lacy cozy pillow

Show your love to your mom with a personal touch.  If you know how to sew, get this idea:  A Cozy Pillow she can comfortably put on her lap (like I usually do) while watching T.V., or under her toes while she reads her book.  How sweet is that?

This project is also great if you have fabric scraps calling your name with the fear of going to the landfill, trying not to give Mother earth more hardship.

These are what you need:

Patterns (download here)

1 pc.  15” x 15” flannel fabric

1 pc. 15” x 17” flannel fabric

Other fabrics/scraps for your appliqué

Lace (44” x 1 to 2”)

Thread

Sewing machine & fine sewing machine needle

Buttons

Handmade flower (click here for instruction)

12” Velcro @ 0.25” width

How to:

1. Cut the patterns
2. Sewing the bird appliqué on the front circle:
   1. Sew the bird’s body first to the front circle
   2. Sew on the wing over its body.
   3. Put button on it’s eye area
   4. Sew on thin fabric cuts/scraps below the birds as their nest.
   5. Sew on handmade fabric flower by sewing down its bottom layer to the main fabric/front circle.
   6. Sew on more accessory/applique as desired (like the lace I added on this design).

Create your bird's nest using thin fabric scraps. Overlap each strip to make the nest look more realistic. Pin then sew on.

A closer look for making your bird's nest.

1. Pin and sew on the lace on the edges of the front circle, making sure they are level,      with  the right edge of the lace inwards.


Sewing your lace. The one in the right is a lace applique I added to make the pillowcase look prettier.

2. Preparing the Back Pattern/Half-Moon
   1. Cut 2 half-moons
   2. Using the dashed line of the pattern as your guide, fold the fabric twice inwards the wrong side of the fabric (about 1/4” per fold).  Sew on.  Do the same to the other half-moon.
   

   Sewing the edges of the hal-moon/back pattern

3. Attaching the Velcro.  If you have an inch Velcro, cut it in half, and cut 3 pieces 4” length of that Velcro.  Attach the Velcro on the prepared half-moon as follows:
   1. Sew on the smooth part of the Velcro on the wrong side of a half moon over its folded, sewn edge.
   2. Sew rough part of the Velcro on the other half-moon on the right side of the fabric on top of its folded, sewn edge.  Make sure that the rough Velcro is level with the smooth Velcro sewn on the other half-moon.
   

   Velcro sewn on fabric.

4. Putting it together:
5. Close your half-moon using the Velcro sewn in it.
   

   Finished Velcro closure.

   You must now have a circle that matches your front circle.

6. Lay your backing (back fabric with Velcro) right side facing you.  Place over it the prepared Front Circle wrong side facing you.  Make sure they are level.  Pin and sew together.


Putting the front and back circles together.

7. Reverse inside out.  You must now have that beautiful round pillowcase.
8. Making the filler.
   1. Cut 2 circle patterns using the Front Circle pattern used for the pillowcase.
   2. With the right side of the fabrics facing each other, sew their edges together, leaving about 6” to put your fillings in.
   3. Turn inside out and begin putting your fillings.  I used tiny fabric scraps mixed it with fiberfill material, so it will still at least be fluffy.  You can use the ratio of 1:1 to have that fluffier feel, of most fluffy if you will use fiber fill.  I used ratio of 30% fiberfill and 70% of my fabric scraps.  One advantage of using 100% fiberfill is that when you wash this, it will dry up quickly.  My intention of using fabric scraps is to recycle.
   4. If you desire to accent the pillow with flower like I did, you can view the tutorial here (I found while googling).  Thanks to her:)
   

   Filling your prepared fabric.

   5. To close:  Fold the openings (about 1/4”) inwards and sew together to close.
   6. Put inside the pillowcase and close using Velcro.

   You made it!

   If you are happy with it, please show it here by leaving your link in the comment field below.  Thanks.

My, oh my! This pillow is supposed to be for her gramma, but my dear toddler is already obsessed with it:)

This is an inexpensive, beautiful egg crafting for Easter full of beautiful surprises.

So we went to a store and our daughter’s attention was pulled by those packs of colorful plastic eggs at different sizes in each package so that you can nest 3 eggs, enclosing the smallest by the middle size, which is enclosed by the largest size.  It looked fun for her, but anyway, Easter is coming so I thought of getting it for her, then when she is tired of it, I’ll take it back and craft it.  And here they are:

Easter Egg Surprise

All you need are the following materials:

That beautiful girl is not included in the materials, only the eggs she is holding:)

Nesting plastic eggs (you can find in department stores)

Glue gun and glue stick

Assorted ribbons

Accessories such as decorative buttons and flowerets

Procedure (parental supervision required):

1. Plug in your glue gun until it is hot enough for your glue stick to melt to the object.
2. Press its trigger pointing to the opening of the egg (about 0.5 cm away from opening), marking it with melted glue stick at about an inch, then cover it with the ribbon. A half-inch apart, mark another inch of melted glue, paste the ribbon until you have completely glued the ribbon around it, overlapping the tip to the other tip at about 1/2 inch.


Gluing the ribbon to the opening of the egg.



Gluing the ends of the ribbon together in overlapping manner.

3. Accessorize the middle.  Just glue on flowerets, or anything decorative you have.


Accessorizing your finished egg.

4. In addition, I traced the existing prints of the egg, spread glue in it (using glue gun), and glued some accessories like fine beads and buttons.
   

   Accessorizing your eggs with beads

5. Be creative and wild.  Look down the photos below for your reference, and don’t forget to unplug your glue gun.

Gluing your ribbon to the opening of the egg.

Finishing it up with a floweret glued in the middle of the opening.

Group of eggs, one made turned into a face. Daughter thinks it's funny:)

Rona's favorite egg, mine too!

Some designs you can copy or improvise:)

Finally, nesting your eggs. The smallest one will carry the sweet surprise!

May you enjoy this craft and have a Happy Easter!

Edible Birthday Favors

The day of preparation for our daughter 3^rd birthday was kind of hectic to me.  I confess I am a homemade freak, and there, I decided to bake our daughter’s own birthday cake.  I decorated the cake myself, after which, I promised myself to buy her a prettier one when she turns 4, when she can appreciate more (and perhaps request) for a prettier cake.  She isn’t really a cake girl (for now).  She will only eat the icing.  And the other cake she would eat is the cheesecake, which I made one using this recipe: Filipino Macaroons.

So then, I forgot to buy birthday favors to the little kids her age and a little bit older.  It was just a small family party.  So I decided to have a homemade birthday favor.  Something that the kids could make with their mom.  I kinda not like cheapish birthday favor that the kids will throw afterwards (what a waste), but at the same time we could not afford to buy something of greater value.  Nothing could get into my mind until I almost forgot and at the end decided this birthday favor:  10 pieces Home-baked Filipino Macaroons in a simple, decorative bag with recipe attached to it, and a small thank you card.

The Filipino Macaroons were a hit to kids and adults who attended the party, and our daughter loved it as well.  So I thought, hmmm, that was still a good idea!

If you wish to do the same way, follow this recipe (link) for Filipino Macaroons; see the setting for birthday favor shown in the picture above that I made, and copy or improvise it.  Have fun!

Our daughter will be celebrating her 3^rd birthday pretty soon.  So I made a craft for and with her – her handmade birthday invitation card.  I had her assistance in gluing and sticking the papers together, which she enjoyed a lot.

Here are what you need:

Plain colored card stock

Decorative scissor

Patterned papers

Anti-wrinkle glue

Decorative stickers

Plain scissor

Here are the steps:

1.  If you have a computer and know how to use adobe illustrated, design first how you want your invitation message look like.  You can download this design I made: in adobe illustrator format or jpeg file.  Open it in your computer and replace the blanks with the appropriate text.  Print.

2.  Cut accordingly as per the design instruction using a decorative scissor.  This is how mine looked like:

3.  Smear with anti-wrinkle glue all over its back and lay over a patterned paper of your choice. Press to paste together.  Cut along a straight line about 1cm from the edges of the message paper or layer 1.  Let’s call the patterned paper attached to layer 1 as layer 2.  I used a straight cut using a plain scissor.

4.  Now smear with ant-wrinkle glue allover the back of layer 2 and paste over a plain (colored or white) card stock, or over a thicker plain paper.  I used plain colored paper to make the whole design of invitation card not too “noisy” to the eyes. I made a straight cut on the third layer at about 1cm allowance from the edges of the 2nd layer using a plain scissor. This is how it looked like:

5.  Now smear with anti-wrinkle glue allover the back of 3^rd layer and paste over a patterned paper.  I put allowance for cutting only the top and bottom of the card at about 1cm.  I cut the left and right edges with no allowance at all, then cut that upper and bottom part using a decorative scissor.  This is how it looked like:

6.  Using the leftovers of the last pattern, I cut out 2 leaf patterns from it, smeared each bottom with anti-wrinkle glue and pasted it on the lower right corner of the card.  To make it look 3-D-ish, I added a glossy sticker on the middle where the leaf bottoms intersect.

handmade birthday invitation card

My masterpiece:

I did not put it in an envelope as it doesn’t seem necessary.

]]> http://olahmomma.com/crafting/handmade-invitation-card-a-toddler%e2%80%99s-3rd-birthday-bash/feed/ 3 http://olahmomma.com/crafting/a-hearty-handmade-hanging-valentine-card/ http://olahmomma.com/crafting/a-hearty-handmade-hanging-valentine-card/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:14:23 +0000 admin http://olahmomma.com/crafting/?p=367

Handmade Hanging Valentine Card

Let your child’s creativity explore in making this hanging valentine card that costs a whooping total of under $1.00, and is simply priceless.

All you need are the following:

Decorative scissor/s

Glue and glue gun (with adult supervision

Flower-shaped foam stickers

Alphabet foam stickers

Some decorative stickers

Pictures (if desired)

Paper plate (any shape, any color desired)

Pattern papers

Paste or mounting tape

Butterfly accessory (or whatever you want)

Puncher

1 foot ribbon (hanger)

So I went to Target and found cheap materials above on their extra isle. Initially you will have to spend about $10.00 maximum for these materials, but this will give you a lot of leftover materials after you are finished with this one card.  You will find the following materials at Target for only $1.00: foam stickers (pack of alphabets and flower shapes separated); pattern papers (set of 8); decorative stickers, and other accessories.

To make:

You should know right away by simply looking at the picture above.  However, let me outline what I did:

Heart and butterfly – was cut out from pattern paper with heart/valentine theme using decorative scissor, and pasted it to the paper plate. The butterfly was then glued somewhere in the center of the heart (using glue gun).

Flower-shaped foam stickers – one flower looks colorful.  It is actually made with layers of flowers from big (in the bottom) to the smallest on top.  Just remove the paper at the back of the foam and stick it together.  Now let your toddler decide which direction she wants to put those flowers.  This would be fun.

Happy Love Day text – the word Happy Love were also taken from the valentine-themed pattern paper I got.  Just cut out the words from it, put a mounting tape on its back there it is. The word DAY was from alphabet foam stickers.

Personalize it – yes, make it more personalized by including you or with/your family member’s photo.

Accessorize more with valentine themed pattern paper, like what you can see in the bottom of the hanging card my toddler and I made.  I cut out a straight-line pattern with hearts in it and simply adhered it in the bottom.   My daughter though the stickers she put along its edges look good.

Punch the center of the card, and tie around it about 1 foot total ribbon so that it can be used to hang the card.

That’s it.  Have a fun and lovely Valentine’s day!

Important Note:  You may notice I mentioned Target here, but I am not compensated by this store by any means. I  mentioned this store to share to you my experience in making this card.

I got beautiful pieces of fabric remnant and was in the mood of making an apron for our toddler.  It turned out to be beautiful.  Grama said it’s lovely!

If you want to make your own, you may follow this instruction:

Numbering below is based on the numbers encircled in the diagram shown above.


1.  Upper body or chest. Cut 8.5 width x 7.5 length (this includes 0.25″ allowance in each edge).  Fold half of the allowance (half of 0.25″ or 0.125″) on the wrong side of the fabric in each edge.  Fold it again at 0.125″.  Sew.  Do this step on all edges except the bottom part.

2.  Ruffles. Cut 3″ width x 42″ length of fabric for ruffle.  Sew edges (follow the dashed line in the diagram above (Structure of the Apron).  Follow the instruction of sewing edges in number 1.  Do not sew the upper edge.

2a.  Hand stitch in simple line (like a dashed effect) the unsewn upper part of the ruffles.  The thread must be a little bit longer than the length of the skirt.  To make ruffle, as you go on stitching, push the stitched fabric to the point where you started stitching.  Do this until the length of the ruffle matches with the bottom of the skirt.  Distribute ruffles evenly.  Here’s how it looks:

Attaching the ruffles to the skirt. Lay the skirt flat right side up, with the unsewn edge facing you. Now lay the ruffles wrong side up, unsewn edge facing you, and aligning to the unsewn edge of the
skirt.  Sew together.  Zigzag pattern is recommended at No. 4 or 5.

Stabilizing the ruffles. Bring the connected fabrics (skirt and ruffles) right side facing you.  Along the line where they were sewn together, pull ruffles down gently, folding up the connecting fabric underneath and sew about 0.5cm above the ruffles connected to the skirt.

3.  Pocket. Cut out 2 pieces 5” x 5” fabric.  Sew the upper edge of the pocket following the procedure in number 1 instruction.  Place 2 pockets at equal distance from the middle of the skirt (0.5” apart from each other.  Fold in the left, right and bottom part of the pocket at 0.25” and sew to attach the skirt.  Do this to each of them.

4.  Upper body or chest. Sewing all edges following the folding techinque in step 1.

5.  Belt. Cut 64″ lenght x 2.5″ width of fabric.  Fold in half, wrong side out.  Sew together to close (0.25”) staring at one end.  Leave the other end open.

6.  Attaching the chest, belt and skirt. Place 0.25” of the chest on top-middle of the skirt (opposite to where the ruffles are).  Place 0.25” of the belt on top of the chest downward position at equal distribution of width for each side.  Pin the pieces well.  Sew together through its connecting point.

7.   Making the strap. Cut 2 pieces of 1” width and 20” length fabric.  Fold in 0.25” at one tip, and fold in half the length at about 0.25” each with each half folds facing towards each other.  Right side out this time.

Sew together to close, folding in at 0.25 the other end and sew as well.

8.  Attach the strap to the upper corner of the chest.  I used button and sew it (to lock) both the strap and the chest corner.

That’s it.  Now you can flaunt your handmade apron to your toddler and friends:)

Caution: This apron make a busy toddler chef!

When you’re done sewing using this pattern and instruction, I would love to see your beautiful creation. You can share here by uploading those photos.

While grandma and I were putting ornaments on Christmas tree, our toddler was eager to help, to the point she’d take off some ornaments already put on and hang it back over and over again.  Boy, was it so fun for her.  So I decided to make her a Christmas cone that she could play with, which she could also hang the ornaments she makes.  Now that kids are at home for a short holiday vacation, this would be a fun thing to make for them too, and for them to explore their creativity.  This stuff will keep them busy and happy, and you would love putting it as a cute decoration in their room or anywhere you’d like it to show off.

This one I made is 100% recycled.  Each time I sew, there are tiny cut fabrics and even battings seemingly unusable that I kept somewhere hoping one day I could think of something to use it.  The filler of this Christmas cone is from those tiny fabric scraps I saved.  You can use your old holiday fabrics to make this cone.

There are two parts in making this cone.  First is the cone body.  I designed this since my fillers are those tiny fabric scraps that are seemingly unusable. Hence, washing this may require longer time to dry.  So the intension is not to wash this cone body, but simply cover it with a cone covering, which will be explained in part 2 of the tutorial.  The advantage of this is that it will also be fun to change the look of your Christmas cone by putting on different covers on it.

Here are the steps:

1.  Cutting the pattern.  Make sure you attached triangle 1 to triangle 2 following the letters designated in the pattern you downloaded.  Lay the pattern over the fabric and pin its sides to the fabric.  Cut 1 circle for the base; four (4) triangles for the sides.

2.  Sew together each side of the triangle from corner bottom edge to top (wrong sides facing you) until you form a half of umbrella shape.  The tip above may not perfectly meet.  It will be okay.  Just cut the excess fabric.

Figure 1.  Triangles sewn together.

3. Sew together the ends from bottom to top (from red dot to green dot as shown in the illustration above – Figure 1).  This will give you a cone shape, wrong side out.

4. Pin the base (circle) on the edges of the bottom of the cone wrong side out, providing about 0.25” sewing allowance.  Sew together, living an opening of about 6” (or one bottom side of a triangle).  Turn right side out by pulling the inside towards you through the opening.

5. Fill the cone with polyester or cotton fillers (or in my case, tiny fabric scraps that are unusable).

6. Sew together the hole folding its ends inwards at 0.25”.  For a more uniform and firmer bottom, sew the edges all the way.  This is your finished cone body:

1. Repeat steps 1 to 3.

2. Invert it right side out.

3. In the bottom of your cone, fold the edges inwards at 1cm, and fold again at another 1cm.  Sew together.

This is your finished phase:

4. Sew on buttons at directions you desire.  Use buttons that have protruding hole (not flat) so the ornaments can be held more securely.

Beads can be a fun ornament for this stuff.  But if you can make or get tiny Christmas ornaments for this, that would be awesome!

Have fun sewing:)

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Halloween is really getting near.  I am feeling like a child again…

Here’s one little cuteness I made:  bat finger puppet.  My daughter puts it on her finger and sways her arms up and down to make it look like the bat is flying because their wings do flap.

These are non-scary looking bats.  They are cute and smiley:), your li’l kiddo would love playing them on their finger.  Making these does not require you to know how to sew, just a time for hand stitching.

This is the pattern:

What you need:

Felt
Thread
Needle

Instruction:

Step 1 – Head.  Cut the big circle for the head of the bat.  Then cut 2 small circle for the eyes, a triangle for nose, and smiling lips.  The last 3 don’t need to follow a pattern.  You can guesstimate what size it will perfectly fit for the bat’s face.  Sew the parts of the face properly on the big circle for that perfect bat face.

Step 2 – Ear.  Cut 2 ear patterns.  Fold the bottom of the ear marked with letter c, and stitch them to the point of the face marked with letter c.

Step 3 – Body.  Cut 2 body patterns.  Stitch the completed head at B to B points to the body.

Step 4 – Wings.  Prepare the wing pattern.  You will have 2 half-wings.  Follow the dashed lines to stitch within the wings.

Step 5 – Stitching it altogether.  Now lay the other body pattern (for the back side).  Right in the middle of the body, attached the left wing and right wing equally (follow guide points D and E).  Pin or glue (I recommend fabric glue) them to hold them together.  On top of where the wings are attached, layer the body with face (face is facing you).  Stitch all edges together, excluding the bottom where the finger will be inserted.

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I love going to thrift stores and get over-sized dresses made with beautiful fabric.  Why?  Because as a petite lady, I can transform these dresses beautifully into a whole new look of dress.

Here is one of them (I wish I took picture of the original dress):

This dress was just made, so it has “iron deficiency” (needs some ironing in serious terms).  I wish I brought it here in the U.S:).  Luckily, there’s a lot of thrift stores here I could pour all my sewing/crafting ideas. I have more collections of things I made from it, so just wait for the next post….