Monday, September 13, 2010

One of a Kind Lunch Bag for a One of a Kind Girl



I was so excited when my little girl asked me to make her a lunch bag for Kindergarten  instead of buying a Hello Kitty one! Of course I had a little help tipping the scales to the handmade side thanks to Danita.  I asked Danita if I could have one of  her images printed on a piece of fabric, and she happily supplied me.  My daughter just learned to ride a bike and I thought the little girl on the bike would be just perfect.  Then I came across this wonderful tutorial about how to make a fabric lunch sack from A Lemon Squeezy Home.   I spent sometime designing it with my daughter and here is the final product!
I used a cloth dishtowel for the main fabric

My kids got me a set of handmade owl buttons from  beadfreaky for my Mother's Day gift - I thought this would be a good place to use one!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Fabric Acorn Tutorial

I thought it would be fun to create some fabric acorns made with real acorn hats.  So, we headed out on a family hike to gather some nuts like little squirrels.  After we got home, we carefully pulled the tops off the acorns and I played around with some fabrics until I got the acorn-look I wanted.   Here's a quick little nature-inspired craft tutorial on how to make fabric acorns.  I had fun making these, and I couldn't make just one,  my kids had fun helping  me collect and choose fabrics, and my husband just thinks I'm nuts!  
colorful fabric acorns 
supplies needed

 cut out a circle with 2.25 inch diameter
 snip the circle 4 times
just up to the center

fold the circle in half and sew a seam for each section you just cut - be sure to back stitch
(you will sew 4 seams)

when you are done sewing the 4 seams it will look like a cone - this is the bottom of the acorn
sew a running stitch about a quarter inch from the top of the bottom of the acorn

leave a little bit of a tail at the start of the running stitch

(i usually use a matching thread, i used black here to illustrate this step)
after you sewed all the way around the cone you should have two tails, the start and the end of the thread


pull the ends of the thread together so the cone closes up a little bit


stuff the acorn bottom with a little bit of stuff 'n fluff
(do not entirely close the cone once it is stuffed- it will fill the acorn hat better if it is not pulled all the way)

     put hot glue into an acorn hat


    quickly press your acorn bottom to the hat and squeeze the two together

    and there you have it - a quick, fun, and festive craft
    Right now my acorns are being used as Nutkin's snack.  But I think they would make a very cute brooch or look fun in a bowl as a decoration for Autumn.  I am thinking of stringing a few and making an acorn garland.  I would love to see your nutty creations!