Cloth Napkins (Reduce, Reuse)

Well it dawned on me when I was filling the napkin holder for the millionth time lately that we use just plain too many napkins. Now I have a young child and a husband so napkins get used a lot at meals to wipe messy faces. So decided that cloth was the way to go. I do plenty of laundry so throwing some napkins in with a load seems like no big deal.

So after convincing my husband this was a good idea I went off to buy fabric. I didn't buy anything special as far as a material but I did find some pretty fall fabric (cause Turkey Day is right around the corner). I also bought some Christmas fabric and a pretty cream colored with white snowflakes so I would have a Christmas set and a winter in general set. (You can see these fabrics to the right.)


Here is what I bought
2 yards of each kind of fabric.
Tread
(Wow that is complex)

You will need to decide what size you want your napkins to be. A typical "Dinner" napkin (like you would get at a fancy restaurant) is about a 16" square. I made mine more like the size of a typical paper napkin at about a 13" square.
With a 16" square (and standard 45" fabric) 2 yards will get you about 8 napkins, a 13" square will get you about 12 napkins.
I was more concerned with with quantity over size, even if I used them for Thanksgiving dinner they don't need to be so big in my book, but you are making your own custom napkins so they can really be what ever size you want.

Step 1: Cutting
First wash and iron your fabric, I ironed the fold down the center the fabric back in so that it would make cutting easy for me.

I cut 14" squares (to make 13" when finished), but first cutting a strip of fabric 14" wide off the fabric (width wise).

Then cut 7" off the FOLDED side (you know cause 7x2 is 14). 

Then measure 14" on the remaining fabric (for me I only had to cut off about a 1/2" from the salvage edge).



Do this for all of your fabric.

I then ironed all the fabric to remove the crease from the folded line in the fabric.

Step 2: Pining and Mitering
Next turn in a 1/4" seam and iron flat

Turn it in one more time at 1/4" so you have a double fold seam.

I added 2 pins in the center of the side at this point.

Repeat in a clockwise or counterclockwise if you are left handed (heh heh heh) around the other 3 sides.

Now if you choose you can add some more pins and sew your napkin like it is with the square corner. I chose to Miter my corners to make them look sexy. So if you don't want sexy napkins then skip to Step 3.

To miter....
1. Open your corner and locate the square made by the folds from your hem (I drew lines with a vanishing fabric marker to make it easier to see in pictures but you don't need to do that).

2. Cut the corner off above the square.

3. Fold the corner back down, the fold will be at the bottom corner of the square (I circled the point on my picture to help you see it)

4. Now refold your 2 sides at the original crease lines. And pin.

5. Repeat step 1-5 on the other 3 corners.

Step 3: Sew
Now sew close to the inside edge of your hem (but not so close that you go off the hem like I did oops). Stay as straight as possible and stitch around the napkin, making nice 90 degree corners in your miter.

TaDa! You have a napkin.

Now you just need to repeat Steps 1-3 for each napkin. Don't worry they get quicker as you go.

My Martha Stewart Hat

So last fall when I was pregnant with our now almost 1 year old K, I wanted to make matching winter hats for the kids. So I searched the Internet for some fleece hat patterns. I found a few and tried out a couple before deciding that Martha Stewart's design was the best. I found the write up on line to be a little confusing and it actually had some mistakes in it but the idea was enough to get me going.

Now we are a year latter and both the girls have grown and don't fit in their hats anymore but I really wanted some more matching hats. So we picked out a fabric (actually S, our 4 year old, had most of the input on the fabric) and I just got started on them today. I finished the hat for S. She also got to pick out what design she wanted. Martha has a few designs, a traditional with a pompom on top, a boxy hat with 2 pompoms on either side, and a "jester" hat with 3 pompoms (amongst others). But they all start with the same basic design.

You will want to check out Martha's Post for lost of the details, like how big to make your hats for different ages and such, but I'll be giving you some pictures and notes on the ones that I am making.

S picked out the Jester hat. She thinks it looks like a crow so that is why she chose that.

As you will see out fabric has a very defined pattern to it so I had to modify some of the steps to make my hat look nice.

Step 1: Measuring and Cutting.
Martha says to cut 4 pieces but since I was using all one fabric I ignored that and cut the fabric in the width (child size was 20") plus the 1/4" seam allowance (on both sides) by the length (Child size 10" but I used 11" since my child is a little older).

You can also follow Martha's guides for measuring your child or yourself for a hat too.

Step 2: Sewing
With right sides facing, fold the fabric in half width wise, pin, and stitch with a 1/4" seam allowance.

Trim the seam allowance closely (since fleece doesn't fray you can get close and still have the seam hold forever).

Here is where Martha seems to make a mistake in her tutorial, She says that you now go straight to making the points in the hat but then never gives a place to turn up the cuff on the hat. So now we are going to turn up the cuff of the hat. Fold the bottom of the hat up (still with the right sides facing) 3" then pin.

Fold under 1/4" (so there is a nice clean edge) and pin frequently around the hat.

Sew very close to the edge of the cuff line around the hat.

Step 3: Measuring and Cutting
Take a crown measurement (from one ear to the other over the head like you are wearing earmuffs).

Find the center line of your hat (I had to add this step since I didn't have a center seam)

With a soft tape measure hold one end at the bottom left corner and arc the other end over (to your crown measurement) to the bottom right corner.

Measure up from the highest point on the arch 3" and that will be your bottom line for the points.

Measure up from the bottom line (you just drew) 1 1/2" (for a child's hat) or 2"( for an adults hat). That is your high point.

Now connect the high points to the low points in a V shape (I found the center point on each half and used a straight edge to connect the points).

Sew along the line you drew. Trip the extra very close to the seam)

Turn your hat right side out.

Step 5: Pompoms.

Martha's Pompom description is great for this.

I made my pompoms 2" wide on this hat. My strips were about 10"x2"

Cut 3 Strips

Fold strip in half and then clip leaving about 1/4" of unclipped area in the center.

Roll the strip

Sew through the pompom and wrap thread around the pompom a few times

Sew the pompoms on the hat and poof you are done!

Little Mermaid Costume Pt. 2

Well I finished it and S has been living in the costume since then. I think it was a hit. She is a little bummed that the top is not actually a bra but a shirt (she is 4 and it is Fall in the north country so there was no way that was happening anyway). I made the shirt adjustable with ties in the back so it could go over a jacket or be let out as she grows.

I used the same fabric as I did for the fin except in a blurple (blue purple) color, and I can now say I will never use this fabric again. I hatted it. It was hard to sew without puckering and pulling the fabric, couldn't be ironed without basically melting (even on my lowest setting), and is only dry cleanable. Luckily I only spent 2.50 on it, so if I ever have to replace this fabric I can without worrying about how expensive it was.

Materials: 1 yard of fabric for the top, I used the shinny blurple I described above, but bathing suite fabric would be ideal for this or something else that has a little stretch (I guess I'm not that smart).
4 yards of ribbon (or bias binding). I used a sheer teal color. Matching thread, pins, paper and a pencil.
So how did I do it.

Step 1: Measuring
- Measure around your child's chest (not too tight or anything) we'll call this #W
- Measure from how high on their chest you want it to how low (i.e. how tall the top will be). Here if you want to to be more of  a crop to you could) we'll call this #H.
- I also measured from the center of her chest to under her arm (in a line parallel to the floor not sloped) so I would know how far I had to slop the pattern down to the back part.
- Measure from the top of your child's chest H measurement over the shoulder to the center of her back about half way down (where the top of the shirt will come in the back), we'll call this #S.

Step 2: Making a pattern.
I decided to take some large paper and make a pattern for this step. I took my measurements and a pencil and went to work. I added 2" to all (except the under arm) measurements to allow for a 1" seam allowance (because of my horrible fraying and tricky to work with fabric) if you want a more traditional 5/8ths seam allowance then add about 1 1/4" to your measurement.
The pattern will be placed on the fold of your fabric so you will only be creating half the top (and therefore it will be symmetrical once cut.)

-To get the height of the patter measure up one edge of your paper H+seam allowance.
-Next measure on the adjacent edge (W/2)+seam allowance.
-From the far edge of the mark you just made draw a straight line up (H/2)+seam allowance.
-Now from the top mark (the first mark you made) and the top of your line you just made make a sloppy ski jump type line.
-Now is when you need the measurement you took to under your child's arm. you need to make sure you slopped quick enough but not too quick.
(Once you look at the picture this seems so much less confusing than actually explaining it. It is actually quite easy.)

Step 3: Cutting fabric.
Now cut out your pattern (you can hold it on your child to see if it will be about right just remember to hold it in the center of their chest).
Place the pattern with the H side on the fold of your fabric. Cut one piece.
Repeat so you have 2 of the same pieces (if you wanted you could do this in 2 different color fabrics.) Your top is going to be 100% reversible.

Cut your ribbon.
- 2 pieces at S+seam allowance.
- 4 pieces at about 8" (for tying the back together so give or take what you think you will need).

Step 4: Pinning

With right side of one of the shirt piece facing you pin one shoulder strap into place. I wanted about 4" between the straps so I measured from the fold line to the side 2" and placed the strap there and pined it. Line up the strap so it is even with the edge of your fabric and laying down the front of the shirt. Repeat on the other side.







With the same strap find the spot on the back you would like the strap (the closer together the better for keeping on the should but not close enough that it will be in your seam allowance (I did 1 1/2") and pin it there (it is tricky to find what way the strap should face so it goes smoothly over the shoulder without twisting but take the time to figure it out cause I didn't and had to use the ol' seam ripper). Repeat on the other side.

Next take 2 tie straps and place them on one of the sides and pin..


Now take your second top piece and lay it (with right sides together) over top the other piece and pin around the top, side (with the ties) and the bottom of the top. You will leave the one side open for turning.

NOTE: I added some extra ribbon on the bottom of the top you can too if you want. It just added a little more to it. Just pin it in when you are pinning all the ribbon for the straps and ties but keep it out of your seam allowance on either side. I used some liquid stitch on it so it wouldn't fray the ends.

Stitch around the 3 sides. and turn.






Now fold the seam allowance in on the raw edge and insert your ties and pin.

Top stitch around the entire piece.





I had to tie the ribbons so they wouldn't fray. And you are done!

Hope you and your little one enjoy.

Here is as back view. I had to take some extra ribbon to tie the should straps together in the back cause they were a little long and kept sliding off. If I were doing this again I may cross the straps over to the opposite side. But live and learn.

Little Mermaid Costume Pt. 1

Wow my first blog post on my new board. I'm excited for this blog my other blog (My Life Of Loves) is just not really a place to put all my crafty adventures and such but more a place to put thoughts on life and my loves (my kids, husband and hobbies). So I figured I'd start a "crafty" blog.

I run a small business out of my home where I make corn heat wraps and other sewn and crocheted crafts but I am by no means a professional seamstress or sewer. I don't have all the terms and techniques but I do ok.

So my first post has come about because my oldest daughter (S) wanted to be Ariel for Halloween this year. Last Sunday we found a costume for about $20 and bought it, she did wear it a few times around the house, but by Tuesday morning there was a large rip in the top. At first I though well I have a sewing machine and enough skills, I'll fix it. Well there was really no fixing this so it went back to the store. We did not buy another one. I instead got to work on a design for making my own costume for her. Now you may be thinking I'm crazy Halloween is less then 2 weeks away. I wont try to argue and tell you that your are wrong, cause I probably am crazy, but that's what you gotta do for your babies you know.

So a few ideas I got online were to use a stretch velour for the tail so that it would stretch (and that is a must in this design) as she moved and tulle got me going. We were off to JoAnn for fabric and today I made the tail (it took me about 2 hours to do from start to finish.) I'll give you the post for the top in the next few days but here it is step by step.

Note: Please forgive my poor pictures and such but it should give you an idea. I had to work fast cause like I said Halloween is less then 2 weeks away.

I bought 1 yard of fabric for the tail (the stretchy valour stuff), 1 yard of silky shiny stuff for the fin on the tail and 2 yards of soft tulle, plus some elastic and matching thread. I definitely didn't need all this fabric but it was on sale and I wanted to have enough in case I messed up.

Step 1: Measure
   Measure your child's waist to floor length (we will call this # H)
   Measure your child's knee to floor length (we will call this #K)
   Measure around your child's waist (we will call this #W)

Step 2: Calculations (all my measurements are given in inches)
    H+5=How long your need to cut your tail fabric for me that was 23+5=28
    (K+4)/2=How wide you need to cut your tail fabric, for me it was 20+4=24/2=12

Step 3: Cutting
  I cut 2 piece 12"x28" (from the measurments above)

Then cut the point into the tail fabric by folding the fabric in half and using a straight edge line up the point to the knee height (for me it was 11") then cut the point in.

Now unfold your piece and it should look like this (that little miss cut is not going to be a problem in the long run for this project so I'm not worried).

Next cut your fin out of the shinny silky fabric (ours is greenish). To cut this shape I laid the tail with the point down with the fin fabric underneath WITH THE FOLD OF THE FABRIC AT THE TOP where the split ends. (In my picture below that is the top right of the green fabric is the fold).

 

Then with a disappearing fabric marker draw an arch shape out to the side to make the fin shape. It is very hard to see in my picture but there is a slight dark purple line. Sorry I didn't get fabrics for the sake of picture taking I was trying to make Ariel). NOTE that I also overlapped the tail about 2" over the edge of the green fabric to account for seam allowances.

Now with your line drawn cut out the fin and then move down and trace another one and cut that (now you should have 2 fins). Open them up and they look like this.

Next cut your tulle into 4" strips so you have 8 strips (the whole length of the fabric) separate them into 2, 4 piece piles.

Step 4: Sewing
Next pin the sides of your tail together and sew from the top of the waist band down to the top of the split, but not down to the bottom point (you need a place for your feet to go). Sew both sides of the tail skirt to the top of the split.

With your fin (shinny green fabric) pin a hem around the arced sides. I recommend doing a double hem where you fold the edge in 1/4 of an inch then another 1/4 of an inch so you have no raw edges exposed to help minimize fraying (if you are using a fraing fabric like I did). Then sew a hem.
Repeat on the other fin.

Now line up the center of your fins raw edge with the seam at the top of the split at the skit and with right sides together pin and do a basting stitch down both sides.

Now you need you tulle, find the center of the strips and attach to the center of the tail where your seam is.

Now attach the end of the strip to the point of the tail. Then find the center of one half and pin there then on either side of that pin find the center and pin. Continue with this till the tulle is fairly flat (not perfect of course it is tulle), and repeat on the other side of the tail fin.

Then sew your tulle down (I used a zig-zag to help with the fraying of the green fabric).

Next repeat the fin steps on the other side. This time pay attention to make sure the point of the tail gets neatly hidden in the stitching.

Step 5: Waist band

From the top of the split measure to find the height of the waist band. Use H-K to get this measurement. There should be plenty of fabric left (I did that so if I needed to in a year let it down I could.With the wrong side facing you fold over and pin.

Now sew the band about 1 1/2-2" below the top of the hem. If you are using a stretch fabric (which is really required for this design) use a zig-zag stitch and pull the fabric tight so that it is stretched when you set and therefor will stretch when you put it on.

Finally using a seam ripper open one of the side hems to add the elastic.

Step 6: Add elastic

With the opened seam I wrapped the elastic around a crochet hook and attach with masking tape. I like to pretend I'm an engineer. And insert it into the opening and pull through.

Now sew up the hole using a ladder stitch.

Here is what it now looked like on my daughter. See how it has tulle hanging in front of her feet?



I then trimmed the front of the tulle so that it was even with bottom of the skirt so that she wouldn't trip and it made it look more finished.



I don't know if I'm half way done or what yet. I think the top might be harder since the fabric (the same as the green fin only in a purple) is kind of tricky to work with but the concept seems easier then the concept of the tail and fin. So hope to see you back in a few days to finish up.