Crib Sheet Tutorial

I have made crib sheets before, but I haven't made a tutorial for it. So, now that I have had the chance to make two Winnie the Pooh themed crib sheets, I was able to make a photo tutorial.

You will need about two yards of fabric. You will also need about 70-80 inches of elastic.

1. Fold your fabric in half and then fold it in half the other way. Measure out the fabric so you have the following measurements and cut any extra material off.

2. You should now have a piece that looks like this.

3. Still with the fabric folded and all four pieces of fabric in one corner you will now need to cut out the square piece.

4. Using a square cutter, cut out an 8x8 inch square. Make sure you cut through all 4 layers of fabric.

5. Finished product should look like this.

6. Un-fold the fabric so you only have ONE corner in front of you.

7. Place the two corners, on top of each other, right sides together. (Place left hand on left side of fabric and the other on the right side of fabric. Take left hand over to the right hand. Line up the corners.)

8. Pin the pieces together.

9. Serge or sew the two pieces together.

10. Do the same thing to the other 3 corners, until you are done.

11. Fold the out side edge of the sheet inward towards the back/wrong side of the sheet. Make sure to fold slightly LARGER then your elastic. I believe mine is 1/4in and sew I folded 1/2 inch.

12. Use your iron and press your seam.

13. Start sewing your seam down, remember how larger your elastic is and sew accordingly. Mine was 1/4in, and my fold was 1/2in, so I sewed about 1/8 of an inch from the edge all the way around.

14. Try to line up seam from the corner as you go.

15. Leave about a two inch opening in your hem to slide your elastic into.

16. Take a safety pin and pin it to one end of the elastic.

17. Push the pin into the opening, and wiggle it down and around the entire sheet.

... just keep scrunching up the fabric using the pin the push through.

18. Once you are back at the beginning pull the pin and elastic out.

19. Take your pin off, and place the two pieces of elastic together.

20. Pull enough of the elastic out and away from the sheet as possible, and run it under the sewing machine using several back and forth stitches with your zig zag stitch,

21. Slide the elastic back into the sheet, pull the sheet tight, and get the open hole as flat as possible.

22. Stitch the hole up with a simple straight stitch. I like to back stitch a few times at the beginning and end to ensure it holds.

23. You are now done!

Enjoy Your Sheet,
Sarah

March Giving Thanks, Week 4

March 22:
     Thankful for new chairs. We really needed them! Its sometimes the small things.

March 23:
     Peace and quiet, alone time; that's what I am VERY grateful and thankful for today. A break from the world to think and be happy inside and out.

March 24:
     Thankful for my husband finally being able to get his wisdom teeth out. The pain is a bummer, and a hate seeing him feel so miserable but hopefully in a week or two when he is back to normal he can smile and know he wont have anymore tooth pain because of those dang teeth!

March 25:
     My little baby is getting so big so fast. We purchased his big boy seat today. I am thankful for his big boy seat, and the feeling of him being safe, but its all very emotional for me as well. He sure does love to look out the window though!

March 26:
     Thankful for a special night with my oldest son and husband as we watched Frozen for the first time. Wonderful way to end the day.

March 27:
     I am so proud and excited and overly thankful for my oldest son eating ALL of his lunch! Its an awesome feeling when we all sit down for lunch and all I hear him say is; "Yum! Mmmmm. So good Mama." When he finished the last bite I was so excited for him, and we high-fived and I made a HUGE deal out of it! Lets just say he has never once cleared his plate.

March 28:
     I have sewed, I have done some spring cleaning, I have enjoyed a movie night, and I have finished the book I was reading (and started another). I am so thankful for all these small moments of personal achievements or personal time, etc. It has been a great week and I can only look forward to this weekend!

Give Thanks,
Sarah

Diaper Cake

Diaper cakes are fun. I have now had a chance to help with one, and make another. I helped make the diaper cake for my baby shower (for my second child) and made this one for my sisters baby shower. I only helped with the one for my shower (the green one), but I made the one for my sisters all on my own (blue colored).

I used this technique:

      You simply lay a few diapers stacked a half inch or so apart, and roll them up. I did about 4-5 diapers at a time and tied them with ribbon (the cheap stuff, almost like twine). I used less as I got closer to the top. I used about 10 or more bundles of the 4-5 diapers for the base, and just took a bundle or two out for each layer I went up.

      I also wrapped loose diapers around each layer on the outside to hide the bundles. You do the same technique as before, layering the diapers, and this time just tie them to the round with some decorative ribbon as you see in the photos. You can use tape or glue to place the two pieces of ribbon together (don't forget to place that in the back).

      I was transporting mine, from one house to the other so I was not using any structural support inside the diaper cake. If you are hanging things or placing stuff from the top to the bottom that you can not do on sight; you can simply purchase wooden rods from any craft store or hardware store and place those on the inside of the diaper layers. Simply slide it into the bottom base (about 3 or so), place your second layer on top making sure the rods slide between the diapers, and then either place new rods or continue stacking, depending on how long your rods are.

The finished product should look something like this:

Just finish it up with some cute toys, candles, rattles, bows, letters, spoons, or even travel size formula!

Heres the diaper cake from my shower, that I helped put together:

Happy Diaper Cake Making,
Sarah

Baby Shower Banner #2

I showed you the first banner I made for my sisters baby shower and how simple it was. I then made a REAL storybook themed banner from a Mother Goose book. I loved reading the Mother Goose rhymes when I was a kid, and still love to read them to my kids now. This banner take a little more time, but can still be done in a day or two.

First you will need to grab the following items:
-glue
-scissors
-pencil/pen
 -old book to cut up
-ribbon (white, 3 inches)
-a Mother Goose book or other book you enjoy for the theme
-colored scrapbook paper (needs to be 12 inches or larger)
-a banner template (the triangle shape), a large one and one just ever so slightly smaller.

1. Color copy the nursery rhymes from the Mother Goose book that you want to use. Make sure you copy enough for the amount of letters and spaces you need in the banner.

2. Cut out, using the template, the large triangle/banner pieces from the colored paper.

3. Cut out, using the smaller template, the triangle/banner pieces from the colored copy pages from the book

4. Lastly cut out of the old book paper the letters you need. You can do this free hand, with a stencil, or a machine.

5. Glue the letters to the colored pages from your themed book. Then glue those triangles to the colored triangles.

6. You now should have something that looks a lot like this:

7. Now you want to get a ribbon large enough to sew or glue the banner onto. I purchased a 3 inch sized white ribbon. I then folded it in half and placed the top of each triangle piece inside the fold. I then stitched along the bottom part of the ribbon, where the paper was.

8. I placed one triangles corner right next to the next triangles corner, barely leaving any gap.

9. Once done your banner should look something like this:

and at the party:

Now Get Started,
Sarah

Baby Shower Banner #1

For my sisters baby shower, way back in February this year; I made almost all the decorations. The theme was Classic Storybook. I wanted to make a few banners, as I knew her house has multiple walls to cover. I wanted the banner to be colorful, and pop. However, I stayed within the color scheme, and kept it super simple. You can do the same, just change the colors, and match it to your theme. (An example would be: for a nautical party get nautical scrapbook paper, cut the large circles from that, solid colors like orange, blue, and white for the small circles and a navy dark blue for the letters.)

To do this small project you will need colored paper (I used scrapbook paper I had on hand), paper from an old book that you don't mind ripping up, scissors, glue, ribbon, and a letter cutter/stencil/or you can free hand them.

1. Cut out a small circle from all the colored paper. Then cut a circle out of the book paper, making it slightly larger then the colored circle. I used two bowls from a collection, so the bowls were perfect in sizes. Cut those all out. If you have a machine that can do this, even better!

2. Find a ribbon you like and get enough for your banner size. I used one roll and some.

3. Glue all the colored circles to the book circles and then glue the letters on top of the colored circles.

4. You can either glue the ribbon onto the circles, or do as I did, and sew it on for a stronger hold. I just used a straight stitch and placed the ribbon on the circle, stitched, and continued to the next circle.

5. Your finished product should look a lot like this:

and at the party with the other decorations:

I enjoyed the small light pop of colors, but the beautiful personalized banner that I knew would fit PERFECTLY into the theme. Its just that simple.

Have Fun,
Sarah

March Giving Thanks, Week 3

March 15:
     Husband of course has another weekend duty/work. I am just so thankful today that he got off in a decent hour, so he could see the boys and be with them for awhile. I feel like some days he doesn't even see them at all.

March 16:
      Thankful for a chance to attend a LOCAL quilt show! Its not every day I get to drive down the street and look at some awe inspiring, and amazing art. The ladies who made some of these quilts have inspired me to get working on some art work for my sewing room.

Quilt Show, this is NOT my work.

Quilt Show, this is NOT my work.

Quilt Show, this is NOT my work.

Quilt Show, this is NOT my work.

March 17:
     Happy St. Patty's Day everyone. We are thankful for a clean bill of health for my oldest son, today; as he had his 2 year old check up. It went great and we had no issues to address.

Having LUCKY Charms for breakfast, with his GREEN cup!

March 18:
     A day in San Francisco, that is what I am so thankful for today. Family time, a fun busy city, clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, and the Aquarium my son couldn't get enough of! Best Day EVER!

March 19:
     Thankful for a small window of alone time, and just enough time to finish up one of my wall art pieces that I sewed all by hand!

March 20:
      In life we experience big events, and small everyday occurrences; but to be thankful for a friendly face, a caring small conversation, and a sweet gesture to come over and hangout, can mean more then words can describe. I walk our housing area at least 3 times a week, if not more. I see officers houses full of toys, boxes of stuff they don't use, and probably haven't touched in weeks, if not months; I see enlisted families chit chatting with their neighbors, dogs and children playing, smiling and laughing. All while I walk around, day after day, seeing mostly the same faces, and same kids. Today, a new neighbor a few streets over actual came towards me when I smiled and said hello. She stopped, chatted with me, listened, and I am sure she will never know this, but that small conversation made my week. I still don't have any friends here, and just when I thought my biggest interaction with adults on this base would be the friendly smiles; the universe shows me otherwise, letting me have a chance of making a real friend. I am thankful for that. I am thankful for the ache I feel in my heart, has dwindled slightly and a small smile has appeared on my face. Tomorrow, I'll walk around our housing area again, and it will look forward to hopefully running into her again. There are still true real people in the world, feeling what I am feeling.

March 21:
     I am thankful for my husband being able to have a short day at work so we could take the kids to the playground. Which was a ton of fun. A small moment of pure happiness.

Give Thanks,
Sarah