100th post!!! Flower Encased Tutu Tutorial

Wow I can't believe this is my 100th post!! I was going to make this just a regular blog entry, showcasing my amazing iphone pictures of handmade Christmas gifts (lol at the 'amazing iphone pictures').... but I figured since this is somewhat of a monumental post, I should probably make it a little more than usual. Consider this a Christmas gift, from me to you. Alas...

The Flower Encased Tutu Tutorial!!

Supplies/Materials list-

1.5 yd chiffon (nylon works best), tulle, or some other sheer/opaque fabric.

3-5 floral stems of your choice (containing several flowers each)

Thread to match

Elastic (I use either 3/8" or 1/2"... pictured is 3/8")

And.... the almighty seam ripper, pins, scissors, measuring tape, etc.

Measurements and such-

I cut my 1 1/2 yards straight down the fold crease and made two. It came out to be about 14-15" long. I made them for twin 3yo little girls. If you want them longer, cut accordingly. Take your desired length, multiply by two, then add about 2.5" for the elastic casing. If you're making one for a girl older than 6ish, you should use about 1 3/4-2 yards instead. To get the right amount of elastic, you'll want to take the child's belly measurement and subtract a few inches (taking into consideration how stretchy the elastic is... some is more stiff and less stretchy than others).

Shall we begin?

Prep- Cut your fabric to the desired width (see above for suggestions), pull flowers off of the stems and discard the stems, and cut your elastic.

Step 1- Sew your two ends together so that you have a single layer tube. The seam should be the cut ends (NOT the slevadge ends.. the ends with little holes that looks different from the rest of the fabric).

Step 2- Fold the tube in half all the way around and pin it. You should have a two layer tube with the raw edges at the top and a fold at the bottom, like this... (BTW- blogland.... meet my sewing table). Pin in place at a few places so it's easier to work with.

Step 3- Sew it all together, leaving a 6" opening (you want the opening to be big enough to put your fist in... I made mine a bit too small).

Step 4- Fill 'er up with flowers!! The more the better... but that's just my opinion ;) Insert flowers through the opening. Shake them around and try to distribute them a bit so you can see when there's enough.

Step 5- Close the opening.

Step 6- Make your elastic casing. If you aren't using nylon fabric or some other non-fray fabric, you'll want to fold your raw edges under (unlike the picture, where the raw edges are left poking out, but my fabric is some kind of funky polyester/nylon half breed that doesn't fray). I fold the fabric over and since I'm using a 3/8" elastic, I make about a 3/4"-1" casing, so that it's easy to pull the elastic through. I hate using pins so there are none in any of the pictures, but you may want to pin things in place if you aren't good at eyeing seam accuracy. Make sure you leave an opening to run your elastic through!!

Step 7- Pull your elastic through the casing, sew the two ends together, and close up your casing. I purchased a strap turner (notions section at Joanns) and it has been an amazing tool. I use it to pull elastic through every time. It's basically a long skinny piece of metal with a hook at the end (you can see a bit of it in the above picture, it's to the right). I just hook the elastic and run it through as far as I can without bending the metal; then I pull it out, pin the exposed end of elastic, and insert it into the other side, hook that side of the elastic, and pull it through the rest of the way. It's quicker than the safety pin method, well... to me it is.

Step 8- Shift your flowers around a bit to distribute them evenly and VOILA! You're done!

I hope you've enjoyed this little free tutorial. If you have any questions or if something isn't quite clear, please shoot an email to kaytiebugs@yahoo.com or leave a comment below. I'd love to see your finished creations, so if you blog/flickr/etc. post a link to your post or picture so I can check it out!!

Super Easy Hairbow Holder Tutorial

I made this for my daughter and everyone just loves it. You've probably seen similar ones on etsy selling for $15-20+. If you're like me, you probably have the bulk of the supplies necessary already on hand... so this is a very affordable project.

Supplies

Letter (from craft store, various styles and sizes available)

Grosgrain ribbon

Hot glue gun or E6000

Pre-finished wood embellishments (also in craft stores)

Scissors

Lighter, fray check, or wood burner

1) Paint your letter in the desired color using craft paint. I painted mine solid white, but you could do polka dots or any other design. I'm just not that good with painting, my medium is definitely fabric lol. Let your letter dry completely before gluing anything to it.

2) Cut ribbon strips, I did mine roughly 18" and 16" long. Cut the ends at an angle and seal the edges with either the lighter or the fray check (or cut the ribbon with your wood burner).

3) Cut two more ribbon strips at your desired length. These will go at the top of the letter. Cut them long if you want them drapy, or cut them short. Play with the lengths before cutting. I did mine at about 24" long each. Glue the ribbon to the back of the letter.

4) Once your letter is dry, glue the ribbon to the back of the letter.

5) Play with the embellishments, try different locations until you find the way you think it looks best. Glue the embellishments on.

Wait for the glue to dry completely before hanging. Attach to the wall using a hook, nail, etc. You could also get picture hanging hardware and attach it to the back of the letter, and skip adding the ribbon, so that the letter itself is hung to the wall.

Have fun! I spent less than $5 on the letter and the wood embellishments, I had the rest of the supplies on hand. Pair this with a hairbow from Apple Blossom Bows and you've got one great Christmas gift!! Apple Blossom Bows is the wonderful etsy boutique who custom made Kaytlin's awesome Birthday hairbow.

One million uses for Flannel

Okay, maybe not quite one million.... but a bunch!

Joanns is selling flannel for $1.49/yard on Black Friday, so I'm trying to think of as many uses for it as possible! I haven't used flannel much, and when I have it's been for pajama pants... so a bit of 'outside the box' thinking was much needed.

Here are some things I've come up with thus far...

Rag quilts- here's a helpful tutorial from Knit and Tonic. I'm really loving this rag quilt from Debbie Mitchell.

Pajamas (obviously)- Lots of people will be getting these =). To make them a bit more original, you could have the main fabric in a print, and the bottom in a solid with ribbon trim between the two.

Throw pillows- Cozy bed pillows. Embellish them to make them even cuter. Or make huge floor pillows. You can find a HUGE list of pillow tuts at thedomesticdiva blog.

Receiving blankets- I love this tutorial from Observations of an every day mom.

Baby toys- A vast array of soft baby goodness can be made. Here are some tutorials, just to name a few- baby blocks, fabric beach balls, and a little bunny.

Boo boo hot/cold rice packs- Simple tutorial here.

Burp cloths- Here's a tut from Homemade by Jill. I'm really loving the rag edge =)

Sashet- Visit Femininity in a Feminist World for a wonderful lavender sashet tutorial, and read the blog of an amazing teen.

Scarves- You could make a rag scarf, similar to the one seen on Sandi Henderson where she displays Flannel Ginger Blossom fabric. Use the rag quilt tutorial above. Or you could go with something more traditional.

Reading companion- Part bookmark, part glasses case. Visit marmadaisy to find out how.

If I find anything else that really jumps out at me, I'll update this. Hope you guys enjoy shopping and sewing!!

Pillowcase Dress Measurements +info for googlers

First and foremost.... please read this blog entry. It is very important. Thanks!

Sometimes I like to add posts just for the googlers... I know how it is to search the web over for info and can't find it. I noticed in my analytics today that someone landed on my page from google searching the above subject.


Here's how I do it....


For the length, I measure my DD from just below the collar bone down to the desired length (which for me is the knee), and add 1 1/2" seam allowance for the casing at the top and 1/2" seam allowance for the bottom hem.


For the width, I take the measurement of one of my daughters losely fitting shirts and add 3-5" depending on how puffy I want it to be.


I prefer more a pillowcase style top rather than a dress. They are still adorable and can be easily worn with pants. For that, I add about 3" onto the width of one of her shirts, for a dress I add about 5" to make it nice and full.


Here is the result.... (these are from this spring/summer)

Dress style

Top style

More for the googlers....

I bought the fabric for my daughters pettiskirt from AFC-Express. The fabric used is 15 denier nylon chiffon. BTW I will be selling the pettiskirt on ebay. As much as I hate to, I really need the money. Consider it like a charity auction lol. See here for more info on why.

An EXCELLENT place to get info for making bows (bow making for dummies) is http://www.hipgirlclips.com/forums/. Awesome. Lots of tutorials on making bows and running a successful hairbow business.

Make your own Clothing/Handmade Item Hangtag Mini-Tutorial

This is for the googlers...

Materials:
A decent inkjet printer
Avery clean edge business cards

There are a few different ways you can do this. I’ll briefly explain each one. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all!! kaytiebugs@yahoo.com

The Avery website, internet tools, and download tools are very user friendly.

Clothing Hangtags using free Avery downloadable software:

Go to www.Avery.com and download the free Avery Wizard software. This works with Microsoft Office, so if you don’t have Microsoft Office, skip this part. With this software, you can select which product you have (the package of business cards says the product #, you’ll need this to proceed). You can use templates or create your own from scratch. I used a template and just added the text that I needed to be there (My business name, size, and care instructions). There are options to print these horizontal and vertical, I printed mine vertical and used a hole punch in the top left corner, then tied it onto the garment with some ribbon.

Clothing Hangtags using tools on the Avery site:

The business card package comes with detailed instructions on how to print using there website. You begin at this website: http://www.avery.com/us/print/index.html , select “Create project by product type”, go through the list and find your product ID, and begin designing your own tags! You can select between horizontal and vertical printing.

Clothing Hangtags using Microsoft Office:

I tried this method at first, but honestly it was much easier to use the Avery options. The packaging has directions for using Office, but I tried a zillion times and I could not print vertically. Other than that, it was pretty easy to use following the directions. I designed my background, text, etc…. I just couldn’t get the things to print right!

Hope this info was helpful. I know lots and lots of people have googled and found my clothing tag tutorial useful (according to analytics anyways), so maybe this will be a little helpful too J. Happy printing!

Tutorial: The Newbie's Guide to Buying on Etsy

http://www.etsy.com/


No matter if you’re in a shop, the forums, etc, you’ll always see the same info up at the top. Click ‘Register’.


Fill out a little info… It’s not a lot, I promise.


Now you’re ready to shop!! After registering, you will be prompted to check your email. Etsy will send you a verification email and you will need to click the link inside it to complete your registration.

You can use your browsers back button to get back to the shop you were in.

So you’ve spotted something you love in a shop. What now?



Click on the item. You’ll see all the wonderful details and photos of it. Click ‘ADD TO CART’




Then click ‘CHECK OUT’



The rest is pretty self explanatory… I can’t actually click check out because this is just an example, I’m not actually purchasing this item. From the checkout screen, you will select your method of payment. If you choose to pay using paypal, it will take you over to the paypal site to complete your transaction.

Etsy is a wonderful site. I am a big supporter of all things handmade. It will probably take you less time to register on Etsy than it did for you to read this tutorial. Now go shopping!!

Serious destashitation... blog readers get discount... ~ETSY BUYER TUTORIAL~

I finally took some time to organize my hoard. I had random bags of fabric scattered about the house and I finally decided I needed to organize it and get rid of some stuff. I've got waaay too much fabric that I bought for something but either didn't use it all or decided to use something else. Plus I'm a major scrap saver and I have accumulated like 6 grocery store bags crammed slap full of scraps.... AND I've got trims and ribbons that I'll never use. I like to buy things with a plan in mind, because whenever I buy something because it's on sale or because it just catches my eye, I never use it. That's what the majority of the ribbons and trims are. Anywho, lets get to the point.

Blog readers get 15% off. See directions below. All of my destash goodness is in my etsy shop (or will be, there's a LOT so it's going to take some time, I've gotten three items listed as of right now and there will be tons more). I know some folks aren't familiar with etsy, but this'll be a great way to GET FAMILIAR! :-). I need the feedback... so help a sister out, will ya? I'm doing some things as PIF (pay it forward... which means free but with the requirement of doing something nice for someone else in return... most etsians just sell something for free in return).

New to etsy??? Here's the procedure.... you sign up and create a user name and password, you go to my shop, open the items and look at them, if you see something you like you click "ADD TO CART" on the right hand side. The smaller pics are clickable and will become larger if you click them. You can go back to see all of the listings by either hitting your browser back button or by clicking 'Shop' under the 'seller info' section on your right. If you find something you would like to purchase (and you've already signed up for etsy, have a user name and password, and have signed in), you click "ADD TO CART". When you're finished shopping click the Cart at the top left of the page (feel free to check out other shops on etsy by searching for keywords or click the 'cafemom etsy moms' blog link on the left side in the links section of my blog... lots of other great etsy sellers there), I won't get mad I promise :-)). Click the big green "CHECK OUT" button on the right. Select your payment method (I prefer paypal, if you need to know how to use paypal please email me at kaytiebugs@yahoo.com). If you choose paypal, it'll automatically shoot you over to paypal and all you'll have to do is select your payment method and click pay! I'll be sent your address and everything. The only other thing is if you order clothing you need to enter the requested measurements in the notes to seller section of the etsy checkout area. Hope I didn't make it sound too confusing. ***To receive 15% off, don't pay right then, go ahead and check out, I'll send you a revised paypal invoice for the correct amount***

Here are some of the destashed goodies I'll be putting in my etsy shop...

Tutorial: How to make fabric covered button hair pins

I have seen a lot of these on etsy lately and have fallen in LOVE! Being the crafty mama I am, I had to find out how to do it! Honestly, finding a tutorial wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. In the end, I just combined a few different tutorials to get what I was looking for.


Supplies needed:
Buttons to cover AND the kit used to cover them (comes in most packs of buttons, I paid a little over $2 for a 4 pack with the kit)
Fabric scraps
E6000 Craft Glue ($3)
Hair pins designed to be decorated (I had to look in the wedding section with all the veils and stuff to find these at Michaels, I got an 8 pack for about $2)


Bobby Pins- Buttons-

Tools needed:

Pliers (If you don't have pliers, a pair of utility scissors will work, that's what I used. DON'T use your fabric scissors lol)

Spool of thread (you don't use the thread so color doesn't matter)

Scissors for cutting fabric

Ink pen (or fabric marking pencil if you're a pro like that... but the edges are completely covered so perfection on the edges is not crucial)

Step 1) See how big your fabric needs to be. The button kit says cut the fabric double the width of the button... but that (for me) left a lot of excess fabric, so doing a little less won't hurt. Draw a circle on your fabric using the spool of thread as a guide. Go farther out or closer to the spool depending on size needed.

Step 2) Remove the button shank (the shank is the little metal loop that pokes out and would be threaded if you were applying it to a garment) Follow directions on button kit to cover the button with the fabric circle you cut.

Step 3) Awe those little buttons are so cute! I was worried my fabric wouldn't be tight around the button but they were just perfect! Now take your glue, the hair pins, and the buttons outside or to a very ventilated place because this glue will stink up your house and probably give you brain damage or something. Lay the button over the little disc to see about where you should put it once you whip out the glue. When I looked at the button and the pin I didn't think it would lay right because of the way the button dips down where the fabric goes, but it worked perfectly fine. Put a little glue on the hair pin (on the little circular disc part) and press the button onto it, making sure it is centered. Let the glue cure... the E6000 packaging says it takes 24-48 hours but my button was stuck after a couple of minutes.... I still let it cure though.

Voila you're done! I probably made it look more complicated than it really is. It's super easy. I wish I had taken pics of the process.... but I was a little distracted :P I did this while I was playing cards with some friends last Friday night.

Total expense for supplies: $7; Cost per clip- $.85 approx. Time to complete: 15 Minutes

~Available for purchase in my Etsy Shop~

Tutorial: How to make a simple duvet cover

I’m going to use this white down comforter as an example…. And this red toile bedding set to give you a visual (I’m a visual person). The white comforter is from walmart.com and the red toile bedding set is from http://www.delectablyyours.com/.

It’s 90” wide X 98” long

Supplies/tools:

* For Facing- two cuts of toile, three yards in length each

* For Backing- one queen size sheet in white/cream/or other coordinating color (for this example, a deep red would be great) (or same amount of muslin or other fabric as mentioned above)

* A mans tape measure (since most of our dressmakers tape measures aren’t long enough… this will keep it easy)

* Thick grosgrain ribbon or similar (for tieing the duvet to the cover so it doesn’t shift around inside the cover)

* Pins etc…. the usual sewing must haves.

~~ We’ll be using a 1” seam allowance

Step 1: What do you want it to look like? Use the google image search to find coordinating colors you like (for the lining, bed skirt, shams, etc…. if you choose to do those as well)

Step 2: Measuring. Measure the length and width of the comforter/duvet/etc you’ll be using the duvet cover on and adjust needed yardage etc if your comforter is wider/longer than this example.

* Calculate how thick the comforter is, you’ll add twice that to the width of the cover width (so if the comforter is about 1” loft/thickness, add two inches to how wide you need the width to be. So now instead of the width of the cover being 90”, it’s 92” plus a 1” seam allowance on each side…. So a total of 94” wide.

* Adjusting the length depends on the type of closure you want (envelope, buttons, ties, etc… I personally think ties are the easiest to do, so that’s what we’re going to do in this example. Add 2” to the length of the comforter (same reason as above) and add another 3 inches for the closure and 1” for the HEM around the top of the closure….. So we’re adding a total of 6” to the overall length of the facing….. Grand total length of the facing = 105” (length of facing fabric = 108”)

Step 3: Stitch the facing. Trim 3” off the bottom of the toile fabric, you won’t have to adjust the length of the facing again. Stitch the two 3 yard pieces of toile together using a 1” seam allowance, right sides together of course…. This is the front.

Step 4: Lay your lining sheet right side up on the floor; lay the toile right side down on top of the sheet.

Step 5: Match the toile top 4” above the top of the sheet lining (check and make sure the direction of the toile is going the right way….. you want the 4” overhang part to be for the top, so check and make sure your print is going the right way). Pin the top in place. Doing it this way will prevent you from having to hem the top of the sheet.

Step 6: Pin the sides of the cover. Since the width is a total of 94” (including seam allowance) and the fabric itself is 108”, pin the fabric 7” from the edge of the toile (so you’ll be cutting off 7” from each side). Before or after you’ve pinned it, you should use something (dressmakers chalk, ink pen , etc) to draw the line on the fabric so you know where to trim the excess. Check your lines to make sure the width is 94” from top to bottom (check every 6” or so). Trim the excess from the sides; use the line as your indicator on where to cut.

Step 7: Pin the bottom. Since you’ve already established the width, pinning the bottom will be a sinch. After you’ve pinned it, trim the excess lining fabric.

Step 8: Sew it all together. I’d do the bottom first, then the sides. Remember to use 1” seam allowances.

Step 9: Adding the ribbon. You can add as many as you think you’ll need. I used four on mine (two on the bottom, two on the top… about 4-6” long each). Sew the ribbon onto your seam allowance. Back stitch and stitch over it again a few times to make sure it’s good and secure. Some duvets come with ties already in them. If yours doesn’t have them, follow this step again sewing a ribbon onto the corners of the comforter/duvet.

Step 10: The closure. Sew 8 tie strips using the fabric, I’d say ½” wide by 6” long. To do this you’ll want to cut a piece of fabric 2” wide, fold it in half, then fold under the raw edges. Basically you’re making bias tape except sewing the edges together. You can use your scraps to make these. Hem the end of the toile (1” seam allowance). Determine how far apart the strips should be. I’d say place one 12” before the corner on each side then two toward the middle (math says these should be placed 34” away from the ones near the corners…). On the toile side, sew four of the strips 3” before the end of the fabric, on the right side. Sew the strips onto the lining, right at the edge, on the wrong side.

Now you’re done. Your excess toile fabric will be tucked under the lining fabric (so the duvet doesn’t show) at the closure. Scraps could be used to make coordinating pillows. If you buy extra fabric to make pillows/shams/valances with, get it cut separately from the cover fabric so you won’t have to worry about cutting it.

If you’re good with measuring, this will be easy. It sounds like a lot, but it’s really not…. I just went into a lot of detail. This is also posted at kaytiebugs.blogspot.com. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!!! Have fun!

As for yesterdays little to-do list... I didn't get to any of it. Not even sewing! I got home from work a little later than usual. Traffic was horrible. Then I had to go to the grocery store which I planned on doing on the way home but I didn't have my debit card on me. Hubby told me to go ahead and get a lot of groceries. By the time I got home from the grocery store it was 8:00!! I cooked Salmon, which I LOVE, but we were out of foil so I had to bake it... it tastes MUCH better off the grill. We had some cheezy tortelinis too. Yum! I picked up some Alli at the grocery store. I'm going to start it tomorrow because today is Valentines day, so of course there will be lots of fatty foods.

How to make your own custom clothing tags!!

I'm sure quilters already know about this but.... You can buy inkjet fabric sheets from various places like craft stores (it's on the joann website for $14... time to whip out that 40% off coupon!), walmart carries it too (I got mine $12 for three sheets). It's not cheap, but it's cheaper than buying the ones for sale on etsy or other independent sites. Here's a link over to the HP website where they give clear directions on how to print on the paper.

Here's how to make your own inkjet fabric sheets (might come out a little cheaper... but IMO it's worth the time saved to just spend the extra on the ready-made sheets).

I'm going to write some helpful hints below as the guide is not intended for printing labels/tags, just printing on the fabric paper in general.

Here's a how-to for making the labels...

1) Determine the size of label you want. You can measure labels on various things for size ideas. For the example, I'm going to use 3/4" by 1 1/2"

2) Create your label design using paint or whatever you're familiar with (or just type your name in a cute color/font) You might want to add a border around the entire image so you know where to cut (so that everything stays centered)

3) So now you've got your logo made. Open a new paint window, set the attributes to 8 1/2" X 11". Copy your original image and paste it onto your new document. Paste four across the top row. Copy that row and paste it over and over until you fill the page (this is a full page... 40 tags)

4) Go to "File" then "Page Setup" and make sure your settings are like this- Print a test page on plain paper to see how it'll turn out.

5) Follow the HP instructions above to print using the fabric (very simple... about the same as using paper, easy). SAVE your documents so you don't have to do all this next time!!

Now that you've printed your label, you're ready to use it! How will you use it? There are raw edges! For now, I'm going to applique it on. If you wanted to have the kind that folds and goes into your hem, you'd just double the length of your image and fold it when finished... then you'd only have raw edges on the sides, but you could add a seam allowance to the edges if you'd like. I'm sticking to the basics for now. Also, if you really wanted to get crafty, you could print care instructions/size info on the reverse side of your foldable tag. I think that's everything! *whew*