Ironing board cover

It was time for a new ironing board cover. . . well, actually way PAST time! Wouldn't you agree?

I decided to try and use up some of my scraps once again. Do these fabrics look familiar? I used some of them on my scrappy skirt. And I'm still using the scraps!

Piece some small squares/rectangles together to make an oblong shape slightly bigger than the old ironing board cover. Place the old cover on top of the new piece and cut out the shape more exact but still slightly bigger (the actual board shape not just the rectangle).
Serge the edges.
Using the old string, fold the serged edge over the string and sew making a casing for the string. You eliminate the step of threading the string through this way.
Yes, I did throw away the old cover. I don't think I'll be trying to reuse any of that fabric!
Put the new cover on and pull the string tight. Ahh. . . much better!

Objects!

I don't think I have mentioned on here yet that I am selling some of my creations at Objects in Eureka! Go check them out! Also, feel free to contact me anytime if you would like something you see on my blog (or elsewhere for that matter). Anything I make I am willing to remake for you:) I love trying new things so if there is something out there (on pinterest or anywhere) and you aren't interested in trying yourself, let me give it a try! Recently I made the following items for people who contacted me or to sell at Objects in Eureka. . . sweater dresses, shower curtain, lampshades, slippers for toddler girls, hats, burlap ties for toddler boys, and bibs.

A while ago I refurbished this lamp. Here it is straight from Etcetera shop.

And this is how I sold it at Objects. Go check the store out. It has all kinds of unique gifts!

Nativity puppets

Home with 4 kids for over Christmas break and what to do? I was searching online for Christmas crafts and found these cute nativity puppets. http://thesecretisgratitude.blogspot.com/2010/12/homemade-nativity-puppets-from-felt.html We made a run to Hobby Lobby and purchased the felt. Then got to snipping and gluing and drawing and made our own nativity set. The boys have had fun and got to put on a puppet show for the Grimm Christmas. We hope to share it with the Adams' too:) Here is the cast . . .

I drew the scenes and the boys helped color. I'm definitely no artist (as you can tell from the pics) so I think I'll stick to sewing:)


I'm picturing embellishing this a bit each year. This year I used a rhyming nativity story found on the blog mentioned above. I narrated the story while the boys held up the puppets. Someday they'll be able to have their own speaking parts and we can add the girls in too! I think they'll be so fun to pull out year after year.

Jeanskirt from jeans

Last week at Goodwill I bought a pair of jeans to make into a jeanskirt. Of course, I saw the idea on Pinterest :) Here are the results. . . (take note of the super fun slippers I just got in the mail today. They had to make the blog too!)

Cars pajamas

A dear friend asked me to make some pajamas for her granddaughter who loves the movie "Cars". She wasn't able to find any girly "Cars" pajamas, and when I mentioned buying fabric and making some she took me up on it! She bought the fabric (enough for me to make shorts and pants) and coordinating shirts and put me to the task. I was excited to have a new project and got to work right away. So here is the shorts outfit.

Shorts are complete with ruffles at the bottom :) Oh yes, don't forget to add ruffles to anything and everything you can!
I added a small piece of ribbon so she will know which is the back. I think it would be so fun to get my own labels someday, but we are still at the wish stage for now :)
And here is the pants outfit.
Complete with ribbon around the ankles.
And at the waist. I still made these elastic waist and just attached the ribbon on the outside to spruce the pants up.
Then I cut a car out of the leftover fabric, ironed it onto the shirt with fusible webbing, and stitched around it.
There you have it! "Cars" pajamas for girls!

Another project for my boys!

Mike's mom had a tradition of buying them a toy, a book, and a clothing item for Christmas. I love this idea and want to continue it with my kids. I love buying my kids pajamas but this results in WAY too many pj's around here:) I didn't think my boys would get too excited about just another shirt or pants. So, I decided on new winter hats (the girls will get headband ear warmers). AND, I wanted to make them :) I had plenty of the fleece camo left from the boys' pajama pants, so this was the result! The long strip is a scarf. Doesn't get any easier than that!

When I sew for the girls I can embellish with flowers or ribbons or ruffles. I couldn't just make a plain hat for the boys, so I stitched their initial to spruce it up!

Sweater Earwarmers

Mike and I went to Chicago last Saturday. Two fashions that stuck out to me the most: boots and knitted ear warmers with flowers. I can't make the boots, but the ear warmers I was definitely trying! But shhh... these are for my girls for Christmas :)

Want to make your own?

First get the measurement around the head of whomever you are making this for. My girls' head measured 20 inches. Then, grab an old sweater and start cutting! I used the sleeve of the sweater.
Cut the cuff and shoulder off the sweater.
Then I cut out the shape on the right. I made it 20 inches long and then about 4 inches in the middle and 1 1/2 inches on the ends. Next, sew a zigzag stitch all along the edges. As you stitch keep a little tension on the sweater (pull just very slightly). This helps make it ruffle like the piece on the left.
At this point, try it on and see where you want to put your button and buttonhole.
Embellish with the flower of your choice! I used this online tutorial for my flower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QfRHCkpsNk
I can't wait to try these on my girls! But, I guess I will be waiting until Christmas!

Christmas dresses

Christmas dresses are done! With just 2 days to spare:) Not that they HAVE to be done for the Christmas program, especially since they aren't even in it. But, we may as well dress up with everyone else, right? Here they are to show the style of dress. . .

And here is the outfit! (I can't find my camera so I have to use my phone and am bummed since it is NOT taking good pictures!)

And just so you don't think all my sewing projects are smooth and a perfect success, here is a little about how this dress came about. . .

I bought the red fabric with a skirt in mind. I started out making the skirt but didn't like it so started all over:) Then I remembered this dress I had pinned on pinterest. . . ADORABLE! or is it just the girl who is so cute?

So, I started cutting out, got a zipper and ribbon at the store, and came up with this. Not my favorite :(
I decided to try different ribbon (with some advice from my sis!) This was a bit much I thought, so I went down to just 1 ribbon.
So, with a bit of piecing, ripping, and re-sewing I came up with the dresses!

Homemade ornaments

I saw these ornaments on pinterest and they inspired me to make my own!

And here they are!

They are so simple, I just had to share them with you! Jayden's 1st grade class at school is decorating their tree with orange ornaments, so I am showing you his ornament being made. For my ornaments I used old school papers wadded up and cut up and old towel for some of them. For Jayden's, I decided to use some of my overflowing abundance of Walmart bags. Whatever you decide, wad it up in a ball until you have about the size you want (I used 4 sacks). Then wrap the wadded ball in foil. I thought the foil helped to get and keep the right shape for the ornament.
Cut strips of fabric. Your choice here. Have fun! I used about 4 strips that were approximately 33 inches x 1 1/2 inches. This definitely doesn't have to be perfect. Notice the varying shapes of the strips? Jayden helped cut them out. Make this a fun project to do with "helpers" :)
Then you can start wrapping. Hot glue the ends to keep them down and then start the next strip.
When the foil is completely covered and you are happy with the looks and shape of the ball you are done! I'm sure there are all kinds of fancy ways you can attach a string to hang your ornament, but I went with very simple. I threaded my needle, caught a little fabric, and then tied the thread off.
There you have your ornament! Ready and waiting to be hung!

Christmas Decor

I had so much fun this year making new Christmas decorations! Pinterest was a great source for ideas resulting in the burlap stockings, mantle trees, homemade ornaments, and tree skirt.

The mantle trees were made from an online tutorial. Use a plastic cup and cardstock to make a cone shape. Then hot glue tissue paper on to make your decorative trees. Awesome textures and you can pick the colors!

I saw some fabric wrapped ornaments online and came up with these. I hope to have a tutorial on these!
The ruffle tree skirt. Yes, I'm hooked on ruffles. Love them! So, I made a ruffle tree skirt:) Tutorial online for this too. (made with hot glue, so non-sewers should look this one up!)

Amid all the fun decorations, let's not forget Jesus is the true reason for the season!

Burlap Stockings

I love ruffles, but I'm also loving burlap lately! I've made ruffled burlap lampshades (and I'm selling them at Objects in Eureka. Check them out!). I've made burlap faux ties for the boys (and I'm selling those at Objects too!). And now I tackled burlap stockings! I got the idea from Pinterest. Someone made stockings similar to this but I believe hers were canvas. I just liked her colors and the ruffles/buttons to distinguish the boy/girl stockings.

So, first I printed a stocking template. Find a template you like and print it off or trace your old stockings and make your own template:) Then, I cut out the burlap and lining. (*as a side note, I buy a white flat sheet from Walmart for about $10 and get a lot of fabric for all my white detailing on projects). Be sure to cut out front and back with the template.

Sewing your outer stocking you have a couple choices. I chose to leave a rough edge, so I zigzag stitched about a 1/4" from the edge. You could do a straight stitch with right sides together and then turn it right side out to hide your stitch. Sew your outside stocking together and your lining pieces together.
I had a pattern/template piece for the top cuff on the stocking but cut it out a little different. I laid it on the fold of the white fabric and cut it out instead of cutting more pieces and sewing them together as the template suggests. After cutting two pieces out on the fold, I opened them up and sewed the sides together to make this shape.
Fold it in half with wrong sides together and you get your top cuff on the stocking.
Tuck this piece down into the stocking lining that you already sewed together. Be sure the fold is down inside the lining and you are sewing the raw edges of the lining and cuff together.
This is your completed lining piece of your stocking. The top cuff is going to fold down over your outside stocking and the raw edge you just sewed will not show. Tuck this lining piece down into your burlap stocking and fold the cuff over the outside of the stocking.
See how it is a nice clean seam right inside your stocking?
You are almost done with the basic stocking! I decided to make the tab for the stocking to hang out of the burlap too. I cut a strip of burlap, folded it in half, and zigzag stitched the raw edge.
You then can fold this small piece in half again and stitch it to the inside back portion of the stocking. Make sure to catch the burlap stocking when sewing your tab on so that when you hang it your lining doesn't just hang up and your outside stocking falls to the ground!
I embellished the stockings with ruffles sewn onto the cuff for the girls and a button for the boys. I'm loving how they turned out. The colors, the rough edges of the burlap, and of course the ruffles and buttons! Yay for new stockings!