Mixer Stand Cover

This mixer stand cover was finished not long after my sewing machine cover. I used the same exact concept as the mentioned project. This time, I included a pocket and a band at the top to make it easy to lift off of my mixer. Since the top of the mixer isn't flat nor rectangular, the fabric didn't lay on it quite right. So, I added two pockets to (on the wrong side) the short ends of the top and inserted a piece of thin cardboard to stiffen it. ;)

My favorite part about this is the fabric I used. I wanted to include a link to the fabric, but of course it's no longer listed on JoAnn.com. Again, I'm sorry for the not-so-great photo quality. &My fabric was wrinkled because my four cats each took their turn lying on it before I finished it up.

Reversible Sewing Machine Cover

I haven't quite been keeping up with this blog as I intended. Oops. Well, today I'm sharing a project that I finished a few months ago, a reversible sewing machine cover.

Click to view full size.

Many months before even starting this project, I read this tutorial. I worked this up based off of memory. I decided not to add pockets as I have no real need for them. The wonderful Toy Story fabric that I used was purchased from walmart.com. (Click the link to view the fabric.) I didn't intend on making this cover reversible, but the cotton fabric was quite flimsy. I used a thicker fabric and made the same basic box, but taller. Then, I folded up the end twice, and stitched it to the Toy Story fabric.

 

This project was easy-peasy. Sorry, the photos aren't wonderful, but they show the result. &I should have ironed the teal fabric, but I was in such a rush to finish this up. :P

"May the Fourth Be With You" Skirt

Today, in honor of Star Wars Day, I decided to get to work on using up the last of my Star Wars fabric. I found a cute "20 Minute Skirt" tutorial via Pinterest, and got started. Now, this took me far longer than 20 minutes to complete, I'm still a newbie. I went very slowly while gathering and hemming the skirt. I've never gathered material before, and I didn't want to mess things up. I followed this tutorial almost exactly, the only thing I did differently was the waistband. I made a knit (yoga-type) waistband using an old t-shirt.

It's been overcast and rainy all day today, so I wasn't able to capture the best photos. When the sun shines, I'll take better pictures and update this post. For now, these will do. :P

Guillermo tried to help me with the pictures.

Thanks for stopping by,

Yoga Shorts

Recently, I've gotten into this "get in shape" state-of-mind. I play Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 from the comfort of my living room. I needed some comfortable, well-fitted shorts to wear as I play. I found a few tutorials on how to make Yoga pants from old t-shirts, and decided to follow this tutorial.

I followed the majority of this tutorial for the black pair of shorts, but decided that I wanted my shorts to be short. I chose a length of about 4 inches. So I measured the inseam of my shorts to 6 inches and cut them down. I hemmed the legs, then cuffed them upward, and sewed the cuff into place (making my inseam closer to 4 inches). I continued following the tutorial to make the waistband. However, the calculations didn't exactly match up to fit my waist. That's why I tried the waistband on before sewing it to my shorts! After some recalculating, I remade the waistband (which fit this time) and attached it to the shorts. Done!

I tried and failed to make another pair after the black ones. I totally messed them up, but before I ruined them, I cut out a pattern on tissue paper so that I can make the shorts from the hem of t-shirts rather than making the knee-length shorts you get from the tutorial.

Today, I decided to make a pair featuring a pocket for my iPod. I never made a pocket before, and I didn't use a tutorial, so I'm ecstatic that it worked out. I just had to use my Star Wars fabric. Here's how they turned out.

 

 

Thanks for looking,

Washington Redskins Melted Crayon Art

I started this project because:

• Our bedroom walls are bare and white.
• My husband is a huge NFL fan.
• Our bedroom is already covered in maroon and Redskins items.
• I've wanted to melt crayons since the very first time I saw the idea.

 

The very first thing I did was go through my existing crayon box to figure out which crayon colors I'd need. As a test, I melted down two colors with a hair dryer to be sure they were correct. I found that the two colors that matched the Redskins team colors were Maroon and Dandelion.

 

Then, I went on over to the Crayola Webstore, and ordered a custom box of crayons. With the custom box, you get 64 crayons in four color choices. All I had to do was wait for them to be delivered. (I hate waiting!)

Guillermo always helps me out with crafting.

I decided to use the same technique that Jenna used. (I found her post, of course, through the amazing Pinterest.) I used a small 8x8 canvas that I picked up at JoAnn's. I wasn't sure exactly how many crayons I'd need, since I did use a smaller canvas, and fewer colors, than I've seen for melted crayon art projects. I only ended up using two of each color. (I wanted to share this information, in case anyone else uses a small canvas and only two colors.)

At first, I wanted to keep the sides of my canvas as above, but once I hung it up on the wall, it just didn't look right. I went back and filled in all white spaces on the sides and ended with the canvas shown in the photo at the top of this post. This was an incredibly fun, easy, and almost quick project. After this one, I bought another canvas to melt more crayons - I just haven't decided which technique/colors I want to try next!

Thanks for looking,

Spiderman Pajama Pants

So, I have a minor huge Spiderman obsession. I bought this old bed sheet from Goodwill many years back. After a lot of good use, and a bed upgrade, I built up the courage to cut it up and create new, useful things out it. I think I got a good three to four projects out of that baby. I finished these Pajama Pants a while ago now, but getting photos of them proved to be difficult. The photos I did finally get of my PJs didn't turn out the greatest, and I sort of gave up. :P

I followed two tutorials while sewing these up. I used this tutorial to make the majority of the pants, but used this tutorial when it came to the waistband. I used my seam-ripper on an old pair of my husbands boxers and reused the elastic in my PJs. I used red thread for the waistband seam, to make it pop a little bit. I'm not the best with my sewing machine yet, but I feel really proud of these. The crotch looks a little silly, but these pants were made for wearing around the house, and who cares?! Here are the results:

Laying in bed with my kitties Harvey and Beatrix (she's in the corner up there)

Thanks for looking!

Tank Top with Crocheted Trim

Hey, Guys! I finished making this top the other day (11/21/2012). This would be the first article of clothing that I've made, aside from beanies and handwarmers. I'm extremely excited with the way this turned out.

I found this tutorial by Sew Mama Sew via Pinterest not too long ago, and I just knew I had to make it. It's 100% my style. I had the perfect floral patterned fabric that just needed to be transformed. I searched through my stash hoping to find a contrasting fabric to use to create the chest band and straps. Nothing matched, nothing worked. So I put my fabric away, and just so happened to lay it down next to this yarn in Blue Mint. It was a perfect match. I snatched up the yarn and fabric and went to work! 

First, I created the chest band. I worked in the round until the piece was as tall as I wanted it. After the chest band was completed I worked up the straps. I made them too long, so I had to frog a good number of rows. Then, I finished off the crocheted work with a round of single crochet all the way around the straps and chest band, creating a "boxy" look.

Once I finished up the crocheted part, I followed along with the tutorial. I used the formula to figure out what size pieces of fabric I needed. I cut them out and realized that the formula just didn't work for me. I'm tiny. Really tiny. I made many, many adjustments to get it to fit me just right. I got all the way to the hemming step, and that's when I finally messed up. You see, as I stated earlier, this is my first article of clothing. I have no experience hemming anything. The tension on my machine was off, and the stitches came out all loopy and messy and there was no seam ripping. (Unless I wanted holes!) So I cut the bottom portion of my fabric off. I was worried that I just ruined the entire piece! I put my mind to work. Ah ha! All I had to do was cut a long rectangle of the same width, just a few inches tall and fold it in half. I sewed the rectangle to the rest of the shirt, right sides together, and ironed it down when done.

I needed to come up with a way to mark the back of the shirt, so that I don't put it on backwards. This shirt looks the same from the front and back, yet it has a totally different fit when put on backwards. I crocheted a chain leaving long tails, and sewed those tails into the back of the shirt. Loop is shown in the photo below.

And after all was said and done, I quickly grabbed my camera, pulled my new shirt on, and took pictures. I love the feeling after completing a project that I started to have a few doubts on, and it turning out just perfect (for my taste). In the end, I was more than happy that I ruined the hem, because the alternative that I used turned out so much better than I think the hem would have. (As I don't have matching thread, and big black lines would be at the bottom of my piece). I feel like it has a more finished look to it. But, the pictures of the results in the tutorial also look amazing.

I want to end this blog post with a quote from my husband about this project. "It looks great! It looks like something you would by from the store!"  Even he knows this is completely my style! ;D

Thank you all,