Summer Bag. Just in Time!

I just felt like making a bag.

A bright, stripy, summery bag.
Though I don't really need another bag...

Perhaps I can use it for going to the park. Or the Zoo. Or the Libary...
Nope. Too small for the library.
How about a quick trip to the store! I could easily fit a can of Pringles in there.

See? There are so many uses for my lovely tote bag.


By the way. I got this cute idea off of Ayumills Pink Penguin Blog. If you haven't seen her blog before, you should. She makes some of the cutest stuff I've ever seen. And all of her patchwork is so perfectly straight.

The Couch Needed a Little Sprucing

The couch was looking and feeling a little blah. I had some throw pillows on there, but the colors
just didn't match and they were so very boring. So I whipped up these
little pillowcases for them!

So much better...

For Short People: Hemming Jeans

As a shorty, it can be tough finding jeans. And even when you find a pair you really like and wear all the time - you end up stepping all over the bottom of them until they are just a big jumble of ripped, shredded threads. Ugh. Ugly.

So, you just wear the same old favorite pair of jeans until there are big holes in the knees and the back pockets are falling off. Or even worse, you settle for jeans that look bad on you, but hey, they don't drag all over the floor, right?

In the past, I have tried hemming the pants myself like they are a pair of pj's. Let me tell you, it doesn't work. They just don't look the same. Jeans have a special kind of hem. I don't know exactly what it is, but they do. So, I gave up hemming jeans...

Until now that is!! My friend Sarah taught me this GENIUS trick for hemming jeans:

USE THE ORIGINAL HEM!

Now, why didn't I think of that? I have done this on 4 pairs of secondhand jeans now and I am so very happy with the results! I got them cheap and they are the right fit! You can't even tell I chopped them up and put them back together. Hooray! Now I can buy jeans no matter the length! And all I have to worry about when jean-shopping is that the butt looks good and my thighs look skinnier than they really are.

Here's a tutorial for you:

1. Trim your jeans to the length you want them.

(I used another pair of jeans as a guide)



2. On the piece you just cut off, trim the hem off (about 1/4-inch above the hem).



3. Pin the hem to the bottom of the jeans, right sides together, matching up the side seams.

(You may have to trim off a little to make it fit right, otherwise you might end up with a pucker)



4. Sew the hem piece to your jeans. Sew right along the fold in the original hem (as shown in photo).



5. Iron the hem flat making sure your seam is pressed down really well.






6. If you want to be fancy you can serge or zig zag stitch the seam so it doesn't fray. I'm not that fancy. So, I just topstitch the hem down (right over top the original yellow-ish thread) making sure I catch the seam inside. So far it had seemed to do the trick.

(use matching yellow-ish thread and you'll never even be able to tell that you sewed right on top!)



You're done! Now you can strut your stuff around and people will just think that you found jeans that naturally fit your short little legs!

Little do they know...

Happy Birthday Bunting

Somebody's FIRST BIRTHDAY is coming!!

That's right, I'm going to have a one year old in a few weeks. Even I can't believe it.
I wanted to make her a few things for her birthday, here's a special project I have completed:

The Birthday Banner!



I just have to say, I love it. It is already hanging up in the front room because I can't wait for her birthday to display it.

I'm thrilled about this project because every year on Brinkley's birthday, I can pull this out and remember my little baby girl. I think it will be fun to watch it age as she does.

Look at me, creating traditions.

Here is a closer shot:

It was fairly easy to make.

Here's some basic instructions:

You'll need:

• 5 patterned fabrics (1/8 to 1/4 yard of each will do. I used fat quarters - that way I had leftovers to use on other projects) You could also just use scraps you have hanging around.
• About 1 yard plain backing fabric
• 1 Package of coordinating bias tape
• Thread
  

Basic Instructions:

1. Cut out 14 circles of patterned front fabric (with the top cut off about 1 inch). And 14 circles of back fabric (I used plain brown fabric)
2. Pair up a front piece fabric (patterned) with a back piece fabric (plain) and place them right sides together.
3. Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, sew along the edge of the circles, leaving the top open.
4. Turn right side out and press flat with your iron.
5. Arrange them in the order you like.
6. Print off your letters on Iron-on Transfer paper and iron the letters onto the front side of your circles according to the Transfer Paper package instructions. (You can get Transfer Paper at Walmart or Target) Oh! and don't forget when you are printing out your letters - Print them BACKWARDS!
   
7. Arrange and pin your circles to your bias tape leaving enough spare tape at each end for tying (about 8-12 inches on each end). The raw edges at the top of your circles will be covered by the bias tape.
   
8. Sew the circles to the bias tape and you are done!
   
9. Hang it up and admire your work.
   

I'm sorry I don't have photos of the process. It didn't even cross my mind until it was finished.

Easy Dishtowel Apron

For Christmas my wonderful mom made me an awesome apron. When she told me how to do it, I was shocked - it is probably the easiest apron to make on the planet! (no hemming involved!) Even the sewing machine challenged could make this an not mess it up. Plus, it's CUTE! It will only take you a half hour to 45 minutes - tops.

All you need is:
A large dishtowel
Twill Tape or Bias Tape (my mom used twill tape, I used bias tape)
Coordinating Thread

1. You get a cute dishtowel that you love! I found this one on clearance at Target!

2. Fold in half lengthwise and cut off the top corners with a rounded edge.
3. Pin on your bias tape following the curve you cut. Leave enough on each end to tie it when you wear it (I used the whole package of tape). Also make sure that the neck hole fits over your head, but isn't too big that it sags. No one likes a saggy apron.

(If you're using twill tape, you'll need to fold the edge over (yes, on TOP of the apron, which seems weird, but do it anyway) about 1/2 inch and place the tape on top of your raw edge to cover it up. Then match up the edge of the twill tape to your fold and pin. This will make sure the inside of the apron looks as good as the outside!) Did that make ANY sense at all?

(Here is a close up of it pinned)

4. Sew from end to end on each side of the bias tape. (Sorry my picture is so dark, it doesn't show up very well).

If you're using twill tape, you will only need to sew the parts that actually touch the dishtowel! Bonus!

5. Put on your apron and start cooking! (I know this picture makes my body look weird. I don't know what I was doing to make my posture look so strange. It's like my Wonder Woman pose or something. And the reason my head is cut off is because my hair looked awful and I made my husband cut it off on purpose. Just in case you were wondering...)


ALSO... If you are a pocket person, you can embellish this apron all you want. I personally never use pockets in my apron, so I didn't care, but it would probably be a nice cutsie touch.

Patchwork Fabric Easter Basket

I somtimes suprise myself.
I did something totally ambitious last week. I thought to myself
"I want to make Brinkley an Easter Basket." and then... I did it! Amazing, huh?

I found this great tutorial on Pink Penguin for a really cute patchwork fabric basket. I adapted it a little to make it bigger (and I didn't even mess it up! Whew!)

Now I just need to figure out how to fill it so it looks cute. As of right now it's just storing empty Easter Eggs. Good thing Brinkley doesn't care how it looks, because it might end up looking the same on Easter morning as it does in the picture.

Kidlet - what a cute little name for a cute little bag!

Oh, great. Another little cutsie thing that I HAVE to have a million of!
They are called Kidlets! And I am in love.

I want to hang a bunch of them on Brinkley's wall to put her toys in! Won't that look adorable?
They were pretty easy too! They only take about an hour and a half to make
(the first time anyway, I'm sure the second time around will go much faster).

They are perfect for hanging on a doorknob; all the while looking cute and tidy.
Perfect for storing things that need to be put away, but you don't feel like walking all the way upstairs right now.
I used mine to stash library books that needed to be returned.

You can find the pattern here on JC Handmade
(the same lady who designed the Mama Chic Wrist Cuff. She's Awesome!).

It is a PDF pattern that you can just print out!
(The free pattern is on the right hand column under 'free J Casa Originals')

Mama Chic Wrist Cuffs

I have been waiting to write this post all week long because I am so excited about it!

I fell in love with these cute little Mama Chic Wrist Cuffs by JC Handmade! I don't even
remember how I found them, but I made one... and then I made six more because they were so
fun! And now I have one to match many outfits!

They are so fast and easy, PLUS they make you feel all cool and stylish when you wear them!
I am going to start a new trend, just you wait and see. You'll all want one and then you'll make
one (or seven) and pretty soon, they'll catch on! Everyone will be wearing them!

Heather Bailey Pincushion

I can't believe I claimed to be a girl who sews and I didn't even have a pincushion!

Well, that is no longer a problem because I finally made one. Yay!
I used this cute (and really easy) pattern by Heather Bailey.
(it's on her sidebar under 'Free Patterns' it's a pdf printout - I love that!)

Granted, mine is not nearly as cute as hers because she designs her own fabric and I used some
(fairly ugly and plain) scraps I had on hand. Maybe I'll get some cuter fabric one day
and make another. You can never have too many pincushions, right?

Here are some other pincushions that look fun:
Stickin' it to the pincushion by whipup.net
9-Square Pincushion by 100% Philistine made
Tiny Pincushion Tutorial by How About Orange
Offset Square Wrist Pincushion Tutorial by Planet June

Scalloped Blanket Tutorial

Wow! I'm flattered by all the nice comments! I got several requests to give instructions on how to make the scalloped blanket, so here you are!

Materials Needed:
1 ½ yards fabric (I used flannel)
1 ½ yards coordinating fabric (again, flannel)
1 ½ yards plain white flannel for inside lining (this gives the blanket the perfect thickness)
Coordinating thread
Scallop Template

1. Prewash fabric
2. Draw your scallop template on a piece or two of card stock (I used a sour cream lid to make mine). I just taped two pieces of card stock together, drew two scallops and a corner scallop and then cut it out. It looked like this:

(Sorry this is so fuzzy, I don't have a scanner, so I just drew the pictures and then took pictures of them. I know it's ghetto, but what do you do?)

3. Draw your scallops onto your plain lining fabric with a fabric pen. Mine ended up being 8 scallops by 9 scallops including the corner scallops. (I left a little extra fabric at the end so I could make a matching stuffed animal otherwise it would have been about 8x10 scallops). It also would be cute as a perfect square too - really, just do however many you want and can fit on your fabric!

4. Lay your fabric and coordinating fabric right sides together. Place your lining on top with your scallop drawing face up. Be sure to match up the sides carefully and smooth it out REALLY WELL. Pin it together.

5. Sew along the lines you drew leaving two scallops open to turn it right side out (I recommend leaving just two normal scallops open and NOT a corner scallop. I learned this the hard way).
6. Trim around your sewn scallops leaving about ¼ inch (if this makes you nervous, you could probably leave a larger raw edge, it just might be bunchier). Carefully clip the inside of each scallop to the point, leaving about 1/8 inch.

7. Turn it right side out, pushing each scallop out really well. Iron each scallop flat.
8. Slip stitch your open scallops shut. (I learned this the hard way too. I recommend re-drawing the scallop right on the blanket with a washable fabric pen so you have a line to follow. Otherwise your scallop might end up more triangle-y than round).

9. Top stitch all the way around the blanket at ¼ inch.

10. Now quilt the blanket by sewing straight lines from end to end. I just sewed it every two scallops, but you could do it every scallop if you’re feeling ambitious.

11. Voila! You have a beautiful scalloped blanket. Now snuggle up your baby in it and kiss her cheeks off!

Scalloped Blanket

I saw this fun and darling project in a book I checked out from the library (I love the library, it's one of my favorite pastimes) called 'Simple Gifts to Stitch' by Jocelyn Worrall. It was so easy! I should have held onto it to give away as a gift, but it turned out way too cute, I just had to keep it for myself... I mean my baby! Because she doesn't have enough blankets...

Anyway, I was pretty pleased with the results.