Camping Foam Pad and Case

My husband has been doing some training with the military and has been sleeping on a cot. Trying to sleep, anyway. It's been super uncomfortable so he asked that I buy him a foam pad for it. They were really thin and not very squishy, so I bought a queen-sized foam mattress pad instead. Doubled up it will be thicker and more comfortable.

Materials:
Queen Sized Foam Mattress Pad
Fabric (or a queen sized sheet would work better)
Velcro
Rope

Directions:
1. First cut your foam mattress pad in half. It should be almost perfect size for a cot (or to lay on the ground under a sleeping bag). My mattress pad measured 56" x 77" x 1.25". If yours is different the next few measurements will be different also.

2a. If you are using fabric instead of a sheet you need to cut your fabric. You should have two pieces that measure 33" x 80". I was using fabric I had, so I had to sew two pieces together to get the right length.

2b. If you are using a sheet, you don't need to cut anything, just fold your sheet in half.

3. Next you will need to sew around all the edges but one of the skinny sides. Make sure your outsides of the fabric are together. When you are done turn it inside out.

4. The final step of sewing is to hem the edge and add velcro. We're going to make that one step. Fold the edges, and pin the velcro on top of them. Sew the edges of the velcro.

5. Now for the fun part. Getting the case onto the doubled-up foam pad is a little bit of a nightmare. It's just like a pillowcase. Bunching it up and putting it on like panty hose helped.

Velcro it shut and your done! I used rope to tie it when it's rolled up, but you could sew on straps. Have fun camping more comfortably!

My First Quilt- a T-Shirt Quilt

I finally finished my first quilt! I used my husband's t-shirts to make a quilt for my little boy to have while he's gone. It made it easier for my husband to go through and get rid of some of his old t-shirts.

Each of the squares are 15x15. For a baby it's huge, but he will grow into it. I used sheer fusible backing for the t-shirts and there is no batting because it's hot here and I want the baby to be able to use it all the time. With the fusible backing on the t-shirts and the actual backing it is still plenty thick. I used painter's tape to make my sideways lines while quilting it, and each line is A Very Hungry Caterpillar Board Book apart. (You know you love my measuring methods!) I used a nice gray for the quilting after finding out that micro-filament is difficult to use.

Baby Shower Gift- Cloth High Chair

Three of my Aunts just had babies and I will be able to go and visit them soon! I wanted to give them something but they have all had other kids and other girls so I'm sure they have everything, with the exception of more diapers! If I have time to get to the store they will get some of those, but in the mean time I made a cloth high chair for each of them. You can find the cloth high chair that I got the idea from here.

I made some cloth high chairs for my baby's grandmas at Christmas time, and we all have decided that a plastic space saver high chair would be a better option to keep at their houses, especially as the baby began to self-feed. You can see my original plans here and my first cloth high chair here. My mom was able to replace her cloth chair with a real one, so I have been able to use the other one quite a bit when we go places. If you need a tray it works well with a pillow or phone book under the cloth high chair, and then push them up to the table (Although I would definitely never leave their side when they are like that!). You will enjoy the fact that you can eat next to them in peace!

I had to take pictures of an actual baby in the high chair because I never did that the first time! He was very wiggly and was trying to get out, but wasn't able to. It just goes to show that it does work, and most the time he isn't trying to get out because he's happy to be eating!

Sleeveless Onsie from Adult T-Shirt

I found this cute idea for a shortall on Pinterest. It's by Heather of Feather's Flights and she made a great tutorial and pattern. Check her's out here. I had some ideas of how I wanted to change it, so here's what I did.

I didn't use her pattern, although I'm sure it would be easier (I haven't had ink in my printer for quite awhile now, it would have been easier but at least it makes me think creatively!). I used one the baby already had and traced it onto tissue paper. I made sure to add quite a bit of space on each side, because I wanted him to have room to grow and for my seam allowance. I also was planning on making a tank top, so there was extra space on the sides of the neck.

The onsie I was copying didn't have the extra piece that Heather had on hers, it was just the front and the back pieces, the same shape. After cutting out the pattern I pinned it to the front of the t-shirt and cut it out of the shirt.

Next I cut the neckline and just cut a little bit off of each side and then pin it back together and sew it.

The sides also need to be sewn, put the two pieces with outsides facing in together, then pin and sew the sides, starting under the arm hole.

The next thing is to hem the legs and arm holes. I did just a single fold under and stitched it.

Next it is time to figure out the snaps. I used snap tape and sewed it on by first pinning one side to the bottom, but with both outsides facing in. I stitched one side and then turned it over so insides were both inside and stitched it closed. For the bottom snaps I pinned them outsides facing in and just stitched it once. Now when they snap the tape isn't very visible.

Strapless to Strapped Dress

We recently went on a trip (that's why I posted about my suitcase) and I needed some nice clothes. I was lucky to have friends that were able to take me out shopping to get a dress. They took me to Saver's and I found a bunch of stuff.

The dress that fit me the best was strapless, and went well with a jacket over it so that I could still wear my regular bra underneath. I found while I was wearing it out that it still didn't fit quite well enough and I was adjusting it the entire time, and constantly worried about if I was exposing myself. I knew that if I wanted to wear it again it should be completely comfortable and worry-free.

Materials:
Strapless Dress
Bra (I had this because my dog destroyed the straps on one a long time ago)
Ribbon(should be same width as bra straps, and match dress, optional if bra straps look ok)

Directions:
First alter the bra. Cut off the old straps and add the ribbon to replace it. Sew it on as it was before.

Next, try bra on with dress. Pin dress to the front of the bra, at the very top of the bra, so that it hides everything but the straps.

Sew the bra to the dress, try to sew where there is already a seam so it doesn't look out of place. If the top of the dress tends to roll over, sew where the straps meet the top edge of the dress. This can be done easily by hand, to make it less noticeable.

It sounds confusing, but it really is simple, once you try both on it should make more sense to you. Thanks for reading, I hope this helps make you more comfortable in your own clothes!

I Alter My Underwear

This is another odd post, don't worry there won't be any pictures of my actual underwear, I took the picture from UwearUSA.com and showed you how I changed them.

As you know, I'm super cheap. When I saw a 10-pack of underwear on clearance at Wal-mart I grabbed them without looking too much at them. It turned out they were on clearance because the picture on the front was different than what was in the package, but I needed them. After awhile of hating them, I finally came up with a solution to make them work.

I took the two red lines and pinned them together. I sewed them, with a long straight stitch as I stretched it. (See my headband post, I did the same thing) I cut off the excess and they were done. It made them fit much better, more like the bikini cut I usually buy. This was easy and they make me feel good, especially for something so cheap.

Baby Playmat

This is going to be an unusual post. I am just going to tell you not to do this project, and I will tell you what was so terrible about it, so that you don't make the same mistakes I did. Hopefully it will give you ideas to do something like this but a billion times easier!

I found a playmat at a yardsale and got it for fifty cents. I didn't realize until I got it home that the bottom was torn up pretty badly and was not worth fixing. Being the crafty gal I am, I decided to make a new bottom for it.

I knew I wanted the bottom nice and cushy like a blanket, but I noticed that even crib sized batting was expensive so I decided a puff pillow would be neat and I had a pillow of fluff that could fill it for a tiny bit of the price.

This was at the time my sewing machine was broken, so most of the squares were hand sewn together and then whip stitched closed. I did get to use the machine for some of the squares, but when the squares are finished they all have to be whip stitched together. And that was the nightmare. I started this when I was pregnant, and did alot of the work when I was on bedrest, but it still wasn't finished until the baby was almost too big for it! It was very time consuming and very frustrating. Not to mention that I dreaded doing it, so a week at a time it would just sit until I would pick it up again the next week.

I also recovered the poles that went over the top. Those were fun and easy to sew, I just copied the originals. By this time my sewing machine was working, I wouldn't do these by hand, they get pulled on and eaten too much!

If I were to do it again I would do a few things differently. 1. Buy one already made, new at a store. 2. Find a Joann's coupon and just buy the batting. 3. Make it with an existing quilt. 4. Sew thick straps to go corner to corner and put blankets I already had over the straps.

Number four is my favorite idea, I wish I had done that! Well now you see a cute project that took FOR-EV-ER and know what not to do. Thanks for reading!

Diaper Bag Replacement Purse

Don't you hate it when you clean so well that you can't find anything you need? Well I think I did that. I can't find the pattern I made for this purse anywhere. It was just a piece of tissue paper so it might have accidentally been tossed. It's so frustrating. Well I created it, so I can probably create it again when I need it. My mind is already onto a new pattern, so I won't be recreating it any time soon. I will show off the finished product.

My new purse turned out really well. Some women go shopping for clothes or purses when they need a little pick-me-up, and I go fabric shopping instead. I stayed up really late the night I got my fabric, first I was just watching White Collar (my new favorite addiction!) while cutting out the pattern. Then I just had to stay up a bit longer to sew it all together. I was going to add on to it, but I think it is good the way it is!

I designed this with the features I liked from my diaper bag, but made it much cuter. It has a little less space than the diaper bag, but I can still fit a ton in there!

The next time I will be sure to put a stabilizer in the strap though. As you can see in the pictures it tends to fold up and crinkle. It could also use a top stitch around the opening, but when you have stuff in it, it doesn't really need it. Hope this gets you excited for someday when I create a tutorial, thanks for checking it out!

New Wallet

I've been wanting a new wallet, so I finally made myself one. My Pinspiration was this envelope system wallet and this clean and simple clutch.


I followed the lined zipper purse tutorial pretty closely, except my dimensions of the fabric were 4x8". I made 5 of them, and then I made my own zipper pull charms with coke can scraps.For the zipper pulls, I used my metal stamps that I won from beaducation. I pounded my envelope category names into the coke can. I went with Eat, Shop, Play and Save. I bent the edges, punched a hole and added a jump ring. Now I can try to remember what that money is for each time I go out.The clutch I made to fit my zippered pouches. I did it a little bit differently than the tutorial, but I used the basic layout and added an extra pocket behind my smaller two. I also put my magnetic clasps into the lining only so that they didn't show through the outside, and didn't stitch all the way up on the sides, so that my other pouches would fit better.

Car Seat Strap Covers

My little guy had red marks on his neck from the car seat so I had to hurry up and make some covers for the straps! I used scraps I had and some velcro so they really didn't cost much.

Materials:
Thick Fabric (mine reminded me of a Santa suit)
Cuter Fabric
Velcro

Our straps are 1 1/2 inches thick, so all of the measurements are for that size. Also, don't forget that you are doing everything listed here twice, because you need to make a set of two.

1. Cut your thicker scraps 5 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches. I just used one for each side but if you want to have more padding you can add another layer or two.

2. Cut your decorative fabric, 7 inches by 7 inches.

3. Center your thick fabric in the middle of your cute fabric. Fold the edges of the decorative fabric over twice and iron it in place. Sew the edges down.


4. Cut your velcro strips to 5 inches and sew them on.

You're finished! Now you can velcro them onto the car seat straps and have better car rides! Thanks for reading!

Hair Scarfette

I needed some practice sewing stretchy fabrics, so I pulled out something I've been meaning to do for years.

I had a scrap of stretchy fabric that I use as a headband, but the edges needed to be finished and it could be cut so that it had a straight line.

I first trimmed the scrap. One side had tons of fabric the other had almost none, so I made it matching and even.

Then I folded over the edges and ironed them so that it would be easier to sew. I also pinned them.

On the sewing machine I changed the tension so that it was a bit looser, and the stitches were a bit longer than normal. As I sewed, I pulled the fabric tight.

That was pretty much it. Using a straight stitch and pulling the fabric tighter turned out to be my simple fix. Happy Sewing everyone!

Repurposed Onsie

My son wore this onsie twice. It wasn't because he grew out of it this time!

Check out what I did with it at Arizona Mama!

Incedibles Costume T-shirt

Every year at work we dress up for Halloween. There's a theme for everyone in the clinic. This year our theme is superheroes. I will only be working a couple hours that day so I wanted something easy and comfortable. My sister suggested Elastigirl.

This same T-shirt could be for any of the Incredibles, I might do one on a red onsie so that my baby can be Jack-Jack.



Materials Needed:
Red T-Shirt
Black Scraps
Orange Scraps
Yellow Scraps
White Scrap
Ribbon

T-Shirt Instructions:
I used an old T-shirt of my husband's and tried to put it together to fit me, but it would be much easier to use a shirt that already fits.

First I added the black neckline. I used another old T-shirt for this, but any type of black fabric would work. I cut the neckline out of the shirt and sewed it on, but if I was using a T-shirt that fit, I would have cut out black fabric and folded it over the existing neckline and sewn it on that way.

Next, I cut out the pieces for my logo. I googled the logo and copied it from there. You could print it out and cut it out if you needed a pattern. For the fabric I used scraps I had, but if you have more choices than I did, I would choose knit fabrics so that the edges don't fray (like mine did).

I cut the black out of the other t-shirt. I just cut a big oval. I used the black oval to figure out the outside line of the orange. I guessed the inside cuts of the orange and pinned them to the black. I cut a rectangle for the bottom of the i and then cut off the top with a slant. I used a can that was slightly wider than the bottom of the i to trace the next piece of yellow. I used another circle lying around my kitchen for the white in the i.

To sew the patch I started with the black piece with the orange pinned on. I used black thread (I didn't have any orange) and a small, dense zig-zag stitch. I sewed the edges of the inside of the orange. I then pinned on the i pieces and did the outside of the yellow. I then switched to white thread and sewed the middle of the i on.

Once the patch is finished, it's time to sew it on the shirt. On a smaller shirt you may have to take the shirt apart to sew it on, mine I didn't need to. I switched to red thread and did the same zig-zag stitch around the edges.

Mask Instructions:

If you want a model to work with, you can make a quick mold of your face using tin foil. I used a knit black scrap and just started cutting, comparing to my model. I folded it in half to try to make it a bit more symmetrical. I hot glued the ribbon to the middle of the edge on each side, and had plenty so I could tie a bow in the back.


I loved the way it turned out, but next time I will definitely use knit scraps for everything! I will probably just wear both of these with jeans, but it would be easy to use a pair of red sweatpants with black undies over the top if you were brave!

Cloth Height Charts

I was stuck in a recliner for awhile on bed rest, and I wanted to make a height chart for my baby boy that I was waiting for. I had been taking up a little bit of hand embroidery, and I thought that a cloth one would be perfect, and I could work on it right then.


This is the first one that I did. Click on the picture so you can zoom in to see it better. I was allowed to do stuff while sitting. So I cut the fabric, while sitting. I then ironed the edges under, while sitting. I cut fabric for the tree, while sitting.

I then stitched on the tree trunk and treetop, while sitting, what else? My sister helped with those, while sitting next to me. Those and the clouds are all done with a very simple running stitch. We also added a bird, he was stitched with a running stitch but then I used some back stitching for his legs, a french knot for an eye, and the satin stitch for the beak.

For the lines and numbers going up the side, I put the cloth in an embroidery hoop to make it easier. I measured and marked the lines with a tape measure and stitched them with a split stitch.

For his name I wanted it to be bigger and more special, so I used a bold chain stitch.

I didn't worry about finishing off the edges because most of them were stitched over at some point. For the top and bottom I basically hemmed them with hot glue and slid the dowels in. The top just has yarn tied to it.

I showed off my masterpiece at work, and my boss wanted one for his little girl. I told him he was crazy because it took me about 6 hours to make this one. He offered to pay me for one hourly so I made this next one.

I did this one a little bit differently. I knew I didn't want to stitch all of the lines, that was the most time consuming, so I bought a fabric paint pen.

With using a fabric pen, my edges wouldn't be finished as well, so I ran them through the sewing machine first.

The design is also majorly different, I had fun cutting out the pieces and arranging them. I pinned them all down and started on the bottom pieces first and continued to the top layer of pieces until everything was sewn on. Sometimes I had to move stuff around to get to the pieces underneath. With this one, I used too many little pieces and that was really time consuming.

I did a tiny bit of embroidery on the ladybugs, using a french knot for the spots and antennae ends. I made a long stitch to separate the wings and for the length of the antennae.

Once everything was sewn on I used the fabric pen to make the lines and numbers. This one was shorter because the girl it was for was a lot taller to begin with than my unborn child so I made it to start at 18 inches. She also had a less of a chance of reaching six feet, so it is a few inches shorter there too.

On this one I sewed the hems for the dowels, because if they were to fall apart in years to come I didn't want to fix them.

I still did the embroidered name, using the chain stitch as before.

With the two different versions that I learned from, my next one will be even simpler by using a simple design like the tree and by using the paint pen. Thanks for reading!

The Wild Olive is a good place to learn the basic embroidery stitches if you want to make a fancy one of your own. Thanks for reading!

Linked to:
Somewhat Simple

How to Cut Jeans for Scraps

This post should be named How to make Redneck Thongs, but there will be more on that later.

I finally cleaned out my craft closet, again. It was bad. I had a ton of jeans I wanted to keep for the material but it was pointless to keep the entire jeans that were taking up tons of space. While cutting them up I found the best order to cut them and which cuts would yield the most useful material. I also found a great way to make redneck thongs for your next redneck party!

Who irons jeans? Not me... Usually. I think of the movie Cheaper by the Dozen.

Kate: [referring to Hank] He's not a doorknob.
Jake: He irons his jeans, Mom.
Kate: Yeah that's weird.

There were a few pairs of jeans that were wrinkled and folded in weird places so the first thing to do is iron the jeans that need it.


The first cut to make is at the bottom. Cut one inch on each side of the seams. Cut each side of the inside and outside seams on both pant legs.


Then cut the bottom hem off, leaving the seams intact. It should look like this after wards.


Turn the jeans inside out. This is the line you'll take for the first cuts.


Some of the jeans were serged so you could cut both sides of the seam at once, and others were sewn down so it was easier to make two cuts around the seam. (With scissors instead of the rotary.)


When you get towards the top of the jeans cut until you get to the eyelet on the pocket.


Keep cutting the backside of the same seam until you hit the next seam.


Next, go back to the pocket side of the seam where you left off and cut underneath the pocket, to the zipper and down to the crotch. You will cut across the inseam.


Next continue your cut on the backside by going up towards the waist. Cut until you get to the next seam.


Cut along the seam below the waist until you get to your other cut. The pant leg should come off now.

This is what you should have.


Now do the same thing for the other pant leg. After that you will get your final Redneck Thong.


Back to saving your jeans...
Take the open pant leg, and cut out the last seam.


You now have a pile of seams, some redneck thongs and a nice pile of usable jean scraps.



Now I tossed the thongs, and almost tossed the seams, but I tried weaving them together, and I might have a post about what I'm making with them later. But I'm not done yet, so it will be a few months. I'll also have the project I've been saving the jeans for, but that hasn't been finished either. If you must know why, cutting these jeans was the project I was working on while I was in labor with my baby boy. I went to the hospital fully dilated but at least my jeans were cut and put away!