$8.00 Jeans Makeover!

I went to Old Navy a few days ago, and found a pair of pants that FIT ME for $6.47. (It’s always easy to find cheap stuff that DOESN’T fit!)  It was a 50% off already reduced prices sale…love those!  The pants were the “short,” length, so I didn’t even have to hem them.  If they end up shrinking, I’ll just shorten them to capri length.  You can’t go wrong with cheap jeans, right?

There was one problem.

I can’t stand plain pockets.  And with that line a couple inches from the edge of the pocket, it was screaming for something cute!

So, I fixed that in a real hurry!  Off to Hobby Lobby I went to find three colors of embroidery thread, a little bit of time hand stitching, and I have some cute pockets.  I got the idea from here, but I didn’t follow the directions word for word.

I am happy with the results, and can’t wait to wear my new jeans!

I need a bag…NOW!

My sister graduated from high school yesterday!  Congrats K!  Last night, after the graduation bash, she proceeded to tell me that she needed a bag no bigger than an 8.5’’ X 11’’ piece of paper for their graduation activities this weekend.  The rules are strict, and they won’t let a bag in bigger than that.  Do you have any idea how SMALL that is?  My sister is picky.  She doesn’t like purses.  She likes backpacks.  So starting at 10:30 PM last night (WAY past my bedtime), I made her this bag.

The material was in my sister’s stash…perfect (and SO cute!)  She needed an inside pocket, but since I didn’t have a zipper, I made it work with velcro (pictured below).

I used the cording from a “political campaign” bag that was too big and WAY too ugly to take to a graduation party. 

The only thing I did wrong was forget to sew the bottom of the pocket!  Oops…So this (my new favorite weapon) came to the rescue.

Friends, meet Fashion Fusion…Fashion Fusion, meet my bloggy friends.

This glue is fabulous.  You can wash stuff with the glue, and even put it in the dryer.  LOVE IT.  Perfect for attaching flowers, or fixing an “oops!” missed seam. 

Anyways, the bag was super easy (I was just too tired and distracted by family to work fast).  There are several tutorials online, but I pretty much whipped this one out on my own.  If you want a tutorial, let me know!

Hope you have a fabulous day!  It’s almost the weekend. :)

Car Seat Canopy

I made this a few weeks ago for a friend who’s having a baby.  She had asked for hair bows, and I added in a little extra and made this as well.  It’s reversible, and has polka dots on the reverse side.  I did two sets of straps, so the strap set not being used can hold toys for the baby once she gets older.  I was so excited, the canopy matched perfectly with the car seat and stroller set they got!  How’s that for not planning!?!


There’s a close up, and a view of the coordinating fabric.  I just LOVE how it turned out!
If you want to make one like this, here’s the tutorial from Buzz About Baby!  The only thing I did different was add the extra straps.
Enjoy!

Lynette’s Laughable Life

Hope this brightened your day as much as it did mine!  More comics like this can be found here.

Tutorial: Gathered Pencil Roll

My mom teaches some of the children at my church, and she has needed something to keep pencils in.  I came up with this, and gave it to her for mother’s day.

So, it looks like a crayon roll, and you’ve seen millions of those on blog land.  What’s so special about this one?  I’ll show you!

The back has a gathered look, like this clutch!!!  Perfect for a “big person,” pencil roll.  I made a clutch (which I’ll show in an upcoming post), along with this roll.  You can make your own!  Here’s how: (the fabric is layered, so all three pieces on the left measure 8’’ X 9’’)
Cut fabric:
2 pieces 8’’ X 9’’ (one for pocket, and one for “lining”)
1 piece 13’’ X 9’’
1 piece 4’’ X 9’’ (for strip across back)1 piece fusible interfacing 8’’ X 9’’
1 piece of ribbon (I used 7/8’’ grosgrain, 23 inches long---I would recommend using longer---especially if being used by a kid!)

First, take your 4’’ X 9’’ strip, fold RIGHT sides together, sew into a tube with 1/2’’ seam.  Then turn right side out, and set aside.
Second, take your 13’’ X 9’’ piece.  On the 9’’ sides, measure and mark at 3.5 inches and 4.5 inches.  Do this at both ends of the fabric.  Then set your sewing machine to the longest stitch length in order to gather.  Sew a line at 3.5 inches, and 4.5 inches.  DO NOT BACKSTICH! :)  Then pull one string on each seam to gather your fabric till it measures 9 inches.
Third, turn on your iron!

Fourth, take your 4 X 9’’ strip and fold it so the seam is in the middle.  Press it this way.  The picture above can help you!

Fifth, attach your fusible interfacing to the WRONG side of your gathered 13 X 9 piece.  Then set the 4 X9 strip on top of the gathered piece where your stitches are.  Set your sewing machine to a smaller stitch! Sew the strip to the gathered piece, like the picture shows.

Take the 8’’ X 9’’ piece you’ll use for the pocket.  Fold it in half, so you’ll have a rectangle measuring 9 inches X 4 inches.  Set it on top of the piece intended for the “lining.”  If you folded it right, the edges will match up.  Pin the pocket to your lining.  Then, starting at 1/2 inch, mark on each inch.  You’ll have eight    1- inch spaces to hold 8 pencils, and 1/2 inch clearance on each side. (If you look closely, you can see my marks in the picture below)
On each mark, sew a line from the rough edge of the fabric (bottom), to the folded edge of your pocket (top).  Make sure you backstitch at each end of each pocket!
Ninth,  take both panels and put RIGHT sides together.  Sew around the whole thing, leaving about a 4 inch gap for turning.  Turn the material so it’s right side out, then stitch up the hole and topstitch around the whole thing.  During the top stitching, you can slip in your ribbon piece for tying the roll shut.  I attached it afterwards, but it would fit nicely in this step.

A few things I learned:  When adding your ribbon, keep it as close to the edges as possible so you don’t sew a pocket shut!  I almost did (oops!)
This roll will fit pens and mechanical pencils nicely, but if you have brand new regular pencils, you will need to make the panels a bit taller.  I underestimated when thinking about seam allowances.
You’re finished!  Enjoy!  If I left something out, please let me know!
Linked to these parties!

Exciting News!

Hi there!  No craft today from me, but I've got a few things up my sleeve for next week for sure!  Remember this post?  I took the big "let's see if you're smart enough to be a teacher," "(PRAXIS) test, and I got the results back today...

I passed the test!!! Hooray!

(Now I just need to get through 2 more semesters of school, and I'll be set!)

Since I'm writing, I might as well tell you that I'll be busy with family for most of next week.  I've got some really fun posts scheduled though, so check back!

Tutorial: Ruffle Up a Striped Shirt

This shirt is a tad big, the sleeves are too long, and it needed a little makeover.

This is the finished product!  Now I can wear it year round, yay!
Here’s how I did it.  First off, remember this dress?  I had a little bit of material left from the bottom of it.  So, I used it to create the ruffles!
You’ll need: 
knit to match your shirt, sewing supplies (machine, scissors, thread, rotary cutter if you have one, etc.)
First, cut the knit into two 1 inch strips

Then, set your machine to the longest stitch setting possible.  Do a stitch all the way down the middle of the strips.  DO NOT BACKSTITCH! :) When you’ve finished sewing the strips, grab one of the strings and pull sill you have ruffles.

Pin the ruffle on the neck hole of your shirt, and sew on!
Now we’re going to do the sleeves.  Because of the stripes, we will use them to keep the sleeve length even.

Stick your arm through the neck hole and then through the sleeve.  Figure out the length you want the sleeve to be.  With your hand still in the sleeve, pull the right side of the sleeve INTO the sleeve (like you're hemming it).  We will sew the ruffle onto the sleeve, and at the same time hem the sleeves.  Then we’ll cut the excess sleeve material later.  This saves a step! (If this doesn’t make sense, look at the rest of the pictures.  I think those will help!)

Once you folded the sleeve to the right length, pin the ruffles onto you sleeves.

Sew those ruffles on (I did two times around for extra stability), and you’re almost done!

This is a picture of what it looks like when the ruffle is sewn on, and the sleeve is pulled back out.  Then go ahead and cut your excess sleeve off, and you’re good to go!


Now enjoy your new shirt!
Linking to these parties.
If you have any questions, let me know!

1st Quilt Ever- My Progress!

Hey there!  I have been a little nervous DYING to work on my quilt, and I finally got the right foot adapter thingy for my machine!!!  I got home from the shop and got started right away.  I sewed my sets of 3 squares together, and set them out in sets of 9, like Care said to in this post.
I am ready for the next step, but because I am a beginner I am taking a break until tomorrow to get with the next step.  I also got a free motion foot…:)  I may have to find a project to practice using this baby…it’s tricky!
Here’s some pictures of my progress (not all squares pictured).



Stay tuned for the next part!

Oh what do you do in the summertime? Part 1

Last summer I worked as a nanny.  I got really bored, really fast.  This summer, I am working with the same family.  To prevent boredom, I have planned several “themed,” days.  I decided that if I was expected to blog the ideas, I’d keep the momentum going, so here we go!  I will most likely be doing 1 themed day per week, but if I do extra, I will definitely post about it!  My very first series, how exciting!
Disclaimer:  I am not a mother.  I will try to plan activities that take very little prep, but I know moms are busy.  Use as many or as few activities as you want.  Simplify as much as you want as well!  These activities are for a four year old and 2.5 year old, but can be “grown up” or “grown down” (is that even a real phrase?!) as much as you’d like!
So let’s get started.
Week 1: Potato Day!
You’ll need:  A few of these babies, and some other stuff (to be explained later in the post)

Activity #1: First, we’ll do potato prints! 
You’ll need:  Potatoes, a knife, washable kid paint, paper
I got this idea from the Family Fun cookbook my mom gave me years ago for Christmas. 

Cut the potatoes in half, and then cut them so a shape sticks out.  I am not particularly good with knives, so I will not show you pictures of this.  I also found that simply cutting the potatoes at different angles worked great too.  That way you have several sides to use as stamps.



Then get your washable kid paint out, and go to town!

Activity #2: Potato Pals, People, Monsters, (whatever your kids decide to call them!) 
This idea also came from my handy Family Fun Cookbook!
You’ll need: potatos (mildly soft ones are easier), toothpicks, and any other crafty items you have (buttons, raisins, yarn, cupcake wrappers, material scraps, etc)
*If you think your potato pals will simply sit on the counter for others to adore, cut the bottom of the potato to help it stand up flat.  If not, leave it so you don’t get potato juice all over the house.  (I left mine whole…the potatoes visited every room in the house!)

Stick the toothpicks in the potato where a body part will be.

Then put buttons or anything else you’d like on top of the toothpick to make a face!  My kiddos used yarn for hair, cupcake wrappers for beds/bathtubs or hats, etc.
Activity #3: Potato Faces!
You’ll need:  Paper, Marker, print out of body parts, crayons if your kiddos want to color the faces
For my body print outs, I used the Crayola Art Studio program my husband got me for my birthday last year.  It’s pretty much a glorified version of paint, but it has many images that are very useful for preschoolers/kids.  I LOVE this program!  I think it was around $25 ( I just saw it on Amazon for under $20), and it’s very worth it!
***SUPER COOL!*** I was checking out Crayola’s Website, and found some printable coloring pages with face parts on them!  So go ahead and print these pages out here and here, and you’ll be set!

Take your paper and draw what looks like a potato.  (Yes, I used blue paper… :)


Here’s just a couple examples.
Have fun!  Posting to these linky parties
If you do any of these projects, I would LOVE to see them!  If you have any ideas on what I can do in the summertime, leave me a comment and I’ll try it out!