{Knee Warmer Tutorial}

I love boots.
I wear my one brown pair that I got from Old Navy the year before last for $4.50 at least 3 times a week.
I know.  I need more.

I saw these photos on Pinterest and fell. in. love:

Looove the sock thing.
Problem- my boots are rather snug.  I don't think I can fit socks over leggings in there.  So, I decided to make some faux socks out of old sweaters, a.k.a "Knee Warmers".

Here is how:

First, grab an old sweater.  We are going to take advantage of those already-sewn side seams and finished edges.  It's practically impossible to "hem" cable knit. 

I already cut off the sleeves and neck

Measure your knee area and subtract a few inches- the sweater material is going to stretch.  My legs/knees were about 13 inches, so I cut my warmers to be 10 inches in width (5 shown in the picture because the sweater is folded in half).  Cut two total, one out of each side edge of the sweater:

In order to have nice, finished edges on the inside of your warmers, we are going to sew french seams.
Don't freak out.  They are super easy.  With wrong sides together (I know, that seems wrong- it's not), sew a 1/4in seam down the side (I serged it).

Flip them inside out and, along that same side, sew a 3/8 in (or larger) seam.  This will "encase" that previous seam.

Flip right side out again.  Tada! 

Now, all we need to do is finished that bottom edge we cut (the other edge should have been the already-finished edge of the sweater).  I serged them (and used tan thread so you can see), but you can zig zag them.

Sweet!  Put them on right before boots, leave the zig zagged edge down in your boot, like this:


I look like I have the chubbiest legs ever!  Hmmm... need to work harder on that!



Loooooove it, even though it looks totally homeless under neath.  Haha.

Zip It.

Absolutely love Etsy.

It has been a blessing to us financially to be able to make a buck here and there on fun things.  Not that it's payin da billz, but it at least pays for fabric.. and my sewing addiction.

I needed to make my sis-in-law a Boppy Cover to go over the boppy pillow I found new at Goodwill for $1.98.
Shhhwweeet.

I didn't have any zippers and they weren't on sale anywhere (I told you I was cheap!).  I checked on Etsy and found ZipIt.

I was able to order 10 Twenty-Two inch zippers for $8.
YEP.
Ya heard it here.
8 bucks.

Not even a dollar each, when in the store they are around $2.50 each.  You can purchase any kind of zipper you want from this gal.  Short or long, pink or white.  Love it.

What was even better about finding these zippers was the frustration that I experienced waiting for them.
What?
No, it didn't take long to ship.
I was a DUMMY and forgot to change my shipping address to our new house.  So, after 2 weeks, I checked Etsy and figured out- WHY YES, I had them shipped to our apartment.  They arrived super quick- there.  =)

I messaged Jennie, the store owner, to ask if the packaged had been returned to the sender.  She was so sweet, said they had not, but to let her know if she could help in any way.  She also checked in with me a week later to see if I had them yet.  Who does that?  Sweet people- people the world needs more of!

Thankfully, our old apartment is 5 minutes from my school.  I called the complex to see if they had them, and they didn't.  DANG IT.  I finally decided-I am going to knock on that door and see if they have my zippers!

After sweating through the pits of my shirt and drying my sweaty palms, I knocked- no one was home.  All this sweating and heart palpitating for nothin.

I wrote a note on the back of a receipt and left it at the door.  The girl who lives there texted me that night and said she had it still in the mailbox.

Woop!  So, finally, last night I was reunited (or united?) with my zippers.

They are awesome, were such a great deal, came with an adorable decorative pull tab just for fun, and I made a new friend in the Zipit lady- Jennie =)

SO, if you need zippers, order from Zipit.  You will not regret it!

P.S. Amy Grant Pandora apparently loves Twila Paris.  I have no idea who that is or how you say "Twila", but I looove her!

Glamyards

A few weeks ago we had an in-service with the other middle school teachers in the district and we always share fun ideas to use in the classroom (I brought felt blooms =D).  Some of the teachers have been making lanyards with their kiddos and it has been a total hit.
Despite the fact that we give students 3 days off for Thanksgiving, they feel the need to skip town early and either come only Monday, or not at all.  I don't blame them-I would probably do the same if I could.  This=stress.  I can't just give them homework to do while they are gone so they don't fall behind (if only sewing machines were invisible- or we could sew with our minds.  Oh well, maybe in heaven.) because, well, we. sew.  It's such a hardship to have to reteach them 3 days worth of sewing patterns when they get back, because they are only falling behind even more.  We should be starting pattern envelopes on Monday, but I'm going to be smart and postpone until after Thanksgiving.  Instead?  Those awesome lanyards!
I found myself praying for my students last week when I had to leave school early unexpectedly.  I was in Walmart and, for some reason, I was overcome with gratitude and love for my girls.  They are so sweet, so kind, so fun.  They like to talk to me as much as I like to talk to them (which is a lot!) and share so much of their lives with me (they even asked me to wear my hair straight for "crazy hair day" this week and fawned over it when they saw it.  It was so sweet).  I am truly sad that my semester with them is coming to a close, but thankful that I have recruited most of them to take my Sewing II class next semester so that I get a whole year of them. 
While at Walmart, I found some faux sequin fabric ("fequin") for $1.47/yard.
Yep, ya heard right.  Best Cheap.
I bought them 10 yards of it just for "extra" projects.  They freaked out when they saw it.  So, we are making lanyards.  Sequin Lanyards.  Glamyards.
Here's How (Yes, these directions are pretty elementary.  I wrote them for 7th graders!):

Materials:

·         Fabric- 3” by 44”

·         Interfacing- 3” by 44” (This is optional.  The fequin fabric I used was super thin, so I used it to stabilize.  You don't need it if you are using cotton unless you want it.

·         Key Ring (or office supply rings.  This is public school, folks!)

Directions:

1.       Cut your fequin fabric and interfacing to be the same size, 3” by 44”.

2.       Apply interfacing to the fequin fabric with glue dots facing wrong side of fabric.

3.       Fold fabric in half lengthwise, so that is now 1.5” by 44”.  Iron.

4.       Open fabric out so that you now have a crease down the center of the strip.  Fold each edge of the fabric to the center crease.  Iron.

5.       Fold strip back together.

6.       Sew a ¼ inch seam allowance down both sides of the strip.

7.        Fold your strip in half so that is now 22” in length.

8.       Slip the key ring onto the lanyard to that it is in the middle of the strip (Okay, I used book rings I found in the supply closet.  Totally awesome and free!)

9.       Make sure your lanyard it not twisted and pin the two raw edges together.

10.   Sew across the raw edge with a ¼ inch seam allowance several times, backstitching each time.

11.   Trim seam away to 1/8 inch, making sure not to cut into stitches.

12.    Pull ring down to the seam just sewn and center the ring over the seam.

13.   Stitch as close to the ring as possible to secure it in place.  You will need to move your machine needle to the left, as if you were stitching on a zipper.

Done!

I'm not the hugest fan of carrying a lanyard.  However, I like the feeling of twirling my keys around while at school.  I feel like a warden on my cell block.  Ha.

Cost?  Well, 1 yard was $1.47.  You use 3 inches, which is 1/12 of a yard.  1/12 of $1.47 is TWELVE CENTS.  Thread and ring were free.  Woop Woop!

Fun with Felt



I love felt!

What is felt, anyway?

Most fabric is woven, so it has weft and warp yarns (vertical or horizontal in lamens terms).

Felt is a non-woven fabric, like dryer sheets.  Fibers from wool or synthetics are pressed together using heat, moisture, and pressure.  It's super cheap and can do some pretty fun things.
Here are just a few things I've been making with felt:

Dog Costume
(he hates it.  i love it.)

I found this at Walmart (yes, I whipped out my camera!  I was grocery shopping for school at 7:15 in the morning on a Thursday. It was a ghost town people)

It's supposed to be a caterpillar and I didn't know that until after I was done with his costume.  Oh well, he is a 6 legged Caterpillar.  It was $8, and I made this for $1.  It's a dog.  It will do.

I just realized it's way cuter with the little hood.  I will have to add one!

Bib Necklace

Super cheap jewelry and "Mrs. Gibson, it looks like it was really expensive".  Yep, it was $2.25.

Here are the steps:

Cut this kind of shape from black felt- twice.

Use ribbon or an old chain and glue it in between both layers of felt. 

Buy these rhinestones- one package, different shapes and sizes.  Half off at Joanns for $2.

Place rhinestones on top (not really a rhinestone girl- it's a little gawdy, but I guess one piece is okay!) and, only after you have figured out where you want them, glue in place.

Felt Blooms
Perfect on gifts, cards, or a baby's head!  2 versions:

How?  For the first bloom, cut 7 flower shaped pieces, plus a circle.  Fold in half twice and glue four "foundation" petals down.  Fill in the gaps with the other double-folded petals.

Or cut circles and complete the same steps for this look:

I like the flower-shaped petals more.  So sweet!  I made a brooch by gluing a pin to the back...

and pinned them to this shirt:

LOVVVE!
Who knew?  A $.25 piece of felt can do so many things.  Love it!
Even though I just taught you how to make them, I'm def selling these brooches and baby headbands on my Etsy!  Woot!
Tomorrow I have a post about refilling glade plug ins- come back if you have one!