And I made this too

For Christmas this year hubby got me a Kindle Fire.  I am in love with it!  He got me a cover to keep it in, but after seeing so many cute covers on Pinterest I wanted to make my own.  I looked at several different possibilities and finally decided on this one from The Cottage Home.

I couldn't get a picture from her blog, so this is the one I made... :)

I think the is the best tutorial I have ever seen.  She goes step-by-step with very clear and helpful pictures, and everything is explained really well.  She even shows what your pieces will look like after each step.  It is a cover with a lining, and this is the first tutorial I've seen where I actually understood how to put the lining in.  !!!!  Now the tutorial is for a laptop case, but her instructions for how to calculate the size of your pieces is very easy to follow, so it's no problem at all adjusting it for any device.  I imagine you could even do it for something as small as an iPhone or iPod if you have the patience.. There are one or two things I would do different if I make it again (like trimming the edges of the lining before putting it in and using velcro instead of buttons), but overall I am pleased with how it came out.  :)

Hmm... I think I'll try some of these next to go along with the dress... 

 

I Just Made This..

On Tuesday I had a sick little one and a sick hubby, so it turned out to be a pretty quiet afternoon.  The baby was in a good mood (mostly), so I decided to take advantage and work on a project I've been itching to try: a pillowcase dress!  I had the fabric picked out, washed and ironed already, so I took the baby's measurements and got started.  It was so easy.  When I showed it to my husband he said (as he does when I show him anything I've made), "Wow!  You made that?  That looks professional.  You should sell those."  Ha!  I don't think I'd go that far, but it's nice to be appreciated...

So anyway.... After reading a couple of tutorials and studying pictures and things, here's what I came up with:

It does look a little square-ish, but that's just because she's so short.  :)  When I took the pic I was still working on adjusting the little straps and the length/width of the neckline, etc.  But overall, not too bad for a first attempt.  I don't know if I added the lace and trim "correctly," but it works.

Ok, she was in a good mood until the moment I wanted to put the dress on her and take a pic... :P

Playing Santa's Elf

So several weeks ago I had the idea to make super hero capes for the boys for Christmas.  I happened to find some nice cute and red fabric at JoAnn's the other day, so I thought I would give it a try.  These capes were SO easy!  Here is the tutorial I followed, courtesy of How Does She?.  It was seriously super easy to follow.  The only thing I have left to do is add the hero logos.  Any suggestions on how best to do that are welcome!  :)

They are both double-sided--red on one side, blue on the other.
Ignore the lack or ironing!

And again... these are Christmas presents, so shhhhh!  Don't mention it to Evan!  ;)

I made a dress for my baby!

Hooray!  I finally got to make something for my little-one-to-be!  I made it without a pattern, thought I did get some inspiration from several blogs (and Pinterest).  I made it using a onesie and a scrap of cute little pink flowered fabric.  Now.  The band around the waist is not straight and I am aware of it.  I took the seam out and sewed it again, and it is still crooked.  Also, I am going to cover the stitching around the band with some ribbon or something,  That being said, I think it's not too bad for a first try at making something completely on my own!

Please ignore the dingy onesie.
This was a trial run with one of the boys' old onesies!

A lot of onesie dresses cut off the bottom part of the onesie, but I left mine whole so that I could still snap it around her diaper.  That way it won't ride up when she wiggling around or we pick her up.  I just hemmed a rectangle of fabric, gathered it, sewed the side edges together, then sewed the skirt onto the onesie.  Then I sewed a purple tube of fabric and sewed it right over top of the ruffle (mostly to hide the raw edge of the ruffle).  I thought about doing a whole tutorial, but didn't know if anyone would be interested.  If you want more detail, let me know.  :)

Christmas presents.. shhh!

So I have started making Christmas presents--yay!  I will post one or two depending on who they're for.  If we have your kid's name and you want to be surprised, let me know and I won't post!  This first one is a scripture tote made from a place mat.  I got just a neutral-colored mat that cost about $2 at WM.  I read several tutorials to get the basic idea of how to do it, then I just sort of worked it out.  Here are a couple of the in-process pics, then the finished result.

Supplies:  place mat, ribbon, sewing supplies

Step one: sew on handles.  (This was my first ever handle, so excuse the un-even box!).
Measure in from the sides to get them evenly spaced

Pin and sew down any ribbon, lace, fabric or embellishment you want.
(It will cover the stitches from the handles)

Now put the right sides together and sew up the sides.

Flatten out each corner into a triangle and sew straight across.
I followed tutorials and sewed it at two inches, but might do it at about 1 1/2 inches next time.  2" made a very wide bag.

Trim corners, turn right-side-out and add a bow or flower or whatever you want!

Ta-Da!

I made a Tie!

So, I have been searching and searching for a necktie for Evan to wear to church.  We had one that we got from the church bookstore, but it quickly got torn up and untied.  The ones at the department stores are expensive and either too long or too short.  So I started looking for patterns.  I found some fabric months ago in the discount bin at Hobby Lobby (I think it was about $3 for almost a yard) that I had been dying to make a tie out of, but I was not willing to pay $15 for a pattern.  That's almost the same as just buying a tie.  So the other day (again, after I finally got my craft area clean) I searched online for a pattern and tutorial that looked do-able.  I found this post on The Purl Bee blog (which is fabulous!) and thought it looked easy and fast, and it was!  I think I worked on this for 4 hours total (including trying to teach myself how to do a slip stitch and then doing it veeeeeeerrrrrry slowly and stopping to check the blog every 5 minutes to make sure I was doing the right thing), start-to-finish.  I want to try another one for Christian (which you can do by reducing the size when you print it apparently...duh!), and I'm sure it will go much faster now that I know what I'm doing.  It was really fun, and I love the result!

Wasn't sure how to tie it...

My little model... in full Batman attire, naturally

I looked up how to tie it real quick, but I'm not very good!  :)

Hair Bows!

So this past week my sister and Mom and I got together several times for big craft days.  We did everything from scrapbooking to sewing to bow-making.  This was the first time I have ever made bows.  Since I have boys, I haven't really had a need.  But having all 5 of my nieces around inspired me!  So, here is the collection of bows that I made.  :)  Some are the twisted rosettes, some are just the folded little bows, and some have giant flowers!  All of them are glued onto alligator clips wrapped in coordinating ribbon.

What I've Been Up To Lately

Here is a peak into what I've been working on lately. I had a baby shower coming up and saw this cute idea over at Living Craftily Ever After and knew I had to make one. I have future plans to make one for Addison as well. Aren't they adorable?!

Also, for the aforementioned baby shower, I decided to make some wall letters. Here is how they turned out. I used chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby (which were $0.99 on sale), scrapbook paper, and Mod Podge. Super easy, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

Last but not least, I decided to make a tag blanket. I didn't have any minky fabric on hand, but I did use a soft flannel.The birdie fabric is so cute! I think I purchased it from Hancock Fabrics last year. Oh, and see the little iron-on initial? I wanted to make a bit more personal, and it was obviously super easy to apply. All you need is an iron.

Addison was invited to her first birthday party today. I've been inspired to use my Cricut more and more lately and was able give this bucket from Target (in the dollar section, which cost $2.50...hmmm not really a dollar) a spruce with some vinyl love. Functional and cute. My favorite combination. 

Here's a peak at the back.

I'm tempted to make one for Little A with polka dots. Actually, I think I will. We can always use cute and functional storage buckets. Right?

Curtains, finally!

Ok, I finally finished Evan's curtains!  It took a LOT of trial and error, but I am pretty pleased with the finished product.  My camera has been broken since Thanksgiving, so I did not get many pictures taken of the actually sewing process, but here's the picture of the end product.   

Ok, so here's what I did: The fabric that I found made this really easy.  The pattern was in nice long rows, with enough space in between each row that I was able to cut it into strips right between the pictures and still have a bit of room for a hem.  Then I just ironed under the edges and the ends, spaced and pinned down the strips of fabric, and sewed them on.  I had to sew very close to the edge of the fabric, so it was hard to keep my lines straight, but I have a hard time keeping straight lines anyway!  Now that I've done it, figured it all out on my own, and can look at it in retrospct, it was really quite simple.  Maybe I won't be so scared to try something else like this!

Blogs I Like

I have found a couple of cute sewing/craft blogs lately that are so cute, so I thought I'd share.  :)
http://www.sayyestohoboken.com/  This one has lots of cute sewing ideas, and DIY tutorials.

http://www.dana-made-it.com/2008/  I haven't had time to explore this whole site, but they have a super cute section called "Celebrate the Boy," with tons of project ideas for little boys!  In her words, "there just aren't enough BOY ideas in the blogosphere." 

http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/ Also very cute stuff, and easy-to-follow DIY tutorials. 

Happy crafting!

Sew Much Fun!l

Yay, it's done!!  I finished my very first on-my-own-at-my-own-house sewing project!  I made a super cute (if I do say so myself) apron for Evan.  It's hard to tell from the pics and the busy pattern, but it has quite a few pockets on the front, just right for crayons, mixing spoons, and paint brushes.  The pattern was a very inexpensive one from Simplicity, and though it took me about 4 hours (literally) to figure out what on earth all the words, symbols, pictures and directions meant, once I figured it out I discovered that it was really not as hard as I'd always thought it would be.  I rather enjoyed it actually.  I was even able to figure out on my own (thanks to a suggestion from Mom) how to line the top half of it so that it would be a little more durable.  As Evan loves to help me with cooking and baking, I'm sure we'll be getting lots of use out of it.  :)

Apron # 2

Here is the finished second apron.  I am still going to add a little trim and some bows, but I think it turned out pretty cute!  A nice, simple start to my sewing adventures! 

Apron!!

The other day at WalMart (the one in York still sells fabric), my Mom and saw an adorable Christmas apron on display, and we discovered that it was from an easy-to-sew, pre-printed pattern.  That means that the pattern was printed directly on the fabric, like this:

It even came with instructions printed on the fabric:

I have been coveting those super cute, frilly aprons that are popular --and expensive -- right now (I love this website), so I decided to take the opportunity to make a second apron at the same time.  All in all I think I spent about $10 for both aprons.  I picked some cute pink and green fabric, laid the Christmas pattern on top of it, and cut them both out at the same time so I ended up with two of everything:

 

Then I just followed the instructions on the pattern and got it all sewed together.  Now, I do not have much experience with a sewing machine, so my Mom gave me lots of help and instruction!  It was a bit of a slow process (everything had to be pressed, hemmed, pinned, etc), but the finished product turned out really cute!  I have not finished the pink one yet, but I will post pictures of it as soon as I get it done.

Wipe Case Cover

I wanted to post something super cute, yet also pretty simple, for those who are not savvy at sewing (such as I). One of my favorite blogs, here, always has great crafting ideas and tutorials. This is one that I am going to try as soon as we move into our new home, and I redecorate little A's nursery/toddler room. The tutorial can be found here.


Looks pretty easy, huh?