Neck Coolers

I found this idea on "Little Birdie Secrets" {follow the link for all the instructions!} and thought....since I am leaving for girls camp on Monday morning...and our heat index yesterday was 105 degrees....maybe I should make some for me and my other leader friends. {because you know, I have nothing else on my list to do}.

I have a tenancy to continue thinking of people who I could make them for...and instead of making 2...I have to make 12. They were super easy...and I was able to get them all done in just a couple hours. I also found the ice crystals at Michael's Crafts.

They are just sitting in the fridge...waiting to go to camp. Now if I can just get everything else ready!

Tiny Tie Onesie

I've seen these ALL over crafting cyberspace and I didn't really do anything different! They are super cute and EASY. I follow THIS tutorial from Crap I've Made! {and she even includes the pattern}. I did reduce the pattern about 60% and made them on 3-6 month onesies. They are soooo cute when they are that little.

If you're having a boy {and that's about 1/2 of my friends right now} you are probably gonna get some of these cute onesies {so pretend you're surprised when you open them!}.

More Activity Bags...and Pattern information

I made a few more of these fun activity bags and thought I would included the pattern pieces for your information. The bags go together very similar to this tote bag tutorial, except the pockets are on the outside {instead of inside} of the bag. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures, I know Amy is making one so I will have her take pictures as she goes and we will add them later. Please contact one of us is you are confused.

MAIN BAG FABRIC: {half of the outside will be covered with the pockets}

CUT 2 - 13"x14" for main bag
CUT 2 - 13"x14" for inside lining
CUT 2 - 13x14" Fleece to line bag

CUT 4 - 14"x4" - for sides {2 are lining}
CUT 2 - 13"x4" - for bottom {1 is lining}

OUTSIDE POCKETS

CUT 4 - 13"x7" for pockets {2 of these can be lining fabric}
CUT 2 - 13"x2" for top of pockets
CUT 4 - 4"x7" for side pockets (two of these can be lining fabric}
CUT 2 - 4"x2" for top of side pockets
OPTIONAL: Line outside pockets with thin flannel for more stability, if desired cut 2-13"x7" and 2-4"x7" of flannel.

HANDLES

CUT 2 - 24" x 6" for handles
CUT 2 - 24"x 2" FLEECE to line handles

OPTIONAL: I included a pocket inside from scraps that were left over. Mine was about 6"x5".

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the process....I was trying to hurry so fast, I forgot to take any. We will add them as soon as possible, but here are a couple of finished bags.

Pretty Pillowcase Dresses....

I've seen several ideas and patterns out there for "pillowcase" dresses and I thought it was something I could use to venture into sewing actual clothing {instead of just crafts}. I used this pattern I found online and mostly followed the original pattern. The only exception is that I didn't make a piece of bias fabric for the top, I added 2" to the top of the dress when I was cutting it out and just folded it over into a casing. It worked great.

They were super easy and fun to make.

A Shrug for Me

I have decided that as much as I would love to be able to design and create things without a pattern, that I cannot make clothing without a pattern.  I just feel like I am more comfortable making clothing straight from a pattern rather then trying to figure it out from another article of clothing or just straight from my head.  I read other blogs and think - oh, I can do that - and then I look at the material and think - NO YOU CAN'T.  (If you show me a craft project I would be able to figure it out, but not clothes - I think it is a mind block.)

I normally don't sew for myself because I just don't feel like I make things and that they fit right.  I always think they look homemade and I guess after years of hiding behind my fear I have begun to venture out into that realm of the "making" your own clothes.  I will confess it comes from the fact that for years I think it wasn't cool to make your own clothes or to sew.   Now it is the COOL thing to do and I have been sewing things for years and now it is soooo cool to do.  I am glad it is that way and hope it stays that way.  I think there is a quote "Necessity is the mother of invention".  (I am always quoting things wrong, but I think that is what the quote says.)  So of necessity I have created something.

I bought an outfit from the thrift store a couple of months ago.  I was looking for maternity wear and found a shirt and skirt combination that I loved.  Only problem is that the shirt is a tank.  Because I HATE what my upper arms look like and other reasons I don't need to go into here, I needed a way to adapt the top.  I have looked at many things online and wondered about how to make the top work.  Finally the other day at JoAnn's I was looking through patterns {McCalls were 99 cents}, I found this shrug pattern.

It was perfect.  I loved the view with the tie in the front.  It was perfect and would cover up the ugly upper arms and not be too hot.  So I bought some knit fabric that was similar in feel and look to the top and went home hoping that I could make this.  The fabric ended up only being about $2 after I got 40% off of it.  I thought - I can try it and if it works then wal-la I will have a fix for my outfit, and if it doesn't work - I can just throw it out.

After two days of off and on again sewing, and fighting with my new serger.  I was about ready to throw the serger out the 2nd story window.  But alas - my serger and I have reconciled and we are now on speaking terms again after it made the marvelous hem with the coverstitch.  It looks just like the inside of your t-shirt hem and it stretches just right.  Here is an example of what it looks like on white fabric {so you can see what it looks like.}

(don't mind the top stitching on the first picture - that was before I figured out where I forgot to thread my serger.)

I finished the edges with this stitch and I am sooo happy with the results.  I really love how it looks and think it will become one of my favorites.  Now I just need to figure out what to use the pattern for next.

Here is the finished product.

A sneak peak

I have started working on making a blessing dress for my baby that is due the end of November.  I saw this cute idea on homemade by jill and kept it in the back of my mind that if I were to have a girl, I would make a blessing dress with this cute pintuck design.  So I bought a remnant to try it out on and now I am excited to make the cute dress for my baby girl.  I will post pictures when I finish.  (I have to wait to use my 50% off coupon to buy the fabric since it isn't cheap, so it might be awhile.)

FLAG blocks

We made these super easy flags out of 2x4's. We found the idea at How does she? and we both fell in love with it. We mostly followed Alison's tutorial, except we omitted the vinyl letters and ribbon and did 4 little stars instead of one big one. LOVE how they turned out. We made our paper match our USA Blocks so they could go together in the same room. Super EASY fun 4th of July craft.

U*S*A Blocks Tutorial

Liberty and I are part of a craft and sewing group - actually we are the head ring leaders.  We are just crazy enough to put this all together.  This month is our craft month and we are doing these way cute block letters for the upcoming holidays.  I thought today was the perfect day to post this since tomorrow is FLAG DAY. 

I have all the pictures for the steps to make these - although you could probably find how to make them all throughout the blog craft world.  But I will attempt to put together a tutorial of sorts.

What you need:

• 5 blocks cut from 2x4 at 3 1/2 inches x 3 1/2 inches(width of board)  I cut these myself so I don't know how much or if they would cut them at the depot or lowes.
• white acrylic paint
• mod podge
• vinyl letters or paper letters - cut from a cricut machine
• red and blue scrapbooking papers
• embellishments to make them cute - bling, buttons, stickers, etc
• sandpaper, paint brushes, newspaper to protect area

Mine are a little different and are what the tutorial is made from.  So as to not confuse you - here is the picture of mine.

(Isn't my husband funny - he noticed that my blocks weren't exactly even and so he couldn't just put the stars on top normal.)

To begin after the blocks are cut and sanded real good.  You need to paint the blocks - I white washed mine to give them a more rustic look.

Next I cut the paper to just a little bit smaller then the block and mod podged them on.

The next step is to sand the edges of the paper and the blocks to the desired amount you want of distressing.  Liberty likes hers really roughed up and I am a little bit more conservative.

After that, sit back and enjoy your work.

Next add on the vinyl letters and stars.

Then you can embellish to your hearts content.  Liberty had these great rhinestone/bling red dots that we put on the stars.  We also added the buttons and stickers.  It is an easy project and we know that our friends in our craft group will enjoy making them.

Ruffly Shirt

I like wearing t-shirts, but I don't like to look like I'm in a plain old t-shirt...so I LOVE these tutorials from Made by Lex. {she has lots of other good ones!} I just used a t-shirt that already fit...so I didn't have to cut it down. I wanted to end up with 2 shirts, bought 3 pink shirts and used the extra 3rd one to cut up and add the ruffles to the other two.

I used some of the strips {about 1 1/2" wide} and made rosettes for the front of the shirt. Just ruffle up the strip a little {see below} and then start in the middle and roll up your rosette. Don't make it too tight, or it won't lay flat on the shirt. I sewed on the "hearts" first and then hand stitched the rosettes in place.

{the little circle in the middle is the trim from the other shirt, I just rolled it up and hand stitched it together}

Ruffle Camera Strap

I wanted a red, white and blue summer strap...and I saw this cute idea HERE. Then I saw that this is June's "Craft with Me" project at U-Create. So here is my super cute camera strap. I don't use the old hardware, I use these straps and just square off the ends and add ribbon. ENJOY!

And if you make one, make sure you email a picture to ucreatecrafts at gmail dot com!

Flannel Raq Quilt

Last year our church did a service project to make quilts for several different organizations...and so began my OBSESSION with sewing. {making these rag quilts was the first sewing I've ever done}.

Since that time I have made dozen's of these rag quilts. {all shapes and sizes}. These are the best instructions I have found online. You can find some measurement information here.

here are a few....



Thanks Amy for getting me into this OBSESSION!!!!! {I really do LOVE it!}

Flag Wall Hangings and Wreaths

In celebration of Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July and SUMMER we have created our latest wall hangings.  Since we did exactly the same pattern we decided to join our pictures together and show you how excited we are that we have them done.  These wall hangings are ragged and we found the pattern in the Sew Easy Rag Quilting Book, the pattern is Allegiance.  It took us each a couple of hours to finish since there are not too many pieces.  We redesigned the pattern to drop off the extra edges and also to just use a regular star shape we took off the computer.  We also added Warm and Natural to give it a little more poofiness {is that a word?}  The effect is amazing.  Liberty's has dark blue, red and cream and Amy's has blue, red and white.

Of course when we were done we had leftover scraps that made a wonderful star door hanging.  It took some fiddling with the hanger or hangers (in Liberty's case) to get them to stay together.  We didn't tie it the same as our other two wreaths.  I (AMY) did the whole thing the last way and when I got done it looked just like my other two wreaths and not at all like the star I had formed.  After removing all of the pieces and starting over I figured out if you tied them by pulling the ends through the loop it made it so there was definition and you could see the star.  I'm not sure if that makes any sense but if you are interested please leave a comment and I can try and explain or do a demonstration.