There's a Leopard in my Living Room! (pillows...that is)

Leopard Pillows

When I saw this navy blue, textured leopard fabric I simply had to have it. Had to. I bought half a yard of it and half a yard of a navy blue solid textured (super soft) fabric. I put the leopard fabric on the the front of the pillows and the solid on the back. Easy rainy day afternoon project! And...a little secret...it's a NO SEW project.

I learned about a product called Stitch Witchery Fusible Bonding Web. It's basically a strip of glue that is ironed on all 3 sides with right sides together, flip it right side out, put the pillow form inside, fold over the last side and use the fusible bonding to close up the edge. Done! And in less than an hour I made my couch a little more sassy! I'm not even sure if you can put flowers and leopard side by side, but for now it's staying.

Linky Party #6 and Ruffled Scarf Tutorial

LINKY PARTY #6 (see below)

and

Ruffled Scarf Tutorial

5 Steps and 10 minutes to something warm and cozy!

Materials:1/4 yard fleece, scissors, thread

1. Lay out your 1/4 yard of fleece. Decide the length and width of your scarf. Cut.

2. Take the remaining strip and cut it in half widthwise so it is about half of the width of your scarf. So my scarf was 6 inches wide and my strip was 3 inches wide. (This will be the ruffle.) 3. Zig-zag stitch around all edges of the scarf and the ruffled pieces.

4. Use your sewing machine to ruffle your strips. (Put it on the highest tension setting and the longest stitch length and use a straight stitch. It will gather it.) Lay out your ruffles where you'd like, press with an iron and pin in place. (I chose to only make my ruffles the bottom 12 inches of each end of the scarf but you can make yours the entire length and whatever design you'd like.)

5. Use a zig-zag stitch throught the center of the ruffles. Take out the pins as you go.

Clip threads and wear it!

LINKY PARTY #6

Favorites from last week:

http://atsecondstreet.blogspot.com/2011/01/lovely-ruffle-dresses.html

Amazing, Amazing!!! These Valentine's Day Ruffle Dresses speak for themselves. I'm in LOVE with them!!

http://watsonfamilyjournal.blogspot.com/2011/01/mine-and-alyssas-new-skirt.html

Couture embellishments!! These curduroy skirts are so inspiring!

http://greylustergirl.blogspot.com/2011/01/dollar-store-tank-transformation.html

See what this mom did with $2.00 at the Dollar Store. Cascading ruffles!

Now it's your turn!

1. Show off something you've made. Link to the specific post on your blog.

2. Become a follower or grab my Seamingly Smitten linky button and
put it in your blog post or sidebar so others can join!

3. Look around some of the other links people have posted and

leave some linky love comments.

Come back next Wednesday to see some of my favorites and linky up again!

Tutorial: Car Applique with Button Wheels

Tutorial: Car Applique with Button Wheels

10 Simple Steps

After making my little girl some pajamas I decided to make another set for my little boy. Of course a two-year old boy needed something boyish but not babyish. I was able to find this flannel fabric with cars, trucks and stoplights, which is a good thing because we are teaching him what the colors of the stoplights mean. Last night he was looking at his pajamas and he said, "Yellow means slow down." :) See clothing can be educational... It was a proud moment. :)

I've found that many people are intimidated by doing an applique so I wanted to do a quick tutorial to show how easy it is.1. Gather materials: t-shirt, fabric, scissors, pen, heat and bond light (if you don't sew you could use the "no-sew" kind - which means you would iron it on and it's done)2. Cut a piece of your Heat and Bond to the size you would like your applique. 3. Lay your Heat and Bond bumpy side down to the BACK of your fabric. Notice the paper side is facing you.

4. Iron on following the directions on the package. I just use a COTTON setting and hold it in place for 3-5 seconds then move the iron to the next spot until the whole piece has been ironed.

5. Let it cool for a few seconds then draw your applique shape. Remember it will be the reverse image once it's ironed onto your t-shirt. So if you are doing a letter for your child's name flip the fabric over and draw the letter on the right side of the fabric itself - not onto the paper you just ironed. Then cut it out.

6. Once it is cut out peel off the paper backing and center it onto your t-shirt.

7. Iron it on. I hold the iron on it for 8-10 seconds in each spot until the whole applique is ironed. This will fuse it onto the t-shirt (make it stick).

8. Sew all the way around the applique staying close to the edge. You can use a straight stitch or zig-zag stitch.

9. Place buttons on where you would like them. Sew them on by hand or using a large zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine. I turn the sewing wheel by hand to go slowly, making sure the needle is in the button hole and not on the button. Needles break very easily when it hits the button.

10. You're DONE! Admire your work! Then make plenty more!

TUTORIAL - pants with elastic waist

TUTORIAL

12 Steps to Toddler Pants

1. Gather Materials

-half yard of your material (I used blue curduroy)

-straight edge

-marking pen or sharpie

-pins

-elastic (I needed 18 inches to make a size 18month pants)

-scissors

-thread to match

-pair of pants that fit to use as a pattern

2. Fold material in half, place pant leg on the folded edge and trace. Add 2 INCHES along the top (to make room for your elastic casing) and leave 1/2 inch all around for seam allowance.

3. Pin material and cut along your drawn lines. (this makes the front of the pants).

Repeat to make the back of the pants.

4. Open up both pieces and lay right sides together. Pin together at the curved edges only. 5. Sew along the curved edges using a straight stitch. Unpin and then clip threads. 6. Open the fabric and lay sewn edges touching (one in front and one in back)...starting to look like pants now. Yay! Pin the length of the legs together as shown. 7. Sew along the pins using a straight stitch. Pivot as you go around the crotch area.

Unpin and trim threads. 8. Make notches in the crotch area so it will turn easier, have less bulk and lay more flat.

9. Lay the pants you are using as your pattern on top of the pants you are making to see how much you should fold down the waist. (I had 2 inches) Fold down the top 1 inch all the way around and iron. Then fold it down again another inch, iron and pin all the way around. (This is for your elastic casing)
10. Sew all the way around the casing but leave a 3 inch or so gap. Clip threads.

11. Use a safety pin to insert your elastic through the casing. Sew elastic ends together. Pin and sew the gap closed. Clip threads.

12. Hem the legs of the pants and you're done!

Curduroy Pants to Skirt, TUTORIAL and LINKY PARTY!

Wednesdays at Seamingly Smitten

Linky Party #4

Sew it off and Show it off!

Repurposed - My Old Curduroys into A Little Girl's Skirt

I've been reading so many blog posts about repurposing clothes, but I had never tackled a project like this until now. After cleaning out my closet I realized how much free fabric was in there! I thought a quick project would be turning my old curduroys into a skirt for my little girl and another for my niece.

Catherine said "Ta-Da!"

She loved showing off her new skirt and twirled around to prove it!

Mini Tutorial:

1. I basically laid out my curduroy pants and cut off the legs to the height I wanted the skirt and added 2 inches for the elastic casing...So I cut 12 inches up from the bottom of the pant legs.

2. The bottom was already hemmed (time-saver!) so I cut open each leg at one of the seams and had 2 pieces that laid flat.

3. Place pieces right sides together and cut into the shape I needed for the skirt (10 inches wide at the waist and A-line shape). Sew up the sides.

4. Then I made a 1 inch fold along the top then folded it again and sewed all around the waist - leaving room the the elastic to be inserted.

5. I inserted the elastic and sewed the hole closed.

And I thought it needed a pocket detail and a big button. Done!

And below is skirt #2 I made for my 4 year-old niece with the remaining fabric. I even cut around my old pocket, pinned it onto her new skirt and sewed all around. It makes a hand-made skirt look a little more professional, don't you think? :) Now it's your turn!

You've SEWED IT OFF, now SHOW IT OFF!

Linky Party #4

Rules:

1. Show off something you've made. Link to the specific post on your blog.

2. Become a follower or grab my Seamingly Smitten button and put it in your blog post or sidebar so others can join!

3. Look around some of the other links people have posted and leave some linky love comments.

Come back next Wednesday to see some of my favorites and linky up again!

Ruffled Shoulder Shirt

Ruffled Shoulder Shirt

Ruffles have been everywhere on shirts - down the middle, swirled into spirals, around the neckline - and I wanted them somewhere else. I took a chocolate brown matte jersey material and made this shirt. I used a tank top I had to trace a pattern and then traced sleeves from an existing shirt. Once my shirt was sewn together I created ruffles then pinned and sewed them to each shoulder. This is the result. I am wearing it as I type! :) I think it's my newest favorite AND I even used my dressform (I named her Geanette) to get the fit just right and I think it worked for the first time!

I also used something called a "stretch stitch" on my sewing machine. It looks like a slanted zig-zag stitch. I had read that stretchy materials like the one I used get bunched up if you use a straight stitch and I had experienced that when I made a dress not too long ago. The stretch stitch worked wonders! I didn't have any broken threads or bunched material. And in other "firsts" I used the Picasa photo editing website to edit, crop and get rid of the red-eye. They aren't perfect pictures but I think they're better than normal. :)