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.

TUTORIAL - HOW TO DISTRESS FURNITURE

In our grandmothers' day, if a piece of furniture or a picture frame was distressed, it meant it had been around for generations and most of the paint had worn off in areas that had been rubbed by hands or nicked by being moved too many times. Today, the distressed look is sought-after, and it can add character and style to many types of decor.
Surprisingly, the process is relatively simple. The first step is to determine what you'd like the finished piece to look like. If below the distressed areas you'd like to see an old paint color, as if the piece has been painted many times over, you'll need to paint two colors. Consider a brighter color for the base coat so it shows up well as it peeks through the top coat. If you want the rubbed-off areas to reveal bare wood, the technique requires only one coat.
You also need to decide whether to add a stain to it afterward, which will mute or age the color(s) you've selected. To retain the integrity of your color choice, you may just want to paint clear polyurethane over the finished project. A water-based polyurethane that won't yellow over time is a good choice.
Ready to distress for success? Here's what to do:
Materials and Tools:
object to be distressed (wooden frame, piece of furniture, etc.)
satin latex paint for the base coat
satin latex paint or a wood stain for the top coat
painting tools
candle
medium-grade steel wool
sandpaper
tack cloth
polyurethane to finish (optional)
Steps:
1. Lightly sand the object you want to distress. If the object already has a finish (previously painted or varnished), sand all surfaces well. After the sanding, wipe the piece with a tack cloth.
2. Paint the entire piece in the base coat color you've selected.
3. For the bare-wood look: When the base coat is dry, start sanding off areas that would naturally end up distressed — places where hands would have held it, or corners that could easily get nicked. For the color look: Rub candle wax on the areas where you'd like to see color show through. Don't forget to do the sides and back; you want the entire piece to be finished. Then apply the top coat.
4. For the bare-wood look: Be sure to stop before you go too crazy with the sanding, and then wipe the entire piece with the tack cloth. For the color look: Paint over the base coat and the wax. Cover everything well. After the paint dries, rub the steel wool over the areas you've waxed. (The steel wool won't harm the rest of the paint enough to worry about — remember, the piece is meant to be distressed, so use it to find the waxed areas.) Wipe off the piece with the tack cloth.
5. Apply a finish if desired.

TUTORIAL - PATCHWORK QUILT

ORIGINAL INSTRUCTION CAN BE FOUND HERE-CLICK THIS LINK

how to make the patchwork quilt that you can see in the picture above. It’s a light and cosy quilt that will last you for many years, withstand the washing machine and I’m sure it will also be more than happy to be included in many events that will hold great memories for you.

The measurements used in this ‘how-to’ are for a quilt that sits fantastically on a Kingsize (UK) bed and measures approximately 210 cm square (82 inches square)

• Once you have selected your fabrics for the quilt, start by cutting them into squares. I chose a palette of light ‘springlike’ colours and patterns that would pretty much suit every room in my house. If you’re after something a bit more colourful, never fear, we’ve got our Summertime quilt to come later in the year!
• We cut our squares of fabric 8″ x 8″ and used 121 squares.

• Arrange all the squares out on the floor in the pattern you want . This way you can see the approximate size and what it will be like, it is much easier to move squares around now rather than when it is all stitched together!

• Starting with the top row, sew the squares into strips.

 Then sew (quilt) all the strips together. Once this has been completed you’ll get a real sense of what the finished quilt will look like and it’s exciting to say the least.

• Take care to ensure that all of the seams meet up. To do this you’ll need to be meticulous when sewing the squares and strips together. You’ll also need to make sure that your hems are all of the same size. The picture above is a great example of the hems meeting up superbly and if you can achieve this then your quilt will look wonderful when spread out in all its glory on the bed.
• However, you’re NOT to beat yourself up if this doesn’t happen. Especially if this is your first time at making a patchwork quilt of this size

 When sewing together the individual squares and strips of the quilt I used a stitch and hem of this size. This ensures that the quilt is strong and secure.

• The picture above shows the binding.

• ‘Binding’ a quilt together is the term used when covering the raw edges of the quilt in order to protect them. You also use binding to attach the underside of the quilt and hold the wadding/filling/batting in place (we’ll come to the filling in a moment).

• Cut your binding into strips ensuring that you have enough to cover the outer edges of the quilt.
• Mine were cut 1 inch wide using a contrasting piece of fabric that matched the other colours in the quilt perfectly.
• Iron them in half.

• Pin the binding to the right side of the quilt so that the binding is upside down and both the quilt and the binding are ‘face to face’.
• Sew into place about 1/2 a cm from the edge.
• Make sure that you leave some excess binding at each of the corners as you want enough to sew your corners neatly.

• When sewing the corners of the binding together, align two of the binding strips together and then sew from the patchwork corner straight across the binding.It should look like the picture above when turned the right way in.
• You could create a continuous length of binding if you so wish and simply sew it, in its entirety, to the outside edge of the quilt. There are many different ways to do this and many different ways for it to work.

• We’ll now move on to filling the quilt.
• There are several terms used for filling the quilt, don’t be put off by any of them.
• Simply put –  You need to fill the quilt with something in order to make it warm and a wee bit more substantial than two pieces of cotton sewn together and the terms wadding, batting and padding are sometimes used interchangeably.
• There are many different materials that you can use for all different types of uses and budgets.
• I used Bamboo wadding/filling and asked my fabric shop to give me a bit more than I needed to make the size of quilt that I was making.

• When cutting your wadding/filling to the size you need, make sure it is slightly larger than the patchwork part as you will need to fill the binding too.

• Lay your wadding piece flat on the floor, then lay your piece of backing fabric on to it (face up), finally, your patchwork piece (face down and with the binding attached) on top.

Note: Ensure your backing and patchwork pieces are facing each other so it is the correct way when you turn it the right way out.

• Pin the wadding, backing and the binding (the edge yet to be attached) together along three sides of the quilt, leaving enough wadding overlapping to fill the other half of the binding.
• Don’t ‘pull’ the binding out flat otherwise it will mess up your corners. Work to the size of the patchwork quilt and NOT to the size of the binding.
• Then stitch all three pieces on three sides together making sure that you leave the wadding longer than the other edges so it will fill the binding when turned the right way. This is done to stop the wadding moving and ending up in a lump at the bottom of one of the corners and to make the quilt generally more secure and sturdy. If you’re going to all of this effort you want to be able to use this quilt for many years to come.

• When all three sides of the quilt are stitched up and secure, you can now start to pin together the fourth and final side of the quilt in the same way as before (pinning the wadding, backing and binding together).
• Start pinning the fabrics together from one of the open corners to approximately 50cm into the middle.
• Do the same from the other corner of the quilt, pinning together approximately 50cm into the middle.
• Machine the pinned pieces of fabric together, leaving you with an opening of approximately 110cm in the middle.
• By leaving this large opening will allow you enough room to turn the quilt the right way out.

• Turn the quilt the right way out
• The opening that is left will be hand stitched together.
• We did this by folding the binding over so it met the backing fabric and the wadding, and sewed the opening up using a very small hidden hand stitch.
• We then added a small stitch which is hidden in the seam every 1 to 2 inches to strengthen the binding as before
• This also helps to keep the ironed fold in the binding central.

• Once the final side of the quilt has been sewn up your quilt is officially finished.
• However I decided that the quilt needed something a little extra to make it …..well, to make it a bit more quilty!

• We stitched a cross, diagonally, in to each and every square of the quilt.  This not only added detail to the quilt in a very easy way but also helps keep the wadding in place.
• Again, it’s about making the quilt as sturdy and secure as possible so that you get years of use from it. We’re creating an ‘Heirloom Quilt’ here not something disposable.

A closer look at how the diagonal crosses make the quilt look……

And there you have it.
I really hope you enjoy making and using this quilt as much as I have already.
Have a wonderful time and PLEASE don’t worry if it doesn’t come out exactly the way you want it to first time around. As there are many ways to skin a cat, there are also many ways to make a quilt. And this is my way!

BABY BOY ONZIE CUTE IDEA

i cant remember why i hit this area, but i thought it was too cute.
its RECYCLED (hey! a reason to use all those old ties dad never wears!) Ties!

obviously the tie is smaller than its original. but its pretty easy design, 2 pieces. the "tie" part (at the top) and the long part (underneath it)

these could sell for a few bucks easy!

i dont have the pattern for this idea.
but it cant be that difficult to put together, from ral ties or even a template made to produce a tie from selected fabric.

MICHELLE