BABY SHOES - TUTORIAL

i make reborn dolls, and i frequently look at other artists renditions of kits i have done, or would like to do, and came across this picture.

she a kit im familiar with only online, i have never done her myself, but. thats not what impressed me about the picture.

it was her shoes. look at them! 

at first i thought, MAN! how much time it must have taken to embellish those tiny shoes just to sell a doll, AMAZING!

then i had a thought.

why couldnt she have bought material, that kind that LOOKS like it has sequins on it, but doesnt. 

comes in every conceivable color there is...

and make a pair of really cute bling shoes???

so, my quest brought me here...to THIS online tutorial (not mine)

Tutorial: Fabric Baby Shoes

For this project you will be using 2 fabrics to create the baby shoes.  Choose your first fabric and iron the interfacing with the paper side up. (the glue web should be placed on the “wrong/backside” of the fabric).

I have trimmed the fabrics down to approx 6”x12” for this shoe size.

Iron each section for 3 seconds until interfacing is applied to the fabric.  Once this is done move to the next fabric and repeat the same steps.

Now that the interfacing is applied peel away the paper liner to reveal the newly interfaced fabric.

Then place your fabric onto your cutting mat interfacing side down.

Ok Now you are ready to cut.
I arranged the pattern according to the image below in order to minimize waste.

Click the send to Silhouette button, select your fabric cut settings and cut out your shoe pattern.

Now that your shapes are all cut out you are ready to put them together.

Pin both patterned arches to each other face sides together as shown in the image to the right.  This will form the top part of the shoe. 

Then sew the inside of the arches together.

Open the arches and bring face sides together at the ends of the arches and sew together. 

The next step is to turn the fabric face side out.  Then iron the arches together.  This will form the top part of the shoe.  The interfacing that you used will help the two fabrics to stay together. 

You will also want to iron the soles of the baby shoes together.  Place the interfacing sides of the soles together and iron for a few seconds.

Pin the sole of the shoe to the top piece inside out and sew around the edge.  Once that is completed turn the shoes right-side out.

You will also want to stitch the strap and hook and loop tape on at this point if you have not already done so.

Aren't these the cutest little shoes EVER!  *screech* ...now I just need a little one to put these on. ;)  I will have a pdf posted on the website soon as well as more sizes in the online store.  

GIFT CARD BRACELETS - TUTORIAL

i was out today at a local art show that happens once a year to promote and get money for the local Zoo here. i go for the primate paintings, and i can score a decent one yearly.

but thats not what this post is about.

while there with dear hubby, he points out a display of jewelry , made out of, all things, GIFT CARDS!!

so, i came home and went looking for a tutorial on how to make these things.

found one,

Gift Card Bracelets

14 JUNE 2009

I’ve seen a lot people making bracelets from their credit cards lately. Well, I just have one credit card, and honestly, it’s kinda ugly, even when cut up in pieces. However, I have noticed that some stores offer some pretty wonderful gift cards that are just asking to be made into jewelry, so I decided to give my own bracelet a try.

I started with this pile of cards. The three at the top are from Hobby Lobby, which always has pretty, seasonal card designs. The handful at the bottom are actually promo American Express clear cards—the only credit card like objects in my stash that looked like they might want to be jewelry. At some point, I’m pretty sure I’ll turn these into a necklace.

First, I did a little planning with my ruler. I figured I could cut eight pieces from the card by splitting it lengthwise, and then cutting 3/4″ strips from those halves. The little bit leftover removed the writing on the bottom of the card.

Armed with measurements, I flipped the card over, and drew out some cutting lines using a Sharpie.

Heavy scissors will cut through the cards easily.

The card had rounded corners, so I just used one of those as a guide, and rounded all the straight cut edges. This will keep the pieces from catching on everything in sight when they’re around my wrist.

The card had rounded corners, so I just used one of those as a guide, and rounded all the straight cut edges. This will keep the pieces from catching on everything in sight when they’re around my wrist.

I marked dots for two holes along one shorter edge.

I have a teeny tiny hole punch I use for jewelry, that’s just big enough for a jump ring to slide through. A drill would work for hole punching, too.

I used split rings to join the pieces together. Just place them back to back, and slide the ring through two side holes.

Just keep putting new pieces back to back with the ones joined together, adding links until the bracelet is long enough. I used seven for mine, but probably could have made do with six.

When the bracelet was long enough, I just added a toggle clasp to the ends.