Haul out the Holly Tutorial {Santa Pennant Garland}

Hello there & welcome if you're visiting from Gwenny Penny! 
I was so honored when Gwen asked me to participate in Haul out the Holly this year! 

It honestly didn't take me very long to come up with this idea. I was preparing for my first craft fair around the time she asked me to participate and I had pennants on my mind.... thus:

Santa Pennant Garland!

Let's get started!

Materials:
1/4 yd red flannel
1/4 yd white or cream flannel
desired length of 1" black satin ribbon (3-4 yds)
coordinating thread
spring loaded scissors (not required but recommended)
cardstock and marker

Let's make our triangle pattern:

1. draw a 5" line which will be the top of the triangle

2. draw a 5" line perpendicular to the first line (creating a T)

3. connect the lines to form your triangle

Cut out your pattern and grab your rotary cutter and we'll cut out our fabric.

I folded my fabric and cut 4 layers at a time.  You need 2 triangles of each color for each finished pennant.  The number depends on how long you are making your garland.

Now lets layer our pennants. 

Bottom layer- red

2 middle layers- white

Top layer- red

Pin your layers together. You should have a stack ready to head to your machine.

 

Sew along the 2 sides using a 3/4" seam allowance (mine fluctuated between 1/2"-3/4" but in the end you won't notice if they aren't perfect).

Grab those spring loaded scissors (great if you do rag quilting... which is why I bought them... still haven't made a rag quilt yet though! haha)

Start snipping 1/4" segments along both sides of each triangle.  Leave the top uncut & do not cross the line you sewed.

I went ahead and sprayed it down with water and threw it in the dryer to shrink it.

Now we'll add the ribbon along the top.  Leave a tail of 6" before your first triangle.  I just folded the ribbon over the top of the triangle and pinned it in place. I did not leave any space between each triangle.

I started sewing at the first triangle making sure to backstitch (at the end too) so it wouldn't come unraveled. 

Now I threw it in the washing machine to really get it to fluff up.  You might want to do this a couple times... the more the merrier!

Isn't it lovely on my banister?

I thought I'd try it on our large front window... tried taking a picture of the whole window but the light outside was playing tricks on my camera! 

Oh, and you might be wondering where the bow came from.  When I went to unwind my ribbon off the spool it was in 2 pieces so this is how I remedied it... I really like the bow!

Thanks Gwen for allowing me to participate in your 2nd annual Haul Out the Holly series! 

My First Craft Fair!

By chance I signed myself up for a craft fair!  I've never done one before but have always been interested.  My main hesitation has been my boys...like what to do with them!  My husband works. ALOT. He runs his family's business and then farms on the side (like the few hours left in the day once you've worked a full time job). So we really don't see him much.  But things all fell into place because my wonderful mom & her husband are coming down for Thanksgiving!  They will be here from Wednesday night through Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.  Yay! help!  So, knowing I'd have coverage for my boys I am going full steam ahead getting ready for this thing.  It's in a small town near me & the whole town does an 'open house' type thing so I think there will be plenty of traffic. 

Here's what I've done so far in preparation:

1. I got a smart phone & ordered the 'Square' device which will allow me to accept credit cards.  I got the phone for free since I was available for an upgrade and I went with the iphone 3 (older version).  The 'Square' is free and came pretty quickly.  The app is also free and I downloaded that right away.  It took a little longer to set up the bank account you want the money deposited into. 

2. I've been sewing in bulk!  I think I've made 2 dozen burp cloths & have another 1 dozen to make, and have about 60 t-shirts that I'm doing reindeer & ties.  I've made other things too (did I mention I signed up for another craft fair the following weekend!  It was only $10 so I figured I'd take whatever I didn't sell at the first one).

3. My main focus for this post was to share the child size mannequin I made today.  I bought the pattern here.  It came together really fast & didn't take very much fabric.  It is size 2T& will be a great prop for my table.  Here is how I want to pose it:

On this cute tiny red chair we rescued... it needed a little TLC & still does but the mannequin hides some of the flaws.

With or without the Santa hat?

The tie is one of a set I whipped up last night for my boys' Christmas card photos. 

I feel like this little guy is a part of our family now!  He's a little lumpy because I stuffed him with scrap fabric but with a t-shirt on nobody will ever be able to tell.  I think I'll make a couple more since I have a couple t-shirt designs to display. 

Here's my next project to finish:

A pennant banner to hang on the table. 

Christmas Wedding Present

So last weekend my hubby and I got a much needed little get away (from the boys) for a family wedding.  We had a fantastic time.  I thought I'd share the gift I made for the couple.  I was inspired by all the awesome Mr. & Mrs. gifts I've seen on different blogs & Etsy... just do a search for Mr. & Mrs. wedding gifts and you will see so many amazing wedding gifts! 

His and Her stockings! 

 I thought how perfect for them to hang up on their first Christmas!

I went for a very classic red, white, and black color scheme.. wanted them to feel formal.

The lipstick kiss is embroidered by my machine.  I was torn whether or not to also go with an embroidered applique like the mustache but I really like how you can see all the ridges with the embroidered kiss. 

The mustache pattern I purchased from Etsy for my embroidery machine.  I am slowly getting the hang of the embroidery possibilities. The key was realizing that I could transfer the designs... myself!  I was under the impression that I had to go back to the shop to get them transfered to my sewing machine. That just wasn't going to happen with 2 little boys tagging along!

 I wish I had my Christmas decorations up... so I'd have better pictures. 

I am not a pre-Thanksgiving decorator.  Now that I've created the pattern I might be churning out some more stockings... I've always wanted matching Christmas stockings for our family! 

Pumpkin Patch Outfit

This outfit actually started as just the pants. 

But that creative itch overtook me & I was needing a break from sewing costumes and needed a quick little creative project. 

Both my boys are going through their fall growth spurts.... you know when your kids' old pants are a little too short and the next size up are a little too long?  I had just been rolling up the bottoms so they wouldn't trip and it occurred to me that it would be neat to add a little detail to make them look lined and therefor kinda cute when rolled up.  The verdict is still out on whether they look a little too girly... my husband immediately unrolled them! 

The shirt was super simple.  I found the pumpkin applique online and to make the sleeves just made 2 tubes and attached them along the seam of shirt. 

Wanna know how I added the faux lining?  It was pretty simple.

Take your kid's pants (they need to be too long).  I bought these a while ago on clearance for $4 at Target. 

Measure your child's inseam.

Measure the pant's inseam (so you know how much to roll up).

Measure across the bottom.  Double the measurement and add an inch for your seam allowance.

Cut 2 strips of fabric which are about 4" by whatever your last measurement was (double the length across plus 1").

Iron one edge or each strip and run a zigzag stitch along it.  I am not worried about fraying because this will be tucked up in the pants and won't be seen. 

Now iron the other edge over about 1/2" then started at the inseam, pin the ironed edge just along the bottom seam of the pants.  Make sure to leave a 1/2" loose at the beginning and end so you can close the loop when you're done.

Make sure you are using a heavy duty needle (for denim).  Slowly sew along the pinned edge.  I didn't worry about thread color in my bobbin because it won't be seen.  I also used a pretty loose stitch so I can rip it out later when the pants no long need to be rolled.

Now pin and sew the short ends that you left - make sure the right sides are together.

I added a row of stitches toward the top so the lining would stay up in the pants when rolled.

I think it turned out just as I imagined!

Take your little guy to the pumpkin patch to enjoy!

Birds, Birds, Birds!

I just had to share the cutest, tiniest, little Angry Bird Costume I just finished. 

Since this was for a newborn I don't have anyone to model it.  Since this size took substantially less material and a little less time I offered to add a pair of little matching pants.  I didn't feel right charging the same price I charge for much larger costumes.  In the future I'll probably need to have a different listing for small/ larger sizes. 

I used blanket binding around the top, so overall the cape with it's soft fleece and satin blanket binding feels like a comfy baby blanket! 

I just love how cute and tiny this project was! 

Here are some of the other Angry Birds that I've done (beside the original Red Bird)

My model wasn't feeling it so I couldn't get a good front view!

I just did another one of these and added the white "chin" under the beak. 

This was the cutest little 12-18 month cape!  I love how it turned out!

The black bomb!  This also had a black bird cape. 

I am starting to wind down, I finished taking orders on the 8th and am going to be completely finished by the end of this week- if all the stars align and no one, especially me, gets sick! 

I have an adorable 'Pumpkin Patch' outfit I made my little guy that I hope to share later this week! 

Superhero Costume - Guest Post by Jaimee from Craft Interupted

Good morning my dear readers I have a special treat for you today!  Another wonderful gal who volunteered to help me out while I am crazy busy with Halloween orders for my Etsy shop.  I am pleased to hand it over to Jaimee from Craft, Interrupted.  (PS check out these amazingly cute Lullaby Baby Bears!  I think these would make a great baby gift!)

Hi!  I'm Jaimee from Craft, Interrupted, and I'm popping over here today to B is for Boy! do my first ever Guest Post.  So exciting!  I'm also a mom of boys.  I have three wild and goofy tornadoes of testosterone.  Our house is full of Star Wars, plastic reptiles (and a real one, along with fish, frogs, and a dog), and lots of dump trucks.  If you came here, you'd be stepping over scooters and muddy boots on the front stoop.  You'd see Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Lego City books on the coffee table.  You would get thumped with a giant inflatable crayon, and have a caped crusader peek around the corner to pelt you with a nerf bullet.

If you could navigate the Angry Bird-esque set-up in the front hallway, you'd enter my studio.  My own room for crafting and sewing, now that we moved into a bigger house.  About a year ago, I started a blog about my projects and inspirations.  I'm so happy to have rediscovered my love of all things creative, and to finally carve out time for myself , to sew and craft, even if it is repeatedly interrupted by requests for more apple juice ; )

I'm going to share a recent project with you that was a test run for an idea I had for my etsy shop.  My creative goal for my etsy work has been to develop a line of dress-up costumes that could be comfortably worn by kids with sensory problems, like my oldest son.  Most of these children cannot tolerate the scratchy fabric or accessories of costumes, or the way they rumple up over top of your regular clothing.  Many of these children have huge difficulty participating in Halloween activities.  I read a lot of special needs blogs (and also write one of my own), and I was struck by some of the posts around Halloween time, about how these sensory kids couldn't wear costumes, or just wore the same football jersey they had worn for the prior three years and called that their costume.  I'm sure some of these kids want to be princesses and superheros, too, and I started thinking of how I could make that easier.

As a bonus, my design is also Mom-Friendly, in the fact that it is easy on/easy off.  Dress-up time in our house usually consists of ten minutes of straightening and stuffing and velcro'ing...and whining and wiggling...and two minutes later my superhero wants to switch characters, or move on to Legos, and we are already on to the disrobing.  Take this process times three children, with the impatient jumping up and down or the Spiderman web flinging poses as you are trying to get the sleeves up...well, let's just say Momma sometimes wants to hide even as they approach me with the first outfit ; )

Here's what I did - we had a Superman costume bought on consignment after Halloween, thin fabric that started ripping and fraying at the seams after a month or so of use.  I thought this was a perfect guinea pig to try out my idea.  I ripped seams apart and cut the front of the costume to fit onto an apron shape of felt.  Once I got them adjusted to the same shape, I sewed right sides together, flipped, ironed, and top stitched. 

I added a velcro waist strap and an elastic neck strap, and then shortened the cape and sewed it along the neck.  I need to fiddle with the measurements of the straps, and the elastic bit, and think about how to get around the front part looking like a skirt (on the boy costumes at least), BUT, I was happy with how it came out.

It goes over the head, and the strap goes around the back to velcro at the side.  No sleeves, no legs, just quick as a superhero in a telephone booth ; )

My little man like it so much, he wore it to the bus stop to meet his big brothers : )

My five year old wore it at the dinner table that night, too.  Ha!  I love having saved this Superman costume by transforming it into an easier version with a longer lifespan.  I'm looking forward to tinkering with the pattern, and at some point in the future, I will have apron costumes for sale in my etsy shop!

Huge thanks to Erica for letting me visit here today to share one of my creations, as well as the story behind it.  Craft on!

I think Jaimee has hit the jackpot with this idea! 

Thanks again Jaimee!