All Tied Up

Friday was spring break for my kids and my daughter and I had plans to hit up the thrift stores. There seems to be an increasing number of thrift stores in our area and I was sure we could find something to upcycle. Due to a not so wonderful snow/rain storm this that resulted in the highways being closed and decreased visibility we only got to hit up three of the thrift stores. That was apparently enough as it didn’t take long before something caught her eye…ties. She was in heaven she found an abundance of ties with pink and purple in them, her two favorite colors. She wanted bout 20 of them, we compromised and she got to pick ten. I wasn’t quite sure what we were going to do with them but I was sure we could figure something out.

We made the trek home a drive that in normal weather should have only taken 5 minutes took nearly 30. Traffic was at a standstill due to the layer of ice forming on the roads. Once we got home she ran inside with her bag of ties, to show dad her treasure, he just looked confused. She dumped the bag grabbed two fistful of ties and twirled around and that is when it hit me. I could make a skirt. I knew I would even have enough to make her doll a matching skirt. That night I went about pulling the ties apart and sewing them together. It made a wonderful skirt and with the length and the elastic waist it is sure to fit her for a long time. If I ever decide to undertake this task again there are a few things I’ve learned that would improve the skirt.

• Use ties that are of a similar material and weight
• Use ties that are similar sizes
• Use a tie or coordinating fabric for the waistband rather than folding down the top to create a waistband

What matters most is that for only five dollars I was able to sew my daughter a skirt which she loves, that she helped design, and that is completely unique. Next up a second skirt her doll can wear that will match.

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

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?

Just Roll with It

Our family has an upcoming vacation which involves over 10 hours on the road with three kids. When going over what keeps the three kids entertained we came to crayons and coloring books. In hopes of keeping things neat and tidy I decided to make some crayon rolls using the tutorial over at The Pleated Poppy . As always my first step is a trip to the fabric store. I brought the oldest with because I know he can be picky about patterns. I also picked up a bit of rick rack to try and trim it, and over-sized buttons to wrap the elastic around.

The first was for my daughter I of course the one time I needed it I was unable to find fabric ruler. I took out one of the kids school rulers and attempted to use that. Sadly my cuts were not squared like they should have been, however the crayon roll is functional and still cute. The second attempt I tried to use the rick rack along the outside edge of the crayon roll. The rick rack created a bit of a challenge, it looks cute but isn’t even. I have one more to make to house the oldest colored pencils. For that one I’ll be trying the tutorial over at You Go Girl. As always here are the obligatory pictures of the first two I made.

A Lettuce Edge

I love the look of a lettuce edge especially on little girls clothing. When I started making clothes for my daughter I did numerous searches on how to make a lettuce edge. Each one mentioned a need for a serger, something that was out of my budget. Since that time there have been numerous tutorials on how to create a lettuce edge with a basic sewing machine. Some have additional steps others basically follow the same steps you would use if you had a serger.

Here is how I made the lettuce edge on a dress I made for my daughter. I started with a stretchy fabric, and a color coordinated thread. I set my sewing machine to the widest zig zag stitch available, I than set the stitch length to the shortest possible. With my standard presser foot I lined the fabric up sewed a couple of stitches and started stretching the fabric as I fed it through. I think the most important thing I did was to make sure the stitch fell just over the edge. As I came back to the starting point, I found that it didn’t have the finished look I desired. Rather than stopping I kept sewing around the bottom of the dress until I had gone around 2 times. I now had the finished edge I was looking for.

So it begins...

Well so this blog begins. This past week two of my children got ice skates. With ice skates comes the needs for soakers to prevent the blades from rusting. I looked at them while we bought their skates, 9 dollars for one pair seemed a bit much especially when I factored in the cost I've already spent on skates for two kids. I looked at the guards again and decided I could make two pairs for far less than they wanted for one. The best part is my kids could decide the colors they wanted.

I knew I had supplies, old towels and other fabric that would be absorbent enough to get the water off the blades, and a bunch of decorative fabric or fleece for the outside of the soakers, not to mention elastic. My costs for this would be negligible because everything I was using we already had.

After studying the soakers at the store I had my plan on how exactly I could construct them. My daughter decided she only wanted a white towel inside and a bright blue fleece outside. This made it easy on me for my initial attempt. I cut rectangles from both the fleece and an old towel approximately 5" wide by 15" long. With wrong sides together I ran a zig zag stitch around the the outside leaving just enough to turn the fabrics right side out. Once turned the fabric I sewed a straight stitch about 1/2 inch in from the outer edge creating a casing for the elastic. I threaded the elastic through the casing stitched it down and sewed the opening close. The first pair was a success! The second pair was made much the same except I went with rounded corners orange fleece and a light blue towel.