Nook/Kindle Soft Case

A girlfriend of mine asked me to sew a soft case for her Nook with a fabric she loved. So after searching online a bit for a good tutorial I came across the one at Little Birdie Secrets. She sent me a picture of the fabric so that I could find a coordinated soft fabric for the lining, and I even convinced her to do a hot pink zipper! :) I got the fabric last week and today I was finally able to sit down and sew. I started a bit later than usual -- thank you very much thread tension >:/ -- but I think it came out so cute!

Her fabric:



The lining is a soft material (for the life of me I can't remember what it is, but it's not fleece) in a pretty pink:


Check out that hot pink zipper! I love colorful zippers, I'm so glad I talked her into it. :)

I plan on modifying the cut dimensions to make a smaller one for my iPod Touch. Stay tuned for that one!

The tutorial link: Little Birdie Secrets

Jewelry Pouch for a Cause

A friend of mine had asked me to create a special necklace to be donated at a charity raffle. I happily agreed but once done I decided to take it a step further (and use up some of my scraps!) by sewing a pouch for it, in the charity's colors of teal, purple and white. Here is what I came up with:

The special tag that's inside and includes the washing instructions

The necklace in its new home

And I can't leave you without a good close-up of the necklace I made.


Here is a link to the tutorial I used: The Purl Bee
Took 20-30 minutes to create, a great quick & easy gift to make for any occasion!

If you would like a necklace or any other type of jewelry, please check out my jewelry blog: ANP Jewels
It has a list of all the jewelry I've created, a link to my shop and my contact information.

Fall Wreath Tutorial

I love the fall, don't you? The cooler weather, the smells of pumpkin spice and of course, the colors! Today I made a wreath because I love the colors of fall so much. So let's dive into my first ever tutorial!

Supplies:
1 - 18 inch grapevine wreath
About 4 bunches of flowers, berries or whatever you desire on your wreath
Some scrapbook paper
Stamps and ink pad (if you choose to create the banner this way)
Twine, ribbon or something to string the banner
Wire cutters
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler

I have two of everything because Michael's was having an awesome sale (2 for $5 wreaths and 40% off fall florals!) that I couldn't pass up

Ok, got everything you need? Good. First thing you want to do is to lay down some sort of covering on whatever surface you're working on. Grapevine wreath are kinda messy, and it's just easier clean up.

Next, you need to turn those bunches into singles. If your bunch has a plastic handle (see below) just snip the individual stems at the base, as close to the handle as possible.

If your bunches are held together by florist tape (like below), use your scissors to carefully score the stems and separate the flowers.

When all your bunches are separated you should have a nice size pile of fall pretties. Here is where the fun part starts. :) Start arranging your flowers in a design that you like, bend the stems to get the flowers to lay flat while you are working on your design.

This is the design that I came up with.


Ok, now you need to flip your wreath over to the back side very carefully. Find all the stems from the flowers and twist them into the wreath so that the flower doesn't fall out and it blends in to the wreath. You may have to flip your wreath over a few times and test all the flowers to see which ones you've missed.


On to the banner, you can do this one of 3 ways:
1. You print your letters onto scrapbook paper
2. You hand write your letters onto the paper
3. You stamp your letters onto the paper
I did it the first way, but it's probably much easier the other ways. Anyways, if printing select your font and size, then print onto a sheet of 8.5"x11" scrapbook paper in a coordinating color - the simpler the paper the better. Mine is mossy green with raised polka dots.


Next, cut out the letters into 1" wide by 3" long rectangles leaving more room at the top. Snip little triangles into the bottom of each letter. They don't have to be perfect, the imperfections give the wreath more character.

Next, measure 1/2 of an inch from the top of each letter and use your ruler to get a crisp fold.

I didn't take a photo of this part (so sorry!) but it's pretty self explanatory. Take your ribbon/twine/string and put inside the fold of the letter. Use hot glue to close it shut. You can have your letters close or far apart, it's really up to you.

Next, find where you want to tie the ends of the banner and make a simple knot. Hot glue that knot and then wrap the string around and knot again, hot glue that second knot. Do the same for the other side. Measure the ends of your string to the bottom of your end letters and cut.


And voila, it's done! Now go hang it on a door or in your house.


Isn't it so pretty and welcoming? :) I love walking up to my front door now!


Remember I said I bought two of everything? I made a second wreath, slightly different than the first. The possibilities are endless!


Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial. Now go out and make one yourself. Happy Fall! :)

Linking up here:
Craftaholics Anonymous
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

On my To Do List

My son is now 18 months older and is very intelligent, he comprehends pretty much everything we teach him. So I've been wanting to get some little books on numbers, letters, shapes and colors but I want them to be soft (he had a tendency to shove everything in his mouth and I need these books to hold up). Well what do you know, I found myself some books that are so cute and made of soft materials to boot!

Everyday Celebrations has a number of quiet books, but these two I'm definitely going to do. And I plan on using a similar format for the shapes books.

The ABC book isn't soft, but it's still so cute and really simple. No sewing involved!

Something else on my to do list is an advent calendar and I just love the ones she has on her blog for all the holidays. I'm definitely planning on doing the Christmas one, and I'm thinking of doing the Thanksgiving one as well. Plus I want to get the cards that go with it, I think it's such a neat idea instead of putting candy in each pocket.


I've really fallen hard for this blog - I just love everything she has posted so far! So check her out for things to do for your kiddos. :)

Cleavage Cover-Up

Ever since I became a mom I've been more aware of low necklines on my clothing. I didn't care about it before, but after the baby I didn't like bending over and exposing the "girls". I still don't, 18 months later. So I added a little something extra to one of my dresses and a t-shirt to help out with the problem.

The t-shirt was by far the hardest, it had a low scoop neck that took a while to get the measurements just right. I took a scrap of unbleached muslin and folded it in half to get the coverage I wanted. I used one of the decorative stitches on my machine across the top at the fold and then machine-sewed the muslin to the shirt around the hem. The thread doesn't match 100%, but it's close enough that you wouldn't notice it without me telling you about it.
I chose this decorative stitch because it went well with the military theme of the t-shirt.

The dress was the easiest by way of measurements, but it took the most fabric. I used extra scraps leftover from Betty's quilt, but since the white fabric was still sheer after folding one piece in half I had to add a second. So there are four layers on the dress! It was also the more extreme of the cover-ups. The elastic banding is just under the bust, so this deep v-neck required more length than the t-shirt too. Other than that, it was the same process as the t-shirt.

I chose this decorative stitch because of its leafy pattern, perfect compliment to the flower on the dress.

So what do you think? I think I passed for doing on-the-fly sewing. :)

Diaper Clutch

I've been eyeing diaper clutches lately. Alex is getting to that stage where I don't need to bring the big diaper bag with me, just a small clutch with a few necessities. So instead of paying $25+ for one, I decided to make my own for less than $5! I got really lucky and found the adorable dinosaur print cut into a fat quarter in the remnant section and I had a coupon for 40% off, which I used on the zipper. For the interior lining I had a ton of leftover white fabric from Betty's quilt so I used some of that up. Here are my results. :)


It can hold a Pampers wipe case, 3-4 diapers (size 4!), a travel size of baby powder and a tube of Desitin :)
I found the tutorial on the Craftster forum here but it was made bigger to accommodate all the diaper necessities.

Pack and Play Sheet - Take 2

I showed you my first attempt at a pack and play sheet. Well, it fit but only if we didn't include the foam topper. So I made another using the same tutorial but instead of adding 7 inches, I doubled it to 14 inches which put the square cut out at 7 inches instead of 3.5 inches. It fits perfectly now. :)
And a close up of the fabric - again, I got something that coordinated with the jungle theme of the pack and play.


Here's a link to the tutorial again from Prudent Baby