i have to say...

bandana summer

Today's post at Me and My Girl is a simple tutorial for a bandana.  This is perfect for your beginning sew-er!

Happy sewing!

the pattern becomes a tutorial!

My venture into pattern-making has come to a halt---for the time being, anyway.  The time that was being consumed was becoming ridiculous, and there appeared to be no end in sight.  I did learn a lot of new things and I may put them to use later on.

The best part of attempting to make the pattern is knowing that I can create something from scratch, even if it is pretty simple.  Taking the pictures of Aubry on the trampoline was pretty fun too.

For now, this tutorial would a good beginner project to make with or for your daughter (her friends will like one too!).  The apron will fit ages 4-11 (approximately) and you can make it bigger or smaller by adjusting your seam size.  You could also cut your pieces bigger, if necessary.

The tutorial has loads of pictures so that the steps are easy to follow.

I hope you enjoy the tutorial and that the little gals in your life are able to "tie on one" with you the next time you are in the kitchen!

a cute little totebag tutorial

The funny thing about putting together a tutorial is that you often do not realize what pictures were necessary until after you are done sewing the project!  So I will say up front that some of the pictures do not seem to match the step.  My hope is that my words will make things clear!

This bag is a perfect project for a beginning sew-er or for a mother teaching a daughter to sew.  Ages 10 and up will be able to handle this with some patient guidance.

The bag measures 13" X10" and it has a 29" strap making it a perfect library totebag for a girl, aged 4 or older.  Tips for making the bag bigger are given in the last step of the tutorial.

Many people tell me that they would love to sew, but they just don't know where to start.  My advice is to pick a simple project and go for it.  I have sewn for many years and lots of my projects have ended up in the trash, but I count those as learning experiences!  As with anything in life, you have to start somewhere!

You will find the tutorial here and also in my sidebar.

Happy sewing!

gingerbread man and gal

Kisses of Sunshine is hosting the "Homemade With Love" holiday gift idea exchange.  This is an opportunity to show how to make a favorite gift for the holidays.  It can be a main gift, a hostess gift or a gift for the neighbors.

My gift is very simple but sweet and it makes for a cute gift tag, ornament or garland, depending on how you finish it up.  The only materials that you need are a brown paper bag (the grocery store kind), warm and natural batting (or another type of thin batting), cookie cutters in Christmas-y shapes, thread and embellishments.

Simply trace your desired shape lightly (using a cookie cutter as a guide) on the brown paper bag.  Cut out your shape leaving approximately 1" of extra paper around the edges.

Now you will layer your materials as follows:  the brown paper bag piece with the shape drawn on it, the warm and natural batting, and another piece of brown paper bag.  In a sense you will now have a sandwich with a middle layer of batting and outsides of paper.

Using your sewing machine, zig-zag stitch around your cookie-cutter line.  Now all you need to do is cut out your shape close to the stitching.

You can embellish as desired using fabric, ribbon and buttons.

These make great gift tags as well as ornaments, and you can glue a small stack of them to ribbon to make a garland for the tree or above the fireplace.

"band of color" tutorial

I have put together a simple tutorial for adding a band of fabric to the bottom of a girl's skirt.  This will probably be the most simplistic little how-to you will find, and I almost considered not posting it for that reason, but I decided to go ahead and just do it!  Who knows, maybe someone can get some mileage out of this!

I discovered that photographs for tutorials should NOT be taken at night because the lighting available is terrible.  I apologize for the dark, yellowish pictures beforehand!

I started with an easy (super-easy, actually) skirt pattern (Simplicity 9854)and I simply added some co-ordinating fabric on the bottom.  I did it to add color, but you could also do it to add length like the Diva did here with some ribbon.  You may be able to get another season of wear out of your little girl's too-small clothes by doing this!

If you going to try this, be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

Step 1:  After cutting out my pattern, I simply cut two pieces of fabric equal to the bottom pieces of the skirt.  I cut the pieces 5 inches wide. 

If you are doing this on an already-sewn skirt, cut out your pieces equal to the bottom edge of the skirt, but add 5/8 inch of length for each seam that you will sew on the sides.  (If you cut one long piece, just add 1X5/8, but if you cut two pieces, add 2X5/8 inch).

Step 2:  Next I sewed my seams on the band equal to the seams on the skirt (5/8 inch) so that two pieces ended up to be equal in length.

Step 3:  Easy step!  Simply iron your seams open on both pieces.

Step 4:  Now you will pin the band to the bottom of the skirt with right sides together.  The pieces should fit nicely, but if you end up uneven, just add a little tuck or a small gather to make it fit.  Sew all the way around the edge with a 1/4 inch seam.

---As usual when it comes to sewing clothes, I had to rip out this whole seam when I discovered that I sewed one right side to one wrong side!  Practice makes perfect!?!

Step 5:  Another easy step! Iron your seam open with the seam pointing down towards the bottom of the skirt.

Step 6:  Turn up a small edge of the band (1/4 inch) and iron it in place.

Step 7:  Fold the band up and pin it in place to just cover the seam.  Iron before you sew to make sure that it fits well.  Again, if you need to, just add a small tuck or gather to make this fit.

Step 8:  Sew the band in place as close to the edge as possible.

You should end up with something like this:

Happy sewing!

a $2.00 skirt

The fabric on this skirt caught my eye at the thrift store this week and when I saw the 50% off tag I knew that I must make it mine! The one problem was the size--four sizes too big!

Since it was an a-line style I decided to try and alter it to fit me. I laid a skirt that I already owned on top of the thrift store skirt and I cut about 5/8 inch from the edge (be careful not to cut the zipper side of the skirt!). Then I sewed the edges, right sides together. I cut the edges with pinking shears to avoid fraying.

And voila!  A skirt made just for me:

It cost me $2.00 and a half hour of time. I think I will be looking a little closer at the a-line skirts the next time I visit the thrift store!

little library tote tutorial

This little library tote is simple to make and fun to use.  It is made from a dishtowel and is lightweight enough for your little reader, but sturdy enough to carry a small stash of library books.  Since it is unlined, you will want to be sure to purchase a dishtowel that is made of heavy fabric.

Supplies needed are one dishtowel and matching thread.  You can make this project for about $2.50 and it may take you less than an hour to finish. Who knows, maybe you should mass produce these for your children's friends!?!

I bought my dishtowel from Crate and Barrel for $2.00 and it measured approximately 18"X30".  The size of your towel will determine the size of your bag (smaller towel, smaller bag).

First you will need to fold your towel along the long edge so that you end up with a rectangle.  Next you need to trim some fabric off the edge of your dishtowel.  I cut off 7 inches, but you can cut more or less depending on the size that you desire your finished tote to be:

Sew all three sides of your bag using a 1/4 inch seam:

For the handles you will need to cut two 2-1/2 inch strips from your leftover dishtowel fabric:

Now you sew up the long sides of the handles and turn them right-side-out using a safety pin:

Trim the handles to 17-inches (or your desired length) and then whipstitch the ends.  Now attach them to the bag like this:

You are done!  Now all you need to do is gather your readers and head to the library for some books!

Enjoy!

dishtowel apron tutorial

 

I decided to break out one of my Martha Stewart dishtowels and make a "Mommy's Little Helper Kitchen Apron". My initial goal was to make it to fit Aubry but it turned out closer to a size to fit an 8-11 year-old girl instead. If you want to make it smaller, you would just need to make it shorter and make the neck hole a bit smaller. If you want to make one, here are the supplies you will need:

1 dishtowel (mine measured 18" x 28")
one package of double fold bias tape--extra wide
thread to match
ribbon or trim (optional)

Lay out the dishtowel with the shorter edge on top and measure 4 inches in from each top edge, and measure 9 inches down each side edge. Draw a line between these two marks and cut on the line using scissors or a rotary cutter. The top of the apron should look like this:

This is when you would add any ribbon or trim.  I added mine at the top and the bottom of the apron:

Now you need to open up your bias tape (Click here for a tutorial on how to use bias tape--see 2-Step Binding) and pin it to the edges of the apron (the picture below this one will clarify this for you):

You will want to pin the bias tape to the apron so that there is a 15-inch neck hole and 22-inches of bias-tape hanging at each edge for ties. Now you can sew the bias tape to the apron:

Now fold your bias-tape over to the back of the apron (the neck-hole and tie bias-tape pieces will be sewn to themselves) and sew

You can finish the tie-ends like this:

Voila!  You are done and ready to bake a batch of cookies with your little baker!