crafting for craft: july 4th garland

You can make this in any color combo you like. All you need is a handful of household supplies and some paint! Check out the how to at craftzine.

crafting for craft: make a storage garland for softies

The how-to can be found over at craftzine. Happy making!

DIY: yo-yo bot

I've been bitten by the yo-yo bug. It's been pretty hard not to. Without a nifty maker, they are a bit of dealio to make but once you begin using one of those plastic doo-hickies to assist, you'll be making yo-yos in no time and you'll probably make more than you need (way more). So, to combat my yo-yo addiction I've whipped up this super colorful and quirky robot tutorial for you. Kiddos can even make these and if they are too young you can totally include them in the process. All it takes is time, some happy fabric scraps, a yo-yo maker (to speed things up) and few other odds and ends.

Materials

*fabric scraps at least 5" square (47 total)

*needle & thread

*large sized yo-yo maker (optional)

*yarn

*scissors

*large eyed needle

*piece of plain/solid fabric about 10" square

*felt scrap

*sewing machine (optional)

Making the yo-yos is the most time consuming part of this project. I popped in a DVD and got to stitching. You do not need the maker at all but it really speeds things along. You can make your yo-yos all the same color or the same fabric even. I modeled my project after a (slightly evil looking) vintage yo-yo clown I have which is now in storage. Click here for a nifty yo-yo how to sans maker (Heather Bailey is awesome) and here for one using the maker. You will need 47 yo-yos for the doll.

Grab a sheet of scrap paper about 5" X 10" and draw a vague roboty head and body. You can even have your kiddo draw a robot to use an inspiration. You're looking for a head and body shape with no detail. Your kiddo will add that later.

Take your large piece of plain (or small printed) fabric and fold it in half, right-sides facing in. Cut out pattern pieces and pin to fabric. Stitch around pattern pieces with the sewing machine, leaving a chute shaped opening for turning right-side out.

Cut out stitched pieces, carefully snipping off the corners without cutting the thread. Turn right-side out using the chute opening you created and clean up corners with a chopstick, crochet hook or an un-sharpened pencil.

Loosely stuff your two pieces using your fiber-fill of choice. Your kiddos can do this part.

To close the openings, fold the chute channel into the form and either whip stitch closed by hand or try the invisible stitch. My mister taught me the invisible stitch and I'm not sure I can explain it but here goes. Poke needle with thread knotted at the end into the channel at one end of the opening and pull all the way through so the knot is on the inside of the form. Working in one direction, "walk" your needle with thread on each side of the closure, keeping each "step" ahead of the other. Think of it as footsteps on the beach. Each footstep will be a tiny stitch on its own side heading in one direction which is the other side of the open seam.

Finish with a knot or two by pulling needle through the loop of a basic stitch. To trim, poke needle back into the form and pull it up somewhere in the middle of the shape, stuffing and all. Pull the thread tight and snip with scissors. Your tail end of thread should disappear into the form. It's magic!

Gather your felt scrap and fold a rectangle about 2 1/2" long in half. cut out a fat "U" shape to create robot hands. Set aside.

Now it is time to assemble the arms and legs. You and your kiddo can make a game of this playing with pattern and sequencing. Or you can go all random and just thread the yo-yos directly onto your yarn. Each leg will need 15 yo-yos and each arm will need 8. The yo-yo collar is made using the jumbo-sized maker.

Arrange all robot parts to get a better picture of your final doll. This is where you can play with color and order or your kiddo can. Thread your needle with a 10" or so length of yarn. This part can drive you a bit batty as the yarn can be tricky to thread through the eye of the needle. You can switch to embroidery thread for this part. I used yarn because it is pretty sturdy and I am a sucker for frustrating crafting.

Thread your first yo-yo onto your knotted yarn yo-yo opening facing the knot. I forgot to do this for the first leg, it isn't necessary but makes for a prettier doll. Thread the remaining 14 yo-yos for the leg you are working on with the opening facing up towards the needle.

When you finish with the last yo-yo, pop your needle through the bottom of the robot body about an inch in from one side, pulling the needle all the way through and knotting it it's buddy string. Give it another knot then go back down through the top three or so yo-yos, adding another knot under the last one. If you have more yarn, go ahead and thread through another two or three and knot a final knot. This will keep the legs a little more secure and space the yo-yos a bit so they don't all slump toward the bottom. Repeat for the second leg.

To stitch the head on, thread a new length of yarn (about six inches) onto your needle and poke it through the collar yo-yo with the opening facing down. Poke the needle into the top of the body of the robot and back up through the yo-yo. Next, gather the robot head and poke your needle into the bottom keeping left or rightish. Go long with the needle before coming back out and through the yo-yo to the body. Use the pic as a reference. Repeat until you are satisfies with the floppiness of the head. As always, give it a good knot or two before cutting the thread.

For the arms, begin the same way as the feet but before threading the second yo-yo on, whip stitch the felt "hands" in place and pull needle back through. Continue adding yo-yos until you have all 8 on the yarn. Poke needle all the way through the body of the robot to secure arm in place then begin threading the last set of yo-yos keeping the yo-yo openings facing the robot body. End with a whip stitch for the second hand and a knot or two to secure.

Give yer yo-yo bot a squeeze and smile at how cute it is. If you like, you can embroider a face on your robot. I like leaving the face and body blank so that you can give the robot to a favorite kiddo along with some fabric markers and/or paint and they can create their own robot features.

I see a great many more yo-yo bots in my future. How about you?

St. Patrick's Day: Stitch a Rainbow

I'm trying for cheer when I feel anythng but. DIY on scrumdilly-do! Have a go if you please.

throw this on!

I have a new project up over on craftzine, make your own capelet from an IKEA throw!

make your own giftbags

i'm sure there are all sorts of tutorials for gift-bag making all over the internets but here is my non-professional take on it. i never measure, rarely pin and just go with the flow...here's how, have fun!

grab yourself a rectangular piece of fabric that looks like the right size when it is folded in half vertically. give it a press with your iron to chase them wrinkles out and flip over so the right side is facing down.

fold up a tiny smidge of an edge and press in place with a hot iron. next up, fold that fold over about a half inch and press as well. lookie there, you have a pretty folded edge that will become your casing when it is stitched down.

bring your happy piece over to your sewing machine. thread your machine with whatever happy color you like. i like to make my bobbin neutral with my thread something bright that will easily be seen as i stitch. pop your piece in with the folded edge, fold side up under your sewing machine foot. point it either left or right, depending on your comfort-zone. line up the top of the fold with the side of the foot making sure to overlap the other side of the flipped fabric as well and do a couple stitches back and forth before heading to the other end. conclude with a series of more backstitches. about an inch's worth. i like to use a 2 1/2 length stitch...whatever that means, it is small but not too tiny.

remove from machine and snip threads. fold in half right sides facing in and pop it back into your machine using your foot as a guide and making sure you have two pieces of fabric being stitched together. pin in place if you think you need it. beginning from just under the top hem you stitched up, power down on your pedal and do a couple of backstitches before zooming down to the bottom of the bag. slow down a little as you near the bottom and arc your stitches out to make a curve of sorts.  stitch along the bottom of your bag to where your fabric ends at the fold and backstitch into place.

remove from machine, trim threads and the excess fabric outside your stitching. next up, cut a length of twine, string, yarn or thin ribbon that is about three times the width of your bag. make a knot in one end and poke it with a safety pin.

gently guide safety pin into the casing you stitched at the top of the bag. scrunch and pull until you have threaded the safety-pinned thread all the way around the casing. remove pin and tie ends together with a nice tight knot, turn right side out and viola! you are finished! now go make some more and have fun! handmade gift bags make excellent gifts, they are reusable and pretty to boot. you can make them as tiny as you like or as large as you like, just adjust the size of your casing and the ribbon you use. you can leave your ends untied as long as you knot them larger than the casing opening or add charms or buttons to the ends so the threads don't slip back into the casing.

holiday gifts you can make!

i set up a flickr set fuller than full of handmade ideas for the holidays. most of the pretty will include a link to a project and a few are just eye candy to get you inspired! let me know if you have any questions or wanna see a specific project tutorial up here. happy thanksgiving for those of you in the states and happy almost december if yer not!

sweet (sweet} november: day 3

Lately it seems I'm a bit mad for yo yos. I think it is because crafting is in my blood and even though I currently appear to be lacking in crafting space I still need to do something. Yo yo making is a super easy take-along craft, if you shell out for some yo yo makers it is even easier. I have a few makers but they're somewhere in the garage so I have been whipping these out old school. They don't take long but they do take long enough, it all depends on how much of a perfectionist you are. Here I have, just for you a fall pretty wreath you can make for yourself or as a gift. All you have to do is rethink up your colors and bits and you can make a wreath for every holiday!

Materials
*woven stick wreath from craft store
*acrylic paint
*paintbrush
*container of water
*handful of handmade yo yos
*hot glue gun & hot glue
*fall leaf sprig from craft store

Craft it up:

To make your yo yos, you can use a yo yo maker like this or you can do them by hand. If using a maker, you'll want a few different sized bits and they will come with templates so use those as your guide. Otherwise, hunt out a variety of bowls and glasses (or use a handy compass) to create your templates. When making yo yos, don't forget that the actual yo yo will be MUCH smaller than your original template so don't go too small. Check out this awesome tutorial on Heather Bailey's blog.Paint your wreath. I used a happy green acrylic paint and painted the front side of my wreath making sure to keep my brush wet so as not to dry out the paint. I did one coat but if you want a shiny, glossy wreath, do two coats and seal with something shiny like a Mod Podge, etc. Allow for drying time though. Mod Podge takes a while to dry while the acrylic took but a few minutes (about 15).

Disassemble your fall sprig by pulling the leaves and bits off of the stem or cutting them. You can get uber crafty and make your own leaves from newspaper like Alisa Burke or maybe some felted sweater leaves like these from Design Sponge but I think the simplicity of the fabric/plastic leaves enhances the handmade yo-yos.Gather up your yo-yos and fall bits. Plug in the glue gun and as it heats up, play with the whole shebang to see what tickles your fancy. Go for one side at the top and cluster all that happy for maximum effect.Once you're delighted, glob on a bit of hot glue to each piece and wait a moment for it to gel then gently adhere to the wreath. Take your time and be careful, hot glue is very HOT. Layer up and take it slow...you can always add more later but removing bits may be more difficult. Once everything is set and you have banished all those gluey threads, loop a length of ribbon, string or wire through the back, hang in a happy place and admire (wearing !

I hope you like my happy little fall wreath and I hope it inspires you to make something. If you make a wreath this week (any kind of fall wreath) send me a link and/or a pic and I'll make sure to post it here. You can also add it to the flickr group and don't fergit to pop on over to the pink couch to see if Tara has any little bit of pretty to share.

blanket magazine: the landscape issue

the newest issue of blanket is out and this one is packed, packed, packed with all sorts of pretty to look at and do. the theme is landscape and mr. a-go-go & i created a nifty postcard diorama to feature all those road trip cards you collected. there is also a nifty DIY on a landscape mobile from Bliss in a Teacup so don't fergit to dash over for a visit and subscribe to this awesome online magazine. oh and did you know that with each issue you get a nifty font? you do, so what are ya waiting for? dash...dash!

kooky crafty

the weather has gotten a little cooler round these parts and you know what that means...baking! so i whipped up a batch of gingerbread cupcakes and then whipped up a fun little cupcake topper tutorial. hop on over to the 'do to see how!

soap making on craftzine.com

it took me many tries but i finally made a yummy smelling soap! go me! check it out on craftzine.

make a surprise egg

instructions can be found at craftzine