Sew God's Grace

I have had the pictures for this post for quite a while, but I knew if was going to take me a long time to type it up.  I have made several of these outfits to sell at a craft fair and also for gifts, and I think they are so cute!  You can make them anywhere from a size 6 month up to about 4T.  I will try to make these instructions as clear as possible.  If you have any questions, please leave them for me in the comments, and I will try to explain the steps better! To start, you will need the following: 1.  Child's T-shirt in the size and color you want 2.  2 bandanas 3.  5.5 to 6.5 inches of border fabric 4.  3/4 inch elastic 5.  Wonder Under or Heat and bond light fusible webbing 6.   Totally Stable iron on stabilizer 7.  Optional but nice, " Over the Back Fusible Interlining " for the back of the applique 8.   Fray Check 9.  Basic sewing skills and tools, ie thread, rotary cutter, etc. All seams ar...

I'm not sure how this little girl is already seven!  We celebrated Anna's birthday last week.  This week, she wanted to wear the dress I made for her birthday, and she wanted her hair curled, and we went to the park.  The result?  I followed her around for a while trying to get a good picture of her.  Thankfully she cooperated with me pretty well.  I kept telling her not to move while I was taking the picture, and at one point she asked exasperatedly, "Can I breathe while you take the picture?"  Oh my, I see a lot of myself in this one! My in laws bought me a serger for Christmas this year.  I was excited to try it, but also intimidated, so it sat in the box for a couple of months.  Well, I finally got brave and took it out of the box and started sewing with knit fabric.  I am falling in love with how fast it is to throw something together! This dress is Greenstyle Creations Regan Dress , and I absolutely love it.  It is a...

I have been feeling the urge to sew this week and have completed a couple of projects.  I needed a gift for my step mom for Mother's Day, so I decided to make her an apron. I used this pattern from the Dating Divas.  One tip I would offer on the ruffle is just to sew one end shut, turn it right side out, press, and then start pleating.  When you get close to the end, cut off the extra fabric and sew the ends shut.  Press and finish pleating.  As per the instructions, I tried several times to get it to come out exactly right, and I about drove myself crazy! I'm planning to make some more of these close to Christmas time with some really cute snowman fabric!

My sister-in-law, Joni, posted a purse on Facebook that she had made using a free pattern online.  I loved the shape of it, and I was in need of a gift idea for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. I downloaded the pattern ( Phoebe purse ) and put it together in a couple of afternoons this week.  Thanks to Joni for helping me get some material picked out--always the hardest part for me!  One tip that I would offer is that you will need a fairly sturdy needle when you are sewing layers together--I used a size 100/16. We celebrated Mother's Day with Lois on Wednesday night because they were going to be out of town this weekend.  I think she really liked the purse!  Now on to more projects. . .

I was shopping for some new shirts for Maddie the other day, and we weren't finding a whole lot of interesting ones (or ones that had logos/sayings that I was comfortable with!). I finally just picked out a plain gray shirt and told her we would applique something onto it. She requested a powercat, and I was happy to comply. She really liked it, as did her brother Evan. So we made one for him, too! For more details on how to applique on a t-shirt, see this post . Then see this post for help on placing your powercat applique. I fold the t-shirt in half to find the center.  Be sure to use a ball point needle for knits. I've enjoyed making these with the kids because they are able to trace and cut out their patterns and even iron them in place. Makes for a pretty quick afternoon project!

I have said it before, and I will say it again:  "I am not a great photographer."  I didn't have a lot of time to get a good picture of this, but I didn't want to let it prevent me from sharing this fun project. I found this pattern on Pinterest, and I thought it looked quick and easy.  However, I like a bag that will stand up on its own.  So, I modified the pattern and added a lining.  And. . . it came out great!  I've ordered some additional fabric to make some more of these--maybe I will get a better picture then. So, follow the instructions found here , with a few exceptions. You will need two fabric rectangles for the outside of the bag, and two fabric rectangles for the inside lining of the bag.  Cut them 17.5 by 21 inches. You will also need two 17.5 by 21 inch pieces of medium weight fusible interfacing.  Fuse these to the two pieces of outer fabric. Follow the instructions to make your outer bag and lining. For the handl...

Last year, the kids and I made this to give to their swim teacher after they completed their lessons.  Judging by the number of hits that post got, I thought others might be interested to see what we did for their swim teachers this year. Having just finished two weeks worth of lessons (three hours each morning since I had three in different levels!) we definitely felt like celebrating with some cupcakes.  Since we were finishing up on July 4th, we baked cupcakes in star-spangled cupcake liners.  (Local people, check out the cupcake liners at the General Store in Sharon Springs--I love them!) I put the cupcakes into clear plastic cups after frosting them with red frosting.  The kids were more than happy to help with 4th of July-themed sprinkles (The sprinkles were also from the General Store, just FYI.)  I wrapped the cups in cellophane because I was out of clear plastic treat bags.  I will be stocking up on those because the cellophane was much ha...

I suppose it's no secret that I like making things for my girls.  Anna kept saying that she wanted a doll with hair that she could braid.  So,when I stumbled across this cute pattern for a doll on one of my favorite blogs-- Crazy Little Projects , I knew I had to make it for her.   I made the doll with super-long hair so that she could braid it.  My sister-in-law had some leftover yarn that she gave me to use.  It is really soft with sparkles in it.  I knew Anna would love the sparkles. I made the doll similarly to what the tutorial said.  However, I did not sew the arms in at the same time that I sewed the front and back pieces of the doll together.  I left openings for the arms and sewed them on by hand.   I used this paint for the doll's face.  I was nervous about painting on the finished doll face and possibly ruining it.  I used disappearing ink to draw on the doll's face and used a toothpick to apply a smal...

I made this last year for Anna, and I never got a post up.  I used an old sweater of mine, so I felt sort of "thrifty."  Anyway, Anna had it on today, so I had to get a picture of her! I used the tutorial found  here .  I used an existing hat as a pattern. I simply cut the petals and center for the flower from felt using my pinking shears.  I made a line down the middle of each petal, pinned them in place, and sewed down the line using my machine.  I then folded the circle for the center of the flower to make it stand out a bit and hand-sewed it in place. This is one of those projects that should be quick and easy, and it actually was!  As a bonus, Anna is still wearing it a year later!

Okay, I admit it.  I'm not very good at taking pretty pictures!  I see all these beautiful blogs with pretty pictures with everything "just so," and I sigh and think, "I wish my pictures looked like that!"  Often I am trying to take my pictures with my cell phone with a baby wiggling in the front pack.  I'm lucky to simply get my picture in focus, let alone set up a neat background!  So, I apologize for the not-so-pretty picture.  However, I didn't want to let it stop me from sharing this great project. I made this as a graduation gift for a sweet girl who graduated from high school this year.  (And, yes, I know I'm a little late with my gift.  I figure better late than never!) I bought the glass cookie jar from Walmart.  I used the same technique to etch the jar as in my  Powercat Etched Glass Dish Tutorial .  I found the flower clip art  here  and used  Janda Apple Cobbler Font , which is one of my new favo...

I know there are a lot of tutorials for this out there because I looked at them to figure out how to do this.  My goal was to be able to do this without having to buy a fancy machine to cut vinyl or pay (and wait) to have someone do it for me.  I made this glass dish for my husband's uncle and aunt, who are huge K-state fans.  We were staying at their house while Matt went to a farming and ranching conference, and I wanted a little something to give them.  This fit the bill nicely!  Here is what you will need: 1.  Armour Etch 2.  Clear Contact Paper 3.  Masking Tape 4.  Scotch 5.  1 inch foam brush 6.  Exacto knife 7.  Latex Gloves 8.  Basic computer skills I used Microsoft word to print their last name and a powercat on either side.  I had to play around with the size a bit until I got exactly what I wanted.  I also put a rectangle around the text and powercats to help with cen...

I found this project on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun way to connect with Maddie.  She is the type of girl that loves gifts and secrets.  I hid it on top of her pillow the other day.  I wrote that we could leave little messages to one another and then hide it somewhere for the other to find.  I'm still waiting for it to turn up somewhere.  I asked her to use her cursive when she writes, so it will be handwriting practice for her as well! You can download the cute labels (they have one for boys, too) here.   I decorated it by covering the outside entirely with scrapbook paper.  There's a great tutorial for doing this here.   I hadn't thought to use washi tape on the binding--I may have to see if I have any that matches. There are many possibilities for making this cute little journal, but the important thing is just to have something special between you and your daughter. Here's another fun journal-decorating id...

For my previous four children, I did manage to get their sonogram pictures put into their baby books.  I never got them framed or anything.  However, for our fifth, I wanted to do something special. We were shocked to discover that Isaiah had passed away during the sixteenth week of pregnancy.  I was 15 weeks, four days along.  I went in for my routine prenatal visit, and my doctor could not find the heartbeat. I was 15 weeks, four days along.  I kept repeating that to myself over and over again.  Babies don't die then.  Sadly, however, a sonogram the next day confirmed our fears--our little boy had died. Keeping his memory alive has been important to me, and I wanted to get his sonogram picture framed and on our wall.  I also wanted to involve my kids in projects to remember their little brother. My son, Evan, painted the wooden letters that I ordered online from Hobby Lobby.  I searched and searched to find a frame that we could ...

Lyla had a cow-themed birthday party this year.  I decided to make her a cow print fleece blanket to go along with the theme.  I made her blanket with two yards of fleece fabric.  This is a nice size for hiding under, fort-making, etc.  It also will tuck under the mattress on a toddler bed.  To make a similar blanket for an infant, I recommend 1 1/4 yards of fleece. Fold the fleece, lining up the selvage edges.  Place the fold on a line on your rotary mat, and use the fold to square up the edge.  (You will be cutting on the edge without the selvage here.)  Repeat for the opposite side. Keeping the fabric folded, turn the fabric and cut off your selvage edges. With the fabric still folded, cut a 3 inch by 3 inch square from each corner. For cutting strips, I highly recommed a Quarter Cut cutting guide.  You can slip your rotary cutter into the groove that you want to cut and cover 12 inches of material at a time.  This is ...