Learning Stitches

I am not the person who grew up with learning skills like sewing at an early age...though I always wished I had. I have always wanted to know how to sew and knit and crochet, to make useful things with my own hands.  When we were young girls, my grandmother gave my sister and I each a lesson in something useful.  She taught my sister how to sew and me how to cook.  Even though I was proud to make my own chocolate chip cookies at age 5 and cook my own mashed potatoes at 5 am nearly burning the house down, I was a bit jealous that I didn't know how to sew.  And to this day, I still don't know how, and my sister makes her own clothing line.  Jealous much?  Yep, I am, a wee bit.  Till this day, I still don't know how to sew and she, well, doesn't boil water. haha.

I did complete my first knitted scarf last month, and I am quite proud that it resembles a long rectangle and not some abstract wavy shape.  Plus, my handsewn flowers have been turning out great.  So, with renewed courage in myself that I can work with string {and not end up in a tangled mess}, I've been eager to stitch something for a while now.  If you look at my bookmarks on my computer, you'll notice that I have several tabs devoted to different types of stitches for sewing and embroidery.

Yesterday, after perusing the net for longer than I am willing to admit, looking for the perfect doll for KennaKat,  I decided to make her a doll out of all that felt that I've got sitting around. {And save beaucoups of moulah in the process}.  I'm kind of obsessed with Matryoshka dolls, and I thought that it would be pretty simple to handle for a beginner me, so after everyone was in bed last night, I got to work.

It took way longer than expected, because I think I'm the slowest sewer ever.  But I'm proud of how she turned out.  And KennaKat LOVES her new gift.  She's been snuggling with her and keeping her next to her the whole hour and a half that she's had her.  She said she loves it and loves how squishy she is.  She also said that she's perfect for sleeping with AND playing with.  My how I love that girls enthusiasm :)

I know I used the most basic stitch ever, and this is the stitch they have you do when you buy the kids 'make your own animal set', but hey, I'm a beginner sewer here, and it worked like a dream, I didn't even have to buy the kit ;)  It's called the blanket stitch, {plus a bit of BackStitching for the facial features in a free handed design} and if you're looking to begin sewing and make something simple, I definitely recommend it.  Don't buy the kids kit, buy some felt and make your own designs.  It's also a great way of turning your kids art into reality.  I plan on turning one of E's millions of sonic the hedgehog drawings into a sonic doll soon.  Just cut out the shape and use it as a template, easy-peasy.  I also plan on making an Owl pillow for KennaKat, I'm obsessed with owls just about as much as I am Matryoshkas. 

Pottery Painting

Yesterday I met up with Twistyn halfway at a pottery painting studio....child free!

{WOOHOO!}

We were supposed to meet at 2, but I was late...REALLY late.

Things have been taking me forever to get done lately.

It stinks.

I hate being slow.

{I'll blame it on sleep deprivation...yeah, let's go with that}

So I got there are 2:30ish and we picked out platters to paint.

I don't own a platter, and have been wanting one for a while now.

The livingsocial vouchers that I bought were for $20,

and that's how much the platter cost, so we ended up only paying tax.

I LOVE that!

The place that we went to is called The Mad Platter in Burlington.

I had never heard of it but apparently, it has been there since the late 80's or early 90's.

The things I liked about the place are: you don't have a studio fee or have to pay to use the special paints.

They have a smaller selection than some of the places I've been to before, but that could have been because they had been wiped clean from xmas.  And they weren't slammed like the last place I went to.

We had a lot of fun.
We were there much longer than planned...but it was so nice to go and not have to supervise kids, I could just paint away to my hearts content.  It was wonderful.  We left at 6 and Twistyn had to rush away to her meeting.  The hubby took on Pizza Night, so I was very thankful to not have to cook when I got home.

Wanna see?

We will definitely be going back sometime soon.

I can't wait to see what they look like after they have been fired and glazed!

SQUEAL!

Paint Your Pot

Two weeks ago, we ventured out with D and her double dose of cuties to a pottery painting studio.  I may or may not have given my friend the guilt trip for not seeing her or her girls since AUGUST.  So she kindly invited us to tag along and enjoy a bit of pottery painting.

The kids had a lot of fun {I did too}.  For the first time since the kids were born, I was able to drive our group around.

{I love having a car that seats 8 people!}

The wait was long to get in, I guess we weren't the only people who decided to spend the day off of school actually doing something.  But we put our names on the waiting list and went to lunch.  The kids didn't mind playing around while we waited.

I gave the camera to the kids and let them go at it with photographing our day.

Enjoy!

Our friend LoLo joined us too!

I loved the wall of colorful tiles!

I think C-Bear and I are two peas in a pod, we could have spent the whole day there painting to our hearts content!

To say he's obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog is an understatement

The finished results!

Sorry girly, chocolate milk and doritos mouth, guess I should have timed this shot better :)

I didn't get to see everyone elses pieces, but I'm sure they were way cute as well!

I made the kids paint bowls because their cereal bowls were broken and they needed new ones.

They made me promise that the next time they go, I will let them pick out their own pieces :)

{But I'll have you know that they LOVE using their own special bowls}

So there was our day, it was fun, can't wait to do it again.  

And D, another 3 months better not pass before we see you and the girls again :)

*The kids took over 100 photos, so this was just a sampling of the many photos*

Flowers and Stuff

It's Tuesday


E's school is having their "friendship feast" today.  I'm annoyed, the teachers are annoyed, half the parents are annoyed.  We were told that there would be no "FF" this year because there was no half day.  Then a few weeks ago, they announced that it would be today.  Why they don't think Thanksgiving is a Holiday, nobody knows.  Why they don't consider their own day of thanksgiving part of celebrating the Holidays...Nobody knows.  But here it is.  They are wasting most of a full day with their feast...oh and a kid in E's class has a birthday thing today....yeah, SO not wasting E's day by sending him.


It's after 9 and the kids are still asleep...Woohoo!  Today is the first day in a long time that I haven't woken up with atleast 1 if not 2 kids in my bed.  I think they wake up when the hubby leaves for work.  I think they were tired.  Especially E.  KennaKat slept through the entire meeting last night on my lap...I enjoyed it.  It's rare that I get to cuddle her for that long, as the kids get older, the cuddle time gets lower :(


So I'm trying to plan a few fun things to do with the kids while E is out of school.  So far I've only got Go to the Library for story time, and build terrariums out of these glass apple juice jars I thought were too awesome to throw away.  I tried to get the supplies yesterday at Lowes and a garden store down across from E's school, but so far my search has been in vane.  I want to get E cool plants like the venus fly trap and a pitcher plant, but so far, no go.  KennaKat wants a flower, any flower, the girl is not picky.  And I think I might get a mini orchid for myself.


Here are the results of my nonproductive Saturday.

These 2 (above and below) will be made into headbands for KennaKat

Don't forget to sign up for the giveaway!

It ends on Friday.

Also, search the web for cool ideas of something you'd like.

I'm always up for a challenge and new ideas!

Alrighty, if I don't go shower now, 

we'll never make it out of the house today.

Have  a lovely day everyone!!

More Dahlia's and a Tutorial

Last night I made a few more flowers while watching 

The Manhattan Murder Mystery

Some of you have asked how to make your own.

Well, I must start by saying that I did NOT invent this flower

Though I'd love to take credit.

Here is the girl who showed me how to make them.

I just tweaked it from there.

So you can either follow her tutorial, or mine, but hopefully,

 either way, you can create your own and enjoy!

How to make a Felt Dahlia:

Start by making a template for your petals.

I folded part of card stock paper in half and cut one side of a large petal.

My largest is 2 1/2 inches

The 2 1/2" petal base will make one right at 6 inches in diameter, 

That's one large flower :)

Taking my large petal, I traced it on card stock and kept the traced one for permanent use.

Taking the folded one, I refolded it and cut off one centimeter along the outside of the petal.

{Making it 2cm smaller than the other}

Then I traced it and kept the tracing.

Taking my folded one again, I refolded it and again, cut off 1 centimeter following the outline.

Each time I do this, I trace out the image so that I can have one for keeps.

Then I took off more...

And more...

And more...

And more.

Cut out all of your tracings and keep them for future projects.

I used card stock because it would hold up for multiple uses.

I might use stencil paper next time for longer lasting copies.

Now that we have our templates, lets get started!

For this flower, I used my small, xsmall, and xxsmall petals.

This will give me a flower that is just about 4 1/2 inches in Diameter.

Cut strips of felt the width of your petals.

I used a sheet of felt from the craft store that is 9x13" and cost 29 cents.

Each strip was 9"s long.

I cut 3 strips for my bottom petals using my small template.

{Turns out for this flower, I only needed 2 of the larger strips}

2 strips with my xs template

And 1 strip with my xxs template.

I then cut a circle 2" in diameter.

I like to stack all of my same-sized strips together, pin them to keep in place

and then cut them out.  It saves time :)

Apply a small dot of hot glue to the bottom corner of the petal.

{Sorry for the detailed, grody picture of my glue gun, she and I have come a long way together and she only cost a buck!}

Pinch the 2 bottom corners together...

Then quickly smoosh in the bottom, so that you have 3 points on the bottom.

You now have one petal.

Continue making the rest of them.

Now attach your petals to your circle.

Apply 1 dot of glue to the bottom back of your largest petal.

Stick the largest size petal to your circle, let if hang off your circle.

Only about 2 centimeters need to be on the circle.

Working around the circle, keep adding the petals.

I overlap the flat edges.

Be sure to angle a bit so you make a circle ;o)

This is what your first circle should look like:

{I used 13 petals for the largest row}

Now start your second row using the next size down petals.  Attach it the same way.  A little bit in from the larger row and work your way around again.

When I'm making small petals, instead of a dot of glue that usually gets messy

I'll do a thin smeared line of glue.

It's less visible at the end.

{And I burn my fingers less}

The second row of petals:

{9 petals for mine}

Add your smallest petals to the final row the same way you did the others.  Sometimes you have a small circle left in the middle, this time I didn't  It doesn't matter

{6 petals for my center, I normally have all odd numbered rows}

Now play around with ideas for the center...

{I wish I had a nice collection of vintage buttons to work with but I don't}

Once you have the look you like, hot-glue that baby to the middle!

Don't forget to add a brooch pin or hair clip to the back.

And there ya go, a 4 1/2 " dahlia made by YOU!

If you're wondering what they look like with just 2 rows of petals:

I made these 2 with my smallest sized petals

To make a rosette type center:

 Cut a long strip of felt

This one is 2 cm wide and 6 inches long

{Depending on the amount of space you have in the middle, you may want to make it longer or shorter}

Roll it into a circle,

Dab a large amount of hot-glue over the entire back

Then stick it in your flower's center while it's still hot.

Push down and your done!

I hope this tutorial was helpful!

Please show me your results if you decide to make your own.

Have a lovely day...

Well, it just started raining and it's chilly outside

Seems like the perfect time to make one with a good movie :)