I can’t believe it’s almost time!! Brian, Lucy and I are leaving for Nogales Monday morning. This is a picture from the Cuirim House where we’ll be staying. I am nervous, excited, scared, anxious and thrilled among other things. We will be gone for 51 days but who is counting??

The suitcases are out and filling up. Lucy’s laundry is done and her bag is almost packed. I just got this itch to sew and do more poly clay before I leave. I sorta feel like I did before I had Lucy. Like I needed to try EVERYTHING, cause when she got here I wouldn’t be able to do anything. So I should do it all now! I’m really trying to pace myself but my crafty side is taking over. I just can’t stop. Brian, can I please make some Fimo stuff tonight??

I made her this sheet/blanket from this super soft fabric. It’s really light weight and it will be nice for Mexico cause it’s so hot there. She looks like Mary in a Christmas play..

And i’ve been trying my hand at some Polymer clay techniques. I even had a “poly party” and I’m doing another one before I leave. I’m slightly obsessed. Here’s what we came up with before we baked them.

God provided all of the funds we needed for travel and we are so thankful. I put up an Etsy shop with my Cuirim Craft Fair left overs. What ever sells will go toward the rest of our time there. If you would like to order something, my mom is going to be shipping it since I’ll have no internet in Nogales. This will be quite the adventure. I’ll post more clay, knitting and sewing goodies when I get back. I just wanted to say good-bye for the summer. May your summer be filled with crafty goodness and excitement. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. If you’d like to see more Mexico pictures go here.

Brian and I were talking one night about how often he has to take out the trash. Not exactly complaining but wondering if there is any way we can get a bigger trash can. We like to keep the trash under the sink but we had to keep opening the side door to throw stuff away. He was literally taking out the trash every few days cause our trash can was so little.

This is what it looked like.

He suggested we get a bigger trash can and just put a flap up there. You know like a fast food restaurant? We popped the wooden piece out. It was just clipped in and I made a flap that can Velcro in. This is what it looks like. I just sewed some thick fabric together and glued some piece of drywall I had laying around on the back of it to make it close..

Now all we need is a Thank You sign on it. So random, but it works. He was thrilled and so proud of our little trash flap. Love coming up with this stuff with you baby.

I made about a dozen of these little bags for the Craft fair. I have had fun choosing the fabrics, embellishments, and buttons and they are so quick to whip up! They are great for makeup bags or I like to put my phone, keys, and cash in it and then put it in my larger diaper bag. I cut a pattern out of a cereal box. It measured: the narrow end/ top = 6 1/2″, the wider bottom = 8 1/2″, height = 6″.

I wanted to make these bags stiff (as I asked about in a previous bag post) so I bought no-sew bond, cut it out using the pattern, and ironed it to the lining. Then you peel away the paper and iron it to the outside fabric. At this point I decide if I want to attatch a stripe of ribbon or trim. Use can use the no-sew bond to attatch this also or sew across the trim with the sewing machine. I also added in a short strap on some of the bags.

Then I cut a piece of velcro about 2″ long, folded over a 1/2″ hem, centered the velcro strip and sewed 2 lines, one across the top and botton of the velcro across the width of the bag. This works well too if you want to attatch the trim along the bottom seam for the velcro. Then I turn the bag wrong side out and sew up the sides. I cheat; I sew through the no-sew bond since my fabrics were not very thick. I like the stiffness it gives the fabric. Then I make a gussetted bottom by making a triangle horizontally at the each corner about 1″ down from the edge and sewing across this triangle horizontally. (sorry this is a little hard to describe in words)

Such a quick and easy gift or I love having a girly bag inside my big, plain diaper bag!

Do you find troubles finding patterns that fit your measurements? Sometimes I find clothing patterns will fit well in one area of my body (say the chest) but then they are ill-fitting in others, such as across the shoulders. It can be frustrating to try and alter commercial patterns so that you can get a good fit.

I stumbled across some great software and I just had to share! Wild Ginger Software is custom apparel pattern drafting software that allows you to enter the measurements that you desire, and then adjusts the pattern to fit your measurements. You can then print it off, along with instructions, and sew away! The Wild Ginger PatternMaster consists of six programs that allow you to design and print patterns for your entire family, while Click&Sew patterns are digital patterns that offer limited designs, just like a commercial pattern but you can customize to your size and measurements.

I was happy to see a free program on their site, WildThings! Accessories. It was a super fast download, and there are a variety of different patterns included, from wraps and aprons to slippers and sandals The program is really easy to use, and I was able to print off a pattern for an apron adjusted to what I wanted in under 5 minutes.

I would definitely recommend trying the WildThings Accessories if you are interested in sewing different bags and items, and it also gives you a feel at customizing patterns

I’m doing a “diaper and a shirt” swap with the messageboard I post on. The idea is that you can embellish a T-shirt to match a diaper that you sew. My partner has a 2 month old boy, and I couldn’t find a shirt in his size, so I decided to sew one. However, I couldn’t find my pattern that has baby shirts in it, so I decided to try and create my own.

I grabbed a onesie that my daughter has outgrown, and for the fabric for the T-shirt I used an adults XL shirt I got on sale from Michaels.

I cut off the bottom of the onesie to make it into a shirt, and then cut along the seams to take the onesie apart. This gave me a general idea of the shapes I was looking for, and using them as reference I drew the pieces out freehand on the yellow T-shirt.

I sewed along happily, thinking that I was going t have an cute little shirt that would work with the diaper I was making. I am making a brown and yellow wool cover and a fitted diaper with giraffes on it, so I used brown thread on the yellow shirt so that it all matches.

Well, here is how the shirt turned out:

I’ve used the arrows to show the errors I made. I missed part of the neckline on the right hand side, the neckline itself is much too high and would choke the baby if they wore it. My left seam was about a half inch towards the middle of the shirt (must have made the back wider than the front) and the left arm seam doesn’t line up with the left side seam.

All in all, its not that bad considering I didn’t use a pattern. But definitely not wearable! Guess its time to search and find that pattern I have and use that

My boy has trouble keeping his pants pulled up. Well, since he is only 15 months old I am not too worried about it yet, but I would like him to be able to wear the box of new pants he has before it is too hot for pants. He is 15 mo. but barely wears 12 mo. pants because he is a skinny little guy. Even the half-elastic waistband is often not enough so I borrowed this idea usually found in clothing for fast-growing elementary and pre-teens: the inner adjustable button.

All you need is: elastic, 2 small buttons, a seam ripper, and sewing machine or needle.

1. I cut 2 pieces of 1/2″ elastic about 2″ long. (adjust to the amount you need garment taken in)
2. I used the seam ripper to cut a slit to fit my button toward the end of each elastic piece. (this was easier than using the button holer, if it frays a little it will be okay.)
3. Line up how much you want the elastic drawn in and sew button into pants.
4. With button through your elastic hole, pull elastic to desired place and sew vertically over opposite elastic end. I did not make it adjustable with more than one button but you easily could.

This literally took me about 5 minutes and I think will save me some money if I don’t have to skip a season with his pants. Any other tips for fitting thinner kids in their clothes?

First of all - I want to thank the girls of Crafty Daisies for inviting me to guest blog this week! I don’t get the chance to blog about crafting very often, but I love to craft/sew/knit/etc! So I’m looking forward to sharing some of my projects with the readers here at this great creative space!

As an avid reader of Crafty Daisies, I have noticed a lack of quilting posts thus far, so I thought I would post about some of my quilting projects. I started quilting about two years ago, teaching myself out of a book - Quilting 101: A Beginners Guide to Quilting (one of the current reads on this blog!!). I highly recommend this book for beginning quilters. If you do not have a lot of sewing experience, it gives you a rundown on how to use your machine. It is spiral bound and opens easily for use while sewing. Also it is full of some great and easy quilting projects to get you started.

As usual, when starting a new hobby, I had to get all of the equipment. Quilting requires you to buy quite a few things that I, at least, did not have on hand in my sewing materials:

Cutting board, special ruler, special pencils and pins, rotary cutter, book, tons of batting, and fabric!!!!!!! One of my favorite things to shop for.

Since I already knew how to use my sewing machine, I skipped a lot of the easier projects, like quilted pillows and potholders, and jumped right into my first quilt - a flannel lap quilt. And I fell in love with it! It is such a fun project. The whole thing can be put together in just a couple of days. Also, when you buy the fabric the first time, you end up with enough for the top of two quilts, which is great!

I started off making a quilt for myself:

I fell in love with all of these great, pretty, pink and red flannels. The quilt is really warm, cozy, washes well, and looks great on my couch!

I loved making this so much that I made several as gifts for others. I made one for my Aunt for Christmas, in reds, greens, and whites/creams (edited to add that I am not in that picture - my Aunt and Cousin are holding up the quilt):

And one of my favorites, a baby quilt with a barn animal theme:

Hard to see in the picture, but there are patches of pigs, lambs, frogs, and ducks. So cute and the baby now drags it around, which I love to see!

So that is my first adventure in quilting. I recommend trying something out in flannel - it is really cozy and there are a lot of fun prints you can use. Plus the fabric is pretty forgiving! Puckering around seems is part of an old-fashioned looking quilt, especially in flannel, so minor mistakes just add to the charm of the quilt. I hope to work on some more complicated projects in the future, but I think this was a great first quilting experience!!!

Emily

I saw this bag recently in a clothing magazine but decided of course to try and make my own.

I drew the leaf and tree shapes out on cardboard and cut them for a pattern. Then cut the pieces out, arranged the order, and pinned each peice. This was fun since they could be kinda scattered. The time consuming part then was stitching each leaf.

The bag in the picture was stitched entirely in white but I alternated the thread matching the 4 colors of felt I used for the leaves. I embroidered the felt tree trunk in light brown to make it stand out against the indigo corduroy I chose for the bag.

When all of the embroidery was done I sewed up the sides and added a floral lining, which I doubt the original has. Overall, I am pretty happy with the attempt. What do you think of my version? Wait, you haven’t gotten to the best part yet!

The cost of theirs: $25.00
The cost of mine: -$2.50

My daughter is really tall and thin, so she outgrows her onesies in length before she outgrows them in body size. I hated the fact that she would only wear them for a couple of months and they were still in nearly new condition, but they were no longer useful. I decided to make some into shirts for her, so that she can get more wear and use out of them.

I started with a onesie that was too small lengthwise.

I then cut off the bottom snap part right above the leg elastic. I used a ruler to make sure I cut it straight across.

I finished the edge of the shirt using the rolled hem on my serger. However, if you don’t have a serger you could simply finish the edge with a zig zag stitch and then sew a hem.

And there you have it - a cute shirt that can be used for a little bit longer!

I wanted to share with you a little project that has changed my knitting life…

My knitting used to look like this:

Sure I have a huge knitting bag with ALL my knitting in it, but what about taking the wip with me somewhere. Oh quick, grab a ziplock.. Sound familiar?

So I came up with this easy drawstring bag. Now I can stuff my knitting in anywhere and the drawstring keeps my yarn coming out nicely from the top. It only has one seam. It is one big piece of fabric folded over and stitched up the side. Tada.. This is a bag I’m working on for my future sister-in-law (apparently I can’t stop knitting bags - help!)
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