Scrappy Square Boys Quilts

This is all very unusual for me. First of all, I actually finished not just one, but two quilts!

Second, they are made for boys!

I bet you didn't think I even owned boy fabrics. Well, that just goes to show how old these quilt squares are. Some of them were cut over 10 years ago. These are almost my oldest unfinished quilts, but sadly, not quite.

I used to make a lot of pillows from character fabrics - Toy Story, Jurassic Park, The Lion King, Rugrats, Clifford, and Bob the Builder, etc. - and these are some of the scraps. The ends are even borders from some Clifford pillow panels.

I remember one time when my son was little, he helped me to put some of these squares together. I let him arrange them and I sewed them together. I am pretty sure he is too cool for that now. So, these quilts are nearly the last of my little boy fabrics. Also, my little boy isn't little. sniff sniff

I backed them with fleece instead of using batting, so I hope they hold up OK.

On the smaller one, I did a little more practice with free motion quilting. I have a long way to go, but it is getting better.

On the larger one, I did wavy line quilting, which is the easiest way for me to machine quilt.

I machine stitched the binding because of the fleece backing. That was the hardest part. I would rather sew it by hand. Hesitation to do the binding accounts for several months of the procrastination to finish these. I plan on donating the larger one to Project Linus or the local NICU, but I haven't figured out what to do with the small one just yet. I am just glad that they are finished and I hope that they will go on to bless someone else's little boy.

Upcycled Sweater Heart Hand Warmers Tutorial

Sometimes I get these overly ambitious ideas and that is as far as they go. Just big ideas.Sometimes, a year or so later, I actually act on them. And, more often than not, it was a lot easier than I anticipated.

This particular big idea: I wanted to make hand warmers from sweater scraps. I made some sweater pillows (some are still not finished, so I will blog about them eventually) and I have a pile of sleeves laying around. Originally, I was going to make hand warmers for my kids' classmates for Valentine's Day, but I really don't have that much ambition. I realized that they are best in pairs, so I would have to make 80+ hearts. No, thank you! Instead, I gave them out as little thank you gifts for some friends and family.

They are soft and lavender scented and pretty. Just microwave them for about 30 seconds and tuck them in your pocket. They make a really pretty little favor or thank you gift. I just tied mine with baker's twine and made little tags to go with  them.

I took some pictures to show you how to make them, and I even did it two different ways to make it even more beginner-friendly!

Start with your fabric- I used scraps from a sweater sleeve.

Make a template- mine are about 3" across. I used an old receipt from the grocery store. Place the sweater scraps right side out and pin the template to them. You want to leave some extra fabric all around the template so that there is wiggle room if/when it shifts.

Start on the straight side of one heart just before it starts to curve. Backstitch, then sew all around the template, leaving a small opening on the straight side. I used a receipt because if I caught the edge of the paper it didn't matter- it tears away easily.

Take our your pins and remove the template.

Fill the hand warmer with rice. (A funnel is really helpful!) I mixed mine with some lavender essential oil.

Sew the opening closed. It is a straight line, so it is pretty easy!

Use pinking shears to trim all the way around the heart.

Easy, right?

But there is another way to do it that I found to be even easier...

Draw a template on a piece of tissue paper.

Pin the template to your sweater pieces- I just folded the bottom of the sleeve in half, keeping the right sides out.

Now, here is the even easier step... sew right on top of the tissue paper, following the lines you drew on the template. Again, start on the straight side right before the heart starts to curve and leave an opening at the end, stopping a half inch or so after the point at the bottom of the heart.

See? The tissue paper just tears right off!

Now, the only downside that I found was that the pencil from the template made my threads darker. So, if this bothers you, don't say that I didn't warn you. I put it in bold AND italics. Maybe a Frixion pen would work and iron out? If you try it, let me know! I can't find mine.

If you want to pin it for later…

Here are some more ideas you might like…

Anniversary Guest Book Quilt

Valentine's Day Home Decor

Women's Dress to Girls Maxi Skirt

Baby Clothes Memory Bear

Baby Shower Gifts

I have mentioned before that I LOVE sewing for baby girls! I was invited to a baby shower for my cousin and I am just so excited for them!!! My family does a joint gift in either a wagon or a lamper (yes, that is a real thing- it's like a big laundry basket/hamper) and I wanted to sew some things to put inside. My mom made a beautiful crocheted blanket, so I didn't do my traditional rag edge flannel blanket (tutorial HERE).

Her nursery colors are pink, purple, and red. I was really excited when I found this princess fabric in my stash! We were asked to bring a book instead of a card and my traditional girl baby shower gift includes Karen Kingsbury's Always Daddy's Princess. (Seriously, it makes me tear up every time!) Everything just coordinated so well!!! I made a ribbon taggy blanket and backed it in pink dot minky fabric.

I just want to take a moment to point out that if I ever sew something for you using minky fabric, you are really special. I hate working with that stuff! It is so slippery and a huge pain to work with.

My 11yo wanted to sew something, too. So, we made these flannel rag edge burp cloths. I did the quality control work and the decorative stitching around the edges.

Finally, I got a stuffed dog and added pink bows to make it more girly and coordinate with the gift and sit on top of the lamper.

Everything went together so well, so I was really happy with it. It made a nice gift combined with the lamper, mom's blanket, books, some of our favorite tried and true baby products, diapers, and more. We are really excited about this baby girl!!!

As I said, I really love making things for babies. Here are a few posts you might also be interested in...

Bitty Baby Doll Clothes

Hey there! I am still around. And, believe it or not, I have been super crafty lately, too. The thing is, I just don't get a chance to blog about it.

My 12yo has also taken over my sewing area. She is sewing lots of doll clothes! Most of them are for American Girl or 18" dolls, but someone asked if she could make doll clothes for a Bitty Baby.

She made a dress and matching diaper out of this cute owl fabric. It is a peasant dress- modified from the pattern we usually use for 18" dolls.

Bitty Baby Owl Dress

Then, she upcycled some clothing items for a headband and dress - scraps from a new shirt I bought on clearance to make toddler leggings and a cotton girls' top.

Bitty Baby Peasant Dress

Both outfits turned out really adorable! I especially love the little diaper.

Bitty Baby Doll Clothes

She has a lot more doll clothes that I will probably blog about eventually. We also have our own patterns for these clothes to share... one day. Things are a little crazy right now, so I am just trying to take pictures when I remember and I can always blog about it later, whenever that may be.

But right now, I have to go make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Doll Clothes Sewn by a 12yo

My 12yo daughter began making doll clothes this summer. She wanted some expensive shoes for school and would have exceeded her school shopping allotment. So, I told her she had to find a way to earn money to buy them herself. She began designing and sewing doll clothes (with a lot of help) and earned enough to get those shoes (YAY for a sale!), some additional clothes, gifts for friends, and add to her washi tape collection. She began by using clothes from our donation bag as a fabric source. So, the initial start-up was $0. It was hard to find things that matched in the bag. Some of the finished doll clothes had to be kept because they didn't pass my quality control. I also had to help her a lot with the T-shirts.

She also made matching beaded bracelets to go with each outfit as her signature accent.

After the first doll clothes sold, she reinvested a small amount in fabric with plans to create a "fall collection". We came up with two simple patterns that worked well with cotton fabric- a 3/4 sleeve peasant tunic and a simple dress. She upcycled some shirts from the donation bag to make the leggings and headbands, which were soooooo soft! This time, she only needed a little bit of help with sewing some details, like velcro or topstitching. When everything was finished we did an official photo shoot.

She sold out very quickly and had requests for more, so she decided to make a few more outfits. Again, she reinvested part of her income to get more fabric. This time, she also bought knit to match her fabrics, so the leggings had to be hemmed. For some reason, things didn't go as well this time. I unknowingly folded the top of a pattern piece before we cut the fabric and several pair of leggings came out too short. She had to do a lot of seam-ripping for various errors. Also, she accidentally ruined the skirt of a dress by catching it with the cutting blade on the overlock machine. She wanted to quit several times and learned an important sewing technique... walking away! After a few weeks they were finally finished.

She wants to make more in the future, but this was a good lesson for her. She learned some sewing skills, but she also learned to persevere when things are challenging and how to work towards a goal. Sometimes, the work ethic and thought process that accompany learning something new can be the truly valuable lesson.

Women's Ruffle Shirt to Toddler Dress

I ran out of steam and went with something simple for the last dress.  I turned a sleeveless, women's turtleneck made of ruffle fabric into a toddler dress. This project was fairly easy and, most importantly, quick. I was tired of procrastinating!

I used the Uptown/Downtown dress pattern again. This time, however, I removed the foldover elastic from the arm holes of the original shirt and reapplied them. It wasn't as clean as the sparkly top dress, but the ruffle fabric was harder to use. The lining is made from the rest of the t shirt I used for the sparkly top dress lining.

I can check another one off of my list of goals for the 3rd quarter of the Finish-A-Long. Woohoo!

Here are all of the dresses...

 

Thrifted Sheet to 1950s Retro Dress

 Sparkly Women's Tank to Girls' Dress Top

Strapless Women's Dress to Girls' Halter Dress 

Men's Shirt to Girls' Vintage Style Dress

Women's Ruffle Shirt to Toddler Dress

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Sew Can Do, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Take a Look Tuesday, Naptime Creations, The Gathering Spot, Carolyn’s Homework, Your Whims Wednesday, ,Create It Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Wildly Original, Thriving on Thursday, Grace at Home, The 36th Party, Freedom Fridays, Simple and Sweet Fridays, Craft Frenzy Friday, and Threading Your Way