Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Twin-Size version of Minky Baby Blanket

Last week I shared with you how to make a soft, minky baby blanket with wide binding. My friend just had a baby and got one of those baby blankets. Her 7-year old daughter said:

"Mom, I wish you were friends with her when I was a baby."

I guess she wanted a blanket as well. How could I not make one for her? She wanted a twin-size blanket, which is 66" x 90", and picked out her fabrics. Here's how you can make one as well.

Materials needed:
- 4 1/2 yds main fabric
- 2 1/2 yds minky
- 1 1/2 yds binding fabric
- Batting(Warm & Natural)
- Coordinating thread

1. Cut your main fabric in half lengthwise, so you have two pieces that are 4 1/2 yds x 22". Then cut each of those in half so you end up with 4 pieces 2 1/4 yds x 22". You'll only need three of these. They will make up the top layer of the blanket. Sew the three panels RST (right sides together) using a 1/2" seam allowance, along the 2 1/2 yd side. Press seams. The baby blankets are so small that we didn't need to quilt them to prevent the layers from separating, but with a twin-size blanket we need to quilt it somehow to keep the layers together. I also used batting so the blanket was still soft and plush. I'm not a quilter and do not have a long-arm machine. I also really wanted to keep the minky soft and full, and not completely stitched over, so I went with a very simple quilting pattern that I could do on my sewing machine. It's kind of like a snake that winds across the blanket. Click on the picture above to see it better.

I used a dinner plate to trace the circular parts. Then used a ruler to trace the lines, making sure that the lines were 10" apart the entire length of the blanket. Then I pinned a lot because minky tends to stretch and I didn't want it bunching between all the stitching. After it was quilted, I trimmed up all the sides so all three layers were the same size. Pin frequently around all the edges. I finished it with the wider binding. See here for instructions. The only difference is you will need (8) 6 1/2" strips instead of (4) to cover the entire perimeter of the blanket. Now you should have your finished blanket. Final measurements for this quilt was 66" x 84".

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Fabric Winners

WOW! You guys are amazing!!! Thank you for all of your sweet comments. Here are the winners:
Gold #1

Who is... Gold #2 Who is... Silver #1 Who is... Silver #2 Who is... Bronze #1 Who is... Bronze #2 Who is...

Please contact me (sewdangcute@gmail.com) to claim your prize(s). Congratulations ladies!

If you didn't win this giveaway, stick around. Next week is my blogiversary and I've got TONS of AWESOME stuff to win. Seriously....REALLY GOOD STUFF!!! Trust me.

I do have a couple of slots open still as part of the blogiversary giveaway celebration. If you would like to be part of it, please let me know. This is a great way to take advantage of FREE ADVERTISING!!!

Last of all, watch FRIDAY for a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT. It's been a few weeks in the works and it's ready to launch. I'm super excited for it!!!

Monday, September 27, 2010

Mod Podge Bathroom Decor

I did a few more decorations for my kids' bathroom. You've already seen the shower curtain and stepstool, so let's take a closer look at what else is new. Thank goodness for Mod Podge! Kleenex and toothbrush holders. Stitch a little fabric on some towels. And the clock. It's kind of my favorite part of the room so far, but that could be because my favorite color is yellow, and the yellow in this makes me happy. Mod podge to the rescue again. I think the towel and kleenex/toothbrush holders are pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain how I did the clock just in case you want to do one as well.

I started out with a very basic clock ($2.97 at Wal-Mart). I took the clock apart and started with the outer rim. Cut a piece of fabric big enough that it can wrap up around it. Go ahead and mod podge it down. Cut a hole in the center. Then mod podge the edges under. Apply a layer of mod podge over the entire thing and set aside to dry.

Moving on to the inside. Ignore the blue fabric for now and pretend the boring clock face is still showing. Trust me, I forgot this step and had to go back and it doesn't look as pretty. Ok, still working with the yellow fabric, mod podge the inner trim or whatever it's called. Now we can move on to the blue fabric (face) part. Cut a circle of fabric slightly bigger than your face. Cut a tiny slit in the center of the circle to slide the watch hands through. Mod podge that down, then apply a layer of mod podge on top. Allow it to dry, then take an X-acto knife and trim any excess fabric. Then you call a friend that owns a Silhouette (if you aren't lucky enough to own one yourself) and have her cut out some numbers for your clock. I used the font CK Typist. Once I had those, I placed my clock on top of a bigger clock I had so I could use the angles to place the numbers. Mod podge those on, then apply one last topcoat of mod podge and let everything dry. Put that clock back together and voila!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Halloween Treat Idea

Our Best Bites is one of my favorite sites. I love trying their recipes. This week we made their Chocolate Owls. They were a great thing to make with kids and my girls loved helping. Wouldn't these make a cute Halloween treat for neighbors, friends, or a preschool class? The tag says "Happy "Owl"-oween!". Here's a better view of the tag. If you like it, feel free to download it here.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Product Review: CucinaPro Crepe Maker

When CSN Stores asked me to review another product for them, I jumped at the opportunity. CSN Stores has over 200 online stores that offer everything from baby gear to coffee tables. This time I got to review the CucinaPro Crepe Maker, which is a cordless crepe maker that sits on a base. I made the recipe that's in the user's manual and poured it into the dipping plate that comes with the crepe maker. Then you pick up the crepe maker and dip it in the batter. *Sorry for the blurry picture. This is the best I could do while dipping and trying to take the pic by myself.Set the crepe maker back on the base and let it cook until the control light turns on.Use the spatula that's included and remove the crepe.Tada! Perfect crepes! Now that it's so easy to make crepes, maybe I'll go for something like this next time: Or perhaps chocolate? Yum!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Make Life Shower Curtain

I've got another new tutorial over at the Moda Bake Shop today for this shower curtain. Full tutorial (originally appeared here on Moda Bake Shop September 23, 2010)

*All seams 1/4" unless otherwise noted.


- 1 honey bun
- 1/2 yd fabric
- 3 yds fabric
- Coordinating thread

1. We are going to start with our diagonal stripwork. Randomly cut some pieces from your honey bun strips. Go ahead, just cut whatever sizes makes you happy. You'll end up using the entire honey bun. I laid mine out on my cutting board and started in the corner. Once you've determined your angle, start laying pieces down like so, until you've reached 17", which is as tall as we will go. Sew your cut pieces RST (right sides together) along the 1 1/2" sides to form a strip. Finish the seams by either serging or zig-zag stitching. From here you just keep cutting pieces to form strips, then we need to sew all the strips together. As you sew the strips together, start the next strip about a 1/4" down like so. They should look something like this. Finish the seams. Continue until your you have one big piece that is 74" long. Press the seams all in one direction. Topstitch all the seams down. Trim the piece so you have one big rectangle measuring 17" x 74", then cut it into two pieces - 4 1/2" x 74" and 12 1/2" x 74".

2. From here I thought a pattern/diagram would be easiest to refer to instead of pictures. If needed, click on image to enlarge.
*Note: We are going to assume the width of the fabric is 42".

Take your 1/2 yd of fabric (green), and cut (2) 5" pieces and (2) 2" pieces. From those cut them so you have the following pieces:

- (2) 18" x 5"
- (1) 42" x 5"
- (2) 18" x 2"
- (1) 42" x 2"

Sew the three 5" pieces together to along the 5" edge to form a row with the 42" piece in the middle. (Refer to the diagram above). Finish seams and press. Repeat with the 2" pieces.

3. Take your 3 yds of fabric (blue), and cut (2) 50" pieces and (1) 7" piece. From those cut the following:

- (2) 18" x 50" (You will need to get this first, then unfold to get the 18" x 7" pieces below)
- (1) 42" x 50"
- (2) 18" x 7"
- (1) 42" x 7"

Sew the 7" pieces together the same way as used in step 3. Finish seams and press. Repeat on the 50" pieces. After pressing the 50" seams, topstitch the seams down. (The other rows are so short that I didn't bother topstitching them, however if you would like to, feel free to do so).

4. As a reminder, here's the pattern again. 5. Now we are going to sew all our rows together as follows:

1. 7" blue
2. 4 1/2" diagonal strips
3. 2" green
4. 50" blue
5. 5" green
6. 12 1/2" diagonal strips

Finish seams. Press and topstitch. Trim all your sides up if necessary.

6. Let's hem those sides and bottom edge. Fold a side edge 1/2" towards the wrong side of the fabric. Press. Fold another 1/2" and press. Stitch down. Repeat on the other side and the bottom.

7. Now for the top edge. I serged the top raw edge and folded it down 3" and pressed. If you don't have a serger, fold 1/4" down and press, then fold another 2 3/4" down and press. Stitch that hem down. You should now have something that looks like this. 8. The last thing we need to do is make some buttonholes for our curtain rings to go through. Lay your curtain out flat on the ground and mark where you want your buttonholes. I grabbed a shower curtain and laid it on top to mark mine. You should have 12 marks now, each about 1" long and 6" apart. Set your sewing machine to its buttonhole settings. Attach your buttonhole foot. **Check your machine's manual for specific sewing instructions, because each machine can be different. My machine won't sew buttonholes. In theory, you are supposed to be able to place a button of the desired size in the foot, then push down on the pedal and it should sew the buttonhole. I have yet to get my machine to do this. I used my mom's. On hers you sew down as far as you need to go, then push the buttonhole button located by the stitch selection buttons and it sews the rest. You'll end up with 12 marks that look like this. Grab your seam ripper and place it between the stitchings and rip about halfway up. Then switch to the other end and rip the rest of the way. You can just rip all the way with that first rip, but I like to switch so you can prevent accidentally ripping too much and going through the stitching. Repeat on all 12 buttonholes and it's all done! Place your curtain rings through those buttonholes and hang up your new shower curtain!
One shower curtain measuring 72" x 72".
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