Pimp My Bike: Basket Liner Tutorial

Source: google.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I have the CUTEST bike evah.  I love.love.love it.  We sell a lot of bikes at Greenies but none have captured my heart they way the Tree of Life has.  It is an Alexander Girard limited edition Electra and riding it is one of the happiest things I do. 

 I finally broke down and exchanged my light for a basket this winter.  Its a fun wicker quick release but it was needing a little sumthin.  So I used my mad skills to make a liner for it. And I was so excited that it actually turned out how I pictured it in my head. So I wrote out a tutorial for you so you can learn how to make your own basket liners.  This would work great for easter baskets too.  You can read the full tutorial after the jump...

{I promise you should read the whole thing because this liner has the sweetest little pockets you've ever seen!  

How I'm spending my weekend

If you are curious of what I'll be doing this weekend I'll be making these...

Source: howto-simplify.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

working on this...

Source: vandco.bigcartel.com via Vanessa on Pinterest

... and going to church in my pajamas.  Twice a year my church {that would be the LDS Church} holds a General Conference.  It is broadcast from Salt Lake City and thanks to modern technology I get to enjoy listening to our prophet speak from the comfort of my home.  As I was trying to find the link online to stream the video on our TV I found out that it will even be streaming on Facebook.  If you are interested in checking out conference you can find it streaming HERE or HERE and here is the facebook link...

{fancy that you can even watch it right here!}

Have a fabulous weekend!

Bookmarked

I made some bookmarks last week for an activity with our young women.  They were super easy and ended up being a great way to use up some scraps, so I though I would share some of the details.  First I cut 2 coordinating fabrics and a piece of heavyweight interfacing to 7.5 x 2.  Then I placed my fabrics wrong side together with the interfacing in the middle. I cut a 2 inch piece of ribbon and slid it in one end.  After that it was as easy as stitching around the edges and clipping with my pinking shears to minimize fraying.  Like I mentioned it is a great way to use scraps, but if you are making more than a couple, I would recommend getting a couple of fat quarters to make cutting a breeze.  I hope you are getting some spring sunshine this weekend!  

Spring Fever

 So I totally know we would be better friends if I actually posted more regularly.  But I had a fun week off learning new things and I actually sewed!  I lost my sewing scissors a couple of weeks ago which is a big deal if you are left handed.  Not just any scissors will work.  I finally gave in and used my rotary cutter to cut out a pattern. But only because it is the cutest dress ever.   LOVE IT. When I made it last week we had spring like weather.  Now, not so much.  Well, ok so we don't have the warm sunny spring like weather.  We have the blustery,rainy spring like weather.  Either way we definitely have spring fever around here.  How are you coping with your spring fever?

:: Spring Fever Pattern {Me Sew Crazy}

:: Nicey Jane Hello Roses Olive {Heather Bailey}

{Why you wish my parents were your parents}

My parents are very rad. Besides the fact that my Dad speaks Swedish, and brings us nasty candy from business trips to Finland, or that he's one of the best men anyone could know. Or that my mom is so pretty and young she gets asked if she's my sister more often than if she's my mom. And besides the fact they are some of Ivy's favorite people. They are kind of rad because...

They gave us an I Pad for Christmas.

{DISCLAIMER: This is not a normal Christmas present from them, they were very generous and kind and we love them dearly for it and not just because of it. And we promise not to expect gifts like this every year. Signed Darin, Jenn and Ivy}

I was going to show you the video of Darin jumping up and down yelling "OH MY GOSH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT AN I PAD" over and over but I wouldn't want to embarrass him. : P

Well we needed a case right away and here's where the tricky part comes in. They gave US an I pad. Which means that we have to share. And unfortunately that means no ruffles, or red and teal when it comes to our IPad case. Sad huh. We quickly snagged up this one at Target, to protect our new member of our family electronic device. I wanted to make a sleeve to protect the screen though. My first attempt at making a case started out gender neutral. And then I thought just maybe, Darin wouldn't mind having one with ruffles. Grr. I was wrong. So that one went to my sister.

I got around to making another one for us the other day. I used the basic idea from this case and enlarged it to fit our new toy. This would work for any kind of e- reader or device that you got for Christmas as well. My supplies were...

2 pieces of fabric 10x30

batting 10x30 {i used fusible, but its not necessary}

velcro, button or magnetic snap or whatever kind of closure you prefer { I went for velcro on this one}

basic sewing supplies: machine, scissors, thread...

I'm not gonna give you the rundown on how to make this, its pretty basic, I just wanted to give you a couple tips.

+I used minky for the inside of my case to be extra soft on the screen. Minky is REALLY slippery, so use a lot of pins.

+With all of those layers I needed to use a denim needle to topstitch at the end, so a little heads up on that one.

+When you are finished and show your husband, make sure and emphasize the fact that you made it a case you could both appreciate. I'm sure he will agree.

+ If after a couple of weeks, even though he agreed that yes it was manly enough, he keeps "accidentally" forgetting to use it. I give you permission to go back and add ruffles. ;)

And just in case your curious here are our favorite apps.

Jenn: Flipboard for sure. You check all your stuff like facebook, twitter and google reader, in a magazine type format. They also have cool pages like flipstyle, flipeats, and fliptech. Love it.

Ivy: Cake Doodle and Cookie Doodle. Hands down. She would play these forever if we let her. I think they might have these for iphone too but I'm not sure.

Darin: He just loves finding all of these crazy apps that do crazy things, like the Black Eyed Peas 3d music video. Which is pretty crazy.

What are your favorite apps?!

{P.S. Did you know I still don't even have a smartphone? Since iphone is coming to Verizon {yay!} I'm wondering, are you team android or team iphone? And which team should I be on?}

Does that come in my size?

  I'm so making this for my bed.  I heart it too much for words.  Seriously.  Some people knock my socks off.

Happy Birthday Laney!

Did you know that we bought Greenies off of Craigs List?  Kind of a crazy way to buy a business, and it is all thanks to Darin's sister Ellayne.  She had been campaigning to get us to move to Tri Cities for years.  So when she finally found something that would work for us we took the opportunity and ran.  Ok so there is more to it than that but Ellayne set it all in motion.   She's awesome.  Ellayne's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and as soon as I saw this I knew it would be exactly the perfect for her gift.  She LOVES Christmas, couponing {crazy good at it too} and she has five kids- hence the planning ;).

What better way to spend a cozy evening curled up with your ads, writing your Christmas lists and planning your black friday attack than with a Christmas planner and some cute slippers?! Throw in some hot chocolate and Bing Crosby and its the perfect way to relax at the end of the day.  

Aren't these slippers so cute?  They are flannel lined and have some snowflake traction on the bottom. 

The rosettes just make me smile and almost made me keep them .

These Christmas planners are so fun.  The ribbon ties are key if you have little sneaks around.  Although you might need to padlock the ties if they are a little bit bigger sneaks.  

  

On the inside flaps there is one envelope for coupons and one for receipts.  

The planner has four tabs.  Starting with The List.  

1.  The List  2.  Calender  3.  Menus  4.  Notes

I found an awesome weekly calender and started it on November 1st and it goes all the way through January 1.   She won't miss a beat!  Happy Birthday Laney!

On another note, can you believe that we are already two weeks in to November?!  Does anyone have a good idea to slow down the next 2 months?  

ROAR! {kind of a tutorial}

 Last week when I was picking up some ink for my printer I found a sweatshirt for Ivy.  Just a plain black one, nothing fancy but I knew I could fix that. 

I actually started out just wanting to add this giant ric rac to the hood.  You know, just a touch of color.  But I kept thinking how it kind of looked like dinosaur teeth.  We play a lot of dinosaurs around here so I guess it was just on my brain.  I'm not much of a sketch artist so I googled dinosaur silhouettes and found an AWESOME and perfect applique download.

I used that same grey shirt from Ivy's new pants, and some slinky pink polka dot pajama pants for the "longneck" as Ivy calls it.  I also used a stained white shirt and freehanded a pow bubble  {I'm not sure what its called but that sounds good!}to give it a bit more substance.  I applied wonder under to all three pieces then ironed them on to the back of the sweatshirt.  I then stitched around each piece to keep it in place.

 Now the front needed some work.  And since Ivy always needs a tissue, and a place to keep a tissue when we are outside, I decided to add some pockets. Here's where your mini tutorial happens so grab some scraps and lets make some pockets!

First I took a piece of paper and placed a corner where I wanted my pocket to be.  Draw out the size that you want and then cut out your pattern adding at least 1/4 inch for seam allowances.

Take your outer fabric and your lining and fold it WRONG sides together.  Then cut out your pattern from each.  This way you get one for each side of your zipper. 
Place the corresponding lining and main fabric pockets RIGHT sides together, pin,  and stitch around the pocket using a 1/4 inch seam allowance and the top open for turning.  Clip your curves and corners. 

Now turn your pocket right side out and press.  Fold in the top that you left open for turning and pin.  You will sew this shut when you sew the pocket on your sweatshirt.

Next up pin your pockets in to place on your sweatshirt.  Oh wait!  Before I stitched my pockets in place I added just a bit more embellishment.  

That qpplique download also has a smaller knee patch dinosaur that I thought would be cute peeking out of one of the pockets.   I cut out another smaller pow bubble and a small dinosaur. I unpinned part of the pocket and placed them where I wanted them, and appliqued in place. 

Finally I stitched my pockets on.  Start at the top of your eh, swoop and go across the top, down next to the zipper and then across the bottom.  DON"T stitch your swoop because then you won't be able to actually use your pocket! Make sure and backstitch really well at the beginning and the end for reinforcement.  

Whew, just about done.  I pulled out some teal embroidery floss to tie in the ric rac on the hood.  Using my disappearing ink pen I wrote ROAR on my small pow bubble then stitched over it.  I also stitched around the big pow bubble on the back to give it a bit more definition.  And finally added three little buttons to my other pocket.  

Now for the fun part!  

Showing Ivy her new dinosaur sweatshirt!
  

She hearts it!  

Yay! 

 

Leggings for the Lady

Want to know my favorite store for getting some great knit fabric?!  Old Navy {and Target}.  Yep, in this two fabric store town I have to look outside the box.  And the clearance section is a gold mine of XXL shirts just waiting to be utilized.  The best deals are definitely when Old Navy does their extra 50 % off sale, or after the holidays.  And remember that Shade sale?  My friend Karen was teasing me for going fabric shopping instead of looking for actual clothes. 

I got the Lil Blue Boo leggings pattern last Saturday afternoon while I was working at Greenies.  I was excited to get home and sew because it was a great rainy fall night.  Darin was shooting a wedding in Pendleton so it was going to be quiet and relaxing after Ivy went to bed.  Perfect.  Until I sat down to print it.

 *ERROR*  Grr.  My printer was completely out of ink.  Double Grr. So I cleaned the house instead.  Some Saturday night eh?!  Well I finally got some ink for my printer on Tuesday and was able to make Ivy some pants.

 I used a grey striped shirt from my knit stash.   The best part about using shirts for fabric is you already have finished edges.  And having a serger means that these pants probably took 10 minutes to make. Maybe even 9.  I love that about Ashley's patterns.  She is so precise and has great directions so I don't have to read them over and over again just to figure it out.  

 {warming our toes in the sun}

  Ivy's legs are like  a mile long and her waist is the same size it was 2 years ago.  That means I can't find jeans that fit.  Something she is secretly happy about.  So leggings it is for her.  Maybe I'll make her some jeggings ;)

Mission Accomplished!

 Why yes!  I do like that hat!

  Its a scrappy, sassy little hat and its not perfect, but it is perfect for her.   

 

This is the first thing I have ever made for Ivy that she actually was waiting by the sewing machine for it to be done, and then she wore it the rest of the day.  And then asked for it the next morning. Seriously. That is what I have been waiting for.

I've been thinking about that this week as I've been sewing her some clothes for the cooler weather.  Do I sew her what she will love?  Or is it what I love and she will like. {and if I'm really honest, what I think you will like}?

Yep, I do. Because its not that she doesn't like what I make her.  She loves to tell people that I made what she is wearing.   But  she is more of her own little person every day. Gulp.  Which means I am going to have to let go of that control a little bit.  Gulp.  

This shirt is the perfect example.   One day we were at Old Navy and she saw it.  

And LOVED it. 

Me not so much. 

As in I pretended like we were going to get it.  Then didn't.  And as I was trying to leave without it, she asked where her bestest shirt was.  I didn't want to get it.  Really a dog with *bling*?! 

But I gave in and got it because she was so excited about it.   And its still her bestest shirt.  And I love it too.  Because it is TOTALLY her. 

 

{getting ready to do "sneaky time"}

Just like her hat.

+++

{tutorial found HERE from a new fave, I am Momma-Hear Me Roar}

Dresses for Finley

{Darin will be our featured artist at Greenies this month for First Friday.  Come and check it out tonight from 5-8.  His display amazing!}

A few weeks back while I had my booth set up at the Richland Farmer's Market.  I got to chatting with Erin who also recently moved here from Colorado.  She had the best bag!  Anyways she asked me to make a few dresses for her cutest girl Finley.

   I couldn't resist taking pictures in the gorgeous sunlight this morning.  Pretty dresses hanging in the sunlight.  Little things like that make me happy!

Erin wanted fun and colorful and little bit funky.  I think we are a perfect fit!  I used some of my favorite fabrics of the moment.  Momo Wonderland is on the left and Heather Bailey Pop Garden on the right. 

 I used Hunky Dory for this one.  Ok.  So maybe the sunshine wasn't a great idea.  You can't fully appreciate the colors.  This one is SO pretty.  Each pattern I used is one that is one that Finley can wear for at least a year.  As she grows they will stretch, turn in to tunics and be cute forever!

This was a new style for me. And a new favorite.  They have a flat front and then the back of the chest piece is shirred so it will stretch as she grows.  The left dress is Kleo in black {an all time favorite} and the oh so cute deer fabric from Michael Miller on the right.  

Do you think she'll mind if I recreate them all for Ivy?!

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