St. Patrick's Day Wreath

I have a couple friends that I have been talking with for months about making a wreath. We talked about it so much, that we bought the supplies back in the beginning of December!! I never did get that Christmas wreath made...but still wanted to work on one. So I tried to make one festive for St. Patrick's Day! I got out all the green fabrics in my stash, and while my hubby watched a seriously lame movie about California splitting in two, I made flowers. This morning, I thread each button for the centers on a piece of floral wire and threaded it through the flower. This way, I have a wreath I can easily change! I think if I take out a couple green ones, and add in a few pastels, I have all the flowers I need for an Easter wreath! I had this grapevine wreath hanging around from fall (I think) and just wired them on where I thought they looked nice.

A few more lame movie nights, where I can concentrate on my flower making, and I could have a wreath for every season! :)

Fabric Toy Basket

My husband and I went round-and-round on what to do with the toys that our toddler strings all through our house all day long. We needed a place that she could clean them up herself by just piling them in, but it needed to be in this room that we use with guests often, so it needed to look nice too. This was my solution:

I have been working on this crocheted basket made of strips of old sheets and hand-me-down fabrics. My kids have helped me tear them into 1 inch strips, which they actually thought was fun, most of the time. :) I am planning to add a few more rows, but it will sit for now like this, because quite honestly, I am tired of working on it and want to do something else!!!!

Tee Necklaces

My mom recently sent me a site with these recycled tee shirt necklaces and I wanted to try them. So I pulled out hand-me-downs from my sister's kids and cut the tee into 3/4 inch loops.

This green one is my first attempt. I put it on and thought, "No way am I wearing that." But decided I'd wear it to the mall today, not planning to see anyone I knew and see what I thought about it after seeing it all day. I did like it better by the end of the day, but am still not sure about it. So I decided to make a few more and see if maybe it was the color/thickness that was not right.....but since I didn't 'feel it' for these either, I decided to post them here to get feedback. I am hoping someone will look at them and tell me if they're tacky, or trendy.

What do you think?

Dress Redo

I took this dress that looks like it has been around for 10-15 years, and knew it had potential. I hung it in my closet for a year....until I had inspiration today to make it into something much more fun! First up was taking out the seams on the slits in the bottom and sewing it back together, no more slits. Then I cut the embroidery/lace bottom off and put a hem at knee level. I knew even though that lace looked terrible along the bottom, it had potential, so I pinned it across the chest of the dress until I liked the arrangement and sewed along the top of the lace. I think it is quite an improvement.

Here is it on:

Jersey Rosette, Take 2

I did try this again, and like it better, but am still not loving the thing. This time, I kept it loose and scrunched it a bit when I glued it down. I don't think I'm wasting the hairpin though, I don't think I'll wear it. But did want you to see the less-trivet-like creation!

Gathered Hair Flower

I decided to try a different type of hair flower, and I think this turned out much better than the last one (trivet!).

I took this piece of fabric from a load of fabric given me by my family, and it was already folded and sewn together. I decided to just gather it across the bottom, with folded side out and then sewed the ends together. Then for the center, I took a black stretchy fabric a couple inches wide and made a pretty knot. I put the ends through the center, hot glued everything in place and put it on the hairpin. Fastest hairbow ever!

Kasnzashi Silk

I love these hair flowers and want one for every outfit! They keep the hair out of my face and from behind my ear and they are beautiful! I made this one from the same fabric as the flower on my purse, so I will match all over when I wear it!

Then I got this sample of 100% silk fabric from the fabric store this weekend to try a silk flower. The fabric had stripes of different colors, but I thought cream would go with almost anything, so I started there. Then I decided it needed a bright red, fabric covered button in the middle - so much for matching anything....Oh well.

I think the silk is pretty, and has more of a sheen on it, but am not sure I will do many more from pure silk. It unravels like crazy and isn't the easiest fabric to work with.

Kanzashi for My Purse

On recommendation of my friend to make the button bigger on my new purse, I thought I'd create something. I used a piece of the lining fabric to make a Kanzashi flower to match, added a vintage brown button to the middle, hot glued it all together and put it on an old fashioned pin back. That way I can pin it in place over the button, and if I decide I want it on the strap instead, I can just move it over! I think it makes my purse *POP* and I LOVE it. Thanks for the recommendation, Laura!

New Purse

I have been wanting a new purse. My old one is getting worn and is not as cool as I thought it once was....Though it was very easy to put together and amazingly functional! I knew I wanted another one that would have a strap that I could put over my chest to my other shoulder because it's so functional and doesn't fall off when I'm holding little hands. I saw a bunch of fabric in my stash this week that my mother in law handed down to me and knew I wanted it, so I went to work. I used a McCalls pattern to cut the shape for the purse front/back and then put the pattern away because I knew I wanted it a little differently. I cut a strip and sewed it down the front and back and put pockets on the liner pieces, and used hardware from my stash that I've been keeping around for just this reason. This is my finished product. I will admit it's a little larger than I thought it would be, but know that I will love that when I can stick a notebook in there and have my hands free! I took another photo closer up so you could see the hardware and the button closure. I figure with the button, I could just reach in for the little stuff and only unbutton for the bigger things. I made the strap adjustable for when I want to wear it on one shoulder, because as practical as it is, it's just not attractive for dressing up to have a purse across your chest!

And here is a shot of the inside. I like lots of pockets for organizing so I put 5. Yep. FIVE. One for the iPod. One for the phone. One for the Kleenex. One for the wallet. One for something extra.....I don't know yet.

Jeans to Skirt

There are a bunch of tutorials out there on how to take an old pair of jeans and make a skirt. I had a pair that was a little too short, but fit pretty well otherwise, so I decided to try it. I put it together in just a couple hours. First, I ripped the seams along the inside. Then I cut off the legs to the length that I wanted. I pinned it all in place at top, then took the legs and placed them in the upside down "V" at the bottom that was missing fabric. I sewed it all together with an orangish thread to match the thread on the original seams and sewed down the original seams to make it seem weathered in the right spots. Then I sewed a double seam on the bottom and unraveled the bottom edge. I think the bottom will look better after it's washed, but I am not patient enough and had to wear the thing today! Here it is:

Car Trash Bag

I have been wanting a garbage container for the van and though my husband's idea of just putting a little trash can in there was very practical, I hoped to create something a little more pretty. I found this idea this morning:

http://spoonfullofsugargirls.blogspot.com/2009/09/quick-fathers-day-gift.html

I liked how the bag was made from things that were sitting in my closet anyway, because I didn't have to buy oilcloth or something. The outer fabric is an old shirt, the inner lining fabric is from a suit jacket my hubby had that the sleeves were cut off of (don't know why!) and the sour cream container and grocery bag were headed for recycling anyway! And I really liked how the thing is 'lined' with a disposable grocery bag! That makes cleanup really easy later!

Now I just have to get the family to use it! :)

RibbonBoards

My sister requested ribbon bulletin boards for her girl's rooms for Christmas. I am planning to make one for our daughter as well, but lost steam today after doing these two and will do it another day. I decided to take pictures of the process, in case anyone was interested in seeing how it was done. First, I got a piece of 1/4 inch particle board from Lowes, and had them cut it in thirds before leaving the store.

I placed the boards on batting and cut it a little larger. This gives a little padding under your fabric. I thought it was optional, but now that I have it made, I think it is necessary! You'd feel every particle in the board and it gives a little cushion to the ribbon later on.

Then I put the fabric around the board, on top of the batting, and stapled it all around the edges, making the corners crisp.

Then wrap the ribbon (I bought some cotton-ish white strip at the fabric store. Don't know what it was called, but it was 10 cents a yard, and I liked the look of it. )around the board on a diagonal. I placed mine 6 inches apart. Put all the ribbons on one direction first. When you add the ribbons the other direction, weave them over/under the first ribbons to give everything more stability and help hold the papers in. I would probably do less than 6 inches if I had it to do over....I didn't realize that the smaller papers will sometimes fall out.

This is the finished product. These are really big, and I think they will hold a lot of their artwork safely and easily. Fabric is their favorite colors - so I hope they match their rooms for years to come!

First-Ever Flower

I made this flower today from fabric scraps and decided to make it into a hairbow for my daughter. It took about one hour to make. She has been looking at it in the mirror and touching it all afternoon! I think it would be fun to make red ones as poinsettias for Christmas....maybe I can find some red fabric!