Over the River

and several states, as a matter of fact. I'm off on a trip until Christmas, but before I go, I thought you might like to see some proof that I do other crafts, besides sewing (although that is my main squeeze). I had a chance to take a ceramics class a while ago. I love to make pottery! These were some of the pieces I made in the class. It was Ceramics 101, so these are definitely beginner pieces. I hope to have the opportunity to do another class someday. It was so, so fun.

These plates make me think of a quilt - half square triangles!The carving on this piece also makes me think of quilting patterns.After my trip, I hope to finish piecing a new, fun baby quilt I've started! See you then.

Handmade Christmas Wraps Up

I think I'm done with my handmade Christmas gift to do list! I completed this snowman kit for my little boys. Just in time too, since we had our first taste of snow last night. I got the idea from Make It Do.
And finally, a hostess gift for a party I'm attending tomorrow night. I had another item in mind originally, but once again Krista's cute wall hanging was on my brain. It is 12 x 15 just like hers.

And So It Begins

I really love to give handmade gifts, especially at Christmas. I hate feeling rushed and stressed in December. So, my gift making begins in August :). I saw this great card on Pioneer Valley Girl, and she put up a little tutorial. I couldn't resist!
They go together really quickly, and they are one of my favorite things - a great way to turn scraps into something beautiful and useful. I varied only slightly for the instructions, making my cards on fabric foundations rather than paper, and the dimensions of the rectangles are slightly wider.

And look at this stack of gorgeous Anna Maria Horner Little Folks voile! These are destined for my next Christmas gift project. More on that soon.

Scrabble Tile Pendants

As soon as I saw a tutorial online about these scrabble tile pendants, I knew I had to make some as Christmas gifts. What a fun project. Loved making these! KristenKrafts on etsy sells great kits for making just a few (five, I think) if you want to try your hand at it. She even did a custom supply set for me. There are a lot of free tutorials available, but she also includes instructions with her kits. I'm not affiliated with her, just happy with my experience, so I thought I'd share in case any of you want to try it out. Diamond Glaze makes them appear to be ceramic or glass-like.
Fun, fun, fun :).

Notepad Cover and Pen Holder Tutorial

Notepad Cover and Pen Holder Tutorial

1.Cut two rectangles of cover fabric 7 ¼ by 8 1/4
Cut one rectangle InnerFuse* 7 ¼ by 8 ¼ (you will need to trim this 1/8 inch or so on two sides later)
Cut one rectangle for the pocket lining 4 ½ by 8 ¼
Cut one strip for pocket 2 by 8 ¼
Cut one strip for pocket 2 ¾ by 8 ¼
Cut pocket interfacing 4 1/2 by 8 1/4
Cut one rectangle for the flap closure 2 by 7
One inch piece of Velcro, sticky and soft sides

2. All seams are 1/4 inch. Sew the two pocket strips together lengthwise and iron open. Iron the fusible interfacing to the wrong side of this rectangle.
3. Right sides together, sew pocket front and pocket lining together, leaving a 2 gap for turning right side out.
4. Fold the flap closure in half widthwise, right sides together, and sew down two long sides, leaving the short side open for turning right side out.
5. Rights sides together, sew cover fabric rectangles together, leaving one short side completely open.
6. Turn all shapes right side out after clipping corners. Iron.
7. Top stitch along three sides on the closure flap. Sew one piece of Velcro onto the finished short end.
8. Trimming as necessary, slide the InnerFuse piece into the cover fabric rectangle. Turn the raw edges under. Slip raw edge of the closure flap into this end, at the center. Iron the whole rectangle to fuse.
9. Sew the other piece of Velcro onto the front of the cover in the center right side (test for placement by folding the flap over the front as if closing the notepad cover).
10. Pin the pocket piece onto the cover fabric rectangle. Top stitch around the larger rectangle (this attaches the pocket and the flap to it at the same time).
11. Find the center of the long end of the cover. Mark with a pin and stitch ½ on either side of the pin, top to bottom (this will make a pocket for the pen).
12. Slide in your 3 by 5 notepad and pen and enjoy! The pocket to the left of the pen is great for coupons and receipts too!
*InnerFuse is a fusible product that is a lot more heavy weight than regular interfacing. It is almost the weigth of cardstock but a bit thicker. I used the medium weight kind - available at places like Joanns. Using this product makes the notepad holder feel like a book. I tried using interfacing, but even with two layers the holder was just too floppy.

Tutorial for personal, not commercial use. Please let me know what points are unclear or if you have any questions, and I'll revise the tutorial! Enjoy!!

Craft To Do List

There are so many projects I want to do. Here's a list of my top to do's.
1. Robot quilt - in progress. I'm making up the pattern as I go a long. Look for a tutorial to come!
2. Jewel toned string quilt like this one.
3. Foundation pieced diagonal square scrappy quilt like this one.
4. Quilt for my bed. I want to use red, white, brown, black and gold. The design needs to be linear and simple. I'm thinking it will be pojagi inspired but strip pieced.
5. I still haven't tried this baby booty pattern everyone raves about.
6. More monogram pillows for Christmas gifts.
7. Grocery bag dispenser for mother-in-law.
8. Edit and print out photos for family photo collage.

Considering how little time I have available for sewing, this should take care of the next several years :).

Grocery Bag Dispenser - Take 2

Here is the bag made out of upholstery weight fabric. You can't tell from the picture, but this kind of fabric gives the dispenser a nice heft. It seems like it might stand up a little better over time.

Grocery Bag Dispenser

Just what I've been needing - a grocery bag dispenser. Stuff the bags in the top, hang it up, and pull your plastic bags from the bottom as needed. No more searching for grocery bags! Whip up this quick project using Make It and Love It's tutorial. I changed it slightly by making it out of two fabrics. The top and bottom panel are 4.25 x 20 and the middle section is 17.5 x 20. This is my favorite kind of project - beautiful, useful, and quick! Use fabrics you love and this is going to make you happy everytime you look at it.

Here's a tip : since making this post, I've made this project again with upholstery weight fabric. It's even better!

Thomas Costume Tutorial - Part 2

See what a difference the paint makes? Pick a lighter colored blue for your Thomas though. This cadmium blue is darker than Thomas should be. The whistle, buffers, and numbers are cut out of craft foam ("Foamies"), and they add some nice dimension, I think.
The next step is to add straps so your train engineer can wear Thomas. I used peel and stick velcro. I cut four small strips (the prickly side of the velcro) and put them inside the train.

Then I used the soft side of the velcro for the straps. This way, your straps are completely adjustable. They can be worn straight across the should or crossed in the back. I left the peel away paper intact on the straps.

When I did a test run on the costume I found it was back heavy. To add ballast (?), I taped a 16oz can onto the inside of Thomas' head. This worked very well, but it did make the costume pretty heavy for my little guy. If I were making it all again, I'd make the back of the train much thinner and forgo the extra piece to cover the seams. Try to make it as light as possible. You might also cut the engineer opening further towards the rear of the first box, rather than in the middle.

The only remaining step is Thomas' face! You can print out a face from this website. I believe this is actually James' or Percy's face. If your little one is old enough to tell the difference, you can change it to look more like Thomas by drawing more of a triangular eyebrow with a black marker. My guy didn't care. To fit my "head" I printed out the face at 80%. You may have to fiddle with this a bit to get the right size.

As you can tell the costume turned out to be too large for my 2 year old. These instructions make a train that would better fit a 3-5 year old. If your person is smaller, be sure to start with smaller boxes! Comment with any questions you have about the process, and I'll try to clarify!

Thomas Costume Tutorial - Part 1

My little guy is enamored with Thomas the Train, so I naturally looked for a costume for Halloween. I wasn't impressed with the sandwich board style ones available in stores, so I did a little research online and found several fun, homemade examples online. I decided to make my own costume, as well as a tutorial for the rest of you parents trying to please your little Thomas enthusiasts.

You'll need:

cardboard boxes (I bought a three pack of 18 x 12 x 12 boxes from Staples)

hot glue gun and glue sticks

packing tape

acrylic paint in blue, red, yellow, and black

scissors and X-acto knife

peel and stick velcro strips

You need two boxes and a third box to use for additional pieces. Put the first box together, using hot glue to close the flaps (you don't want to use packing tape, as the paint won't stick to it later). This will be the main part of the train. The second box needs to be thinner, so trim the body of it down about 4 inches before shutting the flaps. This is the back part of the train. I cut a piece from the third box to glue over the backside, so there would be no seam on the back of the train.

You can see in the second picture how I cut out an opening in the first box. This is where your little person will be as he/she "rides" the train, so cut it to fit. Cut the flaps off the bottom part of the first box. Your child's feet will come out the bottom.

Next, glue the second box onto the back of the first box, so that it sticks out higher than the first train.

The next step is to cut out the train wheels. I used the third box and a salad plate as a template. I also cut a long strip to connect the wheels. I'm not sure what this is called, but you see it on the real Thomas' wheels :).

Glue the wheels onto the body of the train. I overlapped the wheels on the underside of the train by a couple of inches. At the back of the train, where the second box is, I folded the wheel under a couple of inches and glued it.

The final step in the contruction phase is to make Thomas' head and smokestack. In my research, I saw that many people used premade containers like oatmeal canisters for the head. I thought this looked too small for the scale of the train, but you may be able to find a bigger cylinder. I decided to make my own. I used a bowl to trace and cut out a circle, and then I used a strip of cardboard to wrap around the circle (I also cut a slightly smaller circle to fit inside the cylinder a few inches down to stabilize it). Use the hot glue to secure.



Trace around the cylinder on the front of the train, and use an X-acto knife to cut out the circle. Shove the cylinder through the circle. You want a tight fit. Then use packing tape to secure the cylinder on the inside of the train. Follow the same steps for the smokestack. I used a papertowel roll cut in half. The only difference from the head is that I secured the smokestack on the inside by cutting the tube lenth-wise several times on the inside of the train and folding those pieces outward. I taped them to the inside of the train.


















Now you have your Thomas costume constructed. At this point I used a ruler and sketched out where I wanted the lines to go. Do this with a light hand. Some of my lines and color notes were hard to cover with paint later.


When the paint goes on is when this bunch of cardboard starts looking like Thomas, so stay tuned...
You can find Part 2 of the tutorial here.