fta: Sew simple dress...your kiddo can do this

This is a very simple project that the kiddos enjoyed helping. If you are a beginner seamstrist, this is the project for you. 1. Using an existing dress that fits the child well, mark the top of the shoulders and the bottom of the hem. Add about four to five inches to the top of shoulder, this will be the top of the tie. Add two inches to the bottom of the dress, this will be where you cut. 2. Using the dress as a guide, add an inch on either side and cut the shape above. 3. Using a contrasting fabric cut two shapes to match the top of the dress stopping four inches below the armpit. 4. Hem the contrasting fabric. 5. Sewing good sides together sew one side of the dress to the contrasting fabric and repeat for the other side. 6. Turn the dress right side out, including the ties. 7. Sew the good sides of the dress together starting at the armpit and stopping at the bottom of each side. Note: do not sew the ties together. 8. Hem dress to desired length. Enjoy!

Homemade Valentines t-shirts for kiddos by kiddos

Let me first admit, these shirts are two stolen ideas put together. The first is from my extremely creative sister who made adorable name shirts with bias tape for the youngest twins first birthday. I just love the originality! The second is the painted doily idea from Ashley Ann Photography blog. I made a tote bag from her tutorial that has quickly become my favorite from her instructions. Thanks Paige and Ashley Anne!

With that said, I feel ready to start with some Valentine's Day shirts:

1. Apply a little spray adhesive to the back of the doily and stick it to the shirt. Let the kiddos sponge on the paint. No matter how many time I let them know the center didn't have to be covered, they insisted in painting the whole thing. :) My kiddos used a sponge brush, but any type of brush would do the job.  Put a little cardboard in the shirt to ensure the paint stays only on the front side.

Since boy's don't do doilys we modified the project for the only male of our trio. Using construction paper we cut out hearts and applied spray glue to the bottom side and set him loose.

2. Peel the doily off (the shirt looked like this). As you can tell there are a few imperfections around the edge, but I think it just adds to the childish charm.

Below was my first attempt at he Paige bias tape letters. This time the mistake didn't add so much charm. :) Turns out I should have gotten a tutorial from the creator before I tried to copy. :) Try number two was much better, but still look forward to having Paige show me a few tricks I think she has up her sleeve :)

1. Using tailor's chalk draw the letter or name you plan to add.
2. Fold bias tape in half (or purchase thin bias tape) and slowly stitch the tape over the chalk using a straight stitch.

The boy's shirt is read to wear after painting. If you want to stick with paint only for the girl's shirts, use the construction paper method to add a heart in the middle of the doily once it is dry.

I can't wait to see all the variations you come up with. Please leave me a comment with a link to any new creations your family enjoyed making. :) Happy stenciling, sewing, and Valentine's Day.

homemade thank you gift for under $10

We were given a very special gift a few months ago, time alone! My sister, brother-in-law, and parents all joined forces to keep our kids while we went away for the weekend. Well for those of you who know us well will remember, that weekend away is why we have our youngest twins. :)

Since gratitude is one of my favorite emotions to express, I savor working on little thank you gifts. This one was for my sister. It's just a simple bag from your local craft store, a little love, inspiration, needle and thread.

After I delivered the bag, my sister added a big button to keep the front closed, which made it even cuter. The inspiration came from this book:

It is a fun, easy read that will have you looking for places to stitch. :) Enjoy!

Easy sewing for little ones: Chef Hats

Chef hats seem to make every kiddo kitchen creation a culinary masterpiece. :) My trio had outgrown their old hats and I was so excited to make them new ones. They took about an hour each. Very easy, very fun sewing! Not a great project for kiddos to sew because of the gathering, but a fun one to surprise them with. :)

Amongst all the Christmas gifts, I was thankful that these homemade creations were a favorite.

The tutorial at Skip to my Lou is so great that I am not going to try to recreate the wheel. I did mine a little differently, but I love her easy to follow directions. I hope you enjoy!

Since the aprons weren't quite finished, I am aiming to have them as a Valentine's Day gift. :)

A homemade picture book for baby...

I can't wait to surprise my dear friend with this little book. I grabbed all the pictures off her blog so it should be a complete surprise.

The last page reminds little Ryan that we made it just for him. :)

Oh, my youngest boys have a birthday soon. I can't wait to get started on their book! I am already thinking about the pictures that I want to include. :)

Homemade for baby...

It's almost like having your whole house filled with that just bathed baby smell. When I start stitching baby gifts, I just can't help but smile. These little bibs have been a favorite of mine as of late. So useful, so easy, so cute, so much fun to sew. :)

Sewing for baby: quick and easy gift idea

Sometimes I just feel ancient. Like when I try on a jeans and my behind starts before the jeans do or a shirt with an empire waist line that hits me across the bust. It's just that things aren't where they used to be. LOL Oh, but I am thankful for every wrinkle and sag that time has blessed me with. Swing for a new mom get me feeling a bit on the antique side too. It was almost nine years ago that I first became a mom. Whoa, where does time go?

With all that aside is there anything more fun than sewing for a newborn? Oh, to think of the little fingers and toes wrapped in the blanket or the bib just below that sweet face. Oh, do you feel a little "Awe" coming on? :) Well, I had the pleasure of making this gift for a sweet baby that was welcome into the world this weekend.

My favorite baby gift is this little square blanket/night-night. I love watching little ones snuggle with it, and it is just the perfect size to cover baby in the carrier. A little "baby bungee" makes a good partner. I haven't used one, but it is on my to do list for my youngest twins. It clips to the blanket/toy on one side and the stroller/carseat with the other. Genius! Who thinks of such great things that are so simple? No loosing blanket/toy or even dropping it on the germy floor. The little bib completes the set. Cost is about $8 give or take and time invested was about 1.5 hours. But wait, the packaging is just as fun as the sewing.

I used the bag tag design from a few weeks ago for the bag. With a few quick tweaks, I had the design for the bag and a card. Hit print and use glue stick on the plain gift bag... instant custom packaging. Cost was under $1 and time invested was less than 15 minutes.

I have been loving making these little bibs! They are so quick and easy that I made a few for my twins while I had the material out. :) This time I added a layer of batting in the middle and I love the soft look this time.

Happy Baby Sewing!

birthday celebration..

Have you ever had an idea that just kept snowballing? Of course you have, you start out heading down one road and before you know it you've created a town. :) Well, this project started out simple enough. My trio of five year olds were headed to a birthday party.

I wanted to make something special for the birthday girl. Truth be told it may have been a bit nervousness about a new environment. This was a little girl that the kiddos met at at co-op and I hadn't even met her mom. So I put together this sweet little purse.

Well, since I already had the material out I though the girls would enjoy having a matching bags. And as luck would have it, I also had enough extra fabric that needed to become skirts. I just love the little bird. It's made of blue felt, with a little orange eye. The legs are done with a wide zig zag stitch. The details are always so much fun. I used a coordinating thread this time and stitched all the projects with a brown tread.

When I saw this picture of my sweet daughter it almost brought tears to my eyes. They do grow quickly. But seriously, is it just me or could my five year old pass for a 10 year old in this picture?

I digress, since I had an outfit

(and matching bags) for the girls I felt compelled to outfit my son too.

What better than a little "problem child" bow tie shirt. LOL (picture fromhttp://breskiblogs.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/problemchild.jpg)

I drew the line on making him a purse, maybe some inequality is good.

As I was wrapping up this project, these little scraps screamed out to become bibs. Oh, the twins look so cute in them!

And there you have it the formation of a sewing snowball.

packing up my little monsters: easy felt backpacks

Oh, that mixed feeling of seeing your baby walk into a classroom. The wondering of what happens when mama is not around, and the hope that every second is loved more than the one before. (sigh)

So with five of the oldest kiddos entering a classroom one day a week (co-op). I just had to send my three five year olds in with a little buddy on their back. I would have sent all five, but 60% complete isn't bad. :)

Felt is such an easy fabric to sew on! The kiddos loved cutting and designing the oh so scary faces of their monsters and picking out just the right buttons. These are the easy steps I followed:

1. Iron wonder under on white, black, and pink felt. A 4X5 square of each should be plenty.

2. Cut one felt rectangle about three times as long and one inch wider than your desired backpack. Cut one rectangle about 5 inches wide and as long as 2 straps + 14 inches for the tie if you are making a back pack. If you are making a messenger bag just make your 5 in wide rectangle as long as the desired strap.

3. If you  would like a fabric lining, cut a copy of your big rectangle out of fabric.

4. Let the kiddos design a very scary face and pick just the right buttons.

5. Iron the desired design on the front & zig zag with white thread around each piece. Hand stitch the button on in just the right place.

6. Stitch the sides of the bag (I like to use a zig zag). If you are adding a liner sew the sides of the liner too, but make sure the good sides of the fabric end up facing each other and the seems are on the outside. 

7.Then fold the strap in half and sew. After turning the strap right side out, zig zag down the center. 

8. Add the strap. I like the messenger bag style as well as the backpack. I have a fixed size strap on the messenger bag, but the backpacks tie in order to adjust the straps.

9. Sew the straps and liner (if you are using one) in.10. Find a kiddo to try it on and watch their face light up. My son was so excited to try to scare his friends at school. :) His sweet teacher did act very scared which made his day. :)

Happy scaring to you and your little monsters.

dog gone

Dog gone...these appliques are so much fun. 

There are just a few outfits that I really love, but this little dog has stolen my heart. I have been counting down the days to seeing the twins in their new outfits. They are old onesies that the applique gave a new life. Remember how simple appliques are to make?

 The same pattern on different items makes an adorable set for you or gift for a friend.

semi-homemade: how to applique & make baby pants

Once you start doing these appliques you won't be able to walk around your house without seeing something in "need" of enhancement. :) Remember the tie shirt? That is one of my favorite appliques. These directions start with the legs to some pants that I made into shorts for my seven year old son. You can use any material but old pant legs are really easy to make into baby pants so we will walk through both.

For the pants:

1). Once the legs are cut off, measure the length of your desired pants and add one inch ( for the waist band).

 2) Cut the pants so that you have a "U" shape cut out when they are side by side. Turn the fabric good sides together and sew together.  Turn the pants right side out and fold down the top to create a waist band. You can add a little elastic or a flap of velcro. So easy and (kinda) homemade. :)

For the applique:

1) With the scraps (or any fabric you would like to use), iron on wonderunder. Ask for it at the fabric store if you haven't used it before. Trace your design (backwards) on the paperbacking and cut out your design. For a world of great ideas try etsy. 

2.) Remove the paperbacking and iron it to your shirt. Stitch around the design, you can use a zig zag like I did for this one or a straight stitch like I did on the tie shirt.

We are headed to VBS this week and just hate to pass up an opportunity to dress for a theme.  So the oldest boys and I went to a local thrift shop and found these camo pants for $4.  I stopped by a craft store and picked up the thread, velcro, and onesies for $12. Then grabbed a t-shirt from Jo Jo's closet. $14 spent, and we get to enjoy two matching onesies with a coordinating big brother t-shirt, one pair of shorts, and one pair of baby pants. Not bad!

a pillow for the toothless...

Another front tooth lost, and this time we were ready with this cute little tooth pillow. The center of the "a" has a little pocket. Safely tucked in, the little tooth waits to be joined by a dollar tonight.

The pillow is very easy to make:

1. Cut two squares of fabric and one square of stabilizer (available at most fabric stores) the size of your desired pillow
2. Iron on "wonder under" (available at most fabric stores) on to your accent/letter fabric.
3. Trace or draw you letter onto your fabric and cut it out.
4. Using fabric to match the front of your pillow (be aware of your pattern so it matches) about .5 inches wider than the opening in your letter and double the height +.5 inches of your desired pocket
5. Place the pocket on your pillow fabric and lay the letter over ensuring the pocket in under  the letter and trim as necessary. You want the pocket edges to be anchored under the letter.
6. Iron the letter in place which will temporally hold the pocket in place too.
7. Place the stabilizer on the back side of the front of the pillow, and use a zig zag stitch around the letter.
8. Place the good sides of your pillow together and stitch around the edges leaving an opening to add stuffing.
9. Stuff the pillow. I like recycling old pillows that are ready to be replaced by cutting them opening and using the stuffing.
10. Stitch the opening with a straight stich and start enjoying your pillow.Since there are only so many teeth to be lost, the day to day use for this pillow will be aromatherapy. We will place drop or two of lavender on a cotton ball tucked in the pocket and enjoy the benefits of essential oils.

Sew simple pillow...your kiddo can do this

I found four placemats for $3.00 and couldn't wait to see them on my girl's bed. No, we don't set the table on our kiddo's bed, we turned them into pillows. I made the first two and my oldest made the  third one. It took about 10-15 minutes and it couldn't be simpler! Using a seam ripper to take a few of the side stitches out. We recycle old pillows by re-using the stuffing for new projects. Once the pillow is stuffed hand stitch (like we did) or machine sew a few stitches to close the hole. Enjoy!

Note: not every placemat will work for this craft, just make sure you look at before you start taking it apart. :)

Nighttime reading

We just got new beds for the trio. They were simple beds from Ikea, but I just love the way they turned out once I added a book sling. Now, as they are tucked in tight each night they have a library at their fingertips.  The bookshelf is very easy to make, don't nudge your hubby. LOL Girls can use tools too! I used 1X4 inch pine for the sides and 5/8 dowels for the middle. Start by cutting the 1X4 pine to the desired height of your bookshelf. I cut a curve on the top to make it look pretty. :) A jigsaw works well and is very easy to use. Cut two 1X4 brace pieces the width of your desired bookshelf minus the width of your sidepieces. (48.5-1.5inches in my bookshelf). Cut your 2 dowels to the desired width of your bookshelf - one width of your side piece. (48.5-.75 inches in my bookshelf)

The second step is easy. Sand all of your 1X4 pine pieces. The smoother your wood, the less splinters in little hands. Take your time and you will appreciate the results.

The next step creates a place for the dowels to fit into your side pieces. Using a drill bit(pictured below) the size of your dowels drill half way thru the side piece. You decide the location of the the holes. The sling will fit onto the dowels to hold the books in a later step.

Simply nail or screw the pieces together. Pre-drill the holes for all of the screws that you are using.  A carpenter's square helps to keep the shelf square. Use screws on at least one side of the shelf so it can be taken apart to add the sling and later storage.

A coat of paint has the frame ready to install. The sling is very easy. One piece of fabric two inches wider than your desired sling and a length equal to twice the sling width plus 12 inches. Sew two loops or pockets for the dowels to fit inside. Make sure the top pocket is long enough to ensure the good side of the fabric shows on the front side. Happy reading!!