Blog Face Lift/ Now Advertising

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm ready for a season change. I have a bad case of Spring fever. I've started my spring cleaning around here a little early, and getting ready for yard sale at the first sight of warm weather. My motto this week is out with the old, and in with the new. I am including my blog in that, with a little face lift. I designed the header and buttons on Picnik. I love how simple this program is to use. You can use most of the gadgets for free, but can upgrade for a small cost. 


I also added a PR Friendly/Advertising tab at the top of my blog, if anyone is interested. 


I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Princess Dress and Pirate/Princess Birthday Invitation

I wanted to share the newest additions to my kids birthday party extravaganza. This post really reflects my love for etsy. I really believe I can find everything I need on that sight. First I want to share the princess dress that I made my daughter. I sadly cannot claim the design as mine. I purchased the PDF pattern from an etsy store called Fabric Boutique. If you have never purchased a PDF pattern from etsy, you should check them out. There are several stores that sell them for a very reasonable price.

The fabric that I used was Amy Butler {Rowan}. I have had it for a year, and could not find a project worthy enough for me to make that first cut. Does anyone else have that problem? I have several fabrics like that. I thought it would be a perfect pattern for my daughters princess dress. In the picture you can see the leggings she had on underneath, just ignore those. She was not a very willing participant in getting a picture today.

These are the invitations that I will be sending out to friends and family soon. I had these made by another favorite etsy store called Silly Me Design. I used this store last year for their first birthday invitation and loved them, so I had to go back again this year. When you are dealing with boy/girl twins, you have to get creative, and she did a great job with it. I would highly recommend checking her store out.

2nd Birthday Party Preparation

My twins 2nd birthday party will be in March, and the preparation is taking over my craft space. It will be a pirate/princess theme. I have decided to only make a few homeade items this year, because I went a little overboard last year. I was so exhausted after it all, that I didn't sew or scrapbook for a month. I decided to make their outfits and birthday banner, then purchase the rest from a party supply store. I thought I would share a couple of things that I have finised.

I stated by cutting 3" triangles, and used my pinking shears to make the zig zag look on the edges.

I used my Cuttin up Cricut cartridge to make my letters, and my Story Book Cartridge to make the crown. I had to google image a jolly roger, but I like the one I found.

For my sons shirt I found a larger google image of a jolly roger, printed, and cut it out. I cut it out in white felt, and sewed around it. I liked the rugged look of it. He will be a cute pirate.

I will be back this week to show the dress I will make for my daughter, and maybe a few other things I've been working on.

Ruffle Scarf Tutorial

I was given this lavender shawl as a present last year, but was never able to wear it. It was really long and wide, so it never fit like my other scarfs. I always loved the color and the soft light fabric. So, when I saw a Summer scarf tutorial on MADE, I thought my shawl would be perfect. The fabric she used was much lighter so it ruffled a bit more, but I'm really happy with mine.

The original measurements of my shawl was 26" wide and 71" long. First I folded it in half longways, and cut. Now I have two pieces measuring 14" wide. It looks a little more like a scarf now. Next, I folded and ironed the cut edge. I pinned and hemmed, so it wouldn't fray. The photo above is only folded once. I folded it over again before sewing. This was a nap time project, and was sidetracked when one of my kids woke up, so I never took another photo. Sorry!

The elastic bobbin thread was new for me, but it was fun to try something different. I found mine at JoAnn's with all the other thread. It was only $1.50 for 10yds. You will have to load your bobbin by hand, just remember to roll it on loosely. My machine is a Singer, so I didn't have to change any of my normal setting to make the ruffle effect. My machine uses a bobbin case, but I have heard that you have to change your tension, if your are using a machine with a drop in bobbin. I'm not sure why, I have just seen that on different sewing forums. You may just want to practice on spare fabric first, and make the needed changes. You will use coordinating thread on the top of your machine, and load your bobbin in your machine like you would normally.

Now the fun part starts. You will sew your first line down the middle. You should start to see it ruffle immediately. Don't forget to back stitch at the beginning and end, or else the elastic thread will not hold. I decided to do two lines down the middle to make it have more of a ruffle.

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment. I will try to help. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

I will be linking here this week.