Twirly Skirt

I can not believe how much I am enjoying my newest hobby. Yes, my Cricut is getting sad and lonely, just sitting beside me while I sew. And Cricut cake...yeah, well I have only used her once. But my niece's 3rd birthday is just around the corner so I will be making a sweet rainbow cake and she will get a workout!

But anyway, back to the project at hand. I got a book called One Yard Wonders and I really like the projects that are in it. Yesterday I started a twirly skirt for my beautiful niece. Yeah, she is getting the benefit of most of my projects, but little girls are so fun to sew for! I found some vintagey floral print at Joann's for cheap and paired it with a modern tiny polka dot to make this tiered skirt.

How cute is this skirt!?! I love it and I can't wait to try it on the little one!

I am working really hard on making my projects look good and I am really proud of how this turned out!

One last angle...I just need to make a hair clippy to match!

Ruffle Skirt

I recently cleaned out several old t-shirts from the closet with the intentions of recycling them into hair bows and other things. I came across this cute skirt and wanted to replicate it for my niece. I had a corally-orange shirt that I bought several years ago on clearance at Old Navy and probably wore it three or four times.

It was so easy to do and I am thinking that I need to make a few more!

I think my skirt is going to be less full than the one I used as a guide but I can imagine it with some leggings and boots and looking pretty cute. I didn't have my niece's measurements but I went off of some general guidelines that I found online. Fingers crossed that it fits!

I didn't have any thread to match so I just went with some contrasting white.

Soon after starting to attach the ruffles, I realized that I would never to able to stay exactly on the other stitches so I didn't worry about it too much. I like the way the free form looks!

I also had to make a matching hair clippie--no outfit is complete without accessories! I think my niece is going to look so cute in this. I will probably try to find her a cute white tshirt to go with it and hopefully she can wear it soon!

Dressing Up an Ironing Board

Well, since I decided I wanted to start sewing, I needed an ironing board. I had an iron, but rarely used it. I am more of a wash and wear type of girl! I didn't want a giant ironing board because I have no where to put it so I just grabbed a little $7 tabletop board at Walmart.

Check out this beauty...

Ugly! So I added some of this...

I found a tutorial on the internet, but I can't remember where. Basically lay out the fabric on the floor, but the ironing board down and trace around it, leaving 2 1/2 inches all the way around.

Cut it out...

Yeah, I used Sharpie to trace mine. I know I need to get one of those fancy pens, I just haven't done it yet.

Zig-zap stitch all the way around then fold it over to create a pocket for the elastic.

Shove the elastic in there, put it on the board and make sure everything fits. Cut and sew the elastic and fill in the pocket and put it on the board.

Whatcha think?

Not to shabby! So much prettier than that ugly blue. By the way, I just put his over the blue, which had a little bit of padding already in it, so I didn't have to use any other padding.

Didn't know I could like an ironing board so much!!

I finished a page!

I just started a new position at my most favorite school as an OAA tutor. Basically, I am helping the 4th and 5th graders get ready for the state standardized test. So, after all of the work of full-time teaching, I now feel like I have a lot of time on my hands. For the first 2 evenings after work, I just sat on the couch and watched tv! I have been getting more and more motivated to do some crafty things. I have been sewing and I even got the fabric to make a really pretty quilt that I saw on Pinterest and today I actually finished a scrapbook page!

This page is some pictures of me decorating my niece's birthday cake. She was such a sweet girl and watched in awe as I made the cake turn from all white to something pretty! She was so patient and never once tried to touch or mess up the cake--she was rewarded with some icing, which she adored!

The paper is from the new stack at Michael's called Bold and Basic. They had one called the same thing last year, but this one has a lot more cute paper in it, in my opinion. The title and the cake and cake stand all came from Sweet Treats.

Thanks for checking out my page! Wonder what tomorrow will bring!

A New Crafty Adventure

Well, I decided that I wanted to sew. Why, you ask? I have no idea! I kept seeing stuff that other people were sewing and I wanted to give it a try. After Christmas I bought a sewing machine and just started sewing! The first day that I got it out of the box, it took me forever to get it started and I tried to sew a purse. Wildly unsuccessful, but I had fun doing it! I ended up making a few flowers and calling it a night. The next day, I bought a pattern for an apron and successful sewed it. The stitching is crooked, I messed up several times and I was stressed out--but having tons of fun!

Today I took on a new sewing adventure. I found the coolest thing on Pinterest (love that place!)--it's a bapron...or a baby apron. I don't have kids but a couple of the ladies I work with said they would love one for their daughters. Using this tutorial and pattern I gave it a shot.

Here is my first one: I followed everything exactly as states in the tutorial.

Cute right? I used a fat quarter that I bought for $1.27 at Walmart, some bias tape and some cloth for the backing. If you added it up, it probably cost $4 in materials!

Well, the two little ones that I am making it for are a little older and I thought this one looked a little small to me. I used my (new!) printer to enlarge the pattern and added a few extra inches to the bias tape measures and came up with this one. Also, someone online made one that was reversible so I did it too!

I love how it came out! I am sure that the ladies at work will love them too!

Now, if I can only find enough time to sew, scrapbook, use my very neglected Cricut cake, teach my students and do my own college schoolwork. Ha. That probably explains my long absence in the bloggy world!