Rainy Day Skirt-a-thon

First off, sorry if I'm getting a little off my MayFlowers event the past couple of days.  I promise to get more flower tutorials to you.  I've just been on a clothes-sewing kick.  Which brings me to today's post!

Saturday I planned on finishing up a MayFlowers tutorial for y'all, but I woke up to a cloudy day--not ideal for taking pictures, especially with my super-picky-about-light camera.  So instead, after reading this post on Noodlehead, I decided to spend the day sewing a few skirts for my and my boyfriend's nieces. I used the Quick and Easy No-Hem Skirt tutorial from Hickety Pickety. 

Now, let me tell you, I've been told a few clothes-sewing projects were easy before and found them to be rather difficult.  (Maybe it's just that I'm not that talented.)  But this tutorial really was super easy and super quick, just like it claims to be!  So instead of making just one skirt, I ended up making three!

One in a 2T...

(That fabric's starting to look familiar now, isn't it?)  One in a 3T...

And one in a 4T...

And then it was still raining and I still felt like sewing so I took a stab at a little more challenging skirt that's been on my list for a long time, the Pint-Sized Party Skirt from Creative Spaces.  It turned out pretty cute, too.  Dontcha think? 

And the best part?  Four skirts all made of scrap fabric.  And I already had the elastic on hand, too, which means that I got to spend the whole day in my pajamas sewing!  What a great day. :)

Anyway, if you're wondering about these tutorials now and want to make your own skirts, don't worry.  I'll give you all the details in my reviews coming up later this week.  Until then, happy crafting!

--CC

Tutorial: Chalkboard Garden Stake or Hanging Sign

Today I'm excited to share another MayFlowers tutorial with you:  Chalkboard garden stakes and chalkboard hanging signs.

While I was home in Missouri for my brother's wedding, I saw these cute garden stakes with little chalkboards on them in a local home decor shop.  I thought they were adorable, but there was no way I was paying the $20 asking price for them.  I knew I could make one for much cheaper.  (Chalkboard paint is $12 a quart which is a little pricey, but it can be used for a bunch of other craft projects besides this one.)

Then, after my mom hung sticky notes on the front door for expected guests to let them know we were out in the garden a couple times, I got an idea.  I thought a permanent, re-writable sign, like a little chalkboard, might be useful for leaving "be right back" or "I'm in the garden" notes when you know someone will be dropping by.

I also thought they might make nice little "back in 5 minutes" type signs for crafters who go to craft fairs/farmer's markets.  There are so many things you could do with a little chalkboard sign.  It's just a useful, environmentally friendly and, might I say, cute little way to leave a note. :)  So here's what I came up with:

So if you ever find yourself taping notes to your front door or you just want a pretty garden stake to label a row of peas, follow the jump to get the tutorial. :)

Peasant Tops for Adults

A few weeks ago Jess over at Craftiness is not Optional shared these peasant tops she made for her daughters.  I thought the peasant blouses were adorable, and since Jess swore they were the easiest thing ever to make, I decided to give one a shot in an adult size!  I couldn't find any good adult peasant top tutorials, so I used this tutorial and this tutorial as guides to create my own adult pattern.  And it worked!

Well, sorta.  I ran into a little trouble with the sleeves.  I think I cut them wrong or sewed them wrong or something.  I never really figured it out which, so for two days the top sat on my kitchen table (where I sew) and every time I walked past it I'd say jokingly to my boyfriend, "My sleeves ain't right!"  Eventually I quit following both of the tutorials' instructions and made up my own way.  I got out my seam ripper then cut off part of the sleeves and sewed them on a different way, just for good measure.  I'm pretty sure no one's ever made sleeves like this, since the seam is on the top.  But whatever!  It worked and it fits. :)

 

 Isn't this shirt so cute?  I'm in love with the fabrics.  Can you believe I got them at Jo-Ann's?

Oh, and, by the way, since this post isn't flower-related and I'm still doing my May Flowers event, I made asked my boyfriend nicely to go with me to the botanical gardens and take pictures of me in my new shirt.  You can thank him for the photography.

Anyway...I didn't put elastic in the sleeves because I thought that was a little bit childish and I also sewed on a tie at the bottom of the blouse, a la Jess from Craftiness is Not Optional.  I didn't make the tie quite long enough to tie a bow, but I think it looks like I did it on purpose, don't you?  All I did was sew a tube that was twice as long as the circumference of the shirt.  Simple!

This was my first top to sew and I'm proud I made my own pattern, plus some adjustments to the original blouse.  I used the same technique for the tie on my peasant top as I did for the tie on my pink party skirt.  I always thought modifications to patterns would be hard to make, but I'm starting to learn that once you know a few basic skills in sewing you can mix and match to create almost anything.

The pattern I made for this definitely needs some adjustments, and I'm not sure if I can replicate the shirt again or not, but I think I'll try when I get the chance.  Who knows, maybe I'll make an adult peasant top tutorial for you!  So keep checking back if you like this shirt.  Until then, happy crafting!

--CC

Sand Dollar Bunting

So, I know technically I'm supposed to be posting all about flowers, but I wanted to share this sand dollar bunting I made recently with you.

 After Easter I wanted a nice, summery bunting for my living room since summer is in full swing here in Florida.  I used Happy Together's Felt Sand Dollars tutorial to make 16 felt Sand Dollars.  It turned out to be a bigger feat than I would have originally thought because of the embroidery.  I certainly did not end up making my boyfriend learn how to embroider so that they'd get finished faster.  *ahem*

Anyway, I left off the part of the tutorial about putting backs on them and filling them with a little stuffing because I wanted to be able to sew straight through them, like we did with the St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Garland.  So when I finished embroidering all 16 (which took a couple days) I just sewed them all together...

And added this really cool burlap-y ribbon to both ends with big coral-colored buttons I found on clearance at Jo-Ann's for 50 cents!

I also added this to the shelf above the bunting to pull together the look:

It was cost me nothing to make.  I filled an empty spaghetti sauce jar (so handy to save!) with sea shells we picked up at the beach near my house (and so nice living in Florida!) and tied a bow around it with some jute I had on hand.

The whole look (garland and sea shell jar) only cost me $4, and most of that was the ribbon.  What I nice, inexpensive way to summer-ify a living room.  I just wish all the little birds decorations in my living room were seagulls and albatrosses now.  Lol.

See you again soon with more MayFlowers!  Until next time, happy crafting!

--CC

Tutorial: Felt Roses

Hi y'all!  As a continuation of our MayFlowers event, today I'm going to teach you how to make a felt rose.

Roses can be classic and sophisticated when made in natural colors, or fun and spunky if made with unnatural ones, making them perfect accents for everyone's lives.  Try an unusual color like purple and put it on a hair clip or brooch to make a fashion statement.   Or use them as decorations.  Make enough of them to cover a heart-shaped wreath, or stick a few of them tightly into a box like this:

Borrowed from Google to convey my idea.

Borrowed from Google to convey my idea.

I think a bouquet of them would make a really nice addition to a little girl's dress up set to go with a play wedding dress.  With so many options, you'll want to make hundreds.  And I've got good news for you.  They're super simple to make and it only takes a few minutes.  So let's get started.  Read on after the jump for the tutorial.

Felt Sunflower Giveaway

NOTE:  When Blogger was down on May11-May 13, this post un-posted itself.  I have re-posted it on its original dates but all comments were lost.  If you have already entered the giveaway, you will still receive your sunflowers even though your comment disappeared. :)

While making my felt sunflower tutorial, I got caught up in my creative process and ended up making a ton of felt flowers.

 I mean a ton.

 I can think of so many things the fabric flowers could be used for.  Here are a few of my ideas for them:

• Dog collar embelishments
• Hair pieces
• Brooch or pin
• Summer bunting or garland (by stringing them together like we did with the St. Patrick's Day Garland)
• Fabric bows for presents (I think this would look great on plain brown paper, maybe tied with some jute)
• Applique for a pillow or another item

What would you do with a felt sunflower?  Now is your chance to tell me.  I made 20 of these flowers, but I really only need to use one as a collar embellishment for my dog.  This is good news for you because it means I'll be giving away 19 felt sunflowers.

To enter the giveaway:

1. If you're not already a follower, follow my blog by logging into your Google account and clicking "follow" in the upper right hand corner.  (If you're already a follower you can still enter the giveaway by completing step two.)
2. Next, leave a comment telling me what you'll do with your flower.  Be sure to leave your email address with the comment so that I can contact you about where to mail your sunflower.  If you want to avoid recieving spam you can write it out like this: mseaber (at) gmail (dot) com

The first 19 people to comment on this post will receive a felt sunflower, guaranteed.  The giveaway will not close until all 19 sunflowers are gone.  That means even if you stumble upon this post months from now, if there aren't 19 comments that means you can still claim one of the flowers as your own.  Good day for you, right?

So comment away and be sure to stay tuned for more May Flowers tutorials and events. :)

Tutorial: Felt Sunflower Dog Collar Embellishment

You may remember back in December I made a poinsettia dog collar embellishment for my Pomeranian.  At the time I made it, I realized the pattern could be easily manipulated to make the felt poinsettia into a sunflower.  Sunflowers are such beautiful flowers, don't you think?

 So, in honor of my May Flowers event, I pulled the idea for sunflower dog collar embellishments out of my brain files and put it to use!  This is what I came up with:

Of course, these scrap fabric flowers are very versatile, and while I created them as dog collar embellishments, they can be used for whatever purpose you like.  Follow the jump for the tutorial to learn how to make your own.