Bandages made cute

I recently participated in a roller skating half marathon. I was one of 3 people that did it in Quads which makes me either crazy or awesome. I’ve done it twice before and never fallen but this time I fell on the first hill about 2 minutes into the race and got a nasty road rash on my elbow.
The rash was big enough that my largest band-aids were not going to work so I had to cover it with gauze and medical tape. It looked ugly and my one year old kept picking at it. So I made a little cover for it.
I basically cut a rectangle out of an old black ribbed tank top and stenciled a cute band-aid X on it. Then I sewed it into a tube. Easy, adorable and my son completely ignored it.


Here is my Before and After shot.

My Old Pants

Using the the slim slacks pattern from This Mama Makes Stuff and the flat front pocket tutorial from MADE to make my first pair of Pants for my son. I used one of my old pairs of Capri pants. That means the fly and button are on the wrong side but it also has a little stretch to the fabric which should make it more comfortable to run around in.

 

I didn’t use the old rear pockets. (I cut first read the pattern second… what a rookie mistake) The pinstripe material makes them look like major league baseball pants. Maybe I just thought that because I took him to the sports equipment store today.

I also made a cuff that will be easy to let down to get more time out of these. I’m glad I didn’t donate all my old work clothes. I see more of these in my future.

My new machine

Look what came in the post today. I’m so excited. I wasn’t expecting it until next week. I’ve got big plans  for this baby.

Okay lots to serge. I’ll be back with show and tell soon.

Storybook Envelopes

I wanted to make my tags and letter for the toy society special so made my own envelopes with pages of an old beat up copy of a Richard Scary’s Big book of ABC’s. I’ve been snagging well loved children’s books just for crafting with. This one I found at Recycled Reads. Books that the Library is retiring can be purchased for very little. Children’s books are just 50 cents. This book had pages falling out of it and really could handle the beating my son would give it but I really love Richard Scary’s drawings so I had to get it and find a way to use it.
So I made some Tags by zig-zaging them with my sewing machine onto a rectangle that was an inch larger in both dimentions. My tags were 2x3 so the rectangle I cut from the book was 3x4. I Centered the tag on the rectangle and whipped it through the machine. Super fast and really cute.
 
The Envelope was a little be trickier. I started with a full page torn from the book. I placed the letter (about 4x5) in the center of it. Then using my quilting ruler I measured and marked a 1/2 inch and an 1 1/4 inch from the edges of the letter on both sides.

Then I cut along the outer lines using my rotary blade

Then I folded the page around the letter. The bottom fold was a little more than 1/3 up the page and then the top was folded down just enough to fit the letter.

Next I cut rectangles out of each corner using the fold and the line as the guide.

I rounded the corners on the top and side flaps.

Then I folded the side flaps in and glued them to the bottom flap
 
I put the letter in and glued down the top flap.  I did put a sticker on the flap as well to make sure it stayed in place.
I hope the finder enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Earthday Packages

These went in the post today

Aren’t the packages cute. I ran short on green bags when I was at the market so I got one paper bag. I repurposed it to send my earth day shirts to my nieces and nephews. The tractor and the fruit were on the front of the bag and the cow package was made with the 2 side panels. It came out so cute and was so easy to make I’ll never buy envelopes again.
Inside the packages are some Earth Day T-shirts

And a earth hair clip for my nieces.

My First Drop

I made a cute giraffe for the toy society using this pattern

I dropped it off in front of Sprouts. I really hope it finds a good home.
I might have to make another one Asher kept grabbing it by the neck and running around.

Mystery Recipe

I recently came across an old notebook that I used in college. In it was the following list

• 2 cup flour
  
• 2 Tbs Sugar
  
• 1 Tbs  Baking Powder
  
• Salt
  
• 1/3 cup Shortening
  
• 1 cup Milk

There was no indication what this list was or any cooking directions, but clearly it made something. Why would I write measurements if it didn’t? The ingredients are cheap so I figured that I’d throw it all together bake it at 350 degrees until golden brown (generic baking directions) and see what it was. When I tasted the dough I knew exactly what it was. My Aunt Ruth used to make a delicious Strawberry shortcake. This was the light biscuity cake part. I was thrilled. My aunt passed away a couple of years ago and though my mom insisted that the recipe came out of some book we had I knew that Aunt Ruth never made recipes the way they were in the book. There was always some substitution usually to cut out some of the fat. Once I knew what it was I knew how to finish it off. Spread the dough in a greased pie pan, sprinkle some sugar on top and … bake it at 350 degrees until golden brown. To serve slice fresh strawberries and add a little sugar to them. let them sit and get juicy. The cake will soak up that juice and be so yummy.

Earth Day T-shirt Tutorial

Earth day is coming up and my son and I are ready. I made this shirt for him to wear on April 20th.

Supplies

• Blue Fabric for the earth’s water.
  
• 3 different green fabrics for the arrows (the back of the pattern should be slightly lighter than the front. Be sure you like both sides of the fabric because they will both show.)
  
• T-shirt
  
• Green and White fabric paint
  
• Paint brushes
  
• Freezer paper
  
• x-acto knife and cutting mat
  
• steam-a-seam
  
• iron
  
• Earth day templates
  
• fabric pen
  
• Fray check

Trace your preferred earth pattern onto the freezer paper. You are going to trace the circle outline but you will not cut it. Use the x-acto knife to cut out the shape of the continents. Iron the freezer paper to the right side of the blue fabric. Paint the continents. I did the land at the north and south poles in white and the rest in green. You could do all the continents in green if you prefer. You may have to do more than one coat.

When the paint is dry don’t lift the freezer paper off. We’ll need it for one more step.
Trace the arrow template using a fabric marker. Be sure to trace the part label back onto the wrong side of the fabric.
Roughly cut around each arrow piece as well as around the circle for the earth. Lay each piece on the steam-a-seam. You can fit all the pieces on just a bit more than half a sheet.
Cut each piece out with the steam-a-seam stuck to the back. You can take off the freezer paper after you cut out the circle.

Now all of your pieces are ready so heat up your iron and grab a cheese cloth or another t-shirt to iron thru.
Peel the back off of the ends of the arrow pieces (wrong side pieces.) Align all the Arrow pieces so that they form an equilateral triangle.When you place the Earth piece on top of them it should cover just a little of each arrow piece just like the photo. Once they are in position remove everything but the arrow ends and then iron them down.



Take the back off the earth piece and center it so that if covers just a little of each Arrow end.  Make sure that the earth is lined up the way that you want (right side up). Cover with the cheese cloth and iron. (you don’t want to iron directly over the stenciled paint. It could mess up your iron)





Then take off the back of the final arrow pieces. Be sure to line them up with the correct arrow end piece. Cover with the cheese cloth and iron again.






I finished this off by going around the edges with the fray check though if the edges were raggedy it would probably also look cool.
Please let me know if you make one. I’d love to see it.
This pattern is not for commercial use or monetary gain