Thursday, March 31, 2011

Kids Pot-Holders

A "customer" (my mother) is paying me to make a set of six kids "play kitchen sets"
Meaning: six children's aprons, six pot-holders, six oven mitts and maybe six chef hats.
The pot-holders were the easiest so I started with them.

I cut approx 4" squares- 2 of fabric, and one of batting.

I sandwiched the batting in the middle and then stitched all four sides:

I 'quilted' the piece by just sewing a few lines diagonally across the piece:

Then I trimmed the edges very close to my stitch lines.

Then I made my edging
I stared by cutting a strip about 1.5" wide (left), then I folded it in half and pressed (middle), then I folded the raw edges into the center and pressed again (right)
This is similar to bias tape, except I didn't cut it on a bias.

Then I placed the edge of the hot pat in the fold of the edging I had created and pinned it in place

I left some extra at the end to make the 'loop' that you see on all potholders and oven mitts.
That extra piece hanging off is actually where I started my stitches. I started on the tail end and then sewed around three and a half sides. Once I was an inch or two from completing the square, I would fold the end of the 'tail' back and then loop it around. Then I would stitch to the corner and do some back-stitching back and forth and at an angle to reinforce that corner and the loop.

TA-DA!
Then I just did that 5 more times.


Disclaimer:
This is a project for kids, so they can pretend to cook- don't use this tutorial for real hot pads/potholders- I doubt this is safe to use on hot dishes, the general idea would be the same, but you would need to get material and lining that is more effective against heat.

Monday, March 14, 2011

My First Wedding Cake!!!!

This past weekend was a big one for me!
I go to make my first ever wedding cake--and believe it or not, it was a success!


It's a basic design, which is great, so I didn't have to have a major heart attack over it. I was happy with it and so were the bride and groom.
I can't believe I made a wedding cake, just a few years ago- I could barely scrape frosting from a can onto cake from a box without totally messing it up- I can't wait to see where I'll be in 3 more years.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Crayon Roll

So, this is nothing new... you've probably seen them a few times before, but I decided to make a couple of crayon rolls.


Here's a look at the full item:
Back of Crayon Roll

Front of empty crayon roll

Roll it up, to keep your crayons neatly in place while in your diaper bag (or whatever)

And all wrapped up:


  These are great for allowing you kids easy access to their crayons, but keeping them in place so they don't get dropped/lost while at church, in the car, or even at home.
I have one in my diaper bag, and the other one is going for sale in my etsy shop.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Book Cover

I had an order for custom book cover on my etsy.

She needed a cover to protect her books from dust and cat/dog hair. I got some plastic from the upholstery section at Joann's and made it the size she needed... 7'x4.5"x7"

Here are a few pictures of it filled with books after I finished it:















I cut vertical slits every ten inches to allow easy access to the books.






















































I'm also in the process of making a similar cover for a couple of strollers, to keep them clean while they are stored in the garage.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Cowboy Cake

My BFF's son turned one- so I made a cake for the occasion!

His birthday party was a "cowboy" theme so that's where I decided to go with the cake:
Almost everything is fondant. the cow print, the hat, the number one, the borders and the red bandanna.
I just used icing to pipe on the decorations for the bandanna