Crafting: June 2011 Archives

Hair accessories and DIY are on trend right now, and what a better way to 'up'cycle old items and use those fabric scraps than pretty headbands! Recently added to our inventory, Fabric.com has a variety of craft accessories to make this happen, such as hair accessory notions, glue gun and a variety of appliqués.

For this headband, you will need the foam headband and a scrap piece of very lightweight bunched fabric about 8'' wide and about a yard long (for ease, you can trim excess). Luckily, I had some Little Folks Voile scraps I simply can't part with. Secure one end with a glue gun and baste stitch, and just wrap the fabric around, hot gluing dots intermittently throughout the underside of the band to secure your fabric wrapping. At the end, cut off any excess fabric, fold the rough edge under, and hand stitch. You can use any old pins or brooches lying around to stick through the foamy headband!

Sleek and elegant, this is sure to make heads turns! Using this skinny ¼'' headband, take 1 ½' yard of 3/8'' double sided ribbon, secure the end with hot glue, and wrap around the headband tightly. Fold your rough edge and hot hot glue the other end. I chose this glitzy appliqué, cut come craft felt and hot glued the appliqué to my satin wrapped headband.

I've got about 10 vintage scarves lying around that I rarely wear. I love the way they look, but they don't ever stay in place on my head because they are so silky and lightweight! Using a 2'' wide headband as a base, you can recreate this effortless look and not have to readjust your headscarf. Find the center (or you can make it off-center) of a scarf and hot glue a strip of craft felt. Then hot glue the scarf to the headband by gluing the felt to the underside of the headband. Wrap the scarf around the headband till a little fabric is left draping over the edge. Knot the ends securing the scarf fabric in place and voila! Easy-peasy.

Got to get out the sewing machine for this one! For a 1/2'' wide flat headband- With right sides under, sew on the bias about a ¾'' - 1'' strip leaving one end open, and flip it right-side out. Turn under the excess fabric and hot glue it closed. I used coordinating fabric to make five 2 ½'' circles, folded them twice, and hot glued the corners to my fabric covered headband. In the center of my fabric embellishing, I simply wrapped small strip around to finish off my "frayed" look. Again, these fabrics are from the Little Folks Voile collection-scraps I just can't throw out in case of moments like these!

These are so easy, inexpensive, and so fun to do! The possibilities are endless!

While Christmas is not around the corner for most of the Christmas shoppers, for those of us who love to give the gift of handmade, we need to get started soon. But it doesn't just stop with giving gifts; we also love to make everything Christmas-y, from tree skirts to garland. Sometimes I just get it into my head to make something for Christmas and while I may not complete the thought enough to see the end product, I know that I can get it out of my system by making appliqués. I make appliqués because they are small and fun plus I can add them wherever I want to sprinkle the Christmas spirit. Christmas Appliqués can be sewn onto long sleeved t-shirts, skirt hems, and jacket pockets. But appliqués can be more: by adding some Peltex to the back of an appliqué or sandwiching it between 2 appliqués, you can create ornament, garland and advent tokens. A simple Christmas appliqué doesn't have to be one thing. You only need to steal time here and there to create this fun, universal Christmas decoration.

To recreate my Christmas Appliqué, download the Linen Snowflake Christmas Applique pattern and cut it out. You can lay your fabric over the snowflake pattern to trace the embroidery design. You will need approx ¼ yd of hanky weight linen for 5 appliqués and ½ yd for 12. Trace your circles onto your linen and then embroider them before you cut them out. You can embroider the circle too and then trimming around it with pinking shears. Try off-traditional colors to give a vintage look. I used Copper for my snowflake which really blends well with the natural linen color. I recommend trying turquoise, navy, coral or silver. You can make a dozen and string them on a bias tape length for some garland or stitching some embroidery thread through the top for an ornament. You can also sew several onto your tree skirt or holiday banner.

Mine will be finding its final destination at the end of this month in a Special Holiday Poject. Stay tuned and follow me on Twitter (@tdangermiller) for sneak peeks!

Summer Vacation is on us and many of you parents may be looking for play ideas for your kids to stay busy. Dress up is a favorite of many kids and is a great play date or sibling activity to keep your kids entertained while you catch up on the gossip rags, make dinner or take min for yourself. Unfortunately, most store bought dress up is quickly and cheaply produced and won't last the summer. Why not make it yourself and turn one activity into 2. By creating your own Dress Up items you and your kids can work together, picking out the supplies, deciding on the design and creating the final project. You may even find that homemade items are more gently handled than those purchased in a big box store...Naw, I didn't really believe that last one either.

A popular dress up theme, especially in June, is weddings. You can either whip up a super lovely felt bouquet or spend every day with one eye on the back door keeping your kids out of your Hydrangeas. You only need a few supplies to create this darling pint sized bouquet.

Materials:

2 sheets of flower colored felt (I used dark and light pink)

1 sheet of gray colored felt (When my sister married, she gave her bridesmaids Victorian-styled pewter bouquet holders. I wanted to recreate that look)

1 sheet of green felt (for the top)

Small amount of stuffing

Coordinating thread and hand needle

Cut out your pattern pieces and felt pieces. Roll your main piece so the 2 straight side edges meet and overlap by ¼ in. Whip stitch in place. Hands sew your bottom piece onto the main piece (it may help to turn your main piece inside out). Hand sew your top piece ¾ of the way onto the main piece (you will have to make this piece fit. It should look like an ice cream cone when finished. The top needs to be rounded and puffy). Firmly stuff then finish sewing on the top.

Using your flower colored felt create 10-15 flowers using Creative Jewish Mom's tutorial (number of flowers will depend on their size). My circles were 3 ¾ in. (Psst: you can use the top pattern piece for your flowers). Hand sew or glue in place. You are done! Enjoy your felt bouquet with a felt crown or a dino tail for the ultimate wedding!