Some 2014 Randomness

Leftover from 2014.  Happy New Year, Y'all!

Just because...

I came home from work to find my girl dressed like this. To which my sweet husband replies, "I have the hardest time findings things for her to wear that match." It was completely laughable after I got over the shock of "oh my gosh, that is what you wore today." Luckily it was a half day of school and she doesn't go on those days, so she was only at daycare. They are used to it by now.

My son is working on drawing his own comic book. Off to a pretty good start.


I altered, fixed, and finished some sewing projects for a friend of mine.

My girl had been wanting to grow this grass so she could give her pig a haircut. So we did. She told me she was going to give the pig a "tiny haircut". I misunderstood what she said. I thought she was only going to cut a "little bit" off. Umm, no. The poor thing has a buzz cut now. That is what she meant by "tiny haircut".

I got this fabulous box of fabric in the mail! The Ribbon Retreat was selling off all of its fabric and at the time everything was 65% off. I missed out on a total of 6.5 yards of fabric between ordering and cutting, but they reimbursed me for what was missing. A yard and a half is missing from the fabrics in the photos. I ordered two yards of fabric from a couple of the designs but only received 1.75 yards due to others ordering before me. That's ok. I ordered two yards just to make sure I had enough, 1.75 will be fine.

And they send you some ribbon for free based on your order amount. Fun! I love that it arrived in two days. I ordered over the weekend, but they cut and ship on business days. On a Monday I got an email that my order was ready and by Wednesday it was at my door all the way from Idaho. Fantastic!

A Bubble Skirt with a French Feel

I've had this super cute fabric laying around my studio just waiting to be made into something. This is part of the free fabric bundle I got a while back. 

I loved it because it was girly, and sweet, and it reminded me of Madeline, the little french girl in stories by Ludwig Bemelmans. We've read some of them to the kids and the girl seems to enjoy them. Then, we picked up some episodes of the cartoon series from Target for $5. I'll have to get the movie that was made several years ago and let the kids watch it.

Anyway.

I decided to make the girl a bubble skirt. The fabric is quite thin and flowy which makes it perfect for this project.

Bubble skirts are fairly simple to make and I'm sure there are many tutorials online somewhere if you need instructions. 

My girl loves this skirt! Even though she is more of a dress fan, if the skirt is twirly and bouncy, it's a win in her book, and a win for me.

I think I will take one of her plain tees and add an Eiffel Tower applique to match the skirt. What do you think?

Oooh, oooh, ooh, maybe a beret as well...?

Wooden Fabric Circles + My Week

My Week:
I'm deep in sewing projects for Christmas, decorating, and shuttling kids to holiday events. Busy, busy, busy. And loving it! Can't wait to show you what I am working. My studio is a mess, a lovely mess. I won't show you that...maybe.

Anyway, here is a project I finished for the studio!
Enjoy.

Have you seen the cute embroidery hoop fabric decorations on Pinterest, or magazines, or in a fabric shop? I love them. I first saw them online, and then when my hubs and I went on a trip to Savannah I stopped in a fabric shop, Fabrika, and they had some on the long wall separating the shopping area from the staircase.

I knew that once I got my studio built I wanted to hang some in my space. The problem: embroidery hoops aren't cheap. And I wanted several of them. 

Solution: wooden circles.

I found these wooden circles at the Hob Lob (Hobby Lobby). They were also most likely on sale. The large circle is 10 inches ($1.43) and the small circle is 6 1/2 inches ($.79). Decently priced even when not on sale.

I gathered my supplies:
-Wooden circles
-Fabric
-Hot glue gun and glue sticks
-Scissors
-Adhesive Velcro


I ironed some remnant pieces of fabric that were big enough to fit on the large and small wooden circles. The fabrics have been used in other projects, or were other projects, and will now be decoration.

Place the fabric wrong side up and the wooden circle on top of the fabric.

I put the price tag side up so it wouldn't show through the fabric when I turned it around to the side it would be viewed from.

Make sure there is enough fabric to pull around to the back of the circle to glue down. Slowly put hot glue on the circle and pull the fabric to secure it to the circle. Careful, the glue is hot, which seems odd to have to say, but it is.

Keep going around the circle gently pulling the fabric so that it will conform to the circle and look pretty on the other side.

Beautiful!

Once you have done the whole circle, place the finished product somewhere to cool off. Continue doing the other circles.

When all of your circles have been completed and cooled off you can trim the excess fabric to reduce bulk on the back.

The only fabric that wasn't a remnant was this awesomely cute turquoise, white, and red sewing fabric that I got from JoAnn's. It matches my room perfectly and I thought that was so cool. I only bought a quarter of a yard. There's a little remaining to possibly make some simple projects out of. Maybe a pin cushion? I'll think of something.

Done!

So cute and fun. Quick, too.

I did all of these is less than an hour and a half. They are ready to hang.

I got some adhesive Velcro to attach to the circles. You can use anything you want to hang yours up (some ribbon/string attached to the back and a nail would be a good idea as well). Place on the wall, or wherever you are going to put them, and stick them up. That way if I wanted to change up the look I could just move the circle to a different velcro spot.

I used some extra circles as a template for spacing. It gave me a good visual before I put the permanent adhesive on the wall, that way I could make slight adjustments as needed. I put some tape on the back of the non-fabric circles for temporary use.

My girl had fun helping me. She wanted to play with the circles. Then, she wanted to help hang them up. I let her do one. She was very proud.

The wall before and after:

I hope to find smaller circles (3-4 inches) to add to my wall. It will give it some variety and add more interest. 

I have a few more wooden circles left over, and as I complete future projects I can assure you that more circles will be added to the wall. I have some fantastic girl super hero fabric I am going to use for a project (not sure what I am going to make, as usual) for my girl. I am hoping there will be enough to make a couple of circles so I can put one in her room.

You could use this project in other ways as well. Maybe a mobile or décor in a kids room? Bathroom? On a flat ceiling? For the various holidays? There are many possibilities.

As always, thanks for visiting. :)