Specialty Embroidery

Ever since I was little my parent's friend, Shane has been around. I always had a little crush on him and it became a joke that he was my future husband. Years later the joke still lives on. We pick and poke at each other all the time, so when he handed me his bibs to fix he knew he'd be getting something. Especially after hearing and seeing the glove repair. Being his gutsy self he left them in my care and told me if I fixed them he'd even give me a sort of payment. No, it wasn't for my hand in marriage... but monetary. Kind of bittersweet. Anyways, after fixing the zipper I gave him a little somethin' somethin' to remember me by. Now I'll always be close to his heart.

Granny's Quilt in The Making

My great Granny is the doll that got me sewing in the first place. When she could no longer live alone I was given her 1954 Singer sewing machine. My second sewing machine, but definetly the most important to me. I was about eight when I got my very first, but it wasn't a big deal then. I was eight, c'mon! Buy me the new Brat doll or something, ya know? Anyways... with as close as me and her had become before she got ill I wanted to use it. To have that piece of her. At that point in time I was making a skirt with my Grandma Gail (Granny's daughter). I got most of it done at her house, but took it home to hem the bottom. Wanting to test the sewing machine I got it out of it's huge case and plugged her in. Sure enough, she worked like a beau. I was in love. Oddly enough, the fact that it even smelled like her was nice. She was moved to an assisted living place and did great for a long time. After a while her dimensia began to get really bad and she could no longer even live in a place like that. She needed supervision all the time. Just a week ago she was moved to a nursing home, but a few days later had to be taken into immediate care. We were told she would never be the same. Which we were used to, but at least before we had a good day on occasion. You just never knew. Through the sickness she has lost an immense amount of weight and some of her old sweaters no longer fit. I took them and decided to make a quilt out of them. And maybe just maybe they will bring a little bit of her back...

It's no where near finished, but I thought I'd share my progress so far.

Owl Pillow

It is a long, complicated story as to how I know this little girl, but alls you need to know is that she's a little kiddo that's pretty dear to my heart. Her older brother, Jeremiah, was one of the boys I made a Ninjago pillow for. Savannah is only three, so what she wanted is a little tricky to figure out what to make. They go on a lot of long car rides so I wanted her to have a cute pillow that doubles as a stuffed animal and something to lay her head on. So then came this!

You will need:

-Three different colors of fabric (dark, light, and lighter)

-Stuffing

-Coordinating thread

Step 1) I like to fold my fabric in half so that I know it is going to be symmetrical. From there I sketched an oval with a triangle for the ear. Then, unfolded and got this.

Step 2) I cut out two white, larger circles for the eye sockets. Two smaller, darker circles for the pupils. A triangle in the dark fabric for the nose, and two oval tear drop shaped pieces in the darker fabric to look like wings. Depending on how large you made your silhouette for the owl is how big you should make these pieces.

Step 3) Place the pupils inside the lighter colored fabric and hand sew them using a basic stitch around the outside. Place the darker fabric in the lighter fabric at your discretion. I liked mine towards the corners to give it a more whimsical look.

 Step 4) (Oh my goodness! I am sorry again ... I made sure when I uploaded them on here that they were all rotated correctly in "My Pictures". Bear with me please.) I placed the eyes on the owls body to determine where the nose would go. Then, I hand stitched the nose down. While doing this I also sewed the eyes and wings down. I did that with my sewing machine.

Step 5) Pin right sides together and sew along the outside, leaving an opening large enough to add stuffing in. I like to put mine at the bottom, just so it isn't noticeable.

Step 6) Add stuffing and hand stitch the opening closed.

I know you'll have a hoot making this! ha ha ;)

Scarf Hangers Put to Good Use

Lauren sent me a picture once she went back to IU after Christmas break. I was glad she was putting her gift to good use, but now I kinda think I need to maker her another...

Scarf Hangers

This year I of course wanted to make a handmade gift for everyone. The boys got the Ninjago pillow, but then I was left with my college sister Lauren. I thought "What could she want? She pretty much bought everything she needed." So one day I was sitting in class and texted her (I know, I shouldn't be texting in school. I didn't miss anything important though!) and asked if she had enough room in her closet. She said it was getting kinda cramped. Well, when she moved out I remember her having this huge bag just full of scarves. Yes, all that was in it were scarves! So then came the idea of a scarf hanger!

You will need:

3 to 4 metal hangers

wire cutters

duct tape

hot glue gun

circular cup or jar

fabric or yarn 

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures while doing this because I decided to start working on it the night before Christmas Eve. Totally my fault, but nevertheless I will try and explain my way through it. 

Step 1) Pick the hanger that feels the sturdiest to you. This one will be the one that actually hangs onto the rod. Untwist the metal so that its not continuous, but leave the arc as the hook.

Step 2) Using the jar or cup wrap the wire around it until you have made a perfect circle (or close to). Then cut the wire and duct tape the loose end. Keep doing this until you have made the desired amount of circles.

Step 3) Using the fabric or yarn wrap around the circles so that it covers up the metal and duct tape, stopping to hot glue it every now and then to secure it. 

Let's just take a moment to hate my laptop. I have no clue why it does this! I really do upload them in the right direction! I promise! But anyways ... here is my final product. I made them into the shape of a flower but you can keep making circles and turn them into whatever your little hearts desire. I also used a jean fabric for extra stability.

Happy Crafting! :)

Ninjago Pillow

The cute turd known as my little brother, Levi, is absolutely in love with this lego + ninja creation on TV that equals out to be called Ninjago. I dunno if you've ever heard about it, but personally I don't think you're missing out on much. I'm sure many little boys (and possibly girls) would happily disagree with me, but we're all entitled to our own opinion riiiggghhhttt? But the lil' kiddo just happens to be quite dear to my heart, so I had to put my feelings aside and be the greatest sister I am and make the booger a pillow.

You will need:

1 old t-shirt in the color of the desired ninja, or solid fabric

yellow, black, and white felt

yellow thread

stuffing

 Step 1) I started out with a 12x12 square folded in half then drew the dimensions from that. The top which is actually on the left in this photo (Sorry, the rotating would not work yet again... :/) is going to be about a half an inch longer and an inch shorter than the one on the right. Then cut along the lines and unfold.

 Step 2) Cut a rectangle 3 1/2 by 7 in. and fold in half. Start a quarter of an inch from the top and slope upwards and curve back down to make a "mask" shape.

 Step 3) Fold a yellow piece of felt in half keeping the mask folded in half and cut.

Step 5) Cut out two black felt circles. i used an inch in diameter as my measurement. Then cut and set aside.

Step 6) Cut out two eye brows. I made it to where they kind of went up on the ends. You can do this to your discretion.

Step 7) Cut out two smaller white pupils. Position and pin them to the yellow felt.

Step 8) I hand stitched the white pupils to the black felt first. Then hand sewed the eye pieces to the yellow mask and lastly I sewed the eyebrows so that I could place them accordingly with the eyes. (Sorry for saying accordingly twice.. I have minimum vocab.) 

Step 9) Pin the yellow felt onto the ninja and sew using yellow thread attatching the mask onto the pillow. From here turn the pillow inside out and pin leaving an opening for stuffing. Sew.

Step 10) Turn right side out and stuff. Then, sew the opening closed.

There we have it, Lloyd and Kai. 

Masters of Spinjitzu!

Christmas Sweater Nails

Wow, I am getting good! Two posts in a row that have been in time for the holidays. Unfortunately I cannot take full credit for these wonderfully cute nails. I saw them on Pinterest at the link: http://omfgnailart.tumblr.com/post/14318734861
Although, I did do my nails myself and I am not gonna lie ... they were tricky boogers! It just takes a while especially doing the snowflake. Not to mention I ran out of nail room for the whole design, so be sure to keep that in mind. I did my nails using a toothpick. Probably would have been easier to use a design nail polish brush, but I couldn't find mine. Grrr, I know! And no, the reindeer on my thumb does not have five legs .. there's a glare. -_-
Happy Holidays! :)