Wish List Wednesday: Pin Cushion Organizer and Sewing Machine Quilt

I’ve been trying to get my sewing room/studio/spot organized and looking cute for the past few months off and on…but mostly off.  I’ve found some great projects that I would love to do that would make my sewing studio wonderful to be in, and organized enough to create in.

I love this pincushion/organizer/scrap bucket.  It’s weighted so it won’t fall off your surface!  I found it on Gwenny Penny, and she links it to the original tutorial.  She used a combination of ideas, so go check out her post for the details.  This would make a great gift for someone!

I have actually started this project!  I have wanted to make one for over a year, and finally sat down one afternoon to do it.  I quilted the large piece, and then ended up disliking it!  So, I’ve been unpicking it a few minutes at a time for about the past month.  I will show you when it gets finished, although it could be a few weeks! :)  Lynette at Get You Craft On shows us how to make the sewing machine quilt here.

I hope you’re having a wonderful day!

~Lynette~

P.S.  What have you wanted to create this week?  What kinds of things do you to do organize your crafting/sewing area?

Tutorial Tuesday: Jeans to Capris with Cuffs

*I apologize that I didn’t get this posted earlier.  I was busy helping family yesterday and today, and didn’t get this written as quickly as I wanted.  While moving all my files when I redid my computer, somehow I lost this tutorial’s p.ictures!  I searched on my back up discs and found them this morning! Phew!*
These pants are the ones I bought for $6.00 last year.  I embellished the pockets, and I love these jeans.  However, they were the ‘short,’ length.  The length worked alright for awhile, but they were a tad shorter than I liked.  So, I chopped off parts of the legs and converted them into super comfy capris.  Do you want make your own?  (It’s pretty easy!)
What you’ll need:
Pair of pants to make into capris
Capris to measure length by (or you can just try on and mark the length desired)
Sewing supplies (machine, scissors, etc. etc. etc.)

First, lay your pants out on the ground or a flat surface.  Lay a pair of capris that you like the length of on top of the pants.  (If you don’t have capris you like, try on the pants and mark them with pins or a fold where you want the pants to be).  Don’t stress about exaggerating the length for seam allowances because this is where your cuff will start.

Cut your pants to the length desired.  I used scissors because I didn’t want to get my cutting mat out, but if you want to, that’d probably work better! :)

I folded my pants so I could make sure the lengths of each leg were the same.  Just to be sure! :)

We’re going to want to use the bottom of your pants for the cuff so you have that nice finished edge.  Cut that to 4 1/2 inches.  (If you want a bigger cuff, feel free to cut it that way!)

My pants were bootcut, so it had a bit of a flare on the bottom of the pants.  I placed the cuff over the bottom of the pants, right sides together.  I pinned where I needed to take in the cuff so it would look right. 

I sewed so the seam was right next to the existing seam that was the outside of the pants.  You can barely tell I took the cuff in.

I turned the cuff inside out, cut the excess off, and used my “overlock stitch,” on the raw edges.  I also tried it on one of the cuffs with a zig-zag, and it worked great.

(A better look at the finished raw edge.)

Now, you’re going to take the cuff, and place the wrong side of the cuff on the inside of your pants.  Pin it so you have about an inch clearance. (I pinned where the edge of the cuff was on the inside).  Then sew with a zig-zag or overlock stitch around the leg of the pants.
*A note about pinning:  When pinning, make sure you line up the outside seam of the pants and the outside seam of the cuff.  The inside seam will NOT match up if you tailored the cuff to fit your pants.  Nobody will notice it, so don’t stress.  Just make sure you line up those outside seams!*

We’ve sewn one edge to the pants, but we have one edge loose.  Turn the pants inside out so you can see what you’re doing.  Pin the loose edge, and sew with a zig-zag or overlock all the way around your pants.

This is a view of the pants inside out once the cuff is completely sewn on.

Now turn your pants right side out.  They should look like the picture above.

Fold the cuff up, and tack it down using a straight stitch on each side. 
After washing these a few times, I’m thinking that I may want to tack them higher in the cuff so they don’t fold over in the dryer. I did mine below the yellow stitching on each side, so I would suggest maybe doing it a bit higher if your machine can handle it.
Trim threads (like I clearly hadn’t done yet when taking these pictures).

And done!  You have a comfy pair of capris for summer and got rid of the pants that were too short!
~Lynette~
P.S. What kinds of tutorials would you like to see?  Are there any tutorials you’d like me to try and I can tell you how it went?  Tell me in the comments!

No-Sew Monday: Strawberry & Chocolate Nachos by Our Best Bites

For our first No-Sew Monday, I will share another domestic love with you.  Cooking.  Easy Cooking to be exact!

If you haven’t discovered Our Best Bites, you definitely need to.  This blog teaches you tricks in the kitchen to make cooking faster and more efficient along with delicious home made recipes with simple ingredients.  They also have a cookbook which I recently purchased and love it!

(This was my plate…yummy!)

On Friday they posted about Strawberry & Chocolate Nachos.  They include their tasty cinnamon chips topped with strawberries and melted chocolate (they even give you a trick for making good melted chocolate).  I knew I needed to try them ASAP.  I made them on Saturday for Breakfast (minus the cool-whip).  Delicious.  And so, I share them with you today!  My husband liked them as well, but they should probably be a snack instead of breakfast.  Oh well, chocolate and strawberries were calling me at 5:30 this morning when I woke up and couldn’t settle back into a peaceful slumber.

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Strawberry & Chocolate Nachos
Recipe by ourbestbites.com
*Proportions are up to you- make to taste!
–Baked Cinnamon Chips (Click here for recipe)
–Diced strawberries tossed with granulated sugar and left to sit for 10 minutes.
–Melted chocolate chips (use these proportions for dipping chocolate), ganache, or hot fudge
–Sweetened Whipped Cream, whipped cream from a can, or Cool Whip
Place Cinnamon Chips on a platter and top with diced strawberries.  Drizzle with melted chocolate and top with whipped cream. 

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Thanks for stopping by today!  Hop over tomorrow to discover how to make capris out a pair of jeans.

~Lynette~

P.S.  Do you have a recipe you found online and had to try ASAP?  Share the link with me in the comments!  I love a brand new recipe and day of the year!

Favorite Things Friday: Strawberry Corer and Slicer

Hi there!  I hope you’re having a lovely day.  Here’s a couple kitchen gadgets that I’m currently loving.

This is a strawberry corer.  Mine doesn’t have the pokey edges, it’s just smooth (like a melon scooper) with a sharp edge.  It also works for tomatoes when you don’t have strawberries in your house. :)

Meet the strawberry slicer.  Stick the strawberry in there, and close the lid and you’re all set.  Made dessert a cinch the other night.

I’m not sure on prices, as they were a gift.  (thanks mom! love them)

Have a fantastic weekend!  See you on Monday for the first ever no-sew Monday! (maybe we’ll do something with beads or paper…hmm!)

~Lynette~

Thrifty Top Thursday: Cream Ruffles Shrug

This thrifty project took a top that I had two of.  I cut one up and made this shrug (and kept the other one in the closet).  I made it right before it started to warm up, so I’ve only worn in a couple times.  It’s cute and spices a plain outfit up.

Tutorial found here at Make it and Love it.

What I did different:

I didn’t hem the ruffle around the edge of the shrug.  Raw edges worked for me because I was lazy I like them.

There was something else, but I can’t remember.

Oh yes.

I cut it a tad longer than the tutorial did (but I’m an adult and it was made originally for a little tike).  Because of that I didn’t have a ton of fabric left over.  I barely had enough to make the ruffles, so if you’re going to do this try using a coordinating color of knit or two shirts.

(And to keep it real, my sister shot this as I was running in the house to change for the next pic.  Thought you’d like to see the back of the shrug anyways!

 

Hope you’re having a fabulous day!

~Lynette~

Wish List Wednesday and My New Blog Schedule!

Alrighty folks.  Let’s talk business.  I haven’t been blogging very regularly, and my life has been boring and blah lately.  So to give me something to look forward to, I am establishing a blog schedule.  Hopefully it will work.  I’m not thinking about posting everyday.  I thinking about, “Today I’m going to wake up and work on today’s post.”  That’s it.  One day at a time turbo.

Here’s my schedule:

Monday:  No-Sew Monday

Mondays are always busy days, so let’s start out our week with something that involves something other than sewing.  This way non-sewers can find something to do from my blog too!

Tuesday:  Tutorial Tuesday

I will either post a tutorial I came up with, or show you what I made featuring somebody else’s fabulous idea.

Wedensday:  Wishlist Wednesday

I will feature a (or three) tutorial/idea from somebody else’s blog that is going on my project “Wish List.”

Thursday:  Thrifty Top Thursday

This is where I’ll show you a t-shirt refashion on the cheap.  (Thrift=cheap, not thrift stores as I never have luck with thrift stores clothing in my area)

Friday: Favorite Things Friday

This is where I’ll share some of my favorite stuff I’ve used this week.  It may be something lame, or something awesome.  You’ll just have to hop over and see!

And now, for the first ever Wish List Wednesday….Drum roll please!

I want to make this incredibly cute apron over at Modest Maven.  Super cute without too much floof.

I definitely NEED to make a bag like this for my computer over at The Mother Huddle.  No need to haul a huge laptop bag when all I need is the computer and the cord.

What’s on your wish list this week? See ya tomorrow for Thrify Top Thursday!

~Lynette~

A Few of My Favorite Things

Hi there!  I am in the process of backing up everything on my computer and having my husband reload everything back on my computer.  Now that I've graduated, I'm kicking those college files off my hard drive so I can have some real fun!  I just wanted to pop in for a minute and share with you a couple of the things that I've fallen in love with recently.  I meant to have a tutorial up for you this week...but I celebrated my Birthday and it's thrown off my schedule.  Hopefully soon.

I found this today, and totally want to drink it because it smells soooo good!  It smells fresh and makes me feel ALIVE.  I wanted some new body wash/bubble bath, but I couldn't find a good smell.  I have used Bodycology in the past, but it just wasn't what I wanted today.  I decided to check out the body washes by the soap.  And I fell in love.  It takes a bit to lather up, but I will make a bath pouf with this tutorial tomorrow, and I think I'll be set!

I love having my toenails painted.  In fact, I've been known to paint only the visible toenails peeking out from my sandals right before walking out the door on Sundays to church.  I also have a problem biting my fingernails.  I thought that if I could paint my fingernails, that it would help.  And it has.  Problem is, I love bright colors...but I don't want to look crazy at a store or appointments.  Problem solved.  Meet Del Sol changing color nail polish.  I found several light colored polishes that change to hot pink, or bright orange in the sun.  Outside summer fun=bright nails.  Inside professional-ness=calm nails.  Love it.  (This polish is a bit pricey, so I've asked for it for Christmas/Birthdays.  We have a store where I live, so prices are a tad cheaper than what is listed on the website.)

This gadget is my friend.  It alone got me through my last and toughest semester of college.  It played music on my 2 hour daily commute, kept my to-do lists straight, kept me up on my email, and has a built in TIMER.  My best friend.  I still use the timer like 5 times a day.  And I have not paid one cent for an app, and can find whatever I want for free.  And because it's the iPod Touch and not the iPhone, I don't have to pay ridiculous data fees, and simply use a WiFi connection.  Thanks apple for making such a fabulous toy!

Well, thanks for letting me share some of my favorite stuff!  What are your favorite things right now?
~Lynette~
p.s.  I didn't get a thing for writing about these products, I just liked them and wanted to share!

Flowered Appliqué Top (inspired by Modbe)

As I was going about my day, I realized I hadn’t scheduled any posts for this week.  So I decided to pop in and show you one of my favorite refashions.  I wear it at least once a week because I love it so much.  And it was so simple to do!

See this top?  It was sold by Modbe (made by Downeast) a few months ago.  I instantly fell in love with the design, and decided that I could make one too.  the middle (after I looked at it in stores) was just ribbon pieces, but I decided they weren’t what I wanted. 

So I simply took the picture of the shirt, traced around the flower in a paint program, and then enlarged and printed the flower.  I cut out extra fabric from another red shirt refashion, and appliquéd it on the shirt.  I took cream embroidery floss and outlined the edge and middle of the flowers.  And there you have it.

Hope you’re having a fabulous week!  Summer is finally starting to come out and play where I’m at!  Hooray for capris and sun

Purple Vertical Ruffle Top

I made this top over a year ago.

Think it’s time to post it, what do you think?

I made it using this tutorial from Tea Rose Home.  Just love her blog.

I somehow ended up with two purple shirts from Down East.  One got bleach on it somehow, so I cut that one up and made ruffles.

Another ruined/stained shirt turned functional and comfy!

~Lynette~

Scrappy Spring Top

This shirt was long sleeved, and I chopped those sleeves off for a fun summer/spring feel. 

Then I used some pink knit I had to make the fun gathered sleeves.  I took a strip of green and pink knit and sewed along the neckline to have a fun fresh raw look.  Added some buttons all around, and I was done.

Easy Peasy.

And fun!

~Lynette~