It's T-Shirt Time! Criss Cross Technique...

After doing the weaving technique I wanted to try out other ideas, so I went back to YouTube to find other cool t-shirt cutting techniques.

The one idea that caught my eye was by Salinabear and she has several other tutorial vids that are just as cool.  She did this really cool criss cross technique that intrigued me and I had never seen before.  It looked a little complicated so I had to use an old t-shirt of my hubby's as a guinea pig before I even started on the actual shirt that I was interested in cutting up. 

This technique requires you to cut tiny holes into the shirt for weaving the strips into.  I ran into a little problem with that since I had a hard time finding where I actually cut the holes.  I should actually clarify that the video tutorial says to cut tiny holes but I ended up just poking holes with my scissors instead since I wanted to make sure that when I weaved the strips through they would stay put and not fall out.

Anyway if you follow my technique of making holes, I HIGHLY recommend that you mark your holes with tailor's chalk on dark material or disappearing water soluble pen on light material.  I ended up missing a hole when I practiced on my guinea pig shirt.

Here are some pics of my cutting process along with the actual tutorial vid.

Cut back into strips and stretch out.



Separate your strips to be tied in 4 different sections.

The final project.





I followed just the criss cross cutting technique and adjusted the shirt to fit me better since it's one of my hubby's old XL t-shirts.  Here is the video tutorial by Salinabear and be sure to check out her other tutorials as well. 

Happy Cutting!

It's A Baby Shower!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of throwing a friend's baby shower.  They already have two adorable boys and baby #3 was going to be a SURPRISE!  I've been used to knowing what gender I'm working with when I create baby shower gifts so it makes the process simpler with the specific pink for girls and blue for boys.  Not this time since I had to work with gender neutral colors and I found it to be a little more challenging to keep the color and print selection in the middle.  Nonetheless I like the challenge since it allows me to think more openly and I got to peruse more of the fabric section at Joann's, which by the way made my eyes go O_O in delight LOL.

Since I've been making alot of the onesie cupcakes and washcloth lollipops for recent gifts, I wanted to make another diaper wreath in addition try my hand in making fabric panelled burp cloths, a diaper pouch, and a blanket.  I can't remember where exactly I found the site where I learned how to construct a diaper wreath, all I did was Google "How to make a diaper wreath?" and a plethora of information came up.  I learned how to create the simple to do diaper burp cloths from the blog Chickpea Sewing Studio and she has other great tutorials as well.  Here's the tutorial link.

I also tried my hand in making a diaper clutch and I found a great tutorial on the blog site Diary of a Quilter.  I followed her tutorial exactly with the exception that I added a small handle on the side to attach a clip if wanted.  Here's the tutorial link.

As for the blanket, all I did was get 1-yard of printed flannel, 1-yard of super plush material, and enough satin binding and sewed the two 1-yard pieces with the binding on the edges.  Here are the results of my baby gifts to Baby Boy or Girl that we can't wait to meet.  Oh, also mommy was very happy to receive these very special gifts and the color of the material was perfect since she likes the color brown ^_^

Diaper Clutch

Diaper Burp Cloths

Baby Blanket

Diaper Wreath



It's Been Nearly A Month...

It's been nearly a month since I've last blogged and that was just for a giveaway I tried to win for.  Lots has happened since then and I have lots to blog about.  Been caught up with planning a baby shower for some dear friends and I got to create a few new things for their baby, which I'll get to post eventually.  I have been keeping up with the most recent meal plan but haven't had the chance to post the recipes/meals.  There aren't much pics of them since my hubbys DSLR is gone on the blink and is in the shop as we speak.  I tried to take some pics with my regular p/s camera and phone camera when I could remember, but of course the quality isn't as great.  I don't even remember where I last left off on the menu, but eh I'll do what I can do in updating it.  As for October's Menu Plan, I'll just continue to work through September's Menu Plan until I run out of meals and create one for November.

During my little hiatus me and my lil booger got to go to Denver, CO for the very first time.  My brother accepted a transfer position from Maui to Denver, so I went there to help him settle in.  There are a few pics that I took of places we went but I missed out taking pics of the Bronco's Stadium and where The Rockie's play at.  I'm pretty sure this won't be the last time we'll be going to Denver to visit my brother, so there's always going to be more picture opportunities.

So enough of me blabbing on, I'll get to work on updating some posts with some recipes and I'm sure some of you have been jonesing for ;o)

Plush Kid's Neck Pillow

In addition to my sister's request for a makeup bag, she also asked me if I could sew up a kid's neck pillow for my nephew.  She was planning on buying one but those suckers are kind of expensive, so she figured that I could probably make one.  So I did my search on the Internet to find a tutorial on how to make one.  I pretty much knew it'd be just like sewing a pillow and stuffing it, but I figure I just check and see if there was any specific way on to make one. 

Lo and behold I found quite a lot of tutorials, even better I found one that had a pattern at the craft site Ucreate. SWEET!! I can't draw to save my life so having a pattern helped me cut the fabric as even as possible.  Since my sister lives in Hawaii I tried to find material that would be soft, comfortable, and wouldn't feel irritating against my nephew's skin on days he uses the neck pillow during hot/humid weather.  I found a soft plush material with zoo animals on it and the bonus was that it was on sale AND I had a coupon for extra off.  I bought a yard of it since I figured I'd make one for my son too and I could also make a practice one as well.

For the first pillow I made I cut it exactly to the pattern I had and discovered while stitching it up that the material is so soft that I had a hard time trying to keep the seams together.  Perhaps I needed to change the needle or whatever since I just use the standard needle.  Nonetheless, I got it stitched up and ready to be stuffed.  I used ultra plush stuffing to make it nice, soft, and comfy.  The last procedure was to whip stitch that bugger up which I loathe and could never get right....well maybe never learned how to do it properly before.  So instead I just smooshed down opening and stitched it closed with my machine...yeah lazy I know ha ha.

The end result came out alright and needed a few adjustments.  So for the pillow I made for my nephew I just added about half an inch extra material to help stitch it up better.  This worked out perfectly since I didn't have problems with stitching up the seams this time.  I wasn't particularly happy with the way I closed up the first pillow and decided to overcome my dislike for whip stitching.  So I referred to a YouTube video and got cracking on closing that pillow up.  What do you know? I think I mastered whip stitching ha ha!  Pillow #2 turned out a lot better and here it is below.

PLUSH KID'S NECK PILLOW

Pleated Makeup Bag & Tissue Holder

My sister asked me to sew her up a makeup bag and I happily took on the challenge.  To start off I sent her a few links of different websites on possible makeup bags that she could choose a style from.  Luckily she chose one that was easy enough for me to follow and try out.

I first made one for myself at a trial run before I made one for my sister since I wanted to make her one with a nylon lining for easy cleanup.  I didn't want to waste the remnant nylon I got from the fabric store since the piece wasn't that large.  In addition to making the makeup bags, I also sewed up some tissue holders as well since it looked really simple and it compliments the bags too.  I found both tutorials at the blogsite Skip to My Lou along with some other great crafting tutorials.

So here are my latest creations.

Cherry Blossom &Damask Print

Inside Lining

Tokidoki & Floral Print

Inside Lined w/Nylon

My Sew Story...

I have to admit that I'm a novice seamstress and I am learning as I go through trial and error.  The only formal training that I had for sewing was in my 8th grade sewing elective class.  I remember I sewed a pillow (that's actually still at my parents house), a bean bag rabbit that I fondly remember my neighbor James named "Lucille", and a windsock.  I haven't sewn anything since then and really had no desire to until about two years ago.

My son was born and I found it astonishing how much burp cloths I went through wiping up spit ups from that lil person.  I ran out of burp cloths and was washing a load of his clothes like every other day in order to get a clean burp cloth.  Then I had an idea that I could either sew/make my own burp cloths or go buy some new ones that were already pricey to begin with.  So my hubby gave me permission to buy my first sewing machine ever and I haven't looked back since. 

I bought a Singer 4166 when Costco had a coupon for it and I didn't even research it. 

I just bought it because of the price, little did I know this particular machine was actually little advanced for the novice me.  That didn't matter to me since I really LOVE my machine after making a few things since the day I bought it.  Firing up the machine the very first time was like riding a bike (yeah to those who know me, I don't know how to ride a bike. we'll save that story for another time.) and my first burp cloth was born. 

I made my son's burp cloths out of decorative fleece and towel material with hopes of having it absorb the spit up action my son does.  It was so easy, just a few straight lines, and sewing up the closure.  I made a whole bunch for him and my nephew who is five months younger than my son. 

From my first sewing project I have created more things in the last two years and working my way up to more advanced creations.  As I mentioned I am learning through trial and error, I have borrowed books from the library to help refresh my memory of basic sewing techniques, and the INTERNET is wonderful for finding tutorials especially YOUTUBE.  I've sewn a few new things lately and I'll post about them along with their pictures if there are any. 

So that's my sew story and I'm sticking to it.