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As many people do, I have a long list of crafts I want to make that I found on Pinterest, but just haven’t “got around to it yet”.  Today’s podcast is about four crafts (or my versions of those crafts) that I pinned to my boards and I am now going to attempt!

The common thread, if you will, is that they all involve sewing (pun intended).

My challenge? I’m HORRIBLE at sewing, but I didn’t let that stop me!

I wanted to do these cheaply, using primarily what I already had in my fabric stores, so that’s why there isn’t a lot of variety in color.

I made Marty the Monster and One Little Piggy in orange felt (with some black, white and pink) and the Neck Wrap and Bookmark are made from two patterns of cotton fabric (plus one small sample swatch).

 

Project #1: Marty the Monster

There are cute little stuffed monsters all over Pinterest, but I believe the trend started with Ugly Dolls. They have simple designs, use fleece or felt, look easy to do and are adorable!

First thing I did was draw my monster…

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but I did that without formal art training! Amazing right?

Next I made a cardstock template of each piece and used that to trace my pattern onto my felt.

My felt cutouts were far less than perfect, I should have taken the advice I saw online about using freezer paper to cut felt…next time.

I sewed the two body pieces together, leaving a hole at the top of the head.  This is where my monster changed shape a bit…my sewing was a bit uneven, so I’m going to claim that it just gives him more “character”.

Next I stuffed my monster with some leftover polyfill I had from another project.  I used the end of a paint brush as my “pokin’ stick” to get the filling down into the legs and horns.  At this point I was a little concerned because my monster was looking an awful lot like a stuffed turkey.

Once fully stuffed, I sewed up the top and was ready to add the features!

First I attached the pupils to the eyes, then I attached the teeth to the mouth.  You could do all this with sewing if you want it to be sturdier, but I got out my quick and easy glue gun instead.

I attached all the pieces to the monster, and added some hair at the top to cover my top seam…I just used scraps from cutting out the belly patch.

Then I introduced Marty the Monster to Nala…as you can see, she was thrilled beyond belief.

In the end, I would like to say I gave away Marty the Monster to a sweet child, but no, he now sits on my desk watching over me as I type…I love him.

 

Project #2: Lavender Heating/Cooling Neck Wraps

For the holidays this year I was on a tight budget so I decided to make gifts for everyone instead of hitting the mall.  One of the gifts I made were these Lavender scented heating/cooling neck wraps.  When heated in the microwave for a minute they are warm and lovely, when put in the freezer for an hour, they cool down and feel great on a hot day or in the middle of a hot flash…not that I’m admitting to hot flashes…nope.

I picked out three patterns of cotton fabric plus some white flannel. Flannel became the inner sleeve that held the uncooked rice, filled half full.  I used combinations of the patterned fabric to make the outer sleeve (that could be removed and washed).

I cut strips of the patterned fabric, sewed the sleeve inside out, leaving the top open.  I turned out the sleeve and sewed a hem with a velcro closure at the opening.

I added a few drops of lavender essential oil to the inside flannel sleeve, then inserted the sleeve into the fabric and closed the velcro.

I folded the finished wrap in half, smoothing out the rice inside, and wrapped it with a white ribbon.  I printed out an instructions tag and placed that on top under the ribbon curls.

I’m pretty happy with how these turned out! I made ten total, keeping a few as extras to use as hostess gifts for those last minute party invites during the holidays, and keeping one for myself which a has a permanent home in my freezer.

My overall sewing expertise on this project was…”sew-sew”…ha! I crack myself up.  The patterns hide a lot of mistakes (at least that’s what I tell myself).  The last ones I made were better than the first ones so I guess practice does make perfect…or at least less bad.

You can find my inspiration for this neck wrap here.

 

Project #3: One Little Piggy

This was my first attempt at felting.  The whole project isn’t felted, it’s all made of felt, but the only actual felting was to attached the legs, nose, eyes, ears, and tail.

For those of you who are new to felting, it’s basically the practice of combining two pieces of felt using nothing but a sharp barbed needle that you punch through both pieces of felt many, many times.

I saw this piggy on Pinterest and needed to make it.  I did a number of things wrong, according to the original instructions, but I still think he turned out pretty cute.

The actual instructions are found here.  She makes some other adorable little critters all based on a felt ball, check it out!

Once again, as with most of my crafts, Nala is not amused.

 

 

Project #4: Bookmark with Pen Pocket

This idea came from a fabric, magnetic bookmark that I saw on Pinterest.  I liked the idea, but since I wanted to make something with only what I had on hand, I decided to skip the magnets.  I added a pocket for a pen so when you’re researching, studying, or just making notes in your book, your pen is always there but not stuck in-between the pages.

I used some fabric I had left over from the neck wraps and a swatch of fabric I got from Spoonflower with the Disneyland Haunted Mansion wallpaper print.

The swatch below shows how big the pen pocket was supposed to be…

But then there was a horrible ironing accident…

And now the pocket will be this big…

Nala is judging me and my poor ironing skills.  Lesson learned, check fabric types and heat settings BEFORE ironing.  Just sayin’.

So, first I used Stitch Witchery to make the pocket the right shape, then sewed it to one of the fabric strips.  I sewed the strips together face to face, leaving the top open, then turned it inside out and did a border stitch all the way around.  Voila! Fabric bookmark with super cool pen pocket!

Just don’t look to closely at the stitches…it’s not pretty.

Magnetic bookmark inspiration here.

 

Challenge Complete!

I had so much fun with these four sewing projects that I found on Pinterest! I’m not going to win any awards, but I wasn’t afraid to try and I think they turned out pretty OK.

Have fun with your next project and I’ll see ya next time!