My First Award!

What a way to brighten my day :) Michele at The Scrap Shoppe (who I've always thought has the most adorable blog ever - just go look and see!) gave me the award for my bunchy 3/4 length sleeve tutorial. Go here to see Michele's post and check out the other 11 people she awarded. One of those other people is Holly @ 504 Main and I just read her post about blog ettiquette here and realized its bad manners to link to someone's post without including their blog name. Ah shoot. Now I feel really bad - who knows how many people I've offended! I will go back to my posts (luckily this blog is pretty new so there aren't that many to edit) and write names along with my links. I'm sure I've been written off by a few people for it but if I did that to you and you are still kind enough to look at my blog, please forgive me!

Now onto the awards... here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
2. Pass the award to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

Here are 12 blogs (in random order) that have inspired me, along with their specific project that I've added to my crafty to-do list:

#1 Baby tights by Made By Rae

#2 Table tent by Sew Much Ado

#3 Child's Tool Belt by Make It And Love It

#4 No-Sew Roman Shades by Frugal Home Ideas

#5 Cube Shelves by That's So Cuegly

#6 Framed Applique by Everyday Chaos

#7 Headboard Bench by The Lettered Cottage

#8 Candlesticks by Drab To Fab

#9 Glazed Washer Necklaces by Every Crafty Endeavor

#10 Drop Cloth Tree Skirt by Shanty 2 Chic

#11 Newspaper Leaves by Life With Little Ones

#12 Ucreate - where I've found most of the blogs in this list!

Check these guys out and get inspired!

Thanks again to Michele for passing on the award to me!!

~Star

Tutorial: How To Make A Fabric Binkie Leash/Clip

Yes I've made them again :) These are interchangeable too but this time they're fabric! So here's a quick tute:

You need:

Fabric scraps

Velcro

Rotary Mat & Cutter or Scissors

Sewing Machine

Suspender Clip or Fashion Fit Clip (see this post)

Really you can do these as long and wide as you want but just make sure the width works with your clip before starting. I just grabbed a ton of scraps to use so they didn't all turn out the same size. For this one, I cut two 11.5" x 1.5" strips.

Pin them right sides together and get ready to sew Sew along both long edges and one short edge. To do this in one continuous motion, make sure you start with a long edge.Turn fabric right side out. Its a good idea to iron flat once you do this Now push your unfinished edges inside the open end a little bit and sew shut along edge.Now attach the rough square of velcro to the edge and the soft square of velcro 1" awayIf you have a label attach it to the other side where ever you want - I just did the middle This is how it looks when you're done!

Okay I promise no more binkie leash tutorials since this is my 3rd!!

~Star

Linking up!

Seven-Thirty-Three

I Love You Invisible Thread

LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I just discovered this stuff and I've found all sorts of uses for it...

It works great for top-stitching the opening of a pillowcase closed (see both inside, lower edges?)

or for sewing a label onto something that is visible in the back

or when you have multi-colored fabric

or for top-stitching any other item closed (see the bottom center?)

A bit of a pain to work with but not too terrible. Plus its only a buck and change at Walmart :)

I'd love to hear of other uses you've found for it. I'd also love to hear that I'm not the only one who is just now discovering it!

~Star

Tutorial: How To Make A Contoured Changing Pad Cover

I love my new cover but can I just complain about one thing really fast? In some spots my minky fabric looks like it's worn out and it's brand new! I noticed this as soon as I cut out my pattern and was getting ready to sew. UGH. I contemplated going back to Joann's with it but even if they would have given me new stuff I didn't want to wait for it. Plus I had already washed and cut it. And that dang minky dot fabric is expensive even with my coupon! ANYWAY now that I got that off my chest, on to my tutorial...

You need:

1 Yard Fabric (this is for one cover but you probably want to make two covers)

10" of 1/4" Elastic

Sewing Machine & Thread

Rotary Mat & Cutter or Scissors

You will cut three pieces; two sides and one big piece for the center. For the center I measured up the front (4.5"), from front to back of the top (18") and down the back (4.5") then added 3" to each side for the bottom. That totaled 33" and the width was 32". Factor in a 1/2" seam allowance to both sides of the width and you need a 33x33 square of fabric. Cut this out first.

Now for the sides. I used a gift bag to trace the side onto. You will add 3" to the bottom of the tracing so leave room.

Here's my sloppy outline with 3" added to the bottom (the "bottom" is on top in this picture):NOTE: I forgot to add 1/2" seam allowance around the 3 edges (excluding the very bottom) but you definately should before cutting for a better fit :) Now cut your pattern piece out.
Now trace it onto your fabric two times and cut. These are your sides. Now line up a center of the big square you cut earlier (each side measures the same so just pick one) with the center of one of your side pieces. I did this by folding them in half as pictured. Make sure the right sides are together and the points face the unfinished edge.Now pin along the edge starting in the middle. As you go, pin the edge of the side piece as if it were straight. When you get to the corner of the side piece, bring your center piece to your side piece so you can keep pinning the edges together and it will look like this when you're done: Repeat on the opposite side. After you've sewn what you just pinned with a 1/2" seam allowance, you can hem, serge or overcast stitch (like me) all the way around the edge.Now you will place the cover on your changing pad and pull the bulk on the corners to see how much to cut out. You can mark it right at the point of the bottom of the pad (where my pen is pointing) or even pin the fabric in place but I just kept my finger there and eye-balled it.With right sides together and starting at that mark, sew a line to the other edge forming a triangle.

Cut the triangle off

Sew a 2.5 long strip of elastic along the edge of each corner, pulling the elastic tight as you go.

And there you have it folks!

As always I love seeing others' work so keep me posted if you make one :)

~Star

Link parties I'm joining:

Decorative Balls

I used 2 different tutorials for these; one found at Frugal Home Ideas (the ones you wrap around a balloon) and one found at Vanessa Christenson (the ones you hot glue to a styrofoam ball).

Instead of 4" styrofoam balls, I found fake oranges at the dollar store and instead of buying Stiffy for the others I just used Mod Podge (although I had to use tweezers to pick at them after it dried and I don't know if you would have to do that with Stiffy). I used Jute Twine for the styrofoam ones because that's what I had on hand but I wouldn't recommend it - I think the Jute is a lot skinnier so it takes longer to wrap and the hot glue seeps out more.

Total cost: $3

~Star

I'm linking up: