2 little hooligans: August 2011

Friday, August 26, 2011

Baby Wash Cloths {Tutorial}

So moving right along with our little baby basket cake...

Today I am going to show you how to make the little baby wash cloths. These wash cloths are by far the most used item in our household that I make. I just love them! For the tub I make them with a minky backing and for the kitchen I use a terry cloth backing. When making these for a baby or myself, I don't usually add a flannel batting. You know, little wash cloths and little baby parts just go together better. But some people prefer a thicker wash cloth and that is fine, just use flannel as your batting. This is a great beginner project! So those of you that want to start sewing, then this is the one to start with. So grab that machine and some fabric and lets get sewing!

Baby Wash Cloths (8" x 8") Tutorial

(allow 15 minutes to complete)

Materials Needed:

*Small scraps of cotton fabric and minky about 9" x 9".

*Flannel scraps 9" x 9" to use for batting (optional). I prefer to make my wash cloths without the flannel just because my kiddo's are little and they prefer little lighter weight wash cloths for their hands.

*Card stock to make an 8" x 8" template with rounded corners.

Trace around the template onto the wrong side of your cotton fabric.

Pin together the cotton fabric and minky fabric, right sides together. (If you are using flannel as a batting, layer it underneath the minky fabric now.) Sew directly on the marks while leaving a 1 1/2" opening for turning right side out. Trim off excess fabric except at the opening.

Use your lint roller to remove any fuzzies and spray to remove your marks.

Turn right side out and iron flat. Top stitch around edge of wash cloth.

Pretty easy right?
Just in case you cannot tell by the photo, I made 15 of them. They are great to use in the tub, washing up after meal time or for cleaning those little heiny's if you are a cloth diaper using momma.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Ruffled Maxi Skirt {Tutorial}

Just in case you missed this a few weeks ago over at Me Sew Crazy.

Ruffled Maxi Skirt Tutorial
(allow about 3 hours to complete)

Materials Needed:

*3-4 yards of white cotton knit (medium weight or light weight). The skirt above was made with 3 yards of medium weight cotton knit and the skirt below was made with lightweight cotton knit. I personally like the looks and feel of the lightweight fabric better, but they didn't have any at the fabric store. And just to give you an idea on how much fabric you may need to buy, I am a short size 8 and 3 yards of fabric was just enough and would recommend buying more fabric if you want the ruffles to be more ruffled or if you want more then 4 rows of ruffles.
*1 yard of wide anti-roll elastic for the waist band (of course buy more elastic depending on the size of your waist band needed.)

Use any long A-Line skirt that you already have as your template. Fold the knit fabric so that you are cutting out two pieces at the same time with same sides facing. Sometimes it is hard to tell with knits which side is which and it really doesn't matter which side you pick as the right side, just make sure that you keep using that same side as your right side. I realized after making my first skirt that since the edges are not finished they roll in a certain direction depending on the direction of the knit. So just try and keep track of the same sides.

Cut all around the skirt giving yourself an extra 1/2" all around the skirt for a seam allowances.

You now have 2 pieces for the main skirt. With the right sides already facing pin in place and sew both sides.

Turn right side out.

Now let's determine where to put the ruffles. I decided to have 4 rows of ruffles spaced out evenly every 8". To figure this out I measure the length of the skirt and divided it by 4, the # of rows that I wanted to have on my skirt. Of course you can make the distance between your ruffles further or closer together. But just so you know, if you want to make more then 4 rows of ruffles you will need more then 3 yards of fabric. Start at the top of the skirt and measure down 8" and draw a line horizontally around the skirt, front and back. This is will be your guide when sewing the ruffles onto the skirt. Measure down another 8" and draw your lines horizontally around the skirt again. Now repeat two more times. Set skirt aside.
Now it is time to make the ruffles. Take the remainder of your fabric and fold it so that you can cut long strips of fabric that are 9 1/2" wide or whatever width you have decided to have the ruffles. I used almost the whole remainder of my fabric in making my strips. Remember to keep track of the right sides and cut the fabric in the same direction. Set fabric aside for now and grab your skirt.

If you want your ruffles closer or further apart that is fine. Just make sure that you cut your ruffles 1 1/2" wider then the distance you decided to have between each row. This way you will not see the top of your ruffles in each row. I just think it looks much better this way.

Now let's figure out how long to make each ruffled piece. Start by measuring the bottom line on your skirt. Take that # and multiply by 2, that will give you the total distance around your skirt at that point. Now add 30" to that #. The extra 30" is so that you can make your fabric ruffle. Of course you can make your ruffles tighter or looser then I did, just make sure that you add the same amount of fabric to each row. That way your ruffles will all look the same.

For example: The last horizontal line on my skirt measured 24". Then I doubled that # to give me the total distance around the skirt at that point which gave me 48". Then I added the extra 30" to make the ruffle. So I ended up with a piece of fabric 78" long by 9 1/2" wide.

Measure out one piece of fabric that is the size you just determined above. My piece was 78" x 9 1/2". Sew right sides together.

Turn right side out.

Now make it ruffle by sewing along the top of fabric with a long stitch. Pull one of the threads until it ruffles evenly all around. Now measure the remaining 3 rows and make ruffles for each the same way you just did above.

For example: my next three rows measured 76" x 9 1/2", 70" x 9 1/2" and 64" x 9 1/2".

Now line up all of ruffles on their rows to make sure they all line up correctly.

Start with the longest ruffled piece and turn it wrong side out. Place your skirt inside of the ruffled piece and line up your ruffled piece onto the bottom line like so. Make sure that the wrong side of the ruffle is on the outside and right sides of ruffle and skirt are facing. Pin ruffle in place.

Sew ruffle in place using a zig-zag stitch. This will give your ruffle a little extra stretch.

Now fold ruffle down.

Now take the next longest ruffle and place it onto the next line up. Make sure right sides are facing and wrong sides of the ruffle are facing out. Pin and sew in place.

Repeat with the third ruffled piece.

Your skirt should now have 3 rows of ruffles sew in place. Gather the elastic for the waist band. Measure your waist to see how long to cut the piece of elastic. I like to slightly pull on the elastic when measuring around my waist so that the elastic stretches a little bit when it sits on my hips. I don't want my waist band floating on top of my hips, but do what works best for you.

My elastic was cut 30" long. Zig-zag stitch the elastic shut.

Now take the last ruffle (right sides out this time) and line it up to the top edge of the skirt.

Now take your elastic band and place it on top of the ruffled piece. So it will be layered like so: A-line skirt (right sides out), ruffle (right side out) and then elastic on top. Pin all three layers in place.

Zig-zag stitch all three layers together. If you need to, slightly pull on the elastic so that all three layers line up while being sewed together.

Now lay your skirt flat and fold up the bottom ruffle. Trim off the extra fabric from the A-Line skirt underneath.

Now your finished!

The perfect skirt for those hot summer days.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Cloth Diaper Wet Bag {Tutorial}

Now that we all know how to make the round nesting baskets for the baby basket cake it is time to start filling them with handmade goodies! One of my most favorite items that I bought for my first child and still use all the time is my diaper wet bag made of PUL fabric. If any of you use cloth diapers one of these bags is a must. These bags are also great for wet or soiled clothing. I keep one in the diaper bag at all times and I also have one in my beach bag. I just wish I would have thought to make one of these sooner. I spent about $45 dollars for two of them about 4 years ago. I would say that they only cost me about $5.00 per bag to make. So worth the $5.00 if you ask me!
What is PUL fabric? PUL fabric is a polyester/ polyurethane laminated knit fabric. It is a waterproof fabric and is used for cloth diapers and mattress covers. PUL fabric can be hard to find but I found a large selection of it here. There are also a few on-line diapering stores that carry PUL fabrics.

Cloth Diaper Wet Bag Tutorial
(allow about 1.5 hours to complete)

Materials Needed:
* 1 fat quarter or a large scrap piece of cotton fabric
*1/2 yard PUL fabric
*two 12 inch zippers
*switch to a small needle and when pinning fabrics in place try not to use too many pins. The more holes pinned into the fabric the more of a chance it will leak a little.

When working with PUL fabric the laminated smooth-shiny side is the waterproof side and will be used on the inside of the bag. The softer side will be on the outside of the bag and will be referred to as the right side of the fabric in this tutorial.

Cut the following:
* 1 piece of fabric 9" x 13 1/2" (pocket)
* 2 pieces of PUL fabric 15" 13 1/2" (bag)
* 1 piece of fabric 4 1/2" x 2" (tag)

Take the 4 1/2" x 2" piece of fabric and fold it as if you were making bias tape. Then top stitch down the middle.

Gather your piece of fabric and one of the 12" zippers. Take the piece of fabric and pin the zipper in place on the top of the fabric. The right side of the zipper will be touching the right side of the fabric. Sew in place using a zipper foot.

Fold side down flat and top stitch edge. I would not recommend ironing it may ruin the PUL fabric underneath.

Now take one of your pieces of PUL fabric and place it right side up. Now place the piece of fabric on top so that the bottom edges are even and right sides are facing up.

Now make a little mark where the middle of the zipper lines up onto the edge of the PUL fabric underneath. Make marks on both sides.

Now draw a line across connecting your two marks. The line will be used as a guide for sewing your fabric pocket piece onto the PUL fabric.

Now line up the right side of the zipper to the top of the line you just drew. Note** The right side of your fabric will be touching the right side of the PUL on the shorter side of the PUL fabric.

Sew zipper.

Fold fabric pieces down flat. Try the zipper to make sure it works. Now you have the front of your wet bag finished.

Gather the other piece of the PUL fabric and your 12" zipper. Pin the right side of the zipper to the right side of the PUL fabric. Sew zipper.

Fold PUL down and top stitch.

Now take the piece of PUL that has the zipper sewn on and line it up so that the top of the zipper lines up with the top of the other piece of PUL fabric, right sides facing. Sew zipper in place. Then turn right side out and top stitch the piece of fabric that you just sewed the zipper onto.

Now pin the two pieces together and trim if needed.

Take the tag and pin it on the top side of the bag just below the zipper or place it on the side of the bag. It's your choice where you want to put it. Sew sides and bottom of bag. Take your time the PUL fabric is a little slippery and will move a little bit.

Now square off the bottom edges to give it shape. Just make sure that you grab the fabric pocket piece with the front of the bag when sewing the corner edges. If not, it will give you a funny looking edge.