Sew Sewable - Pillowcase dress!

I did it!

I took my mom's sewing machine out of the basement and figured it out with the help of a friend.
First, I hemmed a square of fabric. Woo hoo

...and then four pillows for the deck

and next? the pillowcase dress.

New to sewing? This is super super easy and took me only about an hour

(not counting the time that it took Penny to choose the fabric that she wanted).

(above, Penny "posing,"a tutorial on how to make her hair bow can be found here.)


I found many, many links for the tutorial but this one from the Prudent Baby blog was my favorite. Here's another one that was great.

And here is Penny, modeling for me. She is two and can't stay still for anything.

We bought one yard of fabric that will easily make two dresses with the fabric left over. Possibly enough for two little hair bows. Can you see the little cakes and ice cream cones on the fabric? I bought fabric because it was 100% cuter than a pillowcase. I mean, all of the pillowcases we have lying around the house aren't exactly dress material. Drool stains on a dress are SO not in style.

Maybe for the next one (her little sister's, of course!), I'll try some kind of trim on the bottom. Exciting!

Now, onto the next sewing project. Any great suggestions?

I'm thinking about buying this book, 1,2,3 Sew. Has anyone read it?

-Sarah

Fabric Flower Keychain Tutorial

i saw a ridiculously cute fabric flower keychain in a boutique

 (with an equally ridiculously cute handmade purse), 

both of which i knew i couldn't afford but they gave me inspiration to make my own

well, the keychain at least, i leave the amazing sewing skills to my sister:).

i looked around for tutorials on how to braid fabric with more than 3 strands and this tutorial by make it and love it was the easiest one for me to comprehend and my mind is racing with more braid projects now. 

i went through my scraps and found the ends of my lovely pants that were too short for me so I made capris out of them . . . i knew they would come in handy someday:),

cut 5 2" strips and started braiding them.

i almost stopped here and just made a bracelet out of it but forced myself to stay on track.

i cut all the strands but the middle one and looped it through my keychain.

a word about my keychain, i only looked at 2 stores and couldn't find a bigger one but with 2 loud, hyper and super fun boys in tow, i decided this would work (it comes in a pack of 2 at hobby lobby).

i cut off the extra fabric strand and hot glue gunned it over the other cut strands to give it a nice clean look. probably should have sewed it but a hot glue gun is so much easier.

now onto the flower, really the possibilities are endless. i had a hard time deciding which one to use, but ended up with the classic rose flower. 

1. cut your flower in a 3 1/2 " wide strip (or smaller or bigger depending on the size you want)

2. fold it in half lengthwise and iron

3. sew a gathering stitch along the frayed edge

4. starting at one end, place a dab of hot glue gun on the bottom frayed edge and starting rolling

5. keep rolling and gluing it as you go

6. keep rolling and gluing until you have your rose

i cut a circle out of my fabric and glued it to the back to cover up the lose strands

turn it over and you have a new fabric flower keychain

attach your keys to it and make finding them a whole lot easier.

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, dittle dattle, between naps on the porch, stories from a2z, not just a housewife,  tip junkie, sugar bee, blue cricket design, night owl crafting, somewhat simple, house of hepworths,

tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, addicted 2 decorating, funky junk, i heart naptime, thrifty decor chick, diy showoff, just a girl, the shabby nest, under the table & dreaming, be different act normal

fabric flower canvas

it usually takes me at least 3 times of doing something before i am satisfied with it. . . 

take this canvas. it has been painted brown with a green V,

black with an attempt at a coat of arms of the netherlands,

and finally mod podged with pages of a very old mythology book and decorated with fabirc flowers.

3 totally different takes.

that is me for you.

 

it was just a flat 22" x 28" canvas that i have had for who knows how long,
so i glued 2" square dowels on it to make it look like a canvas and "pop" off the wall.

here are the flowers i used and the tutorials that helped me.
flower #1 by sew ritzy titzy
rosette by little birdie secrets
ruffled flower by creation corner
rolled flower by the pilot's wife
flower #2 by house of smith's
yo yo by studio calico
and leaf / tulip flower well, my mom just kind of made that up. that is what she does. amazing woman.
she just took a little square, folded it in half, than folded the corners down and sewed around the bottom.
the stems, of course, are just a basic ruffle stitch

here is the final product. i am sure i will change the color of that "v" a few times.
for now, i think i like the subtly of it because i have so many other v's around my house.

and on a side note, this is what happens when i try to bake

this little monster gets into EVERYTHING, including the green food coloring while i was using the red and blue. if only some of his cuteness could have rubbed off on our 4th of july cake. . . 

i still have a green little monster running around. 

growth chart tutorial

i really wanted to make a growth chart before my first son was born. . . 

well, he is 3 and my other little man is one.

better late than never.

neither my husband or i are over 6 feet, but i come from a family of tall people so i have high hopes for my sons. . . no pun intended:)

 i got a 6 foot tall, 12 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick piece of wood at home depot,

painted it white and sprayed painted some polyurethane on it after it was dry

(polyurethane in a spray can. . . my new bff),

again, using my sisters cricut (who lives 3 states away so that is my excuse for taking so long) 

cut out 12" numbers 1-6 and little tabs for the inch and feet marks with vinyl,

used a ruler and measuring tape to put on on the little tabs

and hung it in the boys barthroom!

 it is HUGE!

 don't even think my boys will really be into me measuring their height once they get over 5 feet but a mom can dream:)

p.s. does anybody have that cute frog pod that NEVER stays up? if you do and have figured out a way to keep it from falling, usually in the middle of the night and scaring the *#%! out of me, let me know!

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, dittle dattle, stories from a2z, not just a housewife, tip junkie, blue cricket design, somewhat simple,

tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, funky junk, i heart naptime, thrifty decor chick,

diy showoff, just a girl, the shabby nest

summer "welcome" wreath

it was time to change out the old spring wreath and make a new summer wreath!

i am a bit lazy and cheap so this baby was made with a pair of old pants that have never fit me,

(why do i buy things just because they are on clearance and try to will them into fitting??)

scraps for the flowers,

a banner i made quickly on the computer (yep, too lazy to cut out fabric and iron on letters),

and a wreath bought with a hobby lobby coupon that cost about $2.50

i just cut those pants into strips,

wrapped it around the wreath securing it with a hot glue gun,

glued my banner together and on the wreath

and added those fun pom pom flowers.

i think i might be spending more time on the porch so i can look at it more:)

p.s. do "no soliciting" signs me nothing now a days? i have solicitors ALL the time, usually right when the kids are down for a nap and the dog goes ballistic because a strange person is standing on our doorstep and wont' go away. . . very frustrating. that is all.

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, dittle dattle, stories from a2z, not just a housewife, tip junkie, blue cricket design, somewhat simple,

tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, funky junk, i heart naptime, thrifty decor chick,

diy showoff, just a girl, the shabby nest

{free printable} and summer to do dice

i bought these blocks a year ago with the intent on making a countdown to a holiday . . .

and, obvisously, never got around to it.

so i decided after hearing enough of my 3 year old asking me what there is to do,

i would turn them into

summer to do dice

i rounded up a few supplies:

sand paper

white paint

paintbrush

mod podge

and made some pics to go on each side

as well as some blank squares for those of you with kids who can read

my boys had more fun just rolling them than actually doing what the picture is,

but i will take anything that keeps them occupied.

these free printables are for my FOLLOWERS only,

please take a second to follow me so you don't miss out on any freebies

the activities on each block include:

going for a bike ride

doing a puzzle

reading a book

flying a kite

playing in the sprinklers

playing with your toys (dinosaur)

building a fort

watching a movie

coloring / painting

making a treat

blowing bubbles

build something with legos

enjoy!

background paper by Lilly Bimble at mygrafico.com

linking up to these parties:

craftomaniac, dittle dattle, stories from a2z, not just a housewife, tip junkie, blue cricket design, somewhat simple,

tater tots and jello, at the picket fence, remodelaholic, whipperberry, funky junk, i heart naptime, thrifty decor chick,

diy showoff, just a girl, the shabby nest

4th of July Bunting Banner Tutorial

i can't get enough of these fun banners. . .

and my mind just wouldn't be at ease until i made one for the 4th of july!

here is a quick tutorial on how i made this bunting banner:

what you will need:

1/3 yard of red fabric (more or less depending on the size of your flags)

1/3 yard of blue fabric (more or less depending on the size of your flags)

1/3 yard of burlap

yarn or string

3 different circles to trace (big, medium, small)

my big plate was 12" across, medium 8.5" and small 5"

fabric scissors

marker and pencil

thread (i used white, red and blue)

sewing machine

step 1 - put 2 little marks on the back of your plates (or whatever you are using to trace) on either side (between the top and the middle of the plate) so the flags would be be bigger than a half circle.

step 2 - cut out 3 of the large red flags

3 large blue flags

6 medium burlap flags

3 small red flags

3 small blue flags

(you can do all your flags the same but i liked the look of the alternating flags)

cut 12 12" pieces of string/yarn in red

cut 12 12" pieces of string/yarn in white

(again, you can use anything you want here and don't have to use 2 pieces of string)

step 3 - sew a zigzag stitch all around the edges of all the large flag pieces with white thread, sewing the strings on either end as you go.

step 4 - sew the medium burlap flags on top of the large flags using a zigzag stitch

(i used red thread for the large blue flag and blue thread for the large red flag)

then sew the small flags on top of that with a zigzag stitch

step 5 - i finished off the flags by sewing a zig zag stitch across the top.

step 6 - tie the flags together and hang!!

linking up to

the stories of a2z, tatertots and jello,

atthepicketfence, whipperberry,remodelaholic,

i heart naptime, blue cricket design, somewhat simple, craftomaniac