Easy Fleece Lined Scarf: Featuring Wholeport Fabric, Sponsor Post

 

Here is Part 2 of the projects I made using the Twill Cotton Bedding Fabric - Purple Childhood Dream 62"*23" I received from my blog sponsor WholePort.  You may remember that I used most of it to make two new pillowcases for my daughter. 

After making them I had a long thin strip of fabric leftover. The adorable little bus scene was on it and it was too cute to throw out but I wasn't sure how to utilize it.  Then I had light bulb moment and realized it was the perfect size for a scarf!

I already had a remnant of purple fleece picked up on clearance a few years ago in my craft supplies that was perfect for the other side of the scarf, so warm and snugly for winter!  My second grader waits outside for the bus to and from school so a fleece lined scarf will be very handy this winter.
The steps to making the scarf are so simple it's almost not worth the time to write them out but I'll jot down a few step.

• Cut two equally sized pieces of fabric, one out of fleece.
• Lay right sides together.
• Stitch on three sides: one short and both long sides of the fabrics.  Leave one short side open for turning.
• With one short side open, turn the fabrics right side out and press.
• Fold down the open side of the fabric approximately one inch and press
• Top stitch around the entire perimeter of the scarf, this will close your last side.
• Press again and admire your new scarf.

 

That's really all there is to it.  I'm not really an expert at sewing but even I can do a pretty good straight stitch now so this was the perfect beginner project for me to accomplish in about 30 minutes.  The scarf was easy enough to make, that they would make nice quick handmade gifts.

Simple Pillowcases: Featuring WholePort Fabric, Sponsor Post

It's time for my monthly blog sponsor post and sharing my latest projects using the complimentary supplies WholePort sent me.  This time I used this darling Twill Cotton Bedding Fabric - Purple Childhood Dream 62"*23".  It has beautiful soft muted colors and vintage style graphics.

There is a cute little town on it and a charming "handwritten" styled sentiment "Economy for our environment needs some power of muscles," by the girl on the bicycle.  Other girls on the print are busy doing things like walking the dog or out picnicking by the birds.  There's also a cute little bus picking up the children and filled with animal friends.  It's very sweetly patterned fabric.

My daughter has an infinite amount of confidence in her mama's sewing skills, that's not entirely warranted based on my previous output!  She got the notion that I should make her some new pillows out of the Purple Childhood Dream fabric.

Since, regardless of what my daughter thinks, I am a pretty inexperienced seamstress I did a very simple pillowcase.   It's basically just a rectangle of fabric folded in half, sewn up on two sides, with a basic hem on the third.  It almost seemed like a crime to use such pretty fabric on something so simple!  Nevertheless E loves her new pillowcases and feels they completely justify her belief that I could make them in the first place.

She has an iron daybed and her new extra pillows are perfect for lining the metal frame so that she won't roll into the hard metal during the night.  She really loves them and is now after me to get her some bedding that matches better, so we may be out looking for a new purple quilt soon!

I had just enough leftover fabric from making the pillowcases to make one more little project.  It's a quick and easy way to make a simple gift and I'll be sharing it on Friday.

#1 First Birthday T-Shirt

This summer, and especially last month to be specific, I haven't been as active with blogging as usual.  There was one big reason why, our little guy turned a year old!  I was busy working on getting things ready for his party and one of the projects I'm most proud of is this Number 1 t-shirt I made for him. 

I had planned to order him a customized embroidered shirt, like this, but didn't get around to it in time.  Then I kind of panicked and made a few half hearted attempts at finding a birthday shirt locally.  When that didn't pan out I decided to try and make my own.  You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a plain colored shirt in small sizes!  I finally had to resort to this royal blue one, which started out with a pocket, that I had to very carefully use a seam ripper to get rid of.

It's the first time I've tried doing a satin stitch and think it's a great first try.  I've come along way, the first time I tried applique I ended up resorting to puffy paint for the edges because I didn't like how the stitching was turning out.   Getting to know my machine a lot better since that first attempt and this eguide from YCMT really helped guide me through the process.  Now I can't wait to try more!

The adorable fabric is from the Riley Blake Fabric's Wheels line, which is impossible to find because it's been discontinued!  Originally I wanted to base LB's room off of it and make a simple quilt and some accessories.  But then I tried finding it, I looked everywhere, but could only locate remnants except for one larger piece in this design.  I sacrificed a little bit for the letter, because who knows if I'll ever get around to making the quilt!

Sharing this project at Craftionary.

Thumbprint Flower Brooch for Mother's Day

When I got the Riley Blake fabric from Oh My Crafts, one of the first things I wanted to make was a big shabby chic fabric flower.  I knew it I knew it would just be beautiful and I was so right!  I just finished this gorgeous flower brooch. With a very special thumbprint center, it makes an extra special Mother's Day present...for um, myself.  Ya, ya, I know...but if I don't make it I won't end up with a keepsake like this.  Cause you know my hubster may be a smarty pants and very sweet but I can't see him whipping out the sewing machine, not in this lifetime!

When I went to figure out how to make the flower, I didn't have to look any farther than A Crafty Soiree, the weekly linky I co host.  Melissa's burlap bows and flowers caught my eye, her flower was exactly the look I wanted.  I pretty much followed her directions for the basic flower so I won't recap here, not when you can go check out her very nicely done tutorial.  Just a note, the circles I used are 3 inches and 3.5 inches in diameter.

I did make a couple of changes.  I decided to outline the circles for my flowers with a thin tip pink Sharpie.  I thought this would give the circles the look of being "inked", a look I really like in scrapbooking.  I also sewed on the folded up circles to the brooch, to make them lay flatter.  This allows the thumbprint heart to be attached more easily.  I love seeing all the stitching, it gives it such cool artsy look.

The best part of this project is that it's a mother daughter creation and I wind up with a keepsake of my little girl ♥  To make the thumbprint heart:

1. Take some white Crayola Model Magic and stamp directly onto it with a pink ink pad until you like the shade. 
2. Mixed both together, transforming the color from white to pink. 
3. Rolled out onto wax paper.
4. Cut out a heart with a cookie cutter.
5. Ink thumb with a slightly darker shade of pink. 
6. Press thumb into the Crayola Model Magic twice to make a heart.
7. Let dry overnight or several days, it will harden but still be slightly squishy.
8. Gently peel heart off wax paper.
9. Add a thin coat of clear nail polish to protect your heart.
10. Glue to center of fabric flower brooch.

I also added some green leaves, that I hand cut and then stitched, poorly as you can see, to felt backing.  Don't worry if bad stitching happens to you too, just hide that part beneath the flower and no one need ever know.  Like how the stripes alternate and are both horizontal and vertical?  Yep, I actually did that on purpose, and was quite pleased by the funky look they give the brooch.  I was kinda worried it would look ridiculous, isn't it nice when things work out the first time?  Use some fabric glue to stick them on, hot glue if you're in a hurry, and a few stitches if you want it to look pretty.  Guess which way I went.

To finish up, since you've already got the hot glue gun out, just glue a pin backing onto the back of your flower, near to top so it hangs properly when worn.  Then enjoy a punch of color on your lapel, handbag, or wherever else you can think to pin it on!  Now you can wear your kids over your heart ♥

Fabric used for this project include:

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Main

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Stripes

Disclaimer: Riley Blake fabric provided by Oh My Crafts.

Here is where I like to SHARE :) including Tatertots and Jello, Tidy Mom, Young & Crafty, Serenity Now, Funky Junk Interiors,   

Creating with Oh My Crafts: Rolled Flower Clips

After making the baby gift set for my friend, with the fabric sent me by Oh My Crafts, I had a couple of long strips of Riley Blake Dainty Blossoms striped fabric scraps.  They seemed too small to do much with, but then I remembered all the rolled flowers I've seen various other bloggers do.  I did a quick search to find a how to and liked the one from My Sparkle.

Her's are finished a little more nicely than mine, but no one is going to see the bottom since it's hot glued onto an extra set of barrettes we already had on hand.  A  blue bead hot glued to the center give them a little bling and now ER has a new set of hair pretties.  I love the unfinished shabby chic look to the frayed fabric, so fabulous!

***I didn't notice that odd mark on the top barrette until I uploaded.  It's glare or a weird shadow because there isn't anything actually on the bead.  I checked :)

Disclaimer: Fabric used was provided by Oh My Crafts.

Creating with Oh My Crafts: Baby Gifts with Fat Quarters

My best friend from high school just had her first baby!  I had to make her a little handmade goodness to celebrate and had the most beautiful fat quarters from Oh My Crafts to use for them.  My little gift set includes a plush burp cloth, first initial onesie, and fabric covered brag book for all the photos sure to be taken of the first grandchild in both of their families.

Check out the Riley Blake fabric they sent me to work with, I love how they all work so well together!  It was so exciting to get the package because Riley Blake is my favorite fabric designer :)

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Main

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack, Stripes

Dainty Blossoms 3 Pack Solid

You can mix and match the smaller packs to get exactly what you need or you get the Dainty Blossoms Fat Quarter Bundle with all the patterns.

Here is a closer look at each of the items, the burp cloth shows more of the gorgeous colors.  This was my favorite print and I was so excited to use lots of it!  The reverse side is a thick textured dotted fabric I picked up locally to help make sure the burp cloth would be extra absorbent.

The onesie has an /e/ for their little one's first name, which I especially love since I have a great aunt with the same one.  It's the first time I've tried using my machine to stitch on the monogram and let's just say that if effort equals love, then this was made with a lot of love!  It's a little wonky but I know Melissa will appreciate it.  I tried to give it a random crafty look by going around a couple of times, it kinda worked but you can still see the oops on it.  Everything was ironed on nice and good so I had to work with what I had.  Normally I hand stitch the monogram and I think I'll go back to that method.

I used an inexpensive 1Up photo album bought on clearance, it was soooo ugly before! To play it safe I used all iron on for the fabric covered brag book.  This won't be sent through the wash so it should be fine, I used the heavy duty kind.  I'm going to package up everything and send it off with a gift card to the new parents.  I hope they love it!

We know of another baby girl coming soon and I also made a burp cloth with the green floral fabric to have ready for the birth.  I paired it cute wipes container, so easy and no sew!  The flowers, centers, and leaves are all ironed on.

Thank you to Oh My Crafts for sending me an awesome selection of their fabric to create with!  I have some more things planned and am excited to share them with you.  Look for how I used up some fabric scraps this Wednesday and get ready for another giveaway I'll be hosting for them real soon!

I am linking this project up :) I will add individual links when the baby is asleep, for now see my parties page for where!

Disclaimer: Riley Blake fabric provided by Oh My Crafts.

Dinosaur Burp Cloths

Remember the Diaper Wipes Case?  Using the same fabric set from that project and the tie onesie from yesterday, I sewed up some cute burp cloths.  It was an easier project than I expected, a great beginner project since it involves all straight stitches. 

I had planned on starting this project months ago, I've had the cloth diapers to use for it all washed and ready but then kind of lost my motivation.  Then a couple of weeks ago Ali from Away We Go posted the burp cloths she made on my weekly linky party A Crafty Soiree, link #27 with the tutorial on Petite Lemon.  All of a sudden I was in the mood for sewing again!

I decided to use jumbo rick rack, which was the only glitch, as I found it to be a little harder to sew on than straight edged ribbon would've been.  I still think they are super cute and now have a colorful stack of burp cloths, lovingly made for Baby Bob by me :)

Tie Onesie

I wasn't able to get quite as many projects done before the baby arrived, as I'd have liked, but did mange a few in the weeks before his birth.  I'm excited to finally share what I was up to with you!

Tie onesies are really popular right now, and I've seen some in cute boutiques that can cost as much as twenty-five dollars!  As much as I wanted one, I knew there had to be a way to make it myself for a lot less.  A quick Google search brought up the tutorial at Crap I've Made, a blog I've read many a time.  A PDF of the tie pattern is even provided, making it easy to make. 

I can't wait to see him in it, it'll be awhile before he grows into it.   You may have noticed it coordinates with the dinosaur wipes cover I also made for him.  I'll show you the burp cloths I also made with the fabric later this week. 

They are all made with a fat quarter pack, I bought with a 40% off coupon at Jo Ann Fabric's and Crafts.  There were five different coordinating fabrics to play around with and I'm enjoying picking projects to use it with.  I didn't intend on a dinosaur theme for baby, but I also got the cutest scrapbook collection from Little Yellow Bicycle called Babysaurus.  I plan to use that for a month by month first year album.

Dinosaur Diaper Wipes Cover

Sadly, I haven't been crafting as much as I'd like lately.  It's such a bummer, cause I have tons of ideas floating around in my head!  By the end of the day I'm usually too tired or too sore to do much but sit with my feet up.  I did manage to pick up some fat quarters of really cute dinosaur fabric from Joann's to play around with and practice my sewing skills on.  First up was a no sew project, to cover a portable wipes case, something I've always wanted to try doing.   It turned out pretty cute, now to summon up the energy to make a coordinating onesie and burp cloth!

Shared At: The Inspiration Board at Homework,

A Cupcake Poncho for My Sweetheart

Remember the easy children's fleece set I shared mid December? I mentioned at the time that I was working on a second project with the same yard of fleece. Here it is! A snuggly warm poncho with a fun pom pom trim. Do you love? ER certainly does. She's been wearing it around the house as an extra layer during play time.

I have a few scraps leftover and I'm trying to figure out a way to make a matching doll poncho. I think I'll have to take out the sewing machine for that, but this was certainly one no sew project that turned out well! The only hiccups along the way, were a few hot glue gun burns I got while attaching the trim but other than that, it was a simple and quick project.


Shared At: Sugar & Spice at 733, Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts, and Show & Tell at Blue Cricket Design, Craftomanica Monday at Craftomanic, Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do, Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple, Craft Catwalk at Embellishing Life, and

Memory Pillow

One of the handmade gifts I am proudest of is this Memory Photo Pillow I just finished for my mom. Don't laugh, but it's actually the most complicated project I've done to date. As some of my readers may remember, last March my maternal Grandma passed away. This is the last good generational photo we took with her, the previous Mother's Day. We're outside in the sunshine and she's wearing her favorite color, pink. I think it's the way she'd want us to remember her.

I printed it out on some computer fabric sheets along with a favorite quote. Then did a super simple design with four strips of beautiful blue fabric that I thought would coordinate well with my mom's great room.

Just so my mom would always know I made it, as if she'd forget:) I used some very special blinged out buttons. She knows how ER and I always like to add something "fancy" to our projects.


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Easy Children's Fleece Gift Set

A few weeks ago ER and I were at the fabric store, when she saw some cupcake patterned fleece. It was pretty cute and she really wanted me to make something out of it for her. Since we already have a no sew fleece blanket, it took me awhile to decide what to do with it. I'm surprised by how far one yard went. I was able to make two sets of projects, I'll share the first one today and the second as soon as I put the finishing touches on it. First I made her a no sew hat, directions from Crafty Mama: Makes 49 Fast, Fabulous, Foolproof (Baby & Toddler) Projects by Abby Pecoriello, @imacraftymama on Twitter. It's a seriously fun book, you should check it out! I had to adjust the measurements for ER's larger head so it's a bit looser than I'd like. The example is cuter, with a bigger fold at the bottom. Oh well, next time! ER has never been a fan of overly tight hats, so in her opinion it's perfect. She wore it around inside, the day I gave it to her. I love the pom pom on top.

I had a random strip of long fleece left over and it just made sense to turn it into a super simple no sew fleece scarf. ER was thrilled by that, she doesn't have one and unbeknownst to me, she REALLY wanted one. She exclaimed, "Oh good Mommy an outside BOA," when she saw it. I guess everything is related back to dress up fun for her:) The mittens were the only thing I had to turn the sewing machine on for. No pattern, I just traced around her hand onto paper, cut it out, and when I traced it onto the fleece I added space around the whole thing. They aren't the warmest or best for playing in the snow. What they are great for is easy slip on and off while we run multiple errands. ER is pretty stubborn about NOT wearing her mittens in the car, but she needs something on her hands while we run in and out of stores. These are quick to put on and off, unlike the heavy duty ones we also have.

You could make the whole set without your kiddo seeing it and use another set of hat and mittens for measurements. Then the whole thing could be kept a secret and wrapped up for under the tree. The hat is seriously cute and I will definitely make more for the littler kiddos we know.


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