Chevron Strip Quilt DIY

One of my friends is having a baby girl next month and her baby shower was last weekend. I was so excited for the opportunity to make another baby blanket. I get ridiculously excited to come up with a new design for a blanket. Plus, I love the look of strip quilts. In addition to being much easier than a traditional block quilt, I think they have a very modern look.

I have been making quilts since college. I think my first quilt attempt was for my boyfriend, Jim for Christmas 1999. I know, a big undertaking right before the world was supposed to end for Y2K, right? Anyway, in the last 14 years, I've made dozens of quilts in varying shapes and sizes and I've never been able to do the binding right until now. I found this blog post by Red Pepper Quilts that does a fantastic job explaining how to perfectly machine quilt binding. It worked perfectly. I highly recommend it.

Here is my original strip quilt tutorial if you'd like to make one for yourself. I'm currently working on a fairy quilt for Elsie and a football field quilt for Logan...so I'll have a few more ideas to share this summer.

Non-slip Adjustable Headband DIY

This is a great 15 minute project that is very useful. Its so hard to find a good headband to work out in. My hair is very thick and curly, so not any headband will work. I always have issues with headbands either slipping or giving me a headache if they're too tight. These headbands are great because the velvet ribbon keeps it from slipping and the adjustable feature helps it sit perfectly on your head without being too tight.

The velvet ribbon was a little tricky for me to find, but I was able to get a 2 1/2 inch spool and cut it down to size. I actually think that was more cost effective than finding a5/8 spool.

Not into making your own? Visit my etsy shop to purchase one. I'm currently building up my inventory, but I have a few ones made to sell. Looking for a specific color? Email me and I can make one for you.

A Toddler Peasant Dress Tutorial

I'm in love with sewing. I have no time, but I try to make time for this hobby. My only problem is that my project to-do list is ten times longer than I could possibly complete in the short time I have. These dresses were for Evelyn's second birthday party. I wanted to create a cute, 3/4 sleeve dress for the girls to wear.

My friends don't believe me, but I'm a very amateur seamstress. I don't know how to follow a commercial pattern, so blog tutorials are my saviors. There are so many blogs out there that detail almost any project in layman terms. With these tutorials, I don't need to figure out all the jargon on the pattern... I just cut my fabric and sew according to the pictures and easy directions. I think that once pattern companies figure this out, it will open a door to all of us amateur seamstresses to be able to really put together some fun projects.

I suppose my one redeeming quality is that once I do something one time, I usually figure out how I can change it to create what I want. This dress is basically my Valentine's Pillowcase Dress with sleeves. The best thing about this dress is that I already had the fabric cut out from the extra fabric squares I had from my cloth napkins from my sister's bridal shower.

Here is how I did it...

Valentine's Pillow Case Dress with Ruffles Tutorial

There are some things I love about pillow case dresses and some things I hate. I love the neckline. This part of the dress is really easy to make and I think it looks really cute on. What I hate is how boxy they look. Just because they're cute little girls, doesn't mean that all of the sudden straight and boxy is cute.

So, i decided to create an A-line pillowcase dress that is lined with ruffles on the bottom. I also took this opportunity to learn how to applique with an embroidery machine- much easier than it looks! This dress was much more time consuming than a normal pillowcase dress, but I think it turned out 1000 x's cuter! Now that I made this one for Elsie, I will make a few alterations to Evelyn's- namely adding pockets and I don't think I'll attach the outer dress to the lining on the sides, just under the arms and at the neckline.

When Elsie saw it, she said, " Mommy, it's so beautiful, I'm going to cry!" With rave reviews like that, how can I not keep making her more dresses?

Here is what you'll need...

DIY Ruffled Tree Skirt

Happy Birthday Blog!

I've basically been blogging for one year now. In that year:

• I have 1 follower (thanks to my sister-in-law, Carrie)
• I've done 125 bog posts
• I've had 59 comments
• I have almost 14,000 page views.

I think that's pretty good considering I have a busy house with a 3 year old, 1 year old and a part-time 8 year old and I work about 60 hours a week including my commute. I have tried to make a commitment to blog at least once a week. Some weeks, I've made more; some weeks I've made less. Nevertheless, I have had a great time challenging myself to create new recipes and craft projects to better my family and my home. It's been great having all my recipes stored on my computer, especially my most-used recipes like my buttercream frosting and my chicken tortilla soup.  And, I'm most proud of my favorite creations: owl applique quilt, dinosaur hoodie, beer koozie  and my diaper bag.  

It's been a pretty good year and I'm excited to see what the next year has in store for me. It's very surreal that I've shared my crazy life and love for cooking, baking and everything crafty with so many people. 

Now...onto my current project. This actually took me a lot longer than I had thought it would. Finishing all the edges, ruffling and sewing it all together took about 2 weekends to complete. I love how it turned out and I plan to make matching Christmas stockings this week. Stay tuned...

For this project, I finished the edges of all my ruffles with my new rolled hem foot. This foot was really hard to figure out, but once I did-it's the best sewing accessory I've ever purchased. It makes finishing edges a breeze and cuts out a lot of time. The directions were confusing, but I watched a few YouTube videos and after about an hour of practice, I was a pro. One piece of advice if you buy this, you may have to adjust your stitch width so that your needle actually sews the hem. this wasn't in any of the instructions and took a while for me to figure out. This was the perfect tool to use with this project as there were a lot of edges to finish. 

Tulle Petticoat Tutorial

October is a busy month for me! I have two birthday parties and a bridal shower to host. I have several different projects underway for each event. Elsie's birthday outfit is first and this petticoat was actually going to go under the first skirt I made, but I decided that it was too cute to go under a skirt. So, I switched gears, added a flower and some leggings and a birthday outfit was born!

Elsie has been twirling non-stop since she's had it on. I'm so glad she loves it so much! Here is how I did it...

Cloth Napkins DIY

I try to be green as much as realistically possible. I try to buy local, I always recycle, I don't use paper goods in my house, except paper towels...with two kids and a dog, I can't cut those out! When it came to my sister's shower, I've had a lot of time to plan. One of my goals was to make cloth napkins instead of using paper ones.

When I first thought of this, I multiplied how much it would cost and decided it wasn't possible. I couldn't spend $60 of my party budget on napkins. Then, I scoured all my miscellaneous fabric and realized I had enough fabric to make 41 napkins. I was shocked! My goal was 50 napkins, so I just needed to purchase a few yards. This brought the cost down to about what it would be if I purchased paper napkins. I was ecstatic! The added bonus of this project is now I have enough napkins to use for all my future birthday parties and showers. They are a smattering of colors and patterns that create a fun, bright party atmosphere.

As far as cloth options, I used what I had on hand. I know that they may fray, that is why I double folded the seams. A co-worker of mine suggested broad cloth. Experiment to find what fabric you like the best.

Here is how I did it...

Toddler Jumper Tutorial

This morning was a really gloomy morning, so it was a perfect day to do a sewing project. I bought some fabric with the intent to make the girls this jumper that I found on pinterest. I made a couple changes to better suit my needs. Evelyn's turned out a little better once I knew how I wanted to do it.

So, here are the instructions to this adorable little jumper

Small Ruffle Tote

A friend's birthday is in a few days and I thought that was a great excuse to make one of the totes I've pinned. This is an adorable tote that I made from Mommy by Day, Crafter by Night. Now that I've done it, I'm going to do a few variations that I'll post in the next couple weeks. For instance, I'm not a fan of the straps and I'd like to do something different with the ruffles.

My main reason for doing this tote is that it has box corners, which I had not done before today. Love the look of it  but as you can tell, I do need more practice. The seams should have matched up.

Here are the pics. Let me know what you think...

DIY Beverage Koozie Tutorial

My sister's bachelorette party was this weekend and even though I had a couple months to plan it, I decided on Wednesday that I wanted to make beer koozies for all the goodie bags (on top of making my cut out butter cookies). Too abitious? - as always.

So, Wednesday night, I started searching the internet for koozie tutorials, but was very dissapointed in the results. There were only a few tutorials and I didn't like any of the finished products.  So, I searched etsy and found a koozie that I liked. Based on the picture of the etsy koozie and one of the tutorials that I found I came up with my koozie.

The most important part of this koozie is the insul-bright fabric that is layered between the fabrics. I didn't know this fabric existed until Wednesday and I'm so excited to have found it. This keeps beverages hot or cold. The key to using this product is making sure the metalic part of the fabric faces the beverage. It will reflect the heat or cold and keep your drink well insulated.

I based the size of my koozie on a beer bottle, but there is about two inches of overlap, so if you want to make yours more versatile, you can place two rows of buttons so that you can use it for a bottle, can or as a coffee koozie.

Baby Boy Nursery: Boxing Glove Applique Strip Quilt

My best friend since middle school, Lee, is having a baby boy in September. In true Lee form, rather than going with the usual teddy bear or  jungle themes, she chose a unique theme: boxing. In choosing this, she has destined herself to completely decorate the nursery with no inspiration other than her very creative mind.

I offered to make her baby quilt for her since she couldn't find any matching bedding. This was a little nerve wracking since I couldn't find any boxing appliques to model my quilt after. So I had to wing it and hope it somewhat resembled a pair of boxing gloves. My favorite part about this quilt is the light blue strips, which I made using the fabric from the bridesmaid dress I wore in her wedding. I wish I had thought of that for all my family and friends!

Strip Quilt Tutorial with Owl Applique

This was my first attempt at an applique. Another reason why I'm so glad I purchased a new sewing machine back in February! This new machine has opened up so many new craft possibilities, its a little overwhelming. For the first time in my life, I'm using my sewing machine on a weekly basis. I don't think I've ever used an entire spool of thread in my life until two months ago!

Anyway, back to the quilt. My sister-in-law is having a baby girl in a few weeks and since I just made this Monkey Quilt for her sister's baby that was born in April, I wanted to do something a little different. While researching baby quilts online, I continually came across strip quilts. I had been given a quilt like this when Evelyn was born last year and loved it. So, I decided this was the avenue I would take for this quilt. For the applique, I googled owl appliques and drew a pattern for one with my favorite elements from all the pictures I found.

Don't get overwheled by all the steps...from start to finish, this quilt took me five days to complete. At most, I was able to devote 2 hours a day to it. So, its completely doable to finish this in a week if you're motivated.

Baby Bib DIY

I made a few bibs for my little nephew that is arriving in April for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I was shocked at how easy it was to make these cute little bibs. I wish I had attempted this sooner because I have bought my fair share of bibs over the last two and a half years. 

DIY Maxi Dress Tutorial

I've seen these tutorials all over Pinterest. I followed this tutorial when I did my first dress with my friend Amy. We took out the tied sash and sewed the sash to the dress and added buttons. We also added some ruffles to the tank to add a little flair. After doing hers, I made some changes to how I'd like to make mine and I am thrilled with the results. This is a pretty easy dress and can be done in a couple hours. Pinning the tank to the skirt was a little tricky without a helper to pin it for me, but otherwise it was a piece of cake.

Over Night Bag Tutorial Update

Here is the bag I made for my sister Sabrina using the Diaper/ Overnight Bag Tutorial I did last month. I love how this bag turned out. It was much faster the second time around and I tried a new interior pocket. I have the fabric to do my other sister's bag. I'm so excited to try it again. I think this bag is adorable and very easy to do.

Please leave me a comment...I'd love to know what you think!

Diaper/Over Night Bag Tutorial

Its been a busy month, so I've been MIA for a while. I have about 10 half-done projects in my garage right now that I'll, hopefully, get posted soon. For now, here is my latest creation and my first attempt at making a bag or purse. I think it turned out pretty well...a few flaws that I now know to fix on my next one. I already have two orders for bags from my sisters.

I've never loved any of my diaper bags and I've had a hard time finding a reasonably-priced bag that I could purchase. So, I decided to make this bag after seeing a cute purse on pinterest that I thought I could alter to make my own. This is a really large bag. It would be great as an airplane bag or a weekend bag if you don't have 2 munchkins to pack for on a daily basis. It comfortably fit all the diapers, wipes, food and change of clothes for my two babies on Easter. And, best of all, its adorable.  This is a pretty long tutorial, but it's a fairly easy project. The longest part of the entire process was interfacing all the fabric.

Here is how i did it...

Monkey Quilt

One of the gifts I made for my sister-in-law is a quilt made with a nursery panel I found at Joann Fabrics. As with most of my projects, I was at Joann's looking for something entirely different when I stumbled upon this pane. It was love at first sight.  I loved the little monkey and it was a raised image to satisfy a baby with sensory tendencies.

So, I purchased it and pieced together a quilt using a few other fabric swatches I had on-hand. I haven't made a quilt in years and I was a little out of practice...add in the complexity of forming a quilt around a pre-made panel and it took a little longer than it probably should have, but I love how it turned out. As everyone quilts differently, and I am far from an expert, this isn't a full-fledged tutorial, but more of a documentation of my progress in pictures to inspire others to venture into their first quilt.

DIY Hospital Maternity Gown

Designer hospital gowns are all the rage and I know why. After having my first baby, I look back on the ugly gown I wore in many of the pictures and wish that I had something a little cuter in my baby's first pictures.  My nurse at the hospital I had Elsie in wouldn't unhook the IV to let me change into my nursing PJ's the morning after she was born.  Since I had a C-Section, I needed the IV to stay in for 24 hours, so I was stuck in the hideous gown all day.

Approaching Evelyn's arrival, I decided that wasn't going to happen again. Since they were selling online for around $50, spending this on a gown I planned on wearing for 24 hours wasn't going to happen. Therefore,  I figured I had two options: 1. cut the straps on my nursing gowns and sew in Velcro or 2. break out my sewing machine that hadn't been touched in 5 years to make myself one. 

Since I didn't want to ruin the pajamas I lived in for 3 months following Elsie's arrival, I started searching blogs for a pattern I could do. Now, prior to making this, the only sewing I had done aside from a 6th grade Home Economics class, was quilting, which involves very simple sewing. So, this pattern had to be easy and quick since I needed to make it in between my 13 month old's naps.

Baby Sensory Blanket

These blankets are great for babies who have sensory issues. My daughter Evelyn needs to squeeze her hands on something when she goes to sleep and this blanket is her favorite. It has a satin side and a soft fleece side. The ribbon tags add to the sensory experience of this blanket.

I made two blankets for my new little nephew. One was 2 feet by 2 feet and only had 3 little ribbons. The other was one foot square and had ribbons all around it. This simple gift is a must-have for all new moms.

Travel Placemat

 This is one of my new favorite baby gifts to make. The waterproof burp cloths are great, but if you don't have a spitter, you don't need it. A travel placemat with cutlery holder is a must-have for every parent. I used to buy the disposable placemats for Elsie to eat off of when we went out, but my aversion to anything disposable stopped me from buying them. I know you can purchase a rubber placemat at Target or Babies R Us, but I've never been a fan of those either. This placemat is washable, has a place for a baby spoon and fork and folds up neatly into the diaper bag.

This project is an adaptation from one I saw in the Babyville book. They just had it as a placemat, whereas I altered it a little to make it a travel placemat. Best thing about this project is that it was completed in under an hour! Enjoy!