Fun Little Boy Quilt

My kids love quilts.  I made a big one that is kept in the living room and we usually fight over it, or race to be the first to lay claim on it. 

So since it only took me 6 years to make that one (Long story, but 182 applique petals.  Enough said.) I decided to make one for each of the kids rooms. I waited until the snuggle flannel was on sale at Jo-Ann’s (back in October, but it goes on sale frequently) and spent close to 2 hours browsing and choosing fabrics that reflect their personalities. 

I found a pattern for this on McCall’s Quilting website for a full sized quilt.

It said beginner, so I thought maybe I could actually complete it in a timely manner.  I cut the pieces out for my son’s quilt right after I bought the fabric, but took a long break around the holidays.  I picked it back up last week and banged it out completely in about 3 or 4 good days worth of work (not the whole day!  Just a few hours here and there!)

The instructions show some of the blocks turned around.  I made mine all the same (2 different 12 x 12 blocks) and kept them all turned the same direction.

I decided to tie the quilt instead of traditional quilting because it would be faster and I thought it would be cute.  But I’m not a huge fan of regular yarn, so I picked out some 4 thread yarn called Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Twists that I got at Hobby Lobby. 

After pinning the top, the batting and the backing flannel all together about every 6 inches, I put a tie at each of the 4 corners per block and one in the center. 

I spent 2 nights finishing the binding and was able to cover Pierce up with his new quilt while he slept last night.  He was so excited it was done!

 

Now if I can get Camryn’s finished in a timely manner!  I’m off to go start cutting!

Super Simple Valance

Really, it’s simple.  Anyone can do it if you have a sewing machine that you know how to thread, and are able to step on the foot pedal to go fast.  You may want to be skilled in how to sew a semi-straight line too, but that’s optional.
First you pick out your fabric.  I was doing this one for my laundry room makeover and wanted something bright red to match the washer and dryer.  The best thing I found was red taffeta.  Now before you get visions of 1980’s prom dress, it wasn’t quite like that and I thought it was pretty.  I did however call my mom first and ask her if taffeta was a weird material for curtains.  She didn’t give me a straight answer, but we decided that not all curtains you buy in the store are cotton, so it should be fine.  LOL

This fabric was 52 inches wide for a 24 inch window, so I didn’t cut any off the width so there would be sufficient “scrunch.”  I did have to cut it to length because I bought a yard.  I decided to have a 12 inch drop on the valance, so I just double that and add 1 inch for seams.  So I cut off 25 inches of fabric from the yard and set the rest aside for another project. 
First you have to hem each side.  You want to roll it twice so the unfinished edge doesn’t fray on you.  Like so:

I actually just eyeballed this until it was even and then stitched using clear thread along the side of the hem closest to the unfinished material (on the right side of the folded area in this picture)
After you do this down both of the shorter sides, fold your fabric with right sides together and the remaining two unfinished edges (long sides) matched up.

Stitch all the way along the length of the unfinished edges about 1/4 inch from the edge.  I used the side of the presser foot on my sewing machine as a guide.
Turn the valance right side out and then if you have a standard sized rod (READ: not really big around) stitch another seam about an inch and a half from the hem you just put in for the top of the valance to make a pocket for the rod.
Hang it on the rod and enjoy!

Note: I also put this rod up myself.  I measured about 2 inches out and 2 inches up from the edge of the window to make the window appear bigger and to not cover it so much with the valance.

Rummage Sale Fix

So I love rummage/garage sales.  I always have and I think it comes from the connection to my grandma Mahler who LOVED garage sales.  In the last couple years, I haven’t gone to as many as I’d have liked, but dragging two kids in and out of the car takes some of the fun out of it. 
My daughter’s preschool had a rummage sale a couple weeks ago and I wandered through just out out of curiosity.  They had a bunch of women’s clothes that were really nice, name brand, and priced cheap (50 cents each!)  I’m not brand obsessed, but I do admire some brands because they are made very well. 
Anyhow, with my arms piled full of some various shirts, I came across a J.Crew long sleeved button down shirt.  I tossed it on my pile and kept shopping, only I realized when I got home that someone had cut off the cuffs of the shirt.  Arg, only me!  I was determined to fix it and make it work though. 
So, today I pulled up to my sewing machine, got out my scissors, and went to work.
Here’s what I started with:

And the sleeves looked like this:

Using another shirt as an example of the angle, I cut the sleeves off to a shorter length (I measured 10 inches from the shoulder seam and cut, so it was quite a bit longer than the purple shirt)

I hemmed each side.  I’m not much for measuring, and I know I probably should, but I just eyeballed it.  (Ignore my chipped polish, I need to remove it, but I was to busy fixing this shirt!)

Next, I turned the shirt right side out and rolled the sleeve twice to make a cuff.  I made sure that both sleeves were even and sewed a seam close to the edge

I thought it looked pretty good at this point, but it needed something else.  On the bottom there was some detailing with some extra buttons to cinch in the bottom hem.

I took those buttons and the edging from what used to be the cuff that I cut off (rectangle):

I used those pieces to add some detailing on each of my new cuffed sleeves

I think it came out really cute and can’t wait to wear it!
So if there is something wrong with a piece of clothing that you have, make sure you think about a way to fix it, make it better, or hide the problem before you just toss it!
For 50 cents and a little time, I have a really great shirt!  I checked the jcrew website and most of the shirts that looked like this were around $70.00!!