Felt Food

I finished up my felt pear toy play food.  I made it from the Book Big Little Felt Universe.  I've made the tomato and kiwi before too.  This one turned out pretty cute, even without making it slice-able like the book suggests.

And here's the banana:

And lastly the eggplant.  This one might be my favorite:

Airplane Pillowcase

I saw this airplane design on Pinterest and right away I knew it would be perfect for my son's room.  I've been slowly adding airplanes to his room to transition it from baby to little boy.  (See this post for an airplane on canvas, as an example).  I was really hoping she'd have a tutorial on her blog for her adorable plush airplanes and blanket, but I was left to try to make them on my own.  I decided to try it out first on a pillowcase.  

I used Steam a Seam 2 to fuse the fabric pieces on, and then I zig zag stitched all the way around each piece.  After the airplane was attached, I zig zag stitched a trail behind it.  Techinically I think I was supposed to use some kind of stabilizer on the inside, but it worked fine without and it has even washed up well.

For the propeller I just fused two pieces of tan cotton fabric to each other and stitched around the edge.  I sewed it to the airplane with a green button.  The button doesn't seem to bother my son when he sleeps on it.

I'm considering making several airplanes like this on large quilt squares and then piecing them together for a twin quilt, but that seems like a lot of work.

I drew the airplane parts by hand, and I traced them onto a page for you to use if you'd like.  I didn't trace the propeller, the seat (just make an oval), or the stars on the wings, so you'll just have to wing it.  Get it?  Wing... haha....um... yeah.

Click on the picture to download pdf template:

My son has upcycled his sister's Barbie doll...

Into this:

I laughed out loud when he brought me this today.  Picture an almost 2-year-old boy saying, "Mommy it's a monster.  It's a princess.  It's MONSTER PRINCESS!  RAWRRRR!"  He has found a way to play with dolls that is still entirely boyish.  I love that kid.

Pottery Barn Airplane Wall Art

I love to browse the Pottery Barn Kids catalog that comes in the mail for ideas.  My son's room has been decorated in stars since he was a few months old, and now to bring it into the toddler/little boy stage I'm starting to add airplanes to the stars.  So when I came across the Transportation Art wall hangings, I had to make one.  They retail for $69.00 each, which is more than I'm willing to spend, but for 7 dollars or so in supplies, you can make your own.

You need-
1- 16 x 20 inch blank canvas
2- sheets of scrapbooking paper or card-stock in coordinating colors.
    I prefer the thicker card-stock paper.  It doesn't wrinkle as much.
1- Acrylic craft paint  I used Folk Art brand acrylic craft paint in color # 420 "Linen"
1- Jar of Mod Podge in Matte.  You could use gloss if you prefer.
- Scissors
- X-ACTO knife and mat (or something to protect your table)
-Sandpaper

Print out the template for the airplane on regular paper, cut it out, and trace it onto your scrapbook paper.  I did the propeller in the contrasting color.  Cut the airplane and propeller out with scissors and set aside.

Next print your lettering onto the back of your contrasting scrapbook paper (the letters will print backwards so it will be the correct direction when you cut them out).  Since I had 12 x 12 inch scrapbook paper, I had to cut it to 8 1/2 x 11 inches to get it to fit into my printer.  Using an X-ACTO knife, cut out the letters.  I use my rotary cutting mat under the paper which you're probably not supposed to do, but it's better than cutting my table!  I suppose if you have some kind of auto-cutting machine that it would be faster, so you could do that instead.

Link to airplane template (pdf)

 
Link to text template (pdf)
Link to text template (24-bit bitmap) If you choose this option, make sure your print settings are to fit to 1 by 1 page landscape.

This should fit onto one 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper.  Check your page setup settings before you print, and do a print preview.  The font is Bookman Old Style in case you want to make your own lettering or change the size.  I just use the Paint program on my PC to invert the letters.  You click on "Image" and "Flip/Rotate."  Then choose the flip horizontal option.

Paint your canvas, let it dry, and sand the edges if you want a worn look.  Then brush mod podge onto the back of your airplane and letters and place on the canvas.  Let it dry fully and then do a top coat of Mod Podge over the entire canvas.  Make sure the airplane and letters are fully dry before doing a top coat or it will wrinkle.

PS- I got a fancy pants new camera for my birthday, so hopefully soon you'll have better quality pictures on my blog!

Update- As requested, here are the truck and boat graphics as well.

  Link to truck graphic (pdf)
Print on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper
*Note- if you want the tires to be a different size, just trace something circular that you have around.  I used the lid of a candle for these tires.  I think the one at PBK has a smaller front tire and bigger back tire.

Link to boat graphic (pdf)
Print on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper








If you're looking for another shape, try searching " _____ coloring page" or "______ silhouette" on the Google image search.  There are lots of other things you could put on these canvases.

I think I might make a white background and a green background one, but I'm still trying to find the right shapes for my son's room

Stuffed Animal Owl Pattern and Tutorial

I saw a whimsical stuffed owl in a Pottery Barn Kids catalog, and I thought it would be fun to try.  This is my version. It's a bit skinner and I think the long legs are really funny.  It must be some kind of burrowing owl, or...something.

These are the fabrics I used, but you can use whatever scraps you have around. For the eyes, you need a non-fraying material such as felt or fleece.

Materials:

• Upper leg / foot/ wing fabric (yellow cotton)
• Leg fabric (blue fleece)
• Body fabric (checkered blue cotton)
• Face fabric (tan velour)
• Eye fabric (felt and fleece)
• Fusible Interfacing
• Matching thread

Print the pattern using these links-

Page 1 (foot, beak, center eye, back body part A)

Page 2 (wing, upper leg, top front body)

Page 3 (back body part B, bottom front body)

Cut out all of your pieces.  The pattern already includes a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  When you cut the feet, wings, and upper legs, make sure two pieces are traced on the right side of the fabric and two pieces are traced on the wrong side of fabric so they will match up when you sew them together.  In addition to the pattern pieces, also cut out 4 rectangles 2.5 by 6 inches in your leg material.  Also cut out 4 rectangles of the same size from the interfacing.  Using the center eye piece as a template, cut two circles slightly larger from a complimentary color of felt, and then cut out two more circles even larger from another color of felt (see the pic of the eyes below).

 Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of your 4 leg pieces.

Pin your feet and upper legs, right sides together, to the ends of your legs. 

Sew them on with a 1/2 inch seam allowance.  Make sure you sew very securely if your kids are like mine and like to swing stuffed animals around by their legs.

When you're done sewing, open them up.  They should look like this.

You'll notice that the upper legs have one side that is wider than the other.  Make sure to match them up correctly with the other leg piece so that the sides are the same shape.  Place two corresponding leg pieces right sides together and pin.

 

Then sew all the way around the legs and feet with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, leaving only the top of the upper legs open.  I used blue thread on the leg part and yellow on the yellow fabric so it won't show through when it's turned out.

Trim the seams and clip the corners.  Cut wedges out of the rounded edges and flip it right-side-out.  Stuff with Polyfil.  Use a chopstick or crochet hook to get it all the way down into the foot.  If you want, you can add some plastic pellets or beans to the feet before stuffing to give them some weight.

Now the legs are done.  Set them aside.

With right sides together, sew the wings, leaving the tops open.  Trim seams and clip corners.

Flip them right-side-out and topstitch, again leaving the tops open.

Pin the wings to the top edge of the bottom front piece, 3/4 of an inch from the sides.

Add the top front piece, right sides together and stitch with a 1/2 in seam.

Open it up and it's time to add the eyes.

Take the largest of your 3 circles per eye that you have cut out and place it where you want on the face.  Sew all the way around the edge with matching thread.  Keep in mind that you're going to lose a half inch around the outside edge of the body when you sew the back on.

Ok yeah....that's...creepy.  Better finish those quick...

Do the same thing with the two smaller circles and the beak.

Pin the legs to the bottom of the body.  Make sure the Polyfil is down low enough into the legs so you don't sew over it.  The wider sides of the upper leg should be facing the outside of the bird.

Sandwich the legs with the back body piece and pin.  Then, again with a 1/2 in seam, sew all the way around the body, being careful to keep the legs inside.  Leave about 3 inches open on one of the sides for turning.

Clip corners and cut wedges on the curves.  Turn it right side out.

Stuff it and hand sew the turning opening with an invisible stitch.  If you'd like you can put some beans or plastic pellets in the bum to give it some weight.

You're done!  Now make him a friend.

Matching Easter Tie

It's not always as easy to find cute stuff to sew for boys, but I did find a great tie tutorial so my son's tie will match my daughter's Easter dress.  Yeah, yeah, I know the flowers might be a bit "girly," to quote my husband who is just glad I didn't also make him a matching tie, but I still think it'll be really cute.

I used the Little Boy's Tie tutorial on The Purl Bee.  I wasn't sure how long it needed to be, and after making it I realized it's about 6 inches too long for a toddler, so if you're making this for a toddler boy make sure to take 6 inches off the length of the skinnier end and it should be fine.

I made a few adjustments.  Instead of sew-in interfacing, I used the fusible kind since I had some around already.  I ironed it into place inside the tie before sewing the tie closed.  To make it safer for my 18-month-old boy, I made a cut where it will tie around the back of his neck, turned under the edges, and added Velcro, so he won't be strangled.  It's also a lot easier to tie it first and then put it on him with the Velcro than it is to get him to sit still while I tie it.

 

I'm so excited to have my kids be all matchy-matchy on Easter Sunday.

Easter Dress

I found a great tutorial for my daughter's Easter dress on Ucreate.

 

This was my first complicated piece of clothing, and this tutorial was a good one to start on.  It's fairly simple, no buttonholes, no fancy stuff, just a straight-forward dress.  I made the 5T size for my average sized almost 4-year-old daughter because I'd rather have it too big than too small.  It fits her just right and there's quite a bit of adjusting you can do with the button placement.

I changed just a few things- 

• The skirt hem is shorter (about 1 1/2 inches instead of 4-5) because I didn't have quite enough of the yellow accent fabric
• I used 3/4 inch buttons instead of larger fabric covered ones
• I did flat-felled seams instead of serged or zigzag seams inside the skirt.  It should make the skirt more durable and there won't be any fraying.
• I tacked the front of the sash to the dress just to keep it in place.

Also, check out the matching tie I made for my son.

Spring Time Outfit

I had some fabric that was pieced together and half way made into a pillowcase.  It matched the quilt on my bed, but I just never finished it, so I decided to make it into something else.

This is just a very simple rectangle sewn into a tube.  I added a casing at the top and threaded in some elastic.  It was very easy.

Then I decided I needed a shirt to match and also a hair clip.

The bird was just appliqued with Steam a Seam 2 onto a white shirt from Target.  I found a bird silhouette I liked with a Google Image search, and I traced it by holding a piece of paper up to my computer screen.  I'm really glad the permanent marker didn't bleed through.

For the hair clip, I first made the petals like in this tutorial.  Then since I forgot to buy some fabric buttons when I was in a town with a Hobby Lobby this weekend, I made a little puff for the center instead.  Take a circle of fabric and sew all around the edge with a needle and thread.  Leave the ends long.   Then pull them together to cinch the circle and add a little bit of polyfil in the center.  Pull it all the way closed and tie the ends of the thread together.  Then sew your puff to the center of your flower petals and attach to a clip.

I think the hardest thing about this project is going to be convincing my daughter that it's ok to wear skirts on weekdays and not just for church on Sunday.  Last time I tried she insisted that skirts are only for church and maybe birthday parties.

Bring on the spring weather!

Freezer Paper Shirt Stencil

I followed this tutorial on the blog Just Another Day in Paradise to make a Chicks Dig Me T-Shirt.  I made it with a freezer paper stencil and Tulip Slick fabric paint.  I think the paint is supposed to be for a puff paint look, but it works well for this kind of design.  Since it's yellow on white, I also decided to paint in the words so they are easier to read.

I've made a couple of freezer paper stencil shirts before. 

Here's a flying pig that my daughter loved.  It was made with Tulip brand sparkle paint.

And here's a robot on a onesie for my son.

And a Trogdor shirt for my daughter.

Another Puzzle Storage Bag

I made another one today (see the tutorial), this time with a liner.  If you want a tutorial on how to make a zippered lined bag, check out my post on making a wetbag.  It's the same basic idea (and if you use that one as a guide, remember the shiny side of the PUL would correspond to the right side of your inner material).  Just make sure to put the vinyl layer in there before you sew up the sides of your outer fabric.  I also made this one slightly larger. 

The white fabric was cut to 8 x 8 inches. 
The red patterned fabric was cut to 8 x 7 3/4 inches. 
The clear vinyl was cut to 8 x 7 1/4 inches.