Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Giveaway: Pink Stitches One Year Blogiversary!

 ***This giveaway is now closed. Thank you everyone who entered! Congratulations Katie! She is the lucky winner!!***


I am participating today in a giveaway! Bonnie's having a one year Blogiversary over at Pink Stitches! Way to go Bonnie! She has only been sewing for a year, can you believe that? 

Super talented, that one. 

I first met Bonnie from Pink Stitches through Facebook. I saw that she had an Etsy shop and asked her about it...then the rest is history! I hadn't found anyone who lived in Laredo with an Etsy shop, so I was super excited. We found out we had a lot in common, including 3 year old sons (who think they are superheroes), a love for the Hunger Games series, and  participating in our first craft show together. I was so excited to find someone in Laredo who is crafty like me. For awhile, we were just Facebook friends.  Whenever I would mention her, I would say: 'My friend, Bonnie, who I met on Facebook and has an Etsy shop and a crafty blog.'  Ha! I can now say we have met in person!


Hop on over and enter her giveaways! There will be one everyday this week, and I am honored that she asked me to participate.

One lucky winner will receive this lovely Hanging Kitchen Towel, and a coffee cozy of their choice from my Etsy shop.

Woo hoo!! 



Won't this look lovely in your kitchen??





I was so caught up in the holidays and my wedding anniversary, that I didn't even notice I missed MY Blogiversary.

Yikes!

This little blog turned ONE on January 11. Hard to believe.

To celebrate, I am giving away one more coffee cozy of choice from my Etsy shop!

To enter:


'Like' just stitch. on Facebook


One comment per entry please! (I'll draw a winner on Monday!)


Good Luck to everyone who enters!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Tutorial: Dino Hooded Bath Towel

 Being a mom of two, I am finding it harder and harder to find time to sew. So when I can finish a project during my daughter's nap, while also tending to my 3 year old ('Mama, I need to go potty...Mama, can I have a snack?' You get the picture.) it is AWESOME. This is one of those projects!!

The Dino Hooded Bath Towel.

Quick. Easy. Super fun.


I first found this tutorial from Infarrantly Creative, years ago. It is super easy and only takes about 30 minutes. When I made Bobby one, I added some dino spikes to the hood. He loved it!! He 'ROARED' all the way from the bathroom to his room! Lily was growing out of her store bought hooded towels, so I made her one also. A girly one. She looks so cute all bundled up!

I decided to let y'all in on how to make one of your own! 

The great thing about these towels is that they are large, so your kiddos can use them for a long time!





 ROAR!!!

Do you want to make your own Dino Hooded Bath Towel?? Keep reading to find out how! 


Supplies:
**You might want to change your needle for heavyweight fabrics, since you will be sewing through multiple thick layers.
1 full size bath towel
1 hand towel in the same color as the bath towel
1 hand towel in coordinating color for the spikes
Heavyweight iron on interfacing (you can find this at Hobby Lobby or Jo Ann's)
(The picture shows a light pink terry cloth, but I ended up not using that...so ignore it!! )

Iron, straight pins, marking pen, ruler or measuring tape.

Make the Hood:
Take the matching hand towel and measure 10" from the bottom. (Long ways, if that makes sense) Draw a line all the way across to mark where you will cut. Cut along the line. This will be your hood.


Fold the hood in half, matching raw edge to raw edge, finished edge to finished edge. Cut along the fold. Set aside.


Now take your coordinating hand towel and cut the spikes. For my daughter's towel I made half circles, for my son I made triangle spikes. You can get creative with this! There are so many different things you could do. Wide triangles or narrow...semi circles or longer circles...whatever you decide, I'm sure it will be great!
Cut 6 pieces.


Cut 6 pieces of interfacing. Cut them slightly smaller than your terry cloth. Follow the directions and iron them onto your spikes. 


Then, pair up your spikes and pin them together, right sides facing. (You should be able to see your interfacing.) Sew along the curve with a 1/4" seam allowance, leaving the bottom open. 
Turn right side out and press with your iron.


After your spikes are nice and pressed, sew along the curved edge, giving it a nice finished look.


Now place the spikes onto the right side of one of the hood halves. Match up the raw edges. 


Place the other half of the hood on top, sandwiching the spikes in between both pieces. again matching up all the raw edges. Pin all 3 layers together. 


Sew along the 2 raw edges, making sure to get all three layers. Follow the curve of the spikes...yours should look similar to the picture above. Make sure to back stitch at each end.


Next, cut the corner making sure not to cut where you sewed. I ran an extra zig zag stitch all along the edge to prevent fraying. If you have a serger, you could serge this edge as well. 


Flip it right side out! You now have your hood! Set aside.


Attach hood to the bath towel:
Take your bath towel and fold it in half, matching the shorter edges. Iron on the fold to make a crease. Open the towel and measure 4" on each side of the crease. Mark with a pin or marking pen. 
I don't have a picture of this, but fold each mark towards the crease and pin in place. Sew across making sure you catch all three layers.  You now have a pleat down the center of the towel.


Take your hood and line up the bottom part of the hood with the towel, right sides together. Match the center of the hood (where the spikes are) with the center crease of the towel. Pin in place. Sew all along this edge with a 1/4" seam allowance. 
Take this part slow. Since you are going through so many layers, it is pretty thick, especially when you get close to the spikes. Make sure to back stitch at each end. 


When you are done, this is what your towel should look like. Make sure to remove all your pins!


That's it! Now go give your kids a bath! They will be so excited to use their new Dino Towels!!

My little cutie. Who says dinosaurs are just for boys??

Monday, January 2, 2012

Handmade Christmas: Pattern Review and a Tutorial Too!

 Happy New Year! 

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and the Happiest New Year yet! I had a wonderful time with family and friends. My son is 3 this year, so it was so fun experiencing the holidays through his eyes. 

Every year for the past nine years or so, I have made Christmas gifts for the ladies in my family. Each year is better than the last (pressure I put on myself...). This year, I decided to take on the task of making bath robes for everyone. I made EIGHT of them! Yikes! I was cutting it close, but I finished before Christmas. Barely.


The pattern I used was the Kimono-Style Bath Robe from Amy Butler's book, In Stitches. The pattern was pretty easy to follow, and the robes all turned out really good!  I didn't have any major problems, except for the neckline. I had trouble getting the fabric to lay flat and not bunch in certain places. Other than that, I would definitely recommend this pattern to y'all. After cutting the fabric (which I think for a size medium, you don't need all 3.75 yards recommended, maybe only 3.5 yards, if you are looking to save money) it only took about 2 hours to make one robe. All the ladies in my family absolutely loved their gifts! I really want to make myself one, but I can't decide on what fabric to use. Right now I think I am leaning towards this zig zag print from Ann Kelle, or perhaps one of these chevron prints from Riley Blake?


 In addition to the robes, I also made these adorable Easy-Peasy PJ Pants (that's what I'm calling them) for my nephew, Noah. It is not my pattern, I found this one through Pinterest, but I had to share because of how easy they were to make! From start to finish, they probably took me only 40 minutes or so. I want to make more! I will definitely make some for my kiddos...

Sadly, I decided that this year was my last to go handmade-crazy with Christmas gifts. I want to be able to relax and enjoy the holiday season next year, instead of being stressed and rushed making gifts for everyone. 

Did any of you make your gifts? I would love to hear from you! 
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