Scary Skull Skirt

A while back I made a mountain of skirts for Belle. I had the worst trouble keeping this one secret! Luv it, luv it, luv it:)

Find the how-to details here Basic Skirt Tutorial.

Halloween Crayons - An Oldie But a Goodie

I have a thing about old crayons...I don't like them. Once the papers get soiled, the tips are worn flat, and pieces start to break off, I just can't use them. Wasteful...I know, but I have come up with a three-part solution:

1. Ignore - just choose not to see the broken, dirty, used up crayons in the box...use all the ones that still look pretty.

2. Retire - Once they can no longer be ignored, hide them away. I keep a bag of old crayons in the bottom drawer of our art supply cabinet. They just hang out waiting for their chance to be reclaimed, given a face lift, made new again.

3. Recreate - Turn those old dirty stubs into fabulous, new, designer crayons.


I bought this mold at our local craft store. It was about $10, but we will be able to use it for baking as well as crafting, so it was worth the splurge. You could probably get these in the after holiday sales if you're smarter than me, but I couldn't wait that long:)

Belle and I spent a rainy afternoon peeling and breaking those old crayons. We sorted them by colors and dropped them into the mold. I wasn't so sure about the blue cat, but she insisted and she was right...non-traditional, but pretty fantastic!

Pop the pan into the oven on 200 degrees. Be sure to turn on your oven light so your little one/s can watch them ooze! Pull them out when they are 99% melted. If you let them become totally liquidy then the pigment and wax will separate some and you will end up with a colorless wax layer on the back of each crayon. I let ours go too long, we have colorless wax, it's not a big deal except that only the front side of the crayon colors well, so it can be a little frustrating for small hands. Oh well!

This project has been around a while...nothing new here, but cute and fun none the less! Enjoy:)

IT'S OCTOBER!!!!

I love fall and the month of October in particular!

I'm a jeans and boots kind of gal, so those first cool nights of fall make me giddy. I'm the one pulling out sweaters when it's still 80+ degrees, because fall just isn't long enough in the South. And the PUMPKINS!!! Need I say more? I mean, what's not to love about a chubby, orange, gourd with a lop-sided grin and crooked eyes! Come on, you know the mere thought of it is making you smile:)

So in honor of my favorite month of the year, I'm going to be sharing as many fall-themed projects, recipes, and inspirations as possible. I'd love to tell you that I will have something new for you every day, but let's be realistic...have you met my children??? Anyway, I'll do my best and have a ton of fun along the way.

Have any great fall projects of your own??? Link them to this post...I'm always looking for new ideas!

WOW!

It's been a crazy few weeks of birthday parties, KCWC, Celebrate Yellow (all of which are still on the cutting table thanks to KCWC:), custom orders, and beach trips!

Check out Belle + Bee here http://www.aboveallfabric.com/blog/?p=3943 and here http://crafterhours.blogspot.com/2010/09/check-out-what-you-made.html. And please vote for Baby Stego!!!

Making Do Monday - Shell Collecting Bag

First, let me apologize for skipping Making Do Monday last week. This is where I was...

Watching this...

And more of this...

And some of this...
So once again, I'm sorry...so sorry!

But, at least I road-tested this week's project:)

Belle has a thing for bags...and HOARDING! So the night before we left for the beach, I thought she might like a new vessel for collecting shells. I raided the stash as usual and here's a quick how-to for a Shell Collecting Bag (or rock/leaf/flower/stick/gum wrapper/fabric scrap/ collecting...we've done it ALL!).

Finished Bag measures approximately 10"x12".

You will need:

Fabric Scraps

Cotton Quilt Batting Scraps

All seam allowances are 1/2" unless otherwise noted.

1. Cut pieces.

Outside: Cut two 10.5"x9.5" (top sections-Fabric A). Cut two 10.5"x3.5" (bottom sections -Fabric B).

Batting: Cut two 10.5"x13"

Inside: Cut two 10.5"x13.5" (Fabric C)

2. Make Outside Panels: Assemble one panel at a time. Sew one piece of Fabric A to one piece of Fabric B along 10.5" side. Press open. Top stitch close to seam. Place panel on one piece of batting. Be sure to line panel up with bottom edge of batting. Machine quilt in desired pattern. I simply stitched diagonal lines zigzagging back and forth across the panels. Repeat for second panel.

3. Assemble Outside: Place two panels right sides together and stitch down both sides and across bottom. Flatten corners and sew across to "box" the bottom of the bag. Clip excess fabric out of corner. IF YOU'VE NEVER "BOXED" THE CORNERS OF A BAG, YOU CAN SKIP THIS STEP...OR WAIT FOR A BOXED CORNER TUTORIAL COMING LATER THIS WEEK!

4. Assemble inside: Place two Fabric C panels right sides together. Sew down both sides and across bottom. Flatten corners and sew across to "box" the bottom. Be sure to sew at same distance from corner as you did for the outside. Clip excess.

5. Create straps: Cut two 3" wide LONG strips (I used remnants from my window treatments:). Drape these across your child (or yourself if you are making a bag for you) and cut them to the desired length. I left mine pretty long so the bag could grow with Belle. Place the strips right sides together and sew down both of the long edges. Turn strap right side out and press. Top stitch both edges.

6. Attach Strap: Place strap on one side of outer part of bag with right sides together and sew using 1/4" seam allowance. Flip strap to other side and repeat. If you pick the bag up by the handle you should be able to see what it will look like when it is finished. Be sure your strap isn't twisted!!!

7.. Assemble bag: Turn outer bag right side out and slip down inside inner bag. Right sides should be facing each other. Line up end seams and pin bags together all around top edge. Be sure strap is completely tucked down in between the layers. Sew around the edge leaving a 3" opening for turning. Turn bag right side out and stuff liner down inside outer bag. The liner is slightly taller than the outer bag so it should form a pretty little border almost like quilt binding around the top. Press a crease into this top edge. Fold the strap up into place and press well. Top stitch at top and bottom edges of liner border. You will be top stitching over the outside of your strap securing it in place.

DONE! Now go collect something:)

KCWC - Project #3

Wait! What happened to Project #2???

No you haven't missed anything, but a second Pintuck Sweatshirt in a lovely shade of orchid just didn't seem worthy of its own post, no matter how sweet the fabric color. So, we've moved on...

Remember those stacks of colorful squares that opened KCWC for me??? Well, here they are!

This was a total experiment! There are so many things here that I've never tried before.

1. Quilt as you go: I joined up with other quilters over here alamodefabric.blogspot.com for the second round of Quilt As You Go Challenge. Never have I ever, but it looked like fun. And since we have absolutely NO need for yet another quilt in this house I really wanted to do something that would be more practical.

2. Quilted Clothing: When I started quilting in the 80's, quilted clothing was not so lovely:) And for the last 20+ years it has left a bad taste in my mouth. But since Belle prefers to wear skirts every single day, I figured I had better start figuring out some warmer versions.

3. Machine Quilting: I'm a purist! Quilts are pieced by hand, quilted by hand, and bound by hand. Now don't get me wrong, I have occassionally pieced on the machine when I was working on a time-sensitive project....but QUILT on the machine...NEVER! But since this isn't actually a quilt, I don't feel as much guilt about breaking with tradition here.

So how'd I do it???

1. Quilt as you go blocks: I created a stack of blocks using the method described here http://sewtakeahike.typepad.com/sewtakeahike/my-patterns-and-tutorials.html

2. Then I stitched them all together to form the main panel of the skirt.

3. Quilt it - The skirt was already round, so this was a bit trickier, but still not too bad.

4. Bind the bottom edge - just like you bind a quilt.

5. Create a waistband - I made the wasitband separately then stitched it on...afterwards, I wished that I had done the extra seam allowance math to put in a French seam...then the skirt would have been totally reversible, but alas, I didn't, so I couldn't, so it isn't.

DONE!

Definitely NOT a project I would ever undertake again, but fun and interesting and worth the effort ONCE:) Will I ever "quilt as I go" again??? Probably! It's a great technique for small projects or a speedy method for large projects, as long as I can get past the machine-made aspect of the whole thing:)

Two days of KCWC still to come...lots of ideas, lots of new fabric choices, not enough hours in the day:) Wish me luck!

KCWC - Project #1

I started the Kids' Clothing Week Challenge with a doosy of a project. After my first night's hour of work, I had...well...a stack of colorful squares:( More on that later...

So for day 2 I decided to tackle something that could actually be finished in an hour.

A while back I purchased several patterns from heidiandfinn.etsy.com including this pintuck sweater pattern http://www.etsy.com/listing/56948458/pintuck-sweater-tunic-pattern-and. I have been collecting fleece sweatshirt material ever since, but had yet to manage to even get one cut out. So for KCWC Day 2 I pulled it all out and decided to make a winter top for Belle (we're headed to Niagra in November, so warm clothes are much more crucial to us than normal at this time of year).

Let me say that I LOVE Heidi and Finn patterns. They are typically fairly simple for someone with basic sewing knowledge, but the results have that little something extra that makes them stand out in your child's wardrobe. And this pattern definitely lived up to my expectations and then some:)

In just under and hour I was able to put this cutey together...and plan for about a gazillion more!!!

Oh, and hopefully I'll actually get that first project finished this week too:)