Fabric Bucket

With the fabric left over from my new trash can, I decided I wanted to make a fabric basket for my girls' Duplos.  They broke the drawers that they were in so they've needed a new home for a while now.  

I'm not going to tell you how I put it together since there a bazillion tutorials out there.  No need to reinvent the wheel.  I just threw it together with old jeans as the lining and braided rope as the handles.  I love how it turned out and it took less than an afternoon to sew up!  As a bonus it holds all of the Duplos and will be really hard for them to demolish.

Laundry Canister Upcycle

While I was doing some unexpected (for me) housekeeping for Camp, I found the coolest container.  My husband recently changed janitorial suppliers so now the laundry detergent comes in a fiber canister rather than a plastic bucket and there just happened to be one sitting empty in the laundry room.  I asked Michael if I could have it and he said I could.  I knew it would be perfect for a trash can for our home school room.  Yay for not having to buy one!

It was really easy to transform. I measured around the top to find out how long I needed the fabric. Then all I did was turn the edges over on my piece of fabric, so no raw edges would show and hot glued it around the bottom, then the edges running up the side and then again along the rim on the inside.  Super easy!  I think it would also look really fun done with rope or twine.

Now, I'm wanting to volunteer to do laundry for Camp to speed up getting another one for my sewing room!

Collar to Crown

I thought it would be fun if I told you how I created the darling crown I showed in the Dress Shirt Challenge post.  I didn't take pictures as I went, but it was super easy.

First seam rip the top portion of the collar (that part that folds down) off a dress shirt.  Next hem the raw edge.  Over lap the two short edges slightly and stitch them down.  Last, but not least take some buttons and sew them on as jewels.  I used the spare buttons from the dress shirt.

Crib Front to Fabric Display

Happy new year!  I know a lot of people resolve to be more organized, so I thought I would share how I keep part of my fabric hoard supply tamed (the rest is still very wild).

A while ago, I came up with a really fun way to display some of my fabric.  Shortly after we converted Laurel's crib to a toddler bed, I was trying to figure out what to do with the crib front so that it wouldn't just sit in the closet driving me crazy in the way.  Being a fabric hoarder I tend to have a problem finding a place for all my fabric and keeping it organized.

Somehow I realized I could kill two birds with one simple stone.  I leaned the crib front against the wall and hung a bunch of fabric on the rungs.  Super easy and free!  I thought it was rather clever and pretty.

I also folded some of my larger scraps and put them into a basket with my baker's twine and ric rac.

Grandma's Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Every year my grandma would make a bunch of yummy treats.  Now that her health isn't what it was, she rarely makes them any more, so I asked her if I could copy her recipes.  One of my favorites are her peanut butter balls.  Since I made a batch this year, I thought I would share it with you.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 sticks melted butter
• 12 oz package of chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients, except chocolate, in a mixer.

Form into small balls and chill in a fridge for an hour.

Melt chocolate chips.  Dip balls and place on waxed paper.

Keep chilled until served.

I also made two different fudges (milk chocolate and butterscotch) using the recipe on the back of the Kraft Marshmallow creme jar and some oreo truffles using the recipe from here.  For the truffles, I also made some adding some broken candy canes inside and on top to keep track of which ones they were.

Merry Christmas!

Ice Cream Kit

Thanks to camp cancelling that last week, we got to go to a wedding!  So I needed to come up with a wedding gift.  A while ago, I came across this great link on Pinterest and knew that it would be so fun to make and give.

Family Bites

After buying a bunch of fun ice cream toppings and repackaging everything but the bottles, I arranged them in a basket with some crinkled shredded paper filler.  I repackaged the waffle cones in some clear plastic wrapping paper and tied them with baker's twine.  The candy and nuts I put in resealable sandwich bags and rolled down the tops and taped them.

I thought about taking the labels off the hot fudge and cherries and put new ones on them and everything else like in the original pin, but I got too lazy.  But I did print some great gift tags I also found on Pinterest.

Eat Drink Chic

After printing them, I trimmed them a little and then used a glue stick to glue them to the inside of a pretty blank card.  You could also print on the blank side of some pretty paper or glue on scrapbook paper.  Once dry, I cut them out and used a hole punch for where the twine would go.

 I also used the other half of the blank card to write a note to the happy couple, folded it in half, put two holes on the open side, and tied it closed with more twine (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture).  The last thing I did was wrap in more plastic and tied it closed with more twine.

Before making a bow I slide the tag on.

I think it turned out pretty cute.  Hopefully, the bride and groom agree.

How to mend a knitted blanket - unconventional method

My youngest has a lovey that she refuses to sleep without.  It was the only blanket she would sleep with as a baby.  She is so possessive over it, she has fits if her sister even touches it.  It is almost impossible to even put it through the wash every now and then. When I saw a hole in her knitted blanket, our house went on Red Alert.  I was thinking "No!  I don't want to wean her off of that yet!  HELP!  What are we going to do?!"  It wasn't pretty.  

I called my mum and she didn't know what to do without looking at it and I'm hopeless with anything that involves yarn.  In desperation, I posted my plight on Facebook in hopes of some advice.  I got something, the mom of the friend who made the blanket saw it and asked Heather what to do and told me that I should take a yarn needle and sew the loose ends back together.  So I look at the hole.  All I see is a large spot and one tiny loose end.  I had no idea what I was supposed to do with the yarn needle.  I gave up.  Later, I was talking to my husband about the possible horror we were about to experience without it.  The brilliant guy he is suggested I put a patch on it.  In my head I was saying, but that isn't very pretty.  A light bulb moment...but a cute heart shaped one would be!  So that is what I did.

If you have a knitted or crocheted blanket that you desperately need mended and can't do a thing with yarn than this is for you.  

I simply cut out two hearts from some fuzzy pink fabric I had...

 zig-zagged around the edges...

 sandwiched the hole between the two hearts and sewed around the edges.  

Super easy and I think it turned out pretty cute.  Thank you, Michael, for the idea!  I'm sure by the time she gives this thing up it will have a few more.

(Sorry for the extra terrible pictures, I was trying to do it before Laurel noticed, so I was in a little bit of a hurry.)

Lumber Jill Dress Tutorial

I'm still going through that box of boy clothes.  There were a couple flannel shirts in there that had me stumped. I searched google and pinterest for hours looking for inspiration.  I gave up.  I don't know how the idea came to me, but it did.  I decided to turn one into a dress.  Empire waist with a gore skirt.  Besides, the box of boy clothes, I also have a ton of old jeans, so I wanted to use some for the skirt.  To go with the jeans and make it fun, girly, lumber jack like, I did french seams on the skirt.  

If you want to make one, follow along.

  (One disclaimer, mine doesn't actually fit the child it was intended for, so measure, measure, measure.  Please, make sure it has enough room so the arms can go into the sleeves.)

Take a shirt that fits your child or maybe is a little big.

Put it on your child to see where you would like it to end and the skirt to start.  Take it off of child and cute a little below that.  (This is where I should have gone lower so that there would have been more room to put it on.)  Seam rip sleeves, pockets (optional), and any other items on it that bother you (like that weird beige tape on the side seams).

Then take the sleeves and cut them into something that might turn into a cap sleeve.  I guess every time and usually, even if it isn't what I had in mind, they turn out cute.  I folded them at the top and cut in a gentle curve, keeping the the original sleeve seam/edge in tact.  I fold to keep both sides of the sleeve symmetrical.  Then I use the first one as a pattern for the second one.

Hem the sleeves.  I ruffled them along the seam side and then reattached to the shirt.

Next, comes the skirt.  I used a  tutorial I found to base my pattern piece off of.  It was really handy and took care of all the figuring I would of had to do on my own if I didn't find it.  Instead of 12 gores, I did six.  I did the bottom measurement double the waist and then added a two inch hem.  Since, I made it for a toddler with no hips I only worried about the waist measurement.  I also think it is better to err on the side of big.  If need be, you can always add elastic, gathers, or pleats to bring it in.

Here is another place you can learn from my experience and not do what I did.  I sewed the seams in an assembly line style doing each step of the french seam on all the seams at a time.  It is best to do the whole french seam before going to the next.  Working with a tube the size of a two year old's waist on a large sewing machine can be a pain.  So sew on a sheet, not a tube.  You will only have to work with a tube for the last seam.

Sew two gores wrong sides together and right sides facing out.  I know this seems backwards, but it is what you need to do.

Trim the seam allowance and sew right sides together 3/8th from the first seam along the fold.  This will encase the raw edges.

Next sew down the casing with the right side facing up 1/4 of an inch from the seam.  I like to pull the fabric tight while I sew it to make the seam look nicer.  I'm not sure if it helps or not, it just makes me feel better.  Make sure to sew the casings down on the same side of the stitch ditch all the way around.

Sew the shirt and skirt together.  Put on your child and decide where you want to hem and then hem. 

After I had it all done, I didn't like the back and the loop.

So I took one of the pockets I seam ripped, pleated it and sewed in over the loop.

So now you have a cute dress, worthy of any Lumber Jill, that hopefully fits.

 

I looks like it will fit Laurel, but she threw one of her worst tantrums ever when I tried to put it on her, thus the sad childless picture at the end.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to break down and seem rip the top and try again with another shirt, unfortunately it won't be the lovely red flannel.

Taking the Boy out of the Clothes

I have two girls.  Two extremely adorable girls.  I tend to be more girly girly when dressing them when given the chance.  Unfortunately, on our income I depend a lot on hand me downs to dress them, otherwise I have to make it.  So my uncle, who means well, kindly gives us hand me downs, but the sad part is his child is a boy.  A super hero, dinosaur wearing boy.  I'm new to the whole up-cycle movement.  I love the idea, but I have the worst time figuring out what to do on my own.  I rely on other people's tutorials for ideas and direction.  But no matter how hard or long I search Google, I can't find help in turning little boy clothes into something more feminine.  So I'm going to go it alone and try to document it here.  I don't promise anything will be amazing but it is a start.

Today, I took my first steps.  I didn't keep everything he gave me, just what I thought had any chance at maybe being passable as something a girl could wear.  Most of the shirts I kept are striped, but in very boy colors like orange.

The first shirt I tackled was browns, blue and white stripes.  A while ago I made a fabric flower based on the pattern from twirlybirdpatterns.  I didn't have any plans for it so I sewed it on like a corsage.  I should have taken before pictures, oh well.

 I'm not sure I like the fit, but I don't want to do much to change the size for now, so that she can wear it longer.

For the second shirt, I was inspired by the blog post from shwinandshwin.  I had a silk flower that I didn't know what to do with till this morning.  So I tore it apart and sewed it on with a button.  I think I like that one better.

Those are the only ones I've done so far and I still have a huge trash bag full of stuff to remedy.  If you have any tips or ideas, I would love to hear about them.

Have a lovely day!
Tonia