Little Mermaid Dress - Ready to Wear

This is one of those little dresses that you just sew up the back. It comes already hemmed and every thing on the bolt. I bought this one at Walmart. You just have them cut what you need - sew up the back - add ribbons for ties and it is ready to wear. How cute is my little mermaid Lilypie?





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Kids Craft #3 - Sewing A Pillow - Brooklyn

Brooklyn wanted to learn to make something using my sewing machine and I was more than happy to do so. I love to sew, although I am not that good at it - I still have fun trying. Now Brooklyn enjoys it too!

Her bedroom is a zebra motiff so she chose to make 2 pillows from zebra print fabric that I had left over from another project.

 I helped her out a little on the first one but she made the 2nd one all by herself. Good job, Brooklyn!

Simple dress - 18 Minutes from Start to Finish (Video Included)

This is a Youtube video I did showing how to make a girls dress from tee shirt and fabric. I have made several of these now for my youngest granddaughter.

Lily wearing the 18 minute dress

Baby Blankets - Winnie the Pooh - Boyds Bears - Bibs & Pillows

I found this quilt piece in the bargain bin at Walmart for $2 and I already had a huge piece of brown fleece so I cut them the same size - pinned right sides together and then just sewed around them. Our school is doing a baby shower for a women's shelter so I was looking for things I could make and this is one of them.

I hope some one gets it that really needs it and loves Winnie the Pooh.

I also made this Boyds Bears blanket (same instructions as the Pooh) cute bunny bib and 2 little ABC pillows. I will try to make a few more bibs tomorrow. It is just a simple pattern that I found at Walmart and can be made in less than 30 minutes.

Fabric Rosettes - Blingy Style

These fabric rosettes are so easy and fun to make. You can use them to decorate so many things - headbands, wreaths, barettes,  belts, to name a few.

What you will need:
1. fabric cut in strips - depending on the size you want - I am making these with 36 inch strips - 4 inches wide.
2. hot glue/glue sticks
3. embelishments - your imagination can run wild
4. sewing machine - I use the loosest setting to make the fabric ruffle

Fold the stip wrong sides together - sew down the side on your loosest setting and this will draw the fabric up to a nice ruffled edge.

Starting at one end - fold it around to the size you want the bottom of the rosette to be and add a dot of hot glue to hold it. Continue around and around - adding a dab of hot glue each round. When you are to the end - tuck it into the middle and glue. Add your emblishments and wah - lah! A pretty fabric rosette! These are going to be added to crochet headbands.

One Dollar Twenty Cents = Maxi Skirt

I literally threw this skirt together tonight. Not that impressive - what was impressive is the price I paid for the fabric. A whole dollar and twenty cents for 1 1/2 yards and it is a beautiful rayon print.

My basket is full of bargain fabric - I see so many little projects right here!

Simplicity Patterns - What to Sew First?

What to sew first? I bought all these neat Simplicity patterns for 97 cents each at Walmart and can't wait to get busy! I am thinking the pattern for the giant letters will be a fun one for the grandgirls this summer when they are here for 2 weeks.
There were a few others that I wanted to get but they were out of stock. I think this is plenty to get me started on some new sewing projects!

Girls Shirt made from Scrub Top

I was shopping at Garden Ridge and found a huge bin of Scrub Tops for 99 cents each. They aren't made too great but I thought the fabric was perfect to use to make something else from them. This cotton is very thin and light weight but makes a cute top when added to the top portion of a cut off tee shirt.

I have a lot of scrap tee shirt parts from making tee shirt dresses for my grandangels. I just cut enough of the scrub top to make a nice length when added to the tee shirt. Pockets and hem already done for you so once you sew to the shirt you are done!

Girls Skirt made from Scrub Top

I was shopping at Garden Ridge and found a huge bin of Scrub Tops for 99 cents each. They aren't made too great but I thought the fabric was perfect to use to make something else from them. This cotton is nice and heavy and perfect for a little girls skirt.

I simply cut off the top to give me enough to turn down and put elastic through and there you have it. Pockets and all! This was a size small scrub top and this made about a size 6 skirt.

Catching Up On Scrapbooking

It has been awhile since I have posted any of my scrapbooking pages. I have been working on 5 different pages for about a month and finally got 2 of them done.

If you would like to see some of my other scrapbooking posts - here are a few links

My very first scrapbook post

2nd post

3rd post

Yarn Wreath

These turned out so much prettier than  this photo shows.

A very simple project - and inexpensive to make.

Items needed:

foam wreaths (whatever size you prefer - I happened to have the largest and smallest sizes)

1 pound of yarn

fabric & embellishments

Simply wrap the yarn around the foam until all white is covered and tie off.

I made one long ruffle and then hot glued it to the wreath - wrapping around and around to make a big flower. I then hotglued clear jewels to the center of the ruffled flower. You can embellish in any way you like - using flowers, ribbon, wooden letters, etc.

Polka Dot Cutie Top

Easy Stitch n' Save Pattern by McCalls M6009

I bought this pattern for sizes 7 - 14 and really planned to make the size 7 as a dress for Lily. Some how I forgot to cut it down an ended up making the size 14...ha! Oh well - Middle grand - Brooklyn - will have a dress or top - not sure which just yet! I am thinking it will still work as a dress with leggings. If not, then a top with capris. I actually tried it on and it fits me, too. I may have to cut it down a little more to fit Brooklyn. I don't think my oldest grand - Alayna - would wear it. (she is a bit of a tomboy)
I still have fabric left so I am going to try to make one for Lily - if not, then I am going to buy another yard. I would like to have their pictures taken this summer with them both wearing something I made for them.  I think this would be perfect.
Here is the actual top/dress - whichever it turns out to be. It was fun and easy to make.

Bless Our Home

I have had this empty bolt from fabric for months now - I just couldn't throw it away. It looked like it was just waiting for me to make something out of it. Finally, I thought of something to do with it. Might not be the prettiest thing in the world, but I like how it turned out and it is now hanging in our hallway.

These are the items used:
1 empty fabric bolt
Elmers Glue
fabric remnants
ribbon
hotglue gun/glue sticks


So - this is what I did:

I wrote out Bless Our Home with Elmers Glue and let it dry. Once dry - I spray painted over it with white paint. I put several coats on, each time spraying very lightly so the cardboard didn't get soggy. I hotglued fabric to each end. I also hotglued the 3 clear "jewels". I tacked on a piece of  ribbon with our last name initial and it was ready to hang.

Simple Apron = Good Memories

I found this adorable printed pattern for an apron at Walmart in the clearance bin for $1.80. It was simple to put together and reminded me of my first sewing project in Home Economics in the 9th grade. Now that is a good memory! I loved my Home Ec teacher, Mrs. Caldwell. She was such a wonderful teacher.

Here are the pieces cut out - a total of 5. The instructions were printed on the panel.

Here is the finished project. It took me about 2 hours from start to finish.

It is a cute country print with hens on the flounce and the body has a chicken wire print.  I can't remember the last time I wore an apron - probably the one I made in 9th grade! ha!

Ready for kindergarten - Dress from Tee Shirt

This is my adorable Lily Rose (the one and only LilyPie) wearing one of the dresses that I made for her and the matching barette. She had her kindergarten registration and this was her outfit of choice. It has little school buses, abc's, numbers, little kids ready for school on the print. She is so excited about going to big school with her 2 older sisters.

♥I love my little LilyPie!♥

Somebunny Thinks I'm Special!

I always put together Easter baskets for the grandangels I get to see at Easter time, but this year I decided to make these cute wall hangings. I think they turned out great! I made 6 and each one is a different color.

Items needed:
fabric (I used a seasonal Easter print)
glue stick
felt 3D flower embellishments
11 x 14 frames
cardstock
fuzzy yarn
ribbon
hot glue gun/sticks


I typed the cute saying using 72 font on cardstock. I cut out one bunny from the fabric for each one. I covered the frame back with the fabric and then glued the cardstock in the center. I used the glue for the ribbon but the flowers were self adhesive. After framing I used hotglue to glue the fuzzy yarn to the outside of the frame.

I will be taking them to the 4 I will be seeing this next week and mailing the other 2 soon.

My First Applique'-Zebra Print

I made another cute top like the one I did for Lily but this one is for my middle grandangel, Brooklyn. (she is 10) This was my first attempt at doing an applique' and I LOVE IT! I made the top exactly like the Dora top I made a few weeks ago - so simple. Again, this was a tee shirt piece left over from tee shirt dresses I made last year. I am so glad I kept them all! This Zebra print fabric was  $1.60 found in the clearance bin at Walmart. Last weekend I picked up about 10 of these rolls of leftovers - any where from 1/4 yard to 1 yard - I paid 80 cents to $1.60 for each piece. I am going back this weekend and loading up if they still have the bin.

I am actually trying to decide if I want to make this into a dress by adding a couple more layer, depending what other fabric I find.

This is the one I made for Lily from a scrap of Dora print fabric. I think I may add an applique on it as well before I give it to her.

So here is how I made it - I used the whole width of the scrap of fabric and hemmed the scrap. I then set my machine on the loosest setting so when I sewed along the top it gathered the fabric. I then pinned the gathered piece to the tee shirt - right sides together - making it fit and then sew! (remember to set your machine back to its original setting!) I seamed the ends together right in the middle of the back. You could do this part before you ever start pinning if you prefer.

Appique' - I used Steam A Seam 2 Fusible Web and the directions are on the packaging. You can buy this at Hobby Lobby and it is really simple to use.

Sock Monkey -

Check out my cute little sock monkey with her sweet little tutu. My daughter makes these to sell.  She generally makes them from striped socks so they are more colorful but I wanted solid black with the white tutu since I planned to put her in my office which is black and white themed. 

You can check out some of her other Monkey Business right here . She plans to add a tutorial soon.

Dolly clothes from my clothes

I bought this cute Berenguer doll a couple of years ago when I "thought" I was going to learn to make Reborn Dolls - but I never got around to it - so I decided I would give it to Lily this summer to play with when she comes for a summer visit. I needed to make her some clothes since she was naked - so I decided to make her some from a sweater I no longer wear. I made her some leg warmers and a little dress. I had some pink fleece so I made her a diaper, too. Everything was made from the sleeves of the sweater.

We have these really nice sturdy cardboard "cases" that school supplies come in at work and I brought 2 home several months ago and decorated them for myself just to put odds and ends in - I am going to see if I can find another one and decorate it for her to make a doll suitcase and then make a blankie, more clothes and diapers and have a nice little baby doll set for her to play with. 

Here is one of my cases that I decorated.

Hook Em' Horns

I added this Texas Longhorn Scarf to Etsy today. It looks better tied with a couple of knots, but this way I could show the length and width a little better. It would look really good with a black sweater, I think. (haha - check out Miles in the background)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/94422670/texas-longhorns-hook-em-horns-fleece