Super easy superhero...

We are super crazy around here, oh, and we're also crazy about superheroes. I made my little man a superhero cape and he loves it. And we got lucky in our preschool rotation to end up with the letter S -- it was obvious what we needed to do! Woohoo for superhero day!

This, however, involved making capes for four little girls, so it had to be cheap and super quick to make. Voila! Super easy super cape to the rescue!

Sorry again -- I'm getting the hang of this craft blogging thingy, and I didn't take any before/along-the-way pics, although this was so super easy, you probably won't need them!

I got some of the cheapest cotton fabric at my favorite fabric store, cut along the fold (it was 45 inches total, making each cape 22.5 inches wide), and then cut it lengthwise 24 inches. *I bought two yards of fabric, and it made six capes.* I also bought a couple of packages of dark purple double-fold bias tape.

I hemmed the cape about an inch on three sides (fold under 1/2 inch, then fold under again). On the top side, I used my serger to gather stitch the top (if you're using your sewing machine, just set it to a basting/long stitch, then gently pull on the threads and bunch the material to gather it).

I cut about 26 to 30 inches of bias tape and laid it along the top (you'll open it up and place the material inside, with half on top and half beneath). Make sure to line up the center of your tape with the center of the cape. Wow, sounds like one of those phrases that rhymes to help you remember it...

Just pin it in place and stitch it all the way from end to end, making sure to tuck under your short ends on the bias tape to get a nice finish.

And see how nice that worked out? The bias tape covers the top and serves as a tie and a nice little pop of color, and the gathers help the cape to lay just right over the shoulders. Plus it takes like 5 minutes and cost me around $2 a cape. Nice...

Just a little note: I had my serger on a four-thread stitch, so it made my gathering stitch kind of wide at the top, and one piece of bias tape wasn't wide enough to cover my threads. You can buy wider bias tape, but since I was in the middle of my project when I discovered this, this is what I did: I cut two pieces of bias tape, then opened them up and laid them with right sides together. I stitched along the top folds, doubling the width of my tape. Then attached it just like you normally do with bias tape (put your material inside and let the tape fold around the edge). Yes, I love this stuff -- it looks so nice and it's so easy to use.

Fly away, little E! My cute little model here is almost two years old, if that helps you get an idea of what the length looks like. Most of my preschool girls are 4 years old, and this length hit them right about the knees. It's probably a little long on E, but she's only growing and it doesn't seem to get in the way of any superhero fun...

A little bonus: If you're feeling ambitious and want to make this cape even more special, you can add a letter or a design very easily! For the Super Why version of my son's cape, I printed out an question mark in 120 point font and used it as a pattern to cut one out of felt. Just pin it on and stitch around the edges. Super!

Epic failure... or I-learned-a-lot success?

Ugh! I hate projects from which I learn a lot, aka I messed up a ton, although I should get used to it (it happens more frequently than I'd like to admit).

So my little man had his 4th birthday a few weeks ago, and I knew I wanted to do something special for him. He's just gotten into make believe and dressing up (not to the extent of his girl friends, but you know). I made him a super cape (his term, "super kate,") a few months ago and he loves it.

Now he's very big into Disney's little pirate cartoon, so I thought I'd make him a vest and bandana like the main character on the show. It started out simple enough... I used one of his shirts to cut out my pieces: two backs and four fronts, so I could fully line it.

But I haven't made a vest before, and let's just say the way I thought it would work in my head was SOOOO not the way it needs to actually work. I started putting it together and that's when things started to fall apart (only figuratively). PS- Don't start sewing sides and shoulders and arm holes like you would a shirt if you're lining it. Doesn't work...

I HATE unpicking things, but it never fails -- almost every sewing project I do with a pattern, I end up misunderstanding something, sewing it the wrong way and having to unpick my seam. My seam ripper and I are good frenemies...

With this project, I unpicked, a LOT. And here's what's stupid: One of my favorite craft blogs has an excellent tutorial on doing a lined vest. I had read it a couple months ago, but didn't take the time to go over and reread it before I started my project. Could have saved myself a lot of time. Booooooo....

So I guess the moral of the story here could be to really do your research/double check the pattern at the beginning of your project. As I kept unpicking the arm holes, then unpicking all around the vest, I just kept thinking to myself, "Epic failure..." Also, if you get tempted to just throw the whole thing in the garbage, with a lot of angry force, just remember it can be salvaged, albeit with some unpicking. I'm glad I finished it.

But enter the hero of our story: Bias tape! I've been on a bias tape kick lately, and I was already planning to use it for this project, but it really saved me this time! I ended up unpicking all the edge seams, and I had already trimmed and clipped my material to lay flat in the collar corners and around the neck. So my serger smoothed things out for me and I serged all the outer edges, (you wouldn't normally need it with the bias tape) -- it trimmed it all up nice where I had clips, etc. Much easier to work with.

Yeah, bias tape is pretty awesome, and it made my little pirate vest look just right and covered my crazy edges. I added some gold buttoms and YO HO HO! My birthday boy is a pirate!

Aaaarrrgh! I wanted to share this tutorial, but I did it all wrong. So make me walk the plank... If you want a vest tutorial, head over to that blog I mentioned earlier and search her tutorials -- hers is much better! I will, however, be sharing a tutorial for my bias tape cape in my next post. :)

Colorful fun...

Need a little something to do with the kiddos on a rainy day like today? Or a day you want to stay in your jamjams? I have a great suggestion -- fun-shaped crayons. Now, this isn't my idea; I got the idea from one of my favorite craft blogs here. However, I couldn't find the same things she used, so this is my alternative way...

I've done this with my nephews, who came to visit me for Spring Break, and for my preschool group, both with positive results. They look tasty, huh? My brother-in-law was really disappointed they were crayons and not candy. But that's a good lesson: Make sure to remind the kids not to eat them. :)

To do this, I bought a cheap pack of crayons from the dollar store and a candy mold (which are available at the big box retail or the craft store for fairly cheap). I used some small glass dishes, a sheet of wax paper to contain the mess and some toothpicks.

First, I peeled the paper off the crayons and let my nephew break them into pieces, which I put into the small, glass dishes. When L found out he got to break the crayons, he got a huge grin on his face and told me, "I'm good at breaking things." Haha! I'm sure you are, buddy.

We did three crayons per batch (which was enough wax for two spots in the candy mold). I put them in the microwave on regular heat for 2.5 to 3 minutes -- but watch out! The crayons don't have to be completely melted. When I did this again for preschool, I let the first batch go a full 3 minutes and it was too hot; it kinda melted my candy mold. If you can still see some sticks, use your toothpic to stir the wax and they'll finish melting. Also another caution: Plan on having several hot pads available!! Be careful with your containers because they get super hot!

I kinda stired the wax with a toothpick to make sure it was melty, then carefully holding the container, I poured the wax into the mold (I had to do this quickly so it didn't dribble down the side of the container). If you want to use several different colors and make them swirly but not mixed, just use the toothpick to make sure it's melted and try not to stir it too much. Then I used the toothpick to get out most of the remaining wax.

Because my nephew was anxious to get coloring, I slipped the candy mold into the fridge so the crayons would set up sooner, but it didn't seem to take too long for the wax to cool. I let them set up at room temperature for preschool and they turned out well. Also, they're sometimes really waxy on the outside, but my nephew found that after he got past the outer layer, they colored pretty well.

My little man (right) and his other cousin, J, trying to pick what color they wanted to use.

On a side note, as soon as I put the glass dishes in the sink I ran a little water on them and the wax immediately solidified. This made it a little easier to get out of there. My dishes were still pretty waxy, though, and required some scrubbing and scraping, but I was able to get all the wax off. If it's having a hard time, just turn the water heat up and it seemed to make it easier to get out. The crayons popped right out of my candy mold when I flipped it over, and I used a toothpick to pick off the big bits of wax leftover. Your dishes you can get clean, but I suggest you only use the candy mold for crayons... :)

L working hard at his page... He LOVED this project. He asked me so sweetly the next day if he could take the crayons home with him, and then he was so excited when we wrapped them up in a bag for him to take home.

Hmmmmmm... Now which one should I use?

Thanks for coming to see me boys! I'm so glad you liked your crayons. :)

Final sew-along segment...

Thanks for everyone doing our little sew-along! Let's get it finished up -- we took a break for Spring Break, but I think we can finish the last two parts of the pattern by next Saturday (April 2). Do the outside of the bag, your embellishment and go ahead and put the whole thing together. Make sure to take a picture of your finished project and send it to me or post it here so we can all enjoy your great bag!

My sis was speedy and finished her's up last week -- cute, huh?

Happy sewing!

Free Pattern -- Layered Crochet Flower

It's almost spring, and I am thinking about flowers! This is my own little way of doing crochet flowers. You can do a lot with this flower pattern -- use different colors, add or subtract levels and increase or decrease size. I must confess -- I've never written a pattern before, so feel free to leave me a comment with suggestions or questions. :)

You'll find a pdf of the pattern here. Feel free to use this pattern however you like, just please give me credit if you sell the flowers. Also, please respect my copyright and don't claim this pattern as your own. Thanks for visiting and enjoy your flowers!

Week 2 of Sew-along...

Yeah, it's time to get going on that bag! Thanks so much for all your suggestions so far -- they've been extremely helpful, and I'm very glad the pictures are helping. So on to week two: Let's take the first section of the bag, the inside.

This week you'll get your inside pieces together, put the pocket on, and do the sides and corners. I expect the pocket and the corners to be the most difficult part of this pattern, so PLEASE let me know if you have any questions. :) We'll set the deadline for Saturday again (March 12). Happy sewing!

Mini Purse/Scripture bag sew-along...

Thanks again to my testers. I really appreciate your help!!!



For the first part of our sew-along, get your materials and interfacing and get the pieces cut out. Also do Step 1 and apply your interfacing. Feel free to leave any comments about suggested changes, things you like/don't like, etc. Time goal: Saturday, March 5.