Custom Halloween Pillows

A while back, I fell in love with this pillow.  It was on my list of Halloween crafts, but I just hadn't found the right template for my oversize couch pillows (remember them from this?). 

Flash forward a few weeks, and I found the above skeleton sketch in the trash!  Little E had drawn it to carve on her pumpkin, but didn't like it after all.  I pulled it out, enlarged it on the copier and turned it into a felt applique for the pillow cover.  Instead of a blanket stitch, I made coordinating felt piping (see here for the how-to).  I didn't have to worry about cutting on the bias because the felt is stretchy enough with the straight cut.  I basically followed these directions to make the pillow. 

With one pillow done, I was inspired to cover the other two in the same fashion.  Little E supplied the ghost.  Little A was more hesitant to draw on demand, so I found one of her drawings of a happy face and turned the hair into a stem.  Can you keep a straight face when you look at him?

 

I'm so excited to have festive, custom pillow covers for the Halloween season.  They are even more special because they are based on my girls' art work.  I know we'll have fun pulling them out every year and remembering their 4 and almost 7 year old versions of these Halloween classics. 

 

 

 

Up, up and away!

We had friends over the other day and one of the boys was dismayed to not have any dress-up clothes (apart from all the dresses!).  Remembering Jill's post about a set she made for a friend, we sprung into action to remedy our dress-up stash void.

Apart from some slippery fabric that wanted to pucker, I think our superhero friend will love it - I can already imagine him flying around his yard, deflecting his older brother's lasers.

Now, can I get away with making and wearing one of my own?  Some days, I just need it! 

Wishing you a superhero kind of day!



Felt bird ornaments

Each year, we like to treat our family friends to a small, meaningful gift for the holidays. We have friends that are known for their granola, hot chocolate and gingerbread men. While I've made peppermint bark in the past, I wanted to do something different this year.

Little E had planted sunflowers in the garden that yielded beautiful yellow heads full of seeds. When they dried up, we got the idea to save them and give them out as our holiday gift - something to either save and plant or share with the birds now.

After a few trial runs, I came up with a felt bird ornament with a fabric applique wing and bell to accompany the sunflower. Unfortunately, when we went to retrieve the flowers, they looked less than gift-worthy. Plan B? A sack of seeds the birds will enjoy in the coming winter months along with a handcrafted ornament I hope our friends will enjoy in the years to come.

The bottom right was my first bird - the wing came out a bit too big. I love the paisely brown one, probably for the sheer luck that the print landed on its eye. In the end, I opted for the simple felt birds - I love the striking contrast between the saturated color of the felt and the fabric print.

Here are two gifts, packaged and ready to deliver (can you tell my color ink was running out?).

Wishing you the joy of creating and giving!

A monkey applique shirt, some news and a chalkboard mat tutorial...

First off, look who's two!

I can't believe how grown up she looks in this photo! The shirt is mommy-made, based on the monkey fabric in her party favors - Urban Zoologie Monkeys by Ann Kelle. 

Second, some quick news: I have a line of reusable snack sacks currently for sale at a local farm stand.  The pairing of the snack sacks and a business promoting local produce feels like such a good fit.  If you are a leaf-peeper in Western Mass, be sure to swing by M&M Green Valley Produce to check them out!

Last, but not least, I gave you a sneak peek at some chalkboard fabric a while back.  Now, that fabric has magically transformed into chalkboard mats!  These roll up for easy travel, and are perfect for entertaining little ones at restuarants, in the car, etc.

Interested in making one?  Here's how:  

 Materials: one 13.5 " x 11"  piece of cotton quiliting fabric

                 one 4" x 4" piece of cotton quilting fabric

                 one 13.5" x 11" piece of chalkboard fabric

                 one package extra wide, double fold bias tape, 1/2" width

                 12" piece rickrack (or ribbon) for tie

 1.  Round corners of both fabric pieces.

2. Pink top and left edge of 4 inch square.  Align with bottom right corner of chalkboard fabric and baste.  Trim along rounded corner.

3.  Use a spray adhesive to baste the wrong sides of fabric together.  My spray adhesive of choice?  Sulky KK 2000 - non-toxic, non-flammable and safe for the environment!

4. Beginning in the middle of the bottom, sandwich chalkboard fabric and cotton fabric between bias tape.  Note: the photos show me sewing with the chalkboard side up, but it's better to sew with the cotton side up.  This way, you can make sure you encase all the cotton fabric.

 5. Once you have sewn the bias tape around the entire chalkboard mat, overlap the ends by about an inch and a half.  Cut the tape.

 

 6. Open the tape and fold the end, wrong sides togther, about a half inch.

7.  Fold the sides of the tape back, enclosing the raw edges.  Now, re-sandwich the mat in the fold of the tape, sew and backstitch. 

8.  Fold your piece of rickrack or ribbon in half and sew to the right edge, half way up, on the cotton side.  Note: I used Fray Check on the ends of my rickrack.

9.  Write a message to your little one, tuck the chalk in the pocket, roll and tie your mat, and off you go!

Here are the ones I made for the party - perfect for a two year old girl and her friends!

And, for the two babies who came, their very own monkey bibs (because they'd probably just eat the chalk!). 

Wishing you lots of reasons to monkey around today!



Tee Hee

Don't these make you giggle?



I saw an iron-on applique at the store the other day that gave me the idea (then I saw a blog post after I made my first two - something in the air?)

                                                          

These two long sleeved ones are for two friends who are due with boys next month.  I found some great lined pants for fall, and the TINIEST O-Ball ever to go with the shirts.

I hope the moms-to-be get a chuckle out of these, too! 

  

Here's to something bringing a suprise smile to your face today! 

Another bunting

It's almost Halloween - hooray!  I don't know what it is about this holiday that always has me a bit giddy.  We are definitely not the family to recreate a graveyard in our front yard or go to town carving pumpkins.  But, I love my Halloween decorations that come out of the box each year, and have been enjoying creating a few new ones this year. 

First up, another bunting/garland.  I made my first appliqued bunting for little A's birthday.  I thought I would do another very similar but with square panels instead of triangles (it was kind of tricky fitting and centering the letters on the pennants).  I had planned to sew orange pom poms to connect all the letters but then saw the orange rick-rack and went with that.  After seeing an old post on Made by Rae, I decided to use the tiny black rick-rack to make little tags instead.

All in all, I like the look of this, but, let me tell you:  it is NOT easy to slide tiny rick-rack along a larger rick-rack length.  And....if you want to get a photo of your completed project, don't do it on a windy day - these letters were flipping around all over the place!  (Where I actually hang the bunting inside is in our stairwell - the light is really tricky for getting a good photo.)

Also, if you have a dog, you might want to keep him inside for your outdoor photo shoot or he might grab the bunting and run for it, causing a tangeld, twisted mess (not that MY dog did that...wait, yes he did.  Sigh...)

On a last, wonderfully positive note:  I found a new product that I love, love, love - Sulky Temporary Spray Adhesive.    Not using iron-on fusible web makes me feel a bit like a cheater, but it was soo easy to simply spray, stick and sew!

Happy Halloween!

Birthday Bunting

So, we are coming off of big birthday doings in our house.  Baby A turned one!  I guess, technically, she is no longer a baby - instead, a bona fide toddler (she is a walking fiend!) - but, still a baby in my eyes.

In honor of her big day, I made her a birthday bunting (garland, banner, etc.).  I finally cut into my Alexander Henry "City Park" fabric and love the cheery colors together.  I wish I had backed the yellow letters with something before applique-ing them on, though - they get a little lost with the blue showing through.  Anyway...

Happy Birthday, little A - you deserve a birthday sign that brings as much happiness and sunshine into the world as you bring into ours!

A new girl in town...

Just over 9 months ago, a new girl arrived on the scene here. 

Ever since, she has captured our hearts with her constant smiles (and dimples to boot), sense of humor, and long, skinny legs.

It only seems appropriate that this little doll be hers.

Just look at those legs

and that smile.

She even likes to play hide-and-seek like our new little one!

Happy weekend!

And another....

And, here's the one I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I really like the black and white combination, even if the appliques were hard to cut (I trimmed one down to about half its original size before I was happy with the shape!). For the pocket, I sewed a piece of black linen together with the fleece and accent fabric (Alexander Henry Yoko), turned it right-side out and pressed - I topstitched it closed at the same time I sewed it to the bag inside piece. That worked really well - it is a nice, clean finish while being very sturdy.

Another Pleated Beauty

Okay, here's another pleated beauty from BTRS. This one is for my sister-in-law for Mother's Day. It is very similar to the first one I made - differences include a plain bottom, and a padded pocket with a separation sewn in. I also lined the handles with fusible fleece and liked it so much more than my first bag that I ripped out the first bag to fix the handles. That involved a good deal of careful seam ripping but it was totally worth it (except now there is pen on the bag courtesy of the 16 month old in the house)!

The Pleated Beauty (from BTRS)

This is the bag back - the fabric in the pleats and used for the applique are Robert Kaufman "Vintage".
This is the bag front - I added a fabric-covered button and elastic for a closure.
This is the inside - I added the bottom (different than the pattern calls for). The fabric was part of an "Amusement Pack" from Valley Fabrics in Northampton (ahhh...heaven). I bought the pack of six pre-coordinated fabrics for a sewing challenge sponsored by the store (photos to follow). This project was the perfect way to use up the left-overs!
The only thing I would do differently next time (as in, the cut fabric already waiting for its turn at the machine) is to add a lining to the handles as well (I used fusible fleece for the bag which gives it a puffy but sturdy feel).
P.S. Adding photos was not nearly as hard as I thought! Thank you, Blogger!