crocheted lion mane hat

What do you think of my new digs?   I decided the old blog could use a spruce and decided to get professional help this time.  Kate from Smitten Blog Designs took excellent care of me and I am thrilled with the new look.  Thanks, Kate!

Last night as it was all being installed, I was poking around with things, reorganizing some labels, and editing my archives.  When I first started blogging (all the way back in 2006), I had no idea how to operate a sewing machine.   Instead, I was an avid crocheter.  In fact, my very first post ever was a crocheted bear hat.

I made a lot of animal hats that winter, but only kept one, which I realized is the perfect size for Oscar now.

This lion hat is kind of funny looking, but I love it.  As with all of my animal hats, I just made it up as I went along, so unfortunately there is no pattern to share.  But I will try to explain how I made the curly mane.

Single crochet tends to curl into itself, so I did fingers of single crochet off of a chain stitch.   Basically, you chain stitch however long you want the piece to be, then single crochet a long finger, turn and single crochet back the other direction toward your chain stitches.  Move to the next chain and do it again (repeat, repeat).  The single crochet strands will curl into twisty spirals.  I hope that makes sense to you if you are a crocheter.  There is a reason I've never tried to write down my crochet patterns!  :)

Check out my past posts to see my bear, frog, puppy, hippo, fish, pig, blue tiger (ha!), and monkey hats (but beware of the icky photography).

Flower Hair Clip Tutorial with Silhouette Fabric Interfacing

Did you know you can now cut fabric with the Silhouette?  Over the weekend, I tested the new fabric interfacing and fell in love with my Silhouette all over again.

 The Sewable Fabric Interfacing has a thin adhesive which allows you to temporarily adhere your cut shape to your project while sewing (and is sewing machine friendly).  The Clean-Cut Interfacing has a stronger adhesive for a cleaner cut and less fraying over time, and is meant for projects that don't need to be washed and will be hand-stitched.

I used the Clean Cut Interfacing to make some pretty flower hair accessories.  I love that they are far more detailed than anything I typically make by hand, but the best part is how fast they come together.  I can't tell you how much I enjoy having a machine do all my cutting for me.

 First, I got my document ready, inserting the 3D Ruffle Flower template from the online store.  Then I prepared my fabric, following the instructions on the package.  The interfacing is an easy iron-on.  It literally takes 2 seconds with a hot iron to adhere the interfacing to your fabric.  When you are ready to cut, change the Silhouette settings to about a 30 thickness and slow the cutting speed down to about a 3.

When the cut was finished, I was able to pop many of the fabric flowers right out, although I did have to use my scissors to snip a thread here and there to release others.  I noticed that when I used fabric with a tighter weave, the cut was cleaner.

The interfacing is fusible on both sides.  It is smooth and kind of shiny, but unless you apply heat, it doesn't feel sticky.

I stacked the flowers, applying the iron to the center only to fuse them together.

Then I sewed a few pearls to the center.  I'm not going to lie - it was tough to push my needle through all those gluey layers, but it was manageable.

I attached one flower to a stretch headband, and the rest to hair clips and bobby pins.  And I kind of love them.  If they weren't so easy to make, I'd have a tough time giving them away.  I have a family wedding coming up ... maybe all the cute little nieces need coordinating hair accessories?

Check out the Silhouette blog to see more ways the fabric interfacing can be used.

Silhouette America is running special promotions this week (March 21-27) featuring the new Fabric Interfacing.  Using the promo code JILL at checkout when you purchase a Silhouette SD, you will also receive one package of each fabric interfacing (clean cut & sewable) and a roll of white flocked heat transfer material for only $229.  

If you already have a Silhouette, use the promo code JILL at checkout to receive a 25% discount on fabric interfacing through March 27th. 

p.s.  I know I post a lot about Silhouette projects these days, and I really hope it doesn't bother those of you who aren't Silhouette-users.  This little machine truly has changed the way I do crafts, so I can't help posting about it frequently, since I use it on, well ... everything!

disneyland outfits for the girls

We did two days of Disneyland, so of course, Ruby needed two days of outfits.  I already showed you the Belle Dress.  I was sad because we never ran into Belle for a photo.  Better luck next time!

For the second day, we dropped the Disney princess stuff and went for full-on FUN.  Because looking like a polka dot explosion is completely acceptable at Disneyland (actually, if you are a baby it is acceptable anytime).

T-shirt dresses are easy-peasy.  All you do is add a few inches of fabric to the bottom of a t-shirt.  I also like a little gather, so I cut the fabric 1.5 times the width of the t-shirt.  The length of the skirt can vary - I think Ruby's skirt was about 4 inches long after hemming, and her cousin's was about 6 inches long.  The flower was made using a Make It and Love It tutorial.

Of course, the girls needed coordinating leggings (pattern by Lil' Blue Boo).

Ruby's cousin is a big Minnie/Mickey fan.  Minnie's face was made with the Silhouette heat transfer.  Before cutting, I edited out her bow so I could add my own fabric bow to match the skirt.

Ruby was a real trooper all through Disneyland.  Her favorite stop was definitely the little petting zoo in Frontierland.  She would grab the goats' ears and laugh hysterically.  I love big baby laughs.  Oh, and did I mention that Oscar rode the Matterhorn?  He was one tough cookie.

Hurray for Disneyland!  I really do love it.  I'm sure you are sick of hearing about it, so back to non-disney crafts next week.  :)

disneyland shirts for boys

Hi, friends!  Did you think I got lost forever at Disneyland?  Maybe stuck somewhere in Small World?   We had such a fun weekend - I finally got to ride Space Mountain for the first time ever (it was SO awesome!), and of course Oscar had a very magical time.  My new favorite spot in Disneyland is the Baby Center.  Who knew?

It took me a few days to get back into the swing of things, but we are back to real life and now I want to show you the t-shirts I made for Oscar.

Last fall, Dana from MADE posted about some Disney shirts she made for a friend using freezer paper stencils, and in passing, mentioned how cool it would be to use the images of the retro-styled Disneyland ride posters to make shirts.  A brilliant idea (as her ideas usually are).   The designs are far too intricate to cut out by hand (at least for me), but this is the perfect project to do on the Silhouette.

I started with an image from the Jungle River cruise ride:

The most common questions I get about the Silhouette are:

1. How do I import my own images?
2. How do I trace images to get cut lines?

Both are very easy to do.  To import an image, simply click on File, then Import to my Library.  That's it!  Then you can add the image to your document just like any other image in your library.  Your imports should be stored in your library in the folder marked "My Own Designs" (rather than "Recent Downloads").

However, it won't automatically have cut lines.  That's where the tracing feature comes in.  Open the Trace menu and click on Select Trace Area.  You will then be able to click and drag a rectangle around your image to select the area.  Once it is highlighted, adjust the trace settings to get the image how you want it to be traced.

Then you choose your trace method.  For this project, I just clicked Trace, and it does all the lines.  You can also trace the outer edge only (for something line a silhouette of a face), or you can trace and detach.  The trace and detach feature doesn't add cut lines, but instead separates whatever you've traced from the rest of the image, in case you want to isolate something.

Once the image is traced, the red cut lines and the original image are separate and you can drag them apart easily.  I used the eraser in the tool bar to clean up some of the lines and removed some of the small text that wouldn't trace clearly.

If you have text in your image, don't forget to flip it horizontally before cutting, otherwise all the words will be backwards and you will be very sad.  Ask me how I know.  :)

Then I cut the image out of the Smooth Heat Transfer material on the Silhouette.  For an intricate design like this, I recommend slowing down the cutting speed to a 3 or 4.  It just seems to produce better results.

Peel away all the negative space around your cut image.  I LOVE the little hook tool to pick up small pieces (and to hold little pieces in place that I don't want to come up).  I don't think I would have been able to pull the negative space away without the hook on this project.

 Here's what it will look like when it is all done:

Then place it on your shirt.  The heat transfer material works very well when you follow the directions.  Set your iron to the Cotton Setting (and no higher, or it can ruin the heat transfer), and make sure you use a press cloth so you don't melt the plastic.  I just use a thin scrap of cotton jersey, and it works very well.

After I peel away the protective plastic, I typically cover it with the press cloth and iron it again, just for good measure.

Then you can sit back and enjoy your totally cool, one-of-a-kind t-shirt that is sure to be the envy of Jungle Cruise lovers everywhere.

Don't sit back too long though, because you should probably make another shirt or two.  :)  Lightning McQueen is a celebrity and hero at our house.  Did you know that you can layer different colors of the heat transfer?  Because you totally can.

I didn't get any good action shots of Oscar in his shirts, but this was the face he wore all weekend:

He was one happy boy.

One more Disneyland post with more girl outfits coming up later this week!

baby belle dress

We are heading to Disneyland this weekend, and since it is Ruby's first time, she demanded a special outfit.  While I've always expected that we'd reach the princess stage, I didn't think it would be as early as 8 months.

I kid.  Obviously Ruby doesn't know anything about princesses, and this is all about her mama getting a little giddy at the sewing machine.  But when I saw the Belle Dress Tutorial at Crafterhours last summer, I just couldn't resist.  Princess dress up clothes made out of knits?  Genius!  This pretty dress is just as comfy as all her other baby clothes.

Squeal!  Ok, just had to get that out of my system.  :)

Ruby is a crawler now, so this little dress only comes to about her knees (which only happens to up the cuteness factor about tenfold).  We'll save the floor length gowns for later.

Like I said, I used Crafterhour's dress tutorial as my guide, and the Sweet Little Dress pattern by Leila and Ben as my peasant dress starter.  I used two men's t-shirts and only materials I had on hand.

Now the wheels in my head are turning, because she might need a whole collection of baby princess dresses.  Too young?  Nah ... you're never too young for dress up.

easy fabric baskets

If you like super quick sewing projects, this post is for you.  These little baskets take only about 20 minutes to make.

I started with the Tidy Tray tutorial at The Sewing Republic, which is a very simple project.  You basically sew a square and then sew the corners together to create a little basket.  I didn't change much, but did take a few shortcuts.   First, I substituted fusible fleece interfacing so I wouldn't have to pin much.  Also, I didn't mark full lines on the fabric and eliminated the stitching on the bottom of the basket.  I just marked little dots equal distances in from each corner, and then folded the square on the diagonal to make the dots meet up.  Sew a straight seam perpendicular to the finished edge, and you're done!

Then I experimented with making larger baskets with deeper sides.  I didn't like how much the corners stuck out, so I folded them in onto the sides and then stitched them down.

The original squares on these two nesting boxes were 12.5 inches and 8.5 inches.  I marked each corner at 2.5 inches before sewing and folding.  I think they are cute - like little folded fabric boxes.  So simple, and seriously quick.  They are perfect as a little catch-all to hold spare change, jewelry, or whatever else you need to keep contained!

giddy-up cowboy (and girl) vests

Did you see the tutorial for the Frontier Vest on MADE?  Super cute.  Oscar loves dress up, but our collection mostly consists of Ruby's tu-tu's at this point.  While we are equal opportunity fun around here (no boy-stuff/girl-stuff yet), it was time to beef things up.

 The faux cowhide came from one of my favorite old skirts.  In high school, I was a big fan of animal prints.  :)  I've been saving it for years for just this kind of project!  The denim came from a pair of my husband's jeans and the khaki from another old skirt, so this project was entirely refashioned.

I used Dana's template but added extra seam allowance at all the finished seams. 

Ruby's vest was actually a happy mistake.  I printed the template to the wrong size, and plowed ahead despite it looking rather small.  Luckily it turned out to be a perfect 12 month size!

My kids are not at a happy picture-taking stage.  Ruby can't sit still and Oscar is just kind of uncooperative.  Even with a bribe, this is the best I could get.

Have a great weekend!

retro baby sneakers

You know how some bloggers plan things weeks in advance and do awesome photo shoots to show off their projects?  Not me.  This is what I was sewing at 1 a.m. last night.  These little retro sneakers were made with another Sweet Pea Pattern (I really like them!) using faux leather and some yummy Amy Butler on the inside.

The shoes are a really great fit on Ruby, and even stay on her busy feet, but she was not interested in taking photos this morning (unless of course, you are interested in seeing a blurry baby crawling away from the camera).  I'll try to snap a photo of them in action at some point.