Sunday, December 16, 2012

DIY Reading Pillows

I know, I know. I really need to get to the "Baked" part of this blog. Soon enough. It is almost Christmas :)
But I had to get on this little project right away since it was requested by Tuesday. At my son's daycare, we have the option to let the kids give their class a gift for Christmas. On their wish list was new reading pillows for the floor. Being the awesome husband he is, my husband chose this for me, knowing I will take any excuse to sew something.


He was a little disappointed that I used Chevron fabric. I tried explaining that craft stores don't have kid friendly patterns in duck cloth or home decor fabric. I wanted something that would stand up to the tornado that is a toddler AND be cute. So it is what it is. Plus I LOVE chevrons, even if it's the oldest trend ever.


There's my little guy testing them out for me. Makes them even cuter in my humble opinion!

These are really easy to make. I just used this tutorial from Six Sisters' Stuff. When I say easy, I mean after I really messed up the first one, then got the hang of things. In full disclosure, I have the ability to mess up the simplest of projects. I was using a 20 x 20 size pillow insert but reading the directions for the 16 inchers they were making and got numbers crossed somewhere. Ended up with a 16 x 20 cover for my pillow. I went back to Hobby Lobby and traded the 20's for 18's so I could fix the pillowcase, but then ended up making friends with my seam ripper again when I forgot to sew it right side in. Just keeping it real. After that mess, the next two were a breeze :)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Toddler Proof Tea Towels


If you have a toddler, you know why these are awesome. I don't know about you, but mine likes to grab whatever he can and put it in a place it doesn't belong. Towels hanging from the oven are an easy target for the little munchkin. But these aren't for me. After picking up too many towels from the floor, I've given up and gotten used to not hanging towels from the oven anymore. I'm gifting these to people with grandchildren. They aren't always prepared for the tornado that is a 2 year old, so I'm doing my part to help out :)

I got the idea/tutorial for this from a lovely Crafty Sewing Mama. It's the second post on the second page. I seriously heart that group. Just being part of it makes me feel like I can consider myself crafty, I get lots of inspiration, and they are always so willing to help when I'm frustrated and ready to throw my machine out the window. My Singer should thank them.


This is what it looks like when you unfold the towel after sewing on your fabric strips. Then, just thread your ribbon through and voila! Easy Peasy. You can be done there, but as suggested, I sewed the ribbon to the ends of the fabric so I wouldn't lose it in the wash. Smart!



I liked them so much, I made another set for gifting. I love how they turned out, so it looks like I'll need to make another set for me :) If I had to do it again, I'd use a little extra ribbon. I used a bit too much on the red ones and can make bigger bows there. You can't see the bows as well on the yellow. I also might sew the ribbon to the middle instead of the ends so that I have more options for how much I bunch them. Everyone needs more bunching options, no?

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Skirting the Issue

Well, I had hoped to come up with this amazing first post that showed off my beautiful new craft room. A craft room! My very own place to shut the door and sew away and pretend I'm 60. As it turns out, once I got the space, my motivation to do anything in there other than sewing was pretty low. I painted the room 4 months ago and have done nothing else. It'll get there. For now, I'll keep the first post short and sweet.

While I was reading one of my favorite sewing blogs, I saw a post about Skirting the Issue and I knew I had to participate. You can read more about it here, but basically the project is about getting as many handmade skirts as possible donated to girls in foster care. A young girl going through a really tough time gets a skirt and I get time in my sewing room. It was a no brainer for me!

I used this pattern to make 2 cute skirts. I was so happy with it because I'm slow at sewing and they came together really quickly. 



So there they are! If you have a sewing machine and a few hours to spare, I would highly suggest you participate. Right now, Simple Simon & Co. has tons of cute skirt tutorials up. Even if you haven't sewn in years, dust off that machine and brush up on those skills. It's all straight lines. You CAN do it!

I know I promised to keep it short, but I would be insane not to update this and add my inspiration. I've put these skirts on Facebook and had people tell me how awesome it is and it just makes me think of how much more I could be doing. Check out my inspiration. Heidi does all this with four (yes I said four) young men running around the house. In her "spare time" she has another blog too. She's taught me a lot about sewing, charitable giving and life in general. It seems odd to say this about someone barely older than me, but I want to be just like her when I grow up.