Tutorial

Pattern: Owl Appliqué

/ lemonwoodclock / 1 Comment

This quilt will be my sister’s Christmas present. It’s not a surprise, she’s an active participant in the process 🙂IMG_4941

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IMG_4950 This pink square is in bad need of ironing, but it’s a good example of how I currently piece my crazy quilts. I sew the strips onto muslin, a habit I hope to soon break. I’m going to eventually try true paper pieces, but I’m just scared and I’ve been relying on the stability of the muslin.

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The finished quilt will be 12 12”x12” blocks sashed with dark brown. The back will be from a pink and brown sheet (you can see that fabric in one of the squares). I’m going to attempt a birch tree on the back similar to Elizabeth’s at www.ohfransson.com (one of my favorite sites!) I’ll have a little owl peeking out of a hole in the tree 🙂 This will be the first time I’ve attempted to make the back of a quilt worth looking at 🙂

Well, I’ve pledged to show my process, and the roughly sketched owl pattern definitely shows that! The odd smaller owl shape across the center is where I started working out my owl but decided I needed a bigger one. I saved paper by just flipping it and starting again 🙂 I didn’t bother making a template for the eyes and beak. I just eyeballed them and cut!

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When it came to sewing on the appliqué, I just sewed around the edges with a tight zig-zag stitch. I left some raw edges showing because I want a worn, loved look for this quilt.

One day I want to try appliquéing the owl pattern onto a t-shirt or something.

I think you can just click to enlarge the picture to print. If you save the picture onto your computer, you can resize it! Leave a comment if it doesn’t work well and I’ll see what I can do to make it more printer-friendly! Also I’d love to see anything made from the pattern, so feel free to leave a link in the comments!!

*This pattern is free for personal use. Please link to the pattern on my blog if you use it and post it. Thanks!!

Repurposing old tees to make baby pants

/ lemonwoodclock / 3 Comments

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I love doing projects! I especially love doing small projects for kids. I have great ideas for things I will sew for my little girl… if I ever have one 🙂

So when I found out our baby was a boy, I hit a creative wall. I’m not about to attempt a button up shirt, and all the little romper patterns I’d seen seemed a little prissy to me (no offense to the romper-loving mommies out there, I’m just more of a skull tee and ratty jeans kind of gal).

I roamed the internet until I found a few great (and super easy) ideas for little boys. One of my favorites is a tutorial on how to make little pants from an old t-shirt. It’s a great way to scratch that creative itch while also recycling. Let’s face, it’s easier to part with your favorite shirt from 20lbs ago if a tiny person you love is going to be wiggling around it in 🙂

This pattern is so easy, you can practically do it in your sleep. It’s perfect for beginners, or for moms who love to craft, but haven’t quite gotten brave enough to tackle a time-consuming project. I do recommend that you pay enough attention to make sure the patterned side of your pieces face each other. I did not and had to spend more time ripping seams than it actually took me to sew the pants. Start to finish, you can complete a pair of pants in about 30 minutes, if you don’t mess up like i did 🙂

The first link gave me the inspiration to use tees. The second is where Rookiemoms got the idea. Handyprojects offers a slightly more complicated variation, showing how to add cute details to the pants, but I recommend referring to that site if you don’t know how to make an elastic waistband.

http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/

http://handyprojects.blogspot.com/2005/04/how-to-make-easy-kids-pants.html

first-pantsI  did my first for practice from a western t-shirt that didn’t fit me. The second pair I made out of a stained polo my husband donated to the cause. I plan to use the leftover fabric to make matching hats or accents on onesies. In the meantime I’m on the hunt for other shirts to cut up (and trying to resist the urge to “accidentally” stain things in my husband’s closet) Happy sewing!