The Post That Use to be Called: Crinkly Owl Taggies

This post use to be about a little owl toy that I made for my son and two of his friends.

Rowan's friend Anna likes to share.

But then I received this letter:

KidsII claims a patent for any looped ribbon sewn between two peices of fabric.  

It makes me wonder how many people work in their legal department, and how many hours a day they spend sending out infringment letters to the many mothers in blog-land who have made these types of toys for their children.

Satin Flowers Tutorial

There are a few different ways to make satin flowers, and the craft blog world is full of 'em.  This method is fairly easy and involves fire (more grown-up crafts should, in my opinion), so it's not for the kids to do on their own!

Round up the following:

• Satin fabric.  It must have polyester in it or bad things will happen.  (Seriously, if it's cotton or silk the fabric will just burn instead of melt.)
• Fabric glue or hot glue
• Plastic shank button (ie, the ones without the holes through them)
• Sharp scissors
• Lighter or matches and a candle

If you don't have a stash of satin fabric, I have a criminal mastermind-ish way for you to get some for free.  Most fabric stores will give you free samples of anything you want, and one strip is wide and long enough to make 3 or 4 flowers!

Score!  Free fabric samples.

Here we go:  Step 1

Cut circles out of the fabric.

To make my life easier, I folded a square of fabric into quarters and cut out a wedge.  I used three different sizes; the largest 'petal' is about 8 cm in diameter and the smallest is 4 cm.  I would recommend cutting at least 6 petals for each flower.

Step 2

Burn, baby, burn.  Using a lighter, or a candle, heat the edges of the satin until they start to melt.  The petals should start to curl a little.  If you use a candle, be warned - the flame can get really hot.  Don't scorch your petal! 

 

Step 3

Working from largest to smallest, layer petals with a few drops of glue in the centre.  Fabric glues and hot glue both work well.  Firmly press the petal stack down for a few seconds and let dry.

Step 4

Cut the shank (the bottom of the button) off with sharp scissors.  Or, if you have them, cuticle trimmers.  That's what I used...it works VERY well.

Step 5

Glue the button top to the centre of the petals.  Once again, press firmly and let dry completely.

White with guinea feather and tulle

Ta-da!  I attached this flower to a hair clip (using hot glue) so that it could be attached to a headband or directly to hair.  Have fun!

Bi-coloured blue

 

Purple

 

Gun-metal grey with bead cluster

Fantastic Flowers

Do you remember this ad from 1992?  That flower press (very similar to my cuttlebug) made my Christmas list that year, but it never turned up under the tree.  I think my parents vetoed that gift knowing that my 9-year-old-self would probably make 3 flowers and never use it again.  I believe I received a Walkman instead.

This post is really about satin flowers - made by me - but with dangerous things like sharp scissors and fire.  I'll show ya how to do it...later.  **UPDATE** Tutorial HERE!

The flower, feather and netting are on an interchangeable clip.  Confession: it's not something I invented.  I totally copied Miss Plunkett, so I'd feel a little guilty spilling their secret.

Rowan was begging to try the blue one on.  Yes...begging....

What a good sport he is!

The recipients of these flowers are my two new little girlfriends.

Leah

Kennedy

I hope the girls share with their mums!

The Urban Hoodie (and Raincoat)

My ball and chain (ie the MacBook) finally returned from her date with a Mac Genius (Apple's ego-stroking term for tech support personnel).  WOWSERS.  The last time I was away from the internet for this long (excluding the first 16 years of my life), I was working for Uepi Island Resort in the Solomon Islands.  Oh, my dear blog, how I've missed you!!

Circa 2005 - man....what a summer.

Ohhhh - that picture makes me feel cold.  Ohhhh - if I don't stop looking at it, I'm never going to get this post finished. *Insert self-inflicted face slap here*

I was very happy to be introduced to The Boy Trifecta; a blog by a mum of - you guessed it - three boys.  It's were I discovered the Urban Hoodie pattern from Heidi and Finn.  

The timing was perfect for it to be bumped to the top of my must-sew list; Rowan was growing out of his snowsuit, but he still needed something cozy to wear.  Spring in Southern Ontario = mild and sunny one day and snow the next. Sadly, I'm not exaggerating.  The photos of R-man in the hoodie/raincoat were taken on Friday afternoon.  Today at noon, there remains evidence of yesterday's snowfall.

I decided to use Emily's tutorial and add a zipper instead of buttons.  Mine didn't turn out quite as nice as hers (zippers and I have only recently come to an amiable understanding), but I certainly don't lose sleep over it.

 At the end of a long, cold, rainy day I decided that Rowan needed a raincoat too.  While the blue hoodie is made of a light sweatshirt (knit) fabric, the raincoat is nylon with a flannel lining.  I realize the design is not the most waterproof, but it doesn't really have to be.  I couldn't come up with a realistic scenario that would require him to endure pouring rain for more than 2 minutes.

Same pattern, just tweaked it a little by lengthening the body and foregoing the bottom trim.  I wish I had cut the material before purchasing the zipper, because it (the zip) ended up being too short.  To make up for that oversight, I added a snap closure.  Yes, I know I could have postponed finishing it in order to purchase a longer zipper, but....it was 11pm and I didn't want to stop on account of a technicality!

Besides, he'll grow out of it in two months and I'll have a chance to do it all over again!

Bonsai Bag

Looky, looky; something ELSE I've sewn from Made By Rae.  I think I may have an addiction...  

I really like this Bonsai Bag pattern because it involves very few pattern pieces to print and cut out.  Most of it is rectangles that you just measure out with a ruler!  It was a lot of fun to make, but alas....'tis not for me.  Another gift.  I'll be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of my fabric choice when I got it all together, but it's starting to grow on me.  The recipient says she loves it, so I guess that's all that matters.

I really love these magnetic snaps; they're easy to install (haha....install) and look very polished.  I used them in another project that I will be posting soon!

Rowan and I are looking forward to spending the afternoon with a few mums and babies on this dreary, rainy day.  Have a great Monday!

Casserole Carrier

Wedding gift part two:

Evidently I wasn't phased by making 48 'Thank You' cards.  You know how I said I usually get my craft on during nap time and after Rowan is asleep?  Well, meet my first (and definitely not last) 12 - 2am project! I used the insulated casserole carrier tutorial at 2 Little Hooligans and followed the alterations as indicated by this post.

It may have been only a 12-1:30am project if I hadn't sewn the panels the wrong way.  That's what I get for sleep deprived sewing.  Regardless, it was a great project and I was very happy with the results.  All the sewing mavens out there should keep this one in mind for Mother's Day!

Now, I need your help.  I have 2m of a dark wash denim that I need to make into something.  It's taking up too much space in my fabric cupboard!   Unfortunately, it's too heavy for baby clothes....any ideas what I could make?

Thank You Cards

I'm going out on a limb here by assuming that my brother and sister-in-law have opened their wedding gifts.  It's been a few days since they've returned from their honeymoon...I think I'm safe :)

A month before the wedding, I asked Jess if there was anything in particular she needed gift-wise.  She asked me to make her some 'Thank You' cards.  Uhhhh, buying paper, ribbon, cuttlebug supplies, ink and an embossing tool for an actual purpose?!  SWEET BEANS!  I think it was my first guilt-free trip to the craft store ever.

I ended up making four different designs, 48 in total.  I thought if I just did one style I would get bored.  The 'thanks' lettering comes from the 'Olivia' alphabet set (by Provo Craft, aka Cuttlebug).  I found it on sale at Walmart and from what I gather, it's becoming hard to find.  I'm thinking Ebay or Amazon is your best bet to nab one.

I left the little embossed birdies blank in the event they don't need all the cards.  These little babies can be used as regular note cards. 

Oh man, I love my cuttlebug.  I used it to cut the 'thanks' lettering, flowers and decorative frame and emboss the paper.  *Sigh* that was a magical afternoon.

I think they took 4 days to complete (my concept of time is shot to hell) as I did most of my work during nap time and after R-man went to bed.  Two other things that helped: watching 'The Tudors' on Netflix and eating 'Toppables' crackers.  Ahhhhhhhh mat leave!