Fabric Blocks for Baby

This is the first fabric toy project I ever made. At the time (2.5 years ago) I knew less than nothing about interfacing or types of stitches or anything like that, so it is grossly unpolished.

The project idea came from a book called "Crafts for Baby" by Alison Jenkins and it was a set of 3 blocks.

Fabric Bracelet

I picked up a book called "Sew Darn Cute" by Jenny Ryan at the Hobby Lobby grand opening in my town recently. It has sewing projects for a variety of skill levels. There are several that seem to be appropriate for the beginner (that's me!) and I can't wait to work my way through the whole book.

For my first attempt, I chose the Snappy Fabric Bracelet. This is a photo from the author's website. I did not make these bracelets. It's just here so you can see what they are SUPPOSED to look like.

I'm pretty sure you'd need to buy the book to get the step-by-step instructions. But I think I can share my experience working through the tutorial.

This is what my bracelet looks like.



The author recommends using snaps for the closure (duh...."snappy" bracelet???) but I didn't have any and decided to improvise with things I had on hand (velcro.) The velcro is on the inside, of course.



You can see that the snaps look much classier and make the bracelets less Wonder Woman-y. And although the velcro makes the bracelet easier to put on with one hand, I will definitely use the snaps for the next one.



Of course there are things I see wrong with my bracelet. Like the *top stitching needs to be cleaner. I imagine I'll get better at that as I practice more. And I will be making more because two people have asked for bracelets.

I'd also like to get the corners more square. I read somewhere that if you clip the fabric at an angle near the corner before turning it right side out, the fabric will be less bulky giving you crisp square corners.

Duly noted.

*Look at me using the cool sewing lingo like I know what I'm doing. Ha!

Stay pretty!

Lamb Pillow....I did it!

This was an easy enough project that I found in Molly's Sketchbook at the Purl Bee. I didn't use the exact same materials called for but the lamb is still soft.

Because I'm lazy normally pressed for time and very efficient, I traced once with the vanishing fabric pen, folded, and cut through two pieces of felt at the same time to get the two face sections. This technique worked well for the ears and leg pieces as well.





I know, I know, my sewing is cringe-worthy. But I'm working on it. Check me in 6 months. I'll be a sewing fool with crazy clean lines.

One thing I didn't pay attention to is making sure my bottom and top thread matched. I forgot that the thread would show on both sides of the lamb. So my lamb has white thread on one side and brown thread on the other.

Oopsies. I broke the crap out of my needle. These are the kinds of things that make a 1 hour job take 2 hours. Now I must take time to go read the manual and figure out how to change the needle. Luckily that was an easy thing to do.

Pieces are all pinned together and ready for stitching, stuffing and finishing off the opening.

I think he turned out really cute. I could have made him fluffier with the stuffing. And next time I might make a larger momma sheep.

Now I'm off to remove something from my To-Do list. I love that.

Stay pretty!

Sunshine Applique and a sewing machine that hates me.

Making an applique seems like it should be the easiest thing in the world. But for me, nothing is easy. Especially when my idiot sewing machine is involved.

I confess that I have recently learned how to say "applique" correctly. My mom and sister about died laughing when they heard me pronoune it "app-leek". In my defense, it is spelled like critique! Stop laughing. It's not like the average person has occasion to use that word much anyway.

"Hey Bob. How was your weekend?"
"Great, Sam. I was up to my neck in appli-KAYS. It was awesome."
"Man, don't I believe it!"

See...you just don't hear that around the office much.

1) Prepare the fabric. I ironed Heat N Bond onto the back of the fabric I would be using to make my appliKAY. I've learned that HnB works better at all if you let it cool completely before you take off the paper backing.

2) Next I cut a cardstock sunshine using my Cricut machine. This is what I will use to trace the pattern onto the fabric.

3) Trace the sunshine onto the back of the fabric and cut out.

4) Then I used a circle Spellbinder die run through my Cuttlebug machine on the orange fabric to cut out the center of the sunshine. Yes, I know people should be able to free-hand a circle but I use my dies as much as I can. When I figured out they could easily cut fabric, I was like "YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Why have a shakey wobbly hand-cut flat-tire-looking circle when I can have a perfectly round one in a matter of seconds?

5) Next I ironed the sunshine and it's center onto the outside of the onesie and some fusible interfacing onto the inside of the onsie. The interfacing makes fabric more sturdy for when I stitch around the shapes.

6) Finally I get to sew stuff. You might be wondering why I need to sew the sunshine even though I just ironed it onto the onesie. Well, I want to throw in some hot pink and I want it to look more finished. Plus, I think stitching around the edges helps prevent fraying or something like that.

So here is where my nightmare began. I'm happily sewing but realize the tension is set wrong because the white bobbin thread is showing. I pick out the thread. *Adjust tension* Start over.



Something is still wrong. Pick out more thread. *Adjust tension the other way* Start over. Yes, something is still wrong because at certain points the needle just won't come back out of the fabric like it is stuck on something. I check the underside of the garment. The freaking bobbin is all knotted up! What gives?

Apparently the tension was only half the problem. I was using embroidery thread and the spool didn't fit properly on the spool holder thingy so the thread was jerking and pulling around as the needle went up and down. Dang it! FINE. I'll pick out the thread AGAIN and use a different spool and a different section of the design. I am NO quitter.

*Happily sewing sewing sewing.*



Things seem to be going great. Until I flip the onesie over to check on the bobbin thread and see THIS. Gaah! *Bleeeeeeeep*



I gasp in horror at the idea of picking out the thread one more time. And I can feel the sewing machine mocking me. It's like it knows I'm about to lose it. Yet I carry on. Clipping away another failure but determined to finish what I started.

*more fiddling with the tension settings*

Well, finally I get the tension right and finish the project. Do you smell that? I believe it's called V-I-C-T-O-R-Y.



I can't quite say whether it was worth it or not. This project should not have taken so long. But I did come out having learned some things about my sewing machine. And I do love prettifying my daughter's clothing, but when I walk through Target and see adorable clothing with elaborately stitched designs that I can buy for $7.00, yeah it kinda makes me wonder why I do this.

Yet on I go. I am NO quitter.

Until next time, stay pretty.

Decorate a plain onsie with a felt flower.

I did this back in June. It was simple though the hand stitching was a little time consuming. Definitely a project you could do in an hour (if you didn't have babies climbing up your leg or running around the house tearing books off your bookshelf.)



I cut the flower out of pink felt (and a matching piece of Heat N Bond) using my Cuttlebug and a flower Nestabilities die. I ironed the Heat N Bond onto the back of the flower and then the flower onto the onsie. I used embroidery floss to secure the button and to do the hand stitching. And BAM! You have just prettied up a plain boring onsie.

Sunburst Card

This is basically a copy of a card I saw on the cover of one of the card or paper crafting magazines. Can't remember which one. But anyway, here is my version.