Boys & Bugs Shirt

This shirt is a fun, easy project to make for any bug loving child.  For this project, I purchased a solid ready made T-shirt for $1.50.  I found this bargain on sale at my local Walmart. I hoped that with my arm still not completely operable due to breaking it in January, that this would be a project I was anxious to try.  

The first step is to decorating a shirt is to download the free bug pattern I designed here.

2.  Gather together the following supplies:

1.  Knit fabric scraps 
2.  Washable fabric marker
3.  Fabric spray glue 
4.  Fabric scissors
5.  Thread
6.  A solid T-shirt

3.  Now using the downloaded pattern, cut out the basic bug shapes from your scraps of knit fabric.

4. Use the fabric spray adhesive to temporarily adhere the fabric to the T-shirt by spraying the wrong side of the fabric and then putting the shapes, right side up onto the T-shirt.

5.   With the temporary fabric marker, draw on the details like the bug's legs and eyes onto the fabric.  These will be the lines that you use as guides for the machine embroidery.

6.  For the legs, use black thread.  I used a technique called scribble stitching to finish adhere the bugs onto the T-shirt.  To learn the basics on how to scribble stitch, go to Threading My Way, here.  As you can see by the close-up photo below, I only used the detail lines as a general guideline.  Plus I finally got my brace off my arm and sadly, my left arm still isn't working right so this is as close to the lines as I could get.  

Enjoy making this simple bug shirt!   xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Threading My Way, Project Run & Play, Totally Tutorials

Knitting & Sewing Lovers Books

Since I broke my arm last month, I haven't been able to sew or even craft much. But I have read a ton!  Reading is one of my other life passions... right up there with sewing! So, I thought I'd share with you a few of the books I've read that have a knitting or sewing theme.

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Annabelle finds a box filled with every color of yarn.  You'll enjoy seeing everything she knits with her yarn until an archduke gets a hold of the magic box.  This is a darling and well illustrated Caldecott Honor book.

Fanny by Holly Hobbie I loved this wonderfully illustrated children's book about a little spunky girl named Fanny who wants a Connie doll like her friends but her mother says, "No." So Fanny takes matters into her own hands and sews herself a doll.

The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock

This is a perfect book for a 7-10 year old to read.  It's a tender story about a girl, named Ariel, who likes to draw and a grandmother who likes to make quilts.

Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae

Kath arrives in Blue Plum, Tennessee at the end of her grandmother's funeral. She is the sole survivor of her estate which includes a fiber and fabric shop called The Weaver's Cat.  Sadly, she discovers something's amiss with her grandmother's estate, mainly that her grandmother is considered a suspect in a murder.  This is a light murder mystery with twists and turns and humor along the way. 

Pleating for Mercy by Melissa Boubon

Harlow moves from Manhattan, New York back to her home town of Bliss, Texas after her great grandmother passes away. She inherits her great grandmother's home and turns this farm-house into a custom dressmaking boutique. Harlow was cut out to be a seamstresses and fashion designer but definitely not a detective. This was an enjoyable, light murder mystery. The sewing tips at the end of the novel were a delightful discovery. Hope you enjoy this reading list too! Let me know if you've read any of these and what you think. If you like reading as much as I do, you might also like these posts:

HERE

HERE

Make Easter Bunny Ears for Your Doll

You might think it's too early to think about Easter but this year it happens to fall on March 27th which is exactly two months from today. This is another easy project that even someone with a broken arm (like me) can do. 

First, purchase a bunny headband designed to fit a child. I found mine at Target on sale last year for 25 cents each.  They actually fit adults but the only time this adult put them on was to be silly with my grandchildren.  Then, after a little destructive action, turn it into Easter bunny ears for you doll. Here we go...

1. Open up the seams of your bunny headband and remove the bunny ears from the headband.  Throw away the headband, unless you think you'll use it for something else.  Rewrap the wires to form a doll sized headband.  You may need to use an additional wire for this step. 
2. Wrap the fur around the new wire, pinning as you go.  Cut off the excess bunny fur from both ends.
3. Wrap the fur ends up toward the bottom wires.
4. Pin any additional places and with a needle and coordinating thread, sew the fur back together (I must mention, that with a broken arm this step took twice as long as it normally would have taken).

Here's a close-up photo of step number 4 - sewing the headband back together.

Pretty simple, right? And oh so cute!  Happy Easter preparation everyone! xoxo Grandma

Make a Doll Size Travel Case

Excuse the long absence, it has been quite the winter! We were on the road for the holidays and then had I had a little mishap on the ice while shoveling snow. It concluded with my left arm in a cast and a minor surgery to hold the bones together. Not exactly how I envisioned starting 2016. What I had envisioned, though, was more cute, easy projects like this... so let's get this fun started and pretend that ice doesn't exist. At least for a few minutes. 

I found these two cute little tins at a thrift store and knew they'd make the perfect doll accessory. So, let me show you how I turned them into vintage looking travel cases.  You're going to love this project because it's super easy to make!  

Supplies Needed:

• Tin
• Sticky backed felt
• Vintage travel fabric (I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby.)
• Embroidery thread
• Needle
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Lay the sticky felt on top of the tin.  With a pen or marker, trace the edge of the tin onto the paper side of the felt.  Cut out the felt along the inside of the traced line.  You'll need two pieces of felt, one for each side of the tin.
2. Cut out images from the vintage travel fabric leaving a little edge and pin them onto the felt.
3. Hand sew the fabric cut outs onto the felt using embroidery floss.
4. Pull off the paper from the felt and press the felt onto one side of the tin.  Now press the other piece of felt onto the opposite side of the tin.

That's it!  Your doll sized travel case is ready for traveling.

Where will your doll go with her new travel case? Hopefully no where snowy or icy. Happy travels! xoxo Grandma

Available on Etsy

Felt Christmas Stockings for your Doll

Since getting ready for the holidays means getting your doll ready too... I mean, if you're a little girl... we had to whip out some mini Christmas stockings.

I discovered that all my doll loving friends thought they were too cute. Since most of these friends don't sew, I made a bunch of these cute little felt stockings for their dolls.

If you sew, you'll want to download this Free Pattern to make your own doll sized Christmas stockings for all your doll loving friends.  Remember to download this pattern "full size" then have fun creating these little stockings for a doll or even to decorate a Christmas tree.  Don't want to make one?  You can find this cute stocking here.

Materials needed:

• Red felt
• White felt
• Star buttons (for the tree stocking)
• White, orange and brown thread

Directions:

1. Cut out felt using the pattern.
2. Machine stitch the top to the stocking.  Machine stitch the mini snowman or tree to the stocking using an embroidery stitch.
3. Sew rick rack along the bottom of the white stocking top.
4. Add 2 1/2" of ribbon by folding the ribbon in half and tucking under the raw edges before sewing next to the top left corner of the stocking. 
5. Hand embroider the details onto the snowman. (Nose, Eyes and stick hands.) If you embroidered the tree, just sew a star button onto the top of the tree and with brown thread add a trunk about 1/4" wide.
6. Pin the stockings together and sew 1/4" from the edge with a contrasting thread color.

When you're finished with step #6, your stocking should look like this: 

or this if you added a tree to the stocking:

Now, even if you're not, your doll should be ready for Christmas morning. 

xoxo Grandma

Make a Christmas Fairy Cottage

It's time for another fun project, but this time with a Christmas twist. I've joined with bloggers around the world to bring you a few weeks worth of Christmas fairy projects (see the complete list at the end of this post).  

Today, I'm sharing with you how to make a Christmas fairy cottage.  This makes a cute decoration or toy or it can easily be turned into a night light by adding an LED light.

Do you want to join in the fun?  To begin this project, download this free Christmas fairy cottage pattern here. You'll also want to go to this post for additional free patterns and instruction to make this and other snugly fairy abodes.

Supplies needed:

• 4) .875" (2.22 cm) bells
• Embroidery floss:  green (several shades), brown, white
• Felt scraps, green(s) and white
• Pipe cleaners, any color
• Scissors
• Needle
• 1 wool sweater or felt
• Scrap of netting or tulle
• Batting
• Heavy pellon interfacing
• Empty salt container

If you're using an old sweater, you'll need to shrink it in hot water and then dry it using a hot dryer setting. A wool sweater work best. Now, cut off one of the sleeves.  I cut my sleeve down to 17 inches long.  This sleeve will be the basis for your Christmas fairy house. If you're using felt, cut a rectangle the width of your container and the height of your container plus 8 inches to wrap all the way around the container. 

Cut out 2 pieces of your felt scraps and one of interfacing to make a door.  Sandwich the interfacing between the felt and sew using a blanket stitch, either by hand or with a machine, all around the door.  Stitch by hand around felt leaves (I used 7 leaves) and cover the door by slip stitching these leaves in place.

Cut out two windows and sew some tulle onto the wrong side of the openings.  To hide the stitching, hand embroider around the windows using a blanket stitch.

Embroider around the door frame using a blanket stitch.  Now pin the door in place.  Sew the leaf door to the door frame.  Add a bead door knob and a latch because a fairy needs to keep the cold out of their house in the winter.

Decorate your cottage with additional felt and embroidered leaves, snowflakes and at least one felt Christmas stocking.

At the top of the sleeve, cut four even stripes 8 inches long by around two inches wide. Sew pipe cleaners into the top stripes making a tube.  The pipe cleaners allow the top pieces to curl and take shape.

Take your empty salt container and with the tip of a seam ripper or large needle, poke holes around the Windows and door opening.  Using an exacto knife, cut out the openings.

Slide the decorated sleeve/felt onto the prepared salt container matching up the openings and glue or stitch these two items together.

For the base, layer one piece of heavy pellon between two layers of batting.  Sew around the edges using white thread.  Now, sew the cottage to the base, tucking the raw edges of the sweater (or felt) under the salt container.

Fairy cottages are just so much fun to make because there's no right or wrong way to do it.  If you make one, make sure you leave the door open at night so a fairy can have a warm place to spend a winter's night.  

Please plan to visit all our Fairy Merry Chistmas Participants!   xoxo Grandma 

Nov 16: Millie @ 2 Crochet Hooks  "Kids and Fairy Doors"
Nov 17: Maria @ Sew Travel Inspired 
Nov 19: Joanita @ Creative Crochet Workshop
Nov 20: Alayna @ Alayna’s Creations
Nov 23: Laura @ My Husband has too many Hobbies
Nov 24: Sarah @ Sarah Celebrates
Nov 25: Stella @ Purfylle
Nov 27: Beverly @ Across the Blvd
Nov 30: T’onna @ USS Crafty
Dec 1: Joanita @ Creative Crochet Workshop
Dec 2: Keri @ One Mama’s Daily Drama
Dec 3: Darlene @ Let it Shine
Dec 4: Donna @ Two Chicks and a Mom
Dec 8: Sarah @ Sarah Celebrates
Dec 9: Stella @ Purfylle
Dec 10: Pili @ Sweet Things
Dec 11: Millie @ 2 Crochet Hooks

Autumn Overalls - a Refashion

These autumn overalls started with a pair of adult jeans, which I could have sworn I took a "before" photo of, but imagine with me coral women's skinny jeans.  I took those skinny jeans and turned them into warm looking autumn overalls, perfect for a toddler.

These jeans once belonged to this little girl's mother (my daughter).  While I was at her house, helping with her new baby, I consulted with my daughter about using these old jeans to make these darling overalls.  I even took my daughter fabric shopping and she found this black and white plaid shirting flannel to use as a compliment to the coral jean fabric.

I first unpicked the original pants back pockets and scaled those down to fit a toddler.  For the pattern, I used a pair of my granddaughter's jeans and then laid them on top of those old skinny jeans and cut away.  One portion of the original waistband was used for her waistband in the back of the overalls. The rest of the waistband was turned into the straps.  The bib was formed by opening up an inside seam and centering the bib so that the middle of the outside seam was in the middle of the bib.  

I used this wonderful flannel fabric for pant cuffs, pockets, and to line the bib and the straps.

I made the mistake of adding elastic to the back of the overalls and then sewed a stitch up the middle of the elastic.  When these overalls came off my granddaughter, I confiscated them, pulled out my seam ripper, and ripped that mistake away.  They look so much better without that seam and the elastic.

I foresee that these overalls will be perfect for autumn and maybe into winter or until she becomes potty trained and has to learn to unbutton these straps herself! Didn't they turn out so cute?  xoxo Grandma