My Black Friday Buy

I'm not a Black Friday shopper. I hate crowds of people. I hate shopping. I actually try to get all our shopping out of the way before November 1st if at all possible. But my husband convinced me we needed to go to Lowes and get him a few things that were half off. So I decided I needed to get a few patterns from one of my favorite sewing blogs since they were on sale too!

I ended up with a cute slipper pattern (baby booties that I altered to make fit our little guy's big feet). I just used scrap material for these, but they turned out so good I plan to get some durable but cute black material that will match more of his clothes.

It's been a busy week for us, so not a lot of sewing, but we did manage to get a few projects drawn out to get started later this week!

Pot-holder Tutorial

I made a few potholders to go with a kitchen themed wedding gift I'm pulling together for a friend from High School. They're really easy to make and would make a great Christmas, housewarming or wedding gift! I can imagine pairing these with a fresh loaf of bread and a jar of home made jelly for, some dish clothes and drying towels or with some spatulas and a nice cutting block.

Supplies:

5 squares 1 1/2 inches (one color)

4 squares 1 1/2 inches (alternating color)

2 rectangles 3 1/2 x 1 1/2 (third color)

2 rectangles 5 1/2 x 1 1/2 (third color)

4 triangles: cut two 3 inch squares on a diagonal (the first color)

1 square 7 inches (backing color)

7 inch square batting (if you are using the warm and natural you'll want to double it up)

1 strip 2 1/2 inches by 40 inches (for the binding)

Line up your squares in a checker pattern. Sew the squares together into three rows, then sew the three rows together.

When you're done it should look like this and measure 3 1/2 inches. Attach the smaller rectangles to the top and bottom and sew them in place. Then attach the longer rectangle. Next, center and attach the triangles to the corners.

You'll notice the rectangles will hang over, so cut off the excess material so the piece is a complete square (should measure 6 inches and look like above). Place the backing down, then the batting, and finally the finished square. Pin it in place starting in the center and moving out.

Machine quilt the top I used a square pattern (as shown above), but you can do whatever design you want!

Finally attach the binding and hand sew it down! Your pot holder is complete. Use it, or give it away! I must admit Dave has requested a few in these colors. I guess he is tired of the red, white and tan ones we're currently using.

Nexus 7 Case

We're really bad about Christmas in our house. My husband loves to open gifts early. I don't  mean a day early, I mean months early. So when I ordered his main Christmas gift (a Nexus) I was pretty sure it wouldn't make it to Christmas. So I started a case for him and have been sewing like crazy to finish!

He changed his mind on what he wanted at least 5 times after I started! Sometimes I altered the pattern for him, sometimes I told him tough, make due. Last night I finally finished it! He didn't want elastic straps to hold it in place, he wanted a pocket. and he wanted a top flap to protect it from the rain/snow (since he takes it on the train every day).

This is what it looks like when he has it open and velcro-ed in the back. I think it turned out well, and he's already been enjoying it. What projects have you started for Christmas?

Extra Toilet Paper Storage

Sorry to get personal, but have you ever been stuck in the bathroom without toilet paper? Awkward about sums it up. Up until now I solved that problem with a handy device that held our toilet paper  (like a paper towel holder) that rested on the ground. It held 4 rolls and worked great until Logan discovered it.

He had a hay day opening up the rolls and pulling all the toilet paper off. He drags the device around the house and rides it like a horse. So I started looking for a better solution and found this on Pinterest:

Original Image: click here

It didn't come with directions, so I made a few changes and came up with a tutorial! It's an easy project that you can get done in a few hours. Perfect for a wedding, house warming, or even Christmas gift. Or you can just make one for your bathroom.

Supplies:

36" x 7" (for the body)

9" x 2.5" (for the straps)*

*I made loops to go over my toilet paper holder because I didn't want little hands untying this. If you want to make ties you'll need to adjust the pattern.

First, take the long piece for the body and iron the sides in a quarter of an inch. Fold that over and do it and iron again. This will leave you with no raw edges so you don't have fraying by pulling the toilet paper out again and again.

Sew the two side edges as close to 1/4 an inch as you can. You want this to hold down the fold you just made. Now fold the top and the bottom down a half inch and iron it into place.

Fold your material exactly in half so it now measures 18 inches long. Measuring from the folded half in, mark a line at the 7 3/4  and the 8 inch spot. Sew across both (so you now have two parallel lines).

Next, from the 8 inch line, measure again 7 3/4 and 8 inches, mark, and sew along those lines. My material has a seam because I ran out of material and had to use other stuff, so disregard the seam.

Now your top will look something like the picture above. And it's time to make and attach the straps. If you want to load up your rolls and make sure they fit under your toilet paper roll with a 9 inch strap, now would be the time.

To make the loops first take the two pieces of material and iron them in half (hotdog style/long ways). Next, fold the sides inward all the way and iron the two sides in (this will leave no raw edges). Once everything is ironed, sew 1/8 inch from the edge of the open side. Then do the same to the folded side so it looks uniform.

Form a loop and pin it on the back side of your body. You'll notice I angled mine because the device on your wall is wider than a roll of toilet paper. Sew across the top of the straps just to hold them in place.

Flip the front of your holder back into place and sew across the side and top 1/8 of an inch. I then sewed a second seam 1/4 inch from the top seam for extra support.

Attach this bad boy to the wall and enjoy not running out of toilet paper! Well, as long as you remember to fill it up.

Marrying 2 Pieces of Batting

Just want to let you know, next week I'm going into Holiday blogging mode. That means I'll only be blogging 2 times a week. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I'm going to have less time on my hands for blogging. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Whenever I fill a quilt with batting, I always have a little too much and end up trimming off the excess. Today I'll show you how to sew that extra batting together so you can use it for another project. This is called marrying the batting.

First find two pieces of scraps that will cover your project. Line them up on top of the piece.

Once you're sure they'll work, make sure the edges are a strait line. I find I usually have to do some trimming. 

Now you can line the two edges up and sew them together. Don't overlap the pieces, that will cause excess bulk. Just line the two pieces up on your machine and zigzag them together.

This is what it will look like when it's done. You won't be able to tell when you use this that the batting has been pieced together. It's great to be able to use your scraps!

Halloween Costumes

Last minute my husband asked me to pull together a costume for him. Since I had made a Alice in Wonderland costume for myself several years ago, I stuck with the theme and made him a Mad Hatter costume. Happy Halloween!