Dying Fabric

Last week my Grandpa died.  He was an amazing Grandpa and although we are sad to say good bye  to him, he is in a much better place.  He served in the air force and due to a motorcycle accident just before he was about to ship out to fight in WW2, he became an airplane mechanic instead.  After he was discharged, he worked on space shuttles in the Apollo program.  He was the type of grandpa who was always busy puttering around in the back yard.  He grew us watermelons in the summer and pumpkins in the fall.  He always had tomatoes and baby carrots growing in his garden because he knew we liked them.  He was an amazing grandpa.  One day, he got sick, and wasn’t the same from that point on.  He ended up developing dementia and the last few years of his life, he was just a shell.  He was a Christian man and I know that he is now in heaven. 

This probably wasn’t the start you were expecting for this post, but he died one week after I had Em, and his funeral came just two weeks after I had Em.  My sister was put in charge of shopping for something for my newborn to wear since I wasn’t feeling up to shopping yet.  Believe it or not, it is hard to find funeral cloths for a newborn.  Everything is pink, which isn’t exactly a funeral color.  So my sister found this black and white dress, some tights, and a long-sleeved onesie , sweater, and had that I could die black.  She also found a black flower that I hot glued onto the had after I dyed it. 

Dying fabric is so much easier than someone would think.  I just followed the directions on the Rit dye box.  It is important to make sure you check the material that you are dying because there are slightly different directions for different material.  Since I was doing cotton, I dissolved the dye in some warm water, put it in a pot with more water, and added a cup of salt.  Once it was simmering, I wet my fabric with warm water and put it in the pot.

I stirred it with a chopstick for 30 min. and then rinced it until the water ran clear.  You just wash like normal, and done!  Super easy. 

She looked so sweet in her outfit.  I never thought I would be dying fabric one week after giving birth, but it worked out really well.  My sister pointed out that I should use this for when I have cloths that have stains.  I am terrible and drop things on my shirts all the time.  Now I have a plan for those ruined cloths :)

Kite bow holder

When I found out I was having a girl, my mom went a little crazy.  She loves everything fru fru.  Needless to say, Emmalynn has a LOT of bows. 

A while ago I saw this post on Ruffles and Stuff. (If you haven't checked out Disney’s blog…. you need to!  She doesn’t post as often any more… but look back though… It is a treasure trove of ideas.)  I tucked the idea away for Em’s room.  I finally got around to making them.  They were super easy… just my kind of project.

My first step was finding wire hangers.  I thought this would have been the easiest part of the process… but as it turned out to be a bit of a challenge.  Apparently the mix of being cheap and not getting anything dry cleaned, and using the wire hangers we did have for roasting marshmallows at the beach, I only had two options.

The dark one is really the ideal for this project, but I made them both work :)

You bend the wire into a diamond shape and make a loop with the end of the hanger.

I cut a triangle shape out of batting that I had left over, leaving a little less than an inch all the way around.  I used my glue gun to put a line of glue along the hanger, and folded over the batting.  Do a section at a time.

 

 

I then cut some fabric leaving the same amount around the edges, and repeat just as you did with the batting.  I was able to use some fabric that my mom had saved from my own nursery when I was a baby. 

After that you just attach some ribbon for a tale and the “cross bars” of the kite. I also added a bow to hide the hanger loop.  I chose some lace that I had to give it a soft feel and tie them into her curtains.  The last step is to hang and clip on all of those adorable ribbons.

Well, I suppose I should get back to the report cards I was doing before I got distracted and wrote this post.  I'm trying to get them done… along with preparing for open house… before Emmalynn decides to make her appearance.  Here is hoping that she says nice and cozy in my belly for one more week.  I have a lot to get done :)

Vintage Rosettes

Craftaholics Anonymous is having a link up for different types of flowers.  They are doing the linkup until February 12.  I got inspired to begin crafting up some original flowers.  So I made this vintage rosette.  Super cute (looks better in person) and I think I will end up putting it on a hair clip.  After having so much fin with this flower, I plan to get more creative on a few others.  Lets see if I actually do it though    

You begin buy bunching and sewing as you go.

Your Rosette will look something like above.  Since it is just bunching and sewing, they will all look a little different.

After that I took some of that elastic that they use on underwear (my grandma and mom made their own underwear back in the day and I inherited some of it.. along with their old fabrics)  and pleated it behind the rosette.

After I was done with that step, I did the same with a one inch lace.

 

All done

Fabric Flowers

Happy May Day!

At school we are studying plants. My partner and I decided to turn our Dramatic Play centers into flower shops. She has tons of fake flowers and I have none. Believe it or not... fake flowers are actually very expensive when you want to buy a bunch. Lucky for me, this weekend I came across a tutorial on how to make no sew fabric flowers... and lucky for you, I am going to share them with you!!!

These are a perfect favor for a garden bridal or baby shower, a flower for your love that isn't going to die and can be made out of cute punk rock fabric, for Mom on Mothers Day (coming very soon), for your Kindergarten class like me, to celebrate May Day (hurry you have only an hour left), or just a fun addition to your home.

Here is what you need:

• Scraps of fabric that are at least 2x16"
• pencils, wooden dowels, skewers, or really anything else you want to use as the steam. I used pencils from the 99 cent store (packs of 10).
• some scrap felt
• glue gun and extra refills
  

Cut a length of fabric at least 2x16


Put a strip of glue down on the edge of the wrong side of the fabric.



pinch and glue to the top of the pencil. I like the eracer poking out because I think it looks like the pistol of a flower... but if you don't want to see the eracer, then just start higher up on the pencil. The more you pinch the more gathered and open your flower will look. Play around with it to see the different types of flowers you can make.

cut out a piece of felt in a circle then cut the radius. (yes math term... I know it is shocking) Glue to the bottom of the flower.

Pretty!

A view from the side. You can see how the felt looks.

I made a lot of flowers! 30 to be exact. Once I got started I just couldn't stop. They are truly addicting! So super easy too. (They really do look better in person. I am just too impatient to wait for the sun to come up again to have good lighting and take a picture)
I even made one for my hair :)
Total cost: $3 for 30 flowers How do you like them apples!!!

Happy flower making!