Frosted Flowers Cardigan Knockoff

Remember this? Due to quite a few requests I am posting the tutorial, even though I haven't completely finished mine. I have a somewhat good excuse as to why it's taken me a month to get this posted, and why I've been absent so long. But that will be another posts.

Well, here's the tutorial:

You will need a cardigan and an old t-shirt. I found the cardigan at the thrift store for $3. The t-shirt I had on hand.

Next print my pedal pattern, or draw your own. This flower is about 3"

Frosted Flowers

Cut out as many flowers as you can from your t-shirt. I had about 60 flowers. Pin them all over the front of you cardigan.

Unless you want to be board out of your mind I suggest you find something to entertain you during the next part. I like to watch TV episodes I missed on HULU while I sew.

Now, set your machine to a medium zigzag and drop the feed dogs. Tack all 60+ of those flowers in place. I suggest making more than one tack per flower, maybe one at the base of each pedal (4 for each flower). To begin with I only tacked them down in the middle, but when I finished the pedals just hung off the cardigan, not very cute.

If you couldn't find a t-shirt the same color as your cardigan, like me, you can throw the whole thing in a bath of RIT dye when your finished to give you a monotone look. I think I might like it 2 toned? What do you think?

Unfortunately I don't have a finished picture. I haven't finished re-tacking down all of the pedals, and my poor eyesight has killed ALL motivation. But I'd love to see pictures of yours if you try this project.

Good Luck!

Pottery Barn Felt Pillows

About a week ago I guest posted at Someday Crafts. Here's the post for any of you who might have missed it over there.

Don't we all look through the Pottery Barn catalogs and drool? I know I do. When I saw these pillows in PB Teen I knew I could make them for cheap!

PB version: $39

Cupkateer Version: $5

Ready to make your own? Let's get started!

Click on any of the images to make them bigger.

Scalloped Pillow

Begin by cutting the following sizes from your felt:

-17"x17"

-16"x16"

-17"x11"

-17"x11"

Step 1: Using your 16"x16" piece begin cutting your scalloped design.

Tip: I use a white crayon when marking dark colored fabric. Afterwards I use a pressing cloth and iron it. The crayon marks will stay on the pressing cloth, not your fabric.

Next you will be cutting out the center. I cut a piece of scrapbook paper to use as the pattern. Cut a opening 12" x 12"

Repeat the previous steps to make 2 more scalloped layers. With the following dimensions:

-11"x 11" square scalloped, 8" x 8" center

-7" x 7" square scalloped, 4" x 4" center

Then...

Next take your 17" x 11" pieces. Stitch a 1/2" hem along the 17" side.

Now we are going to sew the front and back pieces together.

First you will need to pin your scallops out of the way.

Now, with right sides together sew the 2- 17" x 11" pieces to the main 17" x 17" piece. Use a 1/2" seam allowance.

Clip your corners, turn, and insert a 16" square pillow form.

Flower Pillow

Begin by cutting the following sizes from felt:

17" x 17"

17" x 11"

17" x 11"

Scraps for flowers

Cut out your flower shapes. Click below to download my patterns.

Felt Pillow

Stack the flowers using the following diagram. Tack down the center of the flowers.

Tip: I set my machine to a small zig zag, then dropped the feed dogs when I tacked the flowers down.

Next pin the flowers aside and add a leaf design in a contrasting thread. You can use a free motion foot, stitch them by hand, or eliminate this step.

After you've finished the leaves, tack down the petals

To finish, attatch the 17" x 11" pieces the same way as you did for the scalloped pillow.

Add a 16" square pillow form and you're done!

Not to shabby of a knock off if I do say so myself.

Stuffed Animal Child Harness

I'll admit it, I used to make fun of people who put their kid on a "leash." But now that I have a one year old, who thinks he can do anything himself, I am all for "leashing" my kid. I've seen quite a few stuffed animal backpack style harness. Here is my homemade version (please click on the pictures to make text easier to read):

To make this harness you will need:

-a stuffed animal

-3 3/4 yard nylon webbing

-1 D-ring

-2 buckles

-2 adjustable strap pieces

-sewing machine, thread, embroidery floss, thimble

I couldn't find packaged adjustable strap things, so I bought a back pack from the dollar store and took the these pieces off.

Next cut your nylon webbing to the following lengths:

3- 3"

2- 23"

2- 6"

2- 11"

1- 42"

Take a lighter and burn the edges on all pieces to prevent fraying.

This completes the "leash" part.

Grab a thimble for these next steps. You are going through a lot of layers so a thimble really helps.

To Finish it off, thread the 23" pieces back through the adjustable strap pieces. Fold the ends over twice and stitch to prevent the straps from slipping all the way out (like you did for the chest straps)

Attach the "leash" to the D-ring and you're good to go.

Questions? Leave me a comment or send me an email.

p.s. I know in the picture there are a lot of extra straps hanging down, but I wanted to leave plenty of growing room. Magoo is 15 months and 22 lbs. This should definitely fit throughout the toddler years. But feel free to shorten the straps if you're child doesn't need the extra room.

Homemade Car Cart

So in this post here I told you guys about how my son LOVES car carts. And for my sanity I LOVE car carts. But not every store has them, and the are usually SO DIRTY I hate to put my kid in them. So I came up with this.

BTW, he is feeling better, but not good enough to let go of the binky, so he's proudly sporting it in this pic.

Here's how I did it.

I attached two ribbons to the bottom of the toy and TA DA! Easy huh? I attached my ribbons through the same holes that were used to bind the toy will a million wires to the packaging (by the way, anyone want to join me in boycotting toy packaging? Seriously, who is suppose to be able to open those things?), but you could use hot glue or E6000.

See, threaded them through existing slots.

In addition to my other post about this project, here is the original toy I bought at the DI for $2.50. Isn't it dorky? I decided spray painting it was a bad idea so I threw it away. It took weeks to find this at the DI and I was inpatient to wait for another one to show up. I stopped in the toy section at Walmart to see what they wanted for a new one. When my son saw it he wouldn't let it go. He cried when the cashier had to ring it up. I usually never buy things for him if it isn't an occasion, but I caved and spent $15 on the one in the finished project. A little high priced for my taste, but shopping has been a breeze. Oh well.

Marble Magnets

I'm sure you've all see these and probably know how to make them, but just in case I thought I'd share how I made the magnets to go on my bulletin boards.

Step 1: Gather your supplies

-clear decorating marbles that are flat on one side. Mine are about 1"

-scraps of printed paper

-paper punch as close to the same size as possible to your marbles

-E6000

-magnets and/or tacks

Step 2: Start by cutting out circles of paper. My paper punch is just slightly bigger than my marbles, you could trace your marbles and cut out a circle, or cut circles on a Cricut for more accurate sized circles

Step 3: Glue circles to the flat side of marble using E6ooo. Let try a few hours to overnight. Can you tell in this picture that my paper circles are slightly bigger?

Step 4: If necessary, once glue has dried, trim excess paper from around marble using a exato knife

Step 5: Glue magnets or thumb tacks to the back of the marble using E6000. Allow to completely dry.

Attach to fridge, cork board, magnetic board etc. and enjoy your custom magnets

Peg Board System

Who hasn't seen this peg board system from Pottery Barn and instantly fell in love? But at a whopping $300 I knew it could be done for less.

So I hunted around and found this tutorial to make something identical. They said their cost was just over $100. Better, but still to steep for cheap ol' me!

I thought and thought and TA DA! Here is what I came up with.

I know it really is nothing like the PB board where I got my inspiration from, but I like it so much better! And, best of all...It was CHEAP!

It has a large magnetic board, 2 fabric covered cork boards, a chicken wire peg board, 2 hooks, and decorative wood letters spelling SEW.

Cost breakdown?

-picture frames: FREE (yes I really had that many black frames lying around)

-sheet metal: $6 (from the duct work section of Lowes)

-Cork board tiles: $6

-Chicken wire: $5

-Fat Quarters of fabric (to cover cork): $1

-wood letters: FREE (had them lying around too)

-Scrapbook paper: FREE (from my stash)

-Knobs: FREE (left over from the kitchen at my old house)

-peg board hangy things: $3 (from the kitchen section at IKEA)

TOTAL: $21

Here are a few detail shots of some of the elements:

This project is so versatile, you could do a chalk board, regular pegboard instead of chicken wire, endless possibilities!

And doesn't it go great with my sewing desk?

Welcome Baby Quilt

I will start this post with an apology. These pictures are CRAP! My DH (dear husband) is still in Nashville and he has the camera with him. I am taking dinner in to DH's cousin tomorrow night who had a baby this past weekend, and I am giving her this quilt. So, my only option to get it photographed and blogged about was to use my camera phone.

This was my first real quilt. I have played around before with rag quilts and such but never what I would consider a "real" quilt. The original idea was to have guest at the "Would Have Baby Shower" write on a quilt block for the baby. But, after that idea flopped I decided to have family members help with this quilt instead.

Parents helped the little kids trace their hands.

Most of the adults wrote a little something to the baby.

And other's just graced the baby with their printed name

Now, I made up the dimensions and such as I went along for this quilt. I don't know much about quilting, but here's basically what I did.

Quilt Details:

Overall dimensions: 44" x 53"

Supplies:

21- 7" x 7" squares, fabric A

21- 7" x 7" squares, fabric B

2- 5" x 37" sashing, fabric C

2- 5" x 53" sashing, fabric C

1- 44" x 53" backing, fabric B or fabric D

1 1/4 " x perimeter of quilt- binding strip ironed in half, fabric E

crib size quilt batting

Directions (1/2" seam allowance):

1 Ask family member to write something to the unborn baby with a PERMANENT marker on fabric A squares.

2. Piece 7" x 7" squares together alternating fabrics A & B. 6 blocks across, 7 blocks down

3. Attaching 5" x 37" sashing to top and bottom of quilt

4. Attach 5" x 53" sashing to sides of quilt

5. Baste quilt top, batting, and back together.

6. Machine quilt using this method

7. Bind the quilt

8. Wash the quilt in the machine to fluff it up

9. Don't forget to label your quilt so the baby will remember the occasion the quilt was made. I had one extra quilt block after everyone had signed on so the block in the right hand bottom corner is labeled to the baby.