Mermaid Tail Blankets

I've been able to squeeze a little more sewing in lately, and here's what I've been up to:

Fleece Mermaid Tail Blankets!  They are so much fun to make.  I've been shopping sales since fleece can be pricey.  My favorite is when JoAnn's has extra-wide fleece on 50% off, you get a lot more bang for your buck that way.  Better yet if you have an additional coupon to top it all off.

The dark green mermaid tail blanket pictured above is an adult size, and the others are smaller.  I've been experimenting with patterned fleece too, which I think is a fun twist.

I've been crocheting a bit too, but will probably switch over to making jewelry again soon.  Need to stock up on necklaces to sell at our booth.

DIY burlap ruffled tree skirt

Slightly off season, but I was going through some old photos and remembered I never posted about our new tree skirt!  I have been wanting to make a ruffled burlap skirt for some time now... and my lovely dogs gave me a reason to go ahead and do so after they chewed a hole in our other tree skirt.

Bummer about the old skirt, but I may make some adjustments to it so it's good as new (they chewed the edges and last time I sewed it up it had a couple "scallops" to it)

Anyways, I started by cutting the largest circle I could with a base layer of white cotton fabric.

DIY tree skirt

Then I cut my burlap into long strips (I believe I had 2-2.5 yards of burlap)  I was SO excited about the burlap, because it had some metallic gold colored threads mixed in with it.

DIY tree skirt

Then I pinned the strips of burlap onto the cotton fabric and sewed each row on to form the ruffled look.  Of course the cat had to "help".  (he had to leave the room when I was using pins)

DIY tree skirt

I used the selvage edge of the burlap for the outer most layer of ruffles and thought it added a cute, slightly different border.

Burlap ruffled tree skirt

After repeating row, after row, after row of placing burlap and stitching it on, the tree skirt was complete!  I really like how it turned out (and the animals do too... they love to lay on it).  If I were to make another one, I would make it larger, by stitching panels of cotton together for the base layer rather than just using the size of the fabric from the bolt.

Also, due to the nature of burlap, it does fray a lot, and with 3 animals that love to roll around under the tree, I don't think this tree skirt will last very long...  I'll probably make a more durable skirt to rotate with this one in the future.

Scrub cap!

Here is one of the scrub caps I made for school, as modeled by my lovely assistant :)

 

 

This same lovely assistant destroyed the pattern that I was planning to use to make the scrub cap.... so I had to wing it a little.

Baby Sushi bodysuit!

When I saw this Sushi Baby Costume  on Martha Stewart's website, which was made by Carolynn Caffelle I could not resist making one for my niece/nephew-to be for Christmas a couple years ago.

 

 

 

There are templates to make either tuna or shrimp (<-- the one I chose).

 

It was a lot of fun to make, and got quite a few smiles when it was done :)

 

My brother & sister-in-law took some adorable pictures of my niece wearing this, where they had chopsticks in the forefront of the picture and it looked like they were "picking up the sushi" hahaha.

 



crocheted market bag

Now I'm ready for the beach or the market, with this simple crocheted market bag!

 

 

I single crocheted the base of the bag, into a circle, double crocheted the height of the bag, and single crocheted the handle.

 

Back to class tomorrow!  I can't believe how fast winter break went... Hopefully I'll get a chance to share some of the crafting & sewing projects I did over break with you soon :)

DIY beaded necklace!

I was so excited when House of Gems contacted me about an amazing opportunity, in which they provided me with all the supplies I needed to make a DIY jewelry project! 

 

There were so many gorgeous beads to choose from, but I particularly loved the Iolite gemstone beads. 

 

DIY Iolite gemstone necklace

(For a list of supplies please scroll to the bottom of this post)

 

 1) Cut 14" of beading wire & string the Iolite beads in this order:

teardrop, *roundelle, round, roundelle, teardrop* (repeat order of beads between the *s until the strand is 9.5" long.

 

 

 

2) Cut 12.5" of beading wire & string the Iolite beads in this order: 

*round, 2 roundelle*, repeat 6 times. 

Add a Sterling silver satin oval bead

then add Iolite beads:*2 roundelle, round*, repeat 3 times

then 1 roundelle bead

Add another Sterling silver satin oval bead

then Iolite beads: *2 roundelle, round* repeat 6 times

(total length of stringed beads is approximately 8 inches)



 3) Cut 12" of beading wire & string Iolite beads in this order:

*teardrop, round, teardrop, Sterling silver round stardust spacer* repeat 7 times

finish strand with Iolite beads: teardrop, round, teardrop

(total length of beaded strand is approximately 7")

 

4) Attach ends of beading wire (from steps 1-3) to the Sterling silver connectors, using crimping beads in order listed below.  *The beading wire I chose couldn't be threaded through the beads a 2nd time (to hide the tail of the wire once connected) so using a slightly smaller diameter of beading wire may give a more finished look* (House of Gems has a nice selection of beading wire to choose from!)

 

The strand from step 1 is the longest, and should be connected to the lowest of the 3 connecting loops on both sides

 

The strand from step 2 should be connected to the 2 middle loops, and the strand from step 3 should be connected to the top loops.

 

 

5) Next, cut two 6 inch strands of bulk chain, and attach a split ring to each of the 4 ends of chain

6) Now, attach the split rings on one end of each of the 2 strands of chain to the loop on the connector (opposite of the side where the beads were attached)

7) Finally, attach a Sterling silver spring ring on one of the loose strands of the bulk chain (that has a split ring on it)

 

 

Supplies from House of Gems:

Sterling silver satin oval beads 4x6 mm

Sterling silver 2mm crimp beads

Sterling silver split ring 4mm

Sterling silver connector 2x8mm 3 rows

Sterling silver bulk chain small curb light weight (1.2x1.9mm)

Sterling silver spring ring findings 5mm

Sterling silver round stardust spacer findings 2.5mm

Iolite beads faceted center drilled teardrop 5x8mm

Iolite beads smooth round shape ~3mm

Iolite beads faceted roundelle shape 5mm

Soft touch beading wire - stainless steel nylon coated 30 ft (0.019 inch diameter)

 

 

Thank you House of Gems!

 

 



Sea Glass

A couple more sea glass pendants that I made :)

 

sea glass pendant



sea glass pendant



Knit mug koozie!

I just love knitting projects that you can complete in a short time & don't require too much thought.  (as opposed to the baby blanket I have been working on for.... YEARS haha, that's another story) Last year I was really into making these while watching TV at night.  They go pretty quick! 

 

knit koozie

 

 

This was my first time doing a cable stitch, and it was not as scary as I thought it would be :)

Cut Chenille Blanket

I absolutely love cut chenille blankets!

 

cut chenille baby blanket - whale fabric

 

They are so much fun, so whenever I forget just how long they take to make (a loooooong time), I start another one haha.  After making a couple of these, I gave in and purchased an Olfa Chenille Cutter, and I must say... It is awesome. If only I'd have gotten one sooner :)

 

For this blanket, I chose to do a decorative stitch in the shape of circles to attach the binding.

 

I have stacks of fabric set aside to make a couple more of these, maybe over my winter break I'll do another one!

 

**Check out the fun use of my leftover fabric from this blanket as the cover of this Fabric texture book**



Sea themed Fabric Book! (pg 5 & 6)

Check out pages 1 & 2 of the cloth book, pages 3 & 4 of the cloth book
**update: pages 7 & 8 of the book here, pages 9 & 10 of the book**

 

Page 5 - the Crab

 

fabric texture book - crab

 

Does the red fabric look familiar?  It's a scrap piece from Hubby's Prince William costume from Halloween a couple years ago!

 

 

 Page 6 - the Octopus!

fabric texture book - octopus

Fabric scraps from a dress I made way back when

 

It's so much fun actually getting to use scrap fabric for a project, I love going through and remembering all the projects I've worked on in the past :)

 

Pages 6 & 7 will be posted soon!



Halloween Costume - Boo from Monsters Inc!

Here is a flashback to one of my more memorable costumes from college.  Oh how I miss Halloween festivities back in the day :) (didn't make a new costume this year, so sad!  school/exams/limited luggage space got in the way... maybe next year)

 

Here it is.... BOO from Monsters Inc!

Monsters Inc. - Boo costume

 

This costume was so much fun to make.  It took a bit of trial and error, but that was half the fun!

 

Here's how it was made:

Head: 2 hula hoops, mop, craft foam (for teeth), 2 toy rubber balls (covered in fabric for the eyes), purple fabric

 

Body: Hula hoop at top (which is where the head and body connected also), craft foam (for teeth), belt used for shoulder straps (connected to hula hoop to hold costume up), purple fabric

 

Tentacle arms & shoe covers: white fabric with circles stamped on it (using silver puffy paint for some texture),  I cut slits in the fabric for the arm tentacles so that you could use your hands

 

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Crocheted hats!

I've been crocheting on my study breaks lately, & here are 3 of my most recent projects!

 

I'm probably going to add cute faces/designs onto the ear flap hats when I get home from school (aka when I have access to different colors of yarn)

 

crocheted hats!

 

 

More crochet projects to come!

Sea themed Fabric book! (pg 3 & 4)

Check out last weeks post to see page 1 & 2 of this fabric texture book! (and pages 5 & 6 of the cloth book!)

 

 **update: pages 7 & 8 of the book & pages 9 & 10 of the fabric book here**

 

 

Page 3 - Turtle

 

The turtles shell fabric was cut from a scrap of fabric that I made a baby blanket out of for my niece.  The ric-rac is leftover from a quiet book page

 

The turtle was attached to the page with iron on adhesive, and the ric-rac is sewn on. 

fabric texture book - turtle

 

Page 4 - Oyster

This orange & white material was leftover from a tank top type shirt that I made back in college.  The pearl is a layer of pearly white puffy paint, and then a layer of sparkly puffy paint, to give a slightly different texture.

 

The oyster shell & eyes were attached with iron on adhesive.

fabric texture book - oyster

 

Come back next week to see pages 5 & 6!

Burlap & Lace Wreath

I've been wanting to make a burlap wreath for so long!  But always forget about them when I actually get to the store, so it was perfect that I nearly walked into everything I needed for the project as it was set up on a cute display in the center of the aisle :)

 

burlap & lace wreath

 

I wasn't quite sure how to wrap the burlap, but thanks to the internet, found lots of helpful instructions.  I bought a medium sized wire frame for the wreath, and one roll of the burlap which had an overlay of lace attached to it.  I can't remember how long the rolls were... but it turns out I needed 2.  You could easily cut your own strips of burlap instead of using the rolls of it, which I may do in the future.

 

After securing the burlap, I attached a couple silk flowers to the wreath and that was it!  Super quick project, it took about 10-15 minutes to make. 

Last minute pirate Halloween costume!

Other Halloween costume ideas & tutorials: Thing 1 & Thing 2, Royal wedding style William & Kate, DIY petticoat, more pirate or witch costume pieces, (more mix & match pirate costume pieces), & Dorothy & the Lion

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This pirate costume is so simple to make and can be done very last minute!

 

I just made a basic skirt (with an elastic waistband), grabbed a tank top from my closet, and cut a sash from some scrap fabric and left the edges raw.  Then, I took a couple long strands of hemp and tied knots (maybe every 10 inches or so) and added beads & fake coins to it, and tied that over the other sash.

Simple & comfortable DIY pirate costume

 

That's all. You can easily pair this with an eye patch or bandana, or other accessories

 

 

Sea themed Fabric book! (pg 1 & 2)

Do you have a bunch of little pieces of fabric from old projects that are too big to throw out, but too little to do much with?  Yeah, that big ol' scrap fabric stash that you know you'd have use for in the future...  Well here's a great scrap busting project!  It's so much fun reminiscing on the projects all your scraps are from too :)

 

I made a sea themed fabric texture book for my sweet little niece, and will be sharing 2 pages at a time for the next couple of weeks, so be sure to stop on by again in the next weeks to check it out!

 

I made the cover from fabric leftover from a cut chenille blanket.  The main pages are also made from leftover fabric from that blanket - all the layers of flannel!  Basically the size of the book was determined by the size of those scraps.  I left the edges raw to add more texture.

 

Fabric texture book

 

I've also been super into making Quiet Book pages, so I have tons of pieces of ric-rac, which I thought would add a little pizazz

Page 1: Whale

 

I cut out the shapes of the whale and used iron on adhesive to attach it to the flannel.  The netting is just sewn on in a few places to secure it.

 

The light blue fabric was from this dress that oops... I never finished!  All the pieces are cut...

Oh and that dark blue fabric sure looks familiar.... from Hubby's Prince William Halloween costume

The blue netting was leftover from fixing up an old butterfly net that had holes in it & also made a tutu with I believe (apparently I'm more behind on blogging than I realized!)

Fabric book - whale page

 

I wrote the words and did accents with puffy paint, thinking the texture would be cool.  But, I'm not so crazy about how the lettering came out & next time would use stencils.

 

 

Page 2 - Jellyfish

 

I used iron on adhesive for the purple part of the jellyfish and the eyes.  I stitched a line at the bottom of the purple fabric for added security that the ribbons would stay in place.

fabric book - jellyfish page

 

The purple fabric was leftover from a pair of pajama pants I made on my travel sewing machine while in college (many years ago)!  One day I'll post about that too... it was kind of funny :) 

 

The ribbon sewn on the bottom of the jelly fish was ribbon used for favors at my wedding!

 

**Pages 3 & 4 of this cloth book**
**Pages 5 & 6 of this cloth book**
**Pages 7 & 8 of the book here**
**Pages 9 & 10 of the fabric book **

Sea glass charms!

Some of my most recent sea glass charms!

 

sea glass pendants

 

I absolutely love making these :)

Doily garland!

Last winter, I helped make decorations for my friends baby shower :)  Her nursery colors were blue & orange, and let me tell you, I found it pretty tricky to get orange decorations at the store.  So, I bought some white paper doilies and some orange Rit dye and made my own.  I poured enough of the dye in the bottom of my pot (that I use only for craft projects) and added water to it, so it was probably about a 50:50 solution.

 

Mixed that all together, then added each doily individually into the mixture, making sure they were covered with the dye on both sides, and were not touching each other.  (I could dye about 3 at a time in my container) 

 

GLOVES came in handy :)  Though I do believe I still had an orange finger in the end.

 

Each doily was probably only in the dye about 5-10 seconds, then I took them out and set them on a stack of old rags so they could air dry.

 

Once they were dry, I cut a long piece of kite string and strung the doilies onto it.  After the spacing looked OK, I added scotch tape to the back of the doily (over the string) to keep it all in place.

 

DIY Orange doily garland!

 

It was so much fun to make :)

 

Didn't get a picture of them hanging on the wall though, oh well.

cloth towel "wet bin"

Hubby & I have been using cloth "paper towels" lately and cloth napkins.  To avoid having to run to the laundry bin after each meal, we now have a wet bin under our kitchen sink.  I empty this out whenever I do laundry, or if it gets full.

 

I used a plastic coffee container, and Mod Podge to add a strip of fabric for a little more decorative look, and also to easily identify the bin.

Crocheted face scrubbies!

I am obsessed with face scrubbies now!  I absolutely hate it when you go to wash your face and the washcloth smells like mildew because it didn't dry out... after only one use. 

 

 

These little crocheted face scrubbies are the best thing ever.  They are about 3 inches in diameter, made from 100% cotton yarn.  They are super quick and easy to crochet, & take up less space than washcloths.  Plus, when you wash these, no folding is required :)

 

Also, they only take about 5 minutes to make one, so it's a perfect little study break craft for me!