These bags are too much fun! We are just finishing them up in the Sewing class that I am doing my long term substitute position for the rest of the school year. The kids have enjoyed making them and I have too!
Snappy Bag
Materials:
12 x 18″ outer fabric
12 x 18″ batting piece
12 x 21.5″ liner fabric
2 squares measuring 3.25″
Coordinating Thread
2 pieces of tape measure each 9.5″
Instructions:
I forgot to cut the squares out until later. Here is what you need to start out with.
Sandwich your fabrics together with the liner fabric right side facing down, then the batting, then the outer fabric right side up. You have to make sure to line the batting and outer fabric to where there is 1 3/4″ on each side. Then pin in the corners.
Now you need to quilt the pieces together. Make sure that they are at least 2″ apart. You can do a closer crisscross if you do every inch as well. After measuring 2″ along all four sides, you will need to start connecting them. When I connect them, I make sure to leave about 1/4″ on each short side, otherwise the stitching goes up on the casing when you are finishing your bag. On the long sides, you can draw them to the end of the fabric.I used this AMAZING pen by Pilot called the Pilot FriXion Ball Gel Pen that my grandma gave me. It goes on like a regular pen and disappears with the iron! After you get your lines drawn, pin down the sides like crazy so it doesn’t shift on you. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end of each line!Just to show you the magic, after I quilted you could still see the lines…Magic eraser!!!Here is what it looked like after I quilted and ironed away the lines. I love this pen!!!After you have finished quilting, you need to measure the lining material again. Sometimes it will shift when you quilt it, so pay attention here! If you have 1 3/4″ hanging off each edge, you need to fold over 1/2″ and press. If you have 1 1/2″ hanging off each edge, you need to fold over 1/4″ and press. Basically, when you go to fold over your casing, you need at LEAST 1 1/4″ before you sew it down for the measuring tape to fit in it!Take one of your squares and fold into a triangle and press. Do this one more time and you have your outside tabs that lay under the casing.Position the tab 3/4″ from the top of the outer fabric and 6″ from the side. Pin the casing over where you have 1 1/4″ total. Then stitch 1/8″ from the folded edge to form your casing.Cover the ends of your measuring tape with masking tape to ensure the sharp ends are covered. This helps in the tape not snagging your fabric when you place it in the casing.Be sure to place the measuring tape with the numbers facing the lining when you place it in the casing. Scoot it down until it is about in the middle.Pin your bag down with the lining on the inside and sew 1/8″ down the sides.Flip the bag inside out and create a french seam by sewing 1/4″ down each side. This will encase the raw edge and makes it look nice and finished!This next part is kind of tricky and is hard to explain, so check out the pictures if you are unsure. You need to flatten the bottom part of the bag with the bag still inside out. Pinch the corner and sew a line across where it looks like a small triangle. This will make your bag sit up a bit!Here is what the corner looks like when you are sewing it.Sewing the corner boxes up the side and helps the bag stand up.Turn the bag right side out and you have your snappy bag!
I made a ton of these for thank yous for my baby shower hostesses. They turned out so cute and make the perfect makeup bag! They all loved them and I am a pro at these by now! They take a while to understand how to get them put together, but now I can whip one up in about an hour!
I am so pleased with the way the dresser came out for Avery’s nursery. This is exactly what I had envisioned it to be. A huge shout out to my amazing step dad for sanding this puppy down so my mom and I could paint it! I must also say that chalk paint is amazing stuff! I ended up keeping the hardware and giving it a metallic spray paint to get it a fresh look. Replacing hardware can get really expensive and I am really happy with the way they turned out! Thank you to my mom for spraying those for me since I am not allowed to use spray paint right now!
If you have not seen the before, here it is! I was not a fan of the metal “tassels” that are on the top two drawers, so Troy took them off and plugged them up before we painted. It is really hard to believe it is the same dresser!
This dresser had been in the shop at the farm for awhile, so it took some good wiping to get the inside clean. I really wanted the drawers to be painted on the inside, but the paint was just not soaking into the inside of the drawers like we wanted. Of course, we had already tried it, so I had some fixing to do! I went to my handy dandy pal Pinterest and started looking for ways to line the drawers.
I decided to do a Mod Podge lined drawer with fabric. I looked for paper and wrapping paper first, but decided with the amount that I needed, it was actually cheaper to do fabric. This project was super easy. All I did was measure the sides from the inside down the outside of the drawer and from the front of the inside of the drawer to the very edge of the back of the drawer. I am not going to post my measurements, because every dresser would be different. I had a total of 3 pieces of fabric cut for each drawer. Two for the sides and one for the bottom and back of the drawer.
First you paint a layer of Mod Podge on the outside of the drawer.Line up your fabric piece and lay it down smoothing out any air bubbles.Paint another layer of Mod Podge on top of the fabric to seal it in.Then do the same on the top edge all the way down the inside of the drawer. The piece should lay nicely right over and into the drawer. After getting the material smoothed down, add another coat of Mod Podge on top of the fabric to seal it in. Repeat on the other side of the drawer.Then do the same thing with the bottom piece. The only thing I did differently is not covering the whole back panel of the drawer. You will not see it anyways! I also didn’t do the front part of the drawer as it was not necessary!Add your sealant coat and wait for it to dry!I am in love with the way this turned out!And look at that “pop” of color when you open the drawer!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Mod Podge? It never does me wrong and it always keeps things together better than you would imagine! I am already planning my next Mod Podge project for the nursery, so check back soon!
Before deciding what bedding grandma and I were going to sew for Avery’s nursery, I did a lot of Pinterest browsing. As cute as bumper pads are, they say not to use them because of their suffocation risk so those were out. I did come across several blogs that had teething rails for when baby gets big enough to stand up in their crib. I guess the little boogers start gnawing on the edge of their cribs when they are teething! This is is not good as they put teeth marks in the crib, but they could also get paint chips in their mouth by doing so. I decided that making my own teething rails were a must! The crib we have is a 4 in 1 that transforms from crib to toddler bed, daybed, and eventually you can use the rails on a full size bed rail. I want this puppy to last!
DIY Crib Teething Rail
Materials
1.5 yards cotton fabric
Batting
Spool of coordinating ribbon
Instructions
First you need to measure the length of the front crib rail and add an inch. Avery’s crib rail measures 53″ so I cut 2 strips 54″x7″. You will need a piece of batting cut 2″ less on the length and 1″ less on the width. This will help everything fit together nicely when we sandwich everything together. You will also need to figure out how many ribbon ties you want on the rail and how far apart you need them so they tie in between the rails nicely. I cut 12 10″ ribbon pieces for a total of 6 ties and they were spaced out between every 3rd rail opening.
Using a seam gauge, iron over your edges of the fabric strips over 1/2 inch all the way around. When you are finished, take your batting and tuck it into the folded seam all the way around one of the strips. Figure out where your ribbon ties need to be placed. I spaced mine out in between every third rail. Be sure they are placed in at least 1/2 inch to make sure they get sewn in! Place another ribbon parallel on the other side.Place the other strip face down and pin.
Now top stitch 1/4″ all the way around the strips.
Tie onto the front crib rail and you are finished! This was a very simple project and I am very happy with the end result!
I just finished one of the sweetest projects for Avery’s nursery! I am obsessed with hot air balloons right now, so when I found a pattern for a hot air balloon mobile, I had to have it! I found the link on an Etsy store named CraftSchmaft. It is only $9 and well worth it! They even have bundles with the pattern and fabric panels! I chose to just get the pattern, since they didn’t have any that went perfect with my mint and coral theme.
I was a little nervous at first, because sometimes patterns scare me a little. It was really easy to follow along. The only thing I did differently was the baskets. The pattern calls for felt that you use embroidery thread to make look like a basket and you put it together yourself. I tried one and wanted a more authentic basket, so I went back to Etsy and found some miniature baskets that were PERFECT from loveitshabby2. Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE ETSY?!
I also wanted something that moved around and had some music to it. I found a mobile arm with music box on Amazon.com. It plays “You are My Sunshine” which is one of my favorites! I was worried that the bars on my crib were not going to work with the part that attaches to the crib, so I had some ideas in case it didn’t. Luckily it fit perfectly and I didn’t have to worry about it!
Avery’s Hot Air Balloon Mobile
Check out a video of the mobile in motion at on my YouTube channel.
