Olliblocks & a Bag Tutorial

 A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon the cutest DIY blocks in the world.  They are called Olliblocks, and as soon as I saw them, I knew I needed to make them for my girls.  How fun are they?  My girls LOVE them.  They love making the people have monkey feet or the girls have boy bodies.  They are just adorable and so so fun. There is a full tutorial over on the Ollibird website for how to make the blocks.

What I wanted to show you is how to make the bag that I made to hold all of my blocks.

This project took me about 20 minutes to make and is so easy!  You can use this bag for holding anything, but it really is perfect for holding the blocks.  Let's get started.

You are going to need two coordinating fabrics, and some cording.  I picked mine up at Hobby Lobby.  You don't really need a ton of fabric since the bag isn't that big, but if you wanted a bigger bag, this tutorial works as well.  Just adjust the measurements to your needs.

I cut the folded fabric to be 10X12 inches.  (Make sure that you fold the fabric and then cut it out to be 10X12 so that altogether the fabric would be 10X24 inches.  Make sense?)  Just the right size!

Once you have your pieces cut, sew up the sides of the fabric leaving the top part open.  Do this for both pieces of fabric.   Once you have sewn the sides, turn the patterned fabric inside out (or whichever fabric you will have on the outside.) Then place the solid fabric inside the patterned fabric so that the right sides are touching and the seams on the sides match up.  Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew all the way around leaving a small opening so that you can turn the bag right side out.  

Once the bags are sewn together, you will turn it right side out, pin all the way around so that the opening will be sewn shut, and the sew 1/4" all the way around the top of the bag.  Next, sew a line that is 1 inch away from the first line so that you have a double line all the way around.  This will act as a tube for where your cording will go.

Next, go to one of your side seams and cut two slits into the top fabric ONLY.  Don't cut all the way through or it won't work as well.   To make sure that the slits wouldn't rip, I backstitched a couple of times at the top and bottom of the slits.  Next, run your cording through one slit and the tubing you created and then out the other slit.

Lastly, I knotted the cording so that it couldn't be pulled through the bag, and I also melted the edges of the cording so that it wouldn't unravel on me.

That's it!  Now fill it with some adorable Olliblocks and give it to your kids to play with.  Trust me.  They are going to LOVE them!

A Challenge Completed

About a week ago, there was a challenge issued to take a Pottery Barn basket liner and turn it into something else.  I decided to take on the challenge and this is what I came up with.  First, let me show you kind of what I started with.  I didn't take a picture, and I can't find the exact liners on the PB website.  I was given the x-large linen liner without a pattern on it.

I decided to make a tote bag.  The liner is made of linen, so it posed a little challenge in that it was super flimsy.  To make it so that it was durable, I bought some extra firm interfacing and lined the bag with another fabric.  Now it is really durable and cute to boot. 

I just used leftover fabric that I had combined with the linen from the liner.  So the only cost was the interfacing!  Can I just say I love a good inexpensive project?!

The bag took forever for me to make because I had to cut out the linen so that it would last for the whole bag, cut out the interfacing, and cut out my fabric to be the right sizes.  I also was just making up the pattern as I went so it took me some thinking to get through it all.

In the end, I love my bag!  It measures about 16 inches by 12 inches so it can hold plenty of stuff (which is a necessity around our house.)

Thanks so much to Trissta for issuing the challenge and allowing me to play along!

POV {Pillows} Features

There were so many fun projects linked up this month!  I can't believe the amazing sewing skills of some people and the creativity.....oh man, it makes me so proud to be a part of this creative community!

It was hard to narrow it down to my two favorites, but these are the two that I decided to feature.

First is this awesome anthropologie knock off pillow.  I am in love with the colors and the design.  The stitching looks like it would have taken me forever to get just right.  Kuddos goes to http://www.whoswatchingthebaby.com/ for this amazing pillow!

My other favorite was this beauty.  It is graceful, girly and fun.  I really love it!  The color is just so calm and chic.  (can it be both.....I say yes!)  Amy @ Frilly Lilly really did a beautiful job creating this pillow. 

If you were featured, grab a button from the side bar!

Thanks to everyone that participated this month.  Now for the moment you've all been waiting for.....Next month's theme is......SHELVES!  Go crazy.  You can make them, decorate them, paint them, it doesn't matter.  Interpret it however you decide.  We can't wait to see what you come up with.  The linky will be open June 24th.

Also, we (the POV peeps) have been tossing around the idea of having a guest POV person join us every month.  Would anyone be interested in participating with us?  If you are, send me an email to joniemarie85@gmail.com.

POV {Pillows}

This month's POV seemed to creep up on me and almost caught me completely by surprise!  Luckily, I did finish my pillow, but just barely.

Check out all these cute pillows!

1. Amy (Ameroonie Designs)

2. Michelle (A Little Tipsy)

3. Me

4. Gwen (Gwenny Penny)

Not participating this month:

* Stacy (Not JUST a Housewife)

* Camilla (Rosy Red Buttons)

Go over to the other blogs and check out the pillows there!  They are so cute!  

Also, there is a linky party going on over at Gwen's blog, so be sure to go link up your pillow projects!  We can't wait to see them and feature our favorites which means it could be YOUR pillow we feature!  So exciting, I know. :)

Now, for a little about my pillow.  I decided I wanted to make a fun, fresh and bright pillow for my front porch.  These pictures however, weren't taken on my porch, but rather they were taken on my mom's porch because mine is just sad.  I am hoping to fix that sometime soon though *wink* so watch out for that. 

I unfortunately don't have a tutorial for this one simply because I didn't have my camera with me while I was making it, but I think it is pretty straight forward and easy.

The one thing I will tell you is that to make the monogram, I first cut out my "S" using cardstock on my silhouette machine.  Then I pinned it to my fabric and cut around the "S" like a stencil.  I wish I had the special fabric mat for my silhouette because it would have been so much easier and cut more precise, but this worked as well.  To attach it, I just top stitched it to the yellow fabric.

I hope you like it!  And don't forget.....go LINK UP your pillows! :)

POV {Skirts}

Are you ready for round one of Point of View?  If you aren't sure what I am talking about, go check out this post and then come back. 

I am working with some A-MAZING-LY talented women here!  You are gonna want to check out all of these:

Here are the links to go check out the other skirts.

1. Amy 

2. Michelle

3. Camilla

4. Gwen

5. Stacy

6. Me! You are here! Scroll down to see how I made this easy peasy skirt

Supplies:

Elastic

Pre-ruffled Fabric

(I bought both here)

This skirt took me approximately 10 min to make.  Seriously.

Step #1 Measure waist and cut the elastic to fit.

Step #2 Stretch elastic and pin to fabric while elastic is stretched.

Step #3 Cut fabric where the elastic stops.  Simply cut the fabric into a rectangle making sure you have the desired length.

Step #4 Sew the elastic onto the fabric by simply top stitching (no heming or surging required with this awesome fabric)

Step #5 Put right sides together and sew the side together.

Step #6 Put it on your little girl and realize that you made it too big, so you have to cut a few inches off the bottom and take it in a little bit.

Step #7 Enjoy!

Here are some pictures of Lillie wearing the skirt.  It turned out to fit perfectly and I think she looks pretty dang cute if I do say so myself.

 And this one is simply for fun since you can't actually see the skirt. It's my blog and I love this picture and wanted to share....so....here you go.

Now it's your turn!  Head on over to Stacy's blog and link up your skirt projects that you have been working on!  And who knows? Your skirt might just get featured!  Thanks for joining in and we hope to see you next month!  I can't wait to tell you our next theme!

The Knot Top and Crafting with the Stars

I decided to try something new.  I've never made any clothes for my daughter using a pattern.  When I found the adorable double ruffle knot top at Little Lizard King, I knew that it was time to try.  I am just pleased as punch with the way it turned out.  Lillie looked so stinkin cute in it.  I made a flower to match that could go either in her hair or on the dress.  It looked cute both ways.

Here are some pictures of her wearing it.

The little cutie is just growing up too fast.

In other news, I am so excited to announce that I was chosen as one of 12 to compete in the Crafting with the Stars challenge!

I will admit that I am seriously intimidated.  Now that it has set in that I am not only competing against some amazing ladies, but also that my first project has to be finished by Sunday I am feeling a little overwhelmed!  Yikes!  I bet you all know what I am going to doing for the next couple of days.  Not dishes.  That's for sure.

The projects will be posted on Monday for everyone to vote on.  Head on over to Sew Dang Cute and check out the competition. 

(I will remind you about the voting on Monday.)

Wish me Luck!  I'm gonna need it!

Hat Tutorial

Here it is, what you've all been waiting for.  (ok, not all of you. But some of you.)  This is how I made the hat for my sister.

*Disclaimer.  I fly by the seat of my pants a lot while crafting, so I don't have exact measurements, but I will show you how to find your own measurements the best that I can.*

All you need is:
An old skirt
sewing machine
seam ripper
pins

Pretty easy so far, right?

When I saw this skirt in Charli's throw away pile, I immediately saw the awesome fabric and then I noticed the waistband.  The waistband on her skirt is about 3 1/2 inches wide making it perfect to make a hat with.

I began by having my sister measure her head.  Then I unpicked the waistband on the skirt and then cut it to be the same as the measurement of her head plus a little extra for seam allowance.

The nice thing about using the waistband is that a lot of the work is already done for you.  To make it a stable hat, it needs to have at least two layers of fabric.  The waistband in this skirt had it already put together for me.  So, all I needed was to add a top a brim and embellish.

The next step is to cut out the top circle/oval part.  It should be a long circle, but not quite an oval.  I think I cut out two or three different sized circles from the lining of the skirt before I had it just right.  (I would suggest using a hat that you already have as a pattern to look off of for the top.  If you have a hat that fits you really well, add 1/4 of an inch all the way around for seam allowance when you trace it onto your fabric, and it should work great as a pattern.  After you cut the circle out of the lining, you will need to cut one out of the top layer of the skirt as well.  (It is easier to replace a lining fabric if you mess up)  Put the pieces together and pin it so that it looks like this.

Sew it up and turn it right side out.  It should then look like this.

From this point on, things get a little sketchy.  Making the actual hat part was no problem for me.  The brim was another matter entirely.  I stopped taking pictures at this point because of frustration.  I made three different brims on this hat but never felt like they fit just right.  Here is how I finally figured it out.  (In words, no pictures sorry)

I put the hat on and decided where I would want the brim to begin and end.  Then I traced an arc onto the skirt fabric using the hat as a guide for where it should go.  I cut out two arcs and then sewed them right sides together only around the arc part.  After that, flip it right sides out and top stitch the brim in two strips. (See picture below:

Then to attatch the brim to the hat, put the right side of the brim against the wrong side of the hat and top stitch. 

The waistband had two buttons and button holes which I thought would add a lot of character to the hat so when I cut out the hat I cut it so that the button holes were part of the hat and then sewed the buttons on top of the button holes.  I also used a little lace from the bottom of the skirt to finish it off.

I really like the way it looks, and the good news is.....It fits Charli's head!  YAY!  Here she is wearing it. 

Charli told me that she really loves it and that is good enough for me! 

Now it's your turn.  Go find that skirt that doesn't fit anymore and make it into something that you will wear and love!  I would love to see what you come up with if you do make one.  You can send me a link to show me at joniemarie85@gmail.com, or you can just leave a comment with a link to your post.

Good luck and please feel free to ask me any questions if anything was unclear.

Reverence Bag

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!  I know I did.  I was pretty spoiled this year.  You can bet that the Silhouette I got will be well used on this blog!

My daughter is always such a busy body during church.  (One more month until nursery)  I decided that she needed something that we could bring things to keep her quiet and entertained.  Here is the Reverence Bag that I came up with.

Supplies:

2 coordinating fabrics (I bought 1/2 yard of both and have TONS left over.
Buttons

Begin by cuttingyour fabric to the size of bag you want.  I made mine 12 inches wide by 9 inches tall. (your fabric should be 9X24 inches)  Sew right sides together.

 Along the top of the fabric, sew a basting stich and gather the fabric.

Take you other fabric and cut a strip.  Mine was 15X3 inches.  Fold in half and sew along the sides leaving one part open so that you can turn right side out.

After you turn it right side out.  Sew along both sides again to make the top more stable and to give it a finished look.  Then sew into a loop.

Pin the top into the bag making sure that right sides are together.

It should look like this when it's done.

Sew a basting stitch around the bottom and gather a little.  Then just sew together to close. (That's the easiest way to do it.)  If you want to do it like I did, I simply cut a strip of the strap fabric and sewed it into the bottom.  Both ways work but mine just added a lot more work. 

Now to make the straps.  You will need a strip of fabric two inches wide and then the length of the fabric.  Sew these the same way you did the top of the bag.

To attach to bag, sew the strap on first going the opposite direction that you want it to end up.

Then go back and sew it the right direction.  This hides any raw edges and makes it extra secure.

When you get both straps on, it should look like this.

I wanted to add a pocket onto the front of it as well.  Using the fabric from the top, I cut a rectangle out and sewed it to the front.

Last all you have to do is add some fun buttons and then you are done!

Now you have a bag ready to take with you to church.  (Or wherever you may need to take a bag to keep a little one busy with.)

I filled it with a mini Magna-Doodle, little books, a baby doll, some finger puppets (I'll show you later) and some Winnie the Pooh figurines from the Disney store.  Sunday was our first time of trying it out and it seemed to work.  She was especially excited about the Magna-Doodle.  Go ahead and give it a try