Peanut Life Adventures: Project 14

Showing posts with label Project 14. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

LadyBug Hooded Towel

Oh goodness, this is so cute and I'm so happy I made it for my O-town friend's baby shower :) I think these hooded towels, along with my umbilical cord hats, are going to be my new go-to item for baby showers. I sure seem to be getting invited to a lot of baby showers this year/know a TON of people who are having babies. It's crazy... but exciting! Babies are so cute!

Anyways, back to this hooded towel. It was one of my Project 14 projects that I wanted to do this year. I'm happy to check another one off the list. Overall, it was pretty easy to make. I followed the directions from Crazy Little Projects. I picked up my towels from Walmart during the back to school sales. My only issue came with the applique stitch around the eyes and spots. My sewing machine was NOT happy doing that. It made some bad noises and was getting stuck. At one point, my sewing machine got so angry at me, I thought I had broken it. And at that point I got upset and walked away from the project for a few days. However, I did a little reading in my instructional book and gave it another go, this time using a different type of thread. I'm not sure if the renewed patience helped, or the new thread, or if the stars aligned that day or what, but the second time I sat down to finish it, it was a breeze. So just to be on the safe side, I highly recommend using a high quality thread, like Gutterman, to do the applique sewing to hold down the eyes and spots.

My giant CareBear had to model for me as I don't have any babies or toddlers close by :)

Overall, the directions were easy to follow and this was a fun (and fairly quick) project to make. I can't wait to make more! My husband got jealous of my CareBear modeling - so you might find him modeling my next one (or maybe I'll make him one as a gag gift for his 30th birthday this year!)

Linking Up:

Wednesday

Create and Share, Sugar and Spice, What I Whipped Up, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Show me what ya Got, Lil Luna, Wow me Wesdnesday, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Cast Party, Your Whims Wednesday, Fluster's Creative Muster, Wednesday Whatsit, Show and Share, Dream to Reality, Wow Us Wednesday, Super Linky Party, What We Wore, Read, and Made, Whatcha Work-Up, A Little Bird Told Me, And Sew We Craft Together, We did it!, We Made that!, Two Girls and a Party
Thursday
Catch a Glimpse, Chic and Crafty, Thursday Favorite Things, Live Laugh Linky, Creative Princess, Share your Cup, , Linky Party, Link it Up, Made you Look, Inspiration in Progress, Blog Stalking, Wildly Original, Showcase your Talent, Somewhat Simple, Keep Calm and Link Up, Five Little Chefs, Lamberts Lately
Friday
Show and Tell Friday, Friday Favorites, Simply Create, Lovely Crafty Weekend, EBKTS, Weekend Wander, Weekend Show Off, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Flaunt it Friday, 504 Main, Friday Favs, Fancy This Friday, Flash Blog Friday, Finished Friday, Freedom Friday, Show off Friday, Happy Hour, Keep Calm and Link Up, Weekend Wonders, I'm loving it, Fiday Favs, Pity Party, Dare to Share, F Friday, Craftionary Link Party, Do Something Crafty, Get Crafty, Shine on Friday!
Weekend
Weekend Wrap Up, Say G'day, Saturday Spotlight, Strut Your Stuff, Check me Out , Show and Tell, Saturday Spotlight, Your Great Idea, Simply Sweet Saturday, Share it Saturday, Saturday Show and Tell, Craft Create Inspire, Sunday Showcase, Think Pink, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Not Baaad Sunday, That DIY Party, Overflowing with Creativity Party, A Bouquet of Talent, Weekend Creative
Monday

A Round Tuit, Masterpiece Monday, Market Yourself Monday, Pink Hippo Party,Motivate Me Monday, Made by You Mondays, Made with Love, Craft-O-Manic Monday, Monday Funday, Sweet Sharing Monday, Marvelous Mondays, Make it Pretty, Mop It Up Monday, Busy Monday, I gotta try that, Mad Skills
Tuesday
Anti-Procrastination Tuesday, Homemade Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Take a Look Tuesday, Too Cute Tuesday, One Project at a Time, Tasteful Tuesday, Tell me Tuesday, Trick or Treat Tuesday, Whatcha Whipped Up, Tuesday Talent Show, Two Cup Tuesday, Memories by the Mile, Totally Tasteful Tuesdays, Tuesday Confessional, Time for You Tuesday, Gathering Spot, Take it On Tuesday, You're Gonna Love it Tuesday, All my Bloggy Friends, Tuesday to Do, Pin it Tuesday

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Gift Card Holder

Ok, by now you are probably wondering where the recipes are. I promise, they are coming! I know I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but returning to work is keeping me busy and it's been hard to keep up with blogging. And the heat has returned, so the last thing I want to do at the end of a long day is do some cooking or baking in my roasting kitchen, but I promise that more recipes will be coming soon... as soon as I get the posts typed up!
However, as you can see, I was busy sewing before I returned to work, so now I can happily share some sewing projects with you. I also realized recently that the year is half over, and if I want to make all the projects I set out to do in Project 14, I had better get a move on!
Today I'm sharing with you a super easy tutorial to make a gift card holder. I don't know about you, but I seem to collect gift cards to different stores or loyalty cards - but never remember to bring them with me when I'm shopping! I have way to many to simply put them in my wallet, so I needed another solution. This pattern (from The Crafty Cupboard) was originally for business cards, but transitioned super easily to a gift card holder. This project is another great way to use up scraps (you may recognize this fabric from the baby girl skirt I made).

Super Easy Gift Card Holder
What you need:

2 pieces of 5.5 inches x 4.5 inches (one for the outside, one for the inside, they can be the same or different colors - mine were yellow and pink)
2 pieces of 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches (these make the "pockets" for your gift cards - mine were yellow)
1 piece fusible fleece 5.5 inches x 4.5 inches
Small elastic hair tie in coordinating color
Button
Coodinating thread
Pins and sewing notions

What to do:

Step 1 - take your two small pieces and iron a 1/4 inch on a long side, fold down and iron again to create a nice hem

Ok, bad picture I know, please excuse it. My sewing room is in the basement and I often don't have much (if any) good light down there.

Step 2 - top stitch hem into place
Step 3 - Take your lining piece and place it right side up. On top of your lining, place your pockets, right side up along each short edge and pin into place. The rough edges should all be together and your nice hem should be facing the gap in the middle

A closer view of how to pin the pockets into place... picture below.

Step 4 - Iron the fusible fleece onto the wrong side of your outer fabric
Step 5- Make your sandwich and get ready to sew. Place your inner piece with pockets facing right side up, on top of that, with right side facing down, place your outer fabric. (Basically, you want right sides together on the inside). Pin around edges

Step 6 - One one of the short sides, slip your hair tie between your layers and pin into place.

Step 7 - Using 1/4 inch seam, sew around your outside edges, leaving a 3 inch gap on a long side for turning. When you come to your elastic, sew back and forth to reinforce the hold over your hair tie.

Step 8 - Turn your project right side out and top stitch your opening closed.

Step 9 - Fold your card holder in half and mark the middle. Sew a seam down the middle.

Step 10 - Last Step! Sew your button into place.

Enjoy your new gift card holder!

Linking up

Linking up:

Wednesday

Create and Share, Sugar and Spice, What I Whipped Up, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Show me what ya Got, Lil Luna, Wow me Wesdnesday, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Cast Party, Your Whims Wednesday, Fluster's Creative Muster, Wednesday Whatsit, Show and Share, Dream to Reality, Wow Us Wednesday, Super Linky Party, What We Wore, Read, and Made, Whatcha Work-Up, A Little Bird Told Me, And Sew We Craft Together, We did it!, We Made that!, Two Girls and a Party
Thursday
Catch a Glimpse, Creative Juice, Chic and Crafty, Thursday Favorite Things, Live Laugh Linky, Creative Princess, Share your Cup, , Linky Party, Link it Up, Made you Look, Inspiration in Progress, Blog Stalking, Wildly Original, Showcase your Talent, Somewhat Simple, Keep Calm and Link Up, Five Little Chefs, Commercial Break, Lamberts Lately
Friday
Show and Tell Friday, Friday Favorites, Simply Create, Lovely Crafty Weekend, EBKTS, Weekend Wander, Weekend Show Off, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Flaunt it Friday, 504 Main, Friday Favs, Fancy This Friday, Flash Blog Friday, Finished Friday, Freedom Friday, Show off Friday, Happy Hour, Keep Calm and Link Up, Weekend Wonders, I'm loving it, Fiday Favs, Pity Party, Dare to Share, F Friday, Craftionary Link Party, Do Something Crafty, Get Crafty, Shine on Friday!
Weekend
Weekend Wrap Up, Say G'day, Saturday Spotlight, Strut Your Stuff, Check me Out , Show and Tell, Saturday Spotlight, Your Great Idea, Simply Sweet Saturday, Share it Saturday, Saturday Show and Tell, Craft Create Inspire, Sunday Showcase, Think Pink, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Not Baaad Sunday, That DIY Party, Overflowing with Creativity Party, A Bouquet of Talent, Weekend Creative
Monday

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Bike Bag

September, really? Where has the time gone! I can't believe that I'm back to work and students are back to school also.

I finished this project almost a month ago, but I haven't had time to write up the post. Whoops! But this one is worth the wait, I promise! It's and idea I saw from SewMamaSew and it's another one of my Project 14 project complete :) And I'm putting this one to good use while riding around town (the perks of small town living!) I love riding my bike to the grocery store or to the library, now I have a nice little pouch to put my wallet and keys in when I go for a ride - perfect!

The three days before I started work again in mid-August I went camping with my husband's family. We go near Lanesboro and do a lot of biking on the Root River trail. It was so nice to have this pouch to tuck a snack into (or money for ice cream) and my camera. I also got lots of compliments on it. I hope you enjoy it!

What you need:

2 - 10x7 inch rectangles for the outside of your pouch
2 - 10x7.5 inch rectangles for the inside of your pouch
2 - 10x7 inch rectangles of batting (I used Pellon, but I would suggest using something a little less stiff)
2 - 4x9 inch rectangles for the straps
2 - 3 inch long strips of velcro (mine was 3/4inch, sew on velcro)
1 - 6.5 inch strip of velcro for bag closure
Thread
Pins
Sewing Machine :)

This is actually a very simple project to make. You can use one fabric for the liner if you'd like or use the same fabric both inside and outside (that's what I did). All seam allowances are 1/2 inch (nice and big :)

What you do:

After you have cut out your fabric, you will need to baste your batting to the two outside pieces. Put the batting on the bottom and the fabric right side up and baste around all four edges using 1/4 inch seam allowance. Do this for both outside pieces of fabric.

Now put the right sides together and using a regular straight stitch and your 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew along the two short sides and the one long bottom side.

Next, you need to make the corners on the bottom of your bag. Pinch the side seam and the bottom seam together and sew a seam 1/2 inch from the point and then clip the corners. Do this for both of the bottom edges.

Take your inside fabric and place right sides together and sew along the two short sides and the long bottom side.

Pinch and sew the corners for the inside of your bag.

Now you are going to put your inside and outsides together. Place the right sides together for both the inside and outside of your bag, pin together. Sew along the top edge, leaving a three inch opening for turning.

Turn your bag right side out. Your inside fabric was a little longer, so you should have a little boarder of the inside fabric along the top edge of your bag. (Sorry, no picture of this one since I used the same fabric for both!) Sew your the opening that you turned your bag through closed.

Center your velcro each side of your opening. Pin it in place and then sew it in place.

Now you need to make your straps. Fold them in half, with the right sides facing in. Sew along one short side and the long side, using 1/4 seam allowance. Turn through the open short side. Turn the open edge in on the bottom and stitch close.

Find the middle of your strips. Place one strip of velcro on each side of center. Sew the velcro into place on opposite sides of your straps (so when you wrap them around the handle bars of your bike they will meet)

Finally, pin the straps about 1.5 inches from the sides of your bag (and about 1 inch from the top) and sew the strap in place. I made a small box with an x in the middle to reinforce the strap and make sure it stays in place.

And you are done! Enjoy your new bike bag!

Linking up:

Wednesday

Create and Share, Sugar and Spice, What I Whipped Up, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Show me what ya Got, Lil Luna, Wow me Wesdnesday, {Wow Me} Wednesday, Cast Party, Your Whims Wednesday, Fluster's Creative Muster, Wednesday Whatsit, Show and Share, Dream to Reality, Wow Us Wednesday, Super Linky Party, What We Wore, Read, and Made, Whatcha Work-Up, A Little Bird Told Me, And Sew We Craft Together, We did it!, We Made that!, Two Girls and a Party
Thursday
Catch a Glimpse, Creative Juice, Chic and Crafty, Thursday Favorite Things, Live Laugh Linky, Creative Princess, Share your Cup, , Linky Party, Link it Up, Made you Look, Inspiration in Progress, Blog Stalking, Wildly Original, Showcase your Talent, Somewhat Simple, Keep Calm and Link Up, Five Little Chefs, Commercial Break, Lamberts Lately
Friday
Show and Tell Friday, Friday Favorites, Simply Create, Lovely Crafty Weekend, EBKTS, Weekend Wander, Weekend Show Off, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Flaunt it Friday, 504 Main, Friday Favs, Fancy This Friday, Flash Blog Friday, Finished Friday, Freedom Friday, Show off Friday, Happy Hour, Keep Calm and Link Up, Weekend Wonders, I'm loving it, Fiday Favs, Pity Party, Dare to Share, F Friday, Craftionary Link Party, Do Something Crafty, Get Crafty, Shine on Friday!
Weekend
Weekend Wrap Up, Say G'day, Saturday Spotlight, Strut Your Stuff, Check me Out , Show and Tell, Saturday Spotlight, Your Great Idea, Simply Sweet Saturday, Share it Saturday, Saturday Show and Tell, Craft Create Inspire, Sunday Showcase, Think Pink, Nifty Thrifty Sunday, Not Baaad Sunday, That DIY Party, Overflowing with Creativity Party, A Bouquet of Talent, Weekend Creative
Monday

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Pincushion

So I got a sewing machine after my wedding in October, cool right? I went out and looked for the supplies I needed - pins and thread and tape measure and scissors. I was all set and got right to work sewing away on small projects. It's been lots of fun!

Clearly, however, I forgot a very important item - a pincushion! I'm trying to be very good about pinning my projects in an effort to sew straight lines and avoid bumps and wrinkles... but then I need somewhere to put those pins. Enter a quick search on Pinterest and some leftover fabric from my bike bag and problem solved! (and another Project 14 project completed!) A pincushion that is tied onto my sewing machine so I never lose it!

Materials needed:

Basic sewing supplies

Approx 3 feet of ribbon (enough to wrap around your sewing machine 1 1/2 to 2 times)

Scrap Fabric

Stuffing/Polyester fill/Batting scraps

Directions:

Cut two rectangles of fabric, 5 inches by 3 inches. (or whatever size will best fit on your sewing machine, depending how it is laid out)

Measure your ribbon around your sewing machine. Cut two pieces that are long enough to go around your sewing machine.

Lay one of the pieces of fabric right side up and place your ribbon on the edges, leaving a little extra hang over the edge. Pin to hold in place.

Place right sides together and pin around

Sew around all four sides, leaving about a 3 - 4 inch opening along the bottom for turning.

Be careful not to sew over the long ends of the ribbon. However, I did reinforce stitch, by going back and forth twice, on the short sides to make sure the ribbon will stay put!