Cute Crayons

I was going to take a little break from blogging today, but as most of  you know, blogland doesn't sleep (or take holidays) so I figured I'd share this fun little Mod Podge craft I made up for part of my niece's Easter gift.

Here's what you need to make your own:

Materials:
-crayons
-pretty paper
-Mod Podge (optional: Sparkle Mod Podge)
-cutting mat, ruler, sponge brush, craft knife

Steps:
1) Measure the paper on the crayons to figure out how big to cut out your own papers.

Mine measured 17mm X 32mm

2) Cut out some pretty papers to match your crayons.

3) Use your sponge brush to paint Mod Podge onto the back of your paper.

4) Wrap the paper around your crayon.

Leave the original paper on
to help with adhesion.

 You can call it a day right there if you want, but you know how much I love my SPARKLE Mod Podge

If you want to add some sparkle too, just use your brush to gently paint on the Sparkle Mod Podge to the outside of your paper.  Be careful not to get it onto your crayons.

Now again, you can be done right there.  But if you want to make these crayons extra, extra special, take apart the box they came in, trace the shape onto some pretty paper, and cut it out.

Glue the paper onto the outside of the box and put it back together again.

My niece loves to colour anyway, but I hope she'll really love it with her very own personalized crayon pack.

I'll have loads more Easter gifts to share with you next week~

Have a great loooooooooooooooong weekend everyone!

This project was featured here:
 

PJ Pants Refashion

Don't you love it when you find the perfect pj's????

Don't you hate it when you wreck them????

I had these great pj pants:

There were pretty, they were soft, they were comfy, they were warm.  They were everything you could ever want in a pj pant.

And then I spilled something on them :(   and they were relegated to the back of my closet never to be worn again.  Boo hoo.

I took a good look at them the other day though and realized that they only had an inside leg seam.  You know what that means....fabric!!!

I cut them up the inner seam and layed them out flat.

And then I cut them into the shape of a tank top and sewed them back together...

All it needed next was some lace collar pieces and some pretty lingerie elastic for the straps, and voila!

Back

I haven't decided yet if this will just be a pj top now or if it's something I can actually wear in public.  It does look kind of cute with a warm little cardi over top.

The moral of the story, always look at everything as a big piece of fabric before you let it go.  You never know, it may get a second chance at life!

Are you a nightie or a pj pant gal?  I want to know!  Leave a comment below~

 

This project was featured here:

 

Mini Bag

Do you remember my friend Gen from Cabin Fevered Gem?

She had a baby last summer and with two little ones under the age of 5 she hasn't really had much time for crafting, let alone blogging about her creations.

But yesterday she asked me to come to her house to help her learn how to use her new sewing machine.  It's a pretty neat machine, with a serging type stitch built right in!

She decided she wanted to try out this fab new machine by making a miniature version of the Super Simple Summer Sack that I showed you how to make ages ago.

The adult version is pretty big.  So, we used a half a metre for the length and .7 metres for the width but followed all the same instructions as the original.

Do you love the cupcake fairies?

Gen's little mini-me seemed pretty happy with her mini bag!

Such a little cutie!

Thanks for a fun sewing day Gen~

This project was featured here:

 

Boxy Top

Here's a fun, stylish, and super duper easy sewing project that's great for everyone!

 Here's what you'll need to make your own top!

Materials:
- fabric (any kind, woven or knit is fine) (1X length of top if you're using wide fabric, 2X the length if you're using narrow fabric) and matching thread
-standard sewing kit (pins, scissors, thread, sewing machine, etc.)
-tracing/craft paper, pencil, ruler or measuring tape
-bias tape

First off, we're going to make a pattern, because I know you'll want to make more than one of these.  This will be our base pattern, but there are so many variations you can make with this.

*Note, all of the measurements you see are for a small/medium size.  If you want to make yours a size large add 1-1.5" to each of the measurements,  XL, 2-2.5", etc.  This is meant to be very flowy so don't get too hung up on exact measurements.

Steps:
1) Start by drawing a box like the one below onto some tracing or craft paper:

It's a rectangle, it just looks funny
because of the angle of my camera.

2) To make the front:

Front neckline:
-measure 4" down on top left hand corner and make a mark,
-from the same corner, measure across 6" (15cm) (not shown on photo)
-attach these two marks with a curved line.

Shoulder:
-measure 2" down from top right hand corner,
-connect with top of neckline.

Sleeve opening:
-measure down 10" from top right hand corner and make a mark.

Bottom Hem:
-measure down 1" from bottom left hand corner,
-extend line across and gently curve upward near bottom right hand corner.

The edge of the paper
will be placed on the fold of your fabric
when you cut.

3) To make the back:

-Trace the same outline as the front, the only measurement that's different is the neckline.

Back neckline:
-measure down 1" from top left hand corner and attach to shoulder point with a gentle curve, just as above.

Left hand side is still edge of paper
and will be place on a fold.

Easy peasy, right?!  Now let's put your top together!!

Steps:
1) Go ahead and cut from any sort of fabric you have on hand.  You can flip the back piece over if you have wide fabric.

2) With wrong sides together, stitch the shoulder seams.

You can do a French seam
if you have really sheer fabric
like mine~

3) Again, with wrong sides together, stitch side seams.  Make sure to stop at the armhole opening (the pin that's going crosswise, you made this mark on your pattern).

4) Steam seam allowance down, extending all the way around the armhole opening stitch down.

5) Attach bias tape to neckline, fold under, and sew down with a top stitch.  I also like to understitch as close to the seam as possible but this is optional.  This extra step makes the fabric and tape lay even flatter.  (If you decide to do this, do it prior to any top stitching.)

I didn't have matching bias tape on hand so I had to
make due with seam tape.
Use bias tape if you have it~

6) Fold and stitch down hem at bottom.

TAH DAH!!!!  Wasn't that easy?!?!

I have to tell you, I surprised myself with how pretty this turned out!  I'm quite pleased with it.

You can add embellishments to jazz it up if you've used a plain fabric or I have some other fun variations in mind that I will try to share soon (once I stop travelling so much for work).

This top is so versatile and perfect for spring!  Now, if it would only stop snowing I could pull out all my pretty spring tops!

Send some hot weather my way...PLEASE!

Have a crafty week everyone~

This project was featured here:

      

Cami Set

Do you remember Style patterns?  There were pretty popular in the '90's and they were, well, very stylish.

I have no idea whatever happened to them but I still have a stash in my collection that I still want to make.

So, after mooning over this pretty lingerie pattern for I don't know how long, I finally made something from it!

All of the pieces are so pretty, but I went for the French knickers and cami set on the blonde at the bottom.

I used this cute peachy swiss dot fabric I had on hand.  It was a remnant from a blouse I made ages ago.  Yahoo!  Another piece of fabric used up!

Have you ever used Style patterns?  Do you know what happened to them?  I can't find anything on the internet at all.  If you know the scoop leave a comment and fill the rest of us in~