A Facelift for the Living Room (2011, Thing 1!)

After Christmas, I was more than a little ready to move on. Make a little change. Shake things up a bit. I mean, the holidays were festive and all…but once Christmas is over, I want nothing more than to set my sights on SPRING. Down came the tree, down came all the snowmen and reindeer. Down came the stockings and the hangers. And out came the sewing machine!

 

I picked up this fabric at a Crate & Barrel outlet before I moved from one coast to the other, specifically to make pillows for our new couch. The new couch we hadn’t bought yet. Or picked out. Or shopped for. I was pretty sure it would be a solid, though, and…knowing us…it wouldn’t clash with a subtle blue print. I was right! (The fabric is MARIMEKKO. I’m not sure of the name…I can’t seem to find it online. Any MARIMEKKO experts out there?)

 

I vaguely referenced this tutorial from the lovely Su, at Vively Online, but since I hadn’t looked at the tutorial since she originally posted it…I can’t be entirely sure that I didn’t botch it up. Heh. (Su? Check my homework and let me know, yeah?)

The pillow forms are from IKEA, and are $7 each. In case anyone would like to make themselves some fabulously cheap Sofa Bling, I’ll put up a tutorial in a few days, with exact measurements for these pillows. I still have a few yards of red Chinese brocade that I picked up, also for pillows, at Pearl River in NYC before I moved. I figure a pillow can never have too many “dresses”, and besides…Chinese New Year is just around the corner. And nothing says SPRING like red, gold, and a house full of cherry blossoms, right??! (I have a really cool cherry blossom project in mind as well. Stay tuned!)

Happy 2011, y’all!!

Thing 34: Little Boy’s Messenger Bag (a tutorial!)

  (This is my brain turning into licorice….)

 

Any questions?

 

Heh. Just kidding. The idea was to make a bag where the sides went straight up to become the strap…but I totally underestimated how long I needed that strap to be. So…it’s more of a man purse. *sigh*

 

Cut two matching rectangles as wide as you want your bag to be and twice as long (plus 8 inches) as you want your bag to be tall. (That gives it a 4” overlap for the front flap, plus 2” to go over the top of the bag, and 2” to go under the bottom.) Then cut a piece that is 8” wide by the distance from your boy’s knees, across his chest, around and back to his knee. (Obviously, I took the measurement hip to hip…and that gave me a purse. D’oh!)

 

Sew your two big rectangles, right sides together, making sure to leave a gap for turning. Clip the corners, turn and press. Set aside.

 

Take your big strap piece and fold 2” in on either side so that they meet in the middle. Press. Fold in half lengthwise, so that your folded edges meet and right sides are out. Press. Sew along the length, right along the edge where the two folded edges meet.

 

Now, here comes the part that made my brain turn into licorice. At one end of your rectangle, measure in 4”. Mark that. It’s your “flap. Now, measure in another 2”. Mark that. Now you have the two corners for the “top” of your boxy messenger bag. Now, measure down as far as you wanted your bag to be tall…mark that. Go another 2” and mark that. There’s the bottom of your bag. You should be left with a length that is identical to the back of the bag. 

 

Time to attach your strap! Your strap should have ended up 2” wide, and so should just fit into the “bottom” that you measured out for yourself. Carefully pin your strap into place and sew the short ends to the bottom of the bag, right sides together. Then, sew up the sides to close up the sides of your bag.

 

You’re done!

 

(If you want a stiffer bag, use something heavier than the flannel and cotton/poly bed sheet that I used or add interfacing between your layers.)

 

(PS – I obviously sewed the long sides of the strap before the short side. Do whatever doesn’t make your brain turn into licorice!)

Thing 33: Pebbles and Bam Bam costumes revealed!

 

Ming Wai came up with her own costume, using what she had around. Her cousin, Ernie, did the same (and went as Rudolph). The two little ones were carefully planned by their mamas. Siu Jeun was Bam Bam, and MiMi was Pebbles. Both costumes were made by me out of quilting cotton, painted with black acrylic paint. Ming Wai helped a bit with the Pebbles costume. *grin*

Things 31 & 32: Halloween Costumes

After seeing a fabulous tutorial on ikat Bag this morning, I decided to just get my rear in gear and break out the sewing machine again. I hit a few speed bumps, but overall, I’m really pleased with my day’s work!

 

(Both costumes ended up being way too small on the bottom, but a few slashes, and a few extra triangles of fabric, fixed the issues!)

 

These certainly aren’t perfect, but Ming Wai, at least, adores hers! I finished it after she went to bed (since she wouldn’t agree to take it off before then!) and it’s a little more finished now. I used lemon-yellow flannel to finish all of the hems. I’ll get pictures of that later!

Siu Jeun is going to be Bam Bam for Halloween. He…wasn’t pleased about me stripping his clothes off him, and stuffing him into this thing. Heh.

 

I might blow up this picture and frame it. It just makes me giggle!! (I know, I’m awful.)

Thing 30: A House Coat (and a Tutorial!)

This is one of those projects that stewed around in my head for MONTHS before I ever sat down to attempt it. Of course, when I sat down…I had only a very, VERY vague plan in mind.

 

Like. Really vague.

I wanted something snuggly and warm, but not something that would be too cumbersome. Something just for the kids to wear around the house to keep them warm. So…cozier than a sweatshirt, but less in-the-way than a traditional robe.

So, here’s how I did it.

Step one – Find a shirt that fits your kid. (This housecoat was for Siu Jeun, my little dude.) Lay it out on your snuggly material (I used fleece, but flannel would work as well. Or minky if you’re crazy. Or stretch velour, for that matter, but I won’t admit here that I have some in my stash. Or that it’s purple. Moving on.)

If your fabric allows, fold it in half so you can cut both pieces at once. If not, just cut the Back Piece out first, and then we’ll fold it in half for the next step.

Step 2 - So, lay it out. You’re going to make a really quick n’ dirty pattern here. Use a fabric marking pen to make your cut line for the top of the coat. Leaving a 1/2” seam allowance, trace around both sleeves and the neck. Be sure to mark where the neck begins and ends!

 

Then, move on to where the armpits are. (I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of this part…but you really can’t mess it up.) You’re going to make an A-line coat, for maximum move-ability. To make this coat (for a 21 month old) I drew a 14” line, angling out from the armpit. Where the line passed the hem of the shirt, it was 2” away. (With those two measurements, you can easily make both sides identical without any tricky folding.)

 

Step 3 - Now, cut it out! (If you didn’t have a square of fabric big enough to fold in half and still fit your whole coat, take the piece you just cut out and fold it in half, stem to stern. Or neck to hem. Whatever. Fit that piece somewhere on your fabric and trace it out, exactly. Fit it one more spot and trace THAT out, exactly. Cut those two pieces out, and you’ve got your Front Right and Front Left pieces! Make sure to flip it over for the second Front so that you end up with the Right Side of the fabric…on the right side, when you put them together.)

(If you cut out Front and Back together, on folded fabric, take your Front piece and fold it in half, stem to stern, and cut it along the fold. Now you’ve got your Front Right and Front Left. Nice, yes?)

 

Step 4 – Take a look at your neck line. Do you see where it ends? Now figure out where, on your Front pieces, mid-way down the chest would be. Fold the top corners of the pieces away from the chest, from the edge of the neck to mid-way down the chest. Sew those down. (I like them on the outside, but folding them to the inside, hemming it 1/2” from the edge, and trimming it off works, too!)

 

Step 5 – Sew it together!! Sew your top seams. Sew your side seams. (Right sides together, please.) Hem up the bottom if you like, and the opening in the middle. Or don’t. Whatever. It’s a housecoat! It’s made of fleece! It’s all good.

Step 6 – Stick it on your kid. For extra fun, get the kid to run away from you after you put it on them. They look like some sort of rich Super Villain. Excellent.

 

(Step 7 (optional) – make one for big sister.

Thing 29: The Pants from the Shirt that Made the Dress

Do you remember, a few weeks ago, when I made this dress for Ming Wai?

Just humor me here, ok? Tell me you remember it.

Got it? Good.  (I mean, how could you forget those fancy hands???)

So that dress was made from the body of a large men’s polo. The sleeves were saved.

 

For these.

They’re not perfect, by any means (the legs are different lengths!) but I am getting better at making these. The waist fits much better than some of the first shorts I made him.  And I’m kind of diggin’ this cropped length.

Also? Mardi Gras beads – not just for New Orleans anymore! (Gold is rather fetching with navy, though, isn’t it?!)

Craft Fail…or Win? (Thing 27)

Do you see that blue dress? The one in the middle? I made it, during the afternoon. I got The Feeling, and I just had to go and MAKE something, or else I would explode. You do know that feeling, don’t you??

I dug through my To Re-Purpose Pile, and came across a long-sleeved navy polo shirt. Size Large, Men’s. Perfect! I grabbed a dress from my daughter’s drawer that always looks nice on her, traced it out, and started sewing! I was going to copy the sleeves as well….and then decided I just couldn’t be bothered. I also decided, after I had already cut it out, to attempt French seams. For the first time. From memory. (Heh. Yeeeaaaah…..)

I ended up with a rather cute dress, if i do say so myself, that is just a smidge tight across the chest. I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to re-gift it to my (smaller) niece, or unpick the seams and re-do them sans “French.” (Since French seams are essentially one seam sewn around another seam, undoing the French-ness would give me nearly an extra inch around the chest!).

I’m sorry I don’t have any pictures of the FRONT of the dress. My camera ran out of batteries as soon as we reached our destination, and when we got home again, it was time for bed. *sigh* The life of a blogger is tough!

Thing 26: A Pouf!

Ladies, and gentleman, I present to you…a pouf!

(No, sweet husband, it’s not a powf. If’s pronounced poof. Got it? Ok. moving on.)

 

I used this tutorial, from Living With Punks.  Her poufs were a little different – they had some rather smart looking piping around the edges. However, I had neither piping nor the patience to go out and buy some. So…no piping for me!

I learned a new trick with these – a way to make super strong handles! The fabric for the handles is folded twice, so it’s actually four layers of canvas. Also, see that nifty little x’d box there? That makes it really stick to the rest of the pillow. Neat, right?

 

My finished pouf is sitting in my daughter’s room, and I just ADORE it! The hardest part was stuffing it. I used some ripped foam filling that I scored off of Freecycle. Now, I love me some free, but that stuff makes a HUGE mess. And my three year old was helping me stuff. And my one year old was sneaking handfuls of the filling and launching it down the stairs. And I very nearly took the (unfinished) pouf, the “helpful” three year old, and the maniacal one year old and locked them all in the cellar to sort themselves out.

I didn’t.

But it was close.

(The fabric is a home-dec weight cotton from IKEA.)

Thing 25: An (itty bitty) Man Purse!

My daughter, Ming Wai, received an invitation to attend a birthday party last weekend. We were thrilled, of course, but a little stumped. See, the party was for a little boy. Turning three. And I prefer handmade gifts over store-bought ones.

So, what, pray tell, does a three year old boy like?!

I decided that most little kids, regardless of gender, need bags to carry around their “treasures.” And so…I made an Itty Bitty Man Purse! It was originally going to be flannel on the outside (see the strap? That flannel.) and grey cotton on the inside. However, after I finished quilting it, I couldn’t bear to put the grey inside! So…I just folded it the other way, and let the cotton shine.

Then, I needed to find a model. My first model was difficult to work with, and seemed to dislike the product.

 

(He couldn’t figure out how to get it OFF….and he HATES being tied down, in ANY way. Thus, the half-nekkid Floor Tantrum.)

I moved on to another model, just to show the versatility of the bag.

 

This model was much easier to work with, and really knew how to “work” the product!

And then, just to show what a good sport he was, our first model decided to give me a Goober Face Shot. Just to be nice. (See, Mom? No more tantrum! I’m easy going – don’t tie me up, and I won’t fall to the floor screaming like a banshee on crack. Honest!)

 

PS – I didn’t have a pattern for this one. If anyone is interested in a tutorial, please let me know! I thought I could explain it pretty simply, but it’s something that’s better seen than…read? Just leave a comment if a tutorial would be helpful.