remove the stain restyling

I never got to pre-spotting this chocolate stained shirt, and now my lazyness has turned into a happy fault : ) And lesson learned: don't eat chocolate laying in bed, in the dark : P unless you want stains and a husband laughing at you (and not for the mess on the shirt but your face). I don't actually mind the latter though : D
not horrible, but not unnoticable ->

The Plan: cut out the stain and shorten sleeves to create a 3/4 sleeve V-neck out of a long sleeve crew.

the V-neck.

1st cut: your desired neck line w/a little extra for seam (unless you want a rolled/raw edge : ) the loveliness of knit!) I suggest using a v-neck you already own and like and inserting it inside the shirt and marking where you want to cut ( i used a regular pencil because it isnt white).
2nd cut: separate from the shirt with another cut the desired width of your neckline (with extra for seam).
3rd cut: from the front only of the shirt trim about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch to achieve a gather when you sew it all back together.

I then sewed the back 'collar' to the shirt because the fabric likes to roll and to prevent a pin mess : )

I continued to pin the shirt's front neckline, inside out, until about 2 inches from the center. There I hand sewed a simple stitch to gather there, and pinned in place (i should've taken more care to do mine but it turned out okay)...... Then it was sewn shoulder to shoulder : P and the hand stitch was removed after.

then a seam was sewn around the edge, but this is optional... a rolled edge is completely acceptable with t-shirt fabric, it wont fray : )

the sleeves.

I wanted a cuffed sleeve rather than a cut off and stitched seam, or rolled cuff. to get the length i wantde i put the shirt on and folded one sleeve up to the desired length. when i took off the shirt i compared it to the other side and added about 2 inches; I used the existing sleeve end to get a straight new edge to cut . Then, the excess 2 inches was folded over (shirt is inside out) then, folded inward and pinned (fan effect).

A zig-zag/triangle stitch was used on the edge where pinned in the picture on the right shown above.

below left - unfolded after sewing

below right - turned right side out

And there you have it!!!! A much more attractive and feminine top! I don't think you need a stain to want to make a pretty top out of an otherwise boring long-sleeved tee, but it served as great inspiration for this project : )

enjoy!

btw...... i still eat chocolate in bed : )

kooky cake

My baby girl turned 2yrs old yesterday! And she loves the show Wow Wow Wubbzy : ) He is ultra cute, I have to admit : D Last year she loved Yo Gabba Gabba, and I'm already curious what it will be next year : ) . . . I made this cake for my special girl's special day. It was a lot easier than I was anticipating. This is the first time I've ever iced a cake and only my 2nd cake ever!!! : ) So if I can do it, anyone can!

I used a 13x9 inch pan for the cake and made the limbs and tail out of rice krispy treats. http://www.wubbzy.com/ has a printable template you could use of a Wubbzy with a curly tail. It is just cake but I thought it was too small and wasted too much cake so I drew my own templates.

To make the krispy parts I laid wax paper over the templates, and wearing gloves sprayed with cooking oil, I shaped the cereal. The limbs sat over night to be stiffer and I used wooden skewers broken into a couple inches (watch for splinters!) to attach them to the cake that was cut for the ears : )

The face I did freehand, and because I couldn't find black or even chocolate decorating icing I mixed blue, green, and red and used a butter knife : P

Katie, my daughter, is so sweet she even liked her cake : ) We had cake and then opened presents and after that she wanted to see "Wubbzy" again. It made this Momma's day : D

If you'd like to make this, here are the templates I used.

unfortunately, when I saved and printed it from here it was a little smaller than it is supposed to be Wubbzy's body is supposed to be 9inches wide. But they are still here for you : )

recycle an old sheet into a laundry bag

I haven't had a new project to post in a while, instead I've had a new baby to take care of : ) Harrison Matthew Taylor was born two months ago healthy and handsome : D Of course my creative energies have been boiling inside me but I haven't been able to satisfy the fire, nor will I be able to as much for a while. This project was out of neccessity for me right now. If you've read my other posts you may know we live the apartment life right now, and that means I take our laundry to our parents' houses. I've been using a normal bag and the insert part of my hamper. The insert doesn't cut it, : P it's too small and awkward to carry. I have some twin size sheets I dont have a use for anymore and instead of giving them away or throwing them out I thought this project would be a great use for them.

What you'll need:

one 54inch by 35inch piece of fabric (doesnt have to be a sheet but it's awesome to repurpose!)

one 64inch by 4inch peice of fabric or 64inch cord or rope; this is your drawstring so it really is up to you, and the length really only needs to be at least 54inches

thread : )

Your bag will have a seam on the bottom and one side. To begin fold the large fabric right sides together to have it 27 by 35. (I should've taken more pictures of the process to show more rather than describe things that would seem obvious)

The edges will be sewn twice to make the bag strong enough to carry heavy laundry. First, I used the zig zag stitch on my machine with the triangles to finish the edges together. Secondly, about a 1/4inch from its edge I straight stitched the seam.

Sew the bottom completely across and when sewing up the side leave about 2inches at the top unsewn.

Fold the top edge over ( this is for your drawstring ) And then from its edge fold back inside, so you almost have a fan effect, and pin.

Sew, full circle, with the same double seam.

Now where you left the top 2 inches of the side seam unsewn you can insert your drawstring.

To create mine I made it like a strap. I folded it in half in folded the sides into it and straight stitched the edge. Just like in the cloth diaper prettifying http://shift2theheart.blogspot.com/2010/02/pretty-little-burpies.html . So 4inches became 1inch. I turned in the edges and sewed them closed.

boppy pillow cover

This was a spur of the moment project I decided I would try, and take pictures along the way, so if it was successful I could share it here : P.

I wasn't really finding prints in the store bought covers that I really liked when I did an internet search, hence the inspiration here. The ones I did like were a little more than I wanted to spend also. I had bought this unicorn flannel a few months ago because I thought it was sooo cute knowing I could use it for something, just didn't know what then. The flannel turned out to be a really great fabric for this. : )

I used two peices of taped tissue paper to make to make my pattern. It's cheap and on hand : ). I traced around a cover I already had and cut it out 1/2 inch wider all the way around for the inseam. I marked the start and finish of the zipper with astericks. The bought cover actually has a piece that is roughly an inch that is in the inside of the curve; in this I thought I'd try making it simpler without that piece and am very happy with the result.

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When cutting the fabric I actually did an additional 1/2 inch wider for the zipper between the marks. This will be obvious, but you cut out two pieces, and you'll want to line up the fabric's pattern if it has one : ). The extra 1/2 inch where the zipper will be only needs to be on one of the pieces. The excess creates a flap over the zipper so if your zipper matches and you don't care if it shows, it isn't necessary.

As I mentioned above, this was a spur of the moment project. This means I used what I had on hand, and that was a black 21 inch zipper from a past plan that never came to fruition : P. I had 1 yd of the fabric 43" wide and used about half of it. (the amount you need may vary on whether you have a print or not) The bought cover's zipper was slightly longer, about an inch or two but I figured this would help to give me some comfort space at the end of the zipper.

Right sides together, I sewed around the case from one asterick mark to the other.

Then the zipper was sewn in one side at a time. The picture below on the right shows the gap between the zipper and the seam that will create a flap that will conceal the zipper.

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Below, left shows the excess open seam because the zipper was shorter than the bought cover.

Below, right shows it pinned for the inseam to be completed. pretty obvious, i'm sure

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Zipper in place, I sewed below each end, perpendicular to it, to have a more secure placing of the flap and zipper itself. I apologize the quality of this picture isnt great but you can see better what I mean by the right side.

Below, left: The excess mentioned earlier is brought up higher than the zipper, pinned, and then sewn to achieve the flap concealing my unmatching zipper : ) shown on the right.

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I've had an extra pillow in the bag since my daughters baby shower (2 yrs ago! :P) so now of course it's time to break it out and make a cover for my little guy : )

I've got to say I do Love these pillows!, they have really saved my bottom playing on the floor with my daughter! She likes them too, and so does our cat : ) Unfortunately the covers you can buy is really limited, but fortunately this was really simple and fairly quick : ) From start to finish it took about 2 1/2 hours, and that was pulling it from nowhere.

Harrison's quilt

5 1/2 weeks to go till the due date! I've got the countdown to every few days is another half week : D. Or we could say he is due in a month and a week, or his due date is in 38 days! Any way I look at it He is coming soon!!!!! I am ready to be not pregnant anymore! I'm anxious to welcome the little guy and start this new major change ! I'm also anxious to have energy and get back in shape : P.

Well, like in my previous blog about the quilt for my daughter mentioned, now things I make will be in duplicate often so I thought I'd share how his came out.

for hers and tutorial: http://shift2theheart.blogspot.com/2010/02/katies-quilt.html

It was hard finding masculine fabric but I think it came together well, and it is actually more muted in color than the picture shows. I wanted to make it around the galactic print but didn't have success finding boyish coordinating prints and I didn't want solid colors.

I'd like to mention that I like being economical, and while baby quilts are cute I wanted to make them blankets they could use for a while. I'm pretty proud of the look of this one, but though I don't think it looks girly I am still afraid it is :P ..... I have noticed many boy bedding sets made in damask prints so I'm hoping these prints are acceptable for a little man : ) lol

pretty little burpies

As I wiped some chocolate milk off the front of my daughter it occured to me I will be using many cloth diapers everyday, again, when my son comes in a little over 6 weeks. : ) Also, the thought came to me that I wouldn't want cross contamination between the two of them. When Katie was an infant she had acid reflux for a while and we used multiple cloth diapers everyday to wipe up the little messies, and we still use them when her 'spill proof' sippies spill : P.

Fortunately, we have a lot of cloth diapers hanging around (thanks to my wonderful mother-in-law). I had made a genuine effort to be eco-friendly by trying to use cloth diapers instead of disposable. Unfortunately, my daughter has sensitive skin, and though I would change her instantly she would break out in these rashes; I'd switch back to disposables and she would heal well, then I'd try again with the cloth and she'd break out again. I'm sorry Mother Earth : ) we tried. Doesn't help she has eczema too.

So, since I dont want to cross contaminate them I'd have to be able to tell their wiping rags apart. This is such a simple idea but I thought it was cute and wanted to share it. : ) Also, making a set and giving it as a baby shower gift would be nice and useful, not to mention thoughtful despite being so simple!

All this project is is giving a printed border to some cloth diapers to make some pretty little burpies. : )
You could use bias tape, ribbon, or like I did - make you own bias tape with a fabric of choice.

First, I measured the dimensions of the cloth diaper and in this case it was 14.5 " x 20.5". I'm sure they vary, so measure yours too!
Of the fabrics I used, one had the full 72" length I would use to make sure I had enough at the end after going around all 4 sides. With the other fabrics I used two pieces 36" x 4" to cover 2 sides at a time. The 4" came because I wanted my border to be 1" around.

before................................................................................................after...................................................................................................




I made my border by ironing the fabric in half, lengthwise, then ironed the outside edges in towards the center (like making a strap). Then I opened it to iron down the starting edge to avoid a corner that may fray.




I folded the corners as I pinned the 'tape' around to have an angle but squared edges would look good too. Afterall, these aren't going to stay as pretty with use anyway : D. At the end I folded under the same as with the start, to prevent fray. I used my machine and sewed 1/3 inch from the inside of the border to be sure both sides were being sewn to the diaper. And Voila! Pretty little burpies! for all of baby's not-so-pretty little messies! : )

Katie's quilt

This is my first quilt! made for my lovely daughter, katie! I think quilting is one of those amazing art forms that takes a bunch of pieces and creates something useful as well as meaningful. I figure it's a skill that could really help in saving from wasting down the line, I already don't like throwing away scraps and now i have a reason to hold on to them. :)

As a beginner I needed a simple plan. I knew I wanted six inch squares in printed fabrics, so I drew my plan on some graph paper. I figured three inch bordering, or 'sashing', would look good and add to size. I planned the dimension of this blanket to be 39" x 48" with 1/2" seams to allow for ironing. To make this blanket I cut:

20 7"x7" squares ( I used 6 different prints for this)
24 7"x4" rectangles (in the sashing)
5 49"x4" rectangular strips (in the sashing)
1 49"x40" rectangle for the backing fabric (I used fleece but you may want to use a piece of interfacing as well, especially if you're using a thinner fabric)

After I cut my squares I laid them all out to make sure I had them facing the directions I wanted and that they were in the right order by verticle rows. ( I apologize if this seems like I'm going into too much detail past common sense, but as I mentioned above this is my first quilt and I figure it couldn't hurt) Next, I sewed the verticle rows (shown horizontally : P) and ironed. Then, the long sashing was sewn in between the sewn rows, and ironed.

Since I didn't make a border I just sewed the quilt top to the back panel, right sides together and left about 9" open, on a long side, to turn it out. I clipped the corners so they would be neater. After the turning it right side out, I hand sewed the opening.

To secure the front and back and give it a 'quilted' look I top stitched a simple diamond pattern using clear thread. I used a regular sewing machine for this. As I've never made a quilt or taken a class for it, I dont know what real quilters do to achieve their top stitching. I used a piece of cardstock alligned with my squares on a diagnal to guide my stitches straight.

The quilt came together so fast and easily anyone can do it if they can cut and do some simple sewing. I do understand why people use charm packs to quilt though.... I spent a few hours picking coordinating fabric. : ) BUT it's personal for it and I will be making another very soon for my little guy who is due in two months. Now when I make something it will be in variable duplicate having two lovelies! Twice the joy! : ) And btw, my daughter loves her new blanket!!! What's nice is it is big enough for her to use for years to come too...... i'm thinking a new project is in line for the scraps left from this!