DIY $2 Sweater to Cardigan

As soon as I saw this sweater at the thrift store for $2, I was in love. I am crazy about stripes and yellow right now, so this was a "duh" moment for me. However, it was a smidge too small, so I followed this tutorial (that I discovered a while ago thanks to Pinterest) to help me cut it down the middle, hem under the sides and turn it into a cardigan. I may add a button or two later or I may just leave it as it. Couldn't be happier with how this came out. Yay!

Embroidered House Project

Embroidered Pillow

I've never embroidered anything before in my life. But I saw this tutorial on Pinterest and decided to give it a go. Our good friends Kari and Steve moved to Kentucky after living in a gem of a building in Chicago. It was their first place together and despite the 3rd floor walk up, mixed-matched kitchen, grody shower, uneven floor, super tricky parking, and wind like you would not BELIEVE, I know they miss it. Therefore, I decided Kari and Steve's old place was going to be my guinea pig for this project. I snapped these photos of their house, converted them to black and white using picmonkey.com, and printed them on computer paper at home.

I then traced the main building lines with a Sharpie and then re-traced the whole thing onto another piece of paper, creating a pattern. I tried to incorporate some of their building's special features to aid the identification process, which brought me here:

(I later tweaked the tree trunk, obviously)

It was then lightly traced onto a piece of muslin, and I went to town with my embroidery floss and hoop! Added a border and backing and this project was finished!

I used all scraps so this project was a big ol' f-r-e-e!

Better yet, I think she liked it. :)

Go check out Kari's blog: www.karicorsi.blogspot.com

Sweater Quilt

Sweater Quilt

Saw this tutorial via Pinterest to make a wool sweater quilt and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to try something like it. My sister Jenny loves quilting as much as I do, but rarely has time to do it, so I decided to give this one to her. The tutorial called for wool sweaters, but I wanted to keep this gift reasonably priced so instead I headed to my local Salvation Army thrift store and found this selection of cotton-blend sweaters in brown, gold, white and tan:

After a thorough wash, I cut out all the seams and laid out my collection.

 Then I just sewed the blocks into strips and strips into rows.

I seriously considered leaving it as it was but then decided I wanted a bit more completed of a look. So I backed it with flannel (mmmmmm), turned it right-side-out (like a giant pillowcase), and used brown yarn to create a double-blanket stitch around the edges. I sewed the few buttons left on the quilt from the back to the front to attach the layers together.

Jenny loved it and was touched that the only quilt I made all year was for her! :) Mission accomplished. Overall this quilt cost about $30--extremely reasonable and one of a kind! Perfect for a car quilt, cabin quilt, or everyday quilt!

Rick Rack and Minky Baby Blanket

I used this tutorial to make baby Campbell's soft minky blanket. I have made about 12 quilts, so I can say with confidence that this is WAY easier! It's more like a giant pillow case with no stuffing. I didn't use an exact measurement for the fabric, I had a large scrap of blue minky left over from the crib bumpers, so I just cut the brown Waverly Parterre Walnut fabric to the same size. Cutting the corners off to make rounded corners makes attaching the rick rack much more simple (and it's another way to make your blanket special). I sewed the rick rack to the cotton fabric because attaching it to the minky would have been way too slippery. I'm not a very faithful pinner, so I just laid the rick rack and tried to keep it equidistant from the edge of the fabric.

To end the sewing on of the rick rack, I overlapped them, draping the ends off the fabric:

Then, I laid the minky fabric on top, pinned, and stitched all the way around leaving a 4" hole, through which you then turn everything right-side-out and press. Finally, I topstitched around the whole thing--done!

So cute, so cuddly, and so fast! You can see more photos of the finished room here. I don't know if I'll ever make a typical baby quilt again--this was way too easy, still special, but less fragile!

Pleated Crib Skirt

For baby Campbell's crib skirt, I used the tutorial in Amy Butler's "Little Stitches for Little Ones" book. I used the little blue dot fabric within the pleat as well as on the short sides so that there are two contrasting fabrics. You can see more photos of the bedroom here.

DIY Crib Bumpers

I followed this tutorial from Sew4Home(which you really should follow, by the way--awesome site) to make baby Campbell's crib bumpers. I used light blue minky for the interior of the bumpers, plain blue for the ties and piping and I used Waverly Parterre Walnut for the exterior. So classy and modern--I love it! My sewing machine doesn't have a zipper foot, so I just used my regular one. Also, I didn't buy enough fabric to be able to make bias strips, so I just cut 2 1/4" strips. They "give" less, but it worked and I didn't have to make another run to JoAnn.

More photos of his whole room can be found here.

Scrappy DIY stuffed animals and burp cloths

I had some fabric scraps from when I made baby Campbell's bedding (see photos of the finished product here). Can't keep it in the scrap bin--it belongs in his room! So I whipped up some stuffies! Never made any stuffed animals before but basically they are just pillows (probably obviously to everyone else on the planet, but I was really quite surprised by their sewing simplicity). I followed this tutorial for the elephant (isn't that just darling?!) except that I hand-stitched the ear to gather it since my sewing machine doesn't have that function (at least I couldn't find it). And I followed this tutorial for the giraffe. I stuffed the elephant plenty full so he'd stand up more readily, but I left the giraffe soft and mostly flat, so it's more of a tag blanket/lovie. Couldn't be happier with this project and it took me all of 30 minutes to make them both.

But I still had some fabric left over. So I pieced together some minky scraps, sewed it to some cotton scraps, turned it inside out through a 2" hole I had left, and then top-stitched. Super soft burp cloths or runny-nose wipers! And that project also took about 30 minutes. Very scrappy, but one of a kind!

Great DIY baby gift ideas!

Brown and Blue Baby Bedding

I made my daughter Emma's baby bedding (see posts of that by clicking here), so when my cousin Cara asked me to make her baby's bedding, I thought I could do a decent job, so I agreed. After two days of chaos between the dining room table turned into a sewing explosion, and trying to keep my 10 month old from pushing the sewing machine pedal, here it is! I am pleased, Cara is pleased and OBVIOUSLY baby Campbell loves it too! I made the crib skirt, crib bumpers, a blanket, some burp cloths, a throw pillow, AND some stuffed animals (never tried making them before but I LOVE them)

Isn't this room just too classy?! I'll be writing some more posts about the individual pieces soon. Thanks for the opportunity to grow in my skills, Cara! Your baby is one lucky little man!

Owl Nursery Valance Curtain Tutorial

Owl Nursery Valance Curtain Tutorial

The retro owl fabric was the inspiration for Emma's owl themed nursery. But it was actually a bit more tricky than I expected to incorporate it into the room. I used it to make a quilt and a trash can liner/wetbag. And here is one more way: a window valance.

Step 1) Decide on the length and width of the fabric (both the brown and the owl)

Step 2) Hem all four sides of your fabric (both brown and owl)

Step 3) Create fabric loops for hanging. Cut 8-10 strips 2.5" x 7" (both brown and owl) and hem the long sides.

You'll want more loops if you are covering a wider window than mine and potentially less if your window is smaller than mine.

Step 4) Line up the top of both fabrics and decide where your loops will go. Pin in place and sew a hem to attach. I staggered mine so that it's brown loop, owl loop, brown loop, etc.

Step 5) Hang and enjoy!