crossing things off…

Posted on 2012/12/18 by daisyeyes

Slowly crossing off the incredible list of sewing and other projects I hope to accomplish while we are all on holiday break.

First off was my last Christmas gift to make: a drawstring bag for the boy. I bought this camo nylon a long time ago with intentions of making him a bag for Easter, then his birthday and finally I got it done for Christmas. After searching high and low for a good tutorial for making a drawstring bag I settled on this one by Kitschy Coo.

Overall I would say her tutorial is excellent. She has great photos and great written instructions. I used the camo nylon on the outside and this great cotton canoe themed fabric for the inside.

The only thing I felt lacking was how to do the drawstrings. I feel like there is another, maybe better? way to thread these through but maybe not. I had hoped to use some actually black drawstrings but the set I bought wasn’t long enough. I had this extra pack of shoelaces stashed away so I just grabbed those to use. They really aren’t quite long enough, but I think they will do for now.

The last project was to finish this dang chair! We actually have 3 of these chairs: one we are using now, one we need to buy foam for and one other rocker that needs to be repaired. We got the whole lot, plus a two seat loveseat for $60 on craiglist. We absolutely love these chairs, but the cushion covering process has been slow and painful. I am truly not gifted in sewing cushion covers. I finished the bottom cushion a while back and finally got to back cushion done today and oh.my.goodness! I love it so much!

The fabric is by Flea Market Fancy by Denyse Schmidt. It is a heavyweight cotton and it’s lovely to sew. I stalked it for a long time and finally bought it years ago for the kitchen in our old house. We moved and it didn’t really seem to fit in my kitchen right now so I decided to put it in the family room.

We have another chair that we will bring up after I can get some foam for it and I have enough yardage of another print from this same line by DS that I will use for the cushions. My hope is to use the remnants of what I have left to recover some pillows and eventually the ottomans too. Maybe by next Christmas!

a few tutorials and more

Posted on 2012/12/12 by daisyeyes

There is a big birthday coming up and with it a project that my husband and I have both been working on. The chick is getting another American Girl doll for her birthday thanks to grandparents (and this is our max too!) so there was a need for something for them to sleep on. You’ll have to tune in late to see the finished project.

Until then, I’ll give you a glimpse at a few projects I worked on today. First up was a fitted sheet for a doll bed. I followed this tutorial by From an Igloo but I added a few changes so I thought I would share them here. I used some leftover pieces of a vintage sheet for the fabric.

I followed her directions for cutting out the pattern (mostly because I suck at math) and they were perfect.

For my sheets, I opted to serge the unfinished edges instead of folding them over.

Then, instead of making a casing for the elastic, I stitched it over the serged edge. To do this, you need to cut out your elastic, make a stitch with your machine leaving your needle in the fabric. Then you pull the elastic to where the end point is and slowly zig zag stitch along the elastic.

I think it turned out pretty well.

It is a little floppy on the non elastic sides. I don’t know if this was my fault in measuring or what. If I made some more of these I think I would do elastic all the way around instead of just on the ends. But overall, this is a super easy way to make doll sized sheets!

Now onto the quilts: A while back I made a little bird quilt for my chick’s bed. The fabric was from Heather Bailey (most of it is Pop Garden) and I knew when it was time to make something for her dolls I wanted it to match.

I used up most of the scraps I had left for her book sling so after a little searching on etsy I was able to track down some fat quarters that were from the same line. I suck at math and therefore making quilts is probably never going to be my forte (these ended up being about 1″ too short on the sides) but I’m pretty pleased with how they turned out.

What was the biggest relief today was finding all this leftover binding from her book sling and quilt that I had already made!

Stay tuned for the big reveal of the whole project in the coming week!

fantastic fridays {nov 9)

Posted on 2012/11/09 by daisyeyes

Hello friends! Time for another weekly wrap up of some great finds from around the web this week.
If you didn’t catch yesterdays post, I’m hosting a give away…check out this link for more info! Entries end tonight at midnight.

great FABRIC: More goodness coming from the Fall Quilt Market. Monaluna has a super great line coming out early next year called Modern Home. I really love the vintage looking appliances. If only it wasn’t so dang expensive!

to whet your APPETITE: Earlier this week I posted a recipe for the best baked pumpkin oatmeal ever. Kinda thinking it might be on the menu again this weekend! It was that yummy.

be NEAT (as in organized): Love, love this idea of using a tool caddy that goes over a bucket for storing art supplies!

a TUTORIAL to do: Totally loving this idea of using galvanized plumbing supplies for curtain rods. Check out this tutorial for everything you need!

becoming more AWARE: Ann Voskamp has a great freebie for a lovely Thankfulness Tree.

something to SEW: Sew Liberated has some really awesome patterns coming out in the next year! Check them out!

to TRIM my house with: I’m trying to come up with some new ways to decorate my banister besides fake garland. I’ve pinned a couple of options. Love this one with embroidery hoops and burlap “ribbon, I also love these white flowers with ornaments hanging in between the rods, and even just hanging a simple banner.

ILLUSTRATION to stitch: I really don’t need another project for my needle right now, but I do love this vintage looking Christmas tree. It would be a beautiful embroidery!

CUTE: Sweet, sweet embroideries at this site. And the guinea pig…adorable!

Have a happy weekend!!!

And don’t forget about the give away!!!

emerson tunic tutorial review

Posted on 2012/10/14 by daisyeyes

Here lately I feel like my personal sewing has really gone by the wayside as life has overtaken me. Any time I spend down in the basement studio is spent on etsy projects and while that is good and I’m beyond grateful for it, I feel like creatively I’m not being stretched.
Therefore I have instigated a Wednesday and Sunday creative space. I volunteer at my kiddos school on Wednesday mornings, which gives me about 2 hours in the afternoon when I’m done before I have to pick them up. Instead of letting that time be spent idling with so many other goofy things, spent working on my shop or even just home management stuff I’m holding myself to using this time to work on all those projects I have stacked up and unfinished in the studio.

First up was this tutorial by luvinthemommyhood. I saw this emerson tunic on Pinterest a while back and I’ve had this adorable doggie fabric for at least a year. I felt like this would be a great fun yard to use for this little shirt. A little bit of purple flower scrap fabric for the casings and voila…a new shirt. (that my daughter refuses to wear…Lord help me when she is 13, therefore it’s been lovingly given off to another sweet friend’s little chickadee).

I did alter a couple of things from the tutorial. I decided to trim out the sleeves with the corresponding bias trim used on the neckline. I didn’t do the strip of buttons down the back, partly due to time (and laziness) and partly due to the fact that I knew it would bother my daughter (which became a mute point because she won’t wear it anyway).

For the neckline, I ended up just making some bias trim and sending some tiny elastic in through it for the casing.

Overall, this is a super cute and easy pattern. I will admit the directions weren’t all that easy to follow and there were a few things I just had to figure out (such as how to do the sleeves which I figured out I did wrong when they disappeared up the side hem!). But if you have a sewing background at all, this is a pretty easy pattern to whip up in a couple of hours that lends itself to do many different variations.

a tutorial & stitch along {pillowcase skirt}

Posted on 2012/05/06 by daisyeyes

I’ve had this pillowcase for a while and was going to make a pillowcase dress, but the other day decided to try my hand at writing a tutorial for a pillowcase skirt. I made a skirt out of vintage & thrifted cases a while ago, but only having one case this time decided to add a little something to the bottom. It was also time to participate in the monthly feeling stitchy stitchalong so I decided to make a little apron for the skirt and “kill two birds with one stone” as they say. The instructions are for a size 5 skirt, but can easily be adapted for smaller sizes. So here goes…

a pillowcase skirt tutorial:

First, gather up all your materials:
- one standard pillowcase
- 3/4 yard of coordinating tulle
- coordinating ric rac
- thread
- roughly a fat quarter of white (or coordinating) fabric for the apron and embroidery
- embroidery pattern (found here)
- 3/4″ wide elastic
- small piece of interfacing

Lay out your case on a cutting mat and measure 14″ from the open end up and cut across.

After cutting you should have something like this:

Next you are ready to cut your tulle strips. Strips are cut width of fabric x 5″ wide. I folded my width of fabric in half to fit it on my mat for cutting. Cut 3 strips.

**This is where I did things a little backwards. Typically you would now sew your 3 strips together short ends to short ends to make a large loop and then baste. I opted to indent my basting a little bit and make the loop last.**

Next baste your 3 tulle strips together. This is where going slow pays off in order to keep all the layers on top of each other while you sew. After you sew, pull the basting a little bit to make it fit around the inside of the case. After fitting it almost together, sew the short ends together to make a loop.

When you get ready to sew the tulle strip to the case, match up the basting stitch with the hem stitch on the case.

Flip the skirt right side out and you should have something like this. The tulle should hang down about an inch below the case bottom.

Here’s an inside view of the tulle strip after it has been sewn on:

Now you are going to cover up the hem seam and seam from the tulle strip with some ric rac. Line up your ric rac on the seam and you can go ahead and measure out how much you need and sew!

Your skirt bottom should now look something like this:

Next it’s time to measure the apron pieces and trace your embroidery. (obviously this picture was taken after I embroidered. Just use your imagination)

Cut 2 apron pieces 7.5″ x 9.5″ and using a water soluble pen, trace your embroidery design and sew.

After you are finished with your embroidery, clip the long ends of your threads on the back and “seal” your embroidery by ironing on a small piece of interfacing. If embroidery isn’t your thing, you could always cut two pieces of coordinating fabric and use those as your apron piece.

Next, you will add ric rac to the edges of the apron pieces and sew them together. Sandwich the ric rac in between the apron pieces, right sides facing. Sew the two long sides and bottom, leaving the top open.

Turn right side out, use a chop stick to poke out the corners and press. You should have something like this (sorry it’s blurry):

Now you are going to line up your apron piece with the top of your skirt. Mine measured roughly 6.5 inches on each side.

Pin apron in place.

Now it is time to finish the top edge of your skirt. If you have a serger, use your serger to finish the top, while at the same time attaching the apron piece. If you do not have a serger, you can use a zig zag stitch to finish the top edge and attach the apron OR you can baste the apron piece and fold the top down 1/4″ and press.

Now it is time to make the casing for the elastic.

Fold down the top 1″ and press. You might want to pin the apron piece in place so that it doesn’t shuffle around while sewing the casing. Make sure to leave an opening in the casing to insert the elastic.

Cut your elastic 21″ inches and insert elastic into casing.

When you have pulled all your elastic through, sew the ends together.

Stretch the elastic all the way through and then sew the seam closed.

Voila! Now you are done!

little house pouch

Posted on 2012/02/29 by daisyeyes

Finally a little sewing done! At least I can say I finished one item in my Monday basket!

I’ve made these Little House Pouches last year and decided to try my hand at the tutorial again. I don’t remember having this many snafus with this tutorial when I made them before, but it could be because I messed with the dimensions some.

I made one of these to fit a Kindle Fire and the other one I made longer to fit a small notebook and pencils inside. I added the straps and this time opted to just stitch them on the outside. The first time I made these I made a buttonhole and them knotted them inside…honestly I think I like that option better. I had a big issue with the roofs lining up correctly and if I made these again I think I would lengthen the roof so that it might lie down better. The tutorial mentions you could easily add velcro to keep it closed, but I like the idea of just lifting up the flap. Overall this is a great pattern and tutorial and one I’ll keep stashed away for birthday gifts!

wallet

Posted on 2011/04/07 by daisyeyes

The chick is getting a cute purse for Easter and the boy is getting a studly wallet. I have to admit this tutorial stumped me a bit.

I do think there is an error in one spot where she is asking you to match wrong sides, when it should be right…but other than that once I got the accordian fold going right it all went together quickly (it helped that this was take 2)

I found this tutorial a few weeks ago and bookmarked it as a great project for my little rooster. Poor thing suffers with me sewing so little for him. It’s just at nearly 8, I feel so limited in what I could make that wouldn’t be baby-ish.

Next up for Easter sewing: a bunny found here and a “basket” found here. Oh yeah, and a dress for the chick to finish too.

the cutest, funnest little house pouch (es)

Posted on 2011/04/05 by daisyeyes

Let me first say: I do not stay up late to sew. I generally do not sew after dark. I don’t do much of anything after dark besides read or sit and maybe embroider and watch tv. But tonight was different. I started these little pouches (tutorial found here) this afternoon and as I was sitting on the couch eating what was left of my birthday pie I thought, I have got to finish those because they are just too darn cute! That said, these were totally fun to make and so easy and yet so adorable!

I’ve had this tutorial bookmarked for a long time and needing a good birthday gift for a little friend of ours and something to put in the chick’s Easter basket, these little bags fit the bill.

The tutorial doesn’t include instructions for a “handle”, but after I had them done I thought they really needed something. I ended up making buttonholes on the ends and then just knotting the fabric ends to make it stay.

(this is a lousy picture, but wanted you to see the inside…)

I am thinking about making a few little doll peg people to put in these little purses. But we’ll see how the next few days (and nights) play out.

An Easy Christmas Ornament

Posted on 2009/12/20 by daisyeyes

The Long Thread posted this tutorial a few weeks ago and I showed it to my son and we declared it a great project for those little gifts that you just need to give. I honestly didn’t want to search for little wooden balls and had a stash of glass ornaments so we opted to make ours out of those.

Here’s how we made ours:

1) Cut out pattern (for the 1.5″ wooden balls the pattern is at The Long Thread link and I just printed the one from the tutorial and cut mine about a 1/2″ larger)

2) Sew edges of hat together and turn (a great project for the little ones…chop sticks work great as tools to poke on through the hat when turning) but don’t forget to leave a little hole at the top point! If you don’t sew, I don’t see why you couldn’t just hot glue the edges together!

3) Tie white ribbon through the loop of the ornament and then stick the ribbon out through the top of the hat to make the hanger.

4) Hot glue a small dot at the back seam of the hat to keep in place and then hot glue the white beard on.

5) Add some eyes (paint pens work best)

6) Hang on your tree or share with a friend!

My First Tutorial: A Leapster Bag

Posted on 2009/01/04 by daisyeyes

My little Rooster got a Leapster for Christmas and my first project this new year was to create a bag for him to carry it in, along with all the games. I got the crazy idea I would make a tutorial to go along with it. I think I got in a bit over my head and honestly don’t know if this will make sense to anyone, but here goes!

Here is the link to my flickr set with directions.