1 ripped shirt + 1 stained shirt =_______

A couple months ago, I unloaded another batch of laundry from the washer and found this...

 

A Sleeve.

From one of my favorite shirts.

  

This was the end result.

After being very mad at my washer, and hiding the shirt in the back of my closet for several weeks, I realized something fabulous!

I had this shirt

That was stained in the back of my closet too, and they were the very same colors!

So, I ripped the already ripped shirt some more,

and made this!

Here's a close up,

Sachiko at Tea Rose Home made a tutorial for a very similar shirt here.  Go check it out and make your own! 

Spread the Word to End the Word!

I'm wearing a shirt that looks similar to this button today.  This day is a very special one!  It's a day where people all around America are spreading the word to end the use of the r-word (retard or retarded).  This word can hurt people's feelings, especially those with an intellectual disability.  Respect others by refraining from using the r-word!

Click the button to find out more!

TUTORIAL: Crayon Purse

For Christmas, I made this for my niece

The "coin purse," is where you'll stash your crayons!

Because I was making it as I went, I really didn't remember how to make it.  I wanted to give it another shot so I can make more in the future.  I decided to go ahead and make a tutorial, so here it is!

 

 

This is the one I'll be making today.  Grab some material scraps and follow along!

You'll need:

2 coordinating fabrics (or just 1 type of fabric---you are the creator and it's up to you!)

2 rectangles of material cut to: 12 inches X 9 inches

1 strip of material cut to: 14 and 1/4 inches X 6 and 1/2 inches

1  ribbon 20 and 1/2 inches long (I used 7/8 inch on one, and a little thinner on the other one)

1 thin ribbon 6-8 inches long (I think, just eyeball it) for the ribbon to attach coin purse to big purse.

Coordinating Thread,

Scissors, sewing machine, and all that jazz

Crayons!

OPTIONAL: 1 piece of chipboard (you can use cereal box), or card stock about 8 and 1/4 inches by 4 and 1/4 inches 

velcro

 

First, take your 12 X 9 pieces, right sides together, and sew them together.  I did as small a seam allowance as I could handle.  If you know you like big seam allowances like I did when I first started sewing, then cut the pieces a tad bigger.  Make sure you leave a hole big enough for you to turn the material!

If you want to add some cardboard to the back of the purse so it doesn't fold when being held by the handle, add some of the chip board or card stock into the middle of your two pieces.  Just do a little less than a third of the size of one of the pieces.  Once you get to the step, you can slide the cardboard up or down to make it work when you finish the purse. 

(This makes little sense, I know.  If you need pictures, comment and I can take some for you.)
 

You'll have the edges sewn together, and you'll turn the material.

Then, I did a stitch all the way around the edges, being careful to tuck in the part you'd left open for turning.

 

  

(another picture to help explain what I'm not great at explaining)

The purse part is now ready.

Now you'll grab your 14 and 1/4 inch X 6 and 1/2 inch piece.

 

Fold it hamburger style to make it look like this, and sew only the edges opposite of the folded end shut. (Soo hard to explain!  Maybe that's why I included a picture!)

 

Once you've got that one side sewn, turn it so the seam is hiding on the inside.

 

Then you'll fold the material again with both folded edges together.  

When you do this, stick the thin ribbon in and sew it into one end of the pocket (leave the other end of the ribbon to attach to your purse)

(I did this the hard way, so there's no picture, but I'd suggest to do it this way!)

(This will make your pocket for the coin purse)

You'll sew all the frayed edges together, as shown.

 

Then,  you'll grab a crayon and stick it in the end of the pocket.  I measured how big the pockets needed to be, and then marked accordingly on the fabric with the same color of crayon.  It was noticeable enough to know where to sew, but not enough to worry about later!

Then sew the rest of your pockets, and you've got your coin purse ready to go.

(sorry no picture of just the coin purse, don't know what I was thinking!)

 

Next, you'll take your purse piece and fold it into thirds.  If you want to add velcro, figure out where you want it, and sew it on.  And if it's crooked like mine, don't stress!  A kid will be using it and won't notice the difference!

 

Then stick the ribbons into the folded edges so you can sew them in when you sew your purse together.  I set the ribbon for the handles at an angle so it doesn't interfere with the top of the purse.

 

Sew those ribbons in and sew the edges to make your purse,

 

And you are almost all done!

 

Cover the velcro seams with a fabric flower (tutorial here), 

 

or a bow 

and you're good to go!

(If anything is confusing, feel free to holler!)

TUTORIAL: Multi-Colored Fabric Flowers

Well Hello there!  I've been super busy with homework lately, and as I was listening to an online lecture, I realized I could whip up a fabric flower and show you how to make your own!  So here we go!

This is what we'll make today:

 

(And you can totally put a button or bead in the middle...I just didn't have time to do it, and I wanted to get this thing POSTED!)

First off, you'll need:

2 different coordinating fabrics (I used solid colors, but designs would probably be super cute)

Needle and Thread

Scissors

Measuring Tape (or just eyeball it too!)

Button/Beads (something for the middle)

Figure out which fabric you want on the top, and which fabric you want on the bottom.  I chose yellow for the top and pink for the bottom.

Lay out the fabric you want on top.  Measure 2 inches, and cut a slit in the fabric. 

Then start ripping the fabric to make your strip about 18 inches long.

Don't worry, the fabric will stay the right width as you rip! (Love this method!)

Then you'll get the material for the bottom of the flower, and rip a 3 inch wide strip by about 18 inches long.

  

The you'll have 2 strips of fabric:

Fold them hot dog style to make skinny and long strips, and then pin them.

*If you want your flowers to have frayed edged, pin against the folded edges.  If you want your flowers to have finished edges, pin against the frayed edges.

I pinned against the frayed edges to have the finished look.

(sorry for the blurry pictures!  Don't know what the deal is today!)

That's a faraway look of it pinned together.

Then you'll start sewing a long stitch (basting stitch) down the length of your strips.  As you go, gather or "crinkle," it up.  Be careful not to pull too hard, or you'll break your thread and get to start over! :)

You'll end up with a shape like this.  Pull really tight to keep the center really small and tight.

On the back side, you'll sew a few stitches to close the flower up.

Here's a funny picture to help you get an idea.  Sew all the way to the edge and keep it tight.

Then grab your hot glue gun and stick a button, bead, or other embellishment on and you're done!  

*I taught some teenage girls to make these several weeks ago, and most of them had a hard time keeping the middles tight.  Some of them made really small stitches, so I think that was part of the problem.  I just grabbed my hot glue gun and secured the flowers more in the middle.

Have fun with this, and leave me a comment if you have any questions!

Discovery: New Blog!

I found a blog that I'm falling in LOVE with!  It's called Queen of the Castle where you'll find all sorts of good stuff!  One of the things she's doing this year is a series of 52 weeks with a toddler.  Here you'll find a list of ideas for each day of the week to do with your little ones.  What a great resource for a mom, or even a kid-lover (who would love to Nanny for the summer) like me.  This week she has a series called "One Week to a Cleaner Home," where she shares a schedule (which I'm in need of ) and several tips of how to get things super clean!  I didn't find the tips until yesterday, and since they started on Monday, I decided to save the work until Spring Break when I'll have a full week that I can get in there and REALLY clean! :) 
So go check out this awesome place full of lovely ideas!

TUTORIAL: Something Crafty for your Mouse!

And I mean this kind of mouse

Not the one that lives at Disneyland!

With mounds of online homework, I practically live on my computer.  Sometimes I use my mouse, and sometimes I just use the touchpad on my laptop.  I prefer the mouse, but until today my mousepad looked like this...

I think it originally was white, but now its yellow and gross.

So I turned it into this!

 

Here's how!

You'll need:

Mouse Pad

Modge Podge

Brush

Scrap of fabric to cover mouse pad

Scissors

Piece of Cardstock (optional--I'll tell why later)

First, check to see if you can see the design through your fabric when placing it on top of the mouse pad.  My fabric was pretty light, so I had to glue paper down first.  

Like This:

I just traced the mouse pad, cut out the shape, slapped some modge podge down, and called it fabulous!

Then I cut my fabric out and left about an inch of "glue allowance."

(I should have taken a picture of the other side, but I think you can see that there's extra all around!)

Next, You'll throw some modge podge on top of that mouse pad!

Smash it down good, and make sure to smooth out any creases!

The flip that baby over, cut some notches in the corners for easy folding and gluing.

Then fold the edges over and glue them really well.  

This is the hardest part, and then you're all done!

There you are, a very cute home for your mouse to live on!