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The Layered Skirt

The Layered Skirt
Many of you commented that Lucy’s seersucker skirt last week would be great for Easter. So I got busy. And here it is. It’s bouncy and girly and ruffly. Or sitting pretty and dainty, sort of. Asking Lucy to model for me is a grab bag of expressions. But enough rambling. Let’s get started. There are so many ways to make a skirt (check out the Tutorials section for more ideas). This one is a layered/ruffled/tiered skirt. FABRICS TO USE I absolutely love seersucker cotton (detailed info on that here). AMOUNT OF FABRIC This will vary on the size of skirt you’re making, but for a 4-5 year old (shown here), 1 yard of fabric is great. SIZINGThe skirt is made of tiers. For the skirt LENGTH* Decide how long you want your skirt to be….a couple inches above the knee? If you find that the skirt is too full – use smaller ratios on the numbers aboveIf you want the ruffles to be more full – increase the ratios above (make the ruffles 2.5 times as long, etc) Making sense? First cut out your strips.

pottery barn inspired tote tutorial We die for the Knock Off goodness, y’all! We knew it was going to be good, but this is more than we thought! And today is no exception- I can’t wait for you to see the Knock Off Pottery Barn bag that Tasha’s put together. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let us introduce y’all properly- Tasha from Creation Corner, kojo readers. Kojo readers- Tasha from Creation Corner. A few things to love about her? Hello, I am Tasha from over at Creation Corner and I am so excited to be here participating in this fabulous knock off series. As Summer is just around the corner I have been getting in the mood for a new pool/beach bag. Where did I find my inspiration to knock off today… (Actually, this bag is from last year’s Pottery Barn collection) I love of pockets. Here is my knock off version I made mine a little larger then Pottery Barns and added a little bit of added “Tasha” Ruffle. Do you want to make your own? Lets get started Materials: Fabric (Decorators Fabric or something pretty sturdy) 1. 2.

Cat Toy Critters Tutorial 1. Start out by sewing bird belly to one side of bird half and continue up and around over head until you reach the tail. 2. Continue on with the tail in position until the end, knot, then finish the other side of tail. 3. Now go back and finish sewing the other side of the bird belly. Fortune Cookie Baby Booties Download, print, and cut out template. Also download the booties visual how-to (located in the materials field) for helpful pictures of the process. Select polar fleece in two contrasting colors and be sure that pieces are at least 13 inches long by 8 inches wide.

Penguin Pattern Stuffed penguin which is made of felt. Its eyes are wood beads.8 centimetre tall. Cut cloth without seam allowance. Sew the darts of the head.Only darts are sewed from inside. About sewing, refer to mini Santa.You may use blanket stitch too.If you mind the seam, use a transparent thread. Feet and bill. Sew the bill to the head. Stuff polyester fiberfill. Pattern. Being creative to keep my sanity: Homemade Laundry Soap!! Sick of buying laundry soap?? Me too. This stuff is awesome because it is way stronger then the store bought laundry soap. You only have to use 1 Tablespoon per load. Here is what you need: 1 4 lb 12 oz box Borax (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the detergent isle 1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (1.81 kg) found in the cooking isle 1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the detergent isle 3 bars of Fels-Naptha soap, found in the detergent isle (if you use Zote bars use 2 bars instead, Zote can be found at Home Depot) 2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean (try to get about 3.5 lbs total (1.58 kg)) found in the detergent isle. (this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better) You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store. **Use 1-2 Tablespoons per load. This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. Start out by grating your Fels-Naptha soap just like cheese.

Felt Owl Ornaments I haven’t made that much this Christmas. I might make a few last minute gifts, but I feel I have to get most of the shopping out of the way first... especially the online stuff that needs to be shipped. And no outfits for the kids like last year. But I did do a little felt hand sewing. Anyway, these are the little owl ornaments I made. Download Owl ornament and all you do is cut it out from felt and sew however you’d like. I love ‘em. Enjoy! *****NOTE: I forgot to mention on the pattern about ric rac.

Purl Bee Penguin Winter in New York City can be hard to love with its frozen sidewalks, dirty snowbanks, and bare trees. But this winter I'm counting on my new cold weather friend, the Purl Bee Penguin, to help me through! Its happy ovoid shape and graphic palette are sure to remind me that joy really does exist in January. Just ask an Emperor Penguin! I used our new Penguin Fat Quarter Bundle, a lively mix of black and white dots, stripes, and prints, to sew up this quirky little trio of penguins. The Purl Bee Penguins are pretty addictive to make, and I don’t think that I’ll be able to stop with just these three. Materials To make three 9-inch tall stuffed penguins: A Penguin Fat Quarter Bundle or 1/4 yard each of seven dots, stripes, and chicken wire in black and white.A piece of bright yellow felt. It will also be helpful to have a size 3- 7 straight knitting needle or a similar pointy object for stuffing. Cutting Cut out the fabric according to the directions on the template. You will have: Sewing

Stuffed Kangaroo Tutorial Kangaroos this week... I made this big grey one who looks so huge next to the original (now safely on her way to the US). I promised you all the pattern for this project ~ you can find it here, sorry it is a bit scribbly and there is no scale on it but i don't think it matters too much ~ remember tho the smaller you make it the more fiddly it is. ~Now how to put it together~ The Joey and the mother are made in basically the same way, start with the Joey because you will need to put it in the pouch and sew it in (to make sure it fits) before you finish the adult. Start with your two front sections and sew (I blanket stitched) the centre seam from neck to tail - top to bottom. (this is me sewing in the car while i wait for the big girl to finish her piano lesson) Join in the first main body section starting at the base of the tail. From the base of the tail, sew along the length and keep going up and round its back ~ remember to leave a decent opening for stuffing.

Why Not Sew?: How to Make Homemade Laundry Detergent In the spirit of Laura Ingalls, with wash day being Monday, here's a little recipe for homemade laundry detergent you can use tomorrow, Monday! wash on Mondayiron on Tuesdaymend on Wednesday churn on Thursday clean on Friday bake on Saturday rest on Sunday from Little House in the Big Woods * I use these utensils for detergent making only. They all stay in the pot until I make a new batch. You will need: 1 bar of soap (any kind you want)1 cup of Borax1 cup of washing sodaa big pot ( that holds more than 2 gallons)a gratera funnela long spoon2 empty gallon jugs/containers Grate your bar of soap into your pot. Fill one gallon jug and pour water into pot with grated soap. Add the Borax and washing soda. Bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Pour 1 gallon of your detergent into each container. A funnel helps tremendously. Now you have 2 gallons of homemade laundry detergent. This won't make many, if any, suds. Let me know if you make any or if you have any questions. Happy washing!

Second Sewing Month Project: Upcycle Sheets into PJs - A Dose of the Delightful Okay, so it's not National Sewing Month anymore - not even close! But I'm determined to finish my original list of projects: Creating throw & lumbar pillows with piping & invisible zippersFinishing a set of pajamas I'm making out of old sheets (how Sound of Music of me!) and thisfree Colette bloomers patternCreating some fun drawstring bags using this free pattern from Purl Bee - I'd add a waterproof lining.Trying out at least one of Colette's fall clothing patterns once they're available (coming in the next few weeks!) Now I've done 2 out of 4! A few years ago, my mom was doing some spring cleaning and preparing several bags of goods for donation. I made the top using this easy Simplicity pajama pattern, and wanted to try out this free Colette Madeleine mini bloomers pattern for the bottoms. I have to admit, I was pretty daunted - I'd never done anything like making my own elastic casings or even making a buttonhole! I do, actually, have two arms!

A Craft a Day: Pillow Pets - mini tutorial Do your little ones want pillow pets as much as mine do? Seeing as I have 4 children, spending $20 on a pillow seems like a waste. That's $80!!! There are a few things I should have done that I see how that the bodies are done. Here is a little pictureless tutorial. Main body pieces: 1. Strap. 1. If you are making the bee: 1. cut two strips of black fleece that are 19"x2". 2. If you're making the ladybug: 1. cut 7-2" circles of black felt (you can cut more if you would like) 2. Assemble the body: 1. lay one of the large pieces of fleece down, right side up. 2. For the bee: 1. put a small amount of stuffing in the wings. Next is the heads. Watch for Shannon's tutorial coming soon.

The Rusty Bobbin: Duct Tape Double Rustybobn Makes a DTD (Duct Tape Double) I read about it, and wanted one for a long time. The whole process just seemed *icky* and I didn't think I'd be able to breath with all that tape on me. In fact, just thinking about it would almost bring on a panic attack. It ain't that bad... Mandatory reading: In fact, it was Neefer's web page that finally gave me the courage to try this thing. My supply list--most of this you will already have or can get cheap/free: A couple of rolls of duct tape (I only needed one, but YMMV). Procedure: Tear many, many strips of duct tape and stick them around the room so that you can grab them as needed. Don your disposable t-shirt or shopping bags Define the bust by wrapping a strip underneath and then crisscross. Wrap shoulders, then remaining areas horizontally Wrap a second layer vertically Mark your body landmarks--waist, hip, bust points with the Sharpie pen Use the scissors to cut the form at the center back. (Do I need to warn you to unplug it first???)

Picture 225 « Purse Pattern: Tiger Coin Purse This is the original idea of what I want to design and make instead of the kitty coin purse!!!! The test purse turned out too gentle and cute, so I made it into kitty purse. This one, with the ferocious look , it resembles more like a tiger now This purse is 11cm W x 8cm H (11 cm from tip of ear) / 4 1/4” x 3 1/8“. Nice enough to keep some loose coins, notes, credit cards, or you can use it to keep your keys, or cosmetic for touching-up while out. Just like the kitty coin purse, I used buff color polar fleece to fake the tiger’s fur. [At the background is the crochet tote I made many years ago, but I gave it a facelift last year by embellishing it with a daisy, put in lining and a zippy pocket, plus some elastic bands to hold contents in place.] Let’s get the instruction of how to put the pattern together and sew the tiger coin purse. Get all updates via email: Highlights from Our Partners

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