Decorative Throw Pillows

I sure do go in blogging spurts. It seems like I am on for awhile and then off for awhile. My middle will be starting kindergarten in the Fall, so I have been trying to enjoy every little bit that I have with him still as a "baby" at home.

Recently, we took a plunge and bought a new sectional for our living room. I wasn't too keen on getting a sectional, but I wanted it to still be something wipe-able like we had, and to match better than our previous couches did. My husband picked out the sectional, and then I decorated it with some "new" to us pillows.

I used previous pillows I had here, as well as three larger ones that my sister in law passed on to us. I picked up a sheet at the thrift store and a pillowcase, but everything else I had, I used here. I think this entire project cost me out of pocket 5 dollars at the very most because of using my resources and supplies.

I got a couple of ideas off of pinterest: Make it and Love It for the gathered pillow, an idea similar to this pillow at E Tells Tales, saw some great ideas with monogram and burlap too, but then after that, each one, I kind of made up as I went along. I wanted texture, ruffles, buttons, burlap, linen and paint. I did freezer paper stencil directly on the burlap, and vintage lace trim.

(Recognize the bird from my sister's bridal shower?)

(The T is freezer paper stenciled onto linen)

(Vintage lace trim, a rufflle pillow and a burlap pillow with two types of burlap ribbon and buttons sewn on)

On the back, I did the envelope type pillow cover, so they are also easy to remove and wash.

I love how they all coordinate together and make up something that reflects who we are as a family. (The ottoman is the one my husband and father in law built, my how our living room has changed!)

I love how the pillows are all different but still coordinate together. It seems like such a true reflection of our family.

Next up is my bedroom pillows! I spent a little more on the fabric for these, but I can not wait to get them all made up! 

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Shirring with a Brother Sewing Machine

If you don't know what shirring is, its a fun way to sew with elastic thread to make something nice and stretchy. If you do not have a brother sewing machine, Ashley from Make It-Love It has a great tutorial with some fab tips here

Brother sewing machines are a bit different though. Every tutorial you read about filling your bobbin says not to wrap the elastic thread on tightly. Brother likes to break the rules though, and instead, you are going to stretch it on nice and tight. Wind your bobbin completely full, because it will run out fast.

Adjust your stitch length to the longest stitch (mine is 5).  Like my sweet photoshop drawing skills? I've been brushing up on them with the "draw something" :)

Drop in your bobbin as you normally would, while keeping elastic thread tail pulled out.

Turn the wheel until the thread pulls the bobbin thread out. Leave a good two or three inches out before sewing.

Now sew a straight line, and your sewing should be stretchy and gathering. Do a second line. I use my sewing machine foot as a line guide for each row.  Repeat until you have enough rows. 

Steam the elastic thread with your iron and watch it shrink.

I did both cotton and knit here to show the different types of materials. I did the bottom edge of a dress from a tshirt I made using the Sienna pattern from Lil Blue Boo. It made it into a cute little tunic!

If this doesn't work for you and your brother sewing machine, try this tutorial on things to tweak. I didn't need to do mine, but it might help for you.
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Lengthen the life of those tights

Make too small tights into footless tights!

Cut off the feet right at the ankle, iron a hem, double stitch around each leg (use a double needle to help with the stretch and the neatness) and you now have footless tights, and they look adorable under skirts. Plus, you avoid that awful "low feeling" because the tights are too small to be pulled up high enough. Think back to your childhood, girls, you know that feeling!

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DIY Coin Purse

My kids are always asking for change, and I feel like i never have any on me. Or if I do, its clanging around loose in my purse. And wouldn't it be nice to pay for that sonic drink that you treat yourself to during happy hour with some spare change on hand?

The wallet I use is a clutch wallet, which doesn't really leave room for much of anything. I had seen some cute coin purses on pinterest and thought it would be nice to have one of my own.

I went to Joann's and bought the frame (I believe its under 5.00 before a coupon) and assumed it would be easy to put together. Well......it was easy to put together but only because I found a great pattern and tutorial to use.

After looking at a few tutorials,  I used this one HERE. So easy!

The inner and outer fabric is from Hobby Lobby, and although i didnt take a picture of the inside, its the same fabric as the "R" I machined sewed on.

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Make your own Chevron Fabric

I really like the fun bright colors and patterns that are trendy right now. One of my favorite prints is the chevron pattern. So when I saw this fun skirt that was featured on U-Create,  I knew  I wanted to recreate it for my little Bean in a chevron design as well!

Since I didnt have any chevron fabric handy, I decided to make my own using supplies that I had here!

I used the silhouette software using the "chevron border" and copied and pasted it to make a stencil on freezer paper:

Then i cut it twice and ironed the stencil together. I ironed onto the muslin fabric, then used fabric paint and a foam brush and applied.  I repeated this process twice more to get enough fabric for a little skirt. I was able to reuse the stencil even with the paint on it. It didnt affect my iron or the stencil.

After your fabric is dry, you can then use it however you'd like!

Definitely a hit with my little one! I think I might even make one for myself in black!

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Boy's Cardigan Pattern and Tutorial

I saw this idea on pinterest originally, which prompted me to make a pattern up for my sons! Its a cardigan made from a men's sweater.

The idea had the buttons sewn directly on, rather than having buttonholes, but I really like the buttonholes and the option to open the sweater. Pair it with a nice shirt and tie, and its a really thrifty project that makes your little guy look like a million bucks!

There are two pdf''s. One is the pattern (print and make sure the box is an inch!) and the other is the tutorial. Be kind, its my first one! These are for sizes 4/5 and 6/7.

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Blogging

Hi to anyone out there!

Looks like I took another month off of blogging. That's so bad of me! Honestly, I do so many fun ideas that I see on Pinterest, I havent really been coming up with my own ideas lately to share. Is it ok to post projects I do from Pinterest as long as I give credit? I mean, I did it before directly from other crafter's blogs and still credited, right?

Another reason why I don't blog as often is because....my blog doesn't "look" cool. Isn't that silly? I haven't had the time to spend to sit down and try to figure out how to revamp it.

So as long as you don't judge a blog by its cover, and as long as you don't mind a mix of "copy crafting" and orginal stuff, I would love to get back to blogging!

I have a fun tutorial coming for sewists' of boys! Here's a sneak peak :)




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Super Hero Shirts

My boys love super heroes. Like kinda obsessed a bit. I love good deals. Like kinda obsessed a lot.

I was at Dollar Tree a few months back and picked up a blue shirt that totally screamed "Decorate me!". So I took it home, put it in the "to do" cabinet and moved on.

I knew I wanted to make my middle guy a Captain America shirt with it, but didn't know if I should do an applique or a freezer paper stencil.

Michael's had their felt sheets 5 for a dollar a couple of weeks ago, so I had picked up a nice big stack. I got to thinking that the felt would be a fun applique on the blue shirt and whipped on up really quick!

 I had a wooden star I used for a template and then randomly grabbed some bowls and lids in the kitchen and layered with fusible paper backed web. Sewed each layer on and sewed to the shirt. Super quick!

Which of course woke up the beast to create more. So back to dollar tree I went, picked up 7 more shirts and made 2 sets of 4 super hero shirts to give to my boys for christmas. The whole project (8 shirts) was under 10 dollars and I think thats a great deal compared to buying 1 store bought super hero shirt for more than that!

Make sure to buy a bit bigger and wash and dry them before beginning. They are actually decent quality shirts despite being from the dollar tree, but I am a tad nervous of how they will fit the boys since I wasn't able to try the shirts on them! And of course, colors were limited (I would have loved green and red)!


I washed and dried captain america after it was finished and the felt held up super duper, as you can see in the picture!


Not all of them came together as quickly as the captain america, I suggest just googling whatever logo you like, printing the image and cutting the pieces out to trace.

the other shirts were:

green lantern

avengers

the flash

fantastic four

x men

superman

batman

I can't wait for the boys to see them!
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Christmas Pajamas

I'm going to be honest here. I am about to go crazy. I have had sick kids nonstop since Saturday, which means I have not had a lot of time whatsoever for myself, not much sleep and minimum outings outside of my home.

Today I had enough of sitting on the couch. I love my babies and I feel bad for them that they don't feel good, but I am just not a couch sitter. I cleaned up the house that was needing it in a desperate way, and made lunch. Just doing those things helped me so much! And how is it the last day of November?!

Anyway, it's no secret that I am a frugal crafter. I love creating things from other things, reusing what we dont need anymore or what other people have gotten rid of. Some people call me cheap, I think of myself as resourceful.

Every year, we give the kids a pair of pajamas on Christmas eve. Just one of those traditions that a lot of people do. There's something about a comfortable pair of pajamas and going to bed all snug and happy!

We have done matching pajamas in the past as well as fun cutesy pajamas (I was even talked into character pajamas last year).

These were my favorite. Look how tiny these boys were!

This year I wanted to go back to the matching pajamas idea and started looking around. Unfortunately, I couldn't really find anything that didnt cost an arm and a leg, that looked good with both genders and that was in all the sizes I needed!

I was at the local thrift store during their half off day and stumbled upon two flannel king size pillow cases. For   50 cents a piece, I bought them, washed them and started playing around.  This was one of those projects that I went in and didn't know what I was doing with everything, or have a vision at all. I just went for it. I figured if I messed up, I was only out a dollar. I love the results!

I honestly didnt expect to get 24 months, 5t, 6 sizes from two pillow cases but it actually worked! I even had enough left over to applique matching shirts and add ruffles to the 24 months pants. I used pants they already had for patterns and the boys' pants had the pillow case edge so I didn't need to hem theirs.

Then I added their names to the pants as well with a simple embroidery thread. I did it free hand but you could use a washable marker to trace.

The appliques were used using this pattern I found on pinterest  I did a simple zig zag stitch around it after I ironed them on with paper backed fusible web.

And shh don't tell, but one of the shirts was a 50 cent yard sale find, one was a hand me down from a sibling and the other I did have to purchase. But since I only put 1.50 into it, I figured a 5 dollar shirt was ok. 6.50 for matching pjs? Works for me!

Can't wait to see them all matchy and snuggly on Christmas morning!

I linked up at these great blogs!

 
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