pretty poppies tutorial

What do these things have in common?
roll-ups (crayon, marker, gel pen, make-up brushes)
felt food
play mail set
soda can jewelry

. . . and now flowers

Give up? 

These are all the craft-related obsessions I have had in the past seven months.  My sixth craft till Christmas in July was haircessories.  With that craft, my flower obsession began.  Recently, I googled "images of flowers" just to gaze at the source of this recent crafty-obsession, and these three images jumped off the computer screen.   

The first one and the third one are a poppies, but I'm not sure what the second one is.  Let's pretend it's a poppy too.  Either way these three beautiful flowers are the inspiration behind my newest flower project - super easy pretty poppy wall art.

Pretty Poppies

Here's what you need:
-a square art canvas (Find at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Wal-mart, etc.)
-fabric (I went with a monochromatic look with various shades of ivory, off white and white.  I also used various textures, thicknesses, etc. - linen, tulle, twill, muslin, etc.) 
-beads
-straight pins

Here's what you do:
1)  Using four different sized circle items as a pattern cut 9 circles of each size from four different fabrics.  I used four different sized biscuit cutters at the patterns.  Cut 27 circles of tulle from the largest circle pattern. (Obviously, the number of circles you use will depend on the size of your canvas and the spacing you want.  My canvas was 10 x 10.)

2)  Ball up each circle into a little wad.  (Yuck, I hate using the word "wad".)  I stuffed my little wadded up balls into the corner of sandwich baggies and twisted the baggies up.  Then my kids woke up from their naps so we played while my little wadded up balls got nice and wrinkly.  If you need the instant gratification of wrinkles, I have two recommendations: 1) After pre-washing your fabric, dry it.  By the time you get back to it - if you are like me - it will be good and wrinkly after sitting in the dryer for a day or two.  2) After rolling your circles into little balls, place a hot iron on them. 

3)  Take wadded up balls out of baggies.  Layer circles - largest, tulle, medium, tulle, medium in a different fabric, tulle, smallest.

4)  Take straight pin and bead and put pin through the bead.  Stick pin and bead combo through the center of each poppy.

5)  Turn canvas over.  Use the cutting edge of a pliers to snip off the sharp ends of the pins.  Then use the needle nose end of the pliers to bend the blunt pin end down.

6)  Done!  Now I just have to figure out where to put it!

Craft on!

My no-sew headband ended up being number two in the first round of Trendy Crafter.  That means I'm in the next round as well . . . which is, yep, you guessed it . . . flowers.  I'll let you know when voting begins in round 2 so that you can head on over and vote for your fav.

monogram taggie: a new spin on an old standby

Taggie blankets are the old standby when I need a quick baby gift.  I've made so many taggies, I could probably make them in my sleep.  Seriously, I think it's possible.  I used to hide things in my sleep when I was in high school.  I once hid one shoe so well while I was sleeping that we never found it.  If I could do that while sleeping, surely I could make a taggie blanket. 

Uhm . . . hello tangent . . . back to the actual point of this post.

I can certainly make taggies, but I'm tired of making them.  Cut squares.  Cut ribbon. Pin. Sew. Turn. Done.  With the arrival of a friend's new baby, I decided I needed to put a new spin on my old standby.  Thus the monogram taggie was born.  (Did I just use the word "thus"?  Yikes!)

If you've made a taggie, you don't need this tutorial because you can obviously print your letter out, cut and go.  So this is for those of you out there who have yet to venture into the taggie world.  Next time a friend or relative finds themselves with a new baby in the house, try this little tutorial out for a sweet handmade gift.

Monogram Taggie

Here's what you need:
-fleece, soft fabric or flannel in contrasting or matching patterns/colors
-a variety of ribbons
-a baby link or toy hook

Here's what you do:
1)  Use Word, Publisher or whatever to pick a font, make a very large letter using the first letter of the baby's name (first or last name) print out and cut adding about 1/4 inch edge all the way around when cutting.

2)  Place fabric wrongs sides together.  Pin printed letter to fabric and cut out.

3)  Cut strips of ribbon about four inches long.  I used 14 ribbons total.

4)  Fold ribbons in half and pin around the right side of the thicker of the two fabrics.

5)  Place letters right sides together and pin.

6)  Sew around outside of letter.  If you are doing a letter with an opening in the center of the letter - like A, B, D, etc., don't sew the center openings and sew all around the outside leaving no opening for turning.  If you are doing a letter like C, S, N, etc., leave a two inch whole for turning when sewing around the outside of the letter.  

7)  Unpin, clip corners and turn.  I used the opening in the center of the A for turning.  

8)  Topstitch around outside of letter.  If you are doing a C, S, N, etc without a center opening, fold in the turning hole which will be sewn shut in topstitching.  If you are doing another letter with a center opening or two, continue to the next step.

9) Trim opening(s) with pinking shears.  You could do this earlier, but I waited until this point because the fabric could shift in topstitching the outer edge.  I wanted to make sure that the edges were fairly evenly matched in the center.  After cutting with pinking shears, topstitch around opening(s).  

10)  Add a baby link and little toy.  Personalized gift . . . done! 

Craft on!

I may be linking to these fabulous parties!

pillow buddy tutorial - part 2

Alright the moment we've all been waiting for . . . well, at least the moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived . . . wait for it . . . part 2 of the pillow buddy tutorial is finally finished! 

I've been either working on a pillow buddy or working on a pillow buddy tutorial for what feels like forever.  Uhm . . . that is apparently my overly-dramatic side kicking in because I went back in my archive and it turns out I've only been working on the pillow buddies since June 20.  Hmmm . . . by my calculations that's only a little over a month . . . not forever.  

Below you will find part 2 (the final part) of the pillow buddy tutorial.  For part 1 which guides you through the body-making process, go here.  Or for a pdf version click here.

**Disclaimer**

     The following tutorial is for the basic construction of the pillow buddy. You will have to adjust depending on the animal that you choose to make. I wish I knew how to attach a PDF pattern, but alas, I'm technically slow so get ready to use your own creativity to create the head of your cuddly pillow buddy.  AND I know I probably don't need to say it but I'm going to anyway . . . this is for personal use only not for resale use.

What you need for the head:
-a brown paper bag cut flat for pattern
-microfleece, regular fleece or chenille
-small felt scraps
-embroidery thread
-stuffing

What you do:
1)  Draw freehand the shape of your animal's face onto the brown paper bag.  If you aren't too fond of freehand drawing, google "coloring pages of dog head" (or whatever animal) and you might find a page you can enlarge and print off for your pattern.   Cut out pattern head.  Draw and cut out ears separately.  Because the pillow buddy body turns out to be a little over 18 inches, I kept the widest part of the head (the cheeks) to about 10 inches. KEEP IN MIND THAT YOU NEED ABOUT 1/4 to 1/3 INCH EXTRA ALL THE WAY AROUND FOR SEWING AND TURNING.

2)  For both the puppy and the kitty I decided to use some contrasting fabric for a part of the face.  You don't have to do this.  If you want to, first take the head pattern and pin it to your fabric.  Cut out ONE piece from this pattern for the back of the head.  Unpin.  Now cut the pattern piece in the way you want the front of the head to look with contrasting fabric.  Pin these pieces to your fabric of choice and cut out adding even more of an edge wherever you will be sewing the two pieces together.  

3)  Put the two contrasting pieces of fabric for the front of the head right side together at the edges and pin.  Sew together.  In the way I did this for the puppy, I made little eyelids which you can see in the second picture below.

4)  You need four pieces cut from the ear pattern.  Put ears right sides together and pin.  Sew around leaving flat ends open for turning.  Turn.  You can top stitch around the ears once they are turned, but I chose not to for the pupply so that the ears would be pretty floppy looking.  I cut four large triangles for the kitty ears and I DID topstitch the kitty ears after turning to make them stiffer and more likely to stand up.  

5)  Baste or pin the ears to the right side of the back of the head.

6)  Layer the front piece of the head over the ears sandwiching the ears in between.  Head pieces are right sides together.  Pin.  Sew around leaving about two inches open for turning.

7)  Turn head right side out. 

8)  Stuff head but don't stuff it too full yet because you are going to sew on the nose. 

9)  Cut out a piece of felt for the nose and start to sew it on with embroidery thread.  I waited to do this until now, so I could see exactly where the nose would be when the head has stuffing in it.  After sewing most of the nose on, I put a bit of stuffing in it to make it stick out and sewed the rest of the nose up. 

10)  Use embroidery thread to stitch the mouth down from the nose.

11)  Stuff the head full now and stitch up the opening of the head.

12)  Use pink thread to sew the head very securely onto the body.  I basically used needle and thread to sew a small circle of stitches connecting head to body.  Then I went around again making a bigger circle.  In the process of sewing the larger circle, I closed the hole on the body that was left from turning and stuffing by stitching up the hole and attaching each stitch to the head as well.  Basically, you just need to sew the head on securely however works best for you. 

13)  Secure eyes on head.  I used felt for eyes on the puppy, but you could use buttons as well.  (I know . . . I know . . . it seems like it's a little late in the game to put the eyes on, but that's how I roll.  I don't even have eyes on the kitty pillow buddy yet.  So basically, put the eyes on whenever you want.) 

14)  Cuddle with your new pillow buddy.  Okay, I know you made this for a kid in your life, but you can still cuddle with it.  Do it . . . you won't regret it.  These pillow buddies are so soft and cuddly you might even want to make one for yourself!  ;)

**The kitty's head was made by cutting a triangle like hole in the front face and cutting contrasting fabric in a slightly larger triangle.  I pinned and used the sewing machine to sew the triangle shape into the triangle hole.  Done!  Not too hard either.

I'm going to go celebrate the completion of this tutorial!  I'm baffled by two things:  1) that I finished it and 2) that it took me this long to finish it!  But I'm done!  Woohoo! 

Please feel free to e-mail me any questions you have or clarifications you need.  I realize that I may not be very clear, so I'm happy to try to help in any way.

Now, go get started on your pillow buddy and don't forget to send me pics when you get done!

Craft on!

 

I may link this project to these great parties.