New pillow covers

Well, since my last post about repentance, my world was kind of turned upside down. Not in a bad way, it just became suddenly very busy and I had a few things to deal with. But now that all seems to be under control, and I finally got out my sewing machine!

My first project was something that I've wanted to do for a long time. Remember when I made these awhile back?



I decided it was time for an update. Since it's been awhile since I've sewn anything, I followed the same simple tutorial that I used before. I made extra special sure to match up the stripes on both sides. :)




Zoe really likes the new covers!




I didn't stop there, though. I also had this third pillow that's just been sitting in my closet. I got it last year at a white elephant Christmas party. My hubby wanted me to just throw it out, but I knew I could just make a cover for it. It just took me nine months to get around to it. :)



One big happy family!



(Striped fabric from IKEA.)

Butterfly Hair Clips tutorial

Well, this is my first tutorial, and I'm going to be upfront here... I did it in a hurry and the photos are not great, but hopefully you'll get the general idea!! :) You can see my original butterfly hair clip post HERE. Feel free to let me know if any parts of this are not clear.

First, preheat your oven to 250 degrees F (125 degrees C).

Gather your supplies:

Grosgrain ribbon in coordinating colors

hot glue gun/glue

alligator hair clip

thin wooden dowel

lighter

pencil

Step 1: Wrap the ribbon that you intend to use for the butterfly's body around the wooden dowel, secure the ends with either wooden clothes pins, or your metal hair clips. (This dowel was too big, but it was the only one I had.)

Step 2: Put your ribboned dowel on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 25 minutes.

Step 3: Choose your ribbon for the butterfly wings. You need two coordinating colors. The outer color needs to be 2 inches longer than the inside. For this butterfly, I did 8 inches in the dark pink, and 6 inches in the white. (It also works well in a 10/8 measurements, but if you go bigger than that, you might need to play around with thicker ribbon to see how it looks.

Step 4: Fold your ribbon in half, and mark the center with a pencil.



Step 5: Fold the end of your ribbon to meet the center, and crease it, then mark the crease with a pencil.

You should now have marks on the 1/4 and 1/2 points of your ribbon.

Step 6: Using a lighter, (I used a candle since I needed to take a pic at the same time... and please excuse my messy desk, haha), lightly singe the ends of your ribbon so that they won't come unraveled.



Step 7: Put a dot of hot glue just to the right side of your 1/2 mark, then fold your ribbon over this way and secure it down. The 1/4 mark should be on the bottom edge of the horizontal piece of ribbon.

Step 8: Do the same with the other side of ribbon.


Step 9: Fold over the bottom parts of ribbon like this, making sure not to twist the ribbon backwards. The loop should be on the front, with the end gluing to the back.

Step 10: Do the same with your other ribbon.

Step 11: Put a dab of hot glue in the center of your bigger ribbon, and stick the smaller ribbon inside.

Step 12: Your dowel ribbon should be done in the oven by now and cooled down a bit. Remove the ribbon from the dowel, and it should be curled like this. Snip off an inch or so, (whatever is suitable for the size of your butterfly), and hot glue it to the middle of your butterfly.

Step 13: Cut two 1/2 inch pieces of really thin ribbon for the antennae. Put a dab of glue on the back of your butterfly and put the two antennae in place.

It should look something similar to this now:

Step 14: Next, take your alligator clip, and cut 4.5 inches of coordinating ribbon, and melt the edges. Starting underneath the top part of the clip, hot glue the ribbon on. Wrap around the top and into the hinge area, and halfway across the bottom.



Step 15: Put a dab of hot glue on the top of the clip, and attach your butterfly.

Enjoy!


Thanks for reading!

Butterfly Hair Clips

Yesterday, I got together with a couple friends, Cheryl and Vanessa. Vanessa taught us how to make these super cute little butterfly hair clips. I only got 4 done before I had to leave to pick up my older daughter from the school bus, but I think 4 is enough.... for now. :) I have managed to hide them from my daughter's so far, and the plan is to put them in the girls' Easter baskets.

I've been looking online to try and find a tutorial for them, but haven't found any so far. I'll keep looking.





(Pardon the mess that is my hair... I was trying to hurry before Zoe came in the room, haha)

I've been busy!

This last week was super busy (see my other blog for details), but I managed to find time to do a little sewing. A lot of it was late night after the girls were in bed and my hubby had to stay overnight at work.

First of all, we got a new camera! But it didn't come with a carrying case, so I told my hubby that I would try to make one. Of course I think I made it a lot more complicated than it really needed to be, and I'm not 100% happy with it, but it's ok for now. I used a stretch cottony remnant I bought on sale, and leftover batting from my Nativity advent calendar. It's a good start, but I hope to make a better one someday. (I also realized that I need to buy some different colors of thread! I pretty much only have white, lol).




Also, when the girls and I were out at the Victoria Park Flower Market prior to Chinese New year, we stopped at IKEA just across the street for a hot dog and a look around. I found a few things on sale, that I just couldn't pass up. I got two decorative pillows for our couch, and I made these two matching pillow covers for them. I followed THIS tutorial. Sooo incredibly easy. Our couch really needed some color, and now it does. But I'm afraid they look too plain. Maybe I should have added a ruffle around the edges? Or a fabric flower in the middle? Hmmmmmm.... Or perhaps a third pillow in a different color?? WWYD?




Finally, I made a cute little skirt for my Zoe using Dana from MADE's tutorial for the Market Skirt, and her tutorial for the gathered pocket. Again, easy! Although since I'm such a beginner it took me about 6 hours to complete the whole thing. And I wish I had added a bit more gather to the pocket and the ruffle. I'm planning to make something similar for Maya in the same fabric.





Zoe loves the skirt. She wore it to church today (not with the black leggings, haha) and she got a lot of compliments on it. :) Makes me feel like I'm doing something worthwhile!

Oh, also, one of my IKEA finds... I saw the discount bin and there was a white sheet in there for only about US $3. I thought it would make great fabric. :) So a double layer of the sheet is what I used for the waistband, the pocket and the bottom ruffle. And there is still a ton of sheet left. :)