Saving soap one bar at a time (a tutorial).

A bar of soap wasting away on the bottom of the tub in slimy, over soaped, scummy bath water. Did a part of your soul shrivel like mine? If you come in regular contact with kids and bar soap it’s a problem.

We’re going to fix that today. I’m going to show you how to make Monster Soap Savers!

You need a bath sized washcloth (makes enough for 2), 12” ric rac trim, and black fabric paint for eyes. You’ll also need a sewing machine and basic sewing supplies.

Here’s a picture of how to cut out your pieces.

Cut the side of the washcloth so it’s 4” across. Cut that piece again so it’s 10” tall, that’s the body. You’ll have a little 4” wide by however long little snippet of washcloth which you’ll use for ears.

The extra larger portion you can use for bigger rabbit ears, arms and legs, or another monster. Or you can save it and pretend you’ll use it but really you’ll toss it in a few months when you forget why you were saving it.

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Now take your Monster body piece and measure down 3” and cut again. Set them both aside for a second. Make that 60 seconds.

Grab your ear piece and cut it in half so you have 2 squares. Pinch your pieces so the finished edges meet and pin. Sew them down along the bottom of the pinch and trim. Ears!

Pin your ears to the top edge of the longer body piece. Cut a piece of ric rac about 8” long and make a loop. Pin that between the ears. Set aside for another 60 seconds.

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Grab the 4”x3” smaller body section and sew ric rac to the finished washcloth edge on the underside. I purposely (um yeah, on purpose) chose the rounded edge for the ric rac so he would have a crooked smile. If that bothers you use the cut edge and turn it under before you sew the ric rac on so it’s straight.

Take your monster body with the ears and loop pinned to it and lay your smaller body section on the top, sandwiching the ears and loop, making sure the ric rac is facing you and matching the top edges and pin in place. Fold up the bottom over lapping your ric rac edge by about 1” to 1 1/2” and pin in place.

Sew around the outside on the 3 open sides to close it all up. I would zig zag around the edges so it doesn’t come unraveled later.

Turn it right side out and you have a very handsome and very yellow cast eyeless soap beast. I tried shoving some white eyeballs into the ears for pop out eyes (instead of ears) and it was really cute until I smeared a pupil with my paint, gave up, and just added 2 dot eyes to the body instead. The possibilities are endless for making it look as unique as your own little monsters plus you can have several in different colors. Everyone can have their very own with no mix ups and it can be washed and used again and everyone loves that. I have an order for a bunny and dog next.

Here’s the necessity behind the invention- I used to buy the kids soap that comes in a green super sudsy plastic cover for several reasons but really, unless you have one kid it gets a little dicey when it comes to who’s soap is who’s and who used it where last. Nuff said.

Have a fantastic and squeaky clean Tuesday!

Tutorial- Embellished Burp Cloths

My most favorite thing to make for upcoming new babies are burp cloths. Really. It’s because they’re so fast to make, way cuter than the store bought versions, and I pull them out every time I burp my baby so they get maximum exposure. Literally, I go through a couple a day. Having tried a million different burp cloths made from every material under the sun and in every shape you can think of in the last 11 years these are what work best for me and my little spitters- a 9” x 17” knit 3 layered burp cloth made cute with a fabric panel or patch on the bottom front.

-Here’s how to make your own-

For a burp cloth with fabric along the bottom front you’ll need-

1 rectangle flannel 1o” x 18”

1 rectangle soft knit (cotton interlock or jersey- not ribbed) 10” x 18”

1 rectangle soft knit 10” x 13.5”

1 rectangle 10” x 5.5” of your favorite fabric print.

To make a solid white burp cloth with a patch at the bottom cut 1 layer flannel and 2 knit rectangles 10”x 18” and skip the fabric print.

First lay your fabric print right sides together on top of your 13.5” long piece of knit along the bottom edge and sew along the bottom using 1/2” seam. Press flat so it’s now your front piece that measures 10” x 18” like the other pieces.

If you want it embellished now’s the time to make it pretty before you move on. Add ribbon, ric rac, patches… whatever makes your heart pitter patter. If you’re making a solid burp cloth and want a patch on the front here’s where you add your patch to the right side of one of your knit pieces.

Continue… (said in a French accent).

Lay your pieces out so your flannel layer is on the very bottom, your solid knit piece is right side up on top the flannel, and your knit and fabric front piece is facing down on the very top like so.

Sew around the outside edge using 1/2” seam leaving a hole at the top about 3” wide for turning. Turn your fabrics right side out between the 2 knit layers so the flannel layer is on the inside.

Tuck the edge of your 3” gap towards the inside and pin. I didn’t pin mine so pretend I’m a pro and pin my stuff like I should. Do what I say, not what I do ;).

Sew around the outside edge of your burp cloth. I used my presser foot edge as a guide. When you get to your gap just sew along the edge and it will close it up for you as long as your seam along the outside is less than 1/2”.

That’s it!

Here’s a close up of the patch and reverse appliqué I did. Of course I had to use my new Silhouette heat transfer material, it’s too fun not to apply it everything I own. I used the yellow for the star and the white to make my own diamond patterned fabric for the number 1, to add stripes to the blue ribbon, and to write “little” on the green ribbon.

Here’s how you add the transfer to ribbon. I used grosgrain, satin, and twill with perfect results. You just cut out the design you want and the clear backing is a little tacky so it sticks to your ribbon making it really easy not to shift your design and screw it up.

Throw a pressing cloth over your ribbon and transfer and heat with your iron on the cotton setting (no steam) for 60 seconds or so. Great way to put whatever you want on ribbon without shelling out the big bucks for customized stuff.

If you want to get some heat transfer and other great stuff to try for yourself don’t forget to enter the giveaway here!

Have a fantastic Monday. I’m off to make more baby stuff. Not much time left!

Trapeze skirt how-to

I get really bored really easily so I wanted to make something that was quick, easy, and wearable using my serger one Saturday night. One can only have so many napkins and receiving blankets so I decided to branch out. I wanted a knit skirt that didn’t require a pattern and could be made in under 1/2 hour. I mashed a few tips together and did my own thing and came up with this-

I made this baby in under 1/2 hour and that includes looking in my manual to figure out how to do a stinking rolled hem.

You don’t have to have a serger to make this (but use one if you have it). If you use your sewing machine just use a stretch stitch or a zig zag. *Make sure your fabric has some stretch to it. Mine doesn’t have a ton but enough that Ash could slip it over her hips without ripping out the stitching.*

~Here we go~

Making the waist band.

1. Measure your waist (or your child’s waist) and cut a strip of fabric your exact waist measurement long x 6” wide. For an adult I would make it 8” wide. Ashlyn’s waist measured 23 1/2 so I cut a strip 23 1/2” x 6”.

You want your skirt to stay up so don’t add a seam allowance. That’s what the stretch is for.

2. With right sides together serge or sew the short edges together, making a tube. Fold the tube towards the outside so the wrong sides are together and the raw edges meet together at the bottom. Set aside.

Making the skirt

1. I wanted the shortest side of the skirt to be no shorter than knee length so I measured Ashlyn from waist to knee and got 18”. Measure from your waist down to where ever you are comfortable with the shortest side falling, this is your length measurement. Take your length measurement and double it. Cut your fabric into a square the doubled measurement. My fabric cut was 36” square.

2. Mark the exact center of your square. Measure across your sewn waistband. Mine was 11” across after serging. Take 1” off that measurement, so that makes mine 10”. Center that measurement on the middle of your mark with a tape measure or ruler. I placed the 5” mark right on the dot and marked the ends and drew a line from 0” to 10”.

3. Cut your line making a slit in the square. Not a big gaping hole, a slit!

Finish line

1. Grab your waistband and slip it inside the slit with right sides together, matching the raw edges of your waistband to the raw edge of the slit in your skirt and pin all around.

2. Sew around the inside.

3. The hem- you can leave it raw, do a rolled hem, zig zag, or fold up the bottom edge and sew. I did a rolled edge on the serger and it made it kind of lettuce. I didn’t mean to do that but it still looks cute. Here’s what it looks like laying flat.

Ashlyn likes to hang her skirts on the floor.

That’s it! One rectangle, one square, one slit. You’re done! You’re welcome ;).

Have a fantastic Thursday and show me if you make some. mailto:some-dontlickthefloor@hotmail.com

Fun with Gum tutorial

Before I forget to bring it over here and in case you missed it I thought I should throw up the tutorial I did for Mique’s Funner in the Summer guest post in July. I think it would be a fun idea to make for the holidays coming up. A spider bag or a fun Christmas stocking shape would be so cute. Enjoy!

I have a craft drawer filled with kids craft stuff that they know they can use whenever they’d like but when that doesn’t work I like to get them reading a book. One fun way to help encourage them to read is with this little poem bookmark, a bag full of gumballs, and a new book. It works like a charm and it’s a great way to keep them reading over the summer.

 

To make your own treat bags and bookmarks just save the bookmark image and print it out and gather a few supplies.

 

For the treat bags you’ll need-
6” x 7” piece of fabric
2 1/2” x 2” piece of clear vinyl (look for small rolls in the remnant bin).
16” piece of ribbon
Tape

 

 

 

 

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First fold and press the top edge of your fabric down 1/4” and then again 3/4”. If you don’t have a non-stick foot for your machine put a piece of tape on your presser foot and cut out any holes for the thread to go through. Tape your vinyl window to the wrong side of your fabric on the bottom left.

Sew around your vinyl trying not to catch your tape. Flip your fabric to the right side and snip out just the fabric square from inside your sewing lines being careful not to cut the vinyl underneath. You don’t need the tape anymore so you can take that off.

Fold your bag in half right sides together matching fold lines at the top and stitch along the bottom and side edge.

Turn your bag right side out. With the inside seam open fold the top edge towards the inside 1/4” and then 3/4” making a casing for your ribbon to go.

Sew around the edge of your casing on the inside of the bag as close to the edge as you can, completely closed.

Stretch the seam on the outside top open a little and clip 3 or 4 stitches.

Thread your ribbon through the hole with a safety pin and tie in a cute bow or knot the ends together and ta da! Now you have a cute little bag to fill with gumballs and tie on to your favorite book.

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Sunday meetin’ clothes

Ah, the tube top. An article of clothing that’s near the top of the list of things I would never ever in a million years wear to church or allow my girls to wear to church. Not that some people can’t pull it off under a cardigan or something but there’s just something about the word “tube top” in the same sentence as church that seems so very wrong to me. Like studded leather pants and church wrong. Maybe it’s just me.

But… there’s nothing wrong with tube skirt! I found some tube tops at the Mart that were on clearance for $2 or $3 a piece and thought they were so cute. I loved the dress shirt details (there’s a buttoned vent on the sides, seriously) and they were calling to me but I hated the fact they were tube tops.

Into the old cart they went and became tube tops no more! They look so much cuter as skirts. I can’t wait for colder weather so we can layer these with leggings and funky shirts.

Here’s the rundown if you’d like to make some for yourself. Or make some for your daughters if you still feel weird wearing one- ahem.

Find a clearance tube top you can’t live with/without.

Lob off any buttons on the smocking at the top and cut out any plastic strap doohickeys and such. Cut out the tag in the back and set it aside.

There’s a little elastic around the top of mine but not enough to hold it up as a skirt. Leaving everything as is fold the top down about an inch. Sew close to the edge making a casing, stretching the fabric as you sew.

Tuck the tag back in at the back if your 6 year old will not know which way is the front without it :). Thread some 3/4” elastic that’s cut to your waist measurement through the casing and stitch shut.

That’s it! No one will be the wiser, unless they happen to shop at the Mart to because it’s the only store in town.

They probably won’t be wearing them as skirts though. Lets do the world a favor and hoard all the tube tops and make them into skirts. For the good of humanity.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Tute for the tub.

I finished baby shower project #1 and it’s been delivered so I can share-

My toddlers absolutely loved big bath towel hooded towels and they’re the ones I always reach for first so I thought I’d show you how I make mine. I know, been there done that and there’s about 7 dozen tutorials for hooded bath towels out there but I haven’t seen my way yet so it won’t kill anyone if I add mine to the list. Make that 7 dozen… Plus 1. Here goes-

Supplies:

1 Cute Bath towel

1 Hand towel about 16” x 26”. You’ll get 2 hoods from 1 towel.

1 5” x 17” strip of fun fabric

17” long piece of ric rac. I used jumbo but smaller would work just as well. Not the micro stuff though.

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First cut the hand towel in half and zig zag the raw edges. This is your hood. You only need 1 half for 1 towel so save the other half to make another later. Fold the finished edge up and pin 4” from the bottom. Sew along the finished edge where you pinned just to tack it down.

Pin your ric rack so it’s just slightly overlapping the bottom folded edge. Sew the ric rac down. I like to sew it with the ric rac on the underside so I can make sure the ric rac stays peeking out over the towel edge and doesn’t shift.

Fold the edges of your fabric strip under 1/4” on each long side and press. Place your fabric strip on top of the ric rac covering your stitches on the ric rac along the bottom and covering the ribbing along the top. Pin and stitch close to the edges. Your folded edge should be completely covered in fabric.

Fold your hood in half matching the ric rac edge and the raw edges right sides together and pin, then sew the raw edge closed. Go over the raw edge a few times with a zag zag stitch so it stays nice and secure after it’s washed a million times. Your hood should look like the second picture now. Set that aside and grab your cute big bath towel.

Fold your towel in half wrong sides together, just like your hand towel, but don’t cut. Measure 4” from the fold line and put a pin at the 4” mark. Open your towel back up with the pin still in place, this will be your pleat. Match the middle of the pleat to the middle of your pin and flatten it down, then pin some more. Sew along the top edge of your pleat.

Flip your towel so the wrong side is facing you and the pleat is facing your table and grab your hood. Match the middle seam of the hood to the middle seam of your pleat and pin the hood to the inside of the towel about 1/2” down or so.

Sew the hood to the towel using a pretty wide zig zag stitch from the inside of the hood. Flip your towel back to the right side and zig zag along the ribbed edge of the towel on the outside edge. Make sure to really secure the beginning and ending stitches so the hood stays put after it’s been used a bunch.

You’re done! Or are you?

Adding a couple appliqués to the sides would be really cute…

Grab a coordinating design fabric and iron on some wonder under to the wrong side. Cut out a couple flowers (or whatever) leaving a tiny 1/8” edge all around the design. Peel off the paper, center your design where you want it, and iron that puppy down. It would look just as cute layering a few different designs as well. Just play with it.

Using an appliqué stitch, stitch around your home made appliqué.

Add a cute pair of matching newborn jammies with a ruffly bum and a rubber ducky and you have the worlds cutest Bed and Bath set to give away. Or keep it because you totally should unless you’re having a boy. In which case get cracking with that second half of your hand towel, it’s only midnight!

I made the p.j. pants using this pattern from From an Igloo. Tiny!

Have a fantastic night!!