After months and months of Hubby stepping on pins I finally figured out I needed a pin cushion that some how attaches to me. Yes, I have one but it just never seems to be any where near me when I need it, so I usually just end up putting them on the counter. I also saw something like this on the show Project Runway JR and the fact that I had stepped on two back to back that morning. These are fabulous and adorable, I cant belive I waited this long to make one.

Materials:

1. Scraps of fabric big enough to make 2 circles the size of what you want your cushion to be.
2. Fiberfill
3. Sewing Machine
4. Coordinating fabric
5. fabric Pencil
6. Something to trace your circle ( I used one of my measuring cups)
7. Sewing pins
8. Velcro
9. Fabric Scissors

*Please read all directions before starting tutorial.




1. Grab your scrap fabric and trace two circles of exactly the same size.

2. Cut those out.

3.Measure your wrist and cut out a rectangle piece of fabric as wide as your wrist. Make sure its wide enough so it will fit around your wrist comforably. Eye ball it to give it at least an inch an a half or two just in case.

4. Take both circles lay them on top of each other with the prints facing and pin right in the middle. Fold wrist fabric in half length wise and pin.

5. Yey! Finally the fun part! Go to your sewing machine and sew your circle ALMOST all the way around slowly, leave a few inches open so you can put the fiberfill in it. Don't judge the stitches, I did this in quite a hurry. this is the little ones anyways, she insisted I make her one also. Its just for play :)

6. Grab the rectangle fabric that is for your wrist and sew it on the long side. make sure it is wrong side out (print facing in).

7. Sew ONE short side close.

8. Turn both fabrics right side out using the spaces you left unsewn.

9. Fill your ball up with fiberfill.

10. Hand sew your the rest of your ball up.

11. When that is done, push your needle though the top middle of your ball.

12.Go back to the top middle and push it though again. Arrange your thread so that it is spread out throughout the ball so it looks like your typical pin cushion.

13. Take your Velcro and cut 2 out two pieces that fit on your wrist strap. Place Velcro on wrist wrap so it fits your wrist.

14 Sew the Velcro to wrist wrap on OPPOSITE sides.

15. Take your pin cushion and hand sew it on the strap. I did one with it on the side and one with it on the middle of the wrist wrap.

16. There you go, now you have a must have sewing accessorize that cost a bit over $5 or more at a craft store, but this is personalized by you and hand made by you.

The little one loves hers, she's been wearing it for days like a bracelet..lol

7:19 PM

We have a real issue in this house with stuffed animals, I'm sure anyone with kids can relate. They are seriously everywhere! I've been thinking for a long time in what to make so I can keep these little monsters somehow contained. I looked at the DIY cages, those bags that hold them that look like bean bags. I had an issue with all of them.

One I don't want to spend the money buying anything. I mean I figured I could somehow make something out of an item that I am no longer using.

Two. I am a beginner when it comes to sewing and my machine is also for beginners. I did not want to try to attempt that 5 pannel bean bag. It was exhausting just reading the directions.

It was sometime last week that I was cleaning. I looked in the Lil One's closet and wanted to scream. There were stuffed animals all over the floor, toys all over the floor and clothes I swear I just folded the day before.
Yeah, she's a messy girl. Considering she use to have a playroom and since we've moved, her toys now have to share a walk in closet with her clothes. She has no room for anything. Now this is after we donated more than half her big toys that she's grown out of.

Anyways back to the point. I decided I needed to make something right then to fix the problem. I looked in my fabric stash ( all donated by friends or old clothes/curtains/sheets/blankets that we no longer use) and found a strip of fleece that one of my girls donated to me ( thanks woman!). Yeah it looks like its for a boy, but seriously who cares. The Lil one did but I explained to her that it was a quick solution and I would replace it with "prettier" fabric when I found the right one.

Materials
1. Any fabric. Handles(6 of these) Body measures 46x32
2. Coordinating thread
3. Sewing machine
4. Fabric scissors

*Please read all directions before starting project.

1.Laid my fabric out, It came from a friend like this so I just eye balled it and measured it after I cut out the part that I wanted for the straps. Decide how big of a bag you want. Mine measured 46x32.

2. Take the smaller part or the fabric that you cut off and cut it into 3 long straps then cut those in half. Turn those wrong side out and Pin. Do this to all 6 of them.

3. Sew along the long part of the fabric. Make sure that the front of your fabric is on the inside. Then sew ONE end close.

4.Turn them right side out and they should look like so.

5. Take the "bag" part and turn it inside out, then sew the sides.

6. Take the top of your bag and pin it to an inch seam allowance, decide where you need the straps, pin all 6 straps to both sides of the bag, 3 on each side. Then sew the top of the bag all the way down.

7. When that is done go back to your straps and sew the top parts of it to the straps to the bag. Do this with each strap it will reinforce it.

8. Turn it inside out and tie it to wherever you need it, tie straps in a bow then your done!. Simple quick storage solution.

*This pic will show you exactly how big the bag is and how may stuffed animals it should fit, yes it's almost as big as she is.

9:17 AM

These are so easy to make and they are a great handmade gift. The Lil one and I made this for hubby and he loved it.

Materials:
1. Any fabric that you can truly see the needle work against. I used left over woven interface, not only was it available it reminded me of canvas.
2. What ever thread you want to use for it but I recommend needlework thread. Since my background was white, I used black thread.
3. Needle
4. Cross stitch hoop
5. A nice frame to put it in.
6. Fabric pencil or pen

* Please read all directions before starting project.

1. Take your fabric and cut it to the specifications of the frame that you intend on using.

2. Take your hand and trace the Vulcan Salute on it, and add " Live long and Prosper" with your writhing wherever you want it. I traced our little ones hand and had her write it since it was her gift to her dad.

3. Backstich over hand and motto. If you dont know how to backstitch watch this video. Its very simple.

4. Put it in the frame and give it as a gift or add it to your collection like hubby did his. Enjoy :)

11:44 AM

Ok so not last tutorial, but the tutorial before that I showed you how to print on fabric using your printer (this one).Today I'm going to show you how to apply that fabric to a burlap pillow, hell any pillow for that matter. And also of course to make a couch pillow.

Just so Ya'll know, now that I am writhing this at least a week after using my printer to print on burlap... Well never print on burlap. My printer was perfectly fine printing on fabric until it met burlap that day. Yeah... parts of burlap stayed in the printer and when I tried to use the printer again, it kept on getting a paper jam because the strings of burlap were jamming it up. Anyways to make a very long story short. It took me at least an 30 minutes to clean out my printer and another 30 for it to clean itself til it can actually print normal again. Do not use burlap on your printer. Normal fabric is fine, but do not use burlap ever.

Materials:
1. Graphic on fabric ( Ignore this if you just want to simply make a pillow)
2. Two pieces of fabric. One for the lining of the pillow, one for the pillow itself.
3. Fiberfill
4. Coordinating thread
5. Sewing machine
6. Sewing pins
7.Rotary cutter/ fabric scissors with mat
8. Acrylic ruler

*Please read whole tutorial before starting project.

1. Cut lining and main fabric how ever you big you want the pillow to be. Give it at least half and inch seam allowance. I simply used 15X15 for mine. * If you are working with burlap, don't use your fabric scissors to cut it, seriously unless you intend on buying new ones.

Now you should have 2 pieces for the lining and 2 pieces for the outside part of your pillow.

2. Take one piece of lining and put it on top of main fabric, line it up and pin it. This will be one side your pillow, Do the same with the other 2 pieces.

3. Take your piece of fabric that has the graphic on it, you know the one that almost broke my printer. Decide where you want it on your pillow and pin it.

4. Take all 3 pieces ( graphic, lining and top part of the pillow ) to your sewing machine and sew on the piece of fabric that has the graphic. You should be sewing it on to the main fabric and the lining, the outside part.

5.Once that's done Take all 4 pieces ( both sets of main fabric and lining) put them wrong side out ( the graphic should be on the inside) line them up together and use pins to pin them together.

6. Take it to your sewing machine and use your half and inch seam allowance and sew the edges but leave at least 5 inches open.

7. Take the 5 inch opening you left and turn pillow to the right side so that the graphic is on the outside part.

8. Take your fiberfill and fill in your pillow. Once that is done take the 5 inches fold in the seam allowence and press. Use a ladder stich to close it up. If you dont know how to do a ladder stich just go here at How to sew for the super simple tutorial.

There you go, not only do you know how to make a simple pillow, but you also know how to personalize it. Remember, do not use burlap on your printer.

1:37 PM

I made these 2 scarves for stocking stuffers for the little one. It maybe took me 20 minutes a piece if that. The pink one use to be part of an old flannel sheet and the multi colored one use to be a soft cotton pillow case. Take a look around, if you have clothing items that you no longer need and you have not had time to donate yet, see if you can use it for a project. By using materials that you already have, not only are you re-purposing/recycling, you are saving yourself money. The cost to you is just the thread and time, and its always fun to make something out of nothing.


I found the great tutorial at Sweetest Bug Bows Please share your projects and let me know what you made it out of. Have fun :)

6:18 AM

Materials:

Tardis blue fabric enough to make as big of a pillow as you want

Black Fabric for the middle of the bow tie

White Fabric to make your Tardis windows

Black Thread

Acrylic ruler

Rotary cutter or scissors

Fabric Pen

Pillow filler

Sewing Machine

* I used an old shirt of mine and an old shirt of our little ones and one black leg of some old yoga pants. There is no point in buying the fabric if you already have it. And I used an old pillow for the stuffing that none of us wanted to have anything to do with cause it was so lumpy and weird.

1. First I cut my blue shirt to make a square. I cut it from the bottom part o the arm pit to the other. If your just using normal fabric measure it to the square size that you want the pillow to be. Leave at least half an inch seam allowance.

*Since I used a shirt, both long sides were already sewn. I used my seam ripper and un-seemed one long side.

2. Cut 4 rectangles out of your white fabric.

3. Turn your 4 rectangles to the wrong side and use your fabric pen to draw your window panes for the Tardis.



4. Take one of your squares for your pillow (blue fabric), pin the windows where you want them. And do the same to the other square.

5. Sew your windows to your blue fabrics, sew over the lines of the window panes that you drew, so that the lines of the windows are prominent.

6. Take both squares, face windows together and pin, sew all sides ( with your seam allowance) together BUT leave at least 5 inches open so you can put the pillow stuffing in.

7. Stuff your pillow, not to full. You want to be able to put the band around it so it looks like a bow. Just like this pic below, but your windows should already be on it.

8. Grab your black fabric and measure a piece that will fit as a band all the way around the pillow length wise. Make sure its as wide as you want it to be.

9. Once you have your black fabric measured, pin the long sides together on the wrong side of the fabric.

10. Sew the long side together and turn it to the right side.

11.Take thumb and middle finger, squeeze pillow in the middle to make a bow (Scientific huh?).

12.Wrap black fabric around to measure what length of it you need.

13. Cut extra fabric if you have any, Fold fabric in half so that the seamed part is on top. Sew ends to close up strap. Twist fabric so that the seam is on the inside part.

14. Do the thumb and middle finger trick again, this will ensure that you get the cute little folds in front for your bow and generally part your pillow stuffing. Work black band around pillow by squeezing one edge. Keep other hand in the middle of the pillow so you know where to place your band and keep stuffing seperated.

15. Now take the 5 inches you left un sewed and iron so that the seam allowance is on the inside.

16. Sew 5 inches in a ladder stitch, If you do not know how to do this you can find a fabulously easy tutorial at How to Sew. And there you go, you got yourself a Tardis Bow tie pillow to remind you how much you adore The 11th doctor :)

Nope its not pro status, but its a pretty freakin neat idea I came up with. Imagine how it would look if a person that had way more experience in sewing made it. Have fun!!!

*I made Our little Ones friends some smaller ones for Christmas presents a few days after I made this Tardis one. The old rule is true, "Practice makes perfect." So I intend on trying this again till its almost perfect :)

8:00 AM