Play Vet Clinic and Felt Band-Aid Tutorial

Little Bean's favorite things to play with have always been her stuffed animals.  And she has a ton.  Thanks, in part, to my love of stuffed animals as a child that my mother held on to for me.  She loves barbies too and just HAD to have a barbie house from Santa for Christmas.  But, most often I catch her playing with her stuffed animals...feeding them lunch, tucking them into bed, etc.

So, when a friend of mine pinned THIS on Pinterest, I knew that I had to come up with my own version of a play at home vet clinic for her.  It cost me about $10 total. 

I picked up these cute wire baskets at the dollar store as well as the clipboard (below).  And then I went to Hobby Lobby in search of some dry erase labels for the basket.  I didn't find any, but I am glad since I saw packages of wooden stars instead ($1.50/4 stars).  Once I got them home, I drilled holes in them and then painted them with leftover chalkboard paint that I had on hand.  Then I just used some twine that I already had to tie them to the baskets.

Now she can't exactly write or read a lot yet, but I knew we needed to have some sort of "chart" for the animals.  I found the printable HERE.  She enjoys using these, but she likes it more when I can document detailed notes for her.

She was telling me that she needed band-aids for her animals today.  Her doctor kit came with a bunch of sticker band-aids, but those all got used up during one play date.  So, I searched for a tutorial to make some.  I was shocked that I couldn't find one.  I did find some for sale on etsy for $16, but that is a little steep for this.  So, I winged it.  And it's crazy easy to do.  Even once I started taking pictures to do a tutorial, it only took a matter of minutes.

Poor Fluffy

I used supplies that I already had on hand.  You only need some brown felt (or whatever colors/patterns you desire), some white felt, and some Velcro along with basic sewing supplies (scissors, thread, machine).

First, start with the Velcro.  You will only need to use the scratchy side.  So, yes, you will be stuck with unmatching Velcro pieces...annoying, yes.  Just cut it into whatever size lengths you would like...ours are between 2 and 3 inches.  Then round out the corners so they are shaped like band-aids.

 

 

After I had all these cut out, I just placed them on the felt and sewed them on, one at a time without cutting the felt.  Like this...

 

It will look like this...

Back

Front

After this was done, I just trimmed around the edge.  I left a bit of an overhang (of the brown felt).

 



 

 

Now cut a small rectangle of white felt to stick in the middle to be the absorptive pad of the band-aid.

 

 

 Sew on.

Front

Back

Voila!  That's it.  Now repeat.  And watch your child enjoy fixing all of her creatures.

 

 

Something tells me that Moosy has had better days.

This is her doctors bag.  It's mainly just the store bought kit with lots of extra syringes (minus the needles).  The girl loves giving shots...in the neck.  Weird?

 

We even have diapers for the tiniest of guests (courtesy of a friend who works in our local NICU).  Apparently, if diapers get dropped, they get tossed in the NICU.  Works for us!

 

 

Unfortunately, my little bean was being crazy camera shy today (which is very out of character).  So, no cute little vet pictures today.



No Sew Table Runner

I have been known to change my holiday decor year after year.  This year, I suppose, is no exception.  However, this year I have been extremely short on time.  So, for my dining table, I came up with a super simple, super cheap, and super chic (I think) table runner.

It is just a combo of burlap and faux satin fabrics.  To make this runner, you will need:

• approx. 2 yards of burlap
• approx. 2 yards of satin like fabric (or preferred complimentary fabric)
• scissors

Seriously, that is it.  So, first lets start with the burlap.  When you have it cut at your fabric store...pay attention to HOW they cut it.  You will notice that they will make a little snip right at the edge at the desired measurement.  Then, they will take the thread that is there (going in the direction of the cut) and pull it out.  It may break, but just keep at it until you get the whole length out.  Once this thread is out, you will have a nice guide to make a perfectly straight cut.

I went with two yards of each fabric since that is 72" in length.  My table is 60" x 60" so that gives me a nice little hangover on each end.  Basically, add 12" to the length of your table to get the look that I have here.

Since my table is so wide, I went really wide with the burlap as well, 25".  Using the cutting instructions above, cut your burlap to your desired width.  Once you have made the cut, pull a couple of the threads out on the edge you just cut to give it a little bit of fray.  Lay on the table.

Next, you need to decide how wide to do your satin fabric.  I did mine at 15" so I would be able to see a decent amount of the burlap.  Make a snip at the edge where the selvage is.  Now tear down your entire length.  Yes, tear.  Then measure out your width, make another snip and tear down the whole length again.  The satin will be a lot messier and you will have strings everywhere.  Just snip them off.  Now lay on top of the burlap. 

Your edges will look a little rustic, like this...

Then, I just found these hurricanes (actually left over from our wedding centerpieces nine years ago - I have a ton and finally found a use), put plain white candles in them, and then filled in the hurricanes with fresh cranberries (I have no ideas exactly how long these will last, but one bag cost me $3, so cheap enough to replace if necessary).

And that is it.  Seriously about the easiest thing ever.  And another great thing is that once the cranberries are gone, this is completely neutral so I can leave it on my table throughout the year if I choose.

I had some leftover burlap that I had no idea what to do with.  So, when we brought home our poinsettias with their ugly foil wrapping, it came to me.  I just cut out a length of burlap long enough to wrap around the pot and cut it (I didn't bother with the complicated method above, I just eyeballed it).  Then I wrapped the burlap around the pot, tied it with some ribbon I had leftover from the banner on my mantel (scroll down to see) and then folded over the top edge.  So much nicer looking that that ugly foil, don't you think?

A friend of mine made the banner for me using her Cricut...I just LOVE it!



California Dreamin' Tube Top Tutorial

Consider yourselves warned...my arms are very white and I am a terrible model.  That being said, I am tremendously excited about this tutorial.  I LOVE summer and the sun.  Therefore I love summer clothes.  I have been dreaming up this tube top in my head for weeks now and it has finally materialized.  It is really easy and dare I say, really chic.

It was about 39 degrees and windy outside.  Yep, I'm that dedicated.

This is just a white interlock knit.  Super simple.  If you have not sewn with knits before, this is a great place to start.  No serger needed (although I dream that I will someday have one for projects like this).

What you need:

• one yard knit fabric
• coordinating thread
• 1" wide elastic (amount will depend upon your underarm measurement)

Start by taking your underarm measurement - right at your armpits.  Mine was 32.5".  Since we want all of the fabric to be gathered...add 12.5" to your measurement, so mine was 45".

For the length of the main piece, I went with 19".  However, I have an incredibly long torso, so if you are more average, you may want to go with 17".  But go ahead and measure - you will want the top piece to end  at the top of the hip...allow 1" total for seam allowance.

So, the first piece = underarm measurement + 12.5" x 17-19"

For the second piece, turn your fabric around and find the direction that does not stretch very much.  You want to cut in this direction.  In other words, you don't want the piece that sits on your hips to stretch very much so it will hold that nice shape.  So, measure well.  Take your hip measurement at the widest spot (mine was 34") and add .5" (so my piece was 34.5" long).  The width should be 11".

Second piece = hip measurement + 1/2" x 11"

Using the top piece (the large piece) decide which edge is the top and do a zig-zag stitch (or serge) along the top edge.

Now, with right sides facing, line up the edges (side of your top).  Stitch all the way from the bottom to top and then finish off with a zig-zag stitch).

Back to the top.  Fold over the top edge 1 1/4".  Stitch all the way around leaving a 1 1/4" gap to feed your elastic through.

For the elastic, my measurement was 32 1/2" but I don't want my top to fall down in the least bit, so I want my elastic working for me.  I cut it at 28" + 1/2" for total seam allowance.

Elastic = underarm measurement - 4"

Using a safety pin, feed the elastic through.

Once you have made it all the way around, stitch the elastic together VERY well.

Now to the smaller piece (bottom of your tube top).  With right sides together, stitch the sides from bottom to top.  Finish off with a zig-zag stitch.

Now, with the right side facing out...fold your top in half so it looks like this...

Turn your machine's tension all the way up and also set your stitch length at the maximum.  We are going to gather the bottom edge of the top piece.  Do not back stitch here and be sure to leave long threads on either end so that you can alter your gathering, if necessary.

It should look like this.

Now you are going to want to play with the gathers a little.  Using the threads you left on, pull  and stretch until your gathered edge is the same length as the bottom portion of the top (the piece pictured below).

Once you have this complete, you want to line up all of your rough edges.  Make sure that your top is right side out.  All the right sides are facing here.  

Now stitch all the way around and secure the seam with a zig-zag stitch.

Flip inside out and voila, it's done! 

Note:  For wearing, I turned the top elastic edge under so it looks a little more sophisticiated, but it looks great either way.

 



 

As always, if you make this project, please send me pictures!

Salt and Pepper Shaker Cozy Tutorial

Never in my life did I think that I would sew a cozy for a salt and/or pepper shaker.  But, alas, here I am.  Here is my defense.  I can't seem to leave any sort of salt and pepper shakers within reach of Little Bean otherwise her food ends up inedible.  So, I decided I needed to get the grinders - well, at Williams Sonoma, they are like $50 each.  So, Bean and I were perusing the aisles of Costco and came upon large plastic versions for sea salt and pepper.  But, the ugly Kirkland labels were not something that I wanted to leave out on my table or on my counter.  Justified?  I think so.

Here are the grinders before (minus the labels - I needed quite a bit of Goo Gone to get those puppies off):

First you'll want to pick out your font for your letters.  I used Stencil Std in MS Word.  Based on exactly how big you want your letters, set the font at around 100.  This took a little bit of printer ink to get just right.



 Fabric you'll need:

• four strips of fabric 8 1/4" x 3"
• two small pieces of scrap fabric for your letters
• two small pieces of double sided interfacing
• ~5 inches of 1/4" elastic

 Iron on the interfacing to your letter fabric.

Carefully cut out your letters.

 Using scotch tape to adhere the letters to the interfacing, attach them upside down, as pictured.

Carefully cut out your letters in fabric.  Remove second piece of paper from interfacing and iron down to fabric strip.  I didn't get a photo of it, but I stitched around the edge of the letters just for extra security.

Place fabric strips right sides together and stitch all the way around leaving an opening to turn it right side out.

Once you have it turned, press it, being sure to press the open edge as you would like it to be sewn closed.

 

Now cut a piece of elastic, approximately 2 1/2".  Fold it in half and insert the ends into the opening to form a loop.  Pin down.  Top stitch all the way around being careful to sew the opening closed.



On the opposite end from the loop, hand sew a button down so it will be even with the loop.

Now you too can say that you have made a salt and pepper cozy.  Ha ha.  But seriously, Costco, under $10, super cute.