by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 25, 2013
Happy Monday! Hope you all have had a great weekend. We had a very relaxing one, which is nice (and rare) around here! I’ve gotten a ton of quilt sewing finished this weekend. But I’ve got a lot more to do before Easter weekend. I promised two little girls they would have new dresses to wear to church on Sunday. There are going to be some late nights this week! So… that explanation given… I am pulling something from a while ago out to show you this Monday!
Make It Perfect – the Peek-A-Boo Toy Sack
These bags are amazing, and the tutorial is even better! Toni from Make It Perfect does a great job of explaining the process and the photos are really great and easy to follow.
The main thing that worries me when making a bag that uses plastic is that it tends to stick under the presser foot when you sew it. This bag is fully lined, and you never have to stitch over the plastic, making it quick and easy to make a lot of storage for your kids’ toys. They would also make an amazing new baby gift – just make one up and fill it with some handmade tiny cute things!
I made some in the smaller size (like the tutorial) and also enlarged the pattern to make a few bigger ones to fit some larger toy collections! I added a small strap on one side so that they hang up and a loop over the strings that tightens so they can stay closed. With those and some small hooks our toy corner on the main floor ends up looking pretty tidy. (Okay, who am I kidding, I moved a ton of stuff for this photo shoot! At least I have an idea of where the toys are supposed to go! Oh, and just ignore the missing piece of baseboard – it’s been that way for years!)
I used up some of the fabrics that I loved and/or loved and didn’t know what to do with – so now I can look at them every day, and that makes me happy! The bags do work really well, especially for small collections. Mrs Potato Head will likely never lose her purse again, and I think she looks pretty happy about that too!
If you are following me on twitter you would already know what happened yesterday. My seam ripper got a good workout on the quilt I’m making… but – I’m all finished with the quilt top. EEEeeee!!!! I’m only a little excited! I just need a sunny day to photograph it. Unfortunately there’s rain in the forecast and, though I may have to make up some sun myself, I will post a progress report mid-week. Come on back and see what I wrote on it!
by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 16, 2013
Today I have been busy making the fourth shirt – 2nd boy option – and it has NOT been my day. I have made so many mistakes sewing, and what was to be the easiest shirt has turned out to be a bit more complex than I had imagined. I think it would have been easier if I had planned to make it the way you see it (below) from the beginning! My original idea just looked boring when I was finished so I added in some more details – explaining the 2 photos in the “You will need” section!
Having said that I am SO HAPPY with the final results. It’s perfect for my 3 year old nephew, who happens to LOVE basketball. Grab your sewing supplies and fabric scraps and lets applique!
BBall Bunny Easter Tee
I’ve added a “read more” button here. Click below to access the rest of the tutorial.
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by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 15, 2013
Okay – third post is a charm? “Make Your Kids DIY Shirts for Easter” week has moved on to the boys. Today we have an appliqued bunny shirt inspired by Pinterest. Though isn’t everything nowadays?! You can download the free applique pattern pieces in the “You will need” list.
Mister Bunny Easter Tee
I’ve added a “read more” button here. Click below to access the rest of the tutorial.
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by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 13, 2013
Alright – ready for the 2nd installment of “Make Your Kids DIY Shirts for Easter” week? Here we go! Today’s shirt is made with ruffle fabric, a few embellishments, some ribbon and flowers and of course bows on the sleeve cuffs. Who could resist?!
Ruffled Easter Egg Tee with Bow Cuffs
I have had quite a few shirts given to me from one of the better children’s stores. They have all of the little details on them that good quality shirts should, including cute little bow cuffs. I’ve been wanting to figure out how to make these cuffs for a few years now and this seemed like the best time. Everyone needs a little dress-up for Easter! This shirt has three-quarter length sleeves, so I used a shirt that was a size too big for my youngest daughter – so I would have extra long sleeves to cut off and could use the extra fabric to make the cuffs.
I’ve added a “read more” button here. Click below to access the rest of the tutorial.
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by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 11, 2013
This week is “Make Your Kids DIY Shirts for Easter” week on Thread Riding Hood! By the end of the week you will have 3 Easter themed knit-shirt applique options – 2 for girls and 1 (maybe 2) for boys. Then you can take the following week or so to make one for your munchkin – just in time for Easter. And can I say how amazed I am that I am early – Hooray!) Got to do this more often!
Today’s installment also has an added bonus – it uses a freezer paper stencil. Never heard of it? Glad you stopped by! Freezer paper stenciling has been called “the poor man’s screen printer” and can be very addicting (I can vouch for that!), if you have a bit of time and an xacto blade. I’ve used it on a lot of things, mostly to embellish knit shirts so far, and also on the Superbowl shirts I made for the girls back in February. I did use it on a pair of home-made slippers once also, to make a “non-skid” sole with the logo of my brother-in-law’s favorite board game – that was fun too!
For this shirt I got to use an idea I bookmarked a while ago. (Remember when we didn’t have Pinterest? What would we do without it!) This particular shirt is a great idea from Vanessa at Punkin Patterns. Check out her tutorials while you are at it! She has a lot of really great stuff – especially her “Connor’s Messenger Bag” – so cute! I have two little girls who would love one of these (each, of course! Sharing is usually tolerated, but not enjoyed!)
To make one of these yourself you can visit Vanessa’s tutorial here: Punkin Patterns – Chocolate Bunny Tee.
Here is a quick run-down on how to use freezer paper. I will have to photograph one in more detail and post it soon. For now, if you’d like you can visit Vanessa’s “Freezer Paper 101” which she also links to in the bunny tee tutorial.
You will need:
- fabric to paint onto (tee, pillow cover, etc.)
- freezer paper (see below)
- xacto knife, cutting surface
- iron, ironing board
- pencil (to trace your pattern)
- hairdryer (optional)
- fabric paint
- small piece of sponge/brush
- wax paper or small disposable lid for holding paint
1) First step is to get yourself some freezer paper. I get mine at my local grocery store in the aisle with the food wrap. Make sure it is labeled freezer paper, this is not waxed paper. Freezer paper has a thin plastic coating on one side that helps it to adhere to fabric when it is ironed.
2) Trace your shape onto your freezer paper – this will be your stencil. Draw on the matte finish side of the paper, not the shiny side. The shiny side has the plastic coating and you don’t want to iron on it later, that would make a mess! Find a shape you like and size it on your computer screen. Then you can put the freezer paper on the screen and trace it. The backlit screen really makes this easy!
3) When you use the fabric paint there is always a chance it will seep through your fabric, so cut a piece of freezer paper a bit larger than your stencil and iron it onto the back of your fabric – behind wherever you want your stencil to be painted on.
4) Put your freezer paper on the cutting surface and cut out your stencil.
5) Iron your stencil onto the front of your fabric. IMPORTANT! Make sure you iron with the shiny side down (touching the fabric). If you iron on the shiny side you will really mess up your iron because the plastic will stick to it. Iron without steam on the proper setting for your fabric. I would recommend using a high setting like cotton – so make sure whatever you are stenciling can take the heat. It is possible to iron the freezer paper too much (I know from experience!). It leaves plastic embedded in your fabric – ack! Iron until the edges of the stencil are all very secure and, if in doubt, try pulling it off of the sandwich on one of the edges. It should be fairly hard to remove the stencil from the knit material. If you do not iron enough the paint will bleed under the edges of the stencil. It’s a bit of a guessing game – and gets easier the more you do it.
6) Now we get to paint! Follow the directions on your fabric paint. Sponge/dab the paint onto the stencil. Don’t brush at the edges or you will likely force paint under them and your edges won’t be sharp. Some people recommend doing more than one coat of paint, but I like instant results and so 1 coat has been fine on most of my projects. I used a cut piece of a scrubbie sponge from the kitchen to spread the paint.
7) If you are patient, you can now refer to your fabric paint and wait the recommended time before you peel off the stencil. If you are not you can use the optional hairdryer (on a low heat setting) from the “You will need” list. Guess what I did! (Hairdryer all the way!)
8) Once the paint is dry you can start to peel the stencil. If you want to reuse it don’t tear the edges – freezer paper can be reused a few times until the plastic coating won’t adhere anymore. Carefully peel off the stencil and voila! you have a perfect image.
9) If you have used paint that needs to be set, follow the directions on your fabric paint. You’re Done!
Looking for egg-sactly(!) what you want in an girl’s Easter shirt applique? Coming up mid-week. See you again soon!
by Sherri Sylvester | Mar 6, 2013
A while ago I blogged about the Sew Fab ePattern Sale (which is now closed). That to say, that I managed to get the Banyan Pants and Tee pattern from Figgy’s as one of the 18 patterns in the sale. It is the first that I have been able to try out. (Unfortunately it’s the only one so far from the sale, my quilt is still in the works, I seem to be obsessed!) The handkerchief tunic length tee is AMAZING! I love how it turned out.
My youngest still has baby-chubs, mostly around her belly, and this shirt really thins out her frame and makes her look all grown up. Not that I want them to go away (or for her to look all grown up), I’m hanging on for dear life to the baby stage with her! While I like the baby look, I also think she looks super cute in this outfit. She also gets a lot of nice comments about it when we go out – it’s good to know it is stylish too!
I wasn’t going to make it in this “weird” limey green knit. I was actually supposed to make a swimsuit cover-up for myself with it (That’s a whole different story from last summer. Suffice it to say – 2 meters of fabric gone horribly wrong = no swim cover-up. Ack!). When I made her shirt I wasn’t even sure that the colour would look good on her. Thankfully my husband has a better eye for colour than I do on this one, he suggested using it.
Here are a few of my favorite things: (Cue “The Sound of Music“)
1. Bottom Hemmed Handkerchief Corner, 2. Super Cute Tiny Pocket, 3. Tiny Tag, 4. Double Needle Top-Stitched Back Neck, 5. Double Needle Hem
I also like the metallic embroidery thread I bought on sale a few years ago. I used it on all of the top-stitching and it really adds a great bit of extra professionalism to the shirt, which is what I am always looking for.
The leggings pattern is my own and I made them by tracing some leggings that currently fit her. I used super-wide elastic in the casing and it helps them to fit really well. The fabric for these was in the “off-cut” bin at my local fabric store for $2.00 – can’t complain about that!
I can’t wait to try out the Banyan pants pattern. Figgy’s patterns are very well put together and so I’m excited to see what I can learn from making them!
