First Sew Along, Ever

I'll be hosting the first sew along, ever.  Well, it will be a first for me, at least.  Starting May 1st, 2013, I will be hosting a sew along via Facebook.  You pick your project.  All I ask is that you join my event, announce what you're making by May 1st, and post an update picture every Wednesday, for a total of four.  We (the other participants and I) just want to see what you've been up to!  Feel free to ask questions and help others.  This is for fun, so don't worry too much about rules.  Ready? Set. SEW! ;)

KO Baby Legwarmers

 The idea of baby legwarmers is not a new one.  Babylegs are probably the most popular brand.  There are many tutorials on the internet, but this is my version, adapted from a pair that my aunt made for my daughter.  You will need: A pair of women's knee-high socks, serger or sewing machine, thread, scissors and pins.

I found these socks at the Dollar Tree.  They had all different kinds, including seasonal designs.

Pin socks together three times, as shown.  Each sock is now in 4 pieces.  Pinning together is my *lazy* alternative to measuring :)  The long part will make up the main part of the legwarmer.  Save the middle/straight piece to make the cuff.  The toe and heel can be discarded.

Okay, different sock, but stay with me!  It is easier to see the process on this striped sock.  Take the middle/straight piece that you saved and roll it in half, right side out.  Then, slip over the cut end of the legwarmer.  I have laid them in the direction the cuff will slip on.  Notice, all cut sides are facing the same direction!

You may want to pin here, but I'm lazy, so I didn't.  Be sure all the ends are lined up, which is a little tricky because once you cut the sock, it will want to roll up.

Time to serge!  Set your serger accordingly to avoid puckering.  If you have a regular ol' sewing machine, use a zig zag or overlock stitch.

Done.  Now do the other one!

Ready for some baby's legs ;)

Shown on my lovely model.  She is 17 months and about 25lb, so you're LO can wear these for a while!

TKO: Hello Kitty Shirt - the Remix

As a diligent housekeeper, I always wash new clothes before we wear them.  After doing so with a batch of clothes for my daughter, another shirt bled on this darling Hello Kitty shirt that I scored on clearance at Target. Grrr. So, I tried everything to get the stain out until I had a flash of genius.  I picked up another white shirt at Walmart and whipped up this Hello Kitty shirt...the remix.  You will need: scissors, seam ripper (if applicable), sewing machine, iron-on stabilizer, iron, ironing board or thick towel and pins, if you like. 

I took my seam ripper and removed the bow.

Then, I cut out the design in a heart shape.  Let's call this the "applique"

Next, I cut a piece of stabilizer slightly larger than the "applique".  Go ahead and turn on your iron so it is hot when you need it.

Turn the shirt inside out, and position your stabilizer where you want it.  Make sure that the glue side is against the fabric.  Use the "applique" to position the stabilizer.  You can use pins, but you will have to remove them before/during ironing.

Turn right side out and prepare to iron.

Iron according to instructions on your fusible stabilizer.  Turn off the iron and let the shirt cool before proceeding.

Position "applique" on right side of shirt.  Make sure that it lines up with the stabilizer.  Sew to attach.  I used a straight stitch and left a border, but if you do not like that look, you could finish it with a zig-zag over the edges of the "applique".

Sew on bow or add other embellishments.  You're done.  Now THAT was a quick fix!

TKO: Flower Hair Clips

While I was pregnant, I was bored at home and always looking for new crafts to conquer.  One day while perusing the local Dollar Tree, it occurred to me that I could make some cute, girly hair stuff for pretty cheap.  I stocked up on jewels and flowers and the rest is history.  These flower hair clips are so easy to make, definitely not worth the $4+ that they charge in the store, and they make a great gift for girls (and women!) of all ages.  Plus, they come together really fast!

You will need:  Artificial flower, scissors or craft knife, hot glue gun and glue, jewel, alligator hair clip, felt, shelf liner, and 3/8" ribbon.

Prep your alligator clip.  (See Bow Clip tutorial for how-to.)  Remove flower from stem.

Flip flower over and take apart, removing all plastic pieces.

Flip over again, arrange layers of petals, and lay flat.  Use hot glue gun to tack layers together.  Tack towards the center.

Glue jewel in center.  This is pink on pink, but be creative, you can use any color combination you like!

Glue securely onto clip.  Be generous!  Especially, if this is for a young child as they might be a tad rough.

They can be worn alone, or added to a nice headband, which I often find in 3- or 4-packs for $1 at HEB or Fiesta Mart. 

Knotty Know Know:  All flowers are not created equal.  Look for flowers that can easily be taken apart and laid flat.  Nothing puts a damper on a quick project like a feisty flower.

Knotty Knock-Off: Bow Hair Clips

This Knotty Knock Off comes via the Make It and Love It blog, where she shows us how to make Simple Hair Bow Clips.  It is a great tutorial, and I made a dozen myself before getting squirrely and adding my own mischief to the design.  I added a jewel and changed up the no slip part.  For this project, you will need: three 4 1/2" strips of 3/8" ribbon, one alligator clip, one jewel, felt (optional), shelf liner, and a glue gun.

The pink ribbon is satin.  I treated the ends with Fray Check, which can be purchased anywhere craft supplies are sold.  When using grosgrain, like the yellow shown below, heat seal the ends with a lighter.

Notice the alligator clip I'm using has a point on the end, rather than the prongs.  It works just fine, so don't worry if you have one type or the other.  I bought these on Amazon.com. 

Cover the clip with one piece of ribbon, making sure you glue neatly, but generously to hold in place.  This part of the clip will be handled the most.  Make two loops with the other two pieces.  Glue to tack.

Stack loops to form a bow shape.  Tack together with glue.  Then, glue the bow on the clip and the jewel on the bow.

Open clip and glue your felt, then shelf liner inside.  On the Make It and Love It, she uses white.  So did I until it occurred to me that brown would look better in my daughter's hair.  The clasp seems to disappear and the bow is showcased more prominently.  You can even cover the clip with brown ribbon (or hair-colored ribbon, if not brown) to further accentuate the bow on top.  Also, sometimes I'm lazy and don't use the felt!

Knotty Know Know (Tip):  Don't close this clip until glue is completely dry! 

(duh, right?)  I've done it, more than once, and the glue is difficult to get off without bending the clip.

Okay, you're done!

TKO: Happy Birthday Banner

Sure, I could have bought a "Happy Birthday" banner, but I wanted something BIG and slightly fancy and I needed an outlet for all of my party-planning frustrations.  So the custom "Happy Birthday" banner was born. Most of the materials I already had, so it was mostly a time investment.

You'll need: 13 sheets of card stock, 8 sheets of colored printer paper, a computer & printer, pencil, ruler, scissors (optional), x-acto (no.11) craft knife, cutting mat, white glue, crepe paper, brads, and 7' of 7/8" grosgrain ribbon and a lighter for heat sealing.

Print large dots on card stock and small (Swiss) dots on colored paper.  These make the background and add a little pizazz and dimension to our banner.  Next, print the words, for this project "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" in all caps on the colored paper.  The the letters should be outlined only, no fill!  We are going to cut them out later.

To make triangular flags: Mark the middle on the bottom of the page (4  1/4").  Draw a line from each top corner, to the bottom middle.  Cut along those lines.  For faster results, stack 3 or 4 sheets together when cutting.

You are left with thirteen of these triangular flags.

This is what your printed message should look like.  Cut letters out with scissors or x-acto.

Done!  Position letters on flags, and glue down.  Let dry before going to the next step.

Now your letters are dry, you can flip these bad boys over and add the crepe paper trim.  You don't have to measure, you can work right off of the roll.  Leave yourself plenty of slack since you will be pleating the paper.  Run a bead of glue about 1/4" from the edge of the banner. Start laying your crepe paper, leaving a little extra hanging at the beginning.  Press down a few inches, then fold back and forth to create pleats.  Just eyeball it.  It doesn't have to be perfect!

Once you reach the point, pleat (as shown below) adding a few dots of glue to keep it secure.

Now you've rounded the corner.  Run another bead of glue back up to the top.  Press and pleat like before.  Let dry before continuing.

With the right side up, fold under any extra crepe paper, so that the  top is all even.  Then, cut  a small dash in each top corner, just big enough to insert a brad.  On the end flags, cut two holes in the corner where the ribbon will be attached.

Stack flags to form two separate banners, one that says "HAPPY" and the other "BIRTHDAY".  Insert brads to attach them together.  I used small scrap book brads,  because I had them laying around already.  You can use whatever kind you have available.

Cut 4 strips of grosgrain ribbon: two pieces at 18" and two pieces at 24".  Cut or poke two holes in the end of each piece.  Use brads to attach 18" pieces to either side of the "HAPPY" banner, and the longer pieces to the "BIRTHDAY" banner.  Make sure that all holes and cuts on the ribbon are heat sealed!

You are a paper crafting master.  Hang as you please.  

TIP: I used 3M Command hooks to hang mine...they worked like a charm!