My Blog Has MOVED!!!!

Hey, there!! Wondering why I’ve been so quiet lately??? Well, I have been in the process of moving the blog.

I won’t go into the whys right now….

I am SO SO SO excited for this new chapter!!!

You are just going to LOVE the new address! 😉

 

http://stacysewsandschools.blogspot.com/

 

 

PLEASE!! Come and follow me over there!! I have a ton of new stuff planned!! New tutorials, new homeschooling posts and new CRAZINESS!!!

 

 

THANK YOU ALL FOR FOLLOWING!!!!

 

 

Sewing Machine Cover Tutorial

 

I got a new sewing machine for my Birthday!!! YIPPPEEE!! It was KILLING me to not be sewing!!! I managed to finagle some room in this teeny tiny house to put some of fabric and supplies!

This is my new machine and I LOVE IT SOOOOOO MUCH!!! It’s so easy to use! I would recommend it for beginner and intermediate sewists alike. It has so many functions. I’ve been having a blast playing around with it and seeing what it can do.

It’s also much quieter than my old one. That is a major plus! I can set my playlist on YouTube and listen to music while I sew, never missing a note.

OK, enough gushing over this miraculous machine!

I decided that it would be really nice to make a cover for it. Y’know, keep it from getting dusty (like I’ll let it sit idle long enough for THAT).

 

WHAT I USED

 

 

 

 

Then I took a large sheet of paper and marked the height and width of my machine, turning it into a pattern of sorts for the sides.

 

 

Next, I cut the fat quarter in half for the front and back.

 

Then I cut the fat quarter for the top.

 

Next I cut the pieces for the border on the front and back.

 

The last pieces I cut were the sides.

 

Then I pinned the top to the front (or back).

Sew the seam together.

Then do the other side (front or back) the same way.

Next sew the border pieces to the front and back.

 

 

Press your seams. Not only does it look better but it helps the seams to set.

 

 

Next, pin the sides to the front/back. Only pin the top and one side.

Sew the seam.

 

 

Then you can pin the other side.

Sew the seam making sure to not leave an opening!

 

Do the other side.

 

Next, fold over the bottom by 1/2″ and press.

Fold over another 1/2″, press and pin.

Sew your hem!

I used the decorative clover one mine. 😉

 

This is how it looks on my machine.

BUT I wasn’t thrilled with the results.

 

Sooooooo…………….

 

 

I pinched the edges and sewed! Now it stands so nice and pretty! 😀

 

I hope you enjoyed this!!

Let me know if you try it out!!

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!

 

Gosh, it feels SOOOOOOOO good to be sewing again!!!

 

Top 10 Posts of 2013

 

 

 

It’s TIME!!! Time to ring out the old and bring in the new! 😀 Don’t you just love New Year’s?? You can kiss the mistakes of the last year goodbye and welcome a clean slate.

As I’ve said before, I never make resolutions. No way am I setting myself up for failure from the get go. 😉 BUT here are some of the things that I want to do more of in the new year.

 

SEWING –  It’s been 2 LOOOOONG months since I have sat at my sewing machine. That’s 2 months too long. I have GOT to figure out a way to unpack my sewing stuff in this tiny house!! We are only supposed to be here a few months (until the rental agent finds us a bigger place) but I am going through some heavy withdrawals already!!! LOL

 

CRAFTING – It has been forever since I made anything. ARGH!!!! I need my creative outlets!! I’ll go starkers!!!

 

READING –  I used to set myself reading challenges at the beginning of each year. It’s been a couple of years since I have done that. Just not enough time. SIGH…. BUT I am planning a couple of different challenges for 2014. One is the Alphabet Soup Challenge made by Escape With Dollycas Into a Good Book.  You can check my page for it out HERE.

The other challenge is to read 100 books. That used to be NOTHING to me. I could read 3 books a week. AHHH, those were the days.

I’ll be keeping up with that challenge over at Goodreads. You can click the Goodreads widget over on the right side. I think it will take you to my books.

 

Now, on to the Top 10 Posts of 2013!!!

 

10

My Worm Unit Study!!!

That was a fun one to make. We actually haven’t done it yet… SHHHH!!! That’ll be one for spring! 😉

 

9

My Rocks and Minerals Unit Study! That was a fun one. The kids love anything hands on. I made sure to save everything from our  kits so we can do it again. 😉

 

8

Apron Skirt Tutorial I just love old fashioned clothes for kids!! Not all the time but it’s nice to have some pieces. This was such a quick and easy little skirt to make. It can be easily personalized for the little girl in your life.

 

7

DinoROAR Tutorial Part 2 – Colin still loves this outfit. It’s holding up well, too! HA! Little boys can be so hard on clothes!!

 

 

6

Marco Polo Unit Study  

Another fun, hands on study. And another one that we have actually put to use. 😉

 

5

Plants Unit Study –  Ummm… another one that we will be getting to this spring…. I figure we’ll do plants and worms at the same time.  😉

 

4

Simple Machines Unit Study

This is going to be SO MUCH FUN, when we actually get to it…. (Our next science unit will be weather, which I think is perfect for winter in TN.)

 

 

3

Tee to Short-all Refashion Tutorial

This was so much fun to make for my cousin’s little guy.

 

 

2

Aztecs, Incas and Mayans Study Unit

I think this one was so popular because it’s hard to find great resources for that topic. Not sure why… It’s so interesting! So much fun to learn about!!!

 

 

Drum roll, please.

1

EASY Stuffed Shark Toy Tutorial and Pattern

My very first (and really only) pattern made to share! LOL

Y’know… I never get around to making one for Colin…. Something to add to my to sew list!! Not like it isn’t a mile long already!!

 

So, there you have it! My top 10 of 2013!!! I hope you’ve enjoyed them all!!! Please, stick around for 2014!!!! And invite some friends!! PLEASE!! LOL

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

Away Day

Today I am posting a little something over at Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom for my very good friend Karen from Baking in a Tornado!! She has never had an Advent Calendar and Tamara decided to work up a very special one just for her!! I can’t tell you how happy I am to be a part of it. Karen is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world!

Please, go check it out! 😀

 

Costume Preview

So here is a little preview of Cailey and Colin’s Halloween costumes. I didn’t do them up like we will on Halloween but I did want to show how they look so far. We will go full make-up and hair on Thursday. I can’t wait!!! 😀

 

BUT we are hitting cold season here at the house. My oldest, Jacob has a really terrible cold and now 2 of the other kids are getting sore throats! NOOOOO!!! Cailey and Colin missed Halloween last year because they were both sick!! We don’t want a repeat!

 

In case you are wondering exactly what Cailey is this year, here is a picture of a Jinafire Long doll.

 

 

 

I used a pattern for the main dress but put quite a bit of my own twists on it. I matched the fabric up as best as I could. All in all, I am very proud of it.

Underneath the dress is a 2 piece gold lame outfit, made to look like Jinafire’s scales. Hopefully it will also help to keep Cailey warm.

 

Colin’s was a bit easier. I drafted a pattern for the pirate shirt and used eyelets for the first time. MUCH easier than I thought it would be.

 

 

 

HAVE FUN TRICK OR TREATING!!!

 

 

Happy Halloween Peasant Dress

 

 

I am in love with this dress!!!! It was so simple and easy to make. I used one of my favorite patterns, Pretty Peasant from SquigglyTwigs Designs. If you scroll down on the page you will see Cailey modeling the peasant top I made with this same pattern.

We are going to try the dress with her orange and black tights, too! LOL Such a FUN dress for the season!

The main dress part came from a remnant I picked up last year at Hancock’s. The sleeves are the left overs from the Reverse Applique Leggings and Bandanna Bib I made for my little cousin Liam. I got that print from Joann’s.  A word of warning, when working closely with it, you will go cross-eyed a time or two. LOL

So, what fun things are you making for Halloween??? Right now I have the pattern made for Colin’s pirate shirt. Fingers crossed that it comes out alright! LOL After that will be the rest of his costume. THEN I will be starting on Cailey’s. She wants to be Jinafire Long, a Monster High Doll. No pressure to get THAT one right….. LOL Wish me luck, I’m going to need it! 😉

 

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!!

 

T-Shirt to Bag Tutorial

 

 

I had this really cute t-shirt that I love so much BUT it shrank to about 2 sizes too small. I sat around and thought about what I could do with it. I really wanted to still use it for myself so I went with BAG!! 😀

 

 

Here is how the shirt was before! SO CUTE!!!

 

 

STEP 1 –

 

Cut off the sleeves!

 

 

STEP 2 –

 

Cut off the bottom, leaving plenty of room for the bottom seam, according to how big you want your bag to be.

 

 

STEP 3 –

 

Cut off the sides, going straight down from the edge of the shoulder.

 

 

STEP 4 –

 

Cut off the shoulder seams.

 

 

STEP 5 –

 

 

Take the bottom of the shirt that you cut off and cut in half. Then take each piece and cut at the seams so that you have 2 long strips. These will turn into the handle.

Actually…… You just need to cut it at the seam, now that I think about it. LOL

When I started making the bag, I wasn’t sure if I would make one handle or two. Since I just made one, cutting them in half isn’t necessary.  You will just fold in half long ways and press.

 

SO, just cut it at the seam for one long piece! 😉

 

STEP 6 –

 

 

 

 

 

I cut a piece of black fleece and pinned it to the wrong side of the back piece of the shirt.

Then I zigzag stitched it on making an inside pocket.

 

 

STEP 7 –

 

 

Take the long piece for the handle, fold it in half and press.  Next, pin it and sew just the long side seam, making a long open ended tube.

Turn it right side out and press.

 

 

STEP 8 –

 

 

 

Place the handle on the RIGHT side of the back piece and pin the ends to the shoulders.

Now, pin the rest of the handle out of the way of all the edges.

 

 

STEP 9 –

 

 

Take the front of the bag and place it face down over the other parts. Line it up and pin.

Now, sew all along the edges, leaving the neck part open.

Turn it all right side out and press!!!

 

 

 

Now you have a great bag and you didn’t have to give away your cute tee!!! 😀

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found that the handle was a little too long for my liking so I just tied a knot in it. 😉

 

Let me know what you think!

Was this easy to follow???

If you have any questions, just leave a comment here, on Facebook or Twitter OR use the Contact Me button at the top the of the page to shoot me an email! 😀

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making Notebooks Pretty

 

 

Oh. my goodness! I have been SOOOOOO busy!!!! Between Wednesday and Friday, I printed out 500 pages for the first few weeks of school!!! GOOD GRIEF!!! I have been running around getting all the books and supplements and activities and and and together! LOL I’m exhausted and we haven’t even started yet! LOL Someone remind me to get all the planning and etc. done at least a month before we start!

 

ANYWAY, I have been making some of their notebooks prettified for them! LOL

Here is the no sew cover tutorial that I did a few days ago.

And here is the sewing cover tutorial that I did a while back.

 

And here are the finished products that I did this week.

 

 

This one is just like the no sew cover except that I cut 2 pieces and left the spiral part exposed. Then I tied ribbons up and down the spiral.

 

 

 

This one is just like the above. I cut and hot glued 2 pieces. Then I hot glued a patch from one of Joshua’s Resident Evil games to the front.

 

 

 

This is one of the sewing covers. I did it just like the book covers I did last year. Then I hot glued a big D on the front for Deanna.

 

There you have it! Very simple ways to personalize the very cheap notebooks! LOL The kids LOVE them!!!!

 

I have a couple of projects in mind. Hopefully I will soon be showing you a no sew box cover. FINGERS CROSSED!!! 😉

 

 

HAVE FUN CRAFTING, SEWING and SCHOOLING!

 

Tutorial ~ Make a Chair Buddy

This year Colin will be doing full time Kindergarten. He isn’t all that thrilled about it to tell the truth. So, I decided to make him something to help get him into the spirit! A chair buddy!!

I had some Hot Wheels fat quarters sitting around and figured they would be perfect!

This project is super fast and easy!  Thank goodness, because now Cailey wants one! LOL She has decided not to use her little desk this year. Maybe Colin will use both the desk and the chair buddy!

What I used for Colin’s:

4 fat quarters

1 scrap (for the little pocket)

What I used for Cailey’s

2 pieces of flannel – 21″ x 23″

1 piece of yellow cotton – 21″ x 19″

1 scrap (for the little pocket)

Step 1

Take the scrap piece for you little pocket, fold it in half and press. Next, fold over the top ends by 1/4″ and press. Fold over again by 1/2″ and press. Sew in place.

Then, with right sides together, sew up the sides, creating the pocket.

Turn right side out and press.

Step 2 –

Take the fat quarter that you are going to use for the large pocket and fold over the top by 2 1/2″ and press. Fold again by 2 1/2″ and press again.

Sew in place and press.

Step 3 –

Pin the small pocket in place on the front of the fat quarter you will be using for the large pocket.

Sew in place and press.

You should now have 2 small pockets on the front.

Step 4 –

Take the 2 fat quarters you will be using as the body and sew the tops together.

Open it up and press the seam.

With right sides out, fold in half and press the seam from the outside.

Step 5 –

Take your last fat quarter and cut it in half. Fold the halves in the half and press (with right sides out).

Place your pockets on one side of the body and pin down the sides.

Take one of the halves and pin it with the raw edges against the raw edges of the bottom of the large pocket and main body. Pin in place.

Now sew all three pieces together.

Fold the bottom part down and press.  (On the wrong side, press the seam up.)

Take the remaining half and sew it to the bottom of the other side of the main body, Repeat the pressing.

****If you are NOT using the fat quarters, you will lay the pocket fabric on top of the main and fold over 1/2″ and press. Fold over another 1/2″, press and hem.

Step 6 –

Now, fold the body in half with right sides together and pin the sides,

Sew the sides up!

Press!

Turn right side out and press again!

You are ALL DONE!!!

You now have yourself a Chair Buddy!!! YAY!!!

Here is Cailey’s!

Let me know what you think! Have any questions? Just comment or shoot me an email by clicking the Contact Me button at the top of the page.

You can also find me on Twitter or Facebook – the links are over on the right side.

HAVE FUN SEWING!!!!

Back to School Sewing Round Up

 

 

It’s about that time!!! Even though we homeschool, we still need to get ready for that time of year. For some school starts NEXT WEEK!! CRAZY!!! Thankfully, as a homeschooler, we can decide when our school year is as long as we have 180 days! And I don’t plan on starting for at least a few more weeks, probably not until after Labor Day!!!

Anyway, I have had school stuff on the mind lately and I want to make a lot of stuff for the kids this year.

 

 

Back to School and Back to You – 25 Sewing Tutorials – Babble.com 

 

Here is a round up of ides for all ages – Shop Martingale

 

 

Here is a list of free tutorials and patterns for back to school from About. Com Sewing

 

Back to School patterns  – Sew Thankful

 

Another BTS round up – In Stitches

 

BTS Sewing Tutorials – The Crafty Mummy

 

More BTS Sewing Round Ups – A Sewing Journal

 

As far as my own tutorials go, I have:

The D Bag (draw string backpack)

Book Covers

Plus I have TONS of clothing tutorials!  Just click the tutorials tab at the top of the page! 😀

 

HAVE FUN SEWING!