Moby Wrap

Have you had a baby that needs to be held all the time?  Baby J. is my fourth!  While they are so little, I love just holding them and having them sleep on my chest.  However, mommy's got to get some stuff done.

I made a moby wrap - for about a fourth of the cost as you can buy them.  This wrap is basically just a long long piece of fabric.  You can go here for tying instructions.  I used a double jersey knit - and because I monogram anything I can get my hands on - I put a "j" right in the middle.

Normally, he snuggles right in - but this is what it looks like when he pops his head out and screams for mommy to be done taking pictures!

There is an excellent tutorial on Elle Apparel.

Link parties I participate in: 30 Handmade,  A bowl full of lemons, Be Different Act Normal,  Craft-O-Maniac, I Heart Naptime,  Lolly Jane Boutique, Ninth Street Notions,  Oopsey Daisy, Positively Splendid,  Serenity Now, Sew Chatty, Skip to my Lou, Someday Crafts, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Tidy Mom, Today's Creative Blog

BlueSusan Makes Guest Post

Hi there, I'm Sarah, visiting you today from BlueSusan Makes.  How fun to be invited to guest post for Laurel while she is busy caring for little Baby J.  Laurel is an old college friend of mine and for all of you who only know her in the world of blogs, she is just as great and genuine in real life.  I only wish I lived closer to her.  I love to make things and "BlueSusan Makes" is my place to show off the things I make for my family and home, or to sell at seasonal craft fairs.

Today I'm showing off a pillow I made recently.  It was originally intended to be made as a Valentine's day accent inspired by this pillow...but I plan on leaving it out all year long.   It reminds me a bit of a beaded door curtain.

A couple of weeks ago I got new gray couches and it looks great on them...but a little lonely. So I grabbed some pillows from my kitchen bench and some fabric from my stash to experiment with colors.

How about a little turquoise?

Or maybe some Orange?? 

Or maybe turquoise and orange...

Okay, enough playing with pillow colors! Here's a quick peek into how I made my "Beaded Door Curtain" pillow.  I used my Quick Pillow Cover Tutorial and appliqued felt circles to the front.

  

For a 16" inch finished pillow I started with a long rectangle 17" X 40".  (a 1/2 yard of fabric will be just enough). I hemmed each short edge. Then found the center and drew a line along it.  Next I drew the rest of the lines 2 1/4 inches away from the center line (3 on each side, 7 lines altogether). For the felt circles I used 28 - 2" circles, 20 - 1 3/8" circles, and 21 - 1" circles.  It took some rearranging to get them to all work out. Then I stitched them down making sure to leave 1/2 inch on the long edge for a seam allowance.

To finish the pillow I folded the hemmed edges into the center overlapping them about 4 1/2 inches and then stitched the side seams closed making an envelope closure.  For a more thorough explanation of the finishing process check out my tutorial HERE.

 Thanks for reading! Feel free to stop by BlueSusan Makes and say hello! And "Thank You"
 Laurel for the fun opportunity.  Have fun getting to know your newest little "duckling"!

 

No-Slip Dish Towels

Sometimes, Martha Stewart is a genius!  This is one of those "why didn't I think of that" ideas.

We hang a dish towel on our oven door - right at kiddos level.  One of the biggest problems is that the towel always ends up on the floor right in front of the oven!

Sewing a strip of velcro has solved that problem!

Now the towel doesn't slip!  Now - can Martha figure out how to help my kids use the towels that are already out instead of just grabbing a new towel?  By the end of the day there are sometimes up to 5 towels on the floor!  At least they are washing their hands, right?

Link parties I participate in: A bowl full of lemons, Be Different Act Normal,  Blue Cricket Design,Carolyn's Homework, Craft-O-Maniac, I Heart Naptime,  Lolly Jane Boutique, Ninth Street Notions, Serenity Now, Sew Chatty, Skip to my Lou, Someday Crafts, Tatertots and Jello, Thrifty Decor Chick, Today's Creative Blog

Tie Secret Love Note

My sweet sweet husband wears a tie at least 4 days a week.  I snuck one of his ties out of his closet and left a little note.  This is on the back of the tie - just for him!

I first embroidered it on my machine - you could totally do this by hand if you wanted to.  My  hand embroidery isn't the best, though, so I chose my machine.  This is on cheap felt.

I just cut a heart around it - and held it up to the tie to make sure it wasn't too big.

Pin it on the tie - making sure you don't catch the front.  Stitching on the front will give away your secret!!

I stitched around the edge and was done!

I can't wait for him to find it.

You could hide a little message on so many things.  I love that it is simple and subtle and secret!

Link parties I participate in: 504 Main,  A bowl full of lemons, Be Different Act Normal,  Blue Cricket Design, Craft-O-Maniac, I Heart Naptime, I Should Be Mopping, Lolly Jane Boutique, Ninth Street Notions, Serenity Now, Sew Chatty, Skip to my Lou, Someday Crafts, Tatertots and Jello, The Girl Creative, Thrifty Decor Chick, Today's Creative Blog

Ruffle Clutches

This year, for Christmas, I sewed ruffle clutches for my favorite 16 and 17 year olds!  I wish I had a picture of all of them - I made 9 in all.

I used this tutorial from Noodlehead.  It was pretty straight forward.  I think you just need to do it and it makes more sense than reading the tutorial.

There is a divided pocket inside as well as a divider.

Perhaps my favorite part was looking through fabric scraps and finding fabrics that work together.  Luckily, I had enough scraps!

Each one different - each one for a different girl.

I couldn't post earlier - Christmas gifts can be hard to post about.   So this can go in your files of "ideas for next year."  Don't you have a stash of ideas like that?

Don't let zippers intimidate you - they are soooo doable!  I'm not a fancy shmancy seamstress - but I can sew straight lines and I'm not afraid to just go for it.  The end results aren't always worth it, though.  Luckily, this one came through with flying colors!  By the time I figured out what I was doing, each bag took about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish and because of my fabric stash, I only had to go buy zippers!  Not bad, if I do say so myself.

Link parties I participate in: A bowl full of lemons, Be Different Act Normal,  Blue Cricket Design, Craft-O-Maniac, Delightful Order,  Etcetorize, Home Stories a to z,  I Heart Naptime,Just a Girl,  Lolly Jane Boutique,Organize and Decorate Everything, Pokadots on Parade,  Serenity Now, Sew Chatty, Sew Much Ado, Skip to my Lou, Someday Crafts, Tatertots and Jello, The Blackberry Vine, The Girl Creative,  Thrifty Decor Chick, Today's Creative Blog

Maybe Next Year . .

In December 2010, I got the top of this quilt put together.  That's my favorite part - piecing the quilt, putting together the fabrics . .

My mom and I were looking through a Pottery Barn Catalog and she saw a quilt and said "let's make this."  So we started.  We picked out fabrics.  Some are definitely Christmas fabrics, but others weren't.  I wanted this to go in my home easily, so there are a lot of browns.  I love it.

In December of 2011, I quilted it to a nice fluffy white.  This quilt is big - I plan on putting it on my bed.  I've never made a quilt just for me.  My kids have Christmas blankets that I have sewn for them, I guess it was my turn.

Because of the size, quilting it seemed daunting.  I "stitched in the ditch" and dreamed of cuddling under it watching Christmas movies at night.

Have you noticed what didn't get done this year?

The binding!  I've got to hand sew this binding down, another daunting task!

So for another year it sits.  I'm 2012 will be the year this quilt finally gets finished.  Unfinished projects drive me batty, but so does leaving Christmas decor out!

It's going to be great - if I ever finish.  What about you?  Have you any unfinished Christmas projects that will just have to wait?

Christmas Pillow Cases

Need a quick, loved-by-all, gift?  Why not a Christmas pillowcase?

We gave them as a family gift this year.  You have to give them early so they can enjoy them for the month of December.

A little trim on the seam is always cute!

There are countless tutorials out there - seriously, try googling it and you'll see the countless.  This isn't a tutorial, just a recommendation!  My kids love getting out their pillow cases.  We have them for every season and I think they are a gift that every one is happy with!