And the winner is.....

Random.org picked our winner for the tutu giveaway

Congrats to Joella! Please contact me so I can get the tutu and surprise accessory mailed out to you.

Project Dump

Everything has been so busy at home. We’ve been getting ready for our first family vacation that doesn’t involve a wedding or a funeral. A lot of this getting ready involved sewing and finishing other projects I had started. I still have one that I need to finish a swim diaper for the youngest. So far my completed projects include my own homemade version of g-cloth, a messenger style diaper bag that is gender neutral enough for even dad to carry. We also finished the puzzle storage with the final coat of paint going on today (minus a few touch ups). By the time our vacation gets here I feel like I will have really deserved it.

The messenger style diaper bag is made from a cotton outer and suede-cloth inner. I attached the strap with d-rings. I tested it and I can fit a spare outfit and 2 diapers in the bag with room for my small wetbag and a couple of small toys.

Here are two of my homemade version of g-cloth. The youngest picked out the Cars themed flannel, he has a bit of an obsession with Lightning McQueen. The absorbant layers are 2 layers flannel, 2 layers of cotton birdseye, a heavy-weight cotton french terry, and a layer of microfiber. I topped it with a dark chocolate brown suede-cloth to keep his lil bum dry. I also made some without a feel dry layer which seem to work great for laying in fitted diapers for overnight.

Last but not least is the puzzle storage box we made. It will hold 27 wooden peg puzzles. Initially I painted the inside of the box orange and the outside with chalkboard paint. It really reminded me of Halloween so I decided that the entire thing will be painted with chalkboard paint. Added bonus of painting it with chalkboard paint is that it takes it from just a puzzle box to something that he can draw on as well.

Don't forget about the OH MY TUTU! A Giveaway

Zip it!

Zippers are a wonderful thing, just not to sew. Now I’m sure many people would disagree and my guess is that they’ve sewn more than two or three zippers. This summer I made a dress for my daughter that required a zipper. Believe me as soon as I saw that step I was on the phone with the one person I knew could sew a zipper…my mom. I think the first words out of my mouth panicked my mother, I likely sounded more panicked than I need to for help with a zipper. She offered to help and I grabbed the dress and the zipper and headed to her house. She was able to walk me through sewing in a zipper. I’m not going to lie it wasn’t pretty or even or anything else it should be besides functional.

Recently I decided to make my own extra large wetbag for our family vacation next weekend and knew I would have to tackle the zipper for a second time. I could do it cheap after all I already had PUL that I bought to make diapers and covers, I had 100% poly thread, and I had plenty of fabric. I headed to the store knowing I only “needed” a zipper. As always I was quickly distracted by fabric and bought an adorable yellow Peace Love Recycle Snoopy cotton print. I also remembered a zipper.

I found two tutorials helpful but really didn’t follow either one completely. I think I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I dislike following patterns and directions. I liked the easiness of the sandwiched zipper from Oh, nuh-uh but I also liked the handle option from Dilley Dally Diapers. So with a little bit of work on my part I came up with a wetbag that would work for me. Following the steps for the sandwiched zipper made attaching a zipper super simple. Sadly I don’t think it will work for most other zipper applications. Although, maybe with more practice zippers will no longer be my sewing nemesis, I could master it like I did with sewing stretchy material.

Don't forget about the OH MY TUTU! A Giveaway

Woodworking is Crafting Right?

In elementary, junior high and high school I had mandatory wood shop classes. I loved them and thrived in that environment. We were given free rein to make anything we wanted the only stipulation is it had to be at least 90% wood products. I still love working with wood, maybe it’s the fact that I come from a long line of loggers. We recently figured that we needed a storage unit for the youngest child’s wooden puzzles. We could find one that had enough slots to hold all his puzzles and buying multiples seemed expensive.

So remembering those classes I broke out the pen and paper and sketched out a design, and figured out the dimensions. It was than off to the lumber store. I’ll be honest it isn’t a store I visit often, I didn’t know what I was looking for but I figured when I found it I would know. I did find “it”; two 2x2 oak plywood and a handful square poplar dowels and some small brads to attach the dowels. Unfortunately I am kind of rusty when it comes to using power tools so I handed the next step off to my significant other, well after I drew out where the cuts should be.

The next step was tedious gluing down the dowels to the board, waiting for it to dry and hammering in the brads to make sure they stayed in place. This project still has several more steps to go. I find it’s not as easy to whip together a project made of wood as it is to whip together one made of fabric. In the time the boards were cut I managed to make a wet bag and several diaper inserts. Tomorrow I have plans to paint it; pumpkin orange on the inside and chalkboard on the outside. For now I leave you with a picture of the puzzle box in process.

To Sew or Not to Sew

Fabric flowers are a great way to use up those scraps of fabric. I on the other hand needed a way to use up all the two and three inch strips of tulle I have left over from making tutus. I figured that once I mastered that I could find a way to affix them to hats, hair ties, headbands, or even to pins. One thing I knew is that I didn’t want to have to be stuck at my sewing machine to make them. With that idea in mind I used the hour I was sitting at the pediatric walk-in clinic waiting for my youngest to be seen to brainstorm ideas on how I could accomplish this.

I came up with one idea and upon coming home and trying it, I was successful. I was quite happy with the results, although I still needed a needle and thread. I still wanted a new sew flower as well. I was sure that I could come up with something. After playing around with tulle for a bit I figured that one out as well. I’ve outlined the basic steps I took to create the two types of flowers.

To start on the no-sew flower you need at least one strip of tulle 2-3 inches wide by 48+inches long.

1. Wrap the tulle around your fingers in a figure eight by going between your second and third finger leaving about 2” of tail on each end. If using more than one color layer them and wrap them all at the same time.
2. Wrap the ends of the tulle around the center and tie in a knot
3. Wrap the ends through the center of the tulle and tie in a knot
4. Separate and spread out the tulle this will create the petals
5. Your no-sew tulle flower is now done

To make the second tulle flower you need 2 strips of tulle in different colors, a small button, and needle and thread.

1. Similar to the first flower you wrap the first color tulle around your fingers in a figure eight leaving 2 inches on each end.
2. Wrap the ends around the center of the tulle and tie in a knot.
3. Repeat above steps for second piece of tulle.
4. Spread and separate the tulle to create petals.
5. Flatten flowers so you can see the knot in the center
6. Put one tulle flower on top of the other and sew a couple of stitches to hold them together.
7. Place button over the knot and sew it down.
8. Your flower is done!

So now what should I do with these tulle flowers?