Yarn Pendant

Hey Crafty Friends-

Here's a fun and simple project if you feel like wearing your love of knitting on your sleeve...err...neck.

You will need a metal pendant piece (I don't know the technical term), yarn, glue, and cardboard.

Start by cutting the cardboard slightly smaller than the size of your pendant.  Cover one side with glue and start wrapping the yarn around.

Alternate the direction you wrap to make a woven pattern.  Cover all edges of the cardboard.

Now fill your pendant with glue and press the yarn piece into it.  Hold or clamp until it dries a little.

Done!  Looking good, you beautiful yarn crafter, you.

Family Photo Cloth Book- Creating the Image

 Hi Everyone!

I've gotten a few questions about how to create the image for the family photo cloth book.  I'm going to do my best to explain this, but feel free to continue to ask questions.  I'm not a photoshop expert so I'll just explain it all the best I can!

 As I said before, I ordered a fat quarter of my fabric from Spoonflower.  A fat quarter is 18”x21.”  In order to have 10 images plus a front and back cover, each image will need to be 6” tall and 5.25” wide.

Start by determining your cover.  I used a pattern that I scanned into my computer and added a picture of my daughter.  Whatever your cover, create an image that is 6” tall and 10.5” across (for front and back cover).  To do this, choose Image>Image Size and then adjust size in inches.

Now go to Image>Canvas Size and adjust the canvas size to 18”x21.” Set it so that it will extend down and to the right.

Open your next image you would like and adjust that image to be 6”x5.25.”  Select all and copy image.

Now go to your first image (the large one with cover) and paste next image.  Move image until it is next to the right of the cover.

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 and continue to paste onto your cover image until you have filled in all of the pages.

To add the color blocks with names, choose the Draw Shapes tool and draw a colored rectangle at the bottom of each image.  Finally, use the Text Tool to add the names at the bottom of each page, over the rectangles.

When finished, make sure the save as a jpeg.

Easy Geometric Water Bottle Makeover

I recently got a free plastic water bottle as one of those thanks-for-working-with-our-company kind of gifts.  It was clear and boring.  I changed that.

This is a really easy project.  Take your water bottle and cover it with stickers to make your design.  I used small rectangles that I found in the office supply section of Fred Myer and formed a geometric, tribal design.  If you are planning on blogging about it, be sure to take a poorly-lit, blurry photo.

Next, I covered the whole thing with pink spraypaint.  I used a kind that was marked for use on plastic.  I'm actually not sure if it matters.  Anyone?

Once dry, peel off the stickers.  Now consume copious amounts of water.  Hooray!

DIY Baby Photo Album Soft Book

Hello friends!  I have a project to share today that I am really excited about.  I've been planning it for months and finally got around to making it.  It's a photo album for my daughter!  All of our family lives far away and I wanted to help her learn who everyone is (eventually).  She also really loves the soft fabric books.  Family+Fabric Book= Family photo album soft book!

I used Spoonflower to create my fabric.  If you don't know Spoonflower, you should check out their site.  You can get custom-printed fabric.  I wanted to go this route rather than printable iron-ons because I was worried about bits flaking off as she chewed on it.

I created the fabric design in photoshop and scaled it to fit a fat quarter (18"x 21").  If you need more info on how to do this, see this post.  You can also just look at the picture below to see how everything was laid out.  I planned it so the pages going across could fold in half (you'll see what I mean further down.)

I smudged out the cousins names in case their parents don't want that on the internet.  They actually have names in the book :)  And in case you are wondering, Halmoni and Haraboji are grandma and grandpa in Korean.

Once I ordered my fabric, I checked the mail excitedly for awhile until it came.  Yay!  Then I got to work.

I started by cutting my images into three strips.  I trimmed right to the edge along the top and bottom but left the side edges as they were.

Next, I folded each page in half with the right-sides together.  I ironed the fold to hold it in place and then serged the other edge.  NOTE: Be careful about this.  I wasn't thinking about where my stitches were going to end up and I sewed too far in.  It didn't really hurt the project, but when I turned it inside out, the pages on that side were slightly smaller than the other side.

Next, I cut out pieces of fusible fleece that were slightly smaller than the pages.  By leaving a gap in the middle of each page spread, I was hoping to reduce bulk at the spine and make the pages easier to turn.  I ironed these onto the wrong sides of the pages.

I then sewed the top and bottom of the pages using my normal sewing machine and leaving a small gap along one side.  I then turned the pages inside out and sewed along the entire outer edge.

Finally, I stacked the pages and sewed several times through the middle to hold it all in place.

It's done!  I was really excited to make this so I worked through it really quickly.  If I make another, I think it might be fun to add little ribbon "tabs" to each page.

I'm pretty sure my girl is a fan.  She started screeching really loudly when she looked at it.  Excitement?

Fabric Pouch Makeover: Two Ways

Does anyone else love the Dollar Spot at Target?  Who am I kidding, everyone loves the Dollar Spot.  Well, you should go right now because they have some cute little fabric pouches.  You could use them as is, but really why not personalize?

The first one I made by simply drawing a design on with a fabric sharpie.  I started by sketching out  a design in pencil.  I chose a Dalek because I'm a Doctor Who fanatic but you can do whatever.

Then I just went over it with my sharpie.  After some quick advice on Facebook, I added the word "Consolidate." (It's better if you say it in a Dalek voice.)

For the next bag, I went a little girlier.  I started by cutting out a square of fabric and a square of iron on interfacing. Then trace a frame on the paper of the interfacing; I used a circle and then added little bumps all around the edge.  Cut out the fabric and iron onto the bag.  

To add a silhouette, draw a design on freezer paper.  I drew a circle and then found a silhouette image online.  If you hold the paper up to the screen, you can trace it.  Then cut out the circle and silhouette.

Iron these pieces onto the fabric.  Then fill in with black fabric paint.  I didn't have any paint so I used a fabric stamp pad.  Just use a makeup sponge to fill in the area.

The freezer paper then just peels off.  I used my fabric sharpie to add some details to the frame.

So there you go!  Two ways to do a pouch.  Or just combine them and do a Dalek silhouette...

Crinkle Tag Toy for Baby- DIY Tutorial

So babies.  They chew everything.  Everything.  And there is a lot of drool.  Copious amounts of drool.  Really the only solution is to give them something soft and absorbent to chew on.  Enter the taggie toy.

I'd seen similar toys around and thought my little drool-face (term of endearment) would like one.  Since I'm crafty and a fabric hoarder, I decided to make my own.  Double bonus that it fit with this week's Iron Craft challenge to make something with a needle!  

I started by cutting 9" squares of two different fabrics.  If you want to add a crinkle layer, cut another square of plastic to go in the middle.  I used a Twizzlers bag (am I the only one in the world that likes chocolate Twizzlers?  I think they are so good!).

Next, cut small pieces of ribbon to go around the edge.  I found some really adorable ribbon at Michaels (the bicycles, glasses, and cameras) and then added to those from my stash.  Make each piece a couple of inches.  I pinned the pieces to the square as I went just so I didn't cut too much ribbon. 

When you pin it, attach it to the RIGHT side of the fabric with the folded ends towards the middle of the fabric.  If you mess up the direction, you will end up with all your tags on the inside (like I did on my first attempt).  Sew along the edges to hold all of your ribbons in place.

I then attached the plastic layer to the other square of fabric (you don't have to do this but I didn't want my layers shifting around).  Next, sew your squares together, right sides together.  Leave a few inches on one side.

Turn inside out and sew around the edge to close the opening.  Now you are all done! 

I think she seems like a happy customer.

I've washed mine in the washing machine and it did fine but I wouldn't recommend the dryer if you added a plastic layer.  I made one without a crinkle layer and it did fine in the dryer.  As always, be extra careful since this is for a baby.  Double check that your removed your pins, there's no loose ribbons, etc.

Want to check out more Iron Craft projects?  Visit the flickr group here and the blog here.