Lots of Headbands!

Made these headbands yesterday for the boutique on Sat.  Will make a couple dozen more before then.  Great for Christmas presents.  Each one will be from a different fabric so if you see one you like get it before it's gone!

Cherries & Lime

I had this cute cherry fabric that my mom gave me and a piece of lime lace I picked up a while back.  This morning I made a rosette and attached it to a length of the lace to make a cute headband.  I can't wait to wear it today.

Denim Scripture Tote Bag

I made a few of these last Fall and one of my friends that ordered one for her daughter last year placed an order recently for one for her niece.  She wanted pink so I took over a stack of pink fabric that I had and she picked this Hawaiian print.  It’s leftover from a quilt my mom made me a while back.  I bought this fabric to go on the back of the quilt and also to be used between the blocks to frame them.  Since I made up the pattern it took me a bit to remember how to make one but I’m really pleased with how it turned out.  I had a bit of a problem sewing the lining and the outside of the bag together since the fabric is such different weights but I got out my walking foot and that made it a breeze.  It really saved the day.As you can see it holds a quad nicely.

Little pocket on the front for keys, etc…

On each side of the lining there is a big pocket that can fit a YW book, Faith in God book or a pocket size hymnal.

Twenty is better than one!

A few months ago I was asked to come up with an idea for a matching hair accessory for the girls for the Primary Program in Sept. The boys will all have matching ties but we weren’t sure what to do for the girls. I wanted to incorporate a fabric rosette. At first I was thinking about making hairclips but figured out that those might not work for everyone depending on their hairstyle and the thickness of their hair. Finally I realized that headbands were the way to go. Not only are the hugely popular right now but they would fit everyone from 4 – 12 years of age and it wouldn’t matter what hairstyle they had. After making an initial prototype and getting it approved by the Primary Presidency I made all 20 that we think we’ll need. It’s nice to have completed a project early and not have to worry about getting it done last minute.

Denim Rosettes

I made these denim rosettes a week or two ago. They are crafted from vintage denim fabric from my mom. They are the biggest rosettes I’ve made so far and I love them! Each one measures approx. 3 1/2” across. I wore one for the first time today for Flag Day.

I had about a half yard of fabric so I was able to make 5 rosettes. I use a 3” strip of fabric per flower. There are tons of tutorials out there but I just ended up kind of making up my own thing. This is a great project because they all turn out so differently and you can’t go wrong.

Close up of one of the finished flowers. This is the one I’m wearing today.

For the back I cut a piece of scrap material into a circle using the bottom of my favorite glass as a guide. I handstitched a pin back into the middle of the circle and then I hand stitched the circle to the back of the flower.

If you’d like to learn how to make one this is what we’ll be making at the etsy craft party I’m hosting this Friday evening.

White Rosettes

I’ve been making rosettes again.  They really are fun.  I originally bought these slippers to wear on my wedding day.  I figured that after pictures I’d kick off my high heels and wear these the rest of the day.  It was a good plan but in the shuffle I ended up just running around my reception barefoot.  I was looking at them the other day and decided that they could be greatly improved by adding rosettes to them.  I looked around for some fabric and found a scrap from my baptism dress from 1980 and used that.

I think they look better with a bigger flower than the one that came on them.

Close up.

I also made a rosette for my hair and attached it to a bracelet so I can use it as a ponytail holder.

New & Improved!

The last couple of days I've been focusing more on cleaning rather than crafting as I have some houseguests coming this weekend. I came across the last bit of this fabric on the kitchen table and didn't want to throw it away so I twisted it up into a rosette and attached it to the front of this little holder that I crocheted a while back. I think it's much improved. I guess that's what I'm into lately - adding flowers to previously completed projects to make them better.Here's a close up of the crazy rosette. since both sides of the fabric show on the crocheted container I wasn't too worried about both sides of the fabric showing in the rosette. It's a great project for the week of earth day as well since I've been upcycling a lot lately.

Fabric Roses Wrist Corsages

I made six more roses this morning so here are the 20 bracelets I have made so far. Individual pictures are posted on facebook. They can be worn separately but it's fun to wear several together. They are $5 each. Each bracelet is completely handmade. I strung all the beads and hand sewed the flowers. The bracelets are all elastic except for the wrap bracelet so they are all adjustable. If you would like any specific measurements for the bracelets let me know. They are all so beautiful they will be hard to part with!

Update 4/15 evening: Added another picture so now there are 25!

Update 4/16: And then there were 30!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right?

Here's a preview of what I've been working on today - wrist corsages for Mother's Day. My friend Jen of Mary Poppins Presents started making these and here I am copying her. I stopped by her house tonight and this is what she saw when she opened the door. I'll have to take individual pictures later. Underneath the fabric roses there are cute, coordinating bracelets. So fun!

crocheted fabric pot

It'd been a while since I'd crocheted with fabric and I was having so much fun making these little containers out of tshirts that I thought I'd make one from fabric. I found this random yard of fabric that I had no plans for so I ripped it into 1" strips and started crocheting away. I have to say though that I prefer crocheting tshirts over fabric. Tshirts are generally the same color on both sides so you don't have to worry about keeping your strip of fabric going the right direction. As you can see here the white backside of the fabric often ended up on top. I guess it's ok to have the contrast but I think the solid knit looks better. If I crochet with fabric again maybe I'd better stick with a lighter print so when the back of the fabric ends up showing the contrast isn't as stark.

Rossette

So I finally got around to making a rosette the other day. They're on everything these days and I have admired the looks of them for a while now. I downloaded a pdf instruction sheet last fall and attempted to follow the instructions but ended up just kind of doing whatever and it still turned out. Tempted to cut up all the fabric I have and turn them into roses.

For the back I just glued on a piece of felt to help hold it together and glued on a bar pin I had on hand. I made it green since it's March and I've been wearing green pretty much everyday.

Fabric Mini Bag

My mom gave me this piece of fabric a while ago. I don't know if she bought it or how she ended up with it but I as you can see it was pretty ugly. I decided to rip it into strips and crochet with it since I'd never tried that before and thought it might be fun.

Today I randomly crocheted it into this bag which is really cute. It's amazing how an ugly piece of fabric can look so much nicer when it's crocheted up. At first I started making it too wide so after a few rounds I ripped it out and made it narrower. I love how it turned out. I'll have to write out the instructions and post them somewhere.

$1 Apron Tutorial

I found this piece of upholstery material at the Goodwill a couple weeks ago for $1 and thought it would make a great apron! It started out about 28" square.
First, I cut two 3" strips off one side to use for ties.

I folded the ties right side together and sewed one end and one side then used a pencil to turn them right side out. For the vintage apron I topstitched around the ties but didn't on this apron since the fabric is a lot stiffer I figured they would stay in place.

Then I cut a 6" strip off the other side of the fabric and turned the top & bottom over a 1/4" twice and topstitched along each edge to hold in place. After sewing across the pocket I pinned it in place and sewed along the bottom of the pocket. I also topstitched two lines down the pocket to turn it into three. After the pocket was in place I turned the bottom and sides over a 1/4" twice and sewed to finish it.

Finished apron. Can you see where I sewed across the pocket to make three?
Good thing I still had my walking foot on my sewing machine. It was a little tricky to navigate sewing through all the layers since this fabric was pretty thick.

Here's my self portrait in the mirror wearing my new apron. It's going to be so handy! It might end up as my gardening apron to hold my tools. I have lots of weeds to pull in the back yard and need to get started on them!

Vintage Apron

I've been so busy crafting lately that I haven't spent nearly enough time posting all my creations. Since I hadn't sewed a piece of clothing in about 15 years I thought a simple apron would be good practice. I went to JoAnn's a couple weeks ago and got a couple cute patterns that were on sale for a dollar each. This is made from the Sewing for Dummies pattern. It's made from some fabric I had in my stash that appeared to be quite old. It just ties in the back. The pattern called for making the neck strap adjustable through two D-rings but I just made an extra tie and sewed it to both sides to slip over my neck - much easier! Sorry the picture's not that great. I thought this would be easier than setting the timer but the lighting not's too great. I figured this would be a good way to use up some random pieces of fabric I've collected over the years. I'm sure I'll be making more soon!