Happy Fall Leaf Bunting! (no-sew)

Bunting is so popular right now, and I have wanted to try my hand at it for a while.  I have been mulling over exactly how I wanted it to look though, and finally came up with this idea the other day.  Since I live in New England, I felt that fall leaves would be fitting - because you see vibrant foliage everywhere, and this is a fun representation to have inside the house!


Here is how I did it:
This is the leaf shape, and stem shape - to use as a guide. 
For each leaf, cut a piece of fabric, a piece of heat-n-bond, and piece of felt, each big enough to fit one leaf. 

Apply the heat-n-bond to the wrong side of the fabric according to package directions.  Peel off the backing and iron it to the piece of felt.

Trace the leaf shape onto the felt and cut it out.  (You'll be cutting through the felt, heat-n-bond and fabric that have all been ironed together.)

I chose scraps of yellow, orange, and green fabrics for my leaves, and used orange, brown, tan and green felt for the backs. 

 Cut stems out of stiff brown felt.  (If you are using the phrase "happy fall" you will need 9 leaves and 9 stems)

 Using fabric glue, glue the stems to the back, top of the leaves.

I decided to add decorative stitches to the outside of the leaves.  I used embroidery floss that coordinated with the color of the fabric, and did a running stitch about 1/8" from the edge. 

Using this template, (or any font you choose, enlarged, outline only and printed out), trace the letters onto brown felt and cut them out.

Now, I simply love to use my sewing machine, so I sewed the letters onto the leaves, using matching thread, and sewing as close to the edge as I could.  It didn't take very long, and looks very nice.  However, this can be a completely no-sew project if you use fabric glue to attach the letters.  Either way is great!

Once all the leaves are done, choose a long piece of rick-rack, or colorful ribbon, and glue or sew the stems along it in the correct order - and you are done!

Now, I just have to decide where to put it.  It looks so colorful and festive!  You could even add things like buttons, or raffia, and continue to embellish it!

I am very happy with the way it turned out...I have a feeling I will be making buntings for every season:)

  

  

I'm linking up to:

Craft-o-maniac

All Thingz Related

Making the World Cuter

These Creative Juices

Someday Crafts

Creations by Kara

Sew Much Ado

Somewhat Simple

Funky Junk Interiors

Tater Tots and Jello

Craft-O-Maniac

Making the World Cuter

Ladybug Blessings

Fabric Diaper Holder

I made one of these for myself a long time ago, when my first daughter was born, and I love it.  It keeps the diapers in my diaper bag nicely in one place, and I can grab this holder, along with a package of wipes, right out of the diaper bag when I need it. 

For a little while, after my second daughter was born, I had two babies in diapers:)  I made myself another holder, in entirely different fabric, so that I knew which diapers I was grabbing out of the bag - big or little - based on the color of the diaper holder. 

My cousin just had a baby girl, and I decided to make one for her!

Here is a tutorial on how to make your own diaper holder:

Cut out 4 pieces of fabric using this pattern, 2 of each piece.  You can use 2 different colors of fabric, cut into different combinations for different looking holders. 

1) You can have the front and back of the holder different colors (like the one I make here).

2) You can make the inside and outside of the holder different colors (if so, use a different color fabric for the 2 pieces of the same pattern piece.),

3) You can, of course, make the entire thing with the same fabric.

As I said, I wanted the front and back to be different colors, so I used the same fabric for the larger pattern piece (the back of the holder), and a different fabric for the smaller pattern piece (the front of the holder). 

Take one front piece, and one back piece, and place them right sides together, lining up the bottom curve, as shown.  Do this for both sets. 

Sew along the outside edge, 1/4" seam allowance, on both of the sets. 

IMPORTANT:  Leave a 2" space on the bottom of the set you want to use as the INSIDE of the diaper holder. 

 Turn the piece with the hole in the bottom (the inside piece), right side out.  Then, tuck it inside the other piece, lining up the top edge.  Right sides will be together. 

 Sew along the top and side straight edges, as shown in the picture below:

 Now comes the slightly tricky part.  You need to sew this entire part closed, but there is an interesting curve at the corner.  Open it along the side and lay it flat.  Then, continue the same line that you used to sew the top and sides (in the picture above) and round the corner to the front edge. 

 Sew all along the front edge, and round the other curve to meet up with the edge again.  Your entire top, along all 4 edges, will be completely sewn shut. 

 Now, pull the inner piece of fabric out, so you can see the hole in the bottom. 

 Pull the entire thing through the hole, so that the holder is right side out:

 Sew the hole shut:

 Tuck the half that you just sewed shut into the other half as shown:

 Sew a strip of velcro to the top of the flap, and to the spot it will meet on the holder when it is shut.  Be sure not to make it too tight!  When the diaper holder is full of diapers, the flap will not go down as far. 

 Fill with diapers, and toss it in your bag! 

 This is a great handmade gift, and can be made for girl or boy - just adjust the color of the fabric! 

Black and White Dresser Drawer Knobs

Here is another set of drawer pulls...these ones for the dresser in our room.  So, I made them monochromatic because that makes them more *adult like* and * sophisticated*....right??

:)

Anyways, I love them. 
Here is my original post - on how to make them.
I added two new designs this time.
A gingham one, and a zebra print one. 

To do the gingham, I made stripes going one way:

And then each time I made a stripe going in the perpendicular direction, I painted the square where two lines intersected, black. 

Hopefully these pictures give you a bit of an idea what I mean.

To do the zebra stripes, I penciled the shapes on, and used my handy embossing tool to paint in the shapes with black paint.

Kindof fun for another hand-me-down chest of drawers!

Smashed Wicked Witch Legs

My father in law used to have a three piece alligator decoration that, when placed on the ground, would look like it was swimming through the floor. 

Every couple of days he would move it around to a new place in the house, and I thought it was so clever. 

 When I saw these Halloween socks at the craft store, I had an idea to make witch legs that my kids could move around the house, to make it look like whatever piece of furniture they placed it under had smashed a wicked witch:)  I think they turned out pretty great!

This was how I did it:

Find a pair of long Halloween tube socks.   

Cut off foot, just above the heal, so that just a straight piece of sock remains.   

Using the shoe template I created here, cut out 4 shoe shapes from black fabric.  Be sure to cut out 2 with the toe facing to the left, and 2 with the toe facing to the right, so that they match up properly to make shoes. 

Take one shoe piece, and lay the cut edge of one sock in line with the top edge of the shoe and centered.  Make marks on the shoe to indicate the width of the sock.   (As shown below)

Now, there are two ways to do this.  One way requires you to hand sew the "shoe laces" on at the end.  The other way allows you to sew the "shoe laces" on with a machine - but makes lining up the laces a little trickier.  I will show both. 

Way 1: With Hand Sewn Laces

With two shoe pieces, right sides together, sew from your mark to the edge of the shoe on both sides with 1/4 inch seam allowance - as in picture below.  Also sew up the line, from the inside part of the line you just sewed to the top of the shoe (that little 1/4 inch part).

With your sock right side out, tuck it inside the shoe and line up the edge of the shoe with the edge of the sock (between your sewn marks).

 Pin the sock to the shoe all the way around, leaving the sock open. 

Sew around the circle with 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Make sure you tuck the edges of the shoe aside as you sew - so they are left poking out as shown below. 

Pull the sock through itself until it is completely wrong side out and out of the shoe.  Pin the two shoe pieces together and sew all the way around the shoe with 1/4 inch seam allowance. 

Using the hole at the top of the sock, pull the entire sock and shoe right side out.  Use an unsharpened pencil or closed scissors to carefully push out all the edges of the shoe.

Now, you need to hand sew the laces on.  I used orange ribbon - cut into three small strips for laces, and then another longer strip tied into a bow.  I heat sealed the edges before sewing them on.

Way 2: With Machine Sewn Laces

After you make your marks on the fabric indicating the size of the sock, put 2 pieces of shoe, right sides together.  Sew from the sock mark to the edge, only on the edge facing the front of the shoe, and also sew down the front of the shoe, part way along the looping toe - as shown (1/4 inch seam allowance):

Turn the shoe right side out, and lay the sewn seam as flat as you can get it. 

Leaving at least an inch or so at the top, place your ribbons along the seam, evenly spaced from side to side, and pin - as shown (remember to heat seal the edges of your ribbon):

Sew the ribbon to the shoe along the short edges of the ribbon, and near the knot of the bow. 

Now sew from the mark you drew to indicate the size of the sock to the edge of the shoe on the other side.  Also sew up the line you drew, that little 1/4 inch part on either side.

Then, follow steps similar to way 1.

Tuck the sock in, pin and sew around the opening.

Pull the sock through itself and pin the shoe together.

Sew around the entire shoe

Pull the shoe right side out through the top of the sock.   

Now you don't have to worry about hand sewing the shoe laces - because there they are!

To Finish:

Stuff the socks and shoes with stuffing.  Carefully cram bits of stuffing all the way into the toe and heal, etc. 

Once they are both full of stuffing - sew the tops of the socks closed, and sew the legs to each other.

Then, put them under something and giggle at how cute they look!  Happy Halloween!