Mitered Corner Receiving Blanket and Dribble Cloth Set with Applique

(Gasp!) I’ve been featured over at Bernina’s website, We All Sew!

If you’re visiting from We All Sew, stick around and stay a while!  We love making new friends!  :)

 

Click on over and learn how you can make the perfect gift to welcome home a sweet new bundle of joy!

Eeeek! This totally made my day!  I didn’t know it was going to be posted today, and that’s why you get to hear from me twice today.  I am completely stoked!  :)

Scroll down and learn how to take in a pair of jeans that aren’t fitting right.  Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Sewing 101: Taking In a Pair of Jeans

I have a lovely friend, Lynsey, who is so cute and so fun.  She’s also a cancer survivor.  Woot!  Way to go, Lynsey!  She is in remission now, but has lots of “pre-chemo” clothes that don’t fit.  She spent a lot of money on all of her jeans and didn’t want to replace them.  So, she brought them to me to see if I could help. 

To start off, I had Lynsey put her jeans on inside out.  Sorry, I don’t have a picture of this.  I didn’t think of doing this as a tutorial until I was half-way through.  So, just bear with me while I explain the process. 

Okay.  Jeans on inside out?  Great.  We’re ready to move on.  I pinned the outside seam of her jeans close to her hips.  We ended up taking this pair in about an inch on each side.  We took in quite a bit more on all the others.

I pinned about down to the knee and gradually merged with the regular seam.  Then I took it to the sewing machine.  Forgive the lighting at my sewing table.  It’s awesome for sewing; not photos.

See the pins?  See the rivets?

I had to sew between the rivets, and we lost that one rivet close to the edge.  No worries, though, because Lynsey’s pants fit!  :)

Sew a straight stitch until you get to almost to the knee of the jeans.

Gradually merge your stitch into the original side seam.

Then serge or zigzag stitch close to the straight seam you just sewed.  Now say that sentence five times fast.  I didn’t use either stitch.  My serger died and I have a stitch on my sewing machine that is similar to a serged stitch.  So, I used that and cut off the excess.

This will fray a tad, but it won’t matter since it is on the inside of the jeans, and it isn’t the full seam.  Now turn your jeans right-side-out and examine your handiwork.

Lovely!  You can hardly see where the your seam meets up with the original.  Here.  I’ll point it out if you really want to see it:

See how much money you just saved?  Instead of throwing away a perfectly good pair of jeans and buying a new pair, you just altered the ones you had.  Now they’re custom to your body!

…and you can’t even tell! 

…unless you look reeeaaallllyyyy closely, but who’s going to be that obvious about checking out your jeans?  If they are, they’ll just be jealous of your custom, flattering fit!  :)

A quickie project, and a guest post….

So if you’ll remember my Fab 5 Friday post from, well, Friday, I mentioned I was going to try my hand at a no-sew vest. I’m not sure if I can pull off the look, so free is ex-scell-ent (in Mr. Burns voice…) I had a long and lean tank from my stash of waiting-to-be-refashioned clothes, and this is what it became, with a snip-snip-here, and a snip-snip-there…(my 3 year old got up last night, around 3 AM, and insisted I needed to tuck her back into bed, singing Ol’ MacDonald Had a Farm…I may be a little crazy…)

So, I already had a few of these, so I cut up the sides of the tank top

Then cut off the armpit part to make it a smoother, straighter line

Then laid it down to see the difference between the front and back necklines

and cut off the rest of the seams and bindings, making them all even

and then put it on! Literally takes minutes!

here’s what it looks like in the back…

I still don’t know if I can pull it off, but I can always use the fabric for something else in the future!

By the way, I’m guest posting over at Live, Love, Craft today for Alyssa. She does some AWESOME photography things that I need to learn! Come see a fun Valentine’s Day Craft/Décor!

Cornstarch Finger Paint

…and other randomness!

Guess what?!  We’re doing a guest post over at A Couple Of Craft Addicts today! 

Here's the tutorial.  Isn't Firecracker a cute little kid?!  I think so, too!

 

Cornstarch Finger Paint

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• medium saucepan
• 2 cups cold water
• muffin tin or small cups
• spoon
• food coloring
• soap flakes or liquid dish soap

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add cold water and continue stirring until the mixture is thick. Remove from heat. Divide mixture into muffin tins or small cups. Add food coloring and a pinch of flakes or a drop of soap into each portion. Use a different color for each portion. Stir and let cool. Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

I used gel food coloring and let my little dude blend the colors with a toothpick.

We ended up with 10 different colors.

 

Try it out and cook up some fun with your kiddos!

 

********

Since Ashlee did a TMI post, I think I will too.  I was tagged on the family blog, but thought I’d answer it here.  I think my family already knows too much about me.  Now it’s your turn!!

The Rules:
1.Post these rules
2.You must post 11 random things about yourself
3.Answer the questions set for you in their post
4.Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5.Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Okay.  Here’s a quick self-portrait.

…and here are eleven random things about me:

1. I’m not a fan of Chick Flicks.  I LOVE watching superhero movies with my boys.
2. I want to learn to play the violin.  I also want to learn to beat box.  Weird, I know.
3. I have a wealth of knowledge on lactation.  I could write a book.  I kid you not.
4. I have an irrational fear of moths.
5. I love to cook, but hate the clean-up.  I hate pasta, love chocolate and almost anything with green chilies in it.
6. I’ve been pregnant nine times, but only have five babies.  Sadness.
7. I absolutely detest the Denver Broncos.  I don’t even know why.
8. I love water activities.
9. I love The Great Outdoors-camping, fishing, hiking, sleeping in a tent, campfires, and an entire week without a shower.  Good times.
10. I like to run because I REALLY like dessert.
11. I have crooked middle fingers.

Anne’s Questions For Me:
1. If you could automatically acquire the skills/academics, and you had the schedule for it, what is your dream job?  Either an Interior Designer designing interiors for rich people where money isn’t an issue; or a Nursery Nurse.  I would love to snuggle on new babies all day.  :)2. What is the #1 played song on your iPod (or other audio device)?  We’ve had The Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack in the CD player in the car for an eternity.  My #3 and #4 love it.3. If you could see, but not necessarily participate in unless you wanted to, any moment in history, what would that moment be?  When Harry Potter defeated Voldemort.  Maybe when Luke destroyed the Death Star.  No.  When Frodo and Gollum destroyed The Ring.  I know!  I’d go to Narnia with the Pevensie kids.  I’d be their third sister.  Yep.  I’m a total geek!  :)
4. What is your favorite drink?  Barqs Rootbeer5. What is your least favorite chore?  Cleaning the bathroom or sewing patches onto Scout shirts.6. If you could change your name for a day, what would you change it to?  Consuela.7. When was the last time you had an AMAZING meal? And was it the company or the food?  Just now.  We tried a new recipe for breakfast that was yummy.  I loved the laid back, lazy, Saturday morning breakfast with my favorite guys.8. What is the worst gift you have ever received?  A toilet brush, but it was okay, because it was a gift from a 10 year old, and he gave it to me because it matched my bathroom!9. What is something that you learned in the last week?  That if I treated people the way I treat myself, I wouldn’t have any friends.  I need to work on that.10. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.  Yes.  Can’t you feel how much this boy loves his daddy?  You can feel it more from the picture than you could from a thousand words of describing his feelings.

 

This is my all time favorite picture.  It makes me melt every time I see it.  It’s the Hubsters and one of my little men.11. You can only work on one project for the next year. What is it?  Sewing.  Easy.

So, now it’s your turn.  Answer all of Anne’s questions either on your own blog or in a comment.  We’d love to get to know you better! 

…and go check out our guest post!  :)

Have a great weekend! 

Fab 5 Friday

Happy Friday! Today, we’re trying hard to get my car I’ve had since college to start and work again…Sad! Wish us luck! But, here’s some awesome fun inspiration from Pinterest!

I want to go to the thrift store and find some shoes to lace-i-fy right now! Tutorial at How Does She

We made these yesterday…still haven’t tested them, but we bought water bottle ice cube maker at the thrift store, and the glycerin at Michaels, and made these up! So fun! DIY Bathtub Crayons at Kiboomu

This just made me smile. Who doesn’t want to be a princess? And you can smile to yourself all day long, while not looking as obvious as wearing a tiara and dress…like my daughter….Over at Disney this, Disney that

Oh man. I loved this wall of frames. So different and unique! Her whole master bedroom makeover is great, not that my hubby would go for it…Go check it out at Living with Lindsay

I plan on doing this as soon as I finish this. Or something like it. Good times. Go see this over at Wobisobi

I have to make a dessert tonight to take to a friend’s house, and I’m drawing a blank. Anything you’ve had, pinned, or know of that I should make?! Please help!

Thanks for reading!

Changing Pad Diaper Clutch

Oh you guys.  Are we still being comment shy?!  You know, you can’t hide from us.  We had over 400 views yesterday so we know you’re here!  ;)  Silly.  Don’t be shy!  Introduce yourself!  We love making new friends!  In fact, we can do some sort of bribery comment drawing.  We’ll choose a random comment and send you the guarded-top-secret-wonderfully-delicious-recipe for our Grandma’s Peanut Butter Fingers--just for commenting!!  Trust me, the recipe is fabulous.  It’s a huge crowd pleaser.  mmm…delish!  Whaddya think?  Sound fun?

Anywho, onto today’s post…

Remember how I mentioned our most favorite and fabulous cousin, Becky, is having her third boy?

Well, a few days ago on Pinterest, I saw that she had pinned these little cuties:

These are cute little diaper clutches.  She had typed in “could possibly make.”  Well, Becky, you can, and I’ll show you how!  :)

My clutch is slightly different.  Mine includes the changing pad.  This clutch has come in handy for me on several occasions.  It’s perfect for when you need to take The Babesters out of the Church meeting for a diaper change, but you still need to leave the diaper bag and all of it’s goodies to keep the other kiddos entertained.

For this project, you’ll need:

• 17”x 22” rectangle of medium loft batting
• 44”x 32” rectangle of your choice of fabric.  Fold it and press it to make it 22”x 32”.
• 6”x 12” rectangle of fabric (this will be your closure strap)
• 2 packages of double fold bias tape
• Velcro
• fabric marking pen
• thread, pins, sewing machine, ruler, iron, scissors, buttons and any other embellishments you might want to add.

Start by pressing your 6”x 12” rectangle in half lengthwise.  It should now be 3”x 12.”

Next, use a bowl to make rounded edges on the top of the clutch-the 22” part.  Don’t do it on the bottom yet.  The bottom will be folded up to make the pockets, and you don’t want those corners rounded off.  If you accidentally do this (like I did…) just go with it and try to make it look like it was intentional!

Open up your folded piece of fabric after you’ve rounded off the top corners.  Lay your batting on the wrong side of the fabric and smooth it out.  Bring the top of the changing pad over the batting.  *note that the pockets won’t have batting in them, so your batting will be considerably smaller than the fabric.  Mkay.  Moving on.

Get a ruler and a fabric marker and mark where you’re going to quilt the changing pad.  Use safety pins to hold all of your layers of fabric and batting together.  DO NOT sew over safety pins.  It is dangerous, and it is impossible to get them out once you’ve sewn over them.  Do I know this from experience?!  Erm…of course not!!  ;)  Look closely and you’ll see that I’ve safely safety pinned the layers in the middle of the squares.

Quilt your changing pad on the sewing machine.  Once you’ve quilted your changing pad, trim off the excess batting.

Sew some bias tape along the bottom of the changing pad.  Fold it up to where the batting ends.  Sew along the edges and down the middle.  Now you’ve got two pockets for holding diapers, wipes, and whatever else you need for successful diaper changes.  Possibly a face mask?  A straight jacket to keep your wiggly baby still? 

Now it’s time to round off the bottom corners. 

Baste the bias tape along all the outside edges.  This will give the changing pad a smooth binding. Then sew it down with your sewing machine.  Get crazy with decorative stitches.  It will be fun!  Once that is sewn, remove your hand stitching.  Don’t look at my rounded pocket in the next picture.

 

You looked at it, didn’t you?!  Now take your strap and sew the bias tape around that too.  It should look like this:

Now it’s time to add the Velcro to the strap.

Sew a big button to the top of the other side.

Now take some bias tape and sew it into a strip.  This will be the loop that the Velcro strip wraps around to keep the clutch closed.

Sew the Velcro strap and the bias tape loop on both sides of the top of the changing pad-the 22” side without pockets.

Now you’re ready to use your changing pad clutch!  Stuff the pockets with all your diapering necessities and lay your baby on the changing pad.  Change baby’s diaper.  Repeat as often as necessary.

Need help folding the changing pad clutch?  First, remove the baby.  The clutch WILL NOT fold properly with the baby inside.  ;)

Now you have a cute diaper clutch that is also a changing pad.  This will make diapering in public places a little easier.  Another perk of this cute changing pad clutch?  It’s 100% washable!  It’s super soft.  It’s way more comfortable than the vinyl wipe-able changing pads you can can buy.  They also make great baby gifts!

Happy sewing!

P.S.  Don’t forget to leave a comment!  :)