Hand made baby gifts.

A while back I made aprons for a wedding reception for my friends daughter.  Well today I was able to attend her baby shower :-)  She has such sweet new baby girl!  I got to make some fun baby gifts that I have wanted to try for a while. 

Her little girls room colors are Hot pink, black and white so that is the theme I went with :-)

I had some leftover Onesies from a previous baby shower gift project so I decided make a Faux Pearls Onesie.  I don't need to tell you how I made it because there is already great tutorial at The Crafted Sparrow.

To match the cute Onesie I made a cute Tutu :-)

This was so simple to make I could not believe it!

You can find the tutorial for this at Skip to my Lou.

Instead of using my leg I did mine on a paper towel roll and I also used a ribbon instead of the stretchy cord.  Although for my 3 year old I think I will do the stretchy cord. I also made the flower with a all three of the mesh colors and the ribbon together.  A great flower making tutorial is here at My Sparkle. I also made another flower hair clip.  So here is what the whole outfit looks like together :-)  It is so much cuter in person too!

The next project I did was a Waldorf inspired teething ring gnome doll.  I have been wanting to make something like this to sale in my Etsy shop so I was excited to finally try one out.

I saw this tutorial at Craftster.  I liked how simple this doll was.  And since I decided to make this yesterday I thought this would be a pretty simple one to make.  Here is how I made mine. I followed her tutorial pretty much the same, but I added ribbons to the hands and feet and connected my wood teething ring to one of the hands.  Instead of using watch cloths I used a hand towel so that it would be a little bit bigger.  Instead of felt I used a cute black and white fabric, but because it was a thinner fabric it did not want to stand up so I had to put stuffing in the hat.

 

I don't think mine looks like a gnome.  It looks more like a clown or a wizard, but I think it turned out cute.

Add flare to onesies and T-Shirts!

My baby just turned 3 :-(
 I can't believe how fast time is flying!  There are so many projects that I intended on doing when she was a baby and just did not ever do! 
My sister in law is expecting a baby in October and had her baby shower a  week ago.  In deciding what to do for a gift I remembered that I had onesies in my craft room that I never did anything with.
I really liked the ruffle butt idea I saw here.  So here is what I came up with.  I wish I had a baby to display it on, but I think you can get the idea :-)

And I did this cute stitchery on this Onesie a while ago,

 but I had never done more with it and it has been sitting in my craft room waiting to be given away. I felt it needed more added to it though so I added this ruffle skirt to the bottom of it.

Here is another fun Idea I found @ Sir Bubbadoo.  Freezer paper stenciling!  This looks so fun and easy!

And check out this idea using bleach!

you can find this idea @ Home maker.

Cute serving apron

So here is one of the finished  half aprons I have been making. 

I am making these aprons for a wedding reception. The serving girls are going to wear them, and they are also going to be their gift for helping serve at the reception. I love the simple black and white with just a touch of green :-)

Projects I want to try!

I have not been doing much crafting lately because I have been focusing on garden stuff, but I am starting to get back in the mood again! 
I found these two projects this morning that I want to try.   It is funny because they are both sewing projects and I always claim that I am not a very good sewing person, but I keep getting attracted to these cute projects!

First I love this coin purse at Paws and Thread.

She has a tutorial to show you how to make it.  I (as usual) am going to make some changes and cut some corners.  Instead of pleats I think I will gather the bottom half instead.

Next I love this ruffle purse!  It reminds me of my ruffle aprons.  Especially the little half aprons I am making right now for my friend.

You can find this purse here  If you want the pattern for this one I think you have to buy it, but I am going to try and figure it out myself.  I have this inner part of me that always yells out "I can do that!"  I rarely buy others craft items because I love the challenge of trying to make them myself.

I actually am posting this later then the first half of this post.  I found another tutorial that shows the gathering idea for the clutch purse that I was talking about.  You can find it at From an Igloo. 

Magnet Pin Dish

I found a  good solution for my sewing pins:-)

 I had the regular stuffed tomato that everyone has, but I really wanted one of those magnet pin dishes that the really serious people that sew have! 

I found two cute silver dessert dishes at the thrift store the other day.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them :-)  I put a strong magnet on the bottom  of each of them ( I did not even have to glue the magnet because it stuck onto the metal) and ta da! I had a Magnetic Pin Dish!

 It has been a huge help to me.  No more pins all over the place! I have one by my sewing machine and I have one at my cutting table.

Another cute apron!

I made another flour sack ruffle apron for my friend :-) 

Her daughter is getting married and this is going to be her wedding shower gift.  I think the fabric colors are so cute! (you can find the fabric at Hobby Lobby)  I switched how I did the ruffle at the top a little bit ( every time I make one of these aprons they turn out just a little bit different.  That is how things go when you don't use a pattern :-)

People have asked for instructions for this apron and it is hard because really there is not any solid instructions.  I just made it up as I went, but I do have some basic ideas that I can share, but I warn you this will most likely be the worst tutorial to understand so just know you have been warned :-)

I bought a flour sack towel from the dollar store  I like to get a flour sack towel because all the edges are already hemmed which saves me a few steps ( I am all about saving steps!), but I do cut the corners off one end of the towel and I hem the new rough edges by pressing under a quarter inch twice and then hem it down until the corners look like this. 

Then you need a quarter yard each of two different coordinating fabrics.  I cut each  quarter yard of fabric into 6 inch wide strips. 

 Then you press in the sides of each strip of fabric a quarter inch and hem around all sides.

Sew big stitches on one long side and lightly gather into a ruffle.

Then basically you sew the strips of fabric on the flours sack towel about 3 1/2 or  4 inches apart from each other.  Do not  gather one of the fabric strips because it will be your waist band.

 

I wish I could tell you exactly how I piece it all together.  Sometimes I start sewing the ruffles from the top and sometimes I start from the bottom.  And I do the top collar ruffle different every time also. So all I can say is this is what I end up with! 

Good luck!

More Flour sack Aprons!

I made some more aprons as Christmas gifts.
A thanks to my girls for helping model them for me :-)

I am sorry I still don't have a good tutorial as to how to make these. I don't make them with a pattern I just make them :-)  Each one I have made has turned out a little different then the others so their is not an exact way. But basically you need

-a flour sack towel ( I get mine from the dollar store

- 1/2 yard of two different coordinating fabric choices ( cut into 6 inch wide strips)

- coordinating ribbon for the neck band and ties (wide ribbon works best)


- coordinating ric rac for trim (optional)

I have another one to make.  I will make sure I take pictures of the process and add the rest of the details soon. but basically  most of it is hemming and gathering ruffles and sewing them onto the flour sack towel.

Another flour sack apron!

My Super Saturday was last Saturday and it was a blast!  I was in charge of  an apron class. Here is the apron again made in a different fabric from the original one I made.  (Don't take too much notice of the wrinkles left over from it being anxiously shoved into my sewing bag after a long day of Super Saturday crafting fun :-) I still have plans of  doing a cute stitchery on the front of the apron that would match the fabric.  I will have to take the time to take pictures and make a step by step tutorial  when I make the next one

Here is the matching Trivit.  I found these blank pinewood plauqes @ Michaels.  I painted this one antiuqe white and mod podged coordinating fabric from the apron on the top of the plaque wh hard coat mod podge and finished it off with ric rac and added 4 felt feet to the bottom.

Next I made a pinch pot holder.  I have seen the oval ones around, but I wanted to make a square one instead so this is what I came up with. 

So there is the set!  I want to make another pot holder and an actual flour sack towel with matching fabric and ric rac sewn on it to make a complete set.  This makes a perfect gift set for christmas or a birthday.

Some Super Saturday ideas!

I am on the R.S. meeting committee in my ward. And I don't know about you, but one thing that all our ladies look forward to each year is Super Saturday!  Our goal this year was to have easy, cheap, and practical crafts.  I thought I would share with you the crafts that I am in charge of.  I will  take pictures of the ones other people are in charge of the next Sunday when we have our display table out and then you can see them all of then.

First off I have aprons made from  flower sack towels. I made a full and a half apron. I know that half aprons are all the rage right now, but I tend to spill on the top half of me more then my lower half so I wanted a full apron too. I will have to give tutorials later, but I will tell you I am not very good at sewing so it has to be easy in order for me to want to do it. And these were quite simple aprons to make. All it took was simply sewing the decorative fabric onto the the already hemmed flour sack towels. I did not even use a pattern. I just looked at others ideas on the Internet and then did my own thing.
By the way that is my cute twelve year old daughter being my model for me.




Next I made trivets to match the aprons.  I found these wood plaques at Michael's for like a $1.50 and painted them brown for a base color and then I painted black on top of the brown and sanded the edges and corners to reveal the brown color underneath.   Then I added the fabric on top using hard coat mod podge.  Last I sprayed it with sealer and added little felt feet on the bottom.

 I am going to have a dish towel to match this set, but I have not got to that yet.

I also emroiderd (sp?) a dish towel that I got from the dollar store with a vintage embroidery pattern I found online (there is a matching apple pattern too that I have not finished).  and made a trivet to go with it.  I  want to make a half apron out of a matching dish towel  with matching embroidery on it also.  That way people can choose which set they are most interested in.

Next we are making placemat scripture bags.  I found this cute place mat at the dollar store.  this project is so easy!  there are many tutorials online on how to make these.

I have already shown this flower/bow holder, but here it is again since it is part of the Super Saturday stuff we are doing.  I explained how I made it in an earlier post.

 

Last we are making more metal washer necklaces because people requested making them again since they make such great gifts!

Whew! So there you have it! Like I said I will have to give more detailed tutorials soon. 

Easy burp cloth idea!

I was invited to a baby shower for my friend Debbie and I decided that it was the perfect time to pull out the package of cloth diapers that I had purchased more than a year ago with the idea of dressing then up into cute burp cloths.  I wanted to match the colors with this "Lamaze Peacock toy" that I was going to give her.  I got coordinating ribbon and ric rac and sewed it on the side of the cloth diapers (So simple!) and it is hard to see in the pic., but I sewed the ribbon and ric rac on with bright orange thread to give some contrast to the other colors and bring in the orange that is in the peacock.  I did not think to take a pic of the back of the peacock, but the back has  black and white colors that is how the black polka dotted ribbon fits into the color scheme :-). I love these kind of crafts!  So easy and simple, but adorable at the same time!

Happy Crafting!

Stitchery basics!

Sorry I have neglected the craft blog for a few days!  I have been spending a lot of my free computer time lately getting my Reading Blog going. So if you are a reader check it out!
Anyway this post is for all those out there who have never tried stitchery before or maybe it has been awhile and you don't quite remember how.  Unlike counted cross stitch where there is a lot of counting and messing up and picking out etc. etc. etc. Stitchery is very relaxing, calming and easy to do, but it looks and feels like you did something really amazing when you are done!

Stitchery is like drawing, tracing or writing on fabric, but with a needle and thread. The pioneer women taught their kids the alphabet with stitchery.  You can draw your own  patterns, purchase patterns online or at a craft store or I also like to find cute chunky coloring pages They make perfect stitchery patterns :-)

This letter A is an example of something fun to do in a small child's room or a nursery.  You could do the whole alphabet in cute frames that go all the way around the room. You can find these alphabet pics here.

You can use a light box to trace your picture on muslin fabric or you can be like me and you can use a window with good lighting shining through it to trace your pattern with light pencil onto your muslin fabric. Then you choose the embroidery floss you want to use.  Embroidery floss has 6 strands of thread.  I usually use two threads for my regular stitching, but I use less or more threads to create different looks to the stitchery.                                                                                                                                                                 Spotted Canary has a great tutorial on how to do the basic stitches. and 

The Stitching Cow blog also has a great tutorial and a cute free pattern to go with it!

Happy stitching!