15 Minutes to a New Paci-Clip

I've seen so many lovely paci-clips that people have made and I've really wanted to try my hand at it, but I could never find a clip that I liked.  I've heard that the best thing to use are those little clips from name tags that you get at office supply stores, but when was the last time I was in one of those?  But tonight while I was cleaning up the girls' bathroom I found Verity's extra paci-clip and thought "Hey - why don't I just use this?" And away I went.  So here's my tutorial for a new paci-clip.

Materials: 

• Clip (either from old paci-clip or if you're able to find one)
• about 12" of sturdy ribbon
• 1 snap set
• fray check
• sewing machine or needle and thread

Instructions:

1.  I laid the old ribbon on top of the new ribbon to give myself a guide for how long it should be.  I actually made mine about an inch or so longer because Verity tends to crane her neck in crazy angles and lose the pacifier. 

2.  Use fray check on the ends to insure that your ribbon doesn't unravel.
3.  Fold one end into a triangle and stitch into place.  
4.  Pull the other end through the clip loop making sure that the front of your ribbon is on the same side as the front of the clip.  Sew the ribbon securely.
5.  Attach your snaps to the opposite end.  Make sure that you use fray check around the area where you place the snaps so they don't tear the ribbon over time. 
Now, that's where I thought I was done.  And then this happened :

I couldn't get the snap through the hole!  What an obvious blunder!  So I did what I had to do - I cut the pacifier to make the hole big enough. 
And now it works!  
So simple, but I really like it.  And it's way cuter than the old one.  

The Bag Left Behind

There was one bag that got left behind when I took all the others to the little boutique a few weeks ago.  So now I have one to show you!  

I appliqued a large pink flower on the front and I really like how it turned out.
So the left behind bag is going to turn into a birthday present for a certain soon-to-be 3-year-old.  I hope she likes it as much as I do.

Buttons, Buttons, and More Buttons!

Growing up I was always amazed at the things my grandmother could make.  It was amazing.  Clothes, reupholstering furniture, curtains ... everything.  She is such a talented lady.  My family went up to visit my grandparents last week and I asked her if I could look at her old patterns and take a few.  That turned into a bigger project than I had first imagined.  We went through all her patterns and would laugh at the styles and patterns (she has patterns from about 1950 to the present).  We talked about what she used certain patterns for, and it was really fun to see ones that I remembered her making for me.  Well after we went through her patterns we just kept going around the room and cleaned out all the drawers.  She gave me tons of piping and bias tape and trim and thread and snaps and elastic - but it was the buttons that most excited me.  Look at the box of buttons she gave me!

Filled to the brim with buttons!  They were so fun to  go through because most of them were from the 50s and 60s and they would have price tags like "19 cents."  And they were just really cool.  Now before Granny gave me a ton of buttons, this was my button collection:
That was it.  And this is the after:
And yes I did spend about 3 hours organizing them because that's just the kind of crazy person I am.  But do you see all the lovely buttons?  It almost makes me want to think up a project that involves a lot of buttons just so I can use them.  

It's been about a week and a half since I've sewn anything and I'm itching to get started.  Hopefully I'll be able to work on some projects this week - I certainly have a long list in my mind.  

First Tutorial! Reusable Nursing Pads

My friend Julie sent me a link to make reusable nursing pads and I decided to make some for a few friends who are about to have babies.  I liked the general idea, but made a few changes.

Materials:

- one flannel receiving blanket or just flannel material

- crafting felt

- CD

Step 1:  Trace a CD on your flannel and felt.  I used 2 layers of flannel with one layer of felt in the middle.  If you want a thicker pad you can add more flannel.  If you have a rotary cutter you can cut several layers at the same time.  

The first CD I grabbed just happened to be Monster Ballads.  Make of that what you will.

All my pieces cut out.

Step 2:  Sandwich the felt layer with a layer of felt on each side.  Use a zig-zag stitch and go all the way around your pads.  
Step 3 : Trim off the extra fabric around the edge of the pads.  Flannel tends to fray, but trimming off the edges will help lessen how much frays.  

And that's it!  Super easy, isn't it?  And one receiving blanket can make 6 sets (12 pads), so it's a great way to use some of those receiving blankets that we all have stacked up.  

Occupational Hazards

Britt often teases me that I find ways to get hurt while doing seemingly harmless things.  Last week I was top-stitching around an apron with a zig-zag stitch when I stitched through my finger! Right through it.  Top through the bottom.  I had to stop screaming long enough to turn the wheel and get the needle out of my finger.  It hurt like crazy.  Britt and I were trying to figure out what to do but we decided that I didn't really need to go to the doctor because it was just a small hole - I mean, it's not like they were going to stitch it up.  We just cleaned the site really well and watched it to make sure that it didn't get infected. 

Definitely not a fun night.  But my finger is healing and I was able to sew the next day.  And from now on I'm going to be carefully watching out for the zag stitch.  :)

First Order is Out the Door!

Yesterday I took my first order out to Surcee in Apex.  It's such a cute little store on the main street and it just makes me want to walk up and down and look in all the windows.  I finished about 20 "Charissa Totes", 8 "Janie's Aprons", and 2 "Jack's Aprons".  And about 30 minutes after I dropped them off I realized I never took pictures of them!  What was I thinking?  So now I don't have any pictures to show you what I've been working on for the last 2 weeks.  I guess I'll take pictures when I go back there the next time.