Self-Binding Blanket

I swore I would never make a blanket like this again. I've made my fair share and none of them have turned out perfectly.  In fact, my mom made some the other day--I warned her not to, but she proceeded anyway & had to live with the frustration.  Perhaps it's because we make them with minky.  And minky is NOT fun to work with.

 The other day I dragged T to ThreadArt (perhaps for the 5th time in a two week period). She always grabs things--purses, lunch bags, buttons, etc & carries them around the store--my new friend there, Claudia, is so nice and patient with her (and with me because I always put her "toys" back in the wrong places).  This time, T immediately grabbed this hot pink piece of minky, plopped herself down on the ground & started saying, "blanket, blanket...[insert me trying to take it away] MY BLANKET!!!"  It was only $4 for the precut yard...what could I do?  Especially when they had this cute flannel to go with it!?

I pinned it like mad and it actually turned out nicely. Perhaps the pictures in the tutorial helped...or maybe I'm getting to be a better seamstress...or maybe both. It's still not perfect, but it's a vast improvement from my previous attempts two years ago.  

And she loves it. And that's all that matters. And yes, she has bed head.

Stylin' on Sunday

I made this back in January, and just shipped it off to a friends new baby this weekend. I love this Amy Butler stripe for the tie! I followed Crap's tutorial here.  I've seen a lot of these ties & I think her pattern is the best!

Photo Book

So...thanks to the quick USPS, this is already in Becky's hands. But, I had to post it anyway...photobooks may not be instant gratification, but they're still a project. And I love them.


And aren't our boys delicious!?

Girls like capes too.

It seems that every little girl wants to be just like her big brother. So capes for the boys and capes for the girls.   Two shipped off to DC & two that have made their comfortable home here.

 Teagan says she's a "Princess Superman" ... from her it sounds like "I pea-cess, me-man" but I interpreted it for you.

Obama!

I have a special bond with Kai's friend Gavin...perhaps it's because he loves Obama.  I really wanted to finish this next project before the kids and I ventured to DC...alas, I did not.  But can you imagine this picture with the boys in Obama capes?  Fantastic!  (No, they are not holding hands, just running)

Gavin lives in Virginia now, so he'll enjoy plenty of adventures to DC.  This will have to do for the next time he heads to The White House:
 

Flip it over?  He's Superman.  Loved the tutorial here.  

I used cotton fabric instead of felt & appliqued like normal.  And yes, as soon as I finished this one for Gav, I had to scurry off and make one for Kai.  But he wanted Batman instead of Obama.   The shame.

Fabric Key Chain

You saw my lanyard.  Well, I did make the keychain too...and I can find my keys so much easier now.  It took me maybe 15 minutes to follow this tutorial.

E.A.T.

Anyone watch Cougartown? My guilty pleasure--I love the show & I love Jules' house!  Sort of pathetic these days that I can't watch TV without noticing fabric, colors, furniture, etc.  Maybe it's a good thing, but Ryan *might* be a bit tired of me yelling, "PAUSE-PAUSE-PAUSE--look at how they framed those..."

Courtney Cox (Jules) has these adorable letters in her kitchen that spell E-A-T. Bright, colorful, and from Anthropology. For $14 each.  So I made my own.  For $1 each.  Different, cheaper, but they essentially do the same thing. Now, to decide if I can put them in the perfect spot, which is currently the home to our wall clock. Not sure I can give that up.


PS--This is just scrapbook paper mod podged on chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby.  Oh, and sorry to those of you who got a sneak peak of this in your google reader.  My secret's out.  I worked on this project over a week ago & accidently hit Publish when it was sitting in my drafts.  Not cool...I can't afford to make more than one post a day!  

A Matching T-shirt

I couldn't resist this little elephant. He's just too cute. You can learn more about applique here.


Packaged together with the Toddler Backpack and on its way to baby Max.

A Toddler Backpack

I made this adorable Toddler Backpack for a friends baby. It was super easy because there's no closure on the back--it's just a flap, which makes it manageable for toddler and baby hands.


Because she modeled it, she believes it belongs to her. Hmm...I may have to make a second. In pink.

I personalized it with an "M" for Max.

And yes, Teagan is wearing her completed Market Skirt. Luckily, I've convinced her it's a "princess dress." Otherwise, it wouldn't see the light of day (like all of the shorts, capris, pants and T-shirt in her dresser).

ID Badge Lanyard

On my to-do list of creativity is this fabric key chain. It's so cute and has made me think about all of the other strappy things you could make along those lines. My mind has been on teacher gifts lately, and I realized that a cute ID Badge Lanyard just might be perfect. Cute, huh?


I did mine a bit differently than The Idea Room's key chain--if you look at her tutorial, see where she folds over her fabric 1/4" and presses? I tend to steam my fingers when I do that (ouch).  So, I switched it up a bit.  Here's what you will need:

Two strips of coordinating fabric "cut to 1.5" x 40"
Two strips of interfacing 3/4" x 20"
One strip of 5/8" or 7/8" ribbon about 3-3.5" long
One rotating clip (I found these at JoAnns in a two pack)
Other clips will work, this is just what I had on hand. If you use different clips, make sure that the finished width of your strip will fit

Iron the interfacing onto the "wrong" side of one of your fabrics. Where one strip ends is where I start ironing the second strip. You can see that I didn't iron the interfacing perfectly straight. Just do your best. Then sew your two fabrics together with right sides together. I tend to sew with a seem allowance just bigger than 1/4", which works perfectly for my clip because I wanted its width to be a bit smaller than 1" finished. (Note: If you are really good at doing a 1/4" seam, you can start out with your strips at 1.25" instead of 1.5".)

Turn it right side out--I use a safety pin. Press it so it looks nice and clean and even and then top stitch down both sides to give it a finished look.

At this point, slip the hook onto your lanyard and line up the unfinished ends to overlap by about 1/4". You do not want it to be a perfect loop. Instead, there should be ONE twist (is it a half twist?) in the lanyard. When you have your fabrics connecting at the unfinished edges, one end will have fabric "A" face up and the other end will have fabric "B" face up (where my pin is up at the top in the picture). This will allow the lanyard to sit nicely when worn.

 Sew the 1/4" overlap with a zig zag. I did the zig zag stitch 2-3 times.

Now take your 3" of ribbon. You can seal the edges carefully with a lighter (or cut it with a woodburner, it's safer!). Position the buckle next to the zig zag seem. You are going to cover the seam with the ribbon.  Tuck both ends into the middle of the two pieces of the lanyard and pin (I pinned the top and bottom of the lanyard so the ribbon wouldn't slide). Sew the top and bottom of the ribbon--horizontal across the lanyard (make sure to back stitch so that it doesn't come apart).

 Voila!  A finished lanyard. The perfect accessory for your favorite teacher/accountant/social worker/nurse, etc.  When I was at school, people wore their dorm keys on these.  Does that still happen?  If so, maybe it's even a good graduation gift.  Oh, and trust me...mind mind is flying on all of the ways to accessorize these--ruffles, patchwork, etc.  So fun.  Good luck crafting!

More Clutches

Did I ever tell you I am compulsive? I did tell you I was going to disappear because I'd be making these, and I did. Plus I have 6 more with fabric and zippers picked out too. i LOVE them.

Covered Button Clips

I love teeny, tiny hair accessories for my teeny, tiny girl. I didn't follow a tutorial, but I found one here for you. If you do the small buttons like I did, it takes some fiddling to get the button covered with the snap clip attached. Don't give up and hot glue it (like I wanted to do--it might just be a choking hazard!). Just attach the button a little looser to the clip and have a little patience...it does work.

 Don't mind the banana on her chin. Bananas make my girl happy.

Jolly Roger

My foray into freezer paper crafting. I'm hooked. Oh, and I love skulls on baby boys. Hopefully his mom will too!

Gathered Clutch

The best project for using scraps. Ever. I love this clutch from Noodlehead. If I disappear over the next few weeks, it's because I'm making these. Lots of these. For birthday presents, and Christmas presents, and teacher gifts, and for anytime I need a quick little present for someone. It takes hardly any fabric at all, and though it requires a zipper, if I can do it, so can you...and in about an hour, too.


Hobby Lobby only carries 7" and 9" zippers. The pattern calls for an 8" zipper so I bought 7" zippers. On my first clutch, I cut the fabric to 8" instead of 9" so that it would fit the 7" zipper. Bad idea. As you can see in the picture below, my zipper end covers on the pink clutch don't show much. In fact, they were a pain. On my second clutch, I just made the zipper end covers longer (4.5" x 1.5") and let them take the place of the extra length of the zipper. That was a much easier process and looks so much nicer. Hopefully on number three, I'll be able to center the zipper too!

These are for Kai's preschool teachers who are graduating this year. Stuffed with a few little treats.

An Apron

I'm not a big apron wearer...but after getting all those pesky holes in my shirt, I'm trying to wear one when working in the kitchen. I liked this pattern online because it serves the purpose of simply covering my midsection. I've seen much cuter patterns, but this one is super simple and fast.  And that's always good for me.

Has anyone found a solution to the holes in the shirts? Are they from our zippers? Is it my button rubbing on the counter? I know I'm not alone in this problem.

A Butterfly Pillow

I feel like this was meant for Teagan's room.  Maybe not in felt though.  Something is telling me that I should probably use washable fabric in her room...

Steel Stamps

First, an apology to my friends to whom I said, "Let's steel stamp together!" I had to get these shipped for Mother's day & at least now I've gotten through the trial and error bit...I'm still up for an evening of steel stamping.

I saw this about inital necklaces & knew I had to try it. After MANY failed necklaces (those charms are CHEAP in all ways), this is the best I could come up with (shipped off to my SIL who had a new baby yesterday):


So, I decided to try these (I had grabbed them to experiment with). They say "Made with Love" on the front, but the back is solid. Hmm...

So much better. Sure, if your necklace flips, it doesn't look as nice, but 10 tags for $1.24 (50% off right now at HL), you really can't go wrong. And until I really decide to invest in good supplies at Beaducation, it will do.