Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Baby/Toddler Leggings



Okay, yes I've been gone for a long time, I'm sorry. Life got to the best of me and boy have we been busy. But hopefully I'll be on here a lot more sharing great tips and ideas. Today I'm sharing with you a tutorial on how to make your very own baby/toddler leggings. These are perfect for a girl or boy! They protect your babies soft little knees from crawling on hard surfaces and look adorable with any outfit or costume.



SUPPLIES:
1 pair of knee high socks
scissors
sewing machine or needle and thread

I got this pair at Target for $1.40 on clearance. You can find knee highs at Walmart, the dollar store or just about anywhere clothes are sold.





Step 1: Lay your sock out, your going to make a cut above the heel, below the heel and cut the toe off. Just as shown.








Step 2: Take your foot piece and turn it inside out.










Step 3: Sew 5/8 inch inseam (This part is important to due, if you don't, you'll more then likely will have a baby legging that will slip right of the leg. You'll want a nice snug cuff. Depending on your child's size you can do a smaller or larger inseam. My baby is 11 months and 5/8 is still pretty loose on her. Play around with it and find what works for your child.







Step 4: Trim excess to relieve bulk.







Step 5: Fold cuff in half, wrong sides together matching raw edges.









Step 6: Take your cuff and slip it over the sock, matching all raw edges. Pin if desired.










Step 7: Sew 3/8 inch inseam through all THREE layers. Be sure no to sew through the entire sock!









Step 8: Trim excess.




Flip cuff back over and your done!!









These only take about 5 minutes to make. Perfect for Christmas or birthday gifts.

Monday, July 12, 2010

10 Minute Bread Bags


First off let me start out by saying I didn't bake these breads! My wonderful husband did! While I love to bake all sorts of goodies, he bakes our yummy bread. Baking bread can be time consuming, so if you are going to go through the hard work and reward of baking bread, you might as well make more then one loaf at a time(our family can easily go through a loaf in one night). The other night my husband was baking a double batch (4 bread loaves) and asked if we had any old bread bags to store them in. I said no. Thats when I thought, why not make my own reusable bread bags. It came to me, why not use kitchen napkins and kitchen towels. They breathe well and are decorative! I made two different size bread bags, using kitchen napkins for bread loaf bags and kitchen towels for round breads or muffins. This tutorial is for loaf breads.



Supplies needed:
20x20 Kitchen napkin
thread
safety pin
24 inches string or ribbon



Since the hems are already done, the first thing you want to do is make the hole for the string. At top of napkin fold over 1 inch, press. Stitch 3/4inch inseam.



Fold in a half with RIGHT sides together stitch 1/4 inch inseam side and bottom (make sure not to sew close your hole at the top!). Turn right side out.



Take your string or ribbon and stick a safety pin on one end of it. Using safety pin slide string through hole. Take the two ends of the string and tie a knot. Wash and ready for use.

The same idea is applied with the kitchen towels. I simply folded it in half for round breads or muffins. You can fold them length wise and have a french bread or baguette bag.

These are perfect gifts to give a friend, along side homemade jam!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

That's a BIG purse!


I was at Hobby Lobby a week ago and they had McCall's and Simplicity patterns on sale for .99 cents each!! Score!! Being that there was a limit of only 10, I immediately starting scouring the patterns, looking for different project ideas! I came across Sewing Patterns : Simplicity Patterns : Bags, Purses, Handbags" pattern and decided to go with the pattern 'D'.

Also, while I was there I found this zebra corduroy on sale! I had a lot of fun working on this purse, sneaking in a little time here and there over the 4th of July weekend. Just as I was finishing up this purse, my husband walks in and says "That's a big purse!" It is a big bag, but I love it. I have two little ones in diapers but it still fits everything a mom on the go could ask for. I much prefer keeping it simple with one bag (versus my own bag and a diaper bag). This way, when I'm out and about I can throw in my wallet, a few diapers, wipes and a spare baby outfit! Even if you don't need it for little ones, this bag is way cute to put all your girl stuff in!

I need to add a button, but other then that it is done. I added a no-sew fabric rosette in about five minutes using scrap lining material (just pin it on!). Wanna change the look? Change the color of the rosette!

Sunday, July 4, 2010

4th of July

Fourth of July Headband


Independence day! What a fun-filled day our family had this 4th of July. Of course I love to have my girls dressed in the spirit of the holiday. I made this headband for Alexa in about 30 minutes. It is a very exaggerated headband! Everywhere we went people couldn't stop saying how adorable she and the headbead were!

You could really make these for just about any holiday or for any outfit. They make any bald baby girl look that more gorgeous. I will post some of her other tulle headbands later. Hope you all had a great holiday!

Monday, June 28, 2010

No Sew Fabric Rosette

My first Tutorial!!


First of all I want to say how easy and cheap these are to make. Made out of remnants, these frayed fabric rosettes are so cute to wear in your hair, on a purse or just about on anything.


I started with a 44inch x 2in strip of fabric.(You can use the measurements you'd like) fold wrong sides together and press. Tie a knot at one end of the fabric. With this rosette I choose to add some tulle to it. Simply cut small strips of tulle and tie them on. I spaced mine out about 5 inches.

At this point you are going to simply twist the fabric and turn it around the knot, hot gluing along the way. Be sure to glue on the underneath side, otherwise glue will show up all o the top(not pretty). This process is very forgiving, just keep twisting,turning and gluing until you have ran out of fabric or you have reached your desired width. Glue tails on bottom side.


Cut out a piece of felt, glue unto the back. Next attach clip, that's it, your all done!


** Note** For this rosette, I took 2 different fabrics ( you can either do contrasting or corresponding fabrics) and twisted and wrapped them together. Gave a fun different look.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Shirring



This was my first attempt at Shirring! I was excited to try it, and loved the results. I made these two dresses for my daughters. Hayley is wearing a simple pillowcase dress that I altered for smaller armholes and shirring in the bust. Alexa's dress was really just made on a whim. I was practicing shirring and ended up with a dress for her.(no pattern) Had a lot of fun.