Finally Finished on the Fleece

As the title says, I finally finished my November project list.  In December.  A week late. 
Well, a few things kind of popped up.  Very important life altering things, but I can’t talk about it. 

Anyway, the idea of making little fleece bows popped in my head while doing some cutting.  What better thing to do with small scraps of fleece?  All you really need are three rectangle pieces and something to stick the finished bow to like a clip or something.  I wanted to stick these bows to hair elastics, but for some reason I couldn’t find any.  I’m sure I had a ton somewhere.  I just used strips of elastic, they are actually more secure this way.

The next one is an idea I have been toying with for like a year.  Little cat-shaped purses.  I made them in two colors/patterns and two of each.  In the picture it shows the front and back view of each.  On the front of each one is a little bitty heart made from a scrap of the back pattern.  Think of it as the kitty’s nose.  I would have put eyes too, but I thought it might look to cluttered.  How is it, are they fine the way they are or do they look weird without eyes?

Next is sunglasses cases.  I found a piece of fleece with this interesting red pattern and thought it would be perfect for a case of some kind.  Just a simple pouch shape, slanted at the opening with a fabric cord loop attached, not too hard to make.  I decided to make a second matching one with white fleece.  It would have been black, but I seem to be lacking in that color.  Oh well, it still looks good.

And the last project is these cuffs.  They are pretty easy to make.  I just cut the fleece in the strips and braided them.  Then I sewed the ends together, of course that was the hard part.  Sewing the ends without making them look messy or ugly.  I think I did a good job on that part, but just in case I added little bows to hide any goofs.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair accessories
• Tiny teddies
• Tiny birds
• Bags
• Tiny sweaters
• Tiny hats
• Yoyo’s
• Cases
• Key chains
• Cuffs

Ten down and out.  It’s funny.  Usually in December I start working on my big old Christmas list of gifts and decorations and stuff.  This year, thanks to all the stuff I made for this list and the Christmas stuff I made last summer, I have no need to make anything for December.  My crafting is done for the year.  Nothing left but to enjoy the month and maybe get a leg up for next year. 

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Quickie Flowers: A Mini-Tutorial

So I got a pack of plain hair elastics on sale at Walgreen’s for 50 cents.  Score!  But am I one to wear plain items in my hair?  And do I want to spend too much time to dress these up? 

Here’s the solution.  Attach flowers to them.  Super easy and takes less than 10 minutes.
You’ll need:

• A hand-full of plain hair elastics.
• Various fake flowers, the little fabric ones with wire stems.
• A trusty glue,  Aleene’s Jewel-It to the rescue.

Hold the hair elastic up to the flower really close to the blossom.

Start to wrap the wire stem around the elastic, getting it as tight and snug as possible.  To help try pinching it with your fingers as you go, use your nails (or someone else’s) if necessary.

Continue wrapping the wire stem, coil it as neatly as possible.

See, neat and tidy.

Now just dab a little glue to secure it.

Now stand back and admire your work.  Now quickly make another one, and another, and another…

These are the ones I made.  It’s good to experiment with them, add multiple flowers to one elastic or use different types of wired flowers.
Here’s the updated list:

• Hair elastics
• Acorn pins
• Tiny shoes
• Tiny purses
• Dress
• Pencils
• Cat toys
• Tiny dresses
• Cloth doll
• Tiny accessories
• Green dress

One down, ten to go.  The next one should be up by Saturday.

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Red and Pink?

I finished the skirt on my list, though the photo of it is pretty pathetic. 

A little explanation,  remember that red skirt I made last December? (See Cutting it Close)  I had plenty of fabric leftover.  Why not make another skirt?  I tried to keep this one simpler, just a ruffle and a couple of pin tucks.  Anyway, some stuff got on it, not sure what, and I tried to wash it off.  Now one of those things you are “suppose” to do when sewing is prewash your fabrics.  That’s something I don’t do as often as I should,  I made this from a previously own sheet so I assumed it had already been “washed” and that that would be good enough.  So while washing it I discovered it wasn’t exactly colorfast.  Thankfully the color of the skirt was unaffected despite the running (the stuff I was washing off was also unaffected), but I am concerned about that other skirt I made.  Part of that one is white, if I wash it will I end up with a red/pink skirt instead of red/white?  On the bright side, if it does turn pink I will have something really cute to wear for Valentine’s day next year.

As for the new skirt, I also made hair bows to match with no problems.  On a whim, I decided to use some contrasting thread on some of the edges, just for fun.  I attached them to hair elastics I got from Dollar Tree.  I really lucked out by finding a package of them that had colors that matched this fabric almost exactly. 

Here’s the updated list:

• Red shirt
• Red skirt
• Hair bows
• Clock
• Yellow shirt
• Headband
• Bag
• Big bunny
• Wristbands
• Little bunnies
• Easter dress

Three down, eight to go.  Now I’m off to do more “washing”.

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More Pretty Stuff

I had a bit of trouble getting started with my list, partially due to problems mentioned previously.  But I managed to get a few of the smaller cuter bits done.

These were those cheap stretchy gloves you can get for $1 practically everywhere.  I had a hard time finding white ones which I prefer over other colors.  I wanted them to look a little less plain and cheap.

With a touch of lace and some ribbon, they aren’t quite so plain now.  They were pretty easy too.  I stitched on the lace with the glove stretched out, it instantly gave it a ruffled effect.  I was lazy with the bows and glued them on with a washable fabric glue. 

I got a 4-pack of cheap plastic headbands at Dollar Tree figuring I could use them to make cuter ones, at least cuter than the ones at Dollar Tree.  Grant it that there are a ton of cute ones at that store and the largest selection ever, but it’s cheaper to decorate the plastic ones myself.  This one was made by wrapping the headband with satin ribbon while gluing it down with a glue gun.  I made little flowers and glued them on too.  It’s simple to do once you get the hang of it

This second headband was made easily by gluing faux pearls to one of the plastic ones.  I’ve seen similar ones before, including at Dollar Tree, but again this is cheaper and more fun.  It did take some time to glue all the little pearls on, and I found that glue gun glue just doesn’t cut it for this.  It isn’t flexible enough, they just popped right off.  I used Aleene’s Jewel It,  it is meant for beads and stuff after all.  I haven’t had any problems with it.

I have a tendency to “collect” hair elastics, you can get them in 36-packs for a buck and I can always find uses for them.  Although they are handy and useful for my hair, I find them to be quite dull looking on their own.  That’s simple to fix, stick pretty fabric or ribbon bows on them.  Really perks them up and uses up scraps of fabric and small leftover bits of ribbon.  Plus it isn’t too difficult to hand sew these so they make for a very portable sewing project.

Here’s the updated list:

• Pretty up gloves
• Ribbon headband
• Doll makeover
• Pearl headband
• Hair bows
• Pouches
• Alter shirt
• Yellow dress
• Hearts

Four down, five to go.  I’m a little behind schedule so far, I’ll blame it on the seasons.  This time of year makes me sleepy. 

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