Happy Father's Day!!! (a little gift tutorial)

Have you ever noticed that finding a nice craft for your kids to do for father's day is nearly impossible? I thought of this one a few years ago for my and Chris's dads, and I decided to do it again this year for Chris from the girls.

What you will need:

*a wooden handled hammer, i got the cheapest one at Home Depot

*sand paper, I chose the 150 grit

*paint brushes

*acrylic paint

*and some spray-able clear coat.

Start out by pealing off the stickers off the hammer as best as you can, and then start sanding the finish off of the hammer, I couldn't get the stickers all the way off so I just sanded over them until they came off, it took about 10 minutes for the whole hammer (I would do the sanding outside).

Put something down on the table so you don't get paint on the table, I used an old Halloween vinyl table cloth, and start painting.

I let Amalie pick the colors and paint it any way she wanted.

They can paint the whole hammer or just one side, if they want to paint both sides make sure that it is completely dry before you flip it over.

I painted "Father's Day 2012" on the back. 

After its done drying take it outside and spray with your clear coat. Allow it to dry according to the directions on the clear coat. Sorry I don't have a pick of me spraying it, the gift is for my camera man, and we had to keep it a secret.

Another Sewing Room Update; Almost Done!

It has been quite a while since my last update, so here it is:

 

I ripped up the base boards and started to lay tile, my husband helped me grid the floor and we started to lay tile.

We layed most of the tiles in about 1 hour and 30 minutes, I had to run by Home Depot to get another box.

Here is the finished floor.

I helped Chris cut the base boards, and I painted them while he was at work, and he put them in for me.

I put together my sewing table and started moving things back into the room.

Here is the sewing table open. We still have to put in shelves on the opposite wall so I can't put too much in the room yet, but we are almost done.

Save the Scraps: Tooth Pillow

Today's save the scraps project is the tooth pillow, I made one for Amalie, she hasn't lost any teeth yet ,but she is very excited about it. This pillow can hang on her door knob so the tooth fairy won't wake her up in the middle of the night.

 I also plan on selling these in my etsy shop. 

What you will need:

*scrap fabric

*fiber fill

*ribbon

Cut 2 pieces of fabric for the pillow, I cut mine 6in. x 8in. and one piece of fabric for the little pocket that holds the tooth, I cut mine 3in. x 4in.

Start with the smaller piece of fabric, fold one of the wider side down about half an inch and pin it.

Sew the flap down.

Now cut the tips of the corners off of the sewn flap and fold the sorter sides in about half in inch, I pinned these down on the opposite side of the folds.

Fold the corners at the bottom in on both sides as shown, then fold the bottom up about a half inch and pin on the other side.

Center the pocket onto the pretty side of one of the bigger pieces of fabric with the sewn seem up. Carefully pull the pins out and pin the pocket to the pillow; do this one pin at a time and hold the sides of the pocket so they don't unfold.

Sew on pocket on the sides and bottom at 1/8 inch, leaving the top open.

Here is the finished pocket.

Now cut your ribbon the the desired length, I cut mine to about 30 in. now pin ends of the ribbon to the top of your pillow as shown, I left 1/2 in. on the sides.

Coil the ribbon onto the center of the fabric like shown.

Put the other side of the pillow on top, pretty sides together, pin all around your pillow. Make sure to re-pin your ribbons and pull the original pins out after you re-pin.

Start sewing on the bottom of the pillow and sew all the way around at 1/2 in. seam, leave a hole about 2 to 3 in. wide to flip and stuff your pillow. Make sure the you sew the side with your ribbon completely, you don't want your hole on that side, it will just make everything harder. Clip the corners like shown.

Turn right side out, if you need to you can use scissors to push the corners out from the inside.

Now stuff the pillow, push the fiber fill into the corners.

Here is the pillow stuffed.

To close the holes you can do a top stitch across the hole with your machine or you can do a blind stitch, I took pictures of me doing it, but if you can't see them too well you can also go here.

Here is a loose blind stitch...

...and when you pull it tight the stitches disappear. Finish your pillow and tie off the thread.

Here is the finished pillow!

Save the Scraps: Tissue holder

Tissue holders are great for kids, I made one of these for Amalie to take in her backpack for school. I have noticed that the little plastic pack gets all jacked up in my purse, so I have one for my purse too. This little project is pretty easy and very fast.

First cut your fabric at 7.5in x 6in.

Pin your fabric pieces pretty sides together.

Sew up the two short lines at a 1/4in seam.

Flip right side out and press.

Now top stitch on your sewn seams at 1/8in.

Fold it so that the 2 sewn edges overlap in the middle by about 1/3 inch; it doesn't have to be perfect so don't stress too much. Also make sure that lining is on the outside for this step.

Sew the unfinished sides at a 1/4 seam on both sides.

Clip your threads...

...and flip right side out and put your tissues in.

Here's the finished product!

Save the Scraps: Coaster Tutorial

I love fabric coasters, and I'll tell you why; we have 2 sets of those nice stone coasters and I really do like them but my 1 year old likes to bang them on the table. She has broken 3 of them. So to avoid this I put them away and made some quick fabric ones that can't really get damaged, and they can't cause any damage if they are thrown; plus if you make them yourself, its easier to match them to your decor.

For this project you will need:

 *2 different fabrics cut to 5 in x 5in squares, i made 10 coasters, so i had ten squares of each fabric.

*10 squares of fusible interfacing cut to 5in x 5in.

*a pair of scissors

*an iron

* and a sewing machine

I am using fabric left over from making my sister a huge rag quilt for Christmas, she is a die hard Chiefs fan.(I'm also sending her these coasters) 

First you need to pin your fusible interfacing onto the back side of half of your squares, I pinned mine onto the Chiefs fabric.

 

 Just follow the manufacturers directions on how to apply.

Now pin the squares with the interfacing to the squares without it together, pretty sides facing each other.

Sew around the squares at a 1/4 inch seam.

Make sure you leave a 2.5in to 3in hole to flip your coasters right side out.

Trim your corners before you flip them, I always forget to do this part for some reason. Now flip your coaster inside out. 

Make sure that the fabric at the opening is folded inward so you don't have a frill on one side (I totally forgot to take a picture, sorry)

Now top stitch around the entire square at a 1/8in seam.

And here are the finished coasters!