King Size Ruffled Sham Tutorial

I rarely sew home dec, not sure why, but in this case I was forced to dive into this project in my quest to revamp my bedroom! I am loving neutral color palettes seen popping up all over the place and of course I love a bit of a feminine touch with some ruffles. I decided I needed to make my own since I wasn't finding what I wanted readymade at a pricepoint I could stomach! I keep telling myself this switch to neutrals makes perfect sense so I can use it as a backdrop and add pops of color here and there as I like.

If you want to try making some of your own, follow along. Click on any photo if you would like to see it enlarged.


First off you just need to gather your supplies. I love the look of burlap but hardly appropriate for bedding! I picked up a neutral linen blend aiming for that French Country look. If your fabric is 56" wide like mine, then grab about 3 1/2 yards of fabric. You technically need 3 yards based on my measurements but I always love a bit of wiggle room. Ask for 3 1/8th of a yard if you want to have a tiny bit of extra to account for any stray you may have in your cutting line :)

You will start by cutting your pieces out and you will have 6 total pillow pieces and then your ruffle strips. When I was determining how much fabric I needed, I played with the math (yuck math) to figure out how to best place the fabric to reduce waste. I drew the chart out above so you could see how I laid mine out. If you have 44" wide fabric, adjust as needed. If there isn't a specific direction to your print, move your rectangles however you like.

Again, the pieces you will need are
Qty 2 20" x 36" pieces - this is the front of your pillow
Qty 2 20" x 19" pieces - these are the back pieces
Qty 2 20" x 21" pieces - other set of back pieces
Qty 6 8" strips - you will need 3 for each pillow to make your ruffles

I have them cut so the opening will be slightly off from center. The reason I didn't do them the same was just because I didn't want to cut it too close with a 56" wide fabric. Sometimes you lose a bit of print to the selvage.


Now take the 4 pieces that will be the back of the pillow. The back of your pillow will be open with these pieces slightly overlapping so you can just slide your pillow inside. Iron a crease down the sides that will be your backside opening (a 20" side) Fold 2x and iron down so there are no raw edges.


Now stitch this down on all 4 pieces.


Now we will start working on the ruffles. Take 3 of the long strips and stitch your short sides together. After you've done this you will have 2 long strips. Iron these in half lengthwise and this will be your ruffle.
After you've done that, open the piece back up and stitch together that last short side creating one big loop and then return the fold into place.


Take your 2 big loops and on your longest stitch, I'd suggest basting them together. Basting is just a long straight stitch. I'm using a home dec weight fabric so it was helpful to have it attached all along the raw edge so it fed through my ruffler foot at the same rate.

After you've done that, feed that same long strip through your machine using your ruffler foot. If you don't have one, I HIGHLY recommend getting one for a project like this. They aren't cheap but are worth owning! You can create loose or tight ruffles, your choice! If you want a tutorial on using a ruffler foot, click HERE If you don't want to take the plunge, ruffle away however you like.


After you've completed ruffling, pin your ruffle to the large rectangle, right sides together. I don't have a right side to my print but in this photo if I did, the center would show your print right now . Match up those raw edges and pin away. I decided to go ahead and stitch the ruffle on although some may jump right to adding the other side of the pillow. Since I'm using a heavier weight fabric, I felt better having the ruffle already secured on so I could move things around as needed while stitching and while I could see it.


Now take your smaller pieces and place those on top of the ruffle so the right side is facing down. Your center opening should slightly overlap. Pin these pieces down and then stitch down. *I backstitched and then stitched over again where the 2 pieces joined on either side just so it was a bit more reinforced. I thought that spot might be a bit more vulnerable to a tear since it'll be a stress point when putting the pillow in and taking out. I also serged all of my edges. Not necessary if you don't have one but I prefer the nice clean interior seams so that's what you see here.


Now reach into the opening on the backside, grab the ruffle and flip your pillow sham inside out pulling all of your ruffles to the edge. Now give it a nice good press and add your pillow inserts! I didn't have nice full ones on hand but you can bet I'll be heading to the store to get some nice full ones.


Now go find your bed, dress it up and admire!


Voila you are done and doesn't it feel good looking at something you made!

The Biggest Loser Pizza

It's a family thing, we all love watching the show The Biggest Loser. It is far from what I would've guessed to be the show my kids look forward to watching with me but I have to admit it, I love it! I love that this show tees up these conversations on the importance of having a balanced lifestyle combining exercise and healthy eating. These folks who have gone on this show have decided to be real about their situation and let us watch as they aim to create a new life for themselves. It is so incredibly inspiring to watch and I'm guaranteed to cry each week as I see these folks bravely press forward!

A friend of mine sent me this funny cartoon this morning. It's something that totally made me laugh but also was a real eye opener regarding the change in how kids are growing up these days.



I know it's my job to keep this in mind and not let my kids fall into the trap of a sedentary lifestyle coupled with freezer food filled with all the stuff that's horrible for us. I'm guilty of this. We are an active family but I knew I needed to raise the bar with things we were eating. Dad travels each week for work and well, that's when I like to take a little vacation from making full dinners for the family. I'm working on changing this :) It's no excuse not to offer them something healthy.

Earlier this week we all watched this weeks installment of the show and watched the nutritionist walk them through the grocery store and she pulled out the frozen pizzas and had a short rant on them. I wanted to duck as all my kids looked at me and said, "Mommy we should stop buying those" She offered a simple idea and we decided to try them last night.

We had all the ingredients on hand so the kids and I made Biggest Loser Pizzas. Talk about easy, like no time at all and they loved them. Of course the nutritionist suggested topping them with various veggies. I figured we'd start with basic cheese pizzas and not push my luck. For our first time trying them, I want them to eat them not stare at them like I've tortured them with veggies. My youngest tends to stare at a plate with tears welling up if too many veggies lay in front of him. We had enough other good stuff so kept it simple.



We were working with what we had on hand. Whole grain tortillas and these are the larger burrito size. Some shredded part skim mozzarella cheese and then some marinara sauce. I had a partial jar still in my fridge but next time I shop, I may start paying closer attention to the sodium and sugar content in the various brands. We've always used this but we are certainly willing to check out other brands if they still taste great.


My little helpers wanted to make their own dinners. Score!! I haven't found my love for cooking yet so I like helpers and like even more they're starting to take an interest in eating healthy. Here it is, ready to go in the oven.



And voila! The tortilla wasn't super crisp through the center like you might find with a pizza but my kids absolutely loved them. I bet if I made these on a pizza pan the tortilla might crisp up a bit more but I had these on my Southern Living baking sheet. We ate these with a mixed bowl of fresh fruit and I'm feeling good knowing this was miles better than pulling that boxed pizza out of the freezer.

How Pinteresting!

Just like most of the world, I'm hooked on Pinterest and today I'm participating with a link up blog party. I really don't know how this happened, my new addiction :) I convince myself it will help me become better at all there is to know by the endless amount of info I can dig up! There is not enough time in 2 lifetimes to complete all the DIY projects, travel to all these beautiful destinations, make all of these recipes, decorate a home paying every attention detail down to the aesthetics in your laundry room, throw all these parties and of course, own and wear all these fabulous outfits people put together. A girl can dream right? Vision boards are inspiration and I for one, enjoy having a reference point to go back to when I do find a stretch of time to do something!

Well it's Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday so we decided to play. Here are some of my faves. I thought today I'd look at my crafts board since that was my initial interest that pulled me into the world of Pinterest. What is it you ask? Well if you need a definition, here ya go.



So here's a few that are on the top of my list to do.


How practical and easy is THIS? Perfect for sleepover, buh bye gross sandwich baggy.


Okay, now bring those sandwich baggies back, THIS is a cute and easy little project!


How adorable are THESE bookmarks! I'm definitely making these, gotta get the pics done so they are vertical with that funny capture of their personalities!

And of course I love THIS project.

The complete tutorial is found here on my blog and we have made countless flowers for hair. They make a wonderful way to finish wrapping a gift by including something so functional and pretty!

What are your favorite pins for the week?

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a joyous close to 2011 and is excited for the New Year and all those new plans and adventures for 2012. This is one of my favorite images to start a new year. Wash away the old and look at the beautiful new year ahead!

I've gotten so many emails from friends that someone in their house got a new sewing machine for Christmas. I love hearing that, love knowing that the sewing craft is coming back full steam. I've been asked so many questions on what is a great starter machine, what all do you need to get started, will I hold a small class, how do you thread this darn machine and wind that bobbin (that is always a personal fave) where can a person take classes etc! Honestly, once you figure out how to thread your machine you have conquered the part that holds so many people back. Well, I found this post on Make it Love it that really sums things up. This is an excellent site to dig around in. When you want to get started, just jump in. Don't read so much you feel bound inside a box on how to do things. Read and learn enough to get going and then experiment.

There are so many projects you can do by just learning a basic straight stitch. Really, you can go on for days making different things. Just like she says in her blog post, just keep pressing forward, don't worry about a line that's not perfectly straight or some bunched up bobbin thread, it really just comes with time and a bit of practice. No one else sees that, they are truly excited for what you are making, not caught up in the inspection of how perfect it is!

Once you get past practicing some different stitches, try tackling a small project. My pillowcase tutorial would be an excellent place to start, or you might want to try the camera strap cover tutorial. Both of these are fairly quick projects and I've found those are the best to start out with. There is something that is really satisfying about seeing your finished project the same day. It'll keep you motivated to keep going and to try new things. I love hearing about the different projects people are working on and if I can help, please shoot me a note. My ebook patterns are great for the beginner. Most of these are using techniques that even a beginner sewer can tackle.
Sew.......welcome to 2012 and stay tuned for alot more things from us and tutorials on the blog. As always, we love when you share our Etsy site and blog with others. Have something you'd love to see a tutorial on? Please drop me a line and happy crafting!

Fabric Flower Tutorial - Repurposing a Knit Dress

It's the holidays... YAY!!! Time to celebrate! Well, I thought I'd get in one small craft project done before we start the new year. I was looking for some cute headbands a few days ago that my girls could wear to church services and kept finding pricetags like $25 for the ones that I liked. Wha???? I need 2 of them and don't want to spend $50 so I passed thinking I can make my own. This is similar to THIS project I had done earlier in the year but with some variations. There are so many ways to make flowers!

**Supplies**
Knit fabric - use new knit fabric or find something that's stained or just heading to Goodwill that you can repurpose
**you can certainly use a woven cotton for this project as well**
disappearing ink pen or something you can use to trace onto your fabric
Felt
Hot Glue or Fabric glue
Headband or clip


I started by finding some things that are in my donate pile. Surely everyone has this pile of stuff that is heading out the door! I've come to look at this pile in a whole new light. I had 2 knit dresses that well...I was just tired of, they weren't getting worn anymore so they were heading to Goodwill. It was time for them to go until it dawned on me that they are made of some great knit I could repurpose into something else. One was black so that was perfect for what I wanted to make. The great thing about using knit fabric is that it doesn't fray like a woven cotton and I love a project where the edges look pretty right out of the gate!
***For best results, use some knit that has some umpf to it. Many tees are very thin intended for layering so my suggestion is to use a knit that isn't paper thin so you don't end up with this flat and no life to it flower:-)***


I started by drawing a template onto cardstock. The beauty of this project is nothing is hingeing on exactness! I cut out a circle about 3 1/4" and then I just sketched 5 fat petals and cut the circle into a flower. Mine isn't perfect but it was spaced out well enough for me. I went ahead and traced and scanned mine if it just makes things easier for you! I put 2 sizes on here but modify as you need. The smaller one is the size I made shown in these photos. You can download it HERE.


Now take your template, trace (this is a PAIN on black since it makes my trace lines hard to see but any other color should be simple) I used a disappearing ink pen, traced and cut out. I stacked my fabric and did 3 at a time. You will need 9 cutouts in total. Don't worry if they aren't all exactly the same. Just get the general shape cut and trim off any areas around the curves that might look more angular.


Now cut out a circular 3 inch felt piece and this will be the backing of our flower.


Take one of your knit cutouts and we are going to start making the petals. Start by folding them in half and then in half again. I like to dab a bit of glue at the bottom so it wants to stay together and then I glue it onto the felt placing the point in the center.


Here are my 4 petals shown glued down for the first layer.


Next you'll do another layer doing the same exact thing except this time you will pivot the petals 45 degrees so that you are covering up any gaps that you can see down into the first layer. By doing this you get more dimension as well as cover up the felt backing entirely.


Next you'll add your rosebud center. Take the last piece and instead of doing it like the others, fold it in half and then just roll it up into a rosebud. Add a dab of glue so that it stays put. Now trim off the end so that it has a base instead of a point. Put a good sized bit of glue into the centerr of your flower and push the rosebud straight down into place and let that all set.


Once that has dried, add a dab of glue to all of the petals from that 2nd layer towards the center where the rosebud is and pull them up gluing them to the rosebud. Your flower needs some fullness and dimension so this is just giving those petals a lift so they don't lay flat. Here is your finished flower! Turn your flower over and trim the felt on the bottom making a smaller circle so that you can't see it when worn,


I added mine to a stretchy headband but you could also do a clip or even a pin if you wanted to accent a piece of clothing, purse etc. Hot glue the headband down onto your felt and then another piece of felt on top of the headband. These flowers would even look cute on military hat. Just get your hot glue gun and add it on.


And here you go...my happy recipient wearing her headband!

Camera Strap Tutorial

I'm on my 2nd SLR camera and figured it was finally time to make myself a cute strap! I've seen so many tutorials pinned to Pinterest which is my new favorite site so I finally decided it was time to make one. Click on any photo to enlarge.

I checked out a handful of tutorials and finally settled on following this one from Priddy Creations. Seemed straightforward enough, let's roll!


First start by choosing the fabric you'd like for your strap. One will be the one you see, the other is the interior so don't spend too much time trying to choose that print. In fact, just go ahead and buy some plain printed broadcloth and save a little money. I did adjust the fabric cuts just a tad. I actually have 2 SLR cameras, both are Canon's and the straps are 23 inches long(just the neck strap portion) by 1 5/8" wide. Measure your strap first to get a sense of how long and how wide you need it to be and adjust accordingly. I have a few changes I made along the way from the original tutorial I found as I just prefer a snug fit.
* Materials, 2 pieces of fabric (print and plain) fusible fleece, thread, sewing machine, scissors and of course your iron!
* Cut your printed and plain pieces 5 1/4" wide by 24" long - the portion of my strap that I want to cover is 23" so you may want to measure the length of your strap, just to ensure you get the correct length and just cut about 1 1/2 inches longer than what you measure. Remember, only measure the portion of the strap you want covered, not the entire strap end to end.
* Cut your fusible fleece 4 1/4" wide by 22" long or 2 inches shorter than your printed piece


With right sides facing each other, stitch together down the 2 long sides using a 1/4" seam allowance. Then center the fusible fleece onto the solid side of the fabric and follow the instructions to adhere.


Now turn your piece inside out so you can see your print.


Push the seams all the way out and press. Next, fold the ends with the raw edges in about 1/2" on each side, press with your iron and stitch those 2 shorts ends down.


Now fold the piece in half lengthwise and press. If you aren't adding any trim, stitch this long side down and you are done! If you are interested in jazzing it up some more by adding some trim, read on.



At this point you can do a few things. If you have tags you use, stitch it to one end.


If adding a trim you can do this now. Stitch this right on and fold the ends under so the ends are hidden in the interior. I've shown a shabby floral trim here in the photo. I would probably hot glue this on or secure with a fabric glue instead of stitching over the flowers. If you were going to glue the trim on you will first finish off the strap.
It is folded in half and you will stitch down that long side locking your stitches at each end. After that is done you could cut the rose trim to the length you need and add them now.

I chose to leave my strap as is with just the print showing. Ta-da! Isn't she pretty? I'm ready to take some photos!

I have since made a few changes because my brain just couldn't leave it alone and decided to do one that had different fabrics on each side. A simple change but I love it! Simply cut 2 strips 2.875" wide and then stitch them together at 1/4" seam allowance to have one single piece again. That should total your width that you needed of 5 1/4". The most challenging part of this will be staying true to your seam allowance when you stitch them together and then again when you fold and iron at the end. Iron it exactly along that seam so each print is on it's proper side and not peeking over!

I just adore these happy and bright colors!

Family Game Night with Minute to Win It

Are you all looking forward to the holidays as much as we are in our house? I just love having these breaks with no real schedule, getting to sleep in and fill in the day just as we like. Like many moms, I love the idea of getting some wonderful family time and with a bit of planning I know we can have some fun, and not spend a fortune.

I started thinking of what my kids love and this year they seem to love the Game Show Minute to Win it! I have put together our own Minute to Win It game kit for us to use over the holidays. I think this would be a fun present and an exceptional time if you are having relatives visit and need some ideas to fill your time together. Best of all, it's all contained in it's own bucket for easy storage!

I started out by collecting all the items that I wanted for my games and found everything I needed at Walmart. I have 15 games in all. Here are my supplies. The only thing not shown is a timer if you wanted to grab one (we use the iPhone stopwatch) and then you'll need a cookie or Nilla Wafer. Since that can go bad, I figure we'll just grab it when we play.

***Click on any photo to enlarge***



5 gallon paint bucket
At least 21 solo cups (one needs to be a different color)
Pack of Pencils (for this game you could substitute with quarters)
Balloons
Skewers
Penne Pasta
Deck of Cards
6 dice
Jumbo Craft Sticks
String
At least 6 nails
We grabbed stickers as well just to decorate the bucket



I love things to be self contained. Nothing makes me nuttier than pieces and parts all over my house. Head to your paint section at Walmart and find the 5 gallon paint buckets. They had some that said Walmart on the side (nope, not what I wanted) but then I wandered down the aisles and found some plain colored ones. JACKPOT! I found green, blue and white. I grabbed some plain green and blue buckets and lids (my store only had white lids but that was fine with me)



My friend Cathy is an amazing graphics artist and created this sticker to put on the outside of the bucket. We also grabbed some stickers that people use for garage sales that were blank and my kids just lined the top with alternating colors. They loved how colorful and fun their game was becoming. You can download the Family Game Night sticker here. I printed mine out on shipping labels where there are 2 to a sheet. You can always print on regular paper and just tape it on.



Then we just started bagging up the games into ziplock baggies and filled the bucket.



We decided on 15 games that have been tested by all my kids so a range of ages can participate. Sorry for the crummy photo, it's from my old iPhone but one of our favorites is the noodling around game. We like to do 2 family members at a time, creates some fun competition!



I created a template with the game names and descriptions and printed it out on white cardstock. You can download this template here. These can help you get started but you can create loads of fun by making up ones of your own or searching online for more games. We tried to choose games that a range of ages would be able to do. I also love laminating things :-) I laminated this sheet so that grubby hands don't ruin it over time.



Now put your lid on and your Game Night Kit is complete and ready for use or to give as a gift. Have fun and enjoying spending some time together!