Mike’s First Baby Toy

About a month ago, I wrote about Mike’s new woodworking hobby.  Well, he finally got the saw he had been eyeing and made his first project…a colaboration between the two of us.  And I have to say, this is probably the best first project that I have ever seen!  He did such a great job, smoothing the edges to make it safe for baby mouth contact, and shaping the whole thing perfectly.

So what is it?  Its a teething ring!  Made out of untreated oak and finished with walnut oil.

Turtle Teething Ring

• 5″ square 1/4 inch untreated wood
• walnut oil
• turtle teething ring pattern
• scroll saw (if you don’t have one, you may be able to borrow or rent one)
• drill
• sandpaper in medium, fine, and superfine
• tacky cloth
• old towel

1. Cut out pattern and trace with a pencil onto wood.
2. Using your saw, cut around the turtle.  Take your time!  And use safety precautions (ie. goggles, gloves, etc.)
3. To cut the middle out, drill a hole in the center.  Unplug your saw, insert the blade into the whole and attach the blade properly to your saw, and plug it back in. 
4. Cut around the circle.  Unplug saw, remove blade and toy.
5. Starting with the coarsest sandpaper, sand the toy fixing any small mistakes, and rounding all the edges.  Work your way to the superfine sandpaper, making sure the whole toy is smooth.  Keep an eye out for rough or pointy edges, and smooth them down.
6. Use the tacky cloth to remove all the fine dust covering the toy.
7. Take the towel and dip in some walnut oil.  Smooth oil evenly over the surface of the toy.  Wait 20 minutes, then repeat.  Repeat applying oil until the turtle is well oiled (it may need more coats as it gets used by your little one).

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Gift Ideas

I know that it is still early in the season, but the Holidays are getting closer and closer.  Its time to start thinking about gifts for friends and family.  If you are thinking about making a gift for someone, I have put together a list of all my tutorials as a place for you to get started.

Stormy T-shirt Make or buy a simple t-shirt and spruce it up with this applique and embroidery

Paper Flower Mobile Craft this simple flower mobile for some beautiful home decor or to be used as a wand for an imaginative little girl…experiment with different colors of paper and sizes

Magnolia Shirt Detail Make this neckline detail for an otherwise boring store-bought tank

Grill Tool Carrier Summer may seem far away, but it will be back before you know it!

Reversible Water Bottle Holder Put together this handy water bottle holder for fitness and outdoor gurus

Gardening Apron By Christmas time, spring will be just around the corner…Make a cute apron for a gardener you know.  This apron could also be used as a traditional kitchen apron.

Flower Headband This headband is super quick and easy, and is so cute!

Chunky Necklace This necklace is very inexpensive and simple to put together, but it looks like a million bucks!

Lei Neckline Dress up a simple top by adding this feminine neckline

Bread Linen/Cloth Napkins Monogram some beautiful linen to wrap around fresh-baked bread for the home baker, or use these as napkins for your eco-conscious friend

Corsage Neckline Add detail to a store-bought top

Scrap Tote Sew this simple tote to be used at the market

Emboridered Bookmark A bookmark is the perfect gift for a book addict

Baby Blanket If you have extra time, try your hand at printing on fabric and sew up this beautiful blanket for a baby or expectant parents

Eyeglass Holder Upcycle some old sweaters and make this eyeglass holder, very easy on the pocket-book

Binding Tape Make some patchy binding tape for a sewer, and pair it with some other sewing goodies, like buttons, ribbons, and other trims

Messenger Bag Make this messenger bag for anyone who needs to tote around a lot of stuff…this project is fairly time-intensive, but the results are worth it

Hair Pins This is a quick project that any girl will love

Yo-yo Table Runner This project will take care of all those little fabric scraps you have hanging around.  Make one in Christmas colors, or to match the recipients home decor

Knit Cuff If you don’t have much experience knitting, this is a great project for you…it takes very little time, and very little yarn

Simple Jersey Dress This is a great dress to make because it takes very little time, and it will fit almost any woman, add to that the elegant silhouette and you’ve got yourself a perfect gift

Wrapped Gift Cards If you don’t have time to make anything and find yourself last-minute scrambling to find a gift, get a couple giftcards and wrap them in this unique way to make the gift more special

I hope this list inspires you!

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Grill Tool Carrier, Take Two

I have been meaning to post the instructions for my grill tool carrier for a while now.  I know that we have just about reached the end of summer, but if you happen to live in a place where your winter is just ending, or you have year round sunshine, this is a great little gift to make.  Mike has been using his all the time, and I know we will use it well into the winter for some snow storm grilling!  The best part about it?  It takes very little time to put together. 

Download the Instructions for the Grill Tool Carrier to get started!

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Stormy

Last week I made this t-shirt for Mike, and I thought it needed a little something extra.  We have been having lots of rainstorms that have been a bit out of character for the area that I live in, which got me dreaming of all things Autumn…hot tea, crisp leaves under my feet, sweaters for every occasion, and pumpkins!  I used those storms as my inspiration for the detail for the shirt.  To make the clouds and raindrops, I used the back side of the fabric that I used for the shirt…it is a little bit darker, and has a different texture.  The effect is pretty subtle, so it doesn’t look too much like a child’s shirt.

I put together some instructions and a pattern so you can make one too!  If you are making this for an adult, you can use the pattern as is, but if you are making this for a child, you may need to shrink the size of the pattern to fit on a smaller shirt.

Here are the Stormy T-Shirt Instructions.  Enjoy!

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Paper Flower Mobile

Hello all, I hope you had a great weekend!  I had a pretty busy weekend, planning, preping and throwing a bridal shower for my sister, but I still managed to put this lovely mobile together!  I got the idea from t does wool.  I thought the flowers were so lovely, I had to figure out some project to use them in so I decided put together this little mobile to hang….somewhere.  I’m not sure where I will put it yet.

What you will need:

• newspaper, cut into 2″ squares (you will need 20 to make 4 flowers)
• thick yarn or twine
• an interesting stick or a dowel

Construct 4 flowers.  I used this tutorial, which is very good, so I will not duplicate it.  The tutorial says to glue the flower petals, but I used double sided tape instead because I didn’t want to wait for the glue to dry.  The tape worked very well.

Cut several pieces of twine/yarn varying in size from 10″-18″.  You will use four of these to attach the flowers, and the others will hang down without flowers (the twine without flowers is optional…I decided not to use them, but I think if I did it again I would use them).  Take four different lengths of twine and thread one through the center of each of the flowers.  Tie a knot on one end of the twine (the end that is on the “front” side of the flower) leaving 1.5″ hanging.

Gather the ends of all the twine.  You should have 4 that have flowers attached and several that do not.  Tie them in a knot around the string.  Trim the ends if you would like, or leave them hanging.

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Repurposed Dress Shirt

I have had this dress shirt for a few years now.  I originally bought it because I loved the fabric, but it was a bit to big for me, so I never really wore it.  I have been admiring all the summer tunics that have been in style this summer, so I decided to make the top into a tunic.

What you will need:

• dress shirt that is two sizes too big for you
• seam ripper
• matching thread
• scissors
• pencil
• straight pins
• iron

1. Remove the collar with the seam ripper.  Re-stitch the along the top where the collar once was.

2. Remove all the buttons from the top.

3. Measure 6″ down the front and mark with a pencil or a straight pin.

4. Turn shirt inside out.  Align the front button panel with right sides facing.  Secure with pins.

5. Stitch just on the inside of these button panels, starting at the bottom and ending at the mark you made in step 3.  Iron seam open.  At the top, the button panels will be folded in half.

6. Stitch the top of the folded button panels at 1/4″ (or smaller if the button panels are smaller).

7. With the shirt inside out, measure 6″ (more or less for shorter or longer sleeves) up each sleeve and mark with a pencil or straight pin.  Cut sleeves at this mark.

8.  Fold cut sleeve over at 1/2″ and iron.  Stitch along sleeve edge at 1/4″.

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Reversible Water Bottle Holder

As promised, here is the first camping craft!  We went on a couple hikes while camping, and it was a bit inconvenient to be carrying my water bottle in my hands, especially when I had to do some climbing.  I was wishing that I had something to put the water bottle in, but I didn’t want to have to carry a giant backpack for just one water bottle.  I decided to put together this little holder to keep my hands free.  This holder is meant to fit pretty tightly around the water bottle, so be careful when you sew it to keep the seams at 1/4″.  Also, If you like, you could make the strap adjustable…I think I might end up doing this. 

For the fabric I used a lovely upholstry weight cotton that my sister gave me for Christmas.  This fabric is perfect because it is extremely durable, and the colors won’t show a lot of dirt.  I highly recommend using something that is heavier than a quilting cotton so that it will withstand some banging around.

So without further ado…here are the instructions for the Reversible Water Bottle Holder.

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Flower Headband

After making two dresses last week, I was in the mood for something a little easier to kick the week off.  I made this headband out of cream colored scrap fabric.  I love the headband because it goes with almost every article of clothing I have crafted so far!  Its definately bigger than anything I have worn on my head before, but hopefully I can pull it off alright.  The edges were left unfinished so that it will slowly fray and give it a hand-crafted look.Here is the Flower Headband Instructions and Pattern.  Enjoy!!

To all you mothers, I hope you had a truly wonderful Mother’s Day…you deserve to be celebrated!

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Spring Top Week – Lei Neckline

This week is Spring Top Week over at Made by Rae.  This week she is posting images of her Spring top creations, as well as those of other people who are participating.  She is also hosting a Flickr group where you can see all the submissions and share your comments.  She also posted a free shirt tutorial!  Very cute, and very versatile!

Here is my shirt for Spring Top Week!  I have a tank top at home that I really love.  It is really comfy, but still looks nice.  The problem is that I only have one, so I can’t really wear it more than once a week.  To solve this problem, I decided to put together another one, using the tank as my pattern.

To remake your favorite shirt:

• a tank top
• about 1.5 yards of light knit fabric
• matching thread
• Lei Neckline Instructions, if you would like to add it

Start with your favorite tank.  Fold the front in half, down the middle.  Fold your chosen fabric down the middle (make sure to pay attention to the direction of the knit).  Align the center fold of the shirt along the center fold of the fabric. 

Outline the shirt, marking 1/4 inch away from the edge where the side seams and the shoulder seams are, and marking 1/2 inch away from the arm hole edge and the neckline are.  Fold the back of the shirt down the middle and repeat.

Align the front and back pieces of shirt fabric, right sides facing.  Stitch the shirt together along the two sides and at the shoulders at 1/4 inch.  Finish the seams with a zig-zag stitch.

Fold the neckline, arm holes, and bottom hem over twice, each fold at 1/4 inch.  Sew using a running stitch.

Attach the neckline, if desired.

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Build Your Wardrobe – Plaid Linen Skirt

Happy Monday!  Sorry I’m a bit late in posting today…I am still trying to recover from yesterday’s festivities.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter/Passover weekend.  Mike and I had a few friends over for Easter dinner yesterday.  Yummy!  I was also able to get some sewing done for my summer wardrobe.  I put together this skirt.  I used a light plaid linen that I found at the fabric store the other day.  I thought that it would do a pretty good job of keeping me cool in the summer.  I really love the organic texture of this linen, well I guess linen in general.

This is my first time working with plaid, and I had a hard time lining up all the stripes and boxes.  I wanted the front panel to have the pattern on the diagonal, with the cross sections directly in the middle.  Didn’t really come out that way though.  I still think I like this skirt, and the fact that its off tells that it is made by hand.  I guess making mistakes is what learning to sew clothing is all about.

Here are the instructions for this skirt.

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