edition.

By the way Knuffle Bunny Free (the third book in the series) just came out. All three of them are great but “Free” make me tear up. So sweet.

Happy Bee Costume

2010-10-29T23:48:00.000-05:00

I kind of regret last years Halloween Costume. Not because it was lame but because it was so awesome and so adorable I can’t imagine how I could possibly improve it. But of course I had to try, and so I bring you…

I started by making an inner lining for the costume. I traced the outline of one of my son’s muscle shirts onto one of my old t-shirts. I did extend the length of the tank by about 6 inches to cover the butt. I also added an extra inch to the sides of the back piece below the waist to compensate for the diaper bulge.

Then I did a four thread serge along the sides and the shoulder seams.

For the outer shell you need to make a yellow and black striped fabric. I used a super soft fleece-like material that shed like crazy when I cut it. I made 4 inch wide strips and then used a four thread serge to sew them together. I also did a 3 thread serge around the edges of created fabric. When I was finished making the fabric, I was covered with just as much fuzz as it was. I though it would be a pain to clean up but I took it outside and gave it a real good shake and 95% of the fuzz blew away in the wind.
I love these stripes. I was almost sad to cut into it.

To cut the outer fabric I folded the inner shell in half and lined it up along a fold. I cut the neck, shoulder, and arm holes exactly the same. But then I cut a convex curve for the side lengths. Don’t forget that the neckline is different but otherwise cut the same piece a second time. Be mindful of the stripes. You want to line them up while cutting or they won’t match in the final costume. I also cut the bottom edge to be 3 inches longer than the inner shell.
Before it had a chance to shed again I did a serge around the arm and necklines of both pieces. Then I placed them right side to right side and did a 4 thread serge on both side seams and across the shoulder seam. If you need to, also serge the bottom.

With the inner shell right side out and the outer shell wrong side out place the inner piece inside and stretch pin and sew the bottom hems together

Turn the piece right-side out and put the lining inside. Cut a length of elastic based on your child’s waist. In the final costume it will actually rest mid thigh but the waist measurement should make it loose enough to walk around. Place the loop between the 2 layers and sew a casing using the excess 3 inches of outer fabric. I basically used the bottom black strip as the casing and managed to stitch in the ditch on both sides.

Add stuffing between the 2 layers to puff up the body then use some ribbing or stretch material to bind off the neck and arm holes. If you live in a cold climate you could add some black sleeves.

No bee would be complete with out a stinger. I took some black fabric and cut a circle the size of a small plate. you will only need a third of it.

Fold right side to right side and sew the two straight edges together. Turn it right-side-out and stuff then hand stitch it to the back of the costume. I had my son try on the costume so I could place the stinger in the right place.

To make the wings get some 14 gauge wire from the hardware store, electrical tape, a pair of knee highs and some black straps of fabric.
Bend the wire into the shape you want for the wings and wrap the center where the wire ends meet with electrical. Slip one knee high over each wing and tie them together. You may have to reposition the wire after the knee highs are in place.

I used some leftover fabric to hand stitch a loop of fabric around the joint. Then I cut a length of jersey material to loop behind the back, under both armpits and behind the neck. I tied a knot and then fed the shoulder straps through the loop on the wings.

For the Antennae I decided there was no way my kid wound keep on the regular headband variety so I picked up a black hat from Target for $1. For each antennae I folded a black and a yellow pipe cleaner in half and poked each end through the inside of the hat then I took the four ends and did a four strand braid. I hot glued a pom-pom on the end.

Add a pair of black leggings and watch as your baby bumble bee buzzes all around you.

If you make your own we would love to see it. Please add it to our flickr group

¡en español, por favor!

2010-10-28T23:38:00.001-05:00

Two of my best friends called me up last night with a last minute costume idea ¡Spanish Punctuation! This costume took less than 2 hours to pull together and is not only completely original but also interactive.

We used Freezer paper stencils to make exclamation points on 2 t-shirts. One of them needs to be up-side-down. Then we made some exclamatory Spanish phases in cartoon bubbles using printed paper adhered onto a foam board cut out. Whenever someone stands between them they get to hold one of the phrases.

¡absolutamente brillante!

Feeling inquisitive? Make the shirts with question marks.

The prettiest thing I’ve ever made for dinner

2010-10-25T21:17:00.001-05:00

My husband insisted that I share this. I made the Ratatouille tart from Smitten Kitchen. I had to increase the baking time about 15 minutes. The bottom just wouldn’t brown.

It was delicious.

Boo! Halloween Roundup

2010-10-23T15:56:00.000-05:00

I love Halloween! It’s among my favorite holidays…which all, incidentally, occur the last 3rd of the year. Here’s a quick roundup of my projects this month. I have more in mind, so keep watching.

Pumpkin King Tee

I’m quite proud of Cam’s annual Halloween T-shirt. I love the movie “Nightmare Before Christmas” and, while perusing google images for good jack-o-lantern faces, came across a great Jack Skellington image. I knew right away what the shirt would say, but the font needed to be right. Turns out fontspace has the EXACT font from the movie title. Score!

Happy Halloween Banner

My sewing closet is blessed with an abundance of extra black duck cloth…not sure why, but it makes for a perfect banner. A simple rod pocket at the top and easy serger edge finishing helped this appliqued banner come together very quickly. I printed out a simple font, traced and cut out the letters on candy corn fabric backed with heavy interfacing (fuse-a-shade) and wonder under. The candy corns are also super simple…cotton in 3 colors (cream, bright orange and light orange…I used a yellowish print), fuse-a-shade and wonder under. I stitched fabric strips together first, ironed on the 2 layers of backing and then drew and cut the candy corn shape.

The letters needed to “pop” off of the background a bit, so I satin stitched them in orange thread. In hindsight, yellow or white would have made the words stand out even more. But I love it anyway!

Matching Candy Corn Onesies

During my in-laws’ recent visit, I decided to whip up a couple of matching onesies for Cam and his cousin Kody, who lives in the same town as my in-laws. I whipped up 2 more cute appliqued candy corns, using the same process from the banner.

After stitching the candy corns down, I added a clever freezer paper stencil ;)

Are these cousins cute or WHAT?!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

Honey-Pecan Pancakes with Cinnamon-Honey Butter

2010-10-16T08:20:00.001-05:00

Doesn’t that title make your mouth water? It should, because these pancakes were sooooo good! Using my mom’s classic pancake recipe as a base, my hubby and I created these delicious flapjacks and yummy drizzle topping. My hubby ate 6 of them!

Honey-Pecan Pancakes w/Cinnamon Honey Butter

1 C. All Purpose Flour                      2 Tbsp. Honey
2 Tbsp. Whole Wheat Flour              2 Tbsp. Baking Powder
2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil                     1/4 tsp. Salt
1 C. Milk or Buttermilk                     1 Egg
2 Tbsp. Sugar                                   1/2 C. Pecan pieces

Mix all ingredients well. Ladle small amount onto hot griddle (if not nonstick, butter or grease surface). When edge begins to look dry, flip pancake carefully. Makes 12-14 small pancakes.

2 Tbsp. Margarine (we used Brummel & Brown) or Butter at room temp
2 Tbsp. Honey
Ground Cinnamon, to taste

Stir the butter or margarine and honey together until smooth (we used a small spoon but a small whisk would probably work). Add cinnamon until it tastes good to you. The butter or margarine MUST be soft but not melted, for best results. Our margarine comes in a tub and is spreadable right out of the fridge, and it worked really well for this.

Baseball Tees

2010-10-09T22:43:00.001-05:00

I bought the New Look 6932 pattern and made this series of T-shirts. The first one was, as usual, a mess up. I did these using a four thread Serger and didn’t think about seam allowance. I lined up the edge of the fabric with the blade which gave it a 1/4 in seam allowance instead of a 5/8 in. Basically it looks like a tent on Ash. But at lease it has a cute bus on it.

Then I used some of my old Threadless Tees to expand the 2T wardrobe. I love how I was able to get a body and sleeves and even reuse the collars.

Probably should have used an iron before I took this shot. Oh well.

Haley’s Kid’s Clothing Week Wrap-up

2010-10-06T07:00:00.007-05:00

Phew! This is really late…but better than never, right? Here’s my final tally for Elsie Marley’s KCWC. Cam’s gonna be so cute this fall!

Two long-sleeve baseball T’s, Two short-sleeve baseball T’s, Corduroy slacks, Collared short/long-sleeve shirt, Pirate PJ Pants

The baseball T’s were the only items on which I used a pattern, New Look 6932. The rest were made up with help from a current item in Cam’s closet acting as a pattern. I would have liked to do more, but I’m still happy with the output. It was so nice to be motivated…it should be KCWC once each month!

Party bags

2010-10-04T23:41:00.000-05:00

About a month ago my sister asked me to make party favor bags for her daughter’s birthday. She asked for small 20 minute gift bags with the recipient’s names on them. Excited to use my new embroidery machine I happily accepted. She never narrowed down a theme or color scheme for the party so I just went nuts and picked a different fabric for each kid.

I also made some hair clips with felt, floss and tiny buttons for the girls.

And watches that were a total copy of some that were featured at Made during Celebrate to Boy.

Happy birthday to my Niece. I hope that your 4th year is amazing.

Ruth’s Kid’s Clothing Week Wrap-up

2010-10-01T09:34:00.001-05:00

I know this is almost a week belated but after all the sewing I needed a break. I got so into this challenge my poor husband barely saw me all week. I definitely spent more than an hour each day. I can not believe how much I was able to sew for Ash in a single week. Look how beautiful it all is

Here is the Final Tally: 1 pair of shorts, 2 pairs of PJ bottoms (one was a failure), 4 ringer t-shirts using this tutorial (one was a failure), and 10 pairs of Underwear!

I worked on the underwear on Day 1, 6, and 7. The pattern is from That Darn Kat and can be found here. It was very well written. It also comes with a cute variation for girls panties. I had so much fun mixing and matching colors and got totally sentimental as I cut up some of Ash’s old PJs and my maternity clothes. They are so adorable and tiny and I want to just cuddle with them (before they get used of course)

The only problem with them is that Ash seems to have inherited my minority booty and the size 2 fit perfectly right now. I think we are still 6 months away from potty training so I’m a little worried these will never be used. That’s okay, they make pretty good hats too.

I really enjoyed all the sewing for Ash and I learned a few things too.

Never sew without Haley, she is my technique guru and I am convinced that all my failures happen when she isn’t around. Although I guess those mistakes are valuable cause I rarely make them twice
a simple pinch can adjust the neck without changing any other dimension.
Sewing elastic directly to the waistband instead of making a casing for it stretches it out. You need to compensate for that in you measurements or just settle for some saggy pants.

Big thanks to Meg at Elsie Marley. This was an inspiring challenge. I am really looking forwards to doing it again.

Now to make something for myself…

Time out for a Car Caddy

2010-09-29T17:17:00.003-05:00

I took a break from all the kids clothing to make a quick birthday present.

This time I did a freezer paper stencil with gold metallic paint to make the road stripes. It saved me a lot of time and I really like the look.

KCWC Day 5

2010-09-27T08:50:00.001-05:00

I made the pj’s that my son is modeling a while ago. They were one of the first projects that Haley and I worked on together. The top is one of Dana’s 90-min shirts (We were able to fiddle with the directions and get it down to 55 min but only if the kids weren’t bugging us.) As you can see they have gotten a little snug so for day five of the Kid’s Clothing week challenge I made a new set of bottoms and a matching ringer shirt for the top. I’m thinking about adding a stencil to the top but I also like that right now he could wear it as a normal shirt too.

I also made this pair of flannel pants using a store bought pattern. I really don’t like the fit of them, I think they were made for a non- diapered butt. On top of the poor fit, the elastic casing fell apart in the wash so I’m counting this as a fail.

KCWC: Days 4, 5 & 7

2010-09-27T08:30:00.011-05:00

Most of Day 4, for me, was spent finishing up the corduroy pants and then starting a new project, yet another upcycle from daddy’s closet. A collared short/long sleeve shirt. Combining daddy’s collared short sleeve shirt and an old long-underwear top of mine, I created a nice winter shirt for Cam.

The long-sleeve under short sleeve looks pretty cool and the collar kinda dresses it up a bit. I reused the collar (seamed it up the center back), and the pocket. Both sets of sleeves are cut directly from the original sleeve, keeping the hem, as is the bottom hem. Soooo much less work! The button placket was the most challenging, but came out great.

I finished the shirt on Day 5, and then took a day of rest on Day 6. :)

On Day 7, I then threw together a quick pair of Pirate PJ Pants. Using a pair of my old sweats, I whacked out a simple pant, keeping the hem and side seam (Seriously, I LOVE being able to skip steps, but not sacrifice quality).

I appliqued some treasure map X’s on the knees and a Jolly Roger on the "booty", out of rib knit which makes a surprisingly great applique. I then added a rib-knit waistband and threaded elastic through. I still have enough old pant left to make another pair someday.Yar, it's a fine pair of trousers, me hearty!

KCWC Day 3 & 4

2010-09-23T23:10:00.001-05:00

Day Three was a major fail for me. I used a tutorial from crafterhours to make a ringer shirt. The tutorial is great, this pattern failed because of my inexperience in pattern making. I made a pattern on a t-shirt I already owned and then cut it out one of my husband’s old shirts. It wasn’t until after I finished the shirt that I was able to see my giant mistake. The size of the neck hole could fit around my waist. When I tried it on Ash I laughed as he looked like an eighties dancer with this shirt hanging off his shoulders

Lucky for me my partner in crime has substantially more experience than me and was able to show me exactly how to adjust the pattern to take in the neck. I thought I should lengthen the shoulder seam to decrease the neck line but Haley showed me how a simple pinch at the neckline can decrease the size of the hole with out changing any other dimension.

So on day four I tried another ringer shirt and it came out so awesome and fast that I made a second one immediately after.

I had no idea there was a second star shirt but when I dressed one of my men the other decided to match

KCWC: Day 3 “What was mine, is now his”

2010-09-23T21:00:00.000-05:00

Literally! Kids truly take all you have (and we give it to them freely and happily), but this time he’s taken the pants right off my, uh, legs.

These were actually some corduroy pants I’ve had in the sewing room closet for quite some time, waiting to be repurposed. This was the perfect opportunity. I tried to use nearly every original part. The waistband, along with belt loops and button, are reused. The zipper, fly facing and back pockets are reused. The only part that didn’t work was the front pockets facing and lining…I tried sooo hard to use the originals, but the curve was too different and I couldn’t make it fit. I’m soooo proud of these pants. I even made a pattern in the process so I’ll be able to make more. YAY!

I am loving KCWC!

KCWC: Days 1 & 2 (The Haley Edition)

2010-09-21T22:53:00.001-05:00

It was a successful two days for yours truly. Four upcycled shirts complete! Cam’s daddy was nice enough to sacrifice some shirts for a good cause.

Tomorrow…Cam gets pants.

KCWC Day 2

2010-09-21T20:29:00.001-05:00

I decided to try and make a tag for today's Kid’s Clothing Week Challenge Item. I made this with some scrap fabric and a fabric marker. We’ll see if it holds up in the wash.

Maybe I’ll get some professionally printed. Any recommendations on where to get some made? I’m on a tight budget these days so I can’t spend too much.

KCWC Day 1

2010-09-21T12:54:00.001-05:00

This is from my first day of the Kid’s Clothing Week challenge.

Can you guess what this is?

The fabric came from My maternity shirt, one of my husband’s T-shirts and one of Ash’s newborn onesies.

Naked Baby gets a Diaper

2010-09-20T18:16:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine left this baby doll at my house after a play date. Ash fell in love with it and has been playing with “Naked Baby” a lot. The owner of Naked Baby told me that she had plenty of dolls and we could borrow it for a while. After I found my husband tying a spare scrap of cloth around him to make a diaper, I was a little inspired. How hard could it be to make a quick little baby diaper?

After a quick search online I printed out the doll diaper pattern from Skip to my Lou. Fifteen minutes later I had 2 cute flannel diapers. I had to adjust the Velcro placement a little but the cut work perfectly.
I have a feeling when Naked Baby is finally returned it’ll have a full wardrobe in tow.

(Haley pointed out that fabric looks upside-down from the front but that wasn’t a mistake The graphic is right-side-up on the butt.)

Kids Clothes Week!

2010-09-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

Ruth and I are participating in this! Can't wait to make the boys some fall clothes. We'll post a wrap-up of our week, when complete. I'd like to get a Halloween costume done, but that might be wishful thinking.

You should join us!

Orange you glad it’s not red anymore?

2010-09-17T12:31:00.000-05:00

I love red and as such I’ve painted two walls in my house deep, rich red. One of them was in my sewing room. Due to lack of good lighting in that room, the red wall really darkened the space. I was going blind trying to see what I was ironing! So I decided to go all crazy bright and liven things up a bit.

Here’s what it looked like before*….

*yeah yeah yeah, just ignore the fact that I took the “before” picture after I already started priming.

and After! Spicy spicy!

The paint is Valspar from Lowe’s, color Carrot Cake in eggshell finish. Love it! Now to rearrange the sewing room and get back to crafting…

Happy Play Doh Day

2010-09-15T18:11:00.003-05:00

Did you know there is a national holiday for Play Doh? September 16th. Seems like a great excuse to make a giant batch and invite some friends over. Luckily, my friend Julie gave me her recipe just the other day. I love the texture. All the homemade Play Doh I’ve used in the past has been really grainy but this recipe gave super soft dough without the Play Doh scent. I also have a 12 pack of Wilton food coloring so I kept making it until I ran out of colors.
Want to make your own?
Homemade Play Doh

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup Salt
2 tsp Cream of Tartar
2 Tbs Vegetable oil
1 cup of water dyed with food coloring

Mix everything together in a Non-stick pot (Seriously use non stick. Trust me) Stir over medium heat. It will look really soupy when you start but then suddenly it will come together. When it clumps into a ball dump it onto a cutting board to cool.

Ash’s attention is only a few minutes but I could play with this stuff for hours. Have fun!!!

Linking to:

T-shirt to Tank Tutorial

2010-09-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a T-shirt that’s as tall as it is wide? I’m not exactly sure who fits into shirts like that, but they hang like a gunny sack on me. I love my mom’s group shirt, but it has never fit me right, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I turned it into a tank! And here’s how…

Supplies:

T-shirt that doesn’t fit right
Tank top that DOES fit right, to use as a pattern
Contrast ribbed knit and thread to match
Scissors, rotary cutter and mat (if you have one), sewing machine, serger (not necessary)

Before you cut into your T-shirt put it on and note how it fits at the bottom hem. If you like how the width is then you can just go to the next step. Otherwise, pinch off the amount that you want to tighten it and pin at the pinch. Measure the distance from the pin to the fold (side seam) and divide that number by 2. Record this number as the “discard width.”

Lay your T-shirt out on a flat surface that you don’t mind cutting on. Make sure it’s laying completely even, with the design centered, etc. Go ahead and cut the side seams open, as well. This will allow the shirt to lay as flat as possible. Lay the tank on top of the t-shirt, lining up the shoulder seams and centering the tank over the t-shirt evenly.

Cut the armholes first. There will be no seam taken, so wherever you cut will be the actual finished edge (bound in ribbing, of course). I cut 1/2” bigger than my tank, to allow for the lack of stretch in the t-shirt. 1/2” is an arbitrary number and can be changed to fit your situation.

IMPORTANT STEP: Fitting the shirt. My tank had a nice hourglass shape, but my t-shirt was a box, so I used the shape of the tank as a guide. Determine how much smaller the t-shirt needs to be by using the discard width we found in the first step. More than likely, your t-shirt and tank hem widths (the area around your hips) are going to be pretty close to each other, but the waist and bust areas on the t-shirt are going to be tons bigger.

So, with the tank still laying centered on the t-shirt, measure the distance from the edge of the tank hem to the edge of the t-shirt hem. This number, “excess width,” should be the same on both sides. Subtract the discard width from the excess width to get the gauge width.

Set your seam gauge to the gauge width and cut this width all the way up the side, with the gauge against the edge of the tank, following the contour of the tank. If you were happy with the t-shirt hem width originally then set your gauge to the excess width and use it to cut your side (this will just shape the t-shirt without taking any additional width away).

The last bit of cutting is the neckline. The back neck is pretty straight forward. But the front neckline on my tank was pretty low, so I opted to raise it a bit. To get an idea of the shape, simply push some pins through both shirts following the tank neckline. Then peel back the tank and, using some sort of marking utensil, make a mark where each pin enters the t-shirt.

After the line is drawn, use the shape as a guide to draw your ideal neckline, or if the neckline is perfect, cut along the line.

Great! The cutting is done! Stitch up your side seams using a 4 thread serge or if you don’t have a serger use a straight stitch 1/4” seam allowance and then zig zag the seam allowance. Now, TRY IT ON! Make sure it’s fitting like you want. If not, make minor adjustments by taking up more side seam until it fits perfectly.

Next, break out your rotary cutter and mat (or a gauge and scissors) and cut 1 1/2” strips of contrast ribbing. The amount you need depends on the size of the neck and armholes, so cut as long a strip as you can so you don’t have to piece anything.

If you have a serger, serge one long edge of your ribbing pieces. This is just to bulk up the raw edge, and is not necessary since knit does not unravel. But it does keep it from stretching all crazy while you’re trying to topstitch it in place.

Pin the unserged edge of the ribbing to the tank neck or arm hole, right sides together, starting with the end of the strip at the under arm seam or center back neck (you will seam the ends together here, so they will be hidden). Stretch the ribbing just a little bit as you pin so it doesn’t ripple when finished.

Start stitching, using a 1/2” seam allowance, at the under arm seam or center back neck, BUT start and stop about an inch from the seam or center back, so you have a bit of room to sew the two ends together.

Take the shirt out of the sewing machine and line up the spot, where the ribbing will be seamed, with the under arm seam or center back neck. Place a pin where you want the seam to be and stitch those two ends together.

With the ribbing ends stitched together, open out the seam allowance and stitch the remaining bit onto the shirt.

Now you have a band of ribbing stitched all the way around the hole. To remove excess fabric that will be contained within the binding, grade the seam allowance by trimming the ribbing layer a bit shorter than the shirt. This gets rid of bulk inside.

Head over to the ironing board. With the right side of the t-shirt out, press the ribbing over the seam allowance along the stitching line. Then, turn the shirt over so the wrong side is out and press 1/2” of ribbing over to the back side. The serged edge should line up with your stitching line.

The final step is to topstitch your ribbing in place! Pin the ribbing in place and then stitch, from the right side, a scant 1/8” from the inside ribbing edge, making sure to check underneath that you are catching the ribbing beneath.

If you ironed and pinned precisely, you should catch it all. However, if you’re like me and just eyeballed it, throwing all caution to the wind, then you may have missed a spot or two. Easy fix, just rip out a bit around the spot you missed and resew (be sure to backstitch a few stitches at either end).

Ta-Da!

You now have a well-fitting tank top out of a shirt you probably never wore. Hooray!

Linking to:

My Mom’s Challah

2010-09-09T12:45:00.001-05:00

Leshana Tova! Happy Jewish New year. I wasn’t raised in a Jewish family but I did marry into one. We aren’t observant but we want to share some of the traditions and culture with our son. So far that has meant that we read a lot of Jewish themed books, have Seder with the family and never pass up an excuse to bake a challah.

This recipe came from my mother. I remember watching with fascination as she would knead and braid these loaves. I sometimes got to punch the dough. She always made them in bulk but they never lasted more than a day. My siblings and I barely gave them a chance to cool before we would tear into them.

I still make the full recipe when I make these. I usually give one loaf away and with my husband’s help, we polish of the other just as quickly as I used to. If we can make some last till morning it also makes the best French toast.

Challah Bread makes 2 gigantic loaves

2 1/4 cups of warm water
2 packages of yeast (4 1/4 tsp)
1 Tbs Sugar
7 to 8 cups of Flour
2 eggs
1 Tbs Salt
1 Stick butter melted
1/2 cup Honey

In a large bowl combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Let it sit for a couple minutes until there is a foam on top of the water. Stir in 2 cups of flour and let it sit for a 1/2 hour. Stir in the eggs, butter, salt, and honey. Add the flour 1 cup at a time until you have a soft dough. Knead it. Let it rise until doubled in size. Punch the dough and let it rest for a couple of minutes. Then make ropes and braid it. My mom always did a 3 or 4 strand braid but I like to do a six strand braid. Let it rise another half an hour and then bake it at 350 degrees for 40 – 50 minutes. Brush the top with an egg wash (1 egg with 1Tbs sugar) to get a really beautiful shine to your crust.

Traditionally, for Rosh Hashanah your challah is supposed to be round. I forgot that on my first loaf so the second braid got reshaped in a pie pan. Last time I did a round challah I made one really long rope and coiled it up like a snail shell. Either way you will love the flavor and scent of this bread.

I hope everyone has a sweet new year.

Reusable shopping bags

2010-09-08T14:13:00.000-05:00

I’ve been a big fan of reusable bags for years. I always remember to take them in when I go to the grocery store but forget when I’m going to get just a few small items at the drug store, target, joanns and so on. I made some small foldable bags that are the same size as my wallet. I can throw one or two into my bag and be prepared the next time I run errands.

Supplies

Reusable bag fabric (I found the zebra and cherries in the utility section of Joanns) or a couple of extra large awkward bags you don’t mind cutting up
Velcro
1 inch Bias tape folded and ironed in half

Cut your Fabric into the following pieces: Main bag – Two 18X15 in rectangles, Pocket – 12X7.5 in rectangle, Straps – two 3X16 inch rectangles
Make the straps by folding each long edge in 1/2 an inch and then fold it in half. Iron flat on a low setting through a cheese cloth then sew the edge closed. You can use a decorative stitch if you want. I’ve been playing with my new machine’s stitches.
Take the main bag pieces and fold one of the shorter edges over 1.5 inches twice. Press with the cheese cloth. Pin your straps in place so that the strap is perpendicular to the fold and is 4 inches from the edge as show. Be sure to line up the open ends of the strap with the bottom of the fold on the main bag.

Sew this in place by sewing about a 1/4 inch in from both edges of the fold.
To make the pocket which is also the exterior of the bag when folded, start with a 12x7.5 inch rectangle. Mark 4 inches along the longer edge. Fold it in half lengthwise and then cut an arc off the 4 inches. When you open it up you should have a semicircle on the top third of it. Then sew your bias tape around the edges. I did it in 2 pieces, along the short straight side first and then along the curved side. Next pin your Velcro in place. Cut an inch long strip of Velcro and place the fuzzy loop piece on the right side of your pocket piece centered 2 inches from the straight edge. The hook piece is placed on the wrong side of the fabric in the centered at the top of the Arc. Sew both pieces in place. Place the pocket on one of the main bag pieces so that in is centered with respect to the sides of the bag and the tip of the pocket arc is about a 1/4 inch from the bottom of the bag. Pin in place. Leave the straight edge of the pocket open. Sew down one edge 8 inches (to the beginning of the curve) turn 90 degrees and sew to the other edge of the pocket, turn 90 degrees and sew back up to the top of the pocket. See the picture for guidance.

Line up the top of the 2 bag pieces and pin them together. Make sure the edges of the bag pieces line up. If they don’t give them a little trim to even them up. With a 1/4 inch seam allowance stitch around the sides and bottom of the bag. Then sandwich the bags raw edges with bias tape and sew it all together. Be sure that you catch all the layers.

Now the bag is finished but still needs to be folded. I used my iron and cheese cloth to press each crease so that it will be really easy to fold in the future.

Step 1: Flip the bag over so the pocket is face down		Step 2: Fold both edges in so they meet in the center of the bag
Step 3: Fold the top down, lining up the fold with the top of the pocket piece		Step 4: Fold the bottom up, lining up the fold with the bottom seam of the pocket
	Step 5: Fold in thirds and close with the Velcro.

I’ve made a few of these out of material I bought but my favorite so far was made out of two reusable bags that I already owned. If you are in the Austin Area I highly recommend Recycled Reads. They sell library books that are being withdrawn from circulation. It’s run by volunteers, so the hours are a bit irregular. I always check online before I go. The other bag was from baby earth. The are a local store that started as just an online business. I love the products they carry. Both were free but a weird size and extra long straps. I think they look better together than separate.
These might become stocking stuffers this year.

Shopping Cart Upcycle

2010-09-04T08:11:00.002-05:00

I wanted to get a cute shopping cart to go along with my whole Toy kitchen/market/felt food master plan. My sister has this adorable one from Plan toys but it was way out of my budget. Then I found one at Marshalls for $12 and even though it was pepto bismol pink I snatched it up because I knew I could fix it. And now it’s awesome!

Before I assembled it I Taped off the wheels and then used spray paint to prime and paint all the pink and white pieces. When I went to put it together I pulled out the screws and they were pink too, so they got a quick spray as well.

I could have kept the bag but it was pretty flimsy and was meant to be removable so it also had bright pink handles (nothing scissors couldn’t fix). Then I figured I could make it look like some of my reusable bags and I picked out some duck cloth and some bias tape and basically copied the cheap bag with a sturdier fabric. I also added more Velcro for stability. Then I did a freezer paper stencil on both sides of the basket: recycle symbol on one side and the phrase “it’s easy being green” on the other.

Ash loves it. He has been shopping for cars and books ever since I brought it out.

I’m a finalist!

2010-09-02T14:57:00.001-05:00

I’m so excited. I’m a finalist in the lil blue boo ugly knits contest. Please head over there and vote for your favorite.

Party Favor Preview

2010-09-01T16:26:00.001-05:00

My sister’s daughter is having a birthday this month and I was asked to help out with party favors. Here is a sneak preview of what I’m making for the girls.

Still not sure what to make for the 3 boys that are coming (ages 3 or 4). Any Ideas?

Making Bias Tape

2010-08-26T10:43:00.000-05:00

I found out about the Singer Bias tape maker on Prudent Baby and thought I must have one, but when I saw the cost and knew it was out of my budget. Later, while discussing with Haley how making bias tape seems like an impossibly tedious job, she surprised me by saying she had a bias tape maker that I could borrow. Fully expecting some complicated gadget I was really confused when she handed me this simple metal funnel. I think I asked “where is the rest of it?” and she said “well, you’ll need an iron.”
Overall, I found the Clover bias tape maker really easy to use and certainly more economical. All you have to do is feed your fabric strip through the large end of the funnel and then iron it as it comes out the other end. It was simple but a little slow. It probably took about 3 hours to make all that you see in the photo, though that time does include cutting and sewing the strips.
I think I would still like to try out Singer’s version. I’ve been very happy with so many of their other product (in fact, I just bought one of their sewing machines last week, more on that later) But for now I’ll take the slow road.

How to link to your blog

2010-08-25T08:43:00.001-05:00

Today at I am Momma, Cheri did a great post how to make your blog grow. I was surprised to hear that she had only started her blog in February. She has done a lot with her blog and has over 3000 subscribers. Dare I dream that big.

Anyway this post had some great tips. Some that I immediately implemented others that will take some practice. But I thought I might add a tip of my own.

Cheri points out that one way to gain attention is to leave thoughtful and sincere comments. That is a suggestion that I have heard before. I’ve been doing it a lot more now that Google reader allows you to go directly to the source. I often add a link back to my blog on these comment especially if I made something using someone else’s tutorial. To do that you have to know a little HTML or have a nerd for a husband. Once my husband gave me the code I saved it in a notepad doc and now whenever I need it I just Copy and Paste it into my comments.

Here is what you need to leave a link:

<a href="your website ">text to display</a>

Of course, you would replace the orange text with your information. For example the text I copy and paste is

<a href="http://hammerandthread.blogspot.com/ ">Hammer & Thread</a>

Or if I’m linking to a specific post I’d write:

I made that, check it out <a href="http://hammerandthread.blogspot.com/2010/08/ruffle-butt-onesies.html">here</a>

But it only displays: I made that, check it out here

So that’s my tip, how about some practice. Leave me a comment with a link to your blog. I promise to check it out and leave you some comment love too.

Easy Wallet Repair

2010-08-23T09:34:00.001-05:00

The other day I left my wallet at Joann’s. When I realized it a few hours later I called them and was told that it was in their safe. When I got there to pick it up the manager ask me a security question that only I would know. “What do you use as a zipper pull?”

I’ve had this wallet for a while. I found it at Kohls and it had just the right number of card holders and pockets. I was really mad when the strap for my zipper fell off. This is not the first wallet this has happened to and in the past I always just replaced it. This time I thought, wait, I’m crafty, I can fix this.

You know the small kind of measuring tape that comes in a little disk and has a button that retracts it. I used some of the guts of one to make our blog header and I had plenty of it left over. I cut off a six inch piece, folded it in half, fed it through the metal D-ring on the zipper, and stitched it in place. I love how simple and unique it is.

Custom Ipod Case

2010-08-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

Since the hubby and I are preparing for our annual camping trip in the Rocky Mountains, I haven’t been doing a lot of crafting in the past couple weeks. However, he’s been asking for a carry case for his Ipods and charging cord for awhile now…this was a perfect opportunity to get it done. Whadya think?

The case holds one large and one small Ipod as well as the charging cord. The flap keeps them from sliding out the top, when closed. I had all the materials laying around. The outside is black faux leather, the pocket is duck cloth and the lining and flap are cotton. I bound all the edges with bias tape. Simple, cheap and he loves it!

See you in 2 weeks! Colorado, here we come!!

Banana Blueberry muffins

2010-08-18T12:58:00.001-05:00

This weekend I made a batch of these and my husband declared them to be the best muffin I’ve ever made. Since they were my own creation I thought I would share them with you.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbs melted shortening.
3 large overripe bananas mashed
1 egg
1 cup blueberries

Combine the flour, baking soda and powder in a medium sized bowl. In a second medium sized bowl mix the sugar, shortening, egg and banana until uniform. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mold together until just moistened. Gently fold in the blueberries.
If you fill the muffin tins 2/3 of the way you can get a dozen muffins out of this recipe. But I like to fill them all the way up which gives me only 8 of them.
Bake them for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let me know if you give them a try. Next time I’m going to have to double it up. My husband and son couldn’t get enough of them.

Update: Haley gave these a try and noticed that the batter was pretty thick. It is a pretty thick batter. She added a 1/4 cup of milk (I would have thrown in another banana). They still came out great.

Thread Catcher Tutorial

2010-08-16T16:42:00.000-05:00

I really love my serger but it does have a small problem. The massive amount of shred and thread makes me a little crazy. So today I’m going to show you how I made my thread catcher

Supplies

Fat Quarter of fabric for the outside of the bag
Lining
Boning
Large Eyelets.
Screws or Hooks

Cut two squares from your main fabric of side length 13 and 5 inches. Cut a 12X13 inch rectangle from the lining fabric. Fold the large square with right sides together sew it into a tube. Fold the lining so that the 12 inch edges meet and sew another tube. Iron your seams flat.

Iron a 1/2 inch fold on a pair of opposite edges of the small square. Sew the folds down, and iron it in half so that the unfinished edges meet.

Turn the tube of the main fabric right side out and insert it inside the lining tube. The Liner tube is shorter so just line up the seams and one set of edges. Sandwich the smaller piece so that the raw edges line up with the raw edges of both tubes, centering it with the seam.

Pull your lining off the main fabric so that you have one long tube. Iron it flat. Then tuck the lining inside and line up the raw edges. About a 1/2 inch of the main color fabric will be inside the tube. Iron the fold at the opening.

Cut a length of boning a little longer than the circumference of the opening. This should be roughly 25 inches long. Make it into a hoop. I did this by siding the plastic about an inch out of the casing and then inserting that plastic length into the opposite edge of the casing. Place the boning hoop between the lining and outer fabric and slide it all the way up to the folded edge. Then sew the boning in place as shown.

Turn the bag inside out and slide the lining up to expose the wrong side of the main fabric. (If you don’t care about having raw edges in the interior don’t slide up the lining and you’ll cut a few step out of the process.) Center your seam and sew the opening closed.

I did the bottom corners the same way that I did in the 20-min gift bag tutorial – Fold the corner so that it is a triangle with the seam centered. Line up your ruler to be perpendicular to the seam and cut off a triangle with a height of 1.5 inches as shown.

Sew this closed and repeat for the other corner.

If you sewed your lining in the last section then skip down to the eyelets. Otherwise pull the lining up, tucking the main fabric out of the way. Center the seam and then sew the opening closed with a 1/4 in seam allowance. Fold the edge over a 1/4 inch twice and sew it down. Then fold your triangle corners again but this time don’t cut it. Push your main fabric back up into the corners. You can’t see it from the picture but my stitching for the triangles is also going through the main fabric. This will hold the lining in place.

To finish off your lining pull the corners towards each other and whip stitch in place.

Turn the bag right side out and admire the bottom, inside and out.

Lastly I added some large eyelets to the corners of the flaps. I used this to permanently mount to my table with screws. Alternately you could put hooks in the bottom of the table so and hang it from that.

My machines are currently on a table that has already been cycled through two of my friends. I’m probably the last owner so I didn’t mind that drilled some screws directly into it. I placed my serger at the edge of the table and now all the scraps just fall directly into the bag.

Ruffle Butt Onesies

2010-08-12T14:54:00.001-05:00

I’m going to a baby shower for a new baby girl. Since I started sewing all my friends had little boys so I jumped at the chance to make these.

When my husband walked in on me squealing with glee after finishing the first one he knew this is what I’d be making all the time if we’d had a little girl. I used this tutorial created by Char @ Crap I've Made. The directions were really easy to follow and the only modification I made was to add an extra ruffle on the green one. I think it made it look really full.

I also embellished the front of both of the onesies. I added a ruffle to the white one and a strawberry appliqué to the green one (the ruffles are a strawberry fabric) I even learned how to do some French knots fro the strawberry seeds. I know that I’ve learned to do them a dozen times but I always have to look it up. I’m really happy with how they turned out. Thanks, Char for the great tutorial!