Tooth Fairy Pillows

Now they need to lose teeth….

During our amazing family get-together, my DIL mentioned she had been thinking of making Tooth Fairy pillows for the girls.   She’s a busy gal, between keeping track of 4 and 6 year-old girls and their Japanese lessons, swim lessons, social lives, etc., in addition to her new part-time career as a nurse practitioner (we’re so proud of her), where would she find time?   Oh, a project for Super Grammy!

I found two iron-on initial monograms, sweet pink chenille and other fabrics and decided to give the pillows a whirl.   They were so quick and easy.   I reinforced all the fabric with iron-on interfacing, and used washable stuffing.  I used a dinner plate to make T’s pillow and based K’s pillow on a simple square.  I cut out small pieces of the chenille, reinforced with interfacing, ironed on the monograms, and embroidered them on to the chenille side of the pillow to make a small pocket for the tooth and, of course, the $$ that comes after the pain!  The back sides of the pillows coordinate with the shape of the pillow and, ironically, the fabrics kind of match the girls’ personalities!  The pillows are super soft on one side so they should be perfect to snuggle up with while the girls await the Tooth Fairy’s appearance.

Sweet dreams little ones. . . .

Give Me a Break!

I’m bored; or maybe I’m just boring.

I’m in a creative (or maybe a non-creative) funk.  Not really physically, but mentally.  I’ve been sewing, knitting, reading, going to physical therapy, exercising, visiting with family, etc., but I just can’t think of anything interesting to say on my blog, yummy things to cook, blah, blah, blah.  I’m going to take a break for a few days or so, enjoy a small road trip with Better Half, and pray for some creativity (which hopefully will result in some cool pictures).

I took a sewing class this week, which was über fun, and I’m working with a new friend on starting a knitting group, but still. . . . .  I need some inspiration.  For eons I’ve carted my camera with me wherever I go, but lately I find nothing inspiring enough to even makes me want to take a picture.   I haven’t been on Twitter, haven’t really checked my email, etc.  What’s wrong with me?  Is it the weather?  Do you feel this way?  Maybe after this week, all will change!

Wish me luck!

Saturday Snapshot

 

Our cat's new dog....

For this and other cute patterns (and fabrics) visit Badskirt.

Ruffled Toiletry Bag

Fancy schmancy for deodorant!

I wanted a pretty toiletry bag that was big enough to hold not only my war paint, but a toothbrush, hairbrush, even a bottle of shampoo.  I have such a large stash of fabric and supplies that I figured even I, impatient I, could whip up (famous last words) a toiletry bag.

Honestly, the bag itself wasn’t difficult, but I decided to kick it up a notch by adding a simple ruffle after the bag was finished.  Yeah, easy to sew, NOT!  In full disclosure, I wanted the ruffle because I hated the way the zipper looked (there’s a reason why I quilt–no zippers).

I used a toile medium-weight tapestry fabric.  After determining the size of bag I wanted, I cut out two identical pieces of fabric twice the length of the bag I wanted (I’ll explain why in a minute) and with right sides facing each other, sewed the two long sides and one short side together so the inside lining would match the outside.  I turned the fabric inside out and folded it in half.  The reason I did this was so that there would be no seams on the inside of the bag.  Clever, no?   On the unfinished short end I added the zipper (12″ zipper).

The ruffle/handle is a 6″ wide piece of coordinating fabric which I sewed into a tube, and pressed with the seam in the middle.  I stupidly added the ruffle after the zipper.  It worked; it was just hard sewing with the zipper and so many layers of fabric in place.   I added two vintage buttons on the top and both sides of the ruffle (near the handle-helps with support) and viola!  A Ruffled Toiletry Bag!  (I really stink at giving directions, don’t I?  It’s the thought that counts.)

Something tells me my ideas/projects will never make it to CraftGossip!

Sew Easy Denim Apron

(Sorry, for the super cheesy Sew Easy Denim Apron!)

Denim remnants from my denim rug project—what’s a girl to do?  I needed a cute little apron that could work double-duty:  1)  handle a hard day’s work in the garden (right!), and 2) pull off a lovely evening in the kitchen.  As you can tell from the above picture, this apron has yet to see the (natural) light of the outdoors.  It was super easy to design and fun to sew.  I apologize in advance if the directions seem “lacking,” but this was one of those situations where I just sat and looked at it until the right thing came to me.   Once you start, you’ll see.

I took a half yard of denim and since this was a light-colored denim, there was no distinguishing between the right and wrong sides–so I solved the tedious problem of a lining.

Double-folding one short edge, sewed a ¼″ seam, and then pulled that edge up about two-thirds of the way up the length of the fabric, on the opposite side, making one large pouch in anticipation of the pockets.  I secured the pouch in place with a straight stitch across both bottom (¼″) and top.  Once the large pouch was sewn, I then determined how many pockets— and their sizes—I wanted and sewed a straight stitch for each pocket.

Around the remaining three raw edges, I sewed a straight stitch ¼″ from each edge.  I then “picked” around the edge for a frayed look.

I folded over the top about 2″ and sewed a straight stitch (using fancy top stitching) and slipped in webbing for the tie.

That’s all, folks!