Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Whoo Hoo!

I am wooting because I got another tutorial featured on Tipnut this week in the Crafter's Medley: 30 Neat-O Projects for June! There are some other pretty Neat-O projects there too! I am especially in love with this little Ruffled Clutch Bag. The tutorial is fantastic and I have to try it soon!

My little girl's 4th of July Tiered Sundress tutorial also got picked for Teach Me Tuesday at The Girl Creative's blog. Thanks Diana! She has such great Linky Party's over there. I love to spend my morning coffee time browsing through all the wonderful and creative ideas. So many projects, so little time...

I have also been busy. I am on another stashbuster challenge so here is a little "trunk show" of what I came up with from fabrics closest to the top of the piles.

This Michael Miller Orchid Spa drawstring raggy might be my favorite of the bunch! Really came out cute and I have enough fabrics to do a few more.

A Shabby Raggy Rose tote bag with a little vintage chenille scattered in. This one is lined with a pretty green damask and has one large inside pocket and one tiny outside pocket.


Another fun 'tween raggy with drawstring top.

Not a very good picture of this Drink Pink Martini Time tote bag, but I didn't feel like turning the lights back on and trying to shoot it again. Anyway, it is a smallish 6 pocket shoulder bag, also has 2 inside pockets for organizing all your happy hour essentials.

A big roomy beach or travel bag, 6 outside pockets and 3 large inside pockets. And I love the lining! The fabrics are all Moda American Primer. The bottom and straps are double layered canvas in navy blue, super sturdy for carrying lots of stuff!

I have a lot more planned for this week, I might make a dent in the stash if I keep up at this rate at least 'til the end of the year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Girl's 4th of July Tiered Sundress Tutorial!

Here is a cute little girl's tiered dress I made up for Abby for the 4th of July. She's a real firecracker so I think this is perfect for her. I picked up this Debbie Mumm print last year just because I love it and it was so much fun. When I showed it to Morgy I asked her if she thought it would fit Abby and she held it up and said, "oh no grandma, that's way to big for Abby, I think it will have to be for me!" That's Morgy, she love clothes so much that sometimes she cries and has to go through all her things and try them on again before she will let them go into the bag for hand me downs for Abby!

Now what do you think of my little model? Isn't she just too dang cute!

I don't always have a little girl handy to model for me so I got the idea to advertise on Craigslist for an artist to make me a couple of kid size cutout dolls quite a while back. I was lucky enough to find Sarah, a sweetheart SAHM who likes to paint for fun. She whipped up 2 little girlies for me in trade for a newborn size rag quilt set. I named them Melia and Morgan. I hadn't made any dresses for a while, so I finally got to try them out today when I finished Abby's dress. LOVE THEM!

Want to make an adorable 4th of July sundress for your own little firecracker?

You will need:
About 1 yard of cotton fabric
2 yards 1" wide ribbon for ties
optional rick rack 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 yards of each color

Supplies:
Ruler and paper for pattern
Elastic - either 1 1/2 yds baby elastic or 28" of 3/8 wide soft elastic
6 safety pins at least one of which needs to be a tiny brass one
Thread
Sewing machine

First I made a pattern for the bodice of the dress. I drew a rectangle 7" high by 6 1/2" across.
Measure in 1 1/2" at the top and mark a dot there. Measure up 2" from the bottom and make another dot. Draw a curved line from one dot to the other to make the armhole cut out.

I should have taken a picture of this part but forgot. You will need to fold your fabric so that the selvege edge of each side meet in the middle at the fold line. Cut two of the bodice pieces with the center line on the fold.

Next you will want to determine the finished length your dress will be and cut the two lower tiers of the dress. If you have your little girl handy you can measure her from just below her armpit to whatever length you want the finished dress to be. Then divide that in half and add 1" for seam allowance to the top tier and 1 1/2" for seam allowance and hem to the bottom tier. For this dress I didn't have anyone to measure so I used a finished length of about 18" from a pattern I have for a 3T dress, so I cut one strip 61/2" and two strips 7" by the width of the fabric. Cut the first strip in half so it measures approx 21" long. Cut the selvege edge off of all the strips.

Now set your machine to the longest stitch length and stitch a long gathering stitch about 1/4" along the top of each of the 4 strips. Make sure to leave a long tail on the threads on each end. Mark the center of each strip with a pin. Pin the center of the top tier strip Right Sides Together to the bottom edge of one bodice piece. Gently pull the top thread and slide the fabric to slightly gather it to fit the top piece. This top tier is only slightly gathered but be sure to space the gathers evenly across the whole edge. Pin in place making sure the ends match. DON'T FORGET TO SET YOUR STITCH LENGTH BACK TO 10-12 STITCHES/INCH! Now stitch along the pinned edge taking a 1/2" seam allowance.

NOTE: I also pressed the hem on the bottom edge before proceeding with this step, it just makes it a little easier to get an even hem if you do it while the strip is still laying flat. You will stitch it later but just do the ironing part now.

Pull the threads of the bottom tier to gather it to approx 21" long. Match the pinned center to the center of the first tier Right Sides Together. Pin the ends and then gently even out the gathers, pinning in place.

Stitch the pinned edges together taking a 1/2" seam allowance. Make sure that the ruffles lay straight and the edges stay nice and even so there aren't any big folds and your ruffle doesn't look wonky when you flip it over. I just HATE wonky ruffles, so I tend to take it slow and straighten the edges as I go.

Now press your seam allowances up. And while you are there at the ironing board go ahead and press the top edge under 1/2" and then press it over another 1" for the elastic casing.

Repeat all these steps to make the back of the dress.

So you will have a front and a back that look like this.

Next pin the side seams together, making sure to match the seams of the tiers . Stitch from the underarm down.

This is where I added the rick rack and forgot to take pictures of that too. But I stitched it on after finishing the first side seam, then matched the rick rack up and stitched the second side seam.

Next, stitch very close to the bottom of the folded over edge of the top casing. I used 3 rows of baby elastic, but you could also do 2 rows of 3/8" elastic if you want. For the baby elastic I stitched another two rows 1/4" apart to form 3 casings. For the wider elastic stitch one more row 1/2" above the first stitching line.

Cut 6 pieces of baby elastic 7" long. Attach a safety pin to each end. The one you are going to use to pull the elastic through needs to be tiny enough to go through the 1/4" casing. The one on the other end is just to keep it from pulling all the way through and making you pull it out and start over so the size doesn't matter.

Pull all 3 pieces of elastic through the casings leaving a pin on each end to keep them in place for now.

Pull the elastic out about 1/2" from the edge of the dress top and stitch close to the edge to secure it. Clip the ends so they are even with the edge of the dress top.

Now you will need to take a scrap of your fabric and cut a strip of bias about 18" long X 2" wide. Iron in half, then turn the raw edge on each long side in to meet close to the center line. Fold in half again and press well.

Open one folded edge out and pin in place Right sides together around the armhole. Fold over about 1/2" on the top edge on each end. Stitch along the fold line, pulling the bias to match the curved edge and pivoting a bit at the side seam. Now fold the bias binding over the raw edge and topstitch close to the edge, being sure to catch the binding evenly along the back side of the armhole.
The finished armhole should look like this.
Now you're almost done! How exciting! Cut 4 lengths of ribbon 18" long, cutting one end at an angle and heat sealing it with a match or a lighter. Just very slightly run the edge across the flame to melt it a little bit to prevent fraying in the wash. Turn under the straight edge of the ribbons and stitch in place along the top edge of the dress front and back.

Finally, give the hem a touch up pressing and stitch close to the top edge of the fold.

Admire your adorable creation!

Try it on your little girlie!

I had to try it on both of my big paper dolls, so cute!

I love sharing my creations and tutorials with you. If you make this dress I would love to see your pictures, please post a link in my comments or email me if you don't mind me posting it on Up the Rainbow Creek.

Don't forget: Click The Button to get to the Girl Creative's Just Something I Whipped Up Monday project links!
The Girl Creative
I linked this post to Fireflies and Jellybeans: Show Off Your Stuff too!


Enjoy!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Luau Lights and Wicked Cute Flip Flop Tutorial

Sorry for the delay in posting the Giveaway Prize for Cyndi. She was on vacation and I have been super busy with party planning and quilt kits. But we finally got hooked up and her prize is on the way. Hope she will like these pink and chocolate prints from Moda's "Pack Your Bag" collection! I am really looking forward to seeing her new wallet. She has promised to post some pics on Bluebirdswing!



The Girl Creative
I just popped over to The Girl Creative's blog to join the "Just Something I Whipped Up" party. She is on vacation and the party is being hosted at Dilly Dally and Flitter this week. Go on over there to check out all the fun projects she has linked up this week!

We're getting ready for the Tattooed Mama's party this weekend and trying to do it on the cheap since it is only the 9th of June and our party budget seems to be running a little low already.

OK, our party budget is always a little low, but we never let that stop us, do we?

So we went to Target and got some nice 2/$5 flip flops and fancied them up for the party.

And some Dollar General flowers, which we disassembled to make an awesome luau party light strand with some Christmas lights.

Just pull the flowers off the stems and pull all the plastic thingies off until you have a little silk flower with a hole in the middle.

Poke the Christmas light bulb through the hole and secure it on the base with a little dot of hot glue. This 150 light strand cost only $6. Save some of the extra flowers to decorate your flip flops!

We thought the Tattooed Mama would need a cute wraparound skirt and matching flip flops to wear to her party. The skirt tutorial is coming soon I promise!

For the flip flops you will need 2 strips of fabric 2" wide X approx 12" long. 2 pieces of fusible heavy weight interfacing 3/4" X 12" long. Flowers, bows or whatever embellishments you like. Fabric adhesive, I used Aleene's Platinum Bond Super Fabric glue, and it holds really tight. It is available at WalMart or fabric stores.

Fold in 5/8" of each long edge of your 2" strips and press well.

Iron the fusible interfacing to the back side of the strip. Top stitch close to the outside edge of each side of the strip to secure the interfacing. You an use a matching or contrasting thread. I used orange thread for this project because I wanted the contrasting stitching to show.

Now, fold your strip in half with right sides together then open it up to form a V shape that matches the V shape at the toe of the flip flop. This will form a triangle on the back side, which you want to press down hard with your fingers.

Use a marker to mark the fold line at your angle. Stitch along marked line and cut away the excess fabric.

Center your finished strap on the flip flop strap and trim the ends to fit snugly. Run a good bead of glue on the fabric strap and press it firmly into place with your fingers. If desired, glue your flower or other embellishments onto the strap. I used some craft brads to fill in the hole in the center of the silk flowers.

Allow to dry thoroughly.

Enjoy!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Flip Flop Party Invitations

Invitations to the Tattooed Mama's big birthday bash. We bought a matstack, ribbon, brads and flowers and had blast making these.

We still don't have all the planning done but we are going to go with a Luau theme so I think Spam Kabobs will be on the menu. Yummm? Will let you know how that goes over.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

I Want an Accuquilt GO Cutter! Do you?

Here is another chance to win an Accuquilt GO Cutter over at Bejeweled Quilts by Barb. If you go there and sign up to win please mention that you saw this giveaway here at Up the Rainbow Creek!

If you haven't seen a GO Cutter go check them out at Accuquilt.com. It is something I have been wanting since they first introduced them, so I am crossing my fingers and toes hoping that I will be the big winner.

Lesson for the day: When working with one way prints check to see that the backing and top are going the same direction before quilting. Ask me how I know... sigh

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I Have a Winner!

It was a crazy busy weekend, kid sleepovers and swimming and birthday parties and then just trying to take a day to relax and do some grilling and chilling. But I did remember to pick a winner for the Charm Square Wallet Pattern giveaway! So... I am excited to announce...

THE WINNER IS...

Cyndi from the lovely Bluebirdswing blog. If you get a chance to pop over and visit her blog I am sure you will enjoy seeing some of her beautiful creations. (Cyndi, when you get a chance to try the pattern I hope you will post some pics of your wallet for us too!)

I will post some pics of the prize as soon as I find a working camera to use. Mine went to the shop last week and is not coming back due to "abrasive particles found, not covered under warranty." I thought that sand I was carrying around in my purse was a harmless memento from the beach, sigh...

Thanks to everyone who entered and added a link for me! I hope you will check out my kitchen towel and coaster set tutorial and pass it along to your sewing friends too. I will try to post another project tutorial soon. My June giveaway is still to be decided but I am thinking I should do something special for my birthday this month.
 
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