Crafting for Others

With only 3 days until market day, things are a little crazy around here! But, I have found a few websites that allow you to put your crafting skills to good use. Craft Hope and the Red Scarf Project are just 2 ways that you can give back while still enjoying the process of creation. I've added links to both of these project sites to the blog. I would love to link to other similar sites, so if you know of or come across any, please let me know.

Looking forward to the market, but also can't wait until May 2 when I can get back to sewing for my girls and possibly getting started on a red scarf or two!

A Sweet and Simple Apron

A friend of mine asked for some helping making aprons as gifts. Once upon a really long time ago, I had found a "pattern" for making aprons from kitchen towels. I unearthed the resulting Christmas apron and set to work updating the design. The result of this new "pattern" is so simple and absolutely adorable. The directions are below. They are so easy to follow you will be cooking up a new apron in no time (the puns are a little over-the-top, but I'm feeling silly today).

1. Select a thin kitchen towel. The towel will hang horizontally, so choose a print that will look good hanging that way. The thinner the towel, the easier it will be to sew. Choose 1 or 1.5 inch wide grograin ribbon to coordinate with your towel.

2. Set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length and run a seam line down the long side of the towel, about 1/2 an inch from the edge (I ran mine just inside the hemmed edge).

3. Pull the top threads to gather the towel until it is between 16 and 18 inches in length. You can gather as much or as little as you want to fit your waist. I like mine to hit just outside my hips.

4. Cut a length of ribbon for the tie. It will take at least 60 inches, but you can cut it longer to fit if you would like. Pin the ribbon to the towel so that the towel is centered on the ribbon and a small ruffle of towel is visible above the ribbon (see pic).

5. Sew the ribbon and towel together along both the top and bottom edges of the ribbon. Sew the ends of the towel to the ribbon as well.

6. Use a lighter to heat seal the ends of the ribbon. Hold the end of the ribbon close to, but not touching the flame until you see the edges begin to fuse together.

You could also add pockets, ruffles or other trimmings to make your apron a unique creation.

Just Couldn't Wait...

My crochet hooks were getting really jealous! And after all that yearning for yarn, I just had to scratch the itch:)

I took Belle and Bee to the "projects" store, as Belle calls it. We had a specific mission...more ribbon for dresses. How we ended up with a new crochet pattern book in the cart is still a mystery! I guess Tasty Crochet by Rose Langlitz was just too appetizing.

So late last night, when my fingertips were just too sore to sew another stitch, I dusted off the hooks and made a couple of sweet little toys. A plump strawberry and a juicy carrot will make the perfect little gift sets with the onesies I have in the inventory box. A small silver lunch pail completes the meal. Next mission: A picnic set of foods perfect for a sunny afternoon tea party!

Looking Forward to Home-Spun Fun!

If you love to knit or crochet and are not a member of the Lion Brand website, it is a must! With your FREE membership you receive two catalogs per year and endless online patterns. My first catalog came today and it is packed with tons of new project ideas. I spent over an hour (when I should have been sewing for the upcoming market) perusing its pages, circling my favorites, and printing the "must-trys". On tap for my post-market days: baby blocks, tote bags, cowl scarves, baby cardis, a beautiful sampler blanket, and so much more. After the winter we had, I never thought I would be longing for cold weather again, but I love to crochet on frosty nights.

Be sure to check out www.lionbrand.com to collect project ideas of your own. And if anyone knows how to knit and wants to give lessons...that's on my to-do list too:)

Here's that throw I'm yearning to start...

Baby Tees

It's a baby tee bonanza at our house!

I have become so tired of seeing the same butterflies, flowers, and trucks on all the baby clothes in the world. I cannot bring myself to understand why babies always have to wear pastels. And I refuse to admit that there are only 5 colors acceptable for the under 1 crowd.

I've been working on baby tees all morning and thought I would share some pics and a pattern with you. I LOVE the veggie tees in the pic. They are bold, energetic, and fun!

The pattern is for a mushroom tee. Ours will feature red mushrooms with white spots, but you could use any fun color combo you like. The pattern includes a pic of the complete design as well as all the pieces you need to create it.

These tees are made using the same process that was posted earlier (see the skull and crossbones), so if you're in the mood...give it a shot, and please share some pics of your finished products!

Rainbow Cupcakes

So, I know this is a craft/sewing blog, but I couldn't resist sharing this little piece of art that Belle and I created today in honor of St. Patricks Day.

We found the idea for rainbow cucpakes in Family Fun magazine (if you have kids and don't have a subscription, you are really missing out!). I did make one simple adjustment to their version. The directions for the ones I made are below. Make, eat, ENJOY!

Make one box white or yellow cake mix according to package directions.

Divide the batter evenly into 6 small ziplock bags. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter into the bags. I put about 3 scoops in each bag.

Add food coloring to each bag to make red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple batters. Seal the bags and SQUISH to combine. (This was my variation, Family Fun suggests using 6 small bowls and stirring...but Belle thought this was way more fun!)

Snip the corner of the purple bag and squeeze a little batter into each cupcake wrapper. Repeat with blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

Bake according to package directions.

We didn't even need icing on these:) Next time we are planning to squeeze the batters into a bundt pan for a swirly cake creation!

Oh, and one tip...don't let your two year old eat them on the carpet...bad idea!

Success - Pillowcase Dresses are EASY!

After reading several versions of pillowcase dresses online, I combined directions from a few different patterns and set to work. I started the first one with an actual pillowcase. An adorable navy blue dress with aqua ribbons resulted (the matching bow also found its way into my market inventory).

After determining that these dresses were not only easy, but also fun to make I made my way to the fabric store. Nine yards of seersucker later, I was ready to tackle a stack of dresses.

This little yellow number is for Bee for this summer. I can guarantee that in the humid NC summer I will be jealous when she is enjoying what little breeze there is in this cutie:)

Look for my own version of the pattern, complete with step-by-step pics coming soon!